Mighty Mighty Bosstones Interview (Big Cheese Issue 102)

Boss Tuneage

After a five year hiatus the Bostonian kings of original American skacore the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are back, back, back!

When the badly kept secret of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones reuniting to play the Hometown Throwdown in Boston around Christmas 2007 was uncovered, it became news that their longtime fans were longing for. The Bosstones had fully recharged their batteries and were ready to take over the world once again.

“It feels really good. Now it doesn’t feel like not so much time has gone by. It feels a little more familiar than I thought. I certainly wouldn’t have pushed to get it going if I wasn’t looking forward to it,” said bassist Joe Gittleman, about the band reuniting, minutes before they play their first Los Angeles show since 2003, headlining a sold out Hollywood Avalon.

Coming together in 1985, the Bosstones created'ska-core', a sound that fused ska with a punk and hardcore edge Influenced by a wide array of music from 2-tone ska to bands like AC/DC, Motorhead, the Clash and Stiff Little Fingers, the Bosstones slowly created a following that many bands wished they could have. From their early years on the 'Mash It Up!' compilation and their debut release, 'Mashing Up The Nation!' through the Taang! Records era and through the major label years, the band has a following that has stood up strong for over two decades.

While the likes of 'The Impression That I Get' rocketed up the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, the Bosstones also contributed 'Where'd You Go?' to the 1994 Alicia Silverstone movie 'Clueless', as well as recording a cover of KISS's 'Detroit Rock City' for the 1994 tribute CD 'Kiss My Ass'. They also made appearances on the 1997 Vans Warped Tour and the 1995 Lollapollooza tour, as well as opening for Aerosmith on New Year's Eve in Boston in 1994.

After recording seven full length records, three EPs, a live record and countless seven inch singles released across the globe, one thing was clear, the Bosstones had transcended trends and scenes. “We were packing places. We had a lot of people supporting the band long before ska was popular,” remembers Gittleman: “When we were touring in 1990 to 1994, there were some metal years in there. There was Nirvana in there. Being a ska band wasn’t an easier or popular thing to be. I feel like we’ve been immune to it because we never really wanted to do anything but what we wanted to do, and didn’t really care. There was a summer there or two summers when a lot of people liked ska music. Now a lot of the people obviously don’t. But the people who supported the Bosstones from the beginning still do. It’s a good position to be in where you have people who are willing to put energy into the thing you like to do.”

The Mighty Bosstones recorded three new songs and compiled a number of B-sides and unreleased tracks onto a new CD called 'Medium Rare' through their own label Big Rig Records, giving long-time fans songs that were previously available on hard-to-find import seven inch singles or on assorted compilations. “When we left the major label we were on, we wrote it into our agreement that we could release a bunch of those songs. A lot of those songs had been on vinyl or a lot of people had shitty versions of them. We didn’t have the rights to release all of the extra songs, but we had it to release a bunch. We picked our favorites of those and recorded a few new songs, and even though it had been recorded over ten years, we tried to turn it into a cohesive thing as we could. Working on new tunes was fun. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to do more of that.”

Prior to the LA show, they played five shows at the Middle East in Boston and a New Years Eve show in Providence, Rhode Island. These were their first shows in a few years, and they quickly became reacquainted to the vibe again. “It was weird. The first night felt like it had been a long time. By the second night, it felt like it was the same routine. The same jokes still apply. You fall back into the groove of playing the songs. It was pretty easy to get comfortable with it.”

During the hiatus, each member moved onto different projects. The most public was Barrett, who briefly had his own morning radio show on LA’s Indie 103.1 FM from 2005 to 2006. He is also the announcer on the popular late night US television show 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Gittleman fronted Avoid One Thing, which released two CDs through SideOneDummy Records. He also tour managed Flogging Molly, as well as worked at SideOneDummy as in house producer and A & R. “Joe Sirois [drums] played in the Street Dogs for a number of years. Ben Carr had a son, works and lives in Providence, Rhode Island. Tim Burton [saxophone] lives up in Florida and does some movie production stuff. Chris Rhodes [trombone] hangs out in Connecticut and played with the Toasters,” adds Gittleman.

Their return was not planned as most would speculate. While nearly half of the band relocated to Los Angeles from their native Boston, they began contacting members about starting the band up again. “I did a lot of the pushing for it. It wasn’t long before everybody was excited and involved. I started talking to Dicky [Barrett] about it probably about a year before we did it. There was a lot of planning and getting everybody on the same page and ready to go.”

Around the time they released their last studio record, 2003’s 'A Jackknife to a Swan', internal burnout from consistent touring was felt and priorities shifted towards other projects amongst each member of the band. “By that point, it had been ten solid years of touring or more -thirteen years,” said Gittleman: “I think it’s not something that we should do if we’re not enjoying or able to put everything into it. Out of respect for what we had created, it felt like a good time to put it aside. We never talked about how long it would be. Everybody started doing other things. One year turned into two, three, four and five. Then it seemed like it would be a good time to revisit it and see the guys again.”

As for a new full length release, Gittleman did not have a definite answer towards whether that would definitely happen. “It’s not really discussing it at all. It’s definitely something I’d like to see us do. It takes a lot of time, finding the time, and having it is something that we’d give our all to.”

The Briggs Interview (Big Cheese Issue 102)

Down On The Street

Returning with the raucous 'Come All You Madmen', The Briggs are heading your way next month. Just don't mention Boston...

The way The Briggs has toured over the years, it seems like they are well known by everyone within the punk scene and have earned their respect. Past tours with Dropkick Murphys, Bad Religion and Flogging Molly have placed them in front of rabid kids that later were converted into believers of the band. They even got mistaken for being a Boston band, even though no one figured out that they were from the other coast.

“What’s funny is that no one ever knows we’re from Los Angeles,” says lead vocalist and guitarist Joey LaRocca. “Everyone asks ‘you’re from Boston, right?’ Always - every single time. We’ve had write ups in papers. We’ve had magazines…’The Briggs Straight From Boston’…what are you talking about? They just make it up. It’s funny.”

The So Cal punk kids kicked off their touring with a slot on the Vans Warped Tour this summer. They have played on the side stages on previous years of the tour, and this time they were invited to do the entire tour. “We’ve done it three other years,” said guitarist and vocalist Jason LaRocca: “We did it a couple of weeks. We did a month once but it’s our first time doing the whole shebang.”

'Come All You Madmen' continues where the band left off on their previous release, 2006’s 'Back To Higher Ground'. Musically, they focused their energies on writing a strong record without losing anything along the way. “There were fewer tricks on this record. I think that was part of the recipe in making the record,” explained Joey: “I think we were mostly looking at writing the most honest songs we could and making them very approachable and performable live. That was the main trick – was to make it sounding intimate live.”

They brought back Joe Gittleman, the long time Mighty Mighty Bosstones bassist to produce their latest record. The Briggs retained his services to help take them to the next level and create more chaotic noise. “Gittleman has become a part of our recording process,” say Joey: “Because he’s done several records with us, when we starting to formulate plans to do a new record, we were thinking about [working with Gittleman]. We decided that it made sense to work with him again, just because we feel really comfortable with him. He’s very much like another member than a producer who just tells you what to do. He comes in and feels out the songs with us. He jams the songs and we figure it all out together. Since we haven’t really worked with too many other producers, we’ve gotten in a groove that we feel is comfortable.”

this record, they brought in several guests to perform on various songs. Bosstones vocalist Dicky Barrett and Bad Religion guitarist Brian Baker appear on ‘Charge Into The Sun.’ Baker, as well as the Bosstones’ horn section of Tim “Johnny Vegas” Burton, Kevin Lenear and Chris Rhodes appear on ‘Bloody Minds.’ Plus the Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey contributes his vocals on ‘Mad Men.’

“That was just a fun thing,” explains Joey: “They all originated wanting to be a part of the project. It was a real treat for us just because it wasn’t like we were searching out who can we find to do this. It was natural because we had just toured with all of these bands and they’re friends. These are bands that we had looked up to since we were teenagers listening to punk rock. And here they are on our record singing with us.”

Casey and Baker were connections The Briggs made after touring with their respective bands. They both became fans and wanted to play on the record. “We did three tours with Dropkick in the last year. We did their St. Pattys Day tour last March and a winter tour in the States and Canada, and were in Ireland, Scotland and England for three weeks [with them]. We became really good friends.”

“We hung out [with Bad Religion] all the time. We were on tour together for six weeks. With Brian, we were playing a show at the House of Blues in San Diego and he approached us. He’s like ‘I don’t care what you want me to do, but let me do something. Even if it’s hand clapping, I don’t give a shit.’ He gets a kick out of doing stuff like that. Obviously we used him to the best…not for his hand clapping abilities, but for his guitar solos.”

The Briggs with be returning to the UK at the Reading and Leeds Festival in August. “We’re very excited about it. This will be our first time,” said Joey. “It’s a good follow up to a great tour with Dropkick Murphys earlier this year. We’re really happy to go back!”

Bullet For My Valentine Interview (Big Cheese Issue 101)

Matt, Padge, Jay and Moose, collectively known as Bullet For My Valentine, have become kind of a big deal in the US since 'Scream Aim Fire' debuted on the US Billboard 200 Charts at number 128, selling 53,000 copies in its first week of release. Not bad for a band from the UK that had to fight to gain respect from audiences.

"We're happy. As far as 'The Poison,' it did what it did," ponders a reflective Matt Tuck: "It thankfully laid out some great foundations for us. We're very proud of it. I'm glad people like it."

The band kicked off their US touring cycle by joining the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour with Avenged Sevenfold, Atryeu, Idiot Pilot and Blessthefall. For a UK band to impact the international heavy music scene like is something rarely seen or felt, and a tour of this size has proven to be a big way to kick off promoting their latest release.

"It was perfect timing," says Moose. "We have a new record out and this tour's going out as well. Our manager said 'We think it's a good thing for you to do.' We agreed."

It came at the perfect time for them. As a unit Bullet have never sounded stronger, effortlessly winning over fans every night. Matt's vocals sound fiercer than ever, and after suffering through throat problems over a year ago, Bullet For My Valentine once again sound like a well-oiled and finely tuned machine. So how are his pipes holding out?

"There's been nothing major," says the frontman. "I mean it's getting tired. We've been on tour for twelve weeks. We did this big European tour before we came out here so it's starting to get fatigued. It's not as slick as it was a couple of weeks ago, but no problems."

This North American tour has appeared to work well for Bullet For My Valentine, with the band playing the main stage every evening before Atreyu, ensuring rabid fans had enough time to get in to see them perform.

Playing alongside Avenged Sevenfold and Atreyu every night was not unfmailiar to Bullet, as they have done shows together in the past. But all three bands having fans that are fans of their music, this tour package did work in their favour .

"We know of them because we've done shows with them before in the past in Europe," said Moose: "We came over here to play with them in America. Avenged is a pretty big deal over here. They're pretty nice guys as well."

While Avenged Sevenfold and Atreyu have built their own buzz on their home turf, Bullet have drawn attention themselves, and are hoping to make that spotlight a permanent one.

"There's obviously a lot of people here to watch us. there are a lot of people here that know who we are. Or maybe they're just curious to what we sound like. It's really good for us to get over here - hopefully we will win over some new people to get them into the rabble," says Moose.

It's clear that Bullet have come a long way since recording their self-titled EP in 2004 through independent label Visible Noise. Since then these four Welsh lads have blossomed into one of the UK's most successful rock acts since Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, metaphorically giving the naysayers who predicted that 2005 debut album 'The Poison' was a flash in the pan a raised middle finger.

"For me, it was the most exciting times of our lives," reminices Matt. "Regardless of what we do now, how much further we get or how many more albums we sell, that year especially was incredible. It was our childhooddream. It was scary and exciting. It was always positive in my emotions coming together at once. It was mad. Even though we knew we were getting signed, it still wasn't real. We played for so long, we let it down a few times before. We were sceptical that it would happen. It did and we were ecstatic."

Like the proverbial rolling stone, the momentum behind Bullet very quickly became unstoppable. This was surreal to the band members. They went out on their first proper tour supporting 36 Crazyfists in the UK. Since then, they have played festivals such as the Download Festival and have ventured towards North America and cracked into the American market.

While each member had heard countless stories from bands about the United States, they were eager to check it out for themselves. "We got off the plane and went straight for the Rainbow Room, got absolutely smashed and had a food fight," laughs Moose about his maiden visit to Los Angeles.

"He almost broke my nose with a pizza tray," adds bassist Jay. "I ran over a taxi. It was exciting. It still is now. But now we'll go to the Saddle Ranch instead and ride the mechanical bull. We're not as wild as we used to be when we first started. We were crazy when we started but the shows have gotten bigger...."

While Bullet For My Valentine have played in front of a variety of audiences in the UK as well as the US they have encountered a wide range of reactions, but is there a real difference between the two nationalities?

"Not really. They're all there to have a good time. They're all there to rock out. The only difference is the accent," says Moose. "Everywhere we go the reaction is identical every night. Especially on our headline run - they're there to see you. My job as a frontman is to command the crowd and make them feel part of the family. I like to wind people up as much as possible," adds Matt.

The Bullet guys have made new friends on the tour, and have had more than their share of fun to boot. "I couldn't remember the evening or the band, but they ended up carrying me back to the bus. I got loaded," said Moose. "I was on another one of the Japanese bands' buses and I got sake and I collapsed and they carried me up the steps of the bus. It was some hardcore drinking," adds Jay.

Returning to the UK for another bout of touring this summer, Bullet will also be hitting up the festivals, appearing at both Download and Reading and Leeds in June and August.

Says Matt: "We're playing the main stage [at Reading]. We've done the main stage twice. It's exciting to do this festival, especially this year with the line-up - Rage Against The Machine and Metallica are headlining! It's a big deal this year. One their website it's a record of two hundred thousand tickets sold in two hours. It's the fastest it's ever gone."

With typical understatement, Moose brings our time together to an end. "We're the first band ever actually allowed to do Reading and Leeds and Download. It's pretty cool for us."

Bayside Interview (Mean Street - October 2008)

Bayside

By Rei Nishimoto

Positive Vibes

“I spent a lot of time at the Rainbow Room,” says drummer Chris Guglielmo, about his days off while recording the new Bayside record, Shudder, in L.A. “I’d just go in there and people watch. It’s like being in a time warp.”

It was apparent that they were enjoying soaking up the Hollywood experience of their rare off time, but the band worked hard on their record. After recording their prior albums on the East Coast, Bayside wanted a change of scenery and recorded Shudder at Red Bull Studios in Santa Monica with producer David Schiffman (System of a Down, Audioslave).“

[Schiffman brought] his calming influence,” says bassist Nick Ghanbarian. “He works to each individual person. It’s going to sound bigger and better, and he knows how to do that while you’re tracking your part. He knows what sounds good. You might have played it perfectly, but he may make you play it again louder just so when he’s mixing and the song’s done, the energy and the vibe mesh well together.”

“He works in a stressful environment,” adds Guglielmo. “When you have four people relying on you for certain things, he handles it very well. He doesn’t get too edgy at all.”

The band has overcome every challenge set in front of them. Since the band’s formation in 2000, they appeared on the 2007 Vans Warped and the Victory Records tours, as well as appearances on Late Night With Conan O’Brien and Total Request Live. But they also overcame lows when the band was involved in a fatal van accident in 2005 that killed then-drummer John Holohan. They paid tribute to him on their 2006 Acoustic EP.

Shudder retains a lot of their sound while refining what fans loved about them. Much like on their prior releases, the songs on this record also maintained a theme as well. Vocalist and guitarist Anthony Raneri says he wanted the theme to be positive.

“I don’t approve of a lot of the bands out there today with these big fan bases that are putting the wrong ideas in kids’ minds to party, drink and do drugs and have sex,” he says. “We want to be a better influence. Musically, I wanted to write songs [whose] cores were simple and very easy to latch onto. That’s why we named the album Shudder because we wanted one word, very powerful, to the point and easy to remember.”

The songs on Shudder feature the melodic pop-punk style Bayside have built their careers around. The first single, “No One Understands,” is a straightforward song structured around melodies and hooks, while “The Ghost of St. Valentine” and “Boy” retain the guitar-driven sound Bayside is best known for. Plus there are the anthemic pop-punk sounds on “Roshambo (Rock, Paper, Scissors).”

“To us, we could say we’re trying things, but inevitably it’s going to sound like us,” says Ghanbarian. “I think it’s more youthful.”

“I think the only real difference in this record from the other records is coming out in the sonic aspect,” says Raneri. “The songs are Bayside songs. We have a couple of ska-tinged things and a couple of rockabilly-tinged things. But it sounds like Bayside.”

ON THE STAGE: Oct. 22— Glass House (Pomona), Oct. 23— Troubadour(W. Hollywood)

On the web: myspace.com/bayside

Gojira - The Way Of All Flesh (Mean Street - October 2008)

GOJIRA
The Way of All Flesh

(Prosthetic)

Release date: Oct. 14

The French death machine known as Gojira is one of the few bands within the metal genre that has set the metal world afire. The theme of this record revolves around the subject of death, and the overtone of their music definitely suits it well. Their sound varies from an older death metal style with chugging guitars blasting away with progressive parts (“Toxic Garbage Island”), alternating in between to more technical death metal (“A Sight To Behold”). Lamb of God’s D. Randall Blythe loans his vocals on “Adoration For None,” a straightforward tune that is simply brutal. There isn’t a dull moment anywhere, and they may have created their strongest release to date. Gojira has definitely raised the ante on this release so make sure to wear a helmet when you play this.

Grade: A

REI NISHIMOTO

Pepper Interview (Mean Street - September 2008)

PEPPER

By Rei Nishimoto

Island Spice

“It’s been great. We sold out Red Rocks in Colorado. It’s been far over everyone’s expectations,” says Pepper drummer Yessod Williams, about their recent summer tour with Slightly Stoopid. They were touring in support of their current release, Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations, and have attracted fans along the way.

“You go downstairs and look at the plaques on the wall,” he continues about Red Rocks. “It goes back to Elvis Presley playing there. The Beatles have played there. Led Zeppelin played there. All of these great bands that are huge influences have shared that same stage. And to have sold it out too…we were blown away. That place is huge.”

“This has got to be the fifth or sixth tour we’ve done with [Slightly Stoopid]. It’s always a blast. It makes those rough times on the road so much easier when you’re out with your friends. It’s like summer camp with our friends and hanging out. It sucks when you tour and you don’t talk to the other bands.”

The trio began in the Kona area of Hawaii in 1996, creating an energetic style of reggae. They relocated to Southern California in 1999 to expand their base and capitalize on opportunities, which later resulted into future tours with 311, Snoop Dogg and The Wailers. But Williams is proud of where he and the rest of the band are from.

“In Hawaii, that’s by far the most popular style of music,” he explains. “We get such few famous artists who would come over and perform. The ones who would, a majority of them were reggae like Yellow Man, UB40, Gregory Isaacs and anything like that. I think just being an island and that whole island vibe just marries itself with reggae. We were encompassed in it growing up our whole lives.

”What sets Pepper apart from traditional reggae is their energetic style. For a trio to perform music without additional members, they managed to build a live show that matches the energy of their music.

“We finally figured out how to put on a real rock show,” Williams says. “So I think we infused a lot more rock into our music. There’s this misconception where people think we have this mellow show, like this island breezy type show. It’s a high energy and spontaneous…the crowd’s interacting constantly. We don’t make a setlist. We plan out the first four songs and then we have the crowd call out whatever song they want to hear.

”They placed their live show to the test during the 2007 Vans Warped Tour, where they played in front of punk rock kids looking to rock out.

“This was the third time we did it, and it was the first time we were one of the headliners on the main stage,” he recalls. “Our show’s high energy and I think the fact that we didn’t sound like any band on Warped Tour was great for us. We stuck out like a sore thumb and it turned people’s heads. It was such an honor because we were on the same stage as Bad Religion, Pennywise and Flogging Molly. We had a great time on and off the stage the entire time.”

Pepper has have a tour wish list of musical acts they would love to play with.

“Definitely NOFX,” Williams says. “We’ve played on Warped Tour with them, when we were on one of the side stages. NOFX would be an endless blast of a tour. If you’re reading, Fat Mike, please take Pepper on tour with you!”

On the web: pepperlive.com

Funeral For A Friend - Memory and Humanity (Mean Street - October 2008)

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND

Memory and Humanity

(Victory)

Release date: Oct. 13

Funeral For A Friend is a favorite amongst the U.K. crowds and their latest release may finally be the one that should turns heads. Much of their sound revolves around frontman Mat Davies’ big melodic vocals, along with a catchy, guitar riff-oriented style that falls somewhere between post-hardcore and melodic indie rock. The catchy, ’80s guitar melody of “Beneath the Burning Tree” will connect instantly with fans of the modern emo and pop-punk craze. “Kicking and Screaming” sticks to a standard melodic riff rock sound that longtime fans will love. For older fans, there are edgier-sounding songs here such as “Rules and Games” and “Waterfront Dance Club.” This record may be their most melodic and mature-sounding release to date, and the big break the band had been seeking for a while.

Grade: A-
REI NISHIMOTO