Interviews: The Casting Out (ex-Boy Sets Fire)

Our friend Dan Perrone recently sat down for a lengthy interview with The Casting Out, which includes Nathan Gray of Boy Sets Fire. The band self-released their debut full length Go Crazy! Throw Fireworks! in October.

You can click Read More for the interview.

We're here with Nathan, Pat, Chris, and Gene of The Casting Out
from Newark, Delaware at Champ's sports bar in Jersey because we got
kicked out of a diner for being too loud. And these guys are
completely wasted. The first thing I want to ask, and this is
specifically geared to Nathan, is who the first band you guys are
going to beef with first will be.

Nathan: We already got one, you wanna hear about them? [laughs] You
already pretty much assume I'm gonna beef with some band!

Pat: They're this band called the Velvet Teen, from…California? Where
they don't get jokes? They were checking their e-mail.

Chris: We were playing a show in New Castle, Delaware and I guess they
were checking their e-mail because that's something you do on tour,
and it was a lame show. Nathan said something about it, just joking
with them, and then after the show, I left, and-
Nathan: I said "Hey! Why are you guys on your laptops, ha ha?" all
joking around. Point being, it was just some show in Delaware, and it
was really funny because we were about to play, we're about to hit the
first note, and this dude is sitting in front of me with his laptop
like as close as you are to me, typing away-

Nathan: There were maybe twelve people there, and this dude is in
front of me doing this [typing motion]. So I made a joke like "Hey
man, it's cool, go ahead and do your thing, we'll start playing when
you're done." And it's getting more and more awkward. And then he
finally put his laptop away and we play our set. A fight broke out
about it, and actually there's no beef , caused it got resolved, but I
think it's hilarious that you automatically assume that I start shit
with other bands!-

Pat: Well it was their fault, because they like computers.

Nathan: But you're right, every time I play a show with somebody, I've
got a problem, it's great. But actually, we don't have beef with them
or care at all… Just a funny story, and funny you asked. Oh yeah,
and I hate Propagandhi, all of their albums suck. [laughter] it's
basically Propagandhi, Dillinger Four, and Lawrence Arms. Basically,
all three of those bands are shit, and have never written a good song
in their lives. You know what? Elton John is more punk than all three
of those bands. Take that nerds!

Chris: Long story short, they tried to fight us, and afterwards, I've
got people telling me "Yo, I heard you guys got in a fight with
Lifetime!"

Gene: Isn't that the band that leaked their album online as the new
Death Cab album? They're German. I dunno.

Bartender: Is this on the radio?

No, no, this isn't on the radio. But do I look that legit? It's for
a website called Punknews.org. We both drove an hour and met in the
middle. We got kicked out of Marlton Diner.

Nathan: Yeah, way to go, you just served a bunch of drunk assholes.

Random dude at the bar: What band are you guys in?

All: The Casting Out. From Delaware.

Dude: Never heard of you.

Nathan: That's okay. You may not have heard of Delaware either. You
may have heard about it in Wayne's World.

Dude: What kind of music are you guys?

Nathan: Punk stuff. Punk rock. We're pretty good.

Bartender: What kind of songs do you guys write?

Nathan: There's a song about how we like free shots of Jameson.

Bartender: I will buy you a shot if you serenade me.

All: Oh shit! Do it!

Nathan: What song? What am I singing?

Pat: "Livin' on a Prayer"

"Take Me Home Tonight"

Bartender: I'll tell the manager to put the song on and you can sing
it. For a free shot. "Livin' on a Prayer"!

Nathan: I don't care, I'm getting a free shot out of it!

Okay, we're going to continue while we wait for the song to come on…

Dude from before: I'm out of here, I got two pieces of advice. Makes
lots of fuckin' money, and never sell out to make money and never sell
out to your friends!

All: Woo! Right on!

Nathan: I'm gonna try my damnedest to make as much money as I can!

What's it like being in a new band and kind of having to start
over, playing smaller shows and…

Nathan: Smaller shows? The last Boy Sets Fire tour was pretty fuckin'
small! It's pretty cool. In Europe, it's different, because we're
fucking huge.

Pat: We played to so many people…I've never even seen this many people
in one place before.

Nathan: It's funny because the last BSF tour was pretty brutal anyway.
When BSF signed to Wind-Up, we pretty much fucked our whole world. We
had been asked on all these tours; Thursday asked us on tour. We
didn't do them, because we were writing our album, and…hey, when's my
song coming on!

Bartender: I dunno.

Can he stand on the bar and sing?

Pat: We need fire. This would be cooler with fire.

Nathan: I don't even know all the words to this fuckin' song.

All: HERE IT IS!!!!

Nathan: [singing] Something's gotta something yeaaaah…he's down on his
luck OHH YEAAAAH…

Bartender: Do the chorus, and I'll be happy.

All: We gotta hold on, to what we got. It doesn't make a difference if
we make it or not. We got each other, and that's a lot for love. WE'LL
GIVE IT A SHOT. WHOAAA WE'RE HALF WAY THERE. WHOAAA LIVIN' ON A
PRAYER. TAKE MY HAND, AND WE'LL MAKE IT I SWEAR. WHOAAA LIVIN' ON A
PRAYER. [laughter from the entire bar]

Nathan: Who gets a shot now, bitch?! [applause from bar]

Pat: [takes mic, gives it to random woman] Say something about what
just happened.

Woman: It was a beautiful thing.

Nathan: The point is…Creed is AWESOME. Creed is awesome, and I love
God. It was funny because…I don't even wanna talk about BSF, because
we did a lot of dumb shit in our situation.

Well, what I was getting at was…

Nathan: WHOAAAA, LIVIN' ON A PRAYER. You wanna live on a prayer bitch?

…does the ex-BSF tag help you guys out in any regard?

Nathan: Only in Europe.

Pat: Only when I try to get laid.

Chris: When we write our name, it all goes together like one word.
[laughter] Now we're thecastingout, just one word.

Nathan: But really, it does help us out in Europe. But like I said, we
fucked ourselves hard with BSF. Towards the end we were just in the
studio all the time and not taking care of the shit we should have
been taking care of. And none of that is my fault. [laughter]

Talk shit about it.

Nathan: No way in hell.

Chris: The way we did this record, we did it in like a week and a
half. I don't know how you could stretch it longer than that. I did my
tracks in eight hours, in and out.

Pat: I did my drum tracks in twelve hours. That's it.

Nathan: [to bartender, not paying attention] Put on any song, I'll
fucking sing it.

Bartender: The other bartender thinks you are fabulous.

Nathan: Thank you! Any song you want, I will sing it.

Pat: We're stunt doubles for the Backstreet Boys.

Nathan: What song is on now?

"Summer of '69"?!? As long as you guys keep playing awesome music,
we'll never be able to finish this shit!

Chris: I destroyed my bedroom to this song once.

Why did you guys choose to self-release Go Crazy, Throw
Fireworks! and was it difficult to produce on your own?

Pat: We don't know if it's self-released yet. [laughter] It might come
out on Triumphant Records, I'm just putting that out there.

Nathan: We won't tell that story. Funnily enough, the music industry
as a whole is going down the fucking shitter right now. I mean, with
all of the digital downloading and people ripping shit off - which is
cool, I couldn't give a shit - it doesn't hurt the bands, it hurts the
labels. Well, unless you're Metallica apparently.

Pat: And then you're just a shitty drummer anyway. I like to call him
Lars Cocaine. For the record, me and him suck together.

Nathan: I'm fucking serious; BSF was playing in Europe…with Metallica.
We were opening up for Disturbed, Marilyn Manson, and Papa Roach. And
some other bands. [to bartender] Who is your favorite band?

Bartender: Coldplay?

Nathan: They're ok. That's cool.

These guys sound like Coldplay

Pat: You know how I know you're gay? You listen to Coldplay. That's
from a movie. The 40 Year Old Virgin. Don't cry. You're gonna be on
the internet you know.

Punknews.org

Nathan: Fucknews.org. Fuckyou.org.

Chris: Whydidwedriveanhourandahalftogetmoredrunk.org

Nathan: So we were opening for these bands. Where was I going with
this story? What was the question?

Self-releasing your album [laughter from everyone]

Pat: You know why we're self-releasing this album? Because if no one
picks us up then we have to. [laughter]

Nathan: You know why we're self-releasing this album? Did you just
hear that story? I lost all consciousness. We were opening for some
bands, and then…and then…remember when I was awesome? And then it
stopped? I honestly don't know what we are going to do. We're shopping
it around. Most of the industry is going downhill. It's just over.
They're scared to sign new bands.

Chris: They keep calling us and saying "It's awesome, we love it, we
keep playing it…but we can't sign you".

Pat: Every record label we wanted to talk to is like "We love it…sorry".

Bartender [interrupts]: Do you have a CD on you right now? I will have
them play it on the speakers.

Pat: No, but we'll send you one. We just need your name, address,
phone number, myspace page, and social security number.

Any favorite labels at this juncture?

Chris: I want to be part of any label that wants a part of us right now.

Pat: I want to be a part of a lot of things that I can't be a part of.

Describe the transition in sound from your early demos, which were
more indie and folky, to your new melodic punk rock sound.

Nathan: How about you describe it first!

Hmm, how would I describe it? Well, you had the girl in the band
before, and she played the piano.

Nathan: Yeah, it was kind of like Fleetwood Mac.

We need to put some Rumours on the stereo here, man.

Nathan: Oh shit, we need some Fleetwood Mac up in this bitch!

All: YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAYYYYYY

Nathan: Well, first, before I answer that question, real fast. I want
to say a few things. First, all the BSF / Casting Out things. When we
started The Casting Out, it was basically me writing some acoustic
songs. And while BSF was still together, I got in touch with Pat, and
we wrote a couple of things.

Pat: I want to interrupt and say that four years ago, this sounded
awesome. Really awesome. In our living rooms in Delaware, me and
Nathan playing guitars. Oh, it was good. Oh boy.

Nathan: Point being, it's an evolutionary process. When we started
out, it was basically just a reflection of what I had written
acoustically. I was in Richmond, playing some acoustic shows. It was
me, Robby from Ann Beretta, and Darby that was playing in the
beginning of this whole shit. And then we got these guys together, and
we had Josh in the band from BSF. And we've been trading in and out
and it's just been changing ever since. And it's funny because when I
first started the band, I wanted to do something laid back and fun,
and then we kept going and it was like…I can't stop jumping like a
retarded monkey. It felt weird because I was playing guitar at the
time, and I felt restricted.

Pat: And then we tried to play…softer. And it was like we were holding
back the whole time. We couldn't not turn things up louder.

Chris: It got to the point where we owed people so much money that we
needed to start being very serious about what we do [laughter].

Nathan: It not, people would kill us. But as we kept going, we finally
found our sound.

Pat: We wrote a new punk rock song recently that I can barely play.
It's so fast.

Nathan: The only guy that can play it is me and Jack, the new guy from
One Win Choice. But every song they play is that fast, and he's like
"Oh, a punk song? I can play that" and these guys here are like "Ohhh
shit…"

Pat: I talked to McDermott from the Souls and it was like "You look so
comfortable when you play!"

Gene: But there is not a sober bone in his body when he plays. He's
got a weed tech, though.

Pat: I love weed, I'm always high.

You talk about feeling restricted…why is there just a tiny bit of
screaming on the record and not more?

Pat: Because I couldn't get Nathan to play in a stoner rock band with
me [laughter]. We're starting a new band called Vulture, look for it
in 2009. We're never gonna play a show though, by the way.

Nathan: Then we also have this band Characteristics of a Housefly, and
it's just awful, noisy shit that you would never ever want to listen
to. Because it's awful. Vulture, you may want to hear, but this band,
we sound like Throbbing Gristle, from the seventies. They started the
whole industrial movement. Point being, you will not want to hear it.
But as we keep moving along, it was like "OK, I want to get in this
band, I don't want to fucking scream, I'm old, I'm over that shit. But
now, I'm pretty much open to anything. On the next album, there might
be a little more, but it will be more in the punk vein and not the
hardcore vein.

Pat: If it warrants screaming, then we'll do it. But if not, we won't.

Nathan: There's a point where you say "I don't want to do this and
that". But then you think that you were in this band that sort of had
a gimmick - well, not a gimmick, I don't want to say that, but it was
like there was a way things were done. Now I'm in a new band and I can
redefine how things are done. And with this band, we're very open. We
can do whatever the fuck we want to do.

Chris: We could write a country song, which I would like to do, and
everyone would be down with it. It wouldn't matter.

Give us an update in Josh, like how it was having him in the band
and how he's doing now.

Nathan: He's doing great.

Pat: We were watching football with him an hour ago. He loves Dallas,
I hate Dallas. Josh is funnier than I am and I hate it.

Nathan: Pat is the funniest guy, but when Josh comes around, he
becomes unfunny.

Pat: I cannot talk when Josh is around. Me and Gene, collectively, are
very funny. Gene's not in the band, by the way. Hey Gene, introduce
yourself.

Gene: Yo. Word.

Pat: So Josh is awesome. Josh hurt himself a while ago, as you all
know. It's not like he can't tour, but he can't sit in a piece of shit
van for eight hours at a time and sit upright and sleep in basements
because he's in a lot of pain. I wish he was in the band with us
still. But he can't, physically. Actually I am glad he's not in the
band because I'm funny again. I love Josh to death but I am funny when
he is not in the band. I make jokes that are funny as hell.

Gene: It's like Voltron.

Pat: Yeah, when he's around it's like AHHH WHAT AM I GONNA DO
[unintelligible]…VOLTRON. FUCK MY PUSSY. But Josh is awesome, he wrote
some of the songs.

I don't know if you can talk about this, but what happened with Darby?

Pat: She's great. Here's what happened. She couldn't tour with us
because her husband got into UCLA's graduate film school which accepts
like 20 or 30 people a year, and he's been trying to get in forever.
And she had two kids, so she moved out there. It was a great
opportunity.

Nathan: On top of that, it was good for her to get out of Delaware. As
far as the band was going, there was also no place for piano. Pat had
to convince me.

Chris: We tried out another girl, but it just didn't work.

Pat: I had to convince Nathan so hard that we didn't need a piano and keyboard.

Nathan: And I wanted it because I wanted it to be different, but then
the different thing became what everyone else was doing.

Pat: There's only one song with piano; "These Alterations," which I
got Nazi-ed into playing. I play one note the whole time, and they
turned it into a piano part somehow.

Why is there a dog in that song? [note: a random dog barks halfway
through the song for no apparent reason]

All: OHHHHH NOOOOO [fake sobbing].

Nathan: What happened was we were on our way to the studio, and it's
Pat and I in the car. And it's really weird, honestly. And we've made
up about five or ten stories about this. We're driving, and this dog
drove out…[laughs] drove out. No he did not drive out. This dog ran
out, we slammed on the dog, and we hit the dog. We were a little
fucked up about it so we picked up the dog and we took it to the
studio with us, and it was really weird. It was bleeding everywhere.
But this has nothing to do with the barking part. We had to call the
vet, and all this shit happened. I don't even know what happened to
the dog, but that showed up on the fucking tape, and I don't know
where it came from. We were recording the hand claps and we played it
back and we were like "What the fuck is that!" John, the guy we
recorded with, went pale white and freaked out, and asked if we wanted
to keep it and we were like fuck yeah!

Chris: Or, our manager has a dog and it started barking, I don't know.
You can pick either one of those stories.

Nathan: Shut up! [laughs]

Pat: You're going to print the first story, right?

You better believe that I'm printing everything

Nathan: Dillinger Four…fuck 'em. I hate bands. I hate anything you like.

Speaking of things you hate, is it nice to not sing about politics
anymore?

All: Awww, yeah.

Pat: Me, I hate singing about politics because honestly, I don't sing
that often when I am playing drums [laughter]. I do one thing right,
just one thing, and that's play the drums. And sometimes I'll be
playing drums and I'll catch myself talking about Barack Obama and
it's really embarrassing.

Nathan: Well, with BSF, we were a very political band, and with this
band, it's very possible that some of that element could get in there.
But we're not a political band-

Pat: [interrupts] Like keeping Mexicans out of America. [shocked
laughter from all] Oh shit. Where is the delete button on this
recorder? I'm ashamed of myself. I retract every statement. But I do
hate Mexicans. Wait, no. They work very hard, all of the time, I
swear.

Nathan: Here is some of the shit that you have to learn about this
band. The joke is more important than reality. It's been great and
pretty liberating with this band because BSF was very strict and stern
in the public but in personal situations, we were very light-hearted
and just had fun. And this band is the complete opposite. As people,
we have our viewpoints and beliefs, but with the way shit has been
going these days, it almost seems ridiculous to have a viewpoint these
days.

Pat: We're at the point where it's like…we make jokes, and if you
can't handle them, fuck you.

Nathan: That's actually more important that anything else. You see
more bullshit in the media with people telling jokes than you see
serious beliefs. So we sort of go out on a limb with just about
anything.

Pat: I'm tired of being too serious. If I was that serious, I probably
wouldn't be here talking to you right now.

Chris: It's someone else's turn to take over and do that kind of thing.

Pat: Rage Against the Machine can have it.

Gene: Rage Against the Machine sucks my ass.

Chris: Everybody, that's Gene Shaw, Landenburg, PA. 259-…

Politics?

Nathan: you know, the best part? we've always just sort of been
clowns. We get up there, say what we want to say, and that's how it
should be. Hardcore and punk rock has always been about getting up
there and being dickheads. And that's what so bullshit about the
scene. Everybody's so opinionated, worrying about bands that don't fit
in with their viewpoints. There are so many bands that I like that
have nothing in common with how I feel, but I respect them because
they're assholes about it. I love it. That's what it's about. I think
this, this, and this…fuck it, I'm out. I play good music, that's all
that matters. It's funny how weird this shit can get. Let's take this
back to the BSF interview you and I did a while ago, where I was
like…the new Propagandhi record, it's just not my thing. I really
loved all the stuff they've done previously, and I can even now look
back and say that it's a pretty good album. I can get into it now.
There was some post about what BSF was up to, and someone was like "I
heard they hate Propagandhi, fuck them". Really? And I don't
understand how people don't understand what caricatures they really
are. When you're writing shit on the internet about how bullshit
people are under an anonymous name, it's like…

Chris: I saw you backed us up though, good shit. I read that thing,
and I was getting kind of pissed off, because I'm a regular, hard
working dude. I'm 29 years old. And I'm thinking how lame it is that
people are so pissed off at this. Why do people waste their time
saying dumb fucking shit about a band? I'm struggling over here. We're
in debt, we're just trying to make our way through.

Nathan: It's funny how, when people do this, they don't step back and
think…man, I've got better things to do than this.

Chris: It's because they don't. Send me your fucking demo, and I'll trash it.

Nathan: It goes back to Bambi: if you don't have anything nice to say,
don't say anything at all.

Pat: We love the Lawrence Arms, by the way.

Gene: The internet tells people what's cool and what's not cool. And
people will follow that. I mean, I'm a vinyl nerd. On those message
boards…people will talk about one album and the next minute it's on
Ebay selling for ridiculous prices. It's what happens. Kids these days
don't do anything, all they do is sit around and post, and let that
dictate their lives. They let that dictate what bands they like, what
bands they go to see. It's not like us. I would go to any show that
was around when I was growing up, just because it was something to do.
But this was AOL 1.1.

Chris: And this is our job. We'll come visit you at your job and tell
you how much you suck.

Nathan: Sell more TV's, asshole. Make more fries, dick.

Chris: I would listen to bands that really fucking matter, bands like
Avail and shit like that. Every word they said fucking matters. It
just meant something, and shit doesn't seem to matter anymore. It's
like fucking puppet theater. I'm getting stirred up thinking about it
right now. I just want our shit to mean something. I listen to our
record and it's like…to me, this means something.

Pat: We have a lot of different tastes in this band. I listen to a lot
of shit that everybody hates. Everybody hates me. But we all
collectively put our influences together and just make music that we
like. I am so stoked about our band…it's ridiculous. And I'll promote
the shit out of myself, because I love our music. It's exactly what I
need to be doing right now.

Nathan: It just bums me out that you have so many clueless internet
assholes that are like "Here's what I think…" and "Propagandhi are the
shit…" and they don't leave the house, they don't give a fuck about
anything. You won't go out and make a difference. You will just sit
and talk shit about bands that don't matter. The casting out don't
matter. BSF never fucking mattered.

Chris: I've seen Propagandhi and you probably haven't because they
never tour, so fuck you [laughter].

Nathan: [takes mic] Real quick. Propagandhi doesn't matter. BSF never
mattered. This band does not matter. Rock and roll, punk rock…does not
fucking matter. All of the reunion shows that have been going on don't
fucking matter. What it comes down to…we're all just down to have fun.
It doesn't matter what Propagandhi or NOFX tell you, because you
aren't going out into the streets and making shit happen. These people
get behind these bands like they're changing the world, and they ain't
changing shit. No one is changing anything.

Pat: Except Coldplay. We love our bartender.

Nathan: If you wanna tell if a band has changed the world, go to your
college professor and name them. And then in the next sentence, name
Casto, name Che Guevara, name anyone else who has actually changed the
course of the world, whether wrong or right. And then name a band.
Propagandhi. Your professor is gonna go…who? If you wanna make a
difference, go make it outside of music and quit being a fucking
dickhole. And if your only idea of revolution and change in music is
Rage Against the Machine or Audioslave, fuck you anyway. Tom Morello
with a megaphone going bow-chicka-bow-bow. Give me a fucking break.

Pat: The day they started doing a capella was the day I stopped
jerking off. Just kidding I jerk off all the time.

Gene: Remember when Anti-Flag were something? [laughs]

Nathan: Just so you all know, we're never getting another tour, ever.

Chris: When you're all pissed off because your hair straightener
broke, then it's probably time to go away.

This all started out with Obama. Awesome stream of consciousness.

Chris: You're going to have to edit the fuck out of this.

Nathan: Nah man, fuck it, throw it all on there.

People are going to read this, and then comment about it on the
internet…[laughs]

Nathan: I'm gonna tell you what you're gonna do. You're gonna go
online, and you're gonna talk so much shit about how bullshit we are.
And then, and then, and then…you're gonna do nothing. You're gonna
jerk off in front of your computer. And you know what's gonna happen
then? I'm gonna fuck your mom, and you're gonna be so pissed off.

Gene: AND SHE'S GOING TO HAVE A KID, AND I'M GONNA NAME IT DANTE 4000
[extreme laughter].

Chris: Yo Dan, when you knew you were gonna come and interview our
band, and you looked in your closet…how did you pick your outfit?

Nathan: He said fuck, I'm not gonna worry about it, I got cargo shorts
[laughs]. Propagandhi, Lawrence Arms, and Dillinger Four suck. They're
also bands that I actually like a lot, but you will think I hate them
and you'll talk shit.

How psyched are you guys to go on tour with awesome bands like The
Bouncing Souls and Strike Anywhere?

Nathan: its fucking great, and It's about fucking time. I'm not gonna
name names, but we have been on tour with bands that we just didn't
fit in with. It was fun, we made friends, but it was like these bands
that were pop bands. And we've got some pop sounds, but it did not
fit.

Pat: Here's the thing. If we were gonna tour with Propagandhi,
Lawrence Arms, and Dillinger Four, I would really make a little poop.
I would not know what to do.

Nathan: We toured with some Fall Out Boy kinds of bands, it just didn't work.

Pat: I'm gonna name names. Lannen Fall. You are great guys, but we
don't like you at all. I listened to your record, I hate it, but I
listen to it daily, and I don't want to. I have to. We love you guys.

Chris: It's nice to go out with bands that actually fit our genre.
We'd be the punk band at a pop show. And there are 13 year old girls
in the audience.

Nathan: I'm running around swinging cords around and screaming in
people's faces, and girls are crying in the front row. But these are
good fucking bands. I'll put it out there, I don't love every Bouncing
Souls album, but what it really comes down to is I respect the shit
out of them. They've been around for so long and they do what they do.
What else can you say about them? And you've got all these new school
bands that just ape Fall Out Boy.

Pat: All Time Low. Seriously, that band makes me want to shit music.
It would come out better than them. Fuck them. I don't care who they
are, I don't know them, but fuck them.

Chris: We're old dudes…if I see something I don't like, I'm not gonna
fucking say that I like it.

Pat: There is a good point to be made. When you want to fuck 14 year
olds, you have to make pussy music. And I will put it in that 14 year
old ass. Whenever I can.

Chris: Think about guys like The Sleeping. We know them, they're older
dudes. They're in a shitty position. They make the music they want to
make, but get lumped in with all that other garbage.

Nathan: Who was that band we toured with with the Sleeping? A Wilhelm
Scream. That band is fucking awesome. I didn't even know it…I just
recently listened to them. It's what the new Propagandhi album should
have sounded like. But they will never be the next big thing because
they aren't "safe". And they're older dudes too. Here's the thing.
Everyone on punknews.org, or whatever, punk still sucks, and I hate
you.

Pat: Nathan was just looking at this little recorder like he wanted to
take it and beat it up and it was fucking sick. That means you, faggot
[laughs]. But really, go do your algebra homework. NOW. Because your
mom is gonna be pissed.

Chris: And if you do get pissed off about that f-word, get pissed off
and write a really good record like Bob Mould did. His new record's
fucking awesome!

Nathan: And he takes it in the ass better than all you motherfuckers do.

This question is actually for Chris. Was the transition from roadie
to band member totally awesome?

Chris: I mean, I played with those guys in Europe and it was pretty
fucking surreal. I was practicing the song, it took me three days to
learn them, and I hadn't played guitar in two years. It was the most
stressful time of my life. I played a lot when Josh got hurt. I love
this band to death, but I look back at those times with BSF and it was
like…those guys were my family, and that was the best time of my life.
When I look back on it, we did a lot of cool things together. But no,
I never wanted to be in BSF.

We've kind of been talking on and off about this, but what's the
best album in your current rotation? One each.

Chris: Best album or album you listen to the most? Well, I'm totally
fucked here, but I'm gonna say…our album [laughs]. Because when you
make a fucking album, you're gonna listen to it like eight hundred
fucking times. We're really honest about it. You have to listen to it
once a day. But that makes me suck, so fuck me.

Nathan: The album I listen to the most…I'm gonna sound like a fucking
douchebag now. I don't listen to a ton, but when I do, I listen to my
iPod when I go to the gym.

Pat: I've seen Nathan stretch, and it's glorious.

Nathan: My gym playlist…. A lot of Minor Threat. Fear. Lots of Fear.
The more recent bands that I listen to…hmm. The National is great.
Rocket from the Crypt, all the time. Samiam, Jawbreaker, Integrity.
Humanity is the Devil is one of the best hardcore albums ever.

Chris: We've been listen to a lot of Bloc Party. The new Bloc Party is
really good.

Gene: The new These Arms Are Snakes album is fucking awesome.

Pat: Three records I listen to every week: The Jealous Sound, Torche's
Meanderthal, and the Riverboat Gamblers. I also listen to
Mastodon on common rotation.

Gene: The new Mammoth Grinder LP is amazing.

Pat: I also love bands everybody else hates. Like Mastodon, and A lot
of stoner rock shit.

Gene: Gimme that back, I got one more. That Narrows 7" is unstoppable.

Chris: I really want an I Hate You reunion. I Hate Myself would be cool too.

Who is going to the super bowl this year?

All: Eagles / Steelers!

Chris: And the World Series…Cubs / Rays, in seven. [Note: this was
said about a month back. Chris was wrong].

Nathan: Up until what really happens, I'm gonna root for the Phillies.
And after that, I'm gonna say…I don't give a shit, I just like
football.

What's up next after the tour?

Chris: We're sleeping at your house until we get evicted.

Nathan: Touring more.

Chris: After, we're gonna go back to kicking our own asses working
shitty jobs. And then write more music. I'd like to work a bit and
make more money. We exhausted ourselves touring and it kind of put us
in the hole. We're adults; we have to take care of our lives. We have
responsibilities to our families and friends, and we owe people money
that believed in us. We'll do whatever the fuck it takes.

That's all I got man.

Chris: No way, this can't be over, it's only been an hour and a half!

Pat: I've got a question for the bartender.

Bartender: What's your question?

Pat: Can we have free shots of Jameson?

Bartender: No.