Austin and I caught up with the Canadians from Equal Vision Records, Alexisonfire, in the back kitchen of the Bottom Lounge in Chicago. I am pretty sure that I got salmonella from just breathing back there. The kitchen has not been either used or cleaned in the last five years. With bands loading in and out, us tripping over cases, and avoiding breathing, or touching anything, all given, we managed to have fun. Wade and George are road weary and anxious beings. They answered my questions and made it a good time in the shitty conditions.
XROXX: We went to your site, read your bio, and it is the most creative thing I have ever read (seriously, I read it). George: That's cool, thanks!
XROXX: But, it didn't give us much backround on you. George: I was jsut sick of reading bios of bands that were like, we met in this year and we got together, we played some shows... Wade: Heroin makes us creative... *laughs all around* George: It's just whatever. We just wrote a bio that was ridiculous because it was fun.
XROXX: We thought it was very close to the creation of the PowerPuff Girls. George: I will have to have a talk with said PowerPuff Girls. They are our arch nemisai.
XROXX: Is nemisai a real word? Wade: It is a perfectly cromulent word.
XROXX: How does Equal Vision Records treat you guys? Wade: We wouldn't want to be anywhere else. They're a fantastic group of people and they are all in music for the right reasons. It's really great to be working with people that care about what they are doing. They want to see us do well. George: They are also levelheaded. Wade: All the bands we have toured with from the label also only have good things to say. So, word up! *I get hit by a guy moving equiptment around* Wade: Game off, game off. George: Game on? Game on. *apparently, they have Wayne's World in Canada*
XROXX: Do you tour Canada a lot or the states more? George: We tour a lot more down here because up there, there's only about like 20 places to play. There is also only about a tenth of the population you guys have, so it's easier to tour down here. Up there, it's long drives between shows. Canada is very good to us, we love playing up there, but, it's simpler down here.
XROXX: How are you treated on the road? Do crowds react well with you? Wade: Sometimes very well, sometimes very poorly. George: Most of the time, pretty well. We're still a realtively new band. We don't expect much. Wade: We figure we'll get water when we play and get paid in the end of the night, life is good. George: If a couple of kids buy t-shirts we're pretty happy. We're rocking out!!!
XROXX: Are you pleased with your September release? Wade: We recorded the record a really long time ago. George: It came out in Canada like two years ago. Wade: We also recorded it over a long time period. We tried to get a studio recording out, but we didn't have the money, so we were like working around our schedules. Me and the drummer were still in high school, we were like 17. We didn't really have any expectations for it, we just wanted to do it.
XROXX: Do you have big summer plans? Wade: We have some dates on WT, we are also playing this thing in Toronto called Edge Fest, which is this ridiculous big festival thing. It's like us and Good Charlotte and Jet. It's gonna be dumb, but it should be a lot of fun.
XROXX: What do you do on tour besides play and drive? George: We sleep, eat and drive. Wade: We open up the van bar. George: Drinking whiskey 'til we get a rash. Our bass player, Chris, got a rash from drinking cheap whiskey or cheap vodka, actually. We don't do a whole lot. It's a very strict regimented lifestyle. If we are not playing a show, we are driving to a hotel to sleep and then we get back on the road and drive to where we are playign next, play that show, then drive again. Touring, I think, is a bizzare way to live. I have no concept of time anymore. I'm pretty sure I've messed up some questions.
XROXX: Do you play video games or anytihng like that? Wade: We've got Tony Hawk that we have been playing in the van, that kills some time. We read books. George: Well, I read books, that is what I am into. Wade: I've been really bored this time. Too much of the same thing. We eat at Cracker Barrel or Denny's and stay at a Motel 6 everynight. We're up driving in the van constantly. I'm starting to get really weirded out. None of our tours have been like this, really repetitive, but this one, all the drives have been long enough to get to you. We're even playing clubs that we played a little less that three weeks ago. I don't know what is going on. George: We just listen to the Cure constantly. By the way, don't do drugs. We use a lot of like drug jokes, don't do drugs. We don't do them.
XROXX: Is that what your song "White Devil" is about? George: We are not straight edge, we like to party and we like to party hard, but when it comes to doing coke and all of that, not cool. Wade: We are not a XXX band by any means, but a lot of our friends have seen people fall apart and we all think it's ridiculous. George: There are enough horror stories, we don't need to get into that. When you see people doing it fashionably, like it's cool. That's what the song is about. And how addiction as fashion is not fucking hip or fucking stylish. Any fucking suburban junkie, someone who has sucked dick for coke, will tell you what's important. Not going to shows and doing coke in the bathroom and stuff like that.
XROXX: I agree, but on a lighter note, you said you read, what are you reading? George: On this tour, I read We've Got the Neuron Bomb, it's like the cult history of punk rock, it's an incredible book. It's a really good book to like read and find bands that they are talking about, then go find their music. I brought a book called Diamond Signature written by a band called Crass. It's kind of weird, I'm not sure I quite get it. I'm kind of picking away at it.
XROXX: Are you enjoying yourself on tour? George: Yeah, I am having a lot of fun. We managed to milk a lot of fun out of it. We all have really stupid senses of humor, if we are in the van for a crazy amount of time, we just like go insane, we go insane together. It's generally pretty fun. The highlight of our day is obviously playing, that is the thing that makes it all worth while. If we were business men or something like that and had to travel all the time, I would fucking commit suicide really quickly and painfully. Wade: I dunno, we've totally gotten out of control ridiculous with all the driving we do, we lose more and more grasp of what's going on. Start getting out of control with inside jokes. It's gettng too much. The entire ride here, Chris, our merch guy was talking like and old man and making stuff up. George: Our merch guy has a couple of different personas and he has invented this new one that he is a senile old man who keeps recalling events that have happened with us that have never happened. It's really weird. He's a delight! Wade: A month ago, when we were here, we had a really long drive. We're driving through Chicago, he started doing this character named Deb the Dingo. I don't know if I can explain it. I can explain that when we drove through Gary, Indiana, he started saying all these Gary jokes. We were doing all these public service announcements for Gary. George: Like, "Hey, ever wonder what blood tastes like, come to Gary, Indiana." *chatting and laughing continue, then, out of nowhere...* Wade: You know what sucks, when you can't get into your own shows. George: I lost this thing (his laminate) about the second day into this tour and have had numerous confrontations with like guys at the side of the stage. I'm all like trying to get backstage and they are all like "No, you can't come back here, you don't got a laminate." So, I'm like, "I just played on stage, I just came off stage, and you didn't see me up there just playing?" He's like "Dude, you don't have a laminate." Then, I have to beat them to death with a hammer and that's how it goes.
XROXX: What are the three CD's you are currently listening to... Wait, is that a cassette player? George: Let me tell you about CD's. I'm going to go on a quick George Petit rant about CD's and how they are a dead format and how they are a multi-flawed industry scam. Take that Chicago! Listen to the song "Compact Disc" by Screeching Weasel. It's all about how the shelf life of a CD is 3 years, the shelf like of a record is like 20 years, and cassettes are way more fun. All this soul scene culture, all this fucking Napster bullshit can go out the window. I like having the record and having the cassettes. I'm done ranting about that.
XROXX: OK, three releases then... Wade: Death From Above- Heads Up; Misfits- Walk Among Us; Street Trash George: X Los Angeles, Nick Cave- First Born is Dead; Elvis Costello- Trust
XROXX: Do you tour Canada a lot or the states more?
XROXX: Do you play video games or anytihng like that?
XROXX: What are the three CD's you are currently listening to... Wait, is that a cassette player?