Fuel for the Long Haul
An Interview with Scotty from Octane

XROXX: Tell us a little about Octane, where you are from, how you came up w/ the name of the band and a bit about the members.

SCOTTY: We are all from a cluster of white-suburban towns in Wisconsin. They call it the Lake Country area. It's boring. The band is all we have. Well, we started up when Mike D. came and suggested that we start a REAL band in early 1998, after I had been dabbling in music with Ted and some other friends. So Octane was formed. Pretty simple really. As it stood, we had three guitar players, a drummer who had been playing for two weeks, and a singer. It was great, I still have tapes from recorded practices. Tim actually came up with the name. We thought our current name, Livid Mojo, was silly and we wanted something a bit more serious. Tim loves cars, so he muttered Octane, I heard him, and it stuck. Mike D. and Adam are big into extreme sports (snowboarding, skating, and wakeboarding mainly). Me and Ted are geeks. We are into role-playing games and buying stuff off of Ebay. Ted has a pen with pepper spray in the tip. Tim, as I said before, is into cars. Building, not driving so much. That's why he is leaving in August.

XROXX: Also, tell us a bit about your earlier days as a metal band and why you decided to switch musical genres.

SCOTTY: Ah, of course. When we were a metal band. Well, we were and are still into heavy music. I think it started after we saw Silverchair at Summerfest in 1999. We just started writing heavy music, cause thats what we liked. Why did we quit? Playing the music isn't what got to us...it was the live shows. We were so annoyed whenever we played, sitting there listening to loud, horrible screaming. And we looked at our band and said, we don't want to turn into that. Around that same time, Mike becoming a bigger ska fan courtesy of me and was writing a ska/punk song just to have fun. That song later turned into "Half-Assed 5." The basis for our album. We just enjoy how much more musical punk is. And as far as lyrics? Liten to our metal album, Dreadnaught. The lyrics are as punk as you can find. Ted has been a punk form the begining. We all have, we just didn't know it.

XROXX: Obviously you guys are going to have to deal with everyone in the band being out of high school in another year or so....how is that going to affect the band...will it be a positive or a negative for the group?

SCOTTY: Actually, we are off to college in two months. But, I think it is going to be... an experience. Neither good nor bad.  We are losing Timmy because of conflicting interests. His first love is cars, not the band. He is going to a prestige tech school in Illinois. The rest of the band is stickin' together and moving to Minnesota, where Mike and Adam are going to University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Ted is going to a tech school in Minneapolis, and I am going to Mankato State, which is about an hour and a half south of Minneapolis. Ted and I plan on transfering after our first year. So, as i said before, it will be an experience.

XROXX: All punk/ska bands are known for doing cover tunes...what songs do you guys like to cover?

SCOTTY: Well, we don't cover much. Mike really hates it. I think we should do more. Some of the songs that we frequently cover are Goldfinger's cover of "99 Red Balloons." We cover a cover song...hmmm. And we also do Goldfinger, Mest, and Good Charlotte's, "The Innocent." Personally, I would like to do some Bad Religion, and I really want to do "Fuck Authority" by Pennywise.

XROXX: Where is your favorite place to play live?

SCOTTY: Well, we don't have any real venues here. So we usually use YMCA halls, or church halls. They are fun shows. We played at The Rave Bar once, and it was cool, cause it was The Rave, but at the same time it was kind of lame. Beacause everyone knew where we COULD be playing in that building. There is also an outdoor bandshell in my hometown, Hartland. We have an annual show there that is really fun.

XROXX: Besides the hot punk rawk chix, why did you guys start the band?

SCOTTY: We just did. I think it was to give us something to do.

XROXX: Did you guys all take lessons to learn to play your instruments or did you teach yourselves?

SCOTTY: Mike and Tim took lessons for a year or so, then quit and progressed themselves. Adam still takes lessons. He has been for like ten years. I took lessons for a month, and decided to teach myself. It's drummin'. You hit stuff with wood. If you can walk and chew gum, you can learn how to be a drummer.

XROXX: Of course we gotta ask this question.....what are your musical influences?

SCOTTY: Ah, the inevitable. Mike is really into Rage Against the Machine and the Beatles. Adam takes influences from a lot of session bass players. The kind of guys you pay eighty bucks to see him alone play his bass.  I can't think of any right now, and he is not home..but I can tell ya that much. Ted really loves Bad Religion and Lost, a local band from the Milwaukee area. I get my influence from Bad Religion and System of a Down. Tim likes Lynyrd Skynyrd and Less Than Jake.

XROXX: If you could replace any member of your band for one show w/ anyone from any punk/ska band who would it be and why?

SCOTTY: I can guarantee we woundn't agree with this one. Well, Mike, Adam, and Tim would say Chris or Roger from Less Than Jake, because they are fun and write great ska. Ted and I would say Greg Graffin beacause of his lyrics and his personality on stage.

XROXX: Even though we all know you are gonna be a huge famous band someday, if by some chance you don't make it in the music world...what would you guys be doing instead?

SCOTTY: Ideally: Mike, Professioanl wakeboarding; Ted, Bio-chemist; Tim, Nascar mechanic; Adam, Aerospace Engineer; Me, Recording studio engineer/Geologist. Realistically? All of us will work at Fox Brothers Piggly Wiggly.

XROXX: OK, here's a lighter question...what's your favorite song to play off your album, Half-Assed 5, live in concert?

SCOTTY: "Half-Assed 5," hands down.

XROXX: Are you guys planning on recording again anytime soon...what can we expect?

SCOTTY: Actually, yes. We are in the studio again in a few weeks to record our new Supervillians EP. It's going to be more agressive then Half-Assed 5, and have the most amazing lyrics Ted has written yet. We are really anticipating this EP; it should be great.

XROXX: What are some great bands out there that you know of that the rest of the world might not know of yet?

SCOTTY: Well, a band that we play with a lot is Everything Diet. I Voted For Kodos is a great Madison ska band. There are a bunch of Cali bands that are great, too: Rufio and Yellowcard is really great, but I do not know their website.

XROXX: Lastly, where do you see Octane going in the next 2 years.

SCOTTY: Down.