Ben Weasel emerges from hiding with an hour-long interview about John Wayne

Contributed by an Anonymous Source. Posted by brian on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 at 12:25 AM (EST)

Ben Weasel, of Screeching Weasel and Riverdales fame as you might already be aware (known as well for his incendiary columns at MRR), re-enters the public eye with an hour-long conversation with Philip at Donkey Punch Radio. The interview can be streamed from donkeypunchradio.com. The news submission continues to state "It's not a good place to get dirt about SW or The Riverdales, but it's an interesting glimpse into the mind of one of the most influential writers of our generation -- at least regarding his taste in movies."

145 Records (30 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Skanknsmile (November 30, 2004)

or a look at how full of himself he is. ill admit, screeching weasel was amazing in its hayday, and the riverdales are fun, but he is kinda a cock now.

Someone (November 30, 2004)

Fuck niggerz {{{{$kinheadz canada boyz crew}}}} muthafuckazzz fuck emo punx !! fuck you white power 4 lifez

Someone (November 30, 2004)

Why does this have a 1-4-5 Records logo?

InaGreendase (brian) (November 30, 2004)

Riverdales label.

AAHHHH (November 30, 2004)

haha, 1-4-5, the chord progression used in over half of sw and riverdales songs...

Someone (November 30, 2004)

i never got that term, and I was quite the pop-punk guitarist in my day. what are the 1, the 4 and the 5?

Someone (November 30, 2004)

It's the sequence of notes played; for instance 'Bliztkrieg Bop'. Consider A, the root, as the 1. The next note in the sequence would be D, or the 4 (B is 2, C is 3) and then the E, the 5. Just to finish it out, F would be 6, and G would 7, followed by A again. That's just for A as the root, you can switch it around with virtually any note as the root.

Someone (November 30, 2004)

C# F# G#

Someone (November 30, 2004)

Who the fuck cares. Stop talking bollocks and get on with something constructive. Hey, I know, recording an SW album and doing a tour!

MATEO (November 30, 2004)

why? so you can bitch about how shitty the new record is, and how they didn't hit your town? bleh.

Someone (November 30, 2004)

I live in England. It's a given they won't come here.

MATEO (November 30, 2004)

why the fuck is this not working?

Someone (November 30, 2004)

Posting about naming kids after shitty rip-off acts. Seriously man, you can't name your kid 'Clash' if you want to live in the Grove.

Someone (November 30, 2004)

Ben, I love you but bring the Weasels to MN damnit.

Someone (November 30, 2004)

Hasn't he been out of hiding for a while now with weasel manor?

Someone (November 30, 2004)

since when is this idiot, who can't write a new chord progression to save his life, one of the most influental writers of our time. fuck ben weasel

peilocal (November 30, 2004)

I can't put an exact date on it, but it has been a while. You may not like the way he plays guitar (and he admits that he sucks) but the guy does know how to write a song, and a column. I would love to hear who your influences are.

Someone (November 30, 2004)

no my friend. fuck you.

Someone (November 30, 2004)

why listen to ben weasel when you can listen to the ramones?

ChrisFabulous (November 30, 2004)

I know! I mean, there's no more integral part to expressing your worldview, telling a story through rhythm, rhyme and meter, and commenting on everything from religion to politics to drug rehab to the punk scene to getting older to love to breaking up than coming up with a new string of chords to set it to. That’s sarcasm, by the way. In all seriousness, that remark just goes to show your ignorance regarding the craft of songwriting. Songwriting doesn’t revolve around creating a chord progression. There’s such a thing as a “new” chord progression. You’ve only got seven tones in a major or minor scale. There are only so many chord progressions possible if you don’t intend on playing in a mode. (And, please, don’t play in a mode unless there’s a good reason.) Even then, it’s still not exactly limitless. Assuming that you’re playing in 4/4 time and aren’t intentionally trying to do

show rest of commentI know! I mean, there's no more integral part to expressing your worldview, telling a story through rhythm, rhyme and meter, and commenting on everything from religion to politics to drug rehab to the punk scene to getting older to love to breaking up than coming up with a new string of chords to set it to. That’s sarcasm, by the way. In all seriousness, that remark just goes to show your ignorance regarding the craft of songwriting. Songwriting doesn’t revolve around creating a chord progression. There’s such a thing as a “new” chord progression. You’ve only got seven tones in a major or minor scale. There are only so many chord progressions possible if you don’t intend on playing in a mode. (And, please, don’t play in a mode unless there’s a good reason.) Even then, it’s still not exactly limitless. Assuming that you’re playing in 4/4 time and aren’t intentionally trying to do something for the sole sake of inventing a “new” chord progression, you’re going to play something that someone’s played before. When I write a song, if the melody that’s in my head goes over a 1-4-5 progression, then I don’t fight it. That’s completely counterproductive. I’m not saying that you can’t come up with a good melody to accompany an unruly chord progression. Frank Black is a master of it. So is Andy Partridge. (Actually, I know for a fact that he makes up most of the chords he plays and doesn’t know the real names of them, but he does it by ear to accompany a melody that he’s working with.) I’m saying that writing a good song has nothing to do with your chord progression. At least the kind of song that writers like Ben Weasel, Doctor Frank, Mike Ness, Tim Armstrong, Steven Merritt, Blag Dahlia, Joe Strummer, the Ramones, et cetera have written; writers that I consider to be the among best of their generation, punk rock or not. You can argue that Weasel’s songwriting sucks for whatever reason, but saying that it’s because he doesn’t come up with bizarre chord progressions for the sake of novelty isn’t going to convince me or any other knowledgeable person of anything. In fact, it's funny that you mouth off about that, because toward the end of this interview, Weasel discusses the wrong-headedness of doing things for purely the sake of being unique and new. I completely agree with him. CF

Someone (November 30, 2004)

amen

Someone (November 30, 2004)

yeah, he sucks

resident (November 30, 2004)

for those without speakers, anyone know where a transcript of the interview can be found?

Someone (November 30, 2004)

John Wayne was a nazi - just ask the Stains! -Ken

Someone (November 30, 2004)

I thought that was MDC. Did MDC cover this band you speak of?

Someone (November 30, 2004)

i think everyone's overlooking that this radio program is totally called donkey punch!

SteveJonesTheRealBones (November 30, 2004)

this guy sucks balls - jones the bones - stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Someone (December 1, 2004)

jones. you are an idiot. go listen to nofx.

Someone (December 2, 2004)

Who fucking cares? It's not like he's J.D. Salinger or something.

JCRACKUP74 (July 25, 2006)

Being a war Veteran in Iraq and a punk rocker in my band the crack ups

www.myspace.com/jcrackup

I FIND BEN WEASEL TO ME A FAKE "PUNK ROCK POLITICIAN"
ARGUING WITH KURT VONNEGUT ABOUT THE WAR IN IRAQ

KURT VONNEGUT IS A GREAT AMERICAN WRITER AND BEN WEASEL IS A STUPID DRUNK

WHAT WOULD BEN WEASEL KNOW ABOUT FIGHTING IN A WAR?

DOES HE GOT ANY PROOF?

I DO!Being a war Veteran in Iraq and a punk rocker in my band the crack ups

www.myspace.com/jcrackup

I FIND BEN WEASEL TO ME A FAKE "PUNK ROCK POLITICIAN"
ARGUING WITH KURT VONNEGUT ABOUT THE WAR IN IRAQ

KURT VONNEGUT IS A GREAT AMERICAN WRITER AND BEN WEASEL IS A STUPID DRUNK

show rest of comment