Drew Smith of Burn Burn Burn talks touring, new releases, and what got them here.

We've talked about Burn Burn Burn before. Our first real article was a review of their "This Machine" EP. We did an interview with their guitar player, Adam! France, about his solo tour. Their founding guitar player, Garrett Griebel (who is currently living on the other side of the country), runs City Bear Design and has done a lot of our graphic design work. It's safe to say we're friends. The coverage they've received here is not without merit, however. They deserve all the publicity they can get.

It's great seeing a band play so many shows, release so much material, and still manage to be kind of silly. They've got a T-shirt with a slain Jar Jar Binx, proclaiming "Death to the Prequels!" They're calling their next romp down the coast "the Pickle Back to the Future Tour." These guys are real folks, who love punk, pickle-backs, and nerd culture.

I did a phone interview with Drew Smith to talk about that tour, which starts this Wednesday. Drew is an interesting guy who has worked with the Assasinators and the Americommies previously. Luckily it was kinda early when we had our chat and neither of us were too fucked up to share some good words.

Our conversation was out of order. I'm not good about writing up questions before an interview. I'm not great with professionalism either. The interview was full of nonsense and it was hard to find the important stuff and put it in order. That being said, I did it, and I think I did it well.

Burn Burn Burn got started when Drew decided he wanted to pursue a cleaner sounding project. He'd been hanging out with John, their founding drummer, a lot. Drew would scream into the mic, while playing three chords over John's drumming. At the time, Drew was a little more shaky and atonal in terms of his vocal styling. When I brought it up, he responded with, "I didn't know what the hell I was doing, I still don't know what the hell I'm doing. All I wanted to be like, and all I ever want to be like, is Fat Mike; when it comes to funny stage banter. Trying to implement that is the worst idea ever because, no matter what, you're not Fat Mike and you're not going to be a funny drunk douche bag. You're just going to be a drunk douche bag."

In the beginning Burn was a four piece. It was Drew, Chris Daniels, John Taylor, and Garrett Griebel. Travis Rimby (of CLR fame) quickly replaced Chris on the bass. That didn't last too incredibly long, and bass powerhouse, Benny Iler has been holding it down ever since. More recently, the band members have switched out a lot. John quit the band about a week before they recorded "This Machine," about a month before their nation-wide "Life is Tight Tour." Garret took over the drums for the EP, making his contributions to the final product total out to lead guitars, drums, and graphic design. Drew explained, "He's a magical ginger. He's like a leprechaun, but really tall." They had a friend from San Diego fill in on "Life is Tight," and since they got back, Ian Walter of Generation Decline has joined on drums. With Garret on the east coast, Adam has taken over lead guitar duties, while Brett Wood from On the Ground is filling in on rhythm guitar.

The new tour is equal parts promotion for the new split and a sheer need to be on the road. "Our split with Stabbed in the Back is supposed to be released right around this time. With vinyl it's always so up in the air. It might show up by the time we leave for tour, it might not. It's really cutting it. Either way, we're basically touring just because we're a band. We've got the itch and we need to. It's not the only tour we'll be doing this year anyway. Instead of doing a crazy 11 week one, like we did last year, I think we're gonna split them up and kinda regionalize it. Probably every other month, we'll just do a 2 or 3 week tour and go in different directions. If we don't have the split by this tour, we'll have it by the next tour." 

The funny thing about the split is, the Burn Burn Burn tracks were recorded before "This Machine." Drew said they were recorded for a different split that never happened. "[The tracks] were recorded, I think a month before we recorded 'This Machine.' It was supposed to be on a split with another band. With vinyl it already takes forever and that band still needed to record their's. Long story short, they broke up and became another band. We were just like 'Okaaaay. We've still got these split tracks. Who wants to be on a split with us?' So, it's going to be with Stabbed in the Back. We're super excited, because those guys are super awesome."

This tour is really exciting. The west coast is pretty easy for these guys. It's going to be a lot of meeting up with old friends. "The last tour, we toured the whole nation. Pretty much everything was foreign to us. Except the west coast and Montana. So, this will be a piece of cake." They've got a lot of great bands on bills while on this tour. It was nice to hear someone so excited about their craft and the opportunity to practice it among other masters.  "I'm most excited to play with Western Settings. They're based out of San Diego. We're playing with them on our San Diego and Tijuana dates. We're playing with the Briefs in Bellingham, SNFU and Nihilist Cunt in Reno, and our homecoming show is with a Wilhelm Scream."

Getting to play with bands you've followed for years seems like the perfect payoff, but when asked about the most rewarding part of being in a touring band, Drew said, "Honestly, it's knowing it was all done because of you. Being a touring band at this level, you get the least amount of help from anybody. Whatever satisfaction you get out of it, it's all because of the work you put into it." When I asked if he thought bands with managers lost out on some of that satisfaction, he replied, "It depends on what level they're at. You can quote me on this, if they're in a local band and they have a fucking manager, they're lame asses. One: you're not going to appreciate anything you get, and two: you have no idea how to do anything. Do you know how easy it is to book shows locally? Try booking a tour. It's hard as shit. Now, if they have a national tour booker, that's some next level shit. I don't condone or condemn any band that does that. If we got offered that, I'm not sure if we'd take it or not."

Drew's been booking the tour himself and their label, La Escalera, is providing records to sell, making sure Burn can do all they need to on tour. I was interested in how that union came to be. Drew filled me in on the strange circumstances surrounding the summer that lead to getting signed. "La Escalera signed us right after we recorded 'This Machine.' It's kind of weird how everything went down. We had a really messy summer. It's a really long story but, we got asked to play this festival in Montana and everyone got really excited." Talk of the drive lead one of the band members to suggest a national tour. " 'We should just tour the whole country and keep the drives down to four hours' I'm doing the math in my head. I'm like, 'We'd be gone for like three months!' He said, 'We could just book from the road.' I'm like, 'We? You don't know how to do this! You mean, I book all the shows from the road?'" When all was said and done, that guy quit before the album got recorded. After Drew was a month into booking the tour already. So they went ahead and announced the tour anyway. Drew told me that La Escalera contacted them and asked, "What's up with this new release? Do you need some one to release it?" La Escalera puts out the Loss, Success, Random Orbits... It's an amazing independent label. What a great fit and an amazing opportunity.

Burn Burn Burn has a lot going for it. They're signed to great label, they've managed to survive through countless member changes, and their recent releases have been gracing my playlists (and I'm sure countless other people's) for the last year or more. If you get a chance, head on out to one of their tour dates. New merch and a solid line-up are sure to make it worth your time, even if you've seen them before. It starts on Wednesday, May 28th in Burien, WA. For more information visit their Facebook and Bandcamp pages.

"PICKLEBACK TO THE FUTURE TOUR 2014"

May 28th Burien, Wa - Black Zia Cantina

May 29th Bellingham, Wa - Make.Shift w/ The Briefs

May 30th Olympia, Wa - Trackhouse

May 31st Prineville, Or - Cinnabar Lounge w/ tuck and roll

June 1st Reno, Nv - Jub Jub's Thirst Parlor *free show* After SNFU

June 2nd Sacramento, Ca - Cafe Colonial

June 3rd Hemet, Ca - The Wheelhouse Bar w/ Slow Children

June 4th Los Angeles, Ca - The Redwood Bar

June 5th San Diego, Ca - The Tower Bar

June 6th Tijuana, Mx - El Tigre Bar

June 7th Oakland, Ca - Stork Club

June 8th Chico, Ca - The Hundredth Monkey Cafe

June 9th Portland, Or - Katie O'Brien's

June 10th Seattle, Wa - El Corazon w/ A Wilhelm Scream and DIRECT HIT!

Ten Pole Drunk talk their beginnings, the new album, and the upcoming tour.

I met with Ten Pole Drunk at Le Voyeur about a week ago in hopes of getting some insight into their new album and their upcoming tour. It was a fitting location. We've both played their before, more than once. Probably together. It kind of just seemed like meeting some great friends for lunch. That's actually exactly what it was.

Despite the time stamp being 1 PM, I was still really groggy when I showed up. I was kind of surprised to see everyone there. Damien, the vocalist. Raquel, the drummer. James, the guitarist. Ricky, the bassist. Even Joi, the band's "babysitter." All of them bright eyed, full of smiles, and ready to tell their story. At least, to tell some jokes, thinly veiled by their story. It was comforting to see that they were already eating fries and drinking beer. They certainly didn't waste any time making themselves at home. That's what I've always loved about Ten Pole, they're at home wherever they are.

It's kind of hard coming up with questions for your friends. People you've played with a lot, shared beers with, and probably punched in the face before, generally have already told you what you need to know. It was tempting to just have a beer with them and catch up, to forget about my obligation to this blog or my commitments to them, and to just hang out. The good news was, once we got to talking, it was easy to stay on topic, even though we honestly were just kickin' it.

I started where you would expect: Asking about the origins. I asked how long they'd been playing. Raquel informed me, "It's been about a year and half since we started playing shows."

Damien sat there with a smug look, slowly nodding and added, "Dead Baby Bikes, two years ago."

"Our first show was at Dead Baby Downhill. So, that's like our band anniversary," James tried to clarify.

I was as confused as you are. Apparently Seattle is home to a bicycle club known as Dead Baby Bikes. Once a year, they do the Dead Baby Downhill. Ten Pole played their first show the same night at Studio Seven. This all sounded pretty great. I had to ask. "There's a bicycle club in Seattle called Dead Baby Bikes. They do a downhill race every year that turns into this major event afterwards. There's a couple thousand people in the streets. They do bike jousting on tall bikes, and they build stages in the street. They take over downtown. There's no cops." James is apparently an expert.

Thanks to the fact that I was pretty stoned, this conversation led to some confusion. I thought these guys were called "Dead Baby Box" when they first played that show. I was wrong. However, TPD seemed pretty impressed with that name, "Maybe we should have been Dead Baby Box." I guess it's a weekly thing for them to "try to change the band name," I was glad to contribute to the tradition.

Their real name, Ten Pole Drunk, is a reference to an old public intoxication test, where the suspect would have to walk the length of ten telephone poles without falling over. James admits he stole it. Saying, "To be really honest I stole it from someone else, Tyler, from American Dischord (AMDX). He used to be a member of [unintelligible band name] out here and that was a contender that they didn't use, and I wasn't going to let that go to waste!"

With the name out of the way, that left the question of how these guys started working together. Damien volunteered to spill the beans, "I moved up here after living in Portland for about a year. I meet this ass-hole [James] a year into school. We started jamming at our buddy's house. He had a bunch of drums and guitars. So, we just get drunk. He allowed us to get drunk and stoned and shit, but it kept us in a safe area. So, we ended up meeting her [Raquel] and were Dead Peasants. Ricky gave us our first show. We decided to kill Dead Peasants and started this band."

James added, "Our bass player left us and Ricky kind of stepped in to get us back on our feet, it just turned into this. I think it was a good move for us, because before we were just playing a really generic, straight forward form of punk rock. This changed our sound for the better."

Hearing that got me gushing about how great their style is. It's like good old-school hardcore: Still punk. Not metallic. Devoid of machismo. I asked them if that was working for or against them. A lot of the punk going on around here either has a really melodic sound, or heavy elements of metal and thrash crossing over. It didn't surprise me to hear that it did work out for them, and James was more than stoked to tell me all about it. "We used to be on this circuit, where we played the 2 Bit a lot, and there'd always be these old guys drinking beer. It made my day every time it would happen; they'd all just migrate into the pit and go out of their way afterward to say, 'I haven't seen punk rock or hardcore like this since I was a kid,' and we get that reaction all the time. People that were there in the 80's for that kind of hardcore. We played with Fang at the Chuck [Charleston] and their singer went out his way to super compliment us. Like, 'You guys remind me of when we were starting out.' It's really worked in our favor."

The other side of that, as Damien pointed out, were the shows where everyone would go outside. "When we were first starting out, there were a couple shows where it was abysmal. We had people go outside. I had an extra long cable. So, I just went outside and started yelling at the kids. I guess they were all straight-edge or something. They just went out there and mad-dogged us. Except a few crazies, out there smoking cigarettes, that just started a circle pit outside. We were doing 'Crucified.' I was just out there yelling, 'crucified for your sins!' So I sound super crazy."

I was excited to hear about how their distinct sound and old-school style would shape the new album. I heard their old demo and it didn't do them justice. I got a teaser track before the interview, a rough mix of "Godzilla." It was fairly amazing. One of the lines in it was "keeping hardcore alive," which I honestly believe they're doing.

Upon bringing up their old demo tracks, everyone laughed and assured me this new album would "blow them out of the water." The new album will consist of nine tracks, recorded with Scott, at the Boiler Room. They're shooting for a release at the end of May. There's going to be release parties in Everett and Olympia, and they're taking copies on tour with them. I think that's a big selling point for this tour. Everyone who shows up can get the new album, and most recent run of merchandise before the die-hard fans at home. Unless, the die-hards want to get out and catch an out-of-town date.

Being their first real release, you can expect all of their old songs. Everything written since October is gonna have to wait for the next album. This release has classics like, "More Chicks in the Pit," "Godzilla," "Due Process," "Are You Having Fun Yet?" and "Tacoma Low Lives." They say it's pretty much an even split between political songs and party anthems.

Which lead us to talk of tour. They've planned an awesome journey through Oregon and California to promote the album. It will take place over the first ten days in May, with a bonus "homecoming" show in Olympia on the eleventh. This is their second tour, with the first being a trek through eastern Washington, on over to Idaho. Despite that trip being full of good performances, nice bands, and great crowd response, it was kind of miserable. "Our van overheated non-stop. I think it overheated eight to ten times. So, the whole trip, in eastern Washington, while it's over a hundred degrees, we're stuck in this van where we had to have the heat blaring the whole time," James lamented. "We're going to drive at night. That's what we learned."

A common practice with touring bands is to try to play places where they have friends, especially to ensure a place to sleep. When I brought that up, they had a laundry list of people they were stoked to see on the road, but it also sounded like the were going to wing it a bit. "We harass people," Damien assured me, "That usually works out."

The thing that excites me about this tour is the new merch. James gave me the run-down, saying "We've been busting our asses on merch. I'm so goddamn tired of screen printing. We did something a little off the beaten path with our CD's, as far as packaging goes. I don't want to give too much away, you'll have to wait for that... but, we've also got patches, stickers for the first time, a run of buttons, and shirts. We're just finishing up the last of the Godzilla shirts." I got some details about the packaging, but was sworn to secrecy. I also got a sheet of five patches and one of those fabled Godzilla shirts. I sport both regularly, now.

 The CD's are 100% DIY! Once again, James acted as band spokesperson, and excitedly laid-it-out, "We're doing it all ourselves. We're putting the labels on the CD's. we're printing the packages. We have 200 sheets of cardboard at home right now. It's a two color screen print, so it takes about ten minutes for each one, just to get the color on it. Then we still have to glue them up and do all that. Plus, there's even more than that, because there's bonuses going into each one." Everyone loves bonuses, Joi assured me that they would be different. "If you buy two CD's, you'll probably get different prizes."

At this point we decided to take a smoke break. After we got back to it, I got a lot of awesome stories about the legend of naked Damien, more stories of hot vans, a little glimpse into bringing your rowdy friends into the studio and letting them drink while recording gang vocals, and a great story about an out-of-town gig that somehow ended in drunks shitting out of a third story window. The world of Ten Pole drunk is a magical place.

You're going to have to wait for the podcast to hear anymore about it, or you can just catch them next week. Either way, be sure to tell your friends about the tour and see the band as soon as possible. Their fun, antagonistic stage show will be everything you ever hoped punk could be... and you might get hit with Damien's dong.

Oly Pyrate Punx Brought in the Secretions! Are you paying attention yet?

I'm starting to get really pissed off at the number of awesome conversations my phone loses. The newest and most precious was my conversation with Mickie Rat and Paul Filthy of Sacramento band, the Secretions. I remember them talking about the long standing the Secretions have had, Paul still being the new guy after logging eight years in the band, and being able to enjoy their friends bringing their offspring to shows.

I remember them telling me that this was near their first experience in Olympia, that this tour was awesome, and that, thanks to punks all over, this tour was not at all an uncommon success.

I first heard the Secretions (almost by accident) when I was 15. I was cruising MySpace for "socialist punk bands." I found the Socialfucks and quickly stumbled onto the Secretions by way of Ashtray. The Secretions are a punk band that pull influence from horror, pop, street, and the 50's (even if they don't realize that.) It's a fresh sound that brings back memories of security. Grandma's rocking-chair was a lot like this. That is, if Grandma sang about boners or fucking in a cemetery.

The show was everything I've been waiting for. It's been a decade since I found their music, and they held up to my idealizations. They were tight, fought technical difficulties with an iron fist, hit every song perfectly with only a 1.5 second break, and still managed a nice comedy break in the middle.

Mickie and Paul are employees of the State of California, and Danny is a fourth grade teacher. If you ever thought your dreams of being a punk rock star were out of reach, these guys are here to slap you in the mouth, in a fatherly way. They may be the most supportive and positive old-timers I've encountered thus far. Their biggest praise of Washington was the tight-knit scene, and the fact that we don't "try too hard to be punk."

They even went out to McCoy's with us after show. You know, the black bar straight down from the Track house. They have cheap shots and local scene-heads around every corner.

Either way, these guys should be familiar to you. If not, you probably know at least one band on the roster that night. Ain't Got Time to Bleed. Red White and Die. The Deceptives...

It was an amazing show. Those guys really made my night, though I found out (in a conversation that wasn't deleted) that Paul joined the band not too long after they played the first live show he'd ever seen. That's what childhood dreams are made of. That... and getting to drunk with your heroes after their fans slam you against a low ceiling.

Burial Suit - 2014 Demo

Hardcore isn't something I think of when I think of Olympia music. Even long term Olympia institutions, like GAG, have their roots in something else. I find Olympia hardcore to be incredibly old-school, maybe with some outside element to bring it forward, but Blank Boys and Kill Shot sounded like they were birthed in California in the early eighties.

Burial Suit doesn't fit into this model. Their music is still undeniably formed from a serious foundation of punk rock, but in the tradition of bands like Last Lights and Gallows, there's some palpable noise influence, and the metallic edge is gleaming for all to see.

This demo is a breath of fresh air, not just for Olympia, but for the world of hardcore at large. Kicking off with a discordant, watery ambiance piece may be an over-done approach, but showing their ability to keep it down and build mood while approaching the inevitable slowdown and feedback ring-out, really grabbed me. Doing a musical intro on a demo might seem like a risky endeavor. I personally think it conjured ideas of the future. It really showcases the band's ability to create a scene, musically. Engaging the listener. Perhaps they could even employ this tactic and give us an album that flows better than something by Pink Floyd or Nine Inch Nails; gods of the concept album.

The first actual song on this demo is a the break-neck, "Broken." It's short and brutal. The drums are demanding. The guitars blast through, with punk-like simplicity, and metal-like precision. Chanting back-ups once again stir thoughts of classic punk in cramped back rooms, while the powerful growls of the leader hearken to a simpler time of brutal death metal. It reminds me of Trash Talk in that way.

The second actual song starts out like something from Comeback Kid, but the second you hear the vocals it loses that. There's no whiny kid leading this outfit. The guy who's in charge here sounds like he ate that guy from CBK for breakfast. The conviction from the entire band really make this track stand out. There are some amazing starts and stops. Most of all, the lyrical content of, "Salesman! Bastard Salesman!' is really relatable. Who hasn't felt like screaming for hours on end after an annoying run-in with some douche at a Verizon Counter? ...or even worse, a car lot? This track really demonstrates the versatility these guys can bring to one song. Just how variable their sound is. How quickly they can glide through that shit.

The last track has a melancholy guitar intro that breeds a feeling of loneliness, then blows straight into intense blast beats. It's fucking unsettling... Then comes the noise break. I think you get where I'm going. It's another master piece hidden right in plain sight.

The demo as a whole is very minor key, dark, diverse, tight as a drum, fast as fuck, and full of the kind of power that could put these guys on the circuit with some of the biggest names in the industry. If you missed them at Bleak Outlook, you'll have to start stalking their Facebook. These guys aren't slated to play Capital City Punk and Core Fest, or Rain Fest. Which was a mistake by the bookers in both cases.

Punk Rock Karaoke at the China Clipper 4/28/14

Olympia's seven-day-a-week karaoke bar, the China Clipper, is known to locals as "the Crippler." It's a dimly lit throw-back, with a large back room that sports another bar, ample seating, dance floor, stage, the best karaoke set up in town, and around 300 punk rock songs in the books. Perry Ornorio, long time member of the punk scene and several downtown activist groups, including the Downtown Association, dug them all up after being frustrated by the lack of punk available at the bar. The collection includes everything from the Ramones to the Unseen. Green Day to Dead Kenedys. The only problem is that most punks don't want to sit in room full of bros singing Robin Thicke just to get a chance to scream a Germs song.

Perry saw a touring band that knew tons of punk songs and played what audience members wanted sing. Recalling the experience with several friends, including Oly Pyrate Punx captain; Brandy Rage, led to the idea of organizing a one night event. A chance to fill the Clipper with a bunch of rowdy, drunk punk kids. Flooding the song que with titles that contain the word "fuck" is a very appealing prospect.

Through lots of begging and pleading the bar finally agreed to a punk karaoke take-over. Really, the only thing they did was give permission for fliers advertising the event to be posted, and special black "Jello Biafra Shots" to be sold. Since they started doing karaoke every night, the Clipper has adimately insisted on alienating no one. They're going to stick by that. If some random wants to do Celine Dion, they'll get their chance.

Sounds like the Clipper was insistent on it happening on their slowest day, a Monday, under the understanding that it would be "just this once." The good news here is, we're actually going to have a night full of drunken punk. There's a better chance of people showing up if it won't be happening again.

I would love to see all my readers show up. Load up your car with all of your insane friends and head for the Clipper, Monday, April 28th. Practice your favorite punk song, as long as it's not by Black Flag. There's no fucking Black Flag.

Fools Rush, What a Bunch of Fucking Professionals

Portland, Oregon based punks, Fools Rush, finished up a Washington tour last week. I caught up with them at the Track House last Sunday. I couldn't believe how great they were. The energy was amazing. There was an edgy, gritty feeling to their entire set. The vocals were melodic and beautiful but heartfelt and on the verge of screams, the guitars were graceful and elegant, but still noisy and aggressive... and OH MY GOD that drummer! It was like mathy pop-punk for a gilded gutter. I had never heard them before, and simply showed up expecting to cover another lack-luster punk show, put on by bands I've seen twenty times. It was an amazingly gob-smacking happenstance. They set up quick, spent minimal time talking, and still managed to look effortless and laid-back. The two seconds between songs were filled with awesome one-liners, that off-set the massive sound perfectly.

After the set, I caught up with these guys hoping to get a little insight into the band and what they were doing at a house show in Olympia. I was pleased to find the members of Fools Rush were warm and comical. Humble and gracious. Something often missing from touring bands. Especially ones with this much command over their demanding material. I found out that Drew Smith of Burn Burn Burn had hooked them up with OPP. Damn, Olympia Pyrate Punx, you always do this. Great bands in town, simply because your organization exists.

I found out that Fools Rush was founded by guitarist/ lead singer, Alden, as an acoustic project. He carried the name through many states, got to Portland, and started up a band. None of those guys are in the band anymore. The current incarnation had played about a dozen shows before this tour, with the drummer having been around a lot longer. They started out in Richland, went up to Seattle, got detained on the Canadian border and weren't allowed in due to a lack of work visas, played (and scored free pizza) in Bellingham two nights in row, and finished up in humble Olympia at the Track House. From what it sounds like, every stop was great. The crowd was always awesome and someone even handed them a Benjamin in Bellingham to get a hotel room. Once again, touring WA proved to be an awesome time to people who had no idea what to expect.

As we parted ways, Fools Rush made sure I had copies all of their CD's (DIY beauties in recycled packaging. One cover was printed on a Mike's Hard Cider box.), a hand screened shirt, hand screened (and I believe hand sewn) beer coozy, and some sick squid stickers. When I got home proudly wearing my new t-shirt, I took a listen and the recordings were every bit as awesome as the live show. Something I'm learning to be extremely surprised by. All of their shit is available for free download on Bandcamp. If you couldn't make any of the dates on this tour, do yourself a favor and go get this stuff ASAP.

Shaun Is Trying To Start a Ska Scene, Bringing Bands Like Skandalism

I went down to Le Voyeur last night after getting a text from my friend Shaun. If you frequent Olympia punk shows, or have ever been to a Kill Shot show in Seattle or Tacoma, you probably know Shaun. He's the tall, lanky, kinda crusty guy who always has a big dopey smile on his face.

You see, Shaun randomly found Bay Area ska-punks, Skandalism, while listening to music online and saw that they were trying to fill a northwest date on their tour. Apparently, they worked out the kinks, and, with a little help from Olympia Pyrate Punx, Skandalism spent their Monday on the sunny beaches of Priest Point Park. From what I hear, it was all PBRs and PBJs until they headed back into town for the show. The guys in Skandalism were very impressed with Olympia's hospitality, the energetic crowd they were able to draw on a Monday night (which was, apparently, better than their Saturday show in Portland), and our record stores. They found a tape by their friends, "Tough Stuff" at Phantom City Records. It was nice to have them here on their first real tour. They said that they'd done San Diego before, but this was the first time they've been out longer than a weekend.

I got there a bit late and the band was covering Operation Ivy's "Knowledge" when I walked in. I had a hunch these guys were going to be young, annoying stereotypes. I was wrong. The musicianship was definitely there (although someone should have turned down the bass player's microphone). The songs were passionate. At times, surprisingly so. The style was blended with a lot of different flavors, including a token Leftover Crack break down. It was refreshing to find out that the Bay Area ska-punk sound of the late 80's and early 90's is still around, and doesn't seem to have become stale or stagnant. To top it all off, the guys were very nice and handed out copies of their album, "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Friends," along with really cool logo stickers.

On my way out, I caught up with Shaun, and he let me know that he plans to be booking a lot more ska shows here in Olympia. His one concern was getting locals. The conversation seemed to be centered on the fact that Oly-ska doesn't exist and Seattle ska is elusive at best. While Shaun has plenty of contacts in touring ska bands across the country, he's going to need a lot of help finding some locals to get on bills. That's going to have to get remedied quick, because Skandalism said they hope to back. Soon. Like, four months kind of soon. If no Washington ska bands step forward, they may be playing by themselves... again.

Hot Hoodoo Talk influences, direction, and plans for their new album.

I heard Olympia alternative band, Hot Hoodoo, for the first time while I was working the kitchen at the 4th Ave Tav. They reminded me of the Afghan Wigs, Mudhoney, Nirvana, and a lot more grungy nineties bands. When I saw them heading away for the night. I excitedly stopped them to ask if I could get an interview. I was super stoked when they agreed and I went home to think about what the hell I should ask these guys.

In preparation, I listened to the demos they have up on their Reverb Nation page. At first, I found myself wondering if I had found the right page. This band sounded a bit more ethereal, more trippy, and definitely more jazz-influenced. It was reminiscent of Pink Floyd and some stuff Josh Holme did for the desert sessions. Could it be the same guys? The track "Mother Liquor" brought to more familiar ground and I managed to assure myself these were the same guys I had seen days earlier.

So what now? All my interest was about that live show. This wasn't what I bargained for. I mean, I liked what I was hearing, but now I'm wondering what was more indicative of their sound. Who Hot Hoodoo really are. I decided to just ask the standard questions and see where we took it. I was glad to find out, those guys really didn't find the recordings to be a good representation of their sound either.

I met with Hot Hoodoo at the Gyro Spot, downtown. I've never interviewed anyone before this, despite being on the other side of the questions more than once. If I were to include the transcript, or the actual recording, you'd all get to see that I, as usual, got ahead of myself and talked a lot. Maybe too much. Probably more than the guys in the band. I was tired, kinda high, and really excited to finally sit down with some musicians and share some point of view. As such, I found it hard to stay focused and get what I came for. That being said, I feel like I got some good stuff out of these guys. Here's the interview without all the weird in-between bits, and Paulie stories:

Me: How long have you guys been playing together?

Grant: We've been a band for... What is this? The third year?

Tyson: I'd say like two years and three months, probably. So, a little over two years, yeah.

Me: How'd you guys end up working together?

Grant: Tyson and I went to high school together. We jammed. Just the two of us.

Tyson: We've been jamming since we were pretty young, and then we met Josh through another guitarist that used to be in our band. We used to be a four piece.

Me: What are your major influences? I was listening to the stuff you've got up on Reverb today, and... to me, I heard some Josh Holme stuff. Like, maybe a little Queens of the Stone Age, maybe?

(Confused looks from all three members of Hot Hoodoo.)

Me: I don't know... Maybe that's just me...

Grant: Yeah, it seems like everyone who listens to it has a different impression.

Me: ..but you seem to have a little bit of a late 90's Seattle vibe in there.

Grant: Yeah, that's kinda what holds it together, but...

Tyson: Our style has kinda changed a little since we did those recordings. We're a little funkier now.

Grant: Stuff's changed, and those recordings didn't exactly sound like us.

Tyson: I remember when we recorded them, we recorded them very slow. Not a lot of energy. We're actually going in tomorrow. Starting our new album.

Me: Yeah. You guys are recording at South Sound Sound, right?

Tyson: Yeah.

Me: I recorded with that guy... [long, unnecessary story about my recording experience, why Jason Suko is awesome, and how other people I know had good experiences there.] You made the right choice.

Grants: Seems like a lot of bands, locally, are going to him too.

Tyson: Yeah, it seems like the big choice.

Me: We found him by accident. Just searched online, "recording studios in the Olympia area."

Grant: (Points at Tyson) Isn't that what you did?

Tyson: Yeah. (laughs)

Me: So, what can you tell me about that new album? I read somewhere... Is it supposed to be a concept album?

All: Yeah

Tyson: It's a concept album. It's uh...

Grant: Hopefully adding little tid-bits that aren't in our live set.

Tyson: We're gonna do more percussion work in the album than we do live. Add shakers. A lot of shaker work. Probably some bongo stuff, and...

Drums: There's a whole thing that you're supposed to do the album as you are live. Then it's like... you can make it so much cooler if you add all this crazy stuff to it.

Tyson: We want this album to be really rhythm heavy.

Grant: A lot of my favorite albums definitely have added stuff in there.

Tyson: The old psychedelic albums with all sorts of crazy stuff going on in them.

Me: You guys into Pink Floyd at all?

Grant: Yeah.

Tyson: I like a lot of Pink Floyd.

Me: I heard a lot of Pink Floyd in the guitar.

Tyson: I am a pretty big fan of Pink Floyd. So...

Me: Is there any other psychedelic stuff that heavily influences you?

Grant: (Points at Tyson) Hendrix for you, for sure.

Tyson: I like Hendrix. All that odd ball stuff. Fuzzy Duck.

Grant: It seems like we're both pretty into the psychedelic rock. Hendrix, the Doors, Cream.

Me: Do you guys have a mission statement as a band? Any political statement?

Tyson: We don't have a political statement yet. We just want to play as often as we can. Get as many people to listen to it as possible, I guess.

Me: What are your goals? Are you trying to make this a career?

Tyson: Try...

Me: Get a couple tours under your belt?

Tyson: Yeah. We're actually working on a tour this summer. Washington, Oregon, and California tour.

Grant: We'll try that and see what happens.

Tyson: We're starting to branch out a little more. Up until now we've only really been playing Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle.

Me: Have you guys done anything to promote your music outside of Washington?

Tyson: Not really. At all.

Grant: We've only had that little demo that we weren't super impressed with.

Tyson: We're waiting for this new album to come out and then we're really going to start pushin'. Pushin' everywhere.

Me: So I guess the obvious question... If you could play with any artist or band, living or dead, who would it be?

Grant: The band I'm really into is Kingston Wall. They're from Finland. They were in the 90's. Like, psychedelic rock.

Tyson: They are pretty cool. I'm gonna say Blind Melon. Yeah... I'm going with that.

Grant: Blind Melon? Interesting choice.

Josh: Love and Rockets?

Tyson: Yeah... Don't say "the Love Rockets."

Josh: Well, I'm super into punk rock music. So... I don't know though. I just like bands that have tons of energy.

Me: So like, Bad Brains then?

Josh: Bad Brains is a good band!

Me: Back flips on stage.

Grant: That's what you need to do, Josh. Back flips on stage. It will improve our stage-presence exponentially.

Me: So what are everyone's names and what do you play? I should have started there, and I totally skipped it.

Tyson: I'm Tyson. I play the guitar.

Josh: I'm Josh, on bass.

Grant: Grant on drums.

Me: I think I have everything I need. Wait... do you guys have a time you hope the new album will come out?

Tyson: Shooting for early May.

Me: Do you guys already have your art work planned out? Order of Songs?

Grant: We have our order of songs. That's where we're really struggling. Our album art.

Tyson: We have ideas, but...

Me: Are you going to get an artist to do it? Are you guys artistically inclined? You gonna do it yourselves?

Grant: We're not terribly artistically inclined, and we don't really know anyone that's a good artist.

Me: I know some artists who have done album art. Maybe I could put the word out.

Grant: That would be cool. We were thinking that cool, psychedelic, Israeli Gears type of album cover would be awesome, but none of us has the aptitude at it.

Me: Maybe we can put that up in the interview and see if anyone wants to get back to you.

Tyson: Do it. Yeah.

Grant: Yes, because if we're in charge of the art it would turn out pretty questionable.

Me: How are you planning on releasing it?

Tyson: We're going to do CDs and digital.

Me: Have you ever thought about pressing any vinyl?

Tyson: Yeah. It's a little more expensive.

[I give a long spiel on why selling vinyl is better, and how record players are becoming common place again. (Post comments about what a hipster I am below)]

Me: Do you guys have any cool shows coming up?

Tyson: We're playing Jack Fest at the Midnight Sun on the 11th [of April].



That's where I stopped the tape. We bantered a bit more, Tyson dropped the adage, "Nothing kills the mood like a metronome" in reference to not using one on the new album, and we parted ways. I thought of several questions on the way back to my car.

All in all, I was nervous, but I had a great time and I feel like I got to know Hot Hoodoo a lot better. If you haven't seen them yet, be sure to find them on Facebook and Reverb Nation, to keep track of when they're playing and where. It's definitely worth your time. I, for one, can't wait for the new album.

Handwritings - Boring, Dumb, and Fine

Handwritings is a lo-fi, indie rock band from Olympia, WA. I happened upon their most recent album, "Boring, Dumb, and Fine;" because a friend of mine saw them open for Pat the Bunny. I was glad I did.

They've got the slacker thing down. Managing to portray the "trying really hard to seem like there's no trying being done at all," that was popular with 90's bands like Pavement and Marcy Playground, without coming off as emo. All of the disjointed slack-rock that comes out after about 2000 seems so whiny to me. It's refreshing to find a solid example of that kind of music, advanced 20 years, and not tainted by the overly-hip, acoustic whine-fest, that is bands like the Mountain Goats, or Rural Alberta Advantage.

Handwritings is your typical guitar, bass, drums three piece rock outfit. The guitars come off as slightly out of tune at times, and the vocal harmonies are a bit off key, but that's obviously what they were looking for. I can hear some really juicy riffs, and mind-destroyingly catchy hooks, that were cleverly hidden behind the "we're no good at this" image they seem to be going for.

For example, 'Other Guys' boasts the hook line, "Smoke rings and cough medicine. Tell me, tell me where to begin," which should get lodged in your brain until you beat it out, but it's delivered in such an uncaring way, that it fades in with the rest of the lyrics you probably won't listen to.

For the most part, these guys come off as bored, probably stoned, and definitely lazy. Which is super relatable to the Olympia community at large. Everyone I've ever met in this town, knows all about long days spent too stoned to get up and go to that class you've skipped twice already that week. I can see this band getting lots of play here in town, or fading into obscurity, simply because the indie-hipsters care less than Handwritings want you to think they do. The fact that none of the songs really come off as a hit probably won't do them any favors either. The album as a whole, however, belongs in the cars of underwhelmed, twenty-somethings everywhere.

I give it a 3.5 out of 5.