Interviews: Digger
Angie Lalonde writes "I recently had the amazing experience to hit the road as merch-girl for the Pennsylvanian's punk rock men in Digger. On one of the last days I regrouped the squad and sat the men down in the by then stinky van for this interview, including all members sick as dogs it was good ol' times for us all on this 2003 Canadian tour."
Click READ MORE for all the vomit-inducing goodness with Warren, Mike, Tim, and Chris of Digger.
ANGIE: Warren wake-up back there!
WARREN: Okay Iâm upâ¦
CHRIS: You have my utmost attention
A: So whatâs it like finally being on the road again after the complications of a few members quitting after the release of "Keystone"?
C: Oh itâs nice, itâs like a big party.
MIKE: Itâs like fuckingâ¦?
C: Fuckingâ¦
M: Itâs like cold fucking water on your face in the morning when you wake up!
A: And for Warren (hacking sick in the back)
W: Okay Iâm dyingâ¦
A: Whatâs it like for you being on the road again too but now with a new band and not Yellowcard?
W: Itâs nice to be out again and Iâm having a lot more fun then Iâve ever had before.
A: How long of a break were you on?
W: About a year from Warped Tour 2002â¦
A: How long has Digger been stalled?
C: Since Decemberâ¦
M: 20th! I know this shit, fucking December 20th of 2002!
A: (To Chris) Youâve been in this band for so long could you see yourself doing anything else at this point? I know you do some sporadic booking on the sideâ¦?
C: Yeah I could do other stuff I just donât want to, I love playing music.
A: Could you see yourself not being in Digger anymore?
C: Oh yeah of course, I know thereâs going to be a day, one day when Iâm not in Digger. I donât know but I know I canât see myself as like an office job kind of guyâ¦
A: The olâ 9 to 5â¦
C: Nah, maybe from like 9pm to 5am kind of guyâ¦
A: So Garreth & Ben are gone and now you have the young Tim and Warren what are you guys bringing to the band?
TIM: Good music BIATCH!
C: You gotta not print that one!
W: I canât top that! What he said but in French, say it in French
A: Have you guys as a band been working on new material yet?
T: Yes very much so, I feel very confident with what I can bring, both me and Warren. I think this new record that weâre going to put together is going to be absolutely incredible. I can already tell by the first new song weâve been playing on the tour, itâs got a lot of energy itâs got real good structure and Iâm really excited with what weâre gonna come up with. I think the albums going to have a real put it in, let it play and donât stop until itâs over feel. So yeah I am really excited about it!
A: So whatâs been the highlights of this Canadian tour!?
W: Leaving my bass in Londonâ¦
M: Sinus infections
C: I would say watching Tim puke in a Dukes Of Hazard garbage can!
A: Oh yeah that one tops them all (laughing)
C: That was definitely one of the best nightâ¦
W: And drawing on himâ¦
C: Oh yeah and drawing on his faceâ¦
M: The mustache!
A: So are you guys always known as the band with the âI Want My Hat Backâ song?
M: Yeah! All the time!
A: How old were you when you wrote that song?
C: Umm, that was in 95â I wrote that song. So Iâll have to do the math and get back to you HA-HA!! No, no I think I was 20. But yeah we switched it up, we re-wrote the intro so itâs not the sameâ¦
A: And for Mikey and Tim is it any different being of age in this country?
T: Ah itâs alright
M: Same way it was last year and the year before I came here and every fucking time I went to Europe, itâs all the same! Yeah! (laughing)
T: I donât know but it felt weird buying a beer.
A: Does it ever become a problem with bars and venues you play at in the States?
W: Almost all of our shows are all-agesâ¦
T: Ya you know it was really weird buying a beer for the first time in Canada! Actually being allowed to but I donât know.
A: Your pretty young and have never toured before, what have we all done to you! What have you done to him actually guys!!
C: Made him puke in a garbage can instead of the floor.
W: I drew on him
T: I was in a band called âProject Reconnectâ before this for about 5yrs and we played with a lot of bands, some known ones like The Ataris and stuffâ¦
A: Did you guys tour?
T: No, we never actually got to tour, in fact the band never really went outside of Pennsylvania & New York but we did a lot of weekend shows of touring like that. So Iâve been used to the whole playing and being on stage and the whole music thing, Iâve just never been out on the road full-time. So this is just like weekend shows everyday for me and I love it, in fact itâs nicer cause with weekend shows weâd load-up and have to re-carry our stuff up those two flights of stairs every night. Take it down, after the show back up. I love it though itâs fun.
A: A lot of people, think being on tour is a bunch of sex, drugs and rock nâ roll please someone enlighten us all!
W: For me itâs a lot of rock nâ roll, a good amount of drugs in Canada and ah, cold drugs that is for my sinusâs and my cataract, but thereâs really no sex for me cause Iâm married but you can asks some of the other guys, just drugs (laughing)
T: I like rock nâ rollâ¦
M: No sex for me Iâm sick.
T: Rock nâ roll is all I need, thatâs my drugs and sex.
C: Diggerâs never been a hard drugs band, I think the most weâve ever done is drink beer and smoke pot so itâs not beyond that.
T: Why are we putting this on the internet (laughing)
W: It doesnât matter as long as weâre not talking about George Bush.
C: Yeah!
A: And you also revamped your website.
C: Recently yeah and we have a tour diary.
M: Yeah, I havenât posted on it in over two years.
(Warren starts yelling out SANK YOU!)
A: After this tour your planning on touring the U.S, where?
C: Weâre going to do some east-coast dates right now and when we get our other dates weâll be heading down to Denver and Florida, all over there.
T: Weâre gonna smack up the east-coast right now cause thatâs where we want to hit hard cause we have a good regional base there so if we hit it up hard there we can build up a real good solid fan-base, thatâs how weâll get our new songs rollingâ¦
A: You guys were talking about getting songs posted on mp3â¦
W: Yeah definitely, weâre going to be recording on this next tour, then right after getting it recorded weâre going to try and throw the songs up on mp3 just to get them out.
A: In this age of punk right now with so many well accomplished bands signing to majors, do you think it can be something very good for a punk rock band?
M: To get paid to do what I love or to get paid a lot of money to do what I love, hell yeah Iâd do it.
T: You just got to be careful about it. Warren knows more about that.
W: It really depends on the deal, cause sometimes you can get a better deal from an Indie, it really depends on the situation, every label is different.
T: The key idea is to get your music out to as many people as possible, of course major labels are very capable of doing that but like Warren said thereâs always different deals and you just gotta be careful with what you agree to and sign.
M: Which we wonât sign anything that is stupidâ¦
A: Cause thatâd be stupid.
C: Thatâd be stupid!! This is such a weird interview, weâre all sick have insomnia ahhhhâ¦
A: How long have we been on tour in Canada now?
W: A week today?
A: So whatâs it like having a merch-GIRL!
C: Itâs a lot smoother.
M: Itâs kind of like your leg falling asleep (laughing)
W: Youâre fired!
C: Can I call you after you type out the interview and tell you what to print and what not to print?
(me and Warren at same time/ Angie-No! Warren-Yeah!)
A: Okay so what the lamest joke weâve heard from someone on this tour, the worst I think being what does Digger rhyme with Jigger or thatâs not my signature on that contract!
C: (laughing) Thatâs not my signature on that contract!! Thatâs the best joke weâve heard.
T: Next question!
A: Thatâs it⦠Sanks guys now get in there and play and do my merch too since Iâm fired.