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| | Hey! Thanks alot for taking the time out to do this interview. It's always nice to start with formal introductions, so who am I talking to, and what do you do in Buck-O-Nine?
Hey Brandon, This is Jonas. I am the guitarist of Buck-O-Nine
Awesome. It's great to have you here. So, what's been going on with you guys lately?
We have been jamming a few times a month, working on new songs and recording them. Also we are playing a few shows on this year's "Ska is Dead" Tour featuring Mustard Plug & The Toasters.
I know you guys are currently writing and working on putting together new songs (Sailing sounds awesome by the way), so how's that coming along? Can you tell us a little bit about what the new material is sounding like, what to expect, etc.?
Thanks! So far the songs we are working on sound like our favorite moments from every record we have put out. There are 2 other songs we have finished recording so far. One is a fast, jaunty "ska-punk" ish number that sounds like classic Buck-O-Nine. Another song is based on a simple reggae structure. Both of those tunes should be downloadable within a few weeks. We have lots of other stuff in the brew pot too that we are hashing out to become new Buck-O-Nine recordings. The goal is to make an album worth of downloadable mp3's that will be free to anyone who wants them from our website. It should end up sounding like classic Buck-O-Nine stuff.
You guys shot a video for "My Town" a few years back now, and personally, I think it' a great representation of what you guys are all about. It shows you know how to really have fun on stage. Has that always been a big thing for Buck-O-Nine, enjoying what you're doing and having fun while doing it?
Yeah that is the primary reason for this band. We truly enjoy each other's company. We definitely enjoy working together. Getting together is always fun. Everyone's personality adds to the flavor of our songs. Playing live is an extension of that. We want to have as much fun as possible on stage. If this stopped being fun, then we would stop doing it.
Speaking of music videos, how come you haven't shot any since "My Town", or at least any i'm aware of. Do you ever plan on making another one?
We haven't done a video since My Town because they cost alot of money to do. I think it would be a blast to do another video if it was done in a lo-key manner. Like when we did the video for Water in My Head a long time ago (It is on our home video "Raw Crap"). That type of lo-key style is fun to do because it is more spontaneous. We have a ton of random footage that eventually will be editted down to DVD length. Hopefully we can release that someday.
What's the best part about being in this band?
The friendships we have developed. Writing songs, hanging out and drinking PBR.
If you had to pick one Buck-O-Nine song ever (i'll let you get away with more than one if you really have to, haha) as you're favourite, which one would it be and why?
That's a tough question because it changes from month to month. Sometimes it is Little Pain Inside because it is so different than anything we have recorded. Water in My Head has always been one of my favorites. Our new song Slow Me Down is a current favorite of mine.
I apologize for another question you probably get asked more than enough, but if you had the choice of picking any bands out there to go on tour with, who would you choose?
I would love to do a tour with The Suicide Machines or Voodoo Glowskulls again. I heard Madness has reformed. It would be sick to go on tour with them.
What made you want to start a ska band, and if you were just starting out today, do you think you would've taken the same direction? Are there any things you would've done differently?
Buck-O-Nine became a ska band because it was and is a fun style of music to play. We love playing fast music and our songs seem to be a good vehicle to do that. Plus ska music was a common denominator. All of us have varied musical backgrounds but we all love ska music. Personally, I wanted to be in a ska band because when I was growing up, ska and punk music was so much fun to hear. Some of my favorite bands were Fishbone, the English Beat and the Descendents. If we were just starting Buck-O-Nine today, I hope we would take the same musical path because this is the path that works for our group of guys. I think the cards would fall into the same places for the most part. Maybe we wouldn't have achieved the same level of sucess but that would still be OK.
How do you feel Buck-O-Nine have progressed from album to album? It seems like on each record you put out there's a different sort of vibe in place.
We went down slightly different paths from album to album. Whether it was the studio we recorded or the approach to recording and working on songs. One thing about our music is that we never sat down and said "we are going to write this type of album, or we need this many ska songs, this many reggae songs, etc." The songs always came from a love of our collective sound and the idea that we could channel our influences into positive and fun songs. If we were working on a song and it didn't have any fun spark to it, we would cut it. Writing songs with Buck-O-Nine is alot of fun. It's like a chemistry set. Once the core of the song is developed, the horns always add a nice surprise to the song and take it to the next level. Then when the vocals are in place, all the elements are reacting with each other in such a fun way that you get goosebumps and get totally energized!
You guys released your Pass The Dutchie EP as sort of a set of b-sides, right? What made you want to put out the songs that didn't make it onto Twenty-Eight Teeth?
We loved those songs as much as the ones on 28 Teeth. They didn't make it on the album because of several reasons. They either weren't mixing into the flow of the album or they were too similar to another song on the album or things like that. We liked the idea of releasing the EP because we still loved those songs. Also, we had the opportunity to re-record one of our favorites (Pass the Dutchie) and thought it would be cool to put it out together.
So you've done a b-sides cd, full-lengths, EP's, and even a live recording. Is it nice to have a taste of everything, or were those just the directions you felt like taking at the time?
We're happy we had the opportunity to release full-lengths, EP's, 7 inches and everything else we did. When you are in a band releasing CD's or whatever, you always want to keep the momentum going. As things progress you have different options and situations always present themselves to you. We never sat down and said "During the span of this band we need to do this, this, or that." It just happened. Like for example, once we went on tour with Agent Orange and got on stage with them a couple times to play Miserlou. So we thought it would be cool to capture that in a studio and put it out with some other songs (Water in My Head EP). Or later on, we were playing a show in Japan and Tony gave the engineer a minidisc recorder. We listened to the recording later on and thought it was great so it afforded us the opportunity to release a live CD.
I usually ask this question because it tends to strike some pretty interesting answers, but i'd like to know, how do you feel about the current state of the ska scene?
I am happy there are people who love ska music. I think it's great that bands are carrying on with this style of music. Whether they go the traditional ska route or mix it with other styles of music, I think ska will always be with us. Sometimes it will be more popular and sometimes it won't. Either way, if you love something, embrace it and be happy that there are other people feel the same as you do.
Do you think it will ever make a comeback to where ska was at in the mid 90's?
It's hard to say. If it does than that would be very cool. If it doesn't then that would be cool too.
What's the craziest experience you've ever had with the band? Let it be pranks on the road, things fans have done, moments with other bands, etc. If you don't mind, lets hear it.
There are a ton of them... A few members of our band were almost arrested for doing something stupid at a club we played. I shouldn't go into too many details with that! ... Getting our equipment and merch stolen in Vegas was a real heart-breaker... One tour, our bass player was hemmoraging blood internally. We had to check him into the hospital and the doctor said he had a 50-50 chance of survival. That was really intense! ... Meeting Les Claypool and touring with Primus was amazing! ... Getting in a milk bomb war with Link 80 on tour was awesome... Wrecking our van on an icy road in Wyoming was insane... Meeting Milo from the Descendents and finding out that he bought our CD and likes it was the ultimate flattery... Our first national tour with Ganster Fun and MU330 has to be the craziest because of all the stupid shit we had to deal with on a daily basis. We ended up calling it the "Ska-Ma-Loser" tour. It seemed like every city we played, some idiotic thing would happen. The cast of characters was absolutely hysterical (all the bands).
I think this looks like a good note to end on, so we'll leave it here. Are there any last words you'd like to leave our readers with?
Come see us play in October on the Ska is Dead Tour. We will play the LA, Anaheim and San Diego dates.
Thanks a million for doing this!
No problem! |
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Displaying posts 1 - 4 of 4. |
05:26 AM on 06/19/05 | great interview, very interesting, cheers brandon | | |
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08:46 PM on 07/22/06 | just discovered this interview when i was on the buck-o-nine website, great interview, great band, | | |
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