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!
On April 16th at Rock N Roll Hotel in Washington DC, myself and 3 of the 4 members of Cloak/Dagger crammed ourselves into the smallest room possible jam packed with drum sets and amps from all the bands playing that night. They were forced to answer my questions while every now and again someone awkwardly squeezed through us to use the bathroom that was also located in this tiny closet. The interview was still a whole lot of fun and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Maybe it’s just my personal opinion, but I’m real sick of reading the same old interviews with bands that make me want to rip my eyes out about halfway through because there doesn’t seem to be any fun involved. In the end, isn’t that what it’s supposed to be about, having fun!?! Well, we gave it our best, so read up!
All photos by: Jesse Neal
OOPM: Being on Jade Tree, they are an iconic hardcore/punk label with bands like Lifetime and Kid Dynamite, how did that come about, because you started out on Grave Mistake Records, right?
Collin B: Dave Wagenschutz liked our band… Colin K: He was working for Jade Tree at the time Jason: We did our first weekend of shows with Paint it Black, and Dave Wagenschutz and Dan Yemin, who sings for Paint it Black, liked our band and were pushing us hard to Jade Tree. We were talking to Revelation Records… Colin K: For a minute…it was a hot minute Jason: While Dan Yemin was pushing us to Jade Tree and they said they wanted to do something with us, which was cool, but in all honesty, it’s been just as cool doing stuff with Alex (Grave Mistake Records). When we signed to Jade Tree I think I had this idea of how things were going to be, and in the long run having your friend put out the record is just as efficient these days when anyone can do a lot of web promotion. Not to say that Jade Tree is not a good label, because they are a good label. Colin K: They definitely are. Jason: But with Alex, it’s kinda cool having your friend put out your record. Colin K: And he’s definitely been on point with all of his releases that he’s put out. Jason: But I guess Jade Tree also has, people who wouldn’t normally check you out will check you out because you’re on Jade Tree and they like some of the stuff they’ve done. Collin B: I think 5 years from now, the way we’re talking about Jade Tree, people will be talking about Grave Mistake.
OOPM: You guys have all been in other bands that were probably labeled as more “hardcore” before Cloak/Dagger, do you guys find that most of those fans still support what you’re doing now, or is it a whole different crowd?
Colin K: I would say it’s a little different. But some of the older kids do still come out because of the old bands we used to play in, but it’s a lot different now. I mean, we’re a lot older too and a lot of those other kids don’t even go to shows anymore. There are some older kids that still come out though, and we do appreciate that, them giving their support. Jason: Here’s the weird thing though…first of all there are the hardcore kids that are open minded and are like, “I’m into what you are doing now”, and that’s always cool to see. But also, the weird thing is, you go to core shows now and sometimes people look at you like, “what the fuck is this dude doing here?” Then I’m thinking to myself, “what the fuck am I doing here?” [laughs] You know what I mean, because I don’t really belong here, I guess, because you’re acting like I don’t, so I’m thinking that, well, I must not. It’s just hard to think that I used to have so much in common with people that I don’t really have that much in common with now… OOPM: Is that because they are younger? Jason: Maybe it’s younger, but I always felt like Count Me Out was off that beaten path anyway, like we didn’t really fit in with…. Colin K: The bigger bands at the time, we were behind all those bands, I think we got big by default because everyone broke up. Count Me Out rose up because there was nothing else left [laughs]. Jason: What I mean is like Count Me Out would play shows and there would be a dude with a straight edge varsity jacket going crazy and I would be like, cool, but at the same time I didn’t 100% relate to that dude like I can with you guys just hanging out and our little crew.
OOPM: Who’s the worst driving on tour?
Jason: ME! Colin K: J Mazzo! This fucker will text, then slide into other lanes and Collin and I will just watch and be like, “what the fuck, we’re going to crash”. He’s spilling coffee all over his feet, everything, all over in the other lane, oh man, it’s bad! [laughs] Jason: And rock that Sonic Youth non-stop son! Colin K: He’s the worst DJ too
OOPM: You’ve toured both the US and Europe, what are the biggest differences between the two?
Collin B: Comfort and money In Europe. Free beer everywhere, free food everywhere, nice places to stay Jason: Bearable places to stay. Collin B: Yeah, bearable places to stay, but always knowing you have a place to stay. OOPM: Is that because of the money for the arts available over there? Collin B: Well, yeah, there is a lot of state money for the arts, but you know, that doesn’t really apply to everything. There is just sort of a different mentality about it. There is an expectation that you’re going to put a band up, and there’s an expectation that even if you do take a loss on the show, you made that up on another show that you did make money on. Colin K: Yeah, they looked out for us. Jason: In the U.S. you drive fucking 300 miles and get paid 30 bucks, and they’re like, “what, you got 30 bucks.” Then you’re like, “well is there a place we can stay?” And they’re like, “nah, we all live in the dorms, do you can’t stay here.” It’s like, ok, well I guess I’ll take this 30 bucks and get maybe a little piece of a hotel room.
OOPM: So outside of the band, I know you (Colin K), are in school right now, Collin (B) is a bike messenger in DC, Jason, what do you do? [laughs]
Jason: I’m a fuck up. I sell shit on Ebay, I drink coffee, I do some graphic design work every now and again, and I temp a a law firm. Temp Life! OOPM: Collin B, how long have you been a bike messenger in DC? Collin B: I’ve been a messenger since ’98. I did a year in new york, then DC, so I guess 12 years. OOPM: So, do you love being a messenger, or is it like, yeah, I do it because I can? Collin B: Yeah, it’s like that. I wouldn’t say I love it, but the thought of having a job where I have to work inside and have a boss, it’s just a drag.
What’s one of your favorite tours you’ve gotten to be a part of and why?
Jason: Strike Anywhere Colin K: But that’s because they are our friends, and Paint it Black was fun. Jason: Yeah, Paint it Black, we did a weekend with them, and Strike Anywhere took us out for like 5 days . OOPM: Are those your favorites because you guys are closer with them? Colin K: Yeah, it’s because we’ve known those guys for a long time and I think that’s why. Whenever we get to tour with any of our friends, it’s always awesome. Jason: Like Government Warning, we did tour with them down to Florida. Colin K: We did tour with Government Warning for a little bit, it was like a few shows, but I mean those dudes are awesome too. Jason: The tours are always awesome, but it’s not always like tonight. Tonight we’re psyched because I like Pissed Jeans a lot, I listen to them, you know.
OOPM: Do you guys get tired of Jason always dragging you into stores to look at shoes?
Collin B: I think we’ve worked out a nice compromise. Jason: Dude, you know what, we pass so many fucking Nike Outlets and I never go in that shit. We have never gone to one Nike Outlet, we went into a Vans Outlet in California, and I picked up like 5 pairs of shoes and then realized, we don’t have room for those mother fuckers in the van. [laughs] Colin K: I forgot about that one! That is true Jason: I had picked up some Circle Jerks Vans, some navy Sk8-Hi’s, I don’t know what else, but it got to the point where I was like, man I did fuck up because there’s no room for this shit anywhere. OOPM: So you’re just not allowed to stop anymore? Jason: Yeah, we don’t stop anymore, but they will stop at record stores A LOT, and when they stop at record stores that’s when the bear goes wild. I will just go and roam around the city and load up. [laughs] But lately I haven’t been hitting up shoe stores as much as just like vintage stores in different cities and trying to find weird cool stuff. OOPM: Just fashion in general? Jason: Yeah, but in England, that’s my shit because in England they have a lot of weird Fred Perry and Burberry and that nonsense, which is expensive as shit and over there it’s cheaper.
OOPM: Who’s the biggest record dork in the band?
Jason: Ohh, that’s a hard one dude Colin K:: I’d say Collin (B) and I are pretty close on that. OOPM: So you guys are the ones that will scavenge the record store for hours? Colin K: I’ll be honest, Collin (B) will buy more records than I normally buy at the record store, but that’s because he has a higher pallet I guess. [laughs]
OOPM: Who are some bands kids should be checking out right now?
Jason: The Ladies, of course, The Ladies, Mass Hysteria, their new record is really good…Kid Cudi Colin K: Nah, see I don’t like Kid Cudi, I think he’s wack, he’s wack [laughs] Jason: Kid Cudi is pretty good. Pissed Jeans
OOPM: We heard that Collin (B) housed 2 Chipotle burritos before the rest of the band could eat 1, true or false?
Jason: Gotta be truth man Colin K: True, that man can eat! I can back that up OOPM: I head about Chipotle and The Grease Truck Jason: Oh, The Grease Truck Colin K: You double up at The Grease Truck? I can’t remember Collin B: I probably did. At Bourbon on 18th St., I WAS, I was not available to defend my title, I was the Kentucky Hot Round Eating Champion. Colin K: How many did you eat again? Collin B: 5 in 24 minutes.
OOPM: Jason, I’ve seen some of your paintings, is your art something that you still work on these days?
Jason: Not as much as I used to, I did a record cover for us for a 7″ that Alex put out. Then I’ve been doing design stuff, I did the Strike Anywhere layout for their last LP, and then I did some design work for them. I did a poster for them, and did a tour poster with Bane. That band Police and Thieves, I did something that they’re going to put out in Europe. I’ve been kinda busy doing that, more design, like computer stuff but in September I’m going to have an art show in Richmond. That, “Don’t Need A”, is the name of the 7″ that Alex (Grave Mistake Records) put out, which is like the drawings from that on display for like an art show where bands put on display the original art and you can buy the record at the gallery, Gallery 5. OOPM: So are you trying to do more freelance stuff like that? Jason: Yeah, I’m trying to, that’s what I’d really like to do instead of working at a law firm but the work is hard to come by and no one appreciates you when you put the time and effort into doing shit. I mean, all the bands I’ve worked with have, but I feel like it’s really hard. You do it for free, you do it because you want to do it.
OOPM: Favorite city to play?
Jason: I like Philly honestly. I like Philly and New York. Collin B: We’ve had some really good shows in New York. Colin K: Yeah, I’ll back that up
OOPM: Shout outs?
Collin B: Jason, make this shout out count, you only get one Jason: Let me give a shout out to uh….RICHMOND SON!!!!!!
This past weekend we had the chance to meet up with Tom and shoot some photos of him for our first rider profile. I have known Tom for a long time, so it made sense to start with him. Jessop and myself met up with Tom at city hall and the first thing he said was how he had been eyeing up this ledge all morning (photograph above). First hit, Tom got his back wheel stuck between the rail and the ledge, but seemed to have no problem after that. Needless to say the rest of the day was full of more great photos and just sick riding.
Photo Cred: Ronnie Bullets
OOPM: If you walked into a room and your theme music came on, what would it be?
Tom: Uhhhhh…
OOPM: When you started riding, was it BMX? How long did you do that, and why did you start riding fixed?
Tom: I have been riding BMX for 8 years now. Originally transportation, I didn’t know how to adjust derailleurs, it’s fun.
Photo Cred: Ronnie Bullets
OOPM: Prolly said not too long ago “If it weren’t for Philly, it’d be hard to tell where fixed freestyle would be today.” Being a Philly rider do you see it the same way?
Tom: Marc Makos, and Jason were some of the original Philly dudes, no one gives them enough cred.
OOPM: What should be the punishment for a bike thief?
Tom: They should have to live in South Jersey.
OOPM: Have you ever thrown around some street justice?
Tom:
OOPM: I know you’ve been all over the world, Japan, England, etc…What is the unhealthy diet of touring like? What is the strangest thing to end up in your gullet?
Tom: All I want to do is visit different places now. Japan had the best food, I didn’t know what I was eating half the time, but it tasted great.
OOPM: What are you afraid of?
Tom: Losing fingers.
OOPM: What are you into besides riding?
Tom: Graffiti, traveling, skating, music, leather jackets, being an asshole.
OOPM: The fixed freestyle scene is pretty much exploding, do you see this as a good thing or a bad thing?
Tom: Not sure yet. Lots of inflated egos.
OOPM: Have you ever jumped over a pool of laser sharks or through a flaming hoop?
Tom: Not yet. I would rather it be a pool of naked women.
Photo Cred: Ronnie Bullets
This was just nuts. That bar was just higher than bar height on a BMX.
Photo Cred: Jessop Kozink
OOPM: Any plans to leave Philly to live somewhere else?
Tom: Who knows. I would always have to come back to Philly. I love it here.
OOPM: What would you miss if you had to leave Philadelphia tomorrow?
Tom: Family, friends, Delco, cheese steaks.
OOPM: Currently what’s your favorite bike part?
Tom: Spline drive sprocket, without this BMX cranks feel like junk.
Photo Cred: Jessop Kozink
OOPM: What’s on your bike set up right now?
Tom: Frame: Charge Scissor Prototype
Fork: Charge Scissor
Headset: Chris King
Stem: Answer 50mm 31.8
Bars: Answer Pro Taper 2″ rise 31.8
Grips: ODI Longneck
Cranks: Profile Race 165mm
Pedals: Odyssey Twisted PC
Foot Retention: Hold Fast
Chainring / Sprocket: Profile spline drive 36T,14T Profile cog
Chain: Charge Masher 1/2 link
Seatpost: Charge 27.2
Saddle: Some old freeride saddle with oversize rails
Rims: Velocity P35 front, Chukker rear
Hubs: Profile Fixed 36h fix/fix
Tires: Schwalbe 2.35 Big Apple, 2.0 Bontrager
OOPM: Final words?
Tom: Sorry I slacked so much on getting this done, I know I’m a shithead. Hahaha. We should definitely go out and shoot more one of these days.
It is all about the art. Mike Supermodel is the owner of Jinxed Philadelphia located at the Piazza in Northern Liberties Philadelphia. He is a retail veteran, before Jinxed, he ran Rock and Roll+ on South Street for many years. His values of artistic appreciation come across with what he sells.
Ron and I always take a visit when we are up in the area. I know Ron visits more often than me.
The products are a mixture of clothing, some screened by Jinxed, limited edition art books, and collectible vinyl. The book selection ranges from tattoo flash to mid century illustration and design to look books for new underground artists. Original artwork abounds. There are screen prints and handmade pieces available for sale, as well as a rotating art shown at the Toothless Cat Gallery, the conjoined fraternal twin that shares the same front door. Gallery events are held often and a schedule can be found at the Jinxed website or posted to our blog.
I completely am digging these Japanese imported wrestling figures they have in stock, some of them based off of American wrestlers. Their manufacture history is a bit of a mystery but is an example of the one of a kind items you can find here.
During our visit Supermodel was nice enough to take the time and sit down with Ron and myself in the back room.
OOPM : Can you give a little history about the Jinxed move? SUPERMODEL : Let me tell you the way it worked out. Jinxed was at fourth and south for five years. We had a great landlord. Unfortunately with the decline of South Street we were doing more business our first year than our last year. Occupancy on our block of Fourth Street is about 60% right now, not the best of times in that area. With the way things were, we knew Jinxed could not continue indefinitely at that location. My friends had the gallery space here and I was looking to relocate but called to inquire about the neighborhood in general. I was under the impression that the Piazza was pretty sealed up, which it pretty much is. But they were like we have more room than we need and everyone works full time. Why don’t you take some measurements and maybe you can stick your store in our space. Back here in the studio, works : Dave Fox, Jason Goldberg, Dave Glass and JL Schnaple. The Piazza wanted more retail so it was a good fit all around.
OOPM : There is a great selection of independent stores at the Piazza. It reminds me of how South Street used to be about ten years ago. SUPERMODEL : It’s planned up here. Bart Blatstein, who built this whole thing is very hands on. I had a conversation with him about leaving South Street and coming up to Northern Libs. And what he said is true. On South Street you had a hundred different landlords all trying to get the maximum buck that they can. Where as this is planned. He wants galleries, he wants stores like mine, he wants restaurants that are varied. Where is if you visit South Street now, there is just a collection of ear ring stores and that’s the opposite of how South Street was.
OOPM : Jinxed has history. Been around for a while. Is there a motto for your success? SUPERMODEL : [laughs] Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.
OOPM : How has your business changed from when you started? SUPERMODEL : We opened the store in 2004. I had just come off from doing a lot of traveling. I was out in San Francisco, I had been up to New York pretty regular. I just had the t-shirt line at the time and that was my main occupation. We would visit these stores in other cities that are kind of what we are now. But six years ago, that doesn’t sound like a long time, but there weren’t stores like this in Philadelphia. The thing that used to bother me was … we would go into nice stores with a lot of cool stuff. And we would go in there and be treated like an idiot. My whole thing is that if you are going to be selling exclusive merchandise you have to educate your customers. You can’t talk down to your customers because they don’t know what something is. Your potential customer doesn’t know what it is because you are one of the only people that has it. In the beginning we focused more on the t-shirt line and the other stuff. We had a few books and a few toys. But since there was not anyone here selling that, we kind of moved our focus as interest here increased. My catalyst to get things going… Traveling to these stores where they had great product but the people were so snobbish, with a cooler than you attitude.
If there’s a theme to the store it’s “stuff that I like”. I go outside of that sometimes. Again because we have customers, we need to serve them. But with the companies we deal with and what we have to focus on, I always like to look at it as art based. Graphic design or more conventional art. Take a look at Sam Flores. Here’s a guy who started painting on the side of buildings, then got in with the gallery scene, now puts out books, puts out his own t-shirt line on Upper Playground. We can sell all of those things. It all stays art based and it all stays true to that artist. They’re not knock offs you find in Target.
OOPM : Is it hard to juggle finding new product with running the business operations? SUPERMODEL : It has been hard to find great product because three years ago it got really saturated. There were 4 toy companies then it went to about 40. People have the misconception that there is money in this business. This is definitely a labor of love. You can make a living with hard work but there’s not a lot of money. As much as it is for me, and for you this stuff has great appeal. We’re willing to shell out a few bucks for a t-shirt or toy . The general public still isn’t, but what’s good about up here – now that this stuff has become, for the lack of a better word, mainstream we’re still presenting it as an underground store. We are keeping things limited. We get a really good response from people. The Dunny for example. people ask “what is this?” we explain how they are an artistic canvas, their packaging and how you may get a rare one. people get interested. If can stock something that I recognize as quality then people seem to recognize that quality.
SUPERMODEL : want to bring your bike in? OOPM : [Ron goes to bring his bike inside.]
OOPM : Do you collect toys? SUPERMODEL : I do. I am more of a mark for the packaging and the graphics. And more of the older stuff, more stuff from the sixties. Hot Wheels are a big thing with me. Hot wheels, Rat Fink stuff.
Other than that it is really hit and miss. We sell some vintage stuff here. Mostly from estate sales going to different flea markets. Again it’s what catches my eye. I am not boxed in to where I need to collect the pink version of a hot wheel that was produced in 1971 that is $250 on eBay… If you have the blue one for 4 bucks, I’ll take two. Take Dunny’s again. I think at home I have a dozen. They’re great. They’re here and it’s limited and it’s meant to be sold. Most of my toy collection is here, which used to be in the window at our old store.
OOPM : Closing time. What’s the theme song?
SUPERMODEL : Maybe the Curt Hennig piece from WWF. It has a nice full orchestra going for walking to your car. A classy way to end your day even if it’s more of entrance music.
