Darren McLeod
07/29/06, 06:00 PM
Darren: Alright, state your name and what you do in the band.
Warren: I’m Warren, I play the drums and the cymbals in the band.
Andrew: I’m Andrew, I play the bass… and hop.
W: In the band.
A: (laughs)In the band.
How has the Warped experience been so far? How does it compare to your usual tours?
A: Dude, Warped is like…
W: It’s so much more extreme than our normal tours.
A: And when we answer this question, we’re going to say “like” a lot. Like, you know what I mean?
W: I pretty much wake up first thing in the morning, pound three or four energy drinks, hit the half pipe for about 2 hours, then we shred, then I hit the half pipe again. My average day… a couple more energy drinks… then a keg stand.
A: It’s absolutely 180 degrees different from…(a member of The Casualties throws a soccer ball in our direction, nearly hitting Andrew) …180 degrees different from like any tour we’ve ever done. Should we do the audio: “Soccer ball flies through the field, thrown by the Casualties. Warren gets it…” (laughs, Warren is running with the soccer ball towards The Casualties). No, we’ve never done anything like this. We’ve played a couple fests here and there, but we’ve never done anything like this. Warren! Concentrate!
W: (still standing with The Casualties) Sorry! My bad. (returns to the interview)
Fat Mike was talking about the Sunday night Warped Bible study sessions. Have you guys gone to any of these?
W: I know the Bible. I don’t have to go to the study.
A: Nah, we’re too lazy to be controversial with other bands. We’re too lazy to talk shit, even. (laughs) But I do think it’s pretty amusing that he went and was having some, uh, Biblical discussions.
How have the Canadian stops been so far?
A: Actually, this is the first one, so… so far, so good. We’ve only been in Vancouver once before, so, yeah, it’s…
W: It was really cool the last time we came.
A: Yeah, we played at a Mexican restaurant. It was really fun.
Often you guys bring American politics into your songs, but Canadian politics… not so much. What’s going on with that? Why are you guys holding out on us?
A: I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.
Alright.
A: We’re not Canadian.
W: You gotta write what you know, man.
So tell us about the live album coming out on Fat.
A: Well, basically, we did it in March at the Mean Fiddler in London. England, not London, Ontario. And there was a lot of pressure, but somehow we pulled it off. I’m excited about it, and hopefully people will like it too. Live albums are kind of hit or miss. I think we hit.
Will this be your last release on Fat?
W: We can’t predict the future. Nothing scheduled.
(Tom Gabel shows up)
A: Dude, you’re totally late. (leans into microphone)Tom enters conversation. Introduces himself to Darren.
T: Hi, I’m Tom. Nice to meet you.
Hi, I’m Darren. Alright, so anyways, on the DVD, you mention Sire coming to you with an offer, but the name is only mentioned once in passing. What was it that made you choose to sign to them a year later?
T: (confused)…Wait, what? What was that?
(the band laughs)
It’s the middle of the interview.
T: I thought this was a puff piece. laughs
(Darren repeats question)
T: Well, actually, Sire kind of made an offer that first time, but then they actually said they didn’t want to sign us, and they kind of passed on us. And it was moreso Universal and Virgin. So, come a year later when we’re going through the whole thing again, it was almost like… “They actually passed on us,” and now they think that would be the right time, so it made us think about it a little harder. And, you know, as far as Sire as a record label itself… I feel like this is a stock answer I give anytime I’m asked this question in an interview, and I don’t mean to do that or anything, but like, um, whenever you’re going into something like this, everybody is going to tell you the same thing, like, “We’re the best label, we love you most, and we’re going to be the best for your band, blah blah blah…”
And free drinks.
T: Yeah, exactly, everyone is going to do the same thing, so all you can really judge it by is the track record, and look at the bands that they’ve worked with and what happened to them. So if you look at both Sire, and Warner Brothers, which owns Sire, like, as far as the bands that they’ve worked with and the records they’ve put out – that’s not across the board, but a lot of them I really respect – Warner Brothers has the Flaming Lips and Nick Cave, and Sire has everybody from The Ramones to The Replacements, The Smiths, The Cure…
Okay. So, if you had a nickel for every time someone criticized either label switch you made, how much money would you have?
T: I would fuckin’ retire to Australia. We’d have a couple million dollars.
(everyone laughs)
A: A nickel isn’t really worth that much anymore.
T: A nickel? It’s worth five cents.
(awkward silence)
Do you have any information on the next record? Have you started writing it yet?
T: Yeah, we’ve been writing pretty constantly. I don’t know… I think we’ve got, 16 songs written? Something like that?
With every release, you kind of seem to drift further from that folk sound that is on your earlier releases. Is that something that’s going to continue, or do you think you will ever return to those roots?
T: We already did that. I don’t know, for me personally, I think that Reinventing Axl Rose… I’m very proud of that record. I think we did a very good job with a lot of those songs and everything. So, why would I keep wanting to try and do that again? Why wouldn’t I want to try something different? Once I get done what I want to do next, I would like to try another thing! Why read the same book over and over again? If you’re a movie director, why keep making the same fucking movie? Try a drama, then try a comedy, you know?
A: The next album is going to be comedic.
W: Romantic comedy, that’s the theme of our next record.
(laughter)
Some people have called you the modern day Clash, other people have called you the most important band in punk rock. What do you make of claims like these?
T: It’s flattering, but you can’t think much of them or else you get a fuckin’ big head.
A: That’s not what you were saying in the bus, man.
(laughter)
T: Oh. You’re so funny.
How do you feel about the recent surge of political music that’s going into the mainstream?
T: I think that’s only a good thing. You know, people bitch and moan each way. If there aren’t any bands saying anything, then people are like “Oh, nobody in the mainstream cares and nobody has anything to say that’s important.” But then when people do say something in the mainstream, then people say “Oh, now you’re dumbing it down. It sucks that you’re saying something like that. It sucks that Blink 182 is against the war,” or something. (laughs) It can only be a good thing for more bands or artists to come out and say they’re against the war, or, whatever.
Speaking of political songs, has Justin’s family heard the song about him?
T: Yeah, they actually all came out to the Detroit show after the record came out, and he had a really big family, and, uh…
W: …and they all like to party.
(laughter)
A: They like to party a lot.
T: They all got wasted, and at one point, his aunt poured a whole pitcher of beer on me, and his uncle kept fuckin’ slamming shots… it was awesome.
A: They went for it. Big time.
Tom, on the Protect! compilation last year, you had a great cover of Bob Dylan’s “Wagon Wheel.” What made you choose that song?
T: Well, my friend Vanessa was the one that organized the comp, and she wanted us to be a part of it. The majority of the other bands that were on it were contributing unreleased stuff, and we didn’t have anything unreleased to contribute, but, I wanted to be a part of it, so it was really done on the fly. That was just a song that I was really into at the time, so it was just like, “I’ll just fuckin’ record a cover of it,” you know?
After Warped, what tours are you doing?
T: We’re going over to Belgium and England, to go play some festivals, then we come home and practice, then record a new record. (pause) My leg’s bleeding.
A: That’s so gross man, you need to fuckin’ get that taken care of. Your leg should not just start bleeding.
T: No, I scraped it when we were wrestling around.
A: You’ll have to amputate. Peg leg.
W: Arggggh.
What are you guys currently listening to? What are the choice travelling tunes for the road?
A: I keep listening to Bjork.
W: Regina Spektor.
T: Yeah, new Regina Spektor CD is very excellent. The new Dirty Pretty Things CD is really good.
W: I just listened to that Riverboat Gamblers CD, and it’s really awesome.
A: Is it really good on CD as well?
W: Yeah, it translates surprisingly well.
T: I even kinda like the Baby Shambles CD too. There’s a couple good songs on that. Think. Fuck.
W: What have we gotten recently?
T: The Living End… I’ve been listening to them a lot on this tour.
A: They’re a really good band.
T: Sorry, it’s hard. There’s not a lot of music listening going on, we’re surrounded by it all the time. It’s the last thing you want to do, is sit on the bus and listen to fucking music.
A: It’s really easy to get burned out.
T: Yeah.
Who are your favourite acts to watch right now on Warped Tour?
A: The Living End. NOFX is always fun to watch. The Casualties are always fun to watch.
W: Valient Thorr.
T: Every Time I Die.
(laughs)That’s who I was just watching. That’s why I was late for the interview
T: That’s where I was! (laughs) They fuckin’ tear it up!
A: Tom’s becoming a metalhead.
(laughter)
So we’re going to get some metal on the next record?
T: Totally, yeah.
(Warren does a metal-esque growl)
You’ve got the all-black clothing going on already, that’s a start. You just need mascara and hairdye.
T: We need to grow it out so we can headbang.
Any final messages to our readers?
T: Howdy?
A: Thanks for reading.
Thanks so much for doing this.
A: Thank you Darren.
W: Thank you, buddy.
T: You don’t have a tissue on you, do you?
Warren: I’m Warren, I play the drums and the cymbals in the band.
Andrew: I’m Andrew, I play the bass… and hop.
W: In the band.
A: (laughs)In the band.
How has the Warped experience been so far? How does it compare to your usual tours?
A: Dude, Warped is like…
W: It’s so much more extreme than our normal tours.
A: And when we answer this question, we’re going to say “like” a lot. Like, you know what I mean?
W: I pretty much wake up first thing in the morning, pound three or four energy drinks, hit the half pipe for about 2 hours, then we shred, then I hit the half pipe again. My average day… a couple more energy drinks… then a keg stand.
A: It’s absolutely 180 degrees different from…(a member of The Casualties throws a soccer ball in our direction, nearly hitting Andrew) …180 degrees different from like any tour we’ve ever done. Should we do the audio: “Soccer ball flies through the field, thrown by the Casualties. Warren gets it…” (laughs, Warren is running with the soccer ball towards The Casualties). No, we’ve never done anything like this. We’ve played a couple fests here and there, but we’ve never done anything like this. Warren! Concentrate!
W: (still standing with The Casualties) Sorry! My bad. (returns to the interview)
Fat Mike was talking about the Sunday night Warped Bible study sessions. Have you guys gone to any of these?
W: I know the Bible. I don’t have to go to the study.
A: Nah, we’re too lazy to be controversial with other bands. We’re too lazy to talk shit, even. (laughs) But I do think it’s pretty amusing that he went and was having some, uh, Biblical discussions.
How have the Canadian stops been so far?
A: Actually, this is the first one, so… so far, so good. We’ve only been in Vancouver once before, so, yeah, it’s…
W: It was really cool the last time we came.
A: Yeah, we played at a Mexican restaurant. It was really fun.
Often you guys bring American politics into your songs, but Canadian politics… not so much. What’s going on with that? Why are you guys holding out on us?
A: I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.
Alright.
A: We’re not Canadian.
W: You gotta write what you know, man.
So tell us about the live album coming out on Fat.
A: Well, basically, we did it in March at the Mean Fiddler in London. England, not London, Ontario. And there was a lot of pressure, but somehow we pulled it off. I’m excited about it, and hopefully people will like it too. Live albums are kind of hit or miss. I think we hit.
Will this be your last release on Fat?
W: We can’t predict the future. Nothing scheduled.
(Tom Gabel shows up)
A: Dude, you’re totally late. (leans into microphone)Tom enters conversation. Introduces himself to Darren.
T: Hi, I’m Tom. Nice to meet you.
Hi, I’m Darren. Alright, so anyways, on the DVD, you mention Sire coming to you with an offer, but the name is only mentioned once in passing. What was it that made you choose to sign to them a year later?
T: (confused)…Wait, what? What was that?
(the band laughs)
It’s the middle of the interview.
T: I thought this was a puff piece. laughs
(Darren repeats question)
T: Well, actually, Sire kind of made an offer that first time, but then they actually said they didn’t want to sign us, and they kind of passed on us. And it was moreso Universal and Virgin. So, come a year later when we’re going through the whole thing again, it was almost like… “They actually passed on us,” and now they think that would be the right time, so it made us think about it a little harder. And, you know, as far as Sire as a record label itself… I feel like this is a stock answer I give anytime I’m asked this question in an interview, and I don’t mean to do that or anything, but like, um, whenever you’re going into something like this, everybody is going to tell you the same thing, like, “We’re the best label, we love you most, and we’re going to be the best for your band, blah blah blah…”
And free drinks.
T: Yeah, exactly, everyone is going to do the same thing, so all you can really judge it by is the track record, and look at the bands that they’ve worked with and what happened to them. So if you look at both Sire, and Warner Brothers, which owns Sire, like, as far as the bands that they’ve worked with and the records they’ve put out – that’s not across the board, but a lot of them I really respect – Warner Brothers has the Flaming Lips and Nick Cave, and Sire has everybody from The Ramones to The Replacements, The Smiths, The Cure…
Okay. So, if you had a nickel for every time someone criticized either label switch you made, how much money would you have?
T: I would fuckin’ retire to Australia. We’d have a couple million dollars.
(everyone laughs)
A: A nickel isn’t really worth that much anymore.
T: A nickel? It’s worth five cents.
(awkward silence)
Do you have any information on the next record? Have you started writing it yet?
T: Yeah, we’ve been writing pretty constantly. I don’t know… I think we’ve got, 16 songs written? Something like that?
With every release, you kind of seem to drift further from that folk sound that is on your earlier releases. Is that something that’s going to continue, or do you think you will ever return to those roots?
T: We already did that. I don’t know, for me personally, I think that Reinventing Axl Rose… I’m very proud of that record. I think we did a very good job with a lot of those songs and everything. So, why would I keep wanting to try and do that again? Why wouldn’t I want to try something different? Once I get done what I want to do next, I would like to try another thing! Why read the same book over and over again? If you’re a movie director, why keep making the same fucking movie? Try a drama, then try a comedy, you know?
A: The next album is going to be comedic.
W: Romantic comedy, that’s the theme of our next record.
(laughter)
Some people have called you the modern day Clash, other people have called you the most important band in punk rock. What do you make of claims like these?
T: It’s flattering, but you can’t think much of them or else you get a fuckin’ big head.
A: That’s not what you were saying in the bus, man.
(laughter)
T: Oh. You’re so funny.
How do you feel about the recent surge of political music that’s going into the mainstream?
T: I think that’s only a good thing. You know, people bitch and moan each way. If there aren’t any bands saying anything, then people are like “Oh, nobody in the mainstream cares and nobody has anything to say that’s important.” But then when people do say something in the mainstream, then people say “Oh, now you’re dumbing it down. It sucks that you’re saying something like that. It sucks that Blink 182 is against the war,” or something. (laughs) It can only be a good thing for more bands or artists to come out and say they’re against the war, or, whatever.
Speaking of political songs, has Justin’s family heard the song about him?
T: Yeah, they actually all came out to the Detroit show after the record came out, and he had a really big family, and, uh…
W: …and they all like to party.
(laughter)
A: They like to party a lot.
T: They all got wasted, and at one point, his aunt poured a whole pitcher of beer on me, and his uncle kept fuckin’ slamming shots… it was awesome.
A: They went for it. Big time.
Tom, on the Protect! compilation last year, you had a great cover of Bob Dylan’s “Wagon Wheel.” What made you choose that song?
T: Well, my friend Vanessa was the one that organized the comp, and she wanted us to be a part of it. The majority of the other bands that were on it were contributing unreleased stuff, and we didn’t have anything unreleased to contribute, but, I wanted to be a part of it, so it was really done on the fly. That was just a song that I was really into at the time, so it was just like, “I’ll just fuckin’ record a cover of it,” you know?
After Warped, what tours are you doing?
T: We’re going over to Belgium and England, to go play some festivals, then we come home and practice, then record a new record. (pause) My leg’s bleeding.
A: That’s so gross man, you need to fuckin’ get that taken care of. Your leg should not just start bleeding.
T: No, I scraped it when we were wrestling around.
A: You’ll have to amputate. Peg leg.
W: Arggggh.
What are you guys currently listening to? What are the choice travelling tunes for the road?
A: I keep listening to Bjork.
W: Regina Spektor.
T: Yeah, new Regina Spektor CD is very excellent. The new Dirty Pretty Things CD is really good.
W: I just listened to that Riverboat Gamblers CD, and it’s really awesome.
A: Is it really good on CD as well?
W: Yeah, it translates surprisingly well.
T: I even kinda like the Baby Shambles CD too. There’s a couple good songs on that. Think. Fuck.
W: What have we gotten recently?
T: The Living End… I’ve been listening to them a lot on this tour.
A: They’re a really good band.
T: Sorry, it’s hard. There’s not a lot of music listening going on, we’re surrounded by it all the time. It’s the last thing you want to do, is sit on the bus and listen to fucking music.
A: It’s really easy to get burned out.
T: Yeah.
Who are your favourite acts to watch right now on Warped Tour?
A: The Living End. NOFX is always fun to watch. The Casualties are always fun to watch.
W: Valient Thorr.
T: Every Time I Die.
(laughs)That’s who I was just watching. That’s why I was late for the interview
T: That’s where I was! (laughs) They fuckin’ tear it up!
A: Tom’s becoming a metalhead.
(laughter)
So we’re going to get some metal on the next record?
T: Totally, yeah.
(Warren does a metal-esque growl)
You’ve got the all-black clothing going on already, that’s a start. You just need mascara and hairdye.
T: We need to grow it out so we can headbang.
Any final messages to our readers?
T: Howdy?
A: Thanks for reading.
Thanks so much for doing this.
A: Thank you Darren.
W: Thank you, buddy.
T: You don’t have a tissue on you, do you?