The Scarred Q&A

Anaheim CA’s The Scarred seems a little out of place in the current world of punk rock.
They play gritty street punk more reminiscent of bands like Stiff Little Fingers and The Briefs than of the Autotune dependent teens that seem to have stolen the punk banner. Even their look, Clash-inspired messaged work shirts and massive Mohawks draw stronger comparisons to the old scene than the skinny jeans wearing modern hair bands.

Scanning the band’s merch table for a neon t-shirt? You’re shit out of luck.
The Scarred, fronted and founded by guitarist/vocalist Justin Willits, is among the last of the breed: punk rockers that put music over money.

The band would have been forgiven for throwing the towel in years ago. In true DIY fashion, they put out their debut on their own label and followed it up with the fantastically-received No Solution on Punk Core Records. The band was mid tour when they got word that their label had imploded leaving them stranded in the middle of America.

Deep in debt and more than a little pissed, the band regrouped and decided to soldier on.
The result is At Half Mast, their strongest effort to date. Released on a new label, Basement Records, with a new line up, the band is currently playing a slew of shows in throughout California.

Willits was kind enough to take some questions recently about the band, crappy scenes and being a punk rock dad.

You mentioned you have a son. I have two little girls. Has being a father changed you and your wife at all?

A lot! I see the world from a completely different perspective now. It's funny how silly a lot of what I thought I was angry about in my life seems now. But it's also funny that I'm angry about a lot of new things. I want my kid to have a future. I don't want him to have the same problems I have. Being truly 100 percent responsible for another human life, and not just physically, but emotionally, completely changes you if you have the basic decency to stick around and try to make it work. A lot of people don't anymore. They're too selfish, self absorbed, and hollow. It takes a lot of selflessness to raise a kid.

Has it made you rethink anything you do with the band?

Nope. If anything it's what keeps me going. Not because it's ever made me a dime, but because it's what I do. We're the last gang in town man. I'm not going to bury my head in the sand yet so my son can grow up thinking I'm a quitter. So I have to exhaust every possible option and push forward as far as I can go. Then at that point worry about rethinking things, you know? I have a lot farther to push first before I give up. And not to prove something to him as much as prove something to myself. That's why I'm here. We have an all new lineup and a new sense of purpose now, and I feel more ready than ever. I'm ready to write and record a new album already.

Are you ready to take him on the road yet?

We've taken him to a few shows but get this: The bars will not let us have him there because he's not 21. Like he's going to have a drink or something! And we can't just leave him in the van with someone all night, or cold parking lots, and we can't afford hotels when we go out. So no, taking him is impossible. But when he's older I'll take him for sure.

Things have certainly changed between records, so how was the writing/recording process with the new record different than the last?

More than half of these songs were written to be on a follow up to “No Solution” that should have been recorded almost three years ago. But I'd say to anyone interested in the writing process to listen to the Lyrics closely, which will be up at TheScarred.com

Your last label shut down just as you were about to get to work on what would become “Half-Mast”. How did you guys react to the news?

We were in the middle of recording an album which had already been delayed a year with the baby and everything. So it literally killed all momentum for us. I don't remember feeling anything. Just numb. I still love the guys who run the label but it was definitely bad timing for us, yeah for sure. We were in so much debt at that point we could not afford to release a record on our own. And we were in debt because we were trying to promote “No Solution” and lay the groundwork for the next album. If someone goes balls out for us, we go balls out for them. And we toured HARD that year. I put 100,000 miles on my van in one year (2006)... That's like someone else's car's entire lifespan. So yeah, it sucked but what was worse than the news itself was realizing we were dead in the water.

How scary was that, knowing that you and your wife had a baby on the way and then your label shuts down?

Not for that reason no. Punk Core(Records) never paid us any money. People have this mistaken impression that any band that was on punk core made money. Yeah right! I don't know of anyone who got paid on Punk Core, but I know a lot of bands who owe Punk Core money, including us. We were upset and frustrated because we invested so much time with the impression that we'd do three albums, so when we found out there wouldn't be any more releases after only one album, it was like someone took the floor out from under us.

Is the song "Medicate Me" autobiographical at all?

One hundred percent.

Is it tough to find time to get away to tour?

Yeah, sort of. If people want us on tour than they need to help us by talking to their local promoters. Find out whose running shows and tell them who you want to see. Write a zine, promote the bands you like to other people, even if they aren't punk. Help your scene. Then you'll start to see bands touring a lot more again. In our case, I can't just leave my wife and kid at home to go play with myself. If I can see people want us to come play their towns then we'll be on the road in a heartbeat. But when everyone's letting their scene go to hell and they don't care about their own town, what the hell do I want to come to their town for, you know? When people care, even just a few people, it can make a huge difference! If just a few kids stopped being apathetic it can turn an entire town around.

Q&A with The Bomb

When Naked Raygun frontman Jeff Pezzati put together his post NR band The Bomb, he was undoubtedly under a massive amount of scrutiny.

Like a punk rock Paul McCartney moving on to Wings or Johnny Rotten starting PIL - comparisons to his beloved, and highly influential first band were inevitable.

The Bomb are clearly nobody's version of Wings.

For about a decade now the Chicago band, comprised of Pezzati, guitarist Jeff Dean (The Story So Far,Tomorrows Gone), bassist Pete Mittler and drummer Mike Soucy (both from The Methadones), have been churning out amazing punk rock. Their latest "Speed is Everything" may just be their best record yet in an already impressive career.

Guitarist Jeff Dean was kind enough to put up with a handful of questions about the new record, working with J Robbins and punk rock supergroups.

So you guys are in a number of different bands. Does that make The Bomb a supergroup? A side project? Or a full-fleged band?

I don't know if you would call us a "supergroup", but we are a full on band. (Jeff) Pezzati started the band in 1999, and with the exception of us taking a break for about a year,the band has been active since it started.

So do your other bands get jealous when you spend time with another group?

No way! We are all good friends, and I think we all manage our time wisely. I have a lot more time on my hands to work with than the other guys, so I'm able to play in more bands than everyone else, but there is never any jealousy or anything like that.

How did you get J. Robbins to record the album? What was he like to work with?

J has recorded our last two records, so when we were getting ready to record our previous record"Indecision"there was a lot of talk about who we wanted to do it. I've always been a fan of J's bands as well as his producing/recording. Pezzati and J have been friends since when NR (Naked Raygun) and GI (Government Issue) played shows together back in the 80's, so it just made sense to get him on board. I gave him a call and he was really into the idea. J. is hands down my favorite engineer I've ever recorded with! When we were recording "Indecision", all of us got along so well, and he could understand where we were coming from with ideas, etc. We just clicked. So, that is why J will be the only one to record our albums as long as we are a band. At this point, he almost feels like the 5th member! Ha, ha!

Who else is on the album?

This record was a real collaboration between all of us. I still write the majority of the music, with Pezzati writing most of thew lyrics. But, this time everyone in the band contributed,as did J. He wrote the music for one of the songs on the record. J also did back ups on a lot of the songs too. Dan Yemin (Paint it Black, Lifetime) did vocals on one of the songs,as did Bob Nanna (Braid).

How long did it take to record "Speed is Everything"?

We recorded all of the music and most of the vocals in about six days here in Chicago at a studio owned by my friend Andy Gerber called "Million Yen". Then about a month later, Pezzati and I flew out to Baltimore to mix it and add some additional vocals at J's studio "Magpie Cage" I think we were there for five days.

What's next for the band?

We are actually doing a East coast tour at the end of Oct. with it ending at "The Fest" in Gainesville. Then Pezzati and I are flying out to California to play two acoustic shows on Nov.21 and 22. Its a benefit that my friend Joe Nelson is putting together. We are playing with HR from the Bad Brains, Walter from Quicksand/Rival Schools, and a couple other people. Everyone is playing acoustic, plus its an art show as well. Should be a lot fun. After that, we are going to try and do a European tour in the spring, then maybe work on some new songs.

Anything else you want to add?

I guess that I hope people check out the new record "Speed is Everything". All of us are really proud of it, and if you are a fan of our band or Naked Raygun or whatever, I think you will enjoy it.

The Dear Hunter Video

The criminally-underrated band Dear Hunter are about to go on tour.

Here's a video update from the band.

Chicago Punk Rock Doc

The documentary You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977-84 is getting great reviews and coming out on DVD shortly.

It's a look at Chi-town's underground music scene (note to NY and LA... you weren't the only ones).

Here's a the trailer:

You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977-1984 from factory twenty five on Vimeo.

Westbound Train

Boston’s Westbound Train certainly didn’t invent ska and reggae, but they sure as hell have managed to put their stamp on the genres.

Four records and eight years in, the seven piece has figured out how to blend classic American Soul to the Caribbean genres, bringing the echoes of bands like The Specials and The Skatalites to a generation of kids who thought Goldfinger and Reel Big Fish were the Alpha and Omega of ska.

The band is about to release Come and Get It, an album that front man Obi Fernandez describes as his favorite so far.
Fernandez spoke with InSite recently about what makes this new record different from the others, new line up changes and a summer plans that include plenty of BBQ.
What can you tell me about the new album?

We are all very excited about the new album. Everything that went into making the record seemed to happen completely natural and organic. We recorded at Sea Side Lounge Studios in Brooklyn, NY and just fell in love with the place as well as the people there. Dave Hillyard of The Slackers came on to produce the album and that was just amazing. He knew exactly where we were headed and didn't let us lose any focus on the sound and the vibe of the record that. The record has tons of soul influence. Old Stax and Motown have always been a part of what we do but on this record we actually recorded some straight up soul tunes. Come and Get It has definitely been my favorite album to make. We did it live over the span of about two weeks. No matter what you are into this album has something for everyone. Fifteen songs that will hopefully get ya party feeling great.

This is your fourth record. Has writing the albums gotten any easier?

Well, you always try to keep writing but I think it does seem to get a bit easier as you go. I think with this record I've really found my voice and have a much easier time communicating what I want to say. The more you write and with each record you put out it seems like each record gets more and more honest. Probably because you've just seen more of the world, lived a little more life. Touring enables you to have this enormous canvas of experiences to paint about.

You guys were on the road a lot after Transitions. Did you take any time off before working on the new one?

We did take time off before making this record. We were just going non stop and needed to take a break. We needed to charge up and make a couple changes to our roster. We'd been spending so much time together and going through a bunch of rough times together that everyone needed to just step out of the situation in order to think about things a little more clearly. We needed to sit in a room and hash a lot of things out and at the end of look at one another and be like "Wait a minute these dudes are my friends first not my colleagues". After we were able to work out the kinks the next thing to do was start writing a new album. It was really great to go through that and start writing for a new record because it really just brought us closer together. We were stronger now, so we really went into this project together and focused on making great music. We didn't have to worry about submitting for tours, van calls, what were our next 10 steps... For the first time in a long time it was just purely about the music.

You mentioned some changes to your roster.

Yeah we picked up Eric Novod and Luke Penella since Transitions. Both people are incredible people and add to the dynamic greatly on and off stage. Eric is a huge soul and jazz fan and when he came into the band our sound just changed automatically. He played a really huge part in allowing us to go into that soul direction that we've been wanting to go in for so long. Luke is an incredible sax player and one of the funniest dudes you will ever meet. Having the both of them has allowed us to really step up our game. They both bring such an arsenal of talent that totally forces everyone to always bring their A game.

You guys have toured with some amazing ska and reggae bands like the Skatalites and The Toasters. Ever get intimidated at all playing with these bands?

I've been intimidated before but in the way that it just inspires you to want to give you absolute best. Bands like that that have really carved out a path and in all that we do we want to be completely respectful of those who came before us. The Skatalites are probably one of the bands we listen to the most. If it weren't for them we would be even further away from nailing the style of music that we play.

Anything else you want to add?

We just want to make music for everyone regardless of what you are into. We want to show people a great time and set off dance parties all over the world. Please pick up our new record Come and Get It. Be sure to keep visiting www.myspace.com/westboundtrain and http://www.westboundtrain.net/.

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground - New Record

Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, the new band from a couple of former Gatsbys American Dream members, has just finished their new record. Trust me, it's great!

The band has decided to stream the entire album on their Myspace page on Friday, August 14th.

Kirk wrote the following on their Myspace blog:
"Through triumph and tragedy we are pleased to announce that our new record is done!we are still developing the release schedule, but since we all collectively feel like big stinky ass-holes for leaving all of you waiting for such an extended period of time to hear everything, we've decided to stream the whole damn record come Friday right here on the old myspace page."

Still no word on who will be releasing it, (they'd be perfect for Suburban Home, if anyone cares).

Girl in a Coma Video

Great band from San Antonio, Girl in a Coma is signed to Joan Jett's label Blackheart records.

Here's Girl in a Coma's "Static Mind":