Interviews: The Movielife

"Recently I had a chance to talk to Vinnie from the band The Movielife, and ask him a few questions before their show in Seattle. Vinnie is an extremely nice guy, and was more than willing to answer my questions along with some of the questions submitted online."
Click READ MORE to find out Vinnie's thoughts on [among other things] that label they're on, what he would change about his band, and the toughest question of all: does he still have a gambling problem?

How has the tour been so far? Have you had any really memorable moments/favorite shows?

The tour has been amazing. We feel blessed to be able to go out and do headlining tours, and for people to come and see us. It’s just awesome because we get to put together a show that we would want to see. We have Vendetta Red and One Line Drawling out with us right now, two bands we love and respect and it’s just awesome. Each and every show it is just awesome. Kids come up and talk to us and tell us that they liked the show, which is cool because it is our responsibility to make that go down, as the person who coordinates it. So this whole tour has just been extremely exciting for us. With the new record out of course, it is just that much more fun.

Do you have a favorite venue or city to play at?

Umm. I definitely always look forward to Seattle. Kids ever since the first show we ever played here have been amazing to us. Philadelphia is always really amazing, we already played there and it was pretty insane. London England is always like my favorite pretty much.

How would you say your music has evolved since The MovieLife began in ’97?

It’s completely changed. When we started we had two different guitar players. And a different base player. So the people who wrote the music are no longer with us. It is pretty much completely a new band from then. We just had the same name. We’ve been together since ‘97 and this line up has been together, with the exception of a guitar player, pretty much for three years. All the cd’s we’ve made have had these guys on it.

Can you choose one word to describe each album?

It’s Go Time I would say potential.
This Time Next Year I would say almost.
Gambling Problem I would say a back step almost? Something wasn’t there. I mean I like it but I don’t love it.
For the record we just made I would say finally. We always knew we could do it, and finally we did.

If you could change anything about your band, what would it be?

Umm… I would be Jets to Brazil.

Do you have a favorite band of all time? Why?

Seaweed. They are from Washington actually. Tacoma. Because I have never felt that way about any band ever. And I never will I don’t think. They are amazing, one of the most under rated and under appreciated bands ever.

What would the line up be for your ideal tour?

Jets to Brazil, Minus the Bear, Pedro the Lion, Movielife, GlassJaw, Thursday, Thrice My Chemical Romance, I’m gonna keep going if I don’t stop soon.

Are there any bands from the Long Island area that we should keep our eyes open for?

The Heist, they are a pretty raw hardcore band. They’re really awesome. They did part of this tour. Actually they changed their name, they’re called Scraps and Heart Attacks.

How are you liking Drive Thru Records?

They’re great. They treat us really well. They take care of us.

What can we look forward to from The MovieLife in the future?

We just had an album, so right now as far as records, not for a while, but we’re gonna be making a video in about a month for Jamestown and we have a really rad concept. Drive Thru has been awesome about like making it able for us to make the real deal video. They are making money available to us make it and really believe in the song which is awesome. And we have an awesome director to do it. If it comes out half as cool as we hope it will than I will be happy.

What albums have you/are you anticipating for ’03?

New Alkaline Trio, new A.F.I. I was anticipating a lot before it came out.

Have you by any chance heard the new Cursive album?

I haven’t heard that yet. Actually wouldn’t say I am the biggest cursive fan. But I have a few of their old records. Yea, they are awesome so I am going to go check them out. I actually kinda forgot about them for a while, and I’ve been so all about Minus the Bear lately, and Minus the Bear is on tour with them right now, so I was reminded again, so I want to go check them out.

What do you do to pass time on tour?

Well I bought one of those little mini DVD players with the pop up screen. So I watch DVD’s non-stop.

Any favorites?

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, ShawShank Redemption, The Gladiator, Wet Hot American Summer, Zoolander . . .

Does The MovieLife still have a gambling problem?

As of three days ago I quit gambling. So I do not have a problem anymore. But it is half joking and half serious. I gamble a lot, and I don’t really have the money so I am not going to be gambling.

What are your guilty pleasure bands/singers?

Right, ummmm, I’m gonna say, well I shouldn’t even say this, I don’t even know what Mandy Moore’s music sounds like but I want to marry her. I wanna take her out on a date. I think that I am way cooler than the tennis dude she is dating. She seems like a nice person. She is very pretty. And she’s a musician so I will just pretend that I like her music, even though I have never heard it. She’s my guilty pleasure.

Where can I get Vinnie’s shoes?

Ahhhh, a lot of people give me props on my shoes, which is defiantly appreciated. I do put a lot of emphasis on my sneakers. I guess I would just have to tell my fans to look on ebay. See… I can’t just blow it up and then everyone will know where I get my shoes. Just go on ebay, type in Nike, and find some shit. But expect to pay lots for it. A lot of times in Europe I buy shoes that you can’t get in America and you have to import them and sped a ton of money. So when we are in Europe on tour I usually buy shitloads.

What other Drive Thru bands do you like?

I love Steel Train, I love Finch, I love the RX Bandits. These are the bands I’ve been listening to. Most of the bands on the label I totally dig, even if I don’t necessarily listen to the band on a non-stop level. I listen to a lot of music right now that has noting to do with the label really. All I really listen to right now is Minus the Bear and Jets to Brazil, Pedro the Lion. So even if I am not listening to these bands, most of the bands we’ve met through the label are really supportive of our band and that is all I can ask for.

How was it on the Deconstruction tour last year?

It was pretty awesome. We toured with Lagwagon, H2O, Midtown, and the BossTones. It was basically two weeks of hanging out and seeing the sights, in ever really rad city in Easter Europe. Places I never thought I’d be. Places I never thought I’d play. Let alone be in the city. It was just an awesome experience. I had been to the UK a couple of times before, but it was my first experience in Prague, Austria, Vienna, Switzerland, Portugal. It was a lot of places a lot of people don’t really get to go, so I felt really honored.

Do you ever fear for your fans in the pit during your set. Has it ever become too out of control that you had to stop to make sure everyone was ok?

We stop if a whole bunch of people fall down at the same time because of the motion of everything. We have stopped because of that. If there is a fight in the crowd I will immediately stop, and pretty much kick the kid out myself and we will go on with the show. I think that is the most disrespectful thing you can do. I mean I’d rather be heckled than have someone fight. I’d rather have someone throw stuff at me than fight to my music. I feel like I am serving a purpose on stage and people are relating to what we are doing. I feel like a pawn in someone’s game when someone is fighting to my music. It is like we’re just a soundtrack to everything that is going on. That is not a good feeling ya’ know? Especially when you drive 10 hours to be somewhere.

Have you met any really cool people/bands on tour that really stuck out in your mind?

That is my favorite part about touring. Besides the half hour that we play on stage, or whatever, (that’s the best), but the next best thing about touring is being able to meet people and being able to play or become friends with bands that you are a fan of. It’s like, you look up to a band and listen to them, and it is embarrassing how much you listen to them, you don’t even want to tell them how much you enjoy their music, and the to earn their respect, and for them to want to take us on tour and sing our songs is like crazy. Picture Matt Skiba asking you to go on tour with him (at the time I was wearing my Skiba shirt) because he loves something about you. It is like whooa. For me Alkaline Trio asked us to play shows recently but we couldn’t because we were going to be always, but for me it was like whooa. That’s great. And on the other end of the spectrum, the kids that I meet, well there are so many familiar faces that I come across every time we play, like when we are coming to Seattle there will be a hundred kids here that I recognize by face or know by name and I’m like oh awesome, I get to see you again. That is definitely an awesome part about touring.

Thanks so much to Vinnie for taking the time to talk to punknews. If any of you get a chance, be sure to check this band out. You won't be let down.