Interviews: Strung Out

Once again, our very own cub reporter Angie Lalonde brings us another exclusive interview, this time with Jason, the singer of Strung Out. Click READ MORE to find out about the band's plans for a retrospective DVD, plans for a new album, and more.

ANGIE: So it's been a year since your last time in Canada JASON:
Yeah it seems like I was just here…
A: You guys have been touring non-stop since?
J: Yeah pretty much

>A: There isn't too much of a gap between "An American Paradox" and "Live In A
Dive" you guys haven't really stopped in between…

J: Well we stopped to record "Live In A Dive", we had to record that then
we took sometime off to work on the art work, mix it down and stuff like so we
took a little time out but we're always working…
A: Lately everyone has crazy border stories…
J: I think everyone has problems when you're driving through on a bus
filled with stinky tattooed guys trying to make it over the border, it's always
a hassle. One of our guys wasn't able to go in and he had to walk back and try
somehow to sneak his way over, we got everybody now so we're doing alright…

A: I heard you guys got caught for something at the border before…
J: Everytime, everytime there's just always something, so you know we've
learned our lesson and now we're just going to do it straight and by the book
and expect to take 10 hours to get through the border. What's funny is it's
sometimes worst trying to get back into the states, there's just always some
fucking jar-head who had a bad day or a bad night with his wife or something ah,
just those fucking jar-heads you know, U.S military personnel can fucking suck
my cock.
A: I've heard about you guys working on a DVD?
J: We've been working on it for a while we have so much footage from
twelve years of being in a band that it's almost overwhelming so Jake's at home
trying to put all this stuff together and I think by the end of the year it
should be done.

>A: And you guys are all personally working on launching your new website
right now?

J: Yeah that's getting done right now, it's just were not home so it's
hard to communicate over the phone and stuff and trying to email whenever we
can, we're just stuck in the bus everyday going and going so we're all home in
two weeks and it should be up or hopefully pretty soon…
A: It's going to be more interactive, what's it going to contain?
J: I just think each member of the band will be a little more personally
involved with it, cause for a long time I never even had a computer I hated them
and it was only a couple people checking up on it, now I think everybody's got a
computer, everyone's kind of into it now and I'd like communicate with the kids
a little more, maybe each one of us have our own section. So just a little more
interaction and more information, I know how people are bored sometimes and just
look on the website, spend some time…
A: You guys were trying to work on playing Costa Rica and South Africa?
J: Yeah we were supposed to go to South Africa after this tour but it fell
through again and we were supposed to go last September 11th but for obvious
reasons we didn't feel like getting on a plane and flying to Africa. But yeah
both of those places are kind of sketchy when it comes to working out the deal
and stuff so maybe one day it will happen.

>A: You did all the artwork for "Live In A Dive" had you ever worked on
something like that before?

J: I do a lot of drawing at home…
A: You do tattoo and other stuff like that right?
J: Yeah I was doing tattoos for awhile then I just kind of got out of it,
I was kind of getting disillusioned with it, with the medium I guess. I don't
know I just want to get more into art and the comic book was sort of just a
starting point to start really getting into art again as opposed to just
tattooing and doing album covers.

>A: Was it your idea to do the art work or did Fat Wreck approach you with it?

J: No, I guess I'm a nazi that way I like to keep everything within the
band. It's not an ego thing or anything like that I just think why have somebody
else do it when I can do it, it keeps me on my toes and it's fun.

>A: And what was the turn out and night like when "Live In A Dive" was
recorded?

J: Oh it was great man, we recorded four shows in two days at a really
tiny club in Anaheim, The Chain Reaction and it was fucking great man just the
spirit of the crowd and the kids. Yeah some of the shows cause we recorded four
in two days, some of them sounded awful, a couple of the show sounded really bad
just because we were so pumped up and enthusiastic and then to record a live
album you have to sound good and stand still, really concentrate on your playing
and there was just a couple of times where it was just too fanatical, off the
handle that we couldn't use a lot of the stuff.

>A: Is it true you saw a bum holding a sign saying "An American Paradox" and
was inspired for the title?

J: (laughing) Where did you hear that, yeah that's funny I think I only
told one person that, oh actually I said it in an interview maybe once, I might
have. Yeah well it's just L.A is a strange place and if you look around and
you're observant I think you can find inspiration in anything. There was a bum
in Beverly Hills sitting on the side of the sidewalk holding up a sign that said
an American paradox, not begging for change or anything and I was like that's
fucking brilliant. Things like that happen everyday and I guess you just got to
be aware of your environment, be aware of the little things that happen
everywhere and you'll pick up on some really kodak moments.

>A: You have a video out for "Cemetery", I heard you guys had so much fun
recording it…

J: Yeah man that video was amazing! We know a lot of friends that work in
the movie industry so we had a lot of people who were willing to help out and
give their ideas, time and their energy. I just look back on that video and ah,
it's like a beautiful drug or something because everyone was friends and
everybody that helped out they did it just cause they wanted to help and when
you see the video every person in it and every scene, it was just the spirit of
it was just so fun. I want to make more videos just for that reason alone.

>A: Were any fans or anyone touchy about it, cause I know Fat aren't huge on
videos…

J: No they think it's a waste of money and I think our fans are willing to
see us go as far as we can go and I don't think it's about… I mean we're always
going to be Strung Out, we're always going to have our integrity in our music
and everything we do is from within us it's not like some record company is
telling us what to do so everything we do comes from our heads, I think people
see that and I hope that they can respect that.

>A: Do you think fans might ever get over idea that if a punk rock band gets
paid it's not a bad thing?

J: I personally don't give a fuck about the work punk rock, I play music
and I think as long as your music is rebellious and it's got spirit and it's
honest who cares what it is right? And who cares if some kids wants to be… Some
kid with a bunch of buttons and that's into a certain scene can't transcend that
then fuck him, you know. We're all about playing good honest, rebellious music,
that's what we're all about.

>A: You guys are infamous for pulling pranks on tour and after I heard you
toured with young Rufio I always wondered, what did you do to them!

J: Oh dude whatever we could, it's Rufio. Oh man, I can't say that I
personally pulled anything cause I'm not the biggest prankster or anything. We
did too when we first started out; we got a lot of pranks pulled on us fuck air
out of the tires and stuff…
A: What about the firecrackers?
J: Yeah we threw firecrackers in their dressing rooms and yeah we put, oh
I could tell you some stuff but it would probably gross you out but it's all in
good fun. You've got to give the bands some stories to go home and tell their
girlfriends you know.

>A: And having Strung Out written across your bus causes you guys to get
pulled over in every state…

J: Yeah in Texas, well mostly Texas, we got our bus searched a few times
there (laughing) it's something you don't think about when you're like seventeen
and you have to think about a band name, you're just trying to piss off you're
parents. Oh still now with grown-ups and stuff they'll be like oh what's the
name of your band and I'll come out with Strung Out. You get the look you know,
oh Strung Out, cool are you? If I hear that one more time I'm going to fucking
shoot something.
A: What's it like to hear or see a band cover one of your songs?
J: I've actually never seen that…
A: I have…
J: I think it's weird when bands are better than us tells us that they're
influenced by us, I'm like wow you guys are way better than us. We were on tour
with Thrice and I love Thrice, those guys I think are the future, I mean they're
really fucking super cool guys, down to earth and I think their really talented
kids, really honest and they believe in what they're doing. We were on a bus
with them in Europe and they're telling us how much they love our band and they
were influenced by us and like I guess that's my place in the world, I can't ask
for anything more, to be a part of the perpetuating of that kind of inspiration,
it's cool.
A: So any big plans for Strung Out in Montreal tonight!?
J: Umm I hate to let this one down but I think I'm just going to go
skating after the show…
A: Skating what on ice!? (wow I am really Canadian)
J: (laughing) no I am going to take my skateboard and go around cruising
by myself
A: Well thank you and if there's anything else…
J: Um well we're going to go home and write our new record, I think each
one of us has a whole shitload of new songs and I think, I feel like a whole new
phase is starting with the band, a whole new sound so just to let kids know and
be aware that we never stop working and we're always there.
A: When can we expect this new records release?
J: Hopefully by next summer I think it will be, I'm praying hopefully by
January we can start recording it to have it out by summer.
A: Good, can't wait to hear it!
J: I can't either.