Sugarcult

The Metro
Chicago, Illinois
March 8, 2004

On the Tour Bus With Sugarcult...

I have to admit, I was really nervous for this interview and for two reasons really.  One, I love Sugarcult and have been a fan for a while.  And two, I had never really interviewed a band on their level, but I was able to handle it and put another notch in my bedpost... for interviews you perverts!

It didn’t start well.  Tim (singer) was late and their tour manager was getting tired of playing phone tag with me and I almost peed my pants on the way to the tour bus I was so nervous.  But, once everything came together, things were fine, and I didn’t pee on myself.  This is what went down...

XROXX: What direction do you think Palm Trees and Power Lines went in compared to Start Static?  Is it similar to the pop punk or different.
Tim: This record is a lot different from Start Static.  I think that it demonstrates a band that has grown a lot.  I think it’s pretty suffice to say that when three years go by, it would be pretty bizarre if we hadn’t grown.  I’m 27, when I recorded Start Static, I was 22.  Some time has passed.  I think it sounds a bit different.  We used a different producer. Kenny Livingston played drums on this, he wasn’t in the band before.  I think the songs demonstrate a definite wider scope of what we are capable of.  I think we, Sugarcult, are capable of performing music much wider than music that we have recorded.  People often think we are a pop punk band and I couldn’t tell you how far we are from being that.  We have been playing this tour a lot acoustic, which is much different from what people are used to seeing us play.  I think it demonstrates that we’re capable of doing a lot of different shit.

XROXX: Do you have a favorite song on the disc or a song you enjoying playing live a lot?
Tim: On the new record, I like playing "Memory" a lot.  "Memory" is the single.  Normally, bands don’t like the singles they play or it’s the one song on the disc that the label is all jazzed about and the band is like “Oh, that really doesn't sound like us.”  But, I hope "Memory" does well because I think it’s a very Sugarcult song.  I think that it’s venerable, I think it’s honest, I think it is an intimate song.  I don’t think it’s self loathing or apologetic.  It’s just an emotional song.

XROXX: How have the crowds reacted to the new Sugarcult sound?
Tim: They are cool with it.

XROXX: When writing a song, do you start with the lyrics and then add in the other parts or do you sit around together and try different things?
Tim: I write the songs out on an acoustic and some of them are more complete than others.  Some of the songs that I bring to the band are as close to being done as you can imagine, some of them are a verse and a chorus and a rough idea of how it should end up, and some of those songs need more pre-natal care.  The band is very involved in where the arrangement is and making the song cool, not necessarily the song writing.  Like, there is a song on this record called "Destination Anywhere" where I can’t even play it on an acoustic guitar because the arrangement of the song is what makes it cool, not it’s bare sparseness.

XROXX: What are you thoughts on being part of the Punk Goes Acoustic project?
Tim: I've heard a couple of songs on it, but I have not listened to it from start to end.  I try not to listen to too much of the music we’re apart of because I think it can taint my objectivity.  I feel like we are a very different band than how we are categorized.  And, I don’t think it’s unfair, I just find that it’s hard to be objective because I am influenced by things I read.  I try to stay disconnected form listening to comps.  When I hear our music, I think in terms of our music and the influences I site when I am writing a song or thinking of an arrangement that is very different from the kinds of bands we are lumped into.

XROXX: Who really influences you?
Tim: I like a lot of stuff.  I would say that some of the bands that I've respected over the years have been Elvis Costello, he’s an awesome songwriter.  In terms of bands, I like The Clash, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, and I like Tom Petty.  I’m into some of the newer bands too like Green Day and No Doubt.  I’m not into too much contemporary punk music.  It doesn’t really do much for me.

XROXX: How do you decide who to go on tour with?
Tim: By who’s good.  I think that Motion City Soundtrack are fucking amazing.  I think Letter Kills are amazing.  This tour could easily be written off as a pop punk tour.  I think people might blur their eyes and be like “oh, Warped Tour bands, they must be pop punk bands.”  I don’t think any of us are even close to that.

XROXX: What are some of your favorite place to play?
Tim: I like playing everywhere.  Japan is pretty cool.  It’s a little chaotic.  Our band is real well received over in Japan, so it’s exciting to be there.  We’re received differently everywhere.  Europe is pretty cool.  I think in a purely scenic perspective, I think Europe is really beautiful.  Touring is two parts.  Touring is 40 minutes on stage and half of the time is on the bus and the other half of the time is out and about walking the streets checking out shops.  Usually, the best places are the places that have fun activities.  There’s a recent memory when me and Marko sound checked and then ran off to the beach and went swimming in Florida.  That kind of stuff makes you think “Man, I can’t believe this is my job.”  It changes as you grow older and have kids.  The dynamic of balancing a relationship and touring gets difficult. The lifestyles are totally opposite.  It’s hard to think in terms of being a family guy and a rock and roll guy in the same sentence.  But, it’s pretty damn cool.  Beats flipping burgers.

XROXX: Do you have any weird or bad tour stories you wanna share with us?
Tim: Lots of stuff has happened lately.  I got sick really recently in Japan and that sucked.  I ate like, raw meat, just raw beef.  I was at a restaurant where they cut up slices of meat and cook them in front of you.  One of the plates they brought out was sliced up meat that you just ate raw.  I got really sick and had to go to the hospital and get an I.V. That was Japan.

XROXX: Where do you see yourself or your band in ten years?
Tim: I don’t know.  It’s hard to predict the future.  Hopefully, there’s a demand for us to be playing and we still have the desire and of course we will.  But, if that burns out, who knows.  I think most bands are like “Yeah, we’ll still be playing music,” but you never know.  I enjoy giving and I feel like I have a lot more to give.  Whether it’s music or anything else artistic.  But, I’ve been working on a bunch of new songs and they are definitely going to be heard.  As long as I keep writing songs, I'll keep recording them, and I have almost an entire album's worth of new material.

XROXX: Three favorite CD's?
Tim: Pedro the Lion - Control, Sugarcult - Palm Trees and Power Lines, and Death Ray Davies.

Tim was an all around cool guy.  Very soft-spoken, polite, and most importantly, passionate about his music.  Thanks to Artemis Records for arranging this interview with us.

Jayne*Star
jayne.star@XROXX.com