Interviews: Reggie and the Full Effect

Mark Rowan continued his rampage of interviews when he spoke with James Dewees, the mastermind behind Reggie and the Full Effect. They talked about the possibility of reunions, the strikingly more serious tone on his latest album and why exactly he does what he does.

"Just because I'm not wearing a costume doesn't mean I'm not pulling a joke. I'm still good at fucking with little kids."

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Reggie released Songs Not To Get Married To last year and will be appearing on the Vagrant Records stage on this year's Warped Tour.

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Alright, what’s with all the pictures of you in a bath of Skittles? I’ve seen that picture everywhere.
It’s just something I thought would be really really funny. I mean its weird cause it worked out. Those pictures have turned out everywhere.

Yeah, I’ve seen them all over the place.
Wow, I just saw one right now.
I’m here to be an entertainer. More than just a musician I’m here to make people laugh too.
So why did you decide to take yourself on this tour?
Just to see if I could do it, it’s a two and a half hour to three hour set every night. It’s not like we’re playing half an hour, you know. There are three costume changes. Just to see if I can pull it off, to prove to myself. It’s funny cause the shows are doing really good and kids comes and it’s all Reggie bands. It’s also fun to see people’s first time experiencing Reggie and the Full Effect live, I think it’s pretty funny. Because they are just like, "What the fuck is going on onstage?"

Has it been difficult to play 3 sets in a row?
The first couple days I was getting really tired by Common Denominator. Now it’s just easy because I’m just used to it.

Is it even more fun to give your other "personalities" their own set times?
Yeah yeah, totally.

What is the general reaction for someone who hasn’t seen Reggie live?
They laugh a lot, but that’s the point. I’m here to be an entertainer. More than just a musician I’m here to make people laugh too.

There was definitely a bit of a more serious mood in Songs Not To Get Married To and with good reason, do you think you’ll continue to go into that direction on the next record?
I don’t know. I started writing songs, but I haven’t gotten to the lyrics yet. It could be just as serious, but not on such a depressing topic. I’m not getting divorced again on this record.

What has been done so far?
I started meeting with producers and working on all the demo versions of songs.

When do you think you’ll get in the studio for that?
Late April.

Is the seriousness of this record the reason why you decided to officially unveil that is was in fact you behind Reggie and the Full Effect?
No that was because Get Up Kids aren’t doing anything anymore and now I can focus solely on Reggie.

Do you think a lot of old fans were a little taken back by the serious tones of the album?
No because I did a pretty good job at explaining why the album was done like that.

A lot of people in bands have to start side projects to experiment with different sounds, but now that you have Reggie it seems your able to do all that inside this one band…how much fun is it to be able to do that and have your fans even expect that from you?
It’s fun because it allows me to keep my sense of humor sharp. I pretty much have a good time everyday, I know that sounds retarded. But, I’m in South Carolina and this place is funny. If you look close enough at everything there is going to be something funny about it.

Speaking of other projects… is Reggie 100% full time or do you have any other plans for reunions or side projects?
I’m always down to mess around with other stuff, but as far as reunions go I don’t know, I’m not the decision makers in those bands.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever encountered while you were on the road?
Four Air Force colonels in Las Vegas came up to my hotel room wearing my underwear and wanted to take photos of them in their underwear and me.

[laugh] How did that go over?
They invited me to come out and take a ride in an F14. That shit makes me sick, there’s no way I would go do that.

So what ended up happening with that situation?
I got a copy of the picture.

Maybe it will make it inside one of the albums.
I’m sure it will find its way into something.