Interviews: The Best in Punknews Zingers 2016
Happy New Year! We're wrapping up our end of year festivities. We've still got the end-of-year podcast and site wide "Best of" to post, but that's about it. So, today, we're posting some of the most quotable quotes and some of the most delightful declarations from Punknews interviews in 2016. Click "read more" to see what bands and other artists had to say to Punknews in 2016. (FYI- guest "Best of" lists will run in early 2017).
"Well, it was so stupid that it worked."
Mean Jeans on the creation of their latest album
"I spent an afternoon getting drunk with these guys from Big Rig Brewery."
KJ of Chixdiggit! on mastering the art of beer brewing.
"You never know the reality of what level of protection you have in life. It's totally arbitrary. I guess you start to realize that more and more as you go through life. After you have some ups and downs you realize how protected you may or may not be."
Trevor Keith of Face to Face on getting older.
"To be honest the pursuit of money and fame means nothing to me… who needs a flashy car anyway - I'm happy to get around by train."
Captain Sensible on success.
"I felt betrayed by Kiss Alive II, because I could tell Peter Criss was not drumming on the songs."
Chris of Pansy Division on leaving KISS behind.
"I regret not being in a band called Bong Mountain sooner."
Matt of Bong Mountain on his life's regrets.
"Life is good, man. Life hasn’t been this good in a while… Maybe too good. Things are going so good my next album might sound like the Bee Gees!"
Harley Flanagan on how his surroundings affect his art.
"I see David Hasselhoff as a super tragic figure. He was on fuckin’ Night Rider. It was the number one show in America. And he went from Night Rider to Baywatch, which became the most watched half-hour show in the history of television. His pedigree is undeniable. He is super handsome. He is like a famous pop star in other parts of the world and yet he’s fuckin’ joke. Nobody takes him seriously at all, right? And it’s like, does that have maybe everything to do with the fact his last name is goofy?
Brendan Kelly on the modern Euripidean hero.
"And if they want to tell me I'm an idiot, then come tell me I'm an idiot to my face and I'll knock your teeth out because I'm a punk rocker!"
Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine on being punk.
"Honestly, Joey used to send Johnny Christmas cards every year. Do you send someone Christmas cards if you hate them?"
Linda Ramone on the complex Joey/Johnny dynamic.
"The actual process is, I will sit down and watch a Vin Diesel movie and I'll have a a notebook and write down all of the awesome stuff that he said."
Matt of Look Mexico on how he comes up with song ideas.
"In Sticks and Stones, we probably wanted to be the Clash. But, when we couldn’t do that, we had to figure out what to be, and then we got weird. It was all instinctive. We wanted to get out of New Jersey and share our critical views… but, it turns out, people didn’t want to hear about our views…â€
Jack Terricloth on the decline of Sticks and Stones.
"If a frog’s singing, sometimes that's me being the singing frog."
Parry of Nerf Herder on his day job.
"I didn’t do it on purpose until this album. “Domesplitter†is just a term that my friends and I in college used to describe when you would take a too big of hit off of a bong. I thought that was pretty good one."
Nick Woods of Direct Hit! on why all his album titles refer to the noggin.
"They’re nerds. Fuckin’ nerds, man."
Ryan Young of Off With Their Heads on metalheads.
"I'm not going to forgive the sun for burning me and making me sweat just because it helps me be alive."
Connor Ratliff on why he hates the Summer.
"The hospital was one of the most fun parts of the whole tour. They were giving me amazing drugs and it was pretty great."
PEARS on getting injured on tour.
"Also, she couldn't read a lick of music. So in order to get her ideas across to us she would sort of dance them out. She would make these shapes in the air with her body and dreads and I would try to approximate them on the drum kit. It was a beautiful thing."
Ara of The Slackers on recording with Ari Up
"It's supposed that we are to be free Americans, we have the opportunity to create our own life, our own business all that stuff. Is it a little bit of an illusion? It is an illusion because most of everything is owned and being controlled by a lot of people that we don’t even know who they are, our freedom isn’t what we think it is or less than we think it is."
Greg of Bouncing Souls on freedom.
"And when do you exactly become a really hard criminal? Is it your first stint in the clink. Is it your second stint in the clink? Is it the first time you get hit with a bar of soap that’s in a pillowcase?"
Intruder Blue of Masked Intruder on his life of crime.
"I think the rock version is great. It sounds like a really good rock song for us. It’s the original, raw…just us getting through the song. It’s just having fun with a rock song. How many times do you think I said ‘rock’?"
Ian of Cheap Girls on rocking out.
"Punk is supposed to be intelligent and if you’re not intelligent, you better be subversive.â€
Posers on what punk rock should be.
"You could sit around and say, â€Why didn’t I do this? Why didn’t I do that?!†I have some regrets. I have made some horrendous choices, and that’s the reason why I’m where I’m at today. But, I’m okay with that… I’m good with that… I’m… eighty percent happy. That’s a pretty good percentage. I love my job! I try to do the best that I can!!"