Interviews: Thought Riot

Mike Molnar has provided us with his second interview; this time with Marc from A-F Records' Thought Riot. The band has released two records via the label, 2002's Shattered Mirror Syndrome, and Sketches of Undying Will last year. You can click Read More to check out what Marc had to say.

Interview Conducted by Mike Molnar via e-mail

Please start by introducing yourselves and tell us what you
do in Thought Riot.
I’m Marc and I sing. The other members are Kelley &
Robby (guitars), Mike (bass), and Paul (drums).
When and where was Thought Riot formed?
It was formed by three underground kids from Modesto, CA who
wanted to sing about how fucked up the world was. Back then it
was just my two friends and I and we wanted to play music and
sing about politics. That was back in ‘97.
What were your musical influences when you started the
band?
When I started the band I was listening to a lot of Anti-Flag
and Fury 66. I was only 18 and just wrote the same kind of music
I listened too.
Why are you the only founding member still with the
band?
Just happened that way I guess. It was always primarily my
songs and lyrics so I always kept the same band name, no matter
who was in it. And it never got to the point where I was the only
one in the band. The band just evolved as time went by.
What was the original goal (or reason) for the formation of
Thought Riot?
To play music and sing about the things we wanted to sing
about (which was injustice in society for the most part). First
and foremost was the desire to write and perform music.
When did Kelley join the band? Have you guys ever got any
negative responses to having a woman in the band?
Kel joined at the end of 1999, December I think. I’ve
never been aware of there ever being a negative deal over
Kelley’s presence; I mean I don’t
even notice it anymore and haven’t for quite some time.
When do you feel that Thought Riot got its first big
break?
When A-F Records first contacted us back in early 2001.
How did the band get involved with A-F Records?
We sent them a demo and they liked it. It was really that
simple. They were all strangers to us, I mean they were
Anti-Flag; this is just before they released
Underground Network, but they were still huge. We had had no
previous contact with them.
What is it like to be on the same record label as
Anti-Flag? Do you get a lot of support from them?
We aren’t on the same label as Anti-Flag. Anti-Flag is
on Fat Wreck Chords, we’re on A-F Records. The guys own and
run our label, and have put out some Anti-Flag releases on it,
but they are on a different label. But as a label they’ve
supported us to the best of their ability and that is more than
you can ever ask.
What do you feel you accomplished when you released
Shattered Mirror Syndrome in 2001?
One of my life’s goals. It was a great personal
experience and achievement. We didn’t break any new punk
rock grounds or anything, we just put out a record, but that was
big for me at the time.What message where you trying to
portray through the record? Do you feel you were successful in
this respect?
Each song had it’s own personality, and the record
really didn’t and still doesn’t seem to have an
overall message to it. If anything, the theme would be
reflection, both inward and outward. But regardless of it’s
lack of wholeness it has seemed to reach a lot of people and
that’s inspiring.
It is obvious that Thought Riot is a band with a strong
political message. Have you ever gotten any negative responses
towards your views?
Of course, any one with strong views / opinions receives slack
for it, especially when those views are socio-political in
nature. Of course people are not going to like what we have to
say, if they didn’t we wouldn’t need to be voicing
them.

In 2002 you guys were an opener on the Mobilize For Peace
Tour. How was it to share the stage with two of the most amazing
punk rock bands, Anti-Flag and Good Riddance?
Experience of a lifetime. Do you feel that being on a big
tour like that got you a lot of exposure, and maybe some new
fans?
Most definitely. I only wish we could redo that tour now that
we’ve had a couple member changes and are in general a more
experienced band, but that’s only a fleeting thought. That
tour wouldn’t have been as memorable if it wasn’t our
first tour and we weren’t so inexperienced.
In 2003 when you started writing Sketches of Undying Will
did you have any specific goals that you wanted the record to
accomplish?
We wanted it to be better than the “Shattered Mirror
Syndrome”. Better songs, lyrics, production, and feel more
complete as a whole album. The same goes for the next album we
write. You can force any other kind of expectations on it or
you’re going to force something. When that happens disaster
strikes. Fans can hear something forced.
How do you feel that the second record compares to the
first?
Well the first album has songs written from 1997 until 2000 on
it, songs that were written here and there and redone over and
over again. So there’s not as much cohesion between the
songs as opposed to “Sketches” where all the songs
were written with the same members and within the span of 9
months. That’s one reason it feels more complete to me. We
also had a bigger recording budget the second around, which meant
we got to spend more time on it. Finally we had a new drummer and
guitar player for “Sketches” and we all worked really
well together.
What kind of response did you receive with the release of
Sketches of Undying Will?

For the most part the responses have been outstanding.
It’s been a rare instance when somebody has said they like
out first album better. Everyone that hears
“Sketches” just seems to really enjoy the record, and
all the reviews have reflected that. It was also sweet to be
ranked number 1 on Interpunk for a day, heh.
What was it like to be on tour with Anti-Flag, Rise
Against, Against Me!, and None More Black?
Let’s see um, well, we were on tour with four of the
best underground bands out there. hmmm. Yeah,
it sucked.
What is it like to perform at Warped Tour?
It’s bittersweet. You have a long all night drive the
night before, so you’re sleeping very uncomfortably in the
van, then you wake up at 7 am to unload and run around trying to
figure out what goes where, then you sit in the sun until you
play. You play and have fun, but then sit in the sun for the rest
of the day. Then it takes about an hour to break down and get out
of dodge to start the long night drive to the next day location.
Showers are hard to get to. When it’s over and done though,
the experience is not one to be missed.
Why have there been so many band member changes since the
formation of the band?
Because being in a full time band isn’t necessarily for
everyone, and some people just can’t or don’t want to
do it, while other people you just can’t or don’t
want to do it with. So it changes, however we’re hoping
that our line up should be pretty damn near finalized, haha.
I’ll kill any of these blokes if they take off.
What are your plans for the future (tours, recordings,
etc.) ?
We tour the East Coast in August and September for 5 weeks.
We’re going to have a song and video on Rock Against Bush
Vol. 2, which is released Aug. 10th. After the tour we hope to do
support on other tours all the way through until next summer.
We’ll be writing the entire time and then hope to record at
the end of next summer and have a record out by late Fall of
2005.
What would you describe Thought Riot's current sound or
style as?
Santa Cruz skate punk (Good Riddance) and east coast hardcore
(Boy Sets Fire). At least that used to fit, I guess it
doesn’t really anymore, but oh well. That’s my
answer.
If you had to choose one song that you say is the best
indication of Thought Riot's sound and message what would it
be?
“With Love, the Underground” from “Sketches
of Undying Will”
What kind of music do you guys listen to?

We all listen to different music. Each of our record
collections looks very different from each other. Mine has the
most punk and hardcore. I just love that music. But I’ve
also got a lot of early 90’s grudge and some other stuff of
course.
Anything in the works for a Canadian tour in the
future?
We want to get there, but nothing definite yet. We don’t
want to half-ass anything, so we’re waiting until we get
something really solid together.
Do you have anything else to say to our readers?
Thanks for reading this far. If you’re already familiar
with our music, thank you for your support. If you’re not
then you can find out more about us at thoughtriot.com and
listen to us at purevolume.com/thoughtriot. Thanks again.