Interview with Chicken of Dead to Me

Written by Joe Costa Monday, 26 October 2009 21:46

News - Interviews

I got a chance to recently sit down and have a phone interview with Chicken, bassist from the Fat Wreck Chords act Dead to Me, who are Fest 6 Alumni.  Chicken was busy cleaning his room but spared a couple of minutes (read: 30) to chat about the line up change, the new record African Elephant, The Fest, blasting Fat Boys cassettes, and the punk rock scene in general.  

Joe:  Recently, you guys announced that Jack wouldn’t be performing live or on the new album.  What happened with this?  
 
Chicken: Well Jack just had his first kid, a boy, right when we were making the new record, so it was really hard to practice every day like we wanted to.  So, we just went ahead and wrote the thing.  But really, I don’t blame him at all.  I’ve seen him and that little dude and the way they are together.  They have a pretty big connection.  

J: How different was it to record and perform as a three piece?  Did the dynamic of the band change at all after Jack’s departure?

C: Honestly, it’s been really natural for us because it’s been happening over a long period of time.  All three of us have been playing music together for a long time, and even now, we just started a new group called Bad Friends with Mark from Strike Anywhere and the three of us from Dead to Me.  We were really busy playing music together with the three of us so it hasn’t been a big change at all.  We’re just really excited to go on tour honestly man.  We try not to think about the stuff we don’t have and try to think about the stuff we do.  

J: You guys have played The Fest before.  I remember seeing you at my first fest (Fest 6) and it was awesome.  What keeps bringing you back?

C: Oh man, the Fest is just awesome.  It’s just the funnest weekend of the year, hands down, for us as a band.  Just hanging out the whole weekend with so many friends and seeing so many different bands.  It’s just awesome.  Last year we were really sad we couldn’t go.  We had just got off a European tour and Jack had just had his kid, so we were really sad that we had to pull out of it.  When I was a kid, I’d be sitting in my room thinking about the best thing in the world and it’s pretty much come to life with the fest.  It’s just so awesome because there are kids from everywhere, from all over the country and even the world.  And it’s so well run every year too.  It’s the best, it’s seriously the fucking best ever.  It’s funny because like the six months before fest, you talk with all of your friends about how you can’t fucking wait for October, and the six months after the fest, you can’t stop talking about how fucking awesome it was.  And then it starts all over again.  It’s just the best weekend all year.  

J: On the topic of the fest, who are some old favorites that you are looking forward to seeing?  

C: Oh man, such a hard question.  There are so many.  I’m excited to see all of my Florida homies...New Mexican, Gatorface, Virgins.  Aren’t No Friends playing too?  I love those dudes to death.  They’re old school homies.  And then obviously, there are the main ones like D4, Strike Anywhere.  Snuff is going to be really cool too.  Really stoked to see Ghost Knife and Comadre too.  Dude, there are a million fucking bands, I’d be here all night.  

J: What band should we keep an ear out for that not everyone may know about?

C: Oh dude, you’re totally putting me on the spot with this one.  Because I know, no matter what I say, some of my friends will be like “uhh why didn’t you mention us.”  But, if I had to pick one, I’d say to go see Comadre.  You have to see Comadre.

J: The difference between Cuban Ballerina and Little Brother in terms of song writing is really noticeable.  What prompted this change?  Was it just a natural progression, or did you guys try to noticeably push the limits?

C: Well wait until you hear the new one.  It’s even more different than the first two.  But honestly dude, and I don’t know how to really explain this, but I’ve never been able to write a song on purpose.  I mean, I can’t go “oh I’m going to write a fast song” or “let me try to write a reggae song”.  I just can’t do it, you know?  It’s almost like the music comes through me, and I write that.  I realize it sounds really hippyish, but I really don’t know how to explain it, you know?  Really, as long as we like it, it’s fun to play, and it’s a cool song, we’re keeping it.  I get to tour around the world and play music with my best friends.  I love punk rock music, and punk rock bands, and playing punk rock music.  The cool part is that everyone in a punk rock band at some point gets to define punk rock music.  

J: Definitely.  You guys definitely tend to stay away from copying any band, especially yourselves.  I don’t think anyone wants to be the next Pennywise.  

C: For sure, man.  No one wants to do that shit.  It would be awful.  Honestly, I love Screeching Weasel, but I can’t figure out why so many bands want to rip them off.  I mean, there is one Screeching Weasel, and they were so great, so why are you going to play music that’s already been done as good as it can be.  

J: Growing up, what were some of your favorite records and artists?  Also, what were the records that have influenced you the most to this day?

C: When I was young, I was really into hip-hop.  Old hip-hop was my first love.  Stuff like old Public Enemy, old Dr Dre, all of that stuff.  There was something about it that just really attracted me to it.  Shit like Run DMC will always stay with me.  In fact, funny story, but one time, I was in the car on my way home from my grandma’s house in the back seat, bumping the Fat Boys record on my walkman.  Absolutely blasting it in the back seat.  My dad heard it and got pissed off and pulled the car over, and was like “it’s not acceptable to ever talk about women like that”.  Looking back, I realized that maybe my dad was feeding me some punk rock ideals a long time ago.  

J: Yeah, funny how things work out that way huh?

C: Yeah man, I guess that’s why I ended up liking Propagandhi so much when I was older.  My dad was telling me that women don’t deserve to be disrespected like that, and I guess I made the connection with a lot of what Propagandhi was talking about.  

J: You’ve got a bit of a reputation as a shit talker on stage.  Are there any famous shit-talkers that influenced your onstage persona or any that you looked up to?

C: (Laughs) Shit talking is such a broad term really, but yeah, I do enjoy talking some shit when I’m around a lot of my friends and on stage.  But I’ve never been like “yeah, I wanna be just like that dude”.  One of my favorite people to watch on stage is Brendan Kelly.  He’s just the funniest dude.  To me, I don’t think it’s exactly cool to sit around and watch a guy, and then steal his shit.  I just try and be myself up on stage.  But yeah, when I was younger, I definitely started to get into more confrontational bands.  My brother is also really into comedy and does a lot of stand-up and shit.  So I really love watching Richard Pryor and old Steve Martin and shit.  I try not to be mean to people directly, because sometimes on stage I’ll say something and the next day feel kind of bad about it.  I’ll imagine the next day this dude just taking a dump and reading a magazine or something and I’ll feel bad because it’s like, man, he’s just a normal dude, why did I have to go and make fun of him.  I can imagine guys just like washing a dish, or putting on his shoes or something and think, man, he’s just like everyone else.  

J: It’s well known that you went through rehab.  What keeps you clean?  Is it hard to resist temptation with the life of being on tour where drugs and alcohol are always within reach?  

C: Honestly, not really.  If I’m behaving, then it’s not a problem.  As long as I take care of myself, and do what’s best for me, then it really isn’t an issue.  I get to go on tour with my best friends in the entire world and play music that I love.  It’s my favorite thing in the world, so it’s even better than drugs.  And I really, really, really like drugs.  When you’re at home, it kinda sucks.  It gets harder for me personally when my best friends aren’t around all the time.  You know, idle hands?  Sometimes just sitting around the house, not being able to get work because you’re leaving for tour in six week, and you’re bored and just like “fuck, I wish I had some drugs or something.”  Punks are rad, and honestly, people are always taking care of me on tour.  All of my friends are really cool about it.  At the end of the day though, I realize it’s not the biggest deal.  There are a lot bigger bands and people out there with much bigger problems.  

J: How do you feel about certain bands who used to be a staple of the underground music scene, such as The Gaslight Anthem and Against Me! Becoming increasingly more popular among the mainstream?  Is it one of those things where you feel like they’ve kind of sold music short, or is it better that kids are listening to Gaslight and AM! Instead of the red hot chili peppers 300 times a day?  

C:  (laughs) That’s funny shit man.  Honestly, I feel like Against Me! and Gaslight are like comparing apples and oranges at this point.  With Against Me!, really, they got so big that they had to sign, and it is definitely possible for a band to outgrow the label.  Gaslight honestly seems to have come right out of nowhere and it happened really, really fast for them.  Benny from Gaslight is a mad kid too.  He’s a total badass.  It doesn’t upset me to see bands become popular and shit.  You might as well be upset that you woke up one morning and realized that your arm wasn’t a wing.  You can’t control that shit, so there is no point getting upset about it.   

Now this isn’t a statement about either Gaslight Anthem or Against Me!, but in the music industry, there is definitely not a correlation between talent and success.  Some of the most talented bands are the least successful, and some of the most successful are the least talented.  It is a trip to see kids you used to see on tour on TV and stuff.  

J: Do you ever see Dead to Me becoming a band that could potentially reach a great deal of mainstream listeners?

C: It’s not something we think about.  Nathan’s grandparents and mom like the new record.  All our parents like the song.  Nathans grandpa quoted a song back and it was like fuck yeah dude.  You can't have expectations in a band, especially a punk band.  It’s pretty ridiculous dude.  You get to play with music with your best friends that you love and at the end of the day, that’s what matters.  We don’t have a manager or a punk band with a nike sponsorship.  I’m not hating, I’m just saying its unexpected.  

J: Agreed.  Any last words you want to add?

C: Nothing in particular.  Thanks to people like you and National Underground and No Idea for putting this thing on.  You guys are doing a huge part by helping to organize the whole thing and doing the work that needs to get done for this festival to happen every year.  Bad Friends are playing Friday on the show with the Ghost, and Dead to Me is playing Saturday at the venue.  

Dead to Me's new record African Elephant is out November 10, 2009 on Fat Wreck Chords.