Even though it was SNOWING in October here in Philly, the Bravissimo Burlesque crew kept it hot enough for everybody Saturday at Wineo at 4th and Poplar streets.
Every last Saturday of the month since January 2010, producers Miss Rose and Lil’ Steph have been titillating audiences at the No Libs establishment with their sensual vaudevillian performances.
For Halloween, Miss Rose’s favorite annual performance, we were treated to three pants-tightening sets of acts by Miss Rose and Lil’ Steph. Their multiple routines ranged from Mad Science to Beetlejuice, Pinkie Special, the master hoopstress, the sensual seductions of Iris Explosion and the Evil Dead Boylesque performance by Bretzo.
The night was MC’d by Philly’s favorite dead guy–Mr. Dead Guy–and his duo of evil puppets, Baby Cheezewits and Scabby.
Bravissimo Burlesque performs the last Saturday of every month at Wineo. Check it out, and be sure to say hi to Jeffery while you’re there.
This interview was conducted the day after Rival Schools new record, Pedals, came out. We discussed the 10 years of lag time in between records, what it’s like playing together again after such a long time and the release show here in NYC. Enjoy it!
OOPM: Being that you guys have so much history as a band, even before Rival School, has it been easy after so much time to be able to come back together and feel like a band again?
Walter: It gets easier all the time, when we first got to playing again together we did a tour in 2008 and we kind of played around in Europe, we played the United States as well and that was really the first thing of seeing what it felt like to play together and play those old songs and get a sense of where we left off. With the album out now you know, we played last night in New York, it was a big show, sold out, all our friends were there and it just felt really great, and this tour we just did in the states was just excellent. So now I feel that much more solid. The cool thing about a band is that it’s always evolving, or I want this one to be that way.
OOPM: How did the reunion shows back in 2008 and 2009 come about?
Walter: We essentially broke up the band, but we didn’t so much say that we broke up the band, we wanted to leave it open to sort of do something in the future. I guess you call it a hiatus is what people call it, but we weren’t really sure that we’d ever do it again. So, over the years we’d get together every so often to try to write songs and see how it was going and it just got to where in 2008 Sam called me and was like, “hey dude, if we’re gonna ever do this it’s gotta be now, it’s been 10 years.” Doing the tour and getting out and playing was always with the intention of making an album to follow up United by Fate. As great as that album was to us and as important as it is to us, having not followed it up was kind of like something hanging over our heads, at least for myself anyway.
If you know anything about punk rock, well, anything beyond The Clash and the Sex Pistols, then you know who Crass is and how influential they were to the punk rock movement. The movement itself was important, especially to those who were immersed in it, but Crass also had a profound effect on the direction of the movement as their content targeted political ideas, icons, and practices. Needless to say this also made them quite a controversial band, but in the end that’s kind of what punk rock is all about. If you’re not being controversial and pissing off the powers that be then you might as well be a boy band, right? Crass also spearheaded the DIY culture of punk. After having issues getting a The Feeding of the 5000 pressed because of, you guessed it, controversial material, they started their own label and put out the record along with numerous other releases. Well for those of us who missed the good old days when Crass was still playing shows we now have our chance. Steve Ignorant is about to embark on his “Last Supper” tour playing Crass songs from 1977-1984. The tour starts in NYC on March 10th! Before hitting the road we were able to talk with him about the upcoming tour. You will find all tour dates posted at the bottom of the interview. Enjoy!
OOPM: How does the political world of today compare to what you were speaking out against when you were singing for Crass 30 years ago?
Steve: Not that much different. When Crass were in our hay day, we had an arch enemy who was called Margaret Thatcher who was in league with a guy called Ronald Reagan, and they were sort of easy targets at that time, certainly for us English things were really really really bad. Then a few years ago we got supposedly a new labor government in which was run by a younger man, and I think that everyone thought that him being younger and not from the war generation that there would be new ideas and a new approach to politics and that didn’t happen. Now what we’ve got is another young guy who think the same as Margaret Thatcher, so the whole thing has gone around in circles. It seems now-a-days that people are better off when in fact they are not. I would say it’s exactly the same, there is a new nuclear industry trying to be started in this country, so off we go again. READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP »»
For more than 25 years our intergalactic masters have enslaved Earth with a subtle combination of heavy metal, latex and vomit/piss/blood. Autumn is that special time, our holidays celebrate the dead and the falling of leaves brings the landing of the true musical overlords.
As it was this October as it always has been, GWAR played Philadelphia.
OOPM was lucky to climb ourselves to the top of the pile of expired human filth and get a few minutes with Oderus on camera before the set. There was a warm up – then all hellion broke loose. Check out the rest of the video to break it down. “I said break it down!”
The show opened with zombie business suit robots exploding into a tsunami of blood. The double bass kicked in and countless minds were wiped, controlled and wiped again. Palin was disembowled then strangled with her own intestines. Gor Gor trampled from stage left flattening band and enemies, finally being slain as the sword of Oderus split his walnut sized brain. As Ron and I killed a bottle of whiskey afterwards, we wondered what exactly would be happening at a GWAR BAR. We want to go.
GWAR goes to college? You bet. The Harvard Lampoon, operating since 1876, honored GWAR with induction on October 16th.
The Lampoon put out an official statement on GWAR’s induction: “In honor of their prodigious achievements of slaughter, brutality, conquer, mayhem, and madness, The Harvard Lampoon is delighted to present GWAR with the award of “Most Terrible, Vile, Disgusting, Disturbed, yet Revoltingly Awesome Band Ever.”
As if the galaxy could not get any smaller, tune in to Jimmy Fallon on October 28th [tonight] for GWAR will be performing for the first time on network television, ripping through their new single “Zombies, March!” We are curious to see what sneaks past the censors. Will the Cuttlefish make an appearance?
The good folks over at the Vans Warped Tour were nice enough to let us cover the Camden, NJ show this year on July 17th. After a semi-brutal biking endeavor over the Delaware river getting us from Philadelphia to Camden, we got our tickets, checked in with the press coordinator and hit the ground running. Unfortunately we hit the ground running a little too slowly and we made it over to the main stage just in time to miss Andrew WK. After that we looked at the schedule for the rest of the day and formulated our battle plan to make sure we didn’t miss any other key players we were there to see.
The first set we grabbed was Reel Big Fish who have been around a long time and are still going strong. I remember seeing them in 1997 with Rancid if that helps date them at all. Chock full of horns, skanking, and “pick it up”, these ska rockers set a good tone for the rest of the afternoon.
After Reel Big Fish, we did a full lap around the festival, making note of where every stage was, checking out the kids ripping on the half pipe and deciding not to spend $11 on a beer. Following a quick Steve Van Doren sighting we headed back to the main stage for two brutal sets from Everytime I Die and The Dillinger Escape Plan.
Everytime I Die, from Buffalo New York, is rock and roll with all the brutality and drive of a hardcore band that might make you want to rip off the face of everyone around you. Think about Motorhead with riffing that falls somewhere between Wolfmother and The Sword. They got a huge crowd reaction and definitely brought the intensity of the show to the next level. Everytime I Die was a hard act to follow, but The Dillinger Escape Plan had no problems living up to the challenge.
If you were there and saw The Dillinger Escape Plan it is impossible that they were not one of your favorite acts of the day. They hit the stage with a fury that we had not seen all day, and did not see from any other acts after them. So many tempo changes and so many styles go into their music that it becomes like having the best seizure of your life. They are hard to keep up with not only musically, but on the stage as well. Everyone was all over the place, if there was not a guitarist jumping off a cabinet, then the singer was scaling the 8 foot wall of PA speakers. The Dillinger Escape Plan are a Vans Warped Tour highlight, not to be missed!
A good many hours into our day at this point, covered in sweat and seeking shelter from the unrelenting sun, we headed into the Susquehanna Pavilion where snacks and liquid were the goal. After a pretzel and a bottle of water, where I had to argue with the lady to keep my lid (really?!?!), we headed off to see veterans of the game, Face To Face.
Seeing Face To Face was awesome, not only are they a band that I have been a fan of since high school and always managed to miss, but after thanking “all the parents” for watching their set, they helped us realize that were not the oldest people there. Face To Face have been at it for 19 years with no signs of slowing down. They are recording their first new record in 7 years, and after hearing some of the new material they played, I’m excited to see how it turns out. Just a full on fun in the sun punk rock show!
Vans Warped Tour veterans, The Bouncing Souls without a doubt stole the show. The crowd gathered, crowd surfed, and sang along while these New Jersey boys ripped up the stage on their home turf. Within seconds of starting the first song, singer Greg Attonito was off the stage standing up on the barricade getting mobbed by kids who were all screaming along into the microphone as he borrowed their head gear, making sure of course to return it as he headed back to the stage. The Bouncing Souls were the definition of fun that afternoon, involving not only the crowd, but tons of their friends who were on stage with them smiling and laughing, even occasionally being dragged to the mic for a sing along. After 20 years in the game, these guys are still as punk rock as it comes showing the youth that it’s not all about how “cool” you are, sometimes it’s just about being with your friends and appreciating the good times. You could tell The Bouncing Souls are still having the time of their lives.
The last set we caught after a long tiring day of fun in the blazing hot sun was Riverboat Gamblers. We were pleasantly surprised after seeing them that they did, indeed, live up to the hype we had heard. Even though they were on the smaller Ernie Ball Stage, they put on an amazing show with tons of energy and heart. The crowds reaction was definitely positive and I think I may have seen more movement here than I did at the main stage all day. They also get the award for the best shirt of the day, a white tee with black ink stating, “Mel Gibson is an Asshole.” There is no doubt that they are a band to look out for on the main stage in the coming years.
As the Vans Warped Tour has grown and become more well known, and popular with the masses it would be easy to write it off as a former underground punk/skating tour gone commercial. As we walked around throughout the day and made our way from stage to stage pounding the nearly melting asphalt and concrete we realized that this is far from the truth. Droves of kids everywhere, the misunderstood and malcontent youth of today, so happy to battle the heat and sweat all day long seeing the bands they love with the friends they love. No one worrying about what label is put on them, who is giving them weird looks because they appear different, and no feeling of alienation. As we get older it is easy to think that our “generation” or friends were the last true wave of whatever scene we were involved in. I grew up going to punk rock shows and skateboarding and it is still very much a part of my life, but it was great to see that there is a new generation of kids out there, just like we were who have a place to go and are able to be a part of something with people just like them. These are the kids who might not invited to the party on Friday night where all the “cool” kids will be, Vans Warped Tour is their party.
The west coast hosted their Vans OTW Collection release party last month, and on Friday night June 18th, it was our turn here in the east. Hosted by Set Free at Ubiq in Philadelphia, the entire event was executed with one hundred percent class from the red carpet to the tuxedo clad servers offering up crab cakes and sushi. Ubiq’s first level was decked out with about thirty pairs of Vans from the celebratory collection, all surrounding an “OTW” ice sculpture in the middle of the room. That’s right, I said ice sculpture! From there it was off to the second level which is a great space with nicely finished wood floors and lots of wall space for all of the artwork. Each artist, Eric Elms, Dimitri Coste, and The Blackouts (Ako and Atiba Jefferson), had their own section or defined wall where their pieces could be enjoyed.
The “refreshment” table in the backroom, to no ones surprise, was a popular destination for guests to start their night. Luckily we arrived early and photoed the product so we were able to enjoy the spread of Vodka, Rum and Heineken as soon as the party started. The main display of the OTW Collection was was also in the backroom, perched atop 5 pedestals lit from the inside with every model (Alomar, Bedford, Larkin, Tustin, and Frazier), in every color. On either side of the collection was Elms’ wall of screen printed posters and tees and The Blackouts photos of Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi) and H.R. (Bad Brains). The rest of the images ran almost the entire span of the room showing an array of party time pics and iconic portraiture.
In the adjoining room was the DJ booth and custom “Set Free” Playstation 3 hooked up to a giant flat screen TV. Unexpectedly, at least to me, the PS3 almost seemed to be the highlight of the party in the early part of the night. Every one of the celebrated artists and a crowd of party goers were all surrounding the TV issuing challenges, lighthearted trash talk, and the occasional collective, “ooohhhhh” as someone almost landed a trick on their digital skateboard. Fast forward a couple of hours and many drinks later to a packed out dance floor and people having the time of their lives. Arms above their heads, spilling drinks on your shoes, not knowing nor caring how ridiculous their drunken dance moves may or may not look; in short, it was a party! Even Mos Def came through to hang with the masses. DJ Pete Rock along with guest DJ sets from The Blackouts kept everyone’s feet moving all night and they couldn’t be happier about it.
Journeying to the very front room is where Dimitri Coste’s domain was. Every image he used depicted Elvis Presley with images of Graceland. Unfortunately the custom drum kit that Coste made, also adorning images of “The King”, was not able to be transported to Philadelphia.
All of the artists were super personable throughout the night graciously making their rounds and talking with everyone. At one point The Blackouts disappeared for about 15 minutes only to re-appear with a brown paper bag containing cans of Budweiser. There was an immediate race by a giddy mob to the bag, which slightly puzzled us since there was free Heineken available all night. When a smiling Eric Elms warned us that we might want to step back we realized they were putting the party in high gear by shot gunning the Buds. I’ve always seen the puncture in the can done with a pen or a key, but Dimitri and Atiba jammed their thumbs right through the sides of the aluminum and went to work.
Although it was a party we did manage to get some business talk in with the OTW crew. They were able to enlighten us to the fact that this first release is just the beginning of their partnership with the OTW Collection. All of the artists are currently working on the next round of shoes right now, which are supposed to be released in Spring 2011. There are also 2 models that will not be returning next year. Which ones you ask? Well, we don’t want to ruin all the surprises. When all was said and done, it was an amazing party with amazing art work and the release of a truly exciting collection.
When you meet someone for an interview and the first thing they do is they buy a beer and tell you to, “hold on one second while I take a piss in this alley,” some people might be put off by that. Those actions just solidified in my mind that this was going to be a good time. I met John in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon during the Bike Fetish Day celebrations where we found a nice stoop for our Q & A session. If you follow his blog (Prollyisnotprobably.com), you know it gives you a sense that he is a very humble and down to Earth kind of guy. Well, that is exactly what I found to be the truth. It was a lot of fun to sit down and talk with him about fixed freestyle, architecture, and toys, but for as much fun as it was, he always kept an air of seriousness about it.
John “Prolly” Watson is all things bikes. Coming from a background in mountain and road biking, his knowledge compounded from there after he moved from North Carolina to NYC. A jack of many trades on 2 wheels, being a sponsored fixed freestyle rider, still riding his road bike and heading out to the Velodrome for track races, John offers a well versed and respected perspective on the cycling community. We touched on a bit of everything, the future of fixed freestyle, the NYC bike scene, and how awesome The Sword may or may not be. Check it out along with photos from Water St. Sessions last Thurs!
OOPM: How long have you been riding bikes in general? John: Mountain bikes and road bikes in college, then when I moved here (NYC) I started riding a single speed conversion, then a fixed gear. So, I don’t know, probably since like 2000. I mean, you know when your a kid you have like a BMX and like a beach cruiser, shit like that, but serious…I took mountain biking seriously.
OOPM: How long have you been riding fixed then? John: Well, I moved here in 2004, I was riding a mountain bike. I sold my road bike because I figured the streets would be too shitty for a road bike, as ironic as that is. [laughs] So, I rode a mountain bike, hated it then I got a single speed and caught on to the fixed thing and was just like, “alright, I’ll try fixed.” So, I guess like 5 to 6 years?
OOPM: Was it a progression from there to get into freestyle? John: Well, I had my conversion for a while and was riding that around, then I got a track bike that actually bar spun…no, before that I had a track bike that didn’t bar spin, then I got an IRO that actually did bar spin so I started fucking around. Actually, here at Bicycle Fetish Day, 3 years ago was when I first learned to do bar spins. You know, like popping up front wheel and spinning the bars, and then backwards circles and stuff like that, pogos, but that was pretty much it. I started taking the fixed freestyle stuff seriously like 3 years ago when I met Tom (LaMarche) and Tony (Fast).
OOPM: How did you meet those guys? John: There was this competition at the banks called “Battle of the Banks”. I pretty much thought it was going to be skids and backwards circles and bar spins and Tom shows up and is doing 180′s out of the bank and Tony is doing Wallrides to Fakie. They were actually riding the banks like a BMX, and I just met them and we just started hanging out and been friends ever since.
OOPM: Obviously fixed freestyle is blowing up right now and getting bigger and bigger, where do you see the future of that going? Do you think eventually people will start making a living off of this? John: No, never. It’s a credible sport, but the BMX and the skating industry are MASSIVE industries that have infiltrated every aspect of life. Like corporate advertising, fucking Wal-Mart, and companies know that you can go to like southern California, you can throw a contest in NY, and put big money up and guys are gonna fucking go at it. It’s all about crowd appeal too. You can watch guys do stuff on fixed gears that looks ok, or you can watch guys on BMX fucking kill it, and that’s the difference between the 2 sports. One is fun and one is like, you gotta be really fucking good. Like if you’re a pro BMX’er and you’re good, you’re going to make a lot of money. There’s no way if you’re a fixed gear rider you’re going to be as good as a pro BMX’er.
OOPM: Do you think a lot of it is also understanding? Like people see fixed riders riding and they assume it’s just like a BMX bike, so since the show is not as “grand” as a BMX show… John: Yeah, yeah. You already have kids talking about getting paid, and it’s one thing to have a sponsor and get a free frame and maybe a flight, like a travel stipend. But it’s another thing to actually be paying someone. It’s a lot about representing the company, it’s a lot about giving product research and development, like developing new products. Those kinds of things are worth more to companies than your face or your name on a bike.
OOPM: Do you think that’s because it’s so new and still developing? John: Yeah, it’s new, but a lot of the companies that are making this stuff aren’t big companies. If you look at the first few companies that made the first actually fixed gear frames were small grassroots companies. Do these companies have at least $60,000 a year to pay someone, no, or $40,000 or $30,000? No.
OOPM: Do you think if bigger companies do step in and start paying people that it will kind of ruin it? John: It’s kind of hard to say, “ruin” or mess up the sport is one thing, but when we started doing this shit it was because it was fun and something different. Like, I take it seriously and I practice stuff, but I don’t take it so seriously that I’m gonna feel like if…I don’t know, it’s a hard line…this for me is a fun way to spend my time. I mean, you can tell at the pace that the sport is progressing kids are out there hucking themselves off shit, putting pegs on their bike, going massive doing all this crazy shit. You can tell, those are the guys that want it, they want it, they want to get paid, and it’s just a matter of what you want to get or expect to get out of it. For me it will always be something that is fun and I’m comfortable doing. I’m not gonna push myself to where I can injure myself to the point where I can’t race at the track or couldn’t ride my
road bike. So, for me, I have a little bit of a different slant on it. Also with the blog, I feel like my blog is the credible thing that I come from. I’m not like a fantastic rider, I’m good at what I do. People know me because of my blog not because of my freestyle tricks.
OOPM: So it really boils down to what you’re trying to get out of it? John: Yeah, exactly.
OOPM: Besides bikes and collecting those, you also collect toys, right? Like vinyl toys? John: Yeah, it’s not like…ok, yeah, it’s super fucking nerdy, but…[laughs] OOPM: That’s ok, over half the people at the magazine collect vinyl toys so… John: But it’s Japanese, it’s Kaiju, it’s not western like Kid Robot style stuff. My biggest thing is like, I’m good friends with the guys from Mishka, and I introduced one of my friends Joel whose name is Lamour Supreme to them a while back and they’ve been doing collaborations. Basically Kaiju roughly translates to “strange beast”, and it comes from all the Godzilla and Ultraman movies from Japan where it’s these strange beasts that are destroying cities, so you know kids would play with these vintage vinyl toys that were literally made in a factory by some old man pouring vinyl into a hot press and making the toy. So, now you’ve got these companies that are doing limited runs, and when I say limited I don’t mean like 100 pieces, I mean like 10 pieces that they paint themselves and they sell for a decent dollar rate. You just have to find a way to get them from Japan, so I’m really into collecting those kinds of things where it’s like each toy is handmade, and some special variety. It’s also not as cutesy cartoon-ish like Kid Robot, it’s pretty nasty like really organic and kind of rough. You can actually see tool marks and shit like that. But I’ve only been picking up pieces like if Mishka would do something or if my friend, Lamar Supreme would do something I’d grab a toy, but now I’m actually searching this one artists stuff out pretty regularly. OOPM: So it’s more the hand crafted aspect of it? John: Yeah, and there’s only a few guys that I like too, I’m not buying into the whole thing.
OOPM: So you have a degree in Architecture, do you still do a lot related to that field? John: Yeah, I’m going to be an architect one day. I moved to New York to work in architecture. 40 hours, at least, like usually around 60 hours a week, and I was working full time until about 5 weeks ago when I was laid off because my office just ran out of money. The industry is so slow right now that it’s not even worth it to look for a job, so I’m collecting unemployment and selling bike parts, and just focusing on the blog more and riding. I can actually race at the track now, they do track racing out here on Wednesday nights. I could never leave work early enough before. Come September though, I’ll probably start looking for a job.
OOPM: Do you do graphic design as well? John: Not really, I mean, I kind of built my web site. I didn’t use a template or anything, so I learned CSS, and PHP, and some HTML, and I actually had a friend that works at Mishka, Mike Jones, did my logo. Going through architecture school, you kind of learn the fundamentals of Gestalt, form space and order, and the grid, so I can like apply that stuff, like I can look at something and lay it out, but I’m not quote, a graphic designer or anything.
OOPM: How awesome is the band The Sword? John: Eh, they’re alright. OOPM: Noooo! Just alright? [laughs] John: I’m so specific about what I like, and The Sword just misses the mark. OOPM: How’s the fixed scene in New York? John: It’s cool! The freestyle scene is pretty much non-existent, there are like 3 people who do it, there’s like Torey, Wonka, and me. There’s a few other people that mess around a little bit. I mean it’s fun because there’s not the microcosms of scenes that other cities have where like the polo guys will only hang with the polo guys, or the messengers will only hang with the messengers. Like here everyone gets along and hangs out, and there’s no shit talking like, “oh you fucking poser, you’re not a messenger, you suck…” there’s none of that. People will kind of heckle the freestyle kids a little bit, but at the end of the day we’re still out there riding our track bikes at the track…
OOPM: At the end of the day, you’ll all meet up for a drink at the bar? John: Yeah, yeah they’ll still hang out and stuff.
OOPM: What’s your favorite city to ride? John: Oh, that’s a tough one. I haven’t ridden in whole lot of cities in the US. I really want to ride in like SF and Seattle and Portland. I’ve ridden in Amsterdam, Roderdam, Tokyo, Tokyo was definitely fun because…yeah, I’ll say Tokyo. There is this understanding between the mopeds the cyclists and the cars, they acknowledge everyone’s space and they will encroach upon your space, but they won’t be aggressive about it. So you can be hauling ass down a street and a car will pass you going 50 mph, but they’re not like swerving and honking at you. They’re just giving you the 2 feet that you need. You can pull sidewalk lines, and like if you run a red light people you are riding with freak out, where as that’s not a big deal here. I think overall though definitely NYC. Other than New York, I would say Tokyo is fun.
OOPM: What’s your favorite city to hang out in? John: Hmmmm…I don’t know man, that’s a tough one. I feel like, Philly is always a good time when I go. I feel like every city I go to, like for instance I was in LA for a little bit, rode around LA. Like brought my bike and had a different experience there. It’s tough, I got to another city and it’s like, “oh, they don’t have this like New York has, or they don’t have that like New York has.” Like, where the fuck are the Bodega’s, why are the bars closing at 2, you know? Everyone wants to drive and it’s like, well why don’t we just ride, well, it’s 10 miles. So, lets ride 10 miles. It’s just getting rid of that comparing it to New York. That wasn’t really an answer to that question, but I would probably say New York.
OOPM: For moments of road rage would you rather have a lazer on your bike or a chainsaw? John: Chainsaw! [laughs]
OOPM: What should the penalty be for a bike thief? John: Chop his fucking hand off! No, I’m just kidding. I don’t know, it’s tough, when cities get gentrified and people need to find a way to make money and they see kids riding these expensive bikes around, it’s like yeah, they’re going to steal em, it’s part of the territory. I mean, it’s tough to say, I’m not really an aggressive person, but if someone was fucking with my bike and I had a U-Lock on me I wouldn’t think twice about fucking hitting em in the ribs or the kidney with it, that’s for sure.
OOPM: You ride road, track, and fixed freestyle, do you find that being a well rounded rider actually makes you better rather than focusing on one? John: Definitely. fixed freestyle has increased my bike handling skills in every other form of bicycle I ride. I’ll go out on the track and my fixed freestyle bike has a 74.5 head tube, and I’m used to turning it on a dime and controlling it. I’ll go out with my track bike that has a 75 head tube, and Kissena in turn 4 has like a few bumps. If you’re over your front end or on the front of your saddle and you’re pushing yourself to where you’re about to shit your pants, and you hit a bump wrong, I’ve totally brought my back wheel off the ground. The packs get a little squirrely sometimes and you gotta fucking make a move, you see a line and you make a move. In general man, like riding a fixed gear aggressively in traffic and on the streets of New York makes you a better bike handler than…I can’t think of anything else. Like I grew up mountain biking and you learn to pick your lines through trees and shit and it’s the same thing, except the trees are moving and they’re on cell phones and they have dogs attached to their hands. But I definitely picked up a lot when I started racing at the track like feeling how you become one with the bike and it becomes an extension. You just move your body to move your bike, it’s not so much moving the bike to move your body.
OOPM: When did you start racing at the track? John: This season is the first season I’ve raced. It’s fun! I played competitive sports in high school and college. You gotta have that, “I’m gonna fucking eat your head off”…you’re my friend when we’re not out here, but I’m gonna fuck you up right now. I did good opening weekend, I took the gold for the Cat 5′s, and then going out on Wednesday nights is fun. It’s a good mellow scene, everyone is real chill, but you’re there to race, you’re not there to make friends on the track, you’re there to make friends off the track.
OOPM: What bikes are you riding right now? John: Fixed freestyle is the Milwaukee Bruiser, and it’s got Sun Ringle rims and Answer bars and stem, Charge saddle, Hold Fast pedals, Profile hubs, Profile cranks, it’s a pretty solid build. Road bike I have an Eddy Merckx MX Leader with Dura-Ace 7402 and carbon HED wheels, which is like my nice road bike. I got a vintage Eddy Merckx Track Bike that’s all Nuovo Record which is like pretty classic. Then my actually track racing bike is a Felt TK2 with Zip 440 wheels and some road drops.
OOPM: Obviously your blog is super successful, was that ever in the vision at all when it started, or was it just for fun? John: No, not at all, when I started it it was because like when I moved here like my friends and family and everyone wanted to know what I was doing. Also, I was at the point where I was going like architectural lectures and gallery openings and parties and it was so new for me to sucked in to culture like that. You come to New York and there is just so much going on that I wanted to find a way to like…I called it a collective collection. Like everything that I find as influential to my life was on the blog and it helped my friends and family see what I was doing. Then eventually bikes became more important. I think what it was, was like 3 years ago everyone on the West Coast was talking shit on us riding our bike like BMX’s and I was like the 1 guy that always stood up for it and I always got trashed. Like Bike Snob ripped me apart constantly and there is a name associated with a face, I think that’s why it’s successful. Then recently since I’ve been laid off I’ve actually been able to go out and working with like Sara Kinney on video projects and taking more photos. Creating more about quality and less about content. I always try to write something about each post and when I’m doing twenty posts a day, it’s not as meaningful as when I’m doing 10 a day that are really really consistent conceptual posts. I feel like people have picked up on that and are appreciating it a little more, traffic is definitely sky rocketing.
OOPM: If you could pick a theme song when you entered a room, what would it be? John: Oh God! A theme song when I entered a room…that’s a tough one, I don’t know [laughs]. To indirectly answer, you know in Dazed and Confused when Matthew Maconahay walks into the billiards spot, I’m trying to think of something that’s not super like, “hey, what’s up” [laughs]. I don’t know, I mean, I’m a big fan of like…man…this is a really tough one…. OOPM: I like that this is the hardest one [laughs] John: I know, I mean, there is just so many fucking like, in the recent months I’ve found so many albums that I’m really stoked on…..uggghhhh…. OOPM: We’ll make it easy, what are you listening to these days? John: Yeah, as far as new albums, 2010, fucking Burzum Belus, that’s hands down the best fucking album, Varg like departed from his keyboard ambient shit and just went back to like Filosofem era and just created a fucking phenomenal pure Norwegian Black Metal album. Dark Thrones, Circle The Wagon is like crust infused like thrash punk fest. Nocturnal, Violent Revenge is like blackened Thrash. There’s tons of fucking great albums out right now, Hooded Menace’s new album is really good. It’s like straight up hard gnarly Doom with like death vocals. Sleep is some of my favorite stuff, Electric Wizard, Black Sabboth, Weedeater. Then like Dubstep too, although Dubstep is weird right now, basically going through the phases that Drum and Bass did in the 90′s and it went from being very dark and bass heavy and rib crushing bass lines to more Dance and House and Garage influence. There’s a few guys still bringing it back, but most of the stuff is more dance oriented. If I walked into a room, I guess something from Weedeater would be cool. I’ve been really feeling that album recently even though it came out like 2 years ago.
OOPM:Last words, shout outs? John: Thank all the sponsors, Milwaukee, Profile, Mishka, Outlier for helping me out so much. My girl for putting up with it, all my friends, Tom and Tony for getting me into it and pushing me. Other blogs that have shown me love too. Just all the people that are riding an keeping a positive attitude and not taking it too seriously, and still having fun, and just the NYC scene, like my local bike shop Affinity and anyone that has been real with me.
In the world of cycling it is not uncommon to hear of benefit rides, or someone like Lance Armstrong starting the Livestrong Foundation, and those are some of the aspects of cycling that make me proud to be a part of it. Even though it is something you do because you want to, there is always a sense of community about it. Phoenix Bikes shares that sense of community and is a bike shop that is completely and entirely dedicated to being a part of the community, giving back to it and showing kids how productive and accomplished you can feel after a few hour wrenching on bikes with some good friends.
One month ago, Ronnie and I [BFM], the weekend before Easter, interviewed Lucero. I have interviewed many bands for zines, call me a zine kiddie. It took us a month to get it together. To live life one must be in the correct mindset. I will tell the truth for right now. Ronnie and I are dueling shots with each other, one month later, and this shit feels fine. Lucero are the real deal, fellows who love their music and are genuine. They could talk/play for four hours like it is nothing. We have never experienced a more natural, down to earth interview. We brought whiskey, we brought pizza. And we had Lucero.
OOPM: There have been too many intros and not enough stories. What about the DVD (Dreaming in America)?
Ben: We know what you are talking about. That was a show at the Knitting Factory, and I was just too drunk to play Tears Don’t Matter Much. I haven’t seen that video in forever.
Brian: They were watching you, and I found that empty bar downstairs and got hammered because they weren’t watching me.
Ben: When Roy just finally walks off stage…yeah, yeah that happened. [laughs].
Brian: I found a $20 bill in the urinal covered in pee and I took it.
Ben: Are you serious???
Brian: Then went to the bar and bought 4 shots of Jager and got drunk. I was like HOLY CRAP $20.00!
Ben: Those were the old days… That doesn’t happen so much anymore.
John C: [Singing] $20 on the urinal cake. Yeah!
OOPM: Do you have plans on producing a vinyl single again. How important to Lucero are vinyl recordings?
Brian: I still buy vinyl. We would still love to produce a record… We get a lot of offers like, ‘Hey were doing a 7″ single series, do you have any throw away songs / B sides. In response, we have never been like, “Hey, let’s do a stand alone 7″.
Ben: Recently, all the songs that have been written have been needed for the full length album. So I guess Kiss The Bottle is the only 7″ we have done.
Brian: There’s that split 7″ that had that version of Nobodies Darlings with Slim Little Jim
John C: The cool thing with vinyl albums is now you have the mp3 download on it and then people buy the album. There’s kids that probably don’t even have a turntable…its something that links them to the band, It was even kinda lost with CD’s but even now with CD’s, putting in the CD is like playing the record opposed to just the mp3 download stuff… the artwork is the intangible something that links you to the band.
Brian: I still go to the record store. I still have 7 inches, The thing with the 7 inches was… if you’re a smaller band that’s what you put out or before you got the full length. It was all you could get on a sampler. Now, you can put 3 songs on Myspace. Ben: Back when, none of that existed.
Brian:Now, you take your 3 best songs and you put them on your web-space page as opposed to pressing a demo or vinyl. Ben: Yeah, that is true. John C: Then your band is legitimized kind of, like when you put out your first 7″, you were legitimized. Brian: Usually with us it’s when some one comes to us like Sabbath is reissuing all our LPs on vinyl. We don’t have the time or knowledge as much anymore, a lot of times at our shows anymore its not punk rock kids.
Ben: People pick it up and are like “this is to big to be a cd”. (laughs) Brian: People don’t know what they are as much anymore. I still think they’re neat.
OOPM: Along the lines of art work with albums and having something tangible. This last record as part of the pre-sale you guys gave away 6 silkscreen posters in one of the packages, when did the silk screen posters start?
John C: Well its kinda something that starts back to the beginning of the band. Started kinda screening posters for shows and as we started getting busy we had a couple of different groups of kids at home that would screen us posters and kinda made a big resurgence in Memphis. Then these other places kinda caught on to it, we would show up and there would be these amazing posters.
Ben: At first we did it for ourselves it was kinda just our DIY kinda thing.
Brian: You don’t realize how many people do posters until you go to something like SXSW or you go to gigposters.com now. Theres people that make posters for shows that don’t even take them to shows anymore. They just do them to just put them online. Lately the clubs will have them done or an individual screen printer will do them because they like the band.
John C: Some of it had to do with when Mikey Carpenter put 4 or 5 Lucero posters into a book, and then people just kind of wanted to do posters for us.
I think its some thing thats had such a big resurgence because of the mp3 thing you don’t have the record and the artwork. Brian: its not that U2 type of show. We have a whole new crowed of 18 to 45 year old people that like to go see shows, whether its bigger shows like the truckers (Drive By Truckers), or ourselves you get to see the band over by the merch table or at the bar before the show. John C: The poster kinda becomes the old album art and the live shows kinda mean more to us than the record sales. There’s that documentation to that moment in time you know?
OOPM: Have you ever had a really wacky interpretation of your band?
Brian: We saw a lot of posters and you were like “wow that was cool wow!”
Ben: Some times they push the limits. But like I said, different people interpret it different ways and like yea, you can see it in the style of posters, everyone has there own Lucero Brian:We had some mixed CD competition one time, at the time our tour manager thought that it would be good. We got like 30 or 40 cd’s.
Ben: You would be surprised sometimes. You would get a CD of all music that just sounded like Lucero.
OOPM: You guys are what, one week out? I’m a food lover, what food do you miss the most from home?
John C: It’s of course bbq is a given, but, um where we we used to live is kinda this Vietnamese community and we got really hooked on the Pho soups and such. So I woke up today and was like I wasn’t feeling bad but I was like I kinda need some Pho so I got on my skateboard and took a ride and ended up in Chinatown. I got an extra large bowl of Pho Ti and got my soup on and feel great.
OOPM: Music wise what would you suggest?
Ben: The only live bands I can see are the bands were playing with. We’re on tour with a band called Glossary from Murfreesboro TN I guess. Its’ kind of a little self promotion but we put out there new record. It’s not really a label but we have a distribution deal so we helped them put it out. It’s a great record so I have been listening to that a bunch we all kinda listen to a bunch of different things. Brian: I’m listening to a lot of metal right now, I just downloaded black breath. Usually it’s a lot of southern everything out of Savannah, Baroness, and You Black Puss Skeleton Witches, out of Ohio. Virgin Witch, there’s a whole new wave of metal John C: I’m on a jazz kick myself, a little Fred Hemrick, The Night Before, and some Tommy Robinson.
OOPM: If you guys were the Muppets, who would you be?
Ben: Obviously Roy’s Animal. I don’t know who the rest of us would be. Brian: I’d probably be Beaker but I’d like to be the Swedish Chef. John C: I’d be Fozzie. Brian: [To Ben] You’re already a muppet. Ben: In TE …………..video theres kinda a version of me.
OOPM: Irish Whisky or American Bourbon?
Ben: Jameson is the whisky of choice.
OOPM: Who’s the wildest it could be the smelliest the crassest throwing tequila around?
Ben: On this tour one of our horn players has been having a good time. Yeah, we all have our moments. John C: Hes really been digging it, he does a lot of sessions for other people and is in a band in Memphis. He lives in Memphis and has a family in Memphis. But he goes to Gainesville to tour and leave out on tour with all these guys that live in Gainesvillle. But even in this short amount of time that he’s played with us its weird because it’s like he’s in the band you know, so it’s super exciting and stuff, he’s just a blast.
OOPM: Any pre-show superstions?
Ben: I like to at least buy a drink at the bar before each show, even though there is whiskey back here, it’s nice to go out and actually buy a drink at the bar, but there’s nothing like superstitions. We’re not a very superstitious band. OOPM: With the rise of southern rock, why do you think that is?
Brian: it’s not just one thing. I don’t think it ever really went away, I don’t think anything ever goes away, it’s just who decides to notice it at what point and what magazines will say it’s a comeback. But those bands have been there a long time. Like with Drive By Truckers, “oh it’s a resurgence of country rock”, but those guys have been doing that for years.
John C: So much of the record industry is almost falling apart at this point. It’s been kind of electronic roots and then they even had the resurgence of boy bands and all this stuff, all these “hype bands”, and it’s just people being sick of it and being like wait a minute, “I don’t have to be told what to like”. Then it’s just the real stuff kind of rises to the top and southern rock has always had this element of real-ness to it. The song is sang straight from your gut and playing your heart out. The times that we are in now, I think people are just looking for something that is real and just not bullshit.
Brian: I think it’s just, it depends on what you listen to or what you’re looking to listen to. If you listen to the radio there might be more rock bands on there now. But if you listen to what you choose to listen to, the Lil Wayne record could be the best thing you’ve ever heard in your entire life if you like rap. There’s a resurgence there, like you can break any music down into a certain genre weather it’s east coast rap or southern rap or southern rock vs electro pop. Like I said obviously with the internet and myspace, you’re MTV’s, and magazines are becoming almost irrelevant but they are still trying they will latch on to anything. Like, “oh, The Holdsteady, they’re bar rock”, it’s like wow, really, it can’t just be rock and roll you have to put something in front of it. Like, Holdsteady, Drive by Truckers, Lucero, Kings of Leon, that’s 4 bands that don’t even play together that often or are just doing their own thing. OOPM: Do you feel that the way music is being distributed electronically that it’s adding more genre labels?
John C: No doubt about it. Brian: When people look back on it you’ve got folk rock, acid rock, heavy rock, I mean honestly thats your PR man and record labels trying to fine tune a crowd and find a point to sell it to someone. John C: Or be the first one to coin a phrase and come up with something and be somebody becuase they came up with a phrase to define something.
I think people should listen to whatever they want but I think labels and PR people are strangling it and trying to create scenes that maybe are there but don’t need their help for them to capitalize on it.
OOPM: If you had to label yourself, what would it be?
Ben: We’re just kind of a rock n roll band. There are a bunch of different influences in the mix, I don’t know…. Brian: I tell my family and my neighbors that we are southern rock because they can understand it. Like I said thats the whole reason for these labels. If you’re like, well, we are kind of indie, but we’ve got this southern thing, we’re not lyndard skynard they just give you this blank look. Ben: Yeah, I’ve always just said we’re a southern indie rock band. Brian: A lot of people that I talk to now, like the older relatives and neighbors the indie throws em. So I just say we’re southern rock, and they’re like, “oh, I love all those bands”, [laughs] Ben: We wish we were Tom Petty
OOPM: If you couldnt do this tomorrow, what would it be?
Brian: Cobbler (Fix shoes). John C: Bike mechanic. Brian: What you want to do? Or had to do? [laughs]
OOPM: No, what you wanted to do…
Ben: Comic books…yeah…If I wasn’t doing this right now, thats the road I would have gone down.
OOPM: growing up you read comics and everything?
Ben: Oh yeah
OOPM: what’s your favorite title?
Ben: recently I’ve been reading a lot of goon…goon is really good. what have I been buying? The new conan stuff is really good on darkhorse. Hellboy has always been a favorite of mine. Ben: Obviously we’ve got a song on the new record called, The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo and thats based on love and rocks by the hernandez brothers. I don’t know, it just mentions a lot of the characters from that comic book. It’s probably one of my favorites, actually it’s definitely one of my favorites, if not THE favorite.
OOPM: You said bike mechanic?
John C: Yeah, thats what I did before this pretty much.
OOPM: Didn’t you guys do the Props tour?
Ben: Yeah, we did a BMX tour Brian : He grew up with a kid named Ryan Corrigan who rides for FBM, Ryan used a Red 40 song and that led to using kiss the bottle which pretty much led from FBM to every BMX video you saw with Lucero in it. We became like the house band of BMX. John C: We wound up going to Austin the capital of BMX, we played at the Ridge? for FBM video premieres and stuff. The next year we’re in the back of one of those half bowls. High point in my career, we were playing that half wooden bowl and there was this break in the song, with kids sitting all around it, and I pitched my bass up to this kid and ran up there and was sitting on the edge, and then theres a song that the band starts out and then right before I came in I slide in down on my knees. Brian: The first Props tour we tried to go out on that one, but we couldn’t make it. It was skate parks, drunk BMX kids. Ben: A lot of those north star? shows were mainly BMX kids. Ryan Corrigan used a couple of Lucero songs in his video parts which helped us out a lot actually. Every town we go to there is always a handful of Riders. Brian: FMB was actually like, we can’t use anymore of your songs in our videos, because it’s over saturated. I still get my props 4 times a year, there is still younger kids that like us, there’s a certain generation of BMX kids. Chase Hawk might be the last one, I’ve known him since he was a baby, he likes us. It’s just that certain age range that will just always like Lucero.
OOPM: Do you see the same kids coming back every show, do you feel like it’s the same fan base?
Brian: We get a lot of new kids, you look out and you can see a FIT, or a FBM or Metal, or Etnie shoes. See people really built up top and real skinny legged it’s like oh thats a BMX kid [laughs] John C: For a while it was just all these different pros traveling around to see us, so then all the kids started getting into it after hearing all these stories about the pros coming out to see us.
Good things could last forever, but that is only in fairy tales. Lucero, who had been so kind for an hour had to get down to business and go forth to sound check. I [bfm], had to bail for the holiday weekend, but Ronnie was lucky enough to stick around for the sound check and rest of the night. I did text asking Ronnie, to wake up in Cleveland (where Lucero was playing the next day), but he held fast and woke up on his couch barely remembering his past 24 hours. Until next time, there will be a BBQ, whiskey and Lucero. Get ready for next time.
Not forgetting where you came from is always important no matter what you are doing. Johnny Cupcakes knows the importance of this and in an attempt to get back to his roots, he embarked on a month long U.S. tour. Himself along with a select few loaded up the van with suitcases and tour exclusive shirts for the Johnny Cupcakes Suitcase Tour. The humble beginnings of Johnny Cupcakes were experienced the same way. Packing his suitcases full of t-shirts to sell while he travelled the country with the hardcore band and trying to get the brand out to as many people as possible. Well almost 10 years, 3 retail stores, and hundreds of cupcakes later, he still believes in hitting the street and meeting his fans. Out of Print was lucky enough to catch up with Johnny for an interview last night in Philadelphia at their Ubiq appearance. The whole night was a lot of fun. Johnny and the whole crew on tour with him are amazingly fun people and we look forward to an opportunity to hang out with all of them again.
OOPM: I know you have a background in hardcore (music), do you still ever go out to shows at all? Johnny: Well, if there is an old band playing that I was into. Going to shows ins’t really as pleasant now.
OOPM: Were you in bands back in the day? Johnny: I was in a couple bands, but the one that was signed and toured a lot was called On Broken Wings and we toured with Integrity, Embrace Today, Bury Your Dead, Evergreen Terrace. We were signed to Eulogy Records. OOPM: What did you do in the band? Johnny: I did samples and synthesizer. I just put in like weird noises to make it sound a little different sort of like the DJ in Deftones mixes in stuff.
OOPM: Do you feel like your hardcore days have influenced your designs? Johnny: Yeah, just cause everthing was just cool, being in a band and seeing the process of getting shirts made to go on tour and working with different artists and finding out about different printing methods. It definitely influenced me.
OOPM: What are you guys listening to in the van right now? Johnny: In the van, what are we listening to…we have satellite radio so I like listening to the 40′s and 50′s station, a lot of old hip hop R&B and and early 90′s stuff.
OOPM: So, when you got started there were a few different nicknames going around… Johnny: Yeah, Johnny Appleseed, Johnny Hotcakes, coffeecakes. OOPM: How did you end up landing on the cupcake? Is it significant or is it just kind of random? Johnny: It was just random, maybe because I was small like a cupcake. [laughs] I don’t know, that’s all I could think of but, no, it was just random. I thought it was the funniest one so I put it on a shirt.
OOPM: What’s your favorite cupcake? Johnny: Everyone always asks me that. To tell you the truth, I’m like really sick of cupcakes. OOPM: I bet [laughs] Johnny: Just because my name is Johnny Cupcakes people think I can eat cupcakes everyday. Every day of my life I have someone bringing me some. It’s a lot.
OOPM: What designers are you into right now? What lines do you look forward to? Johnny: As far as other clothing lines, I don’t know, I really don’t pay attention too much. OOPM: Just focus on your own stuff? Johnny: Yeah, I love looking at old illustrators from the 40′s and 50′s, like really old cartoons some of like the black and white Disney days. OOPM: Is that more collecting inspiration for yourself rather than going to other peoples designs? Johnny: Exactly, yeah.
OOPM: You’ve done a number of collaborations, what would you say was one of your favorites? Johnny: We did one with The Hundreds, we did one with Warner Brothers, which I was actually going to get sued by Warner Brothers for the Batman and Joker shirt I did a few years ago. Then they like called me up and asked me all these questions, then they found out about my brand and they thought it was the coolest thing. Then they were like, “we’re going to let this slide, and if you ever want to use anything in the future we will give you a tour of Warner Brothers.” OOPM: Nice, so it turned into a good thing? Johnny: Yeah, for sure.
OOPM: Have you ever been in a bar fight or a food fight? Johnny: I’ve been in a few of food fights. I’ve never really been in a real fight. I am pretty small but I’m pretty quick. I’d probably pull some Mike Tyson stuff and bite someone’s face off [laughs]. I have such a loyal following though if anything would ever happen… OOPM: You’ve always got some back up. Johnny: There are like police officers that wear my stuff, detectives, people in gangs… OOPM: Your fans run the gamut. Johnny: Yeah, it’s pretty cool.
OOPM: So tomorrow night is the last night of the tour, what is the success rating of the tour so far? Johnny: It’s been amazing, it was a little better than I ever hoped for it to be. It almost seems to good to be true, but it’s been awesome.
OOPM: Being stuck in a van with people, there is always one, so who’s the smelly one on tour? Johnny: ummm…I think it varies and depends on what we eat.
OOPM: If you had a theme song, what would it be? Johnny: Probably be the Pee Wee theme song or the Mario Brothers song.
OOPM: What’s in your pockets right now? Johnny: My pockets?
OOPM: Running the brand obviously takes up a lot of your time, but what do you do besides that? Johnny: I go out to eat all the time, I love going out to eat. Have hang outs, bbq’s, movie nights, travel all the time. I’m gonna buy a ukalele when I get home. I have some low rider bicycles I ride. I used to collect arcade machines so I have a lot of those. That’s about it right now, I’d like to take cooking lessons, I don’t even know how to make cupcakes. I’d like to start a family someday, we’ll see. I just gotta make time for a personal life.
OOPM: If all of it ended tomorrow and you couldn’t do this anymore, what would you do? Johnny: I have a bunch of ideas for restaurants that I want to open. I want to write children’s books, I’m gonna write children’s books. Yeah, that’s what I’d do.
OOPM: What’s a healthy or unhealthy diet like on tour? Johnny: A lot of these guys want to eat fast food, but I try to make sure we all go to nice places. We all had Tapas for the first time in our lives, so we’ve been addicted to that the whole tour. But on the unhealthy side would be all the freakin cupcakes that everyone gives us, which taste good, but are also very unhealthy.
You can check out more photos from the Philadelphia stop here in our Galleries section!
