Interviews: Melted on gambling, Dr. Pepper, and playing shows in crack houses

Corona, California's Melted is a ripping, garage punk band that likes to drink Dr. Pepper. They worship thee power of thee mighty riff, but also slip surprisingly earnest revelations in their lyrics- "25 Years" is about kinda, maybe, crashing your car on purpose...
The band is embarking a short tour before playing the Vegas segment of Punk Rock Bowling. (We're sponsors!) So, Punknews' John Gentile spoke to Melted frontman Justin Eckley about good gamblin' tips, playing Punk Rock bowling, Dr. Pepper, and that time the band played an actual crack house.

When it comes to gambling, what is your game of choice?
Roulette is my game of choice. I also like a little Black Jack.

What is your gambling strategy?
Bet it all on black. With one on green, just in case, 18 to 1 is hefty.

What’s the best way to score free stuff from the casinos while you are gambling?
"Do you know who I am?" works like a charm.

True or False: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?
False. If I lose all my money in Vegas, I'm still broke at home too.

When I listen to the two Melted tapes, there seems to be an instinctual need to rock on the songs. Tell me, how much forethought goes into writing and recording Melted songs? Is it instinctive or well plotted?
I'd say a perfect medium. A lot of times, I just write what I'd want to hear from a band. Our first release, Ziptripper, was more thought out because it was our first release. I wanted to have a bit of everything that I though was important.

On “25 Years,” you sing about purposefully crashing your own car. Was that something you were going through? Was it a friend?
Some of my friends know this, but I don't believe it's public knowledge. My best friend's dad, with whom I am very close, was going through a rough patch with a divorce and his youngest kid going off to college. He got into a really sever car accident. A few of us suspected that the accident was purposeful; whether or not to be suicide, I'm not sure. I was one of the first people to see him after his accident, only a couple days after, and he seemed to be sort of, okay with the accident. He seemed to think the accident was a positive experience. The song was written from his perspective, and has reference to things that were relevant to him at that time (25 year marriage/ divorce, his sons, the car crash, etc). I think he know that song is about him too.

Similarly, a lot of the songs on the new EP deal with drugs. I’m curious as to whether you have a stance on drugs, be it positive or negative.
So many people are gonna hate me for saying this, but I'm straight edge. It has such a stigma to it, but I'm not some jock, that crowd kills, and has huge x's tattooed on my legs. Drugs and alcohol are just not for me. Our drummer has his med card, and our bassist loves drinking whiskey out of del taco cups, so I pretty much don't care what other people do.

I believe you are a devotee of Dr. Pepper. Please tell us what that beverage means to you.
You know when you wake up, and your mouth is dry, and you need water? Well I need Dr Pepper instead. Jokes aside, Coke and Pepsi suck, and drinking Root Beer just makes me feel like I'm 11, eating chicken tenders with my family at some chain restaurant. Also Sprite sucks.

I believe you once accidentally played a show at an active crackhouse. Please tell us about that gig.
East LA is what you think it is. We were playing a house and there was just random shit everywhere. There were boarded up windows, holes in the walls and dirty dishes that had been in the sink for probably months. There were torn clothes and needles on the ground. The floor was super dirty, and the guy at the door was super sketchy, like stab me for my guitar, sketchy.

What’s next for Melted?
I am putting the finishing touches on the new record right now and it's going out to get mixed and mastered soon. We'll be sending it out, to shop around, afterwards. We have wayyy too many shows to list, as always. Just pumped to play Punk Rock Bowling and the mini tour before with Rayner.