boy sets fire interview picture
Contributed by danperrone, Posted by Equal Vision Interviews

Dan Perrone was recently stranded on a desert island for several eternities with Nathan Grey of Boy Sets Fire, and decided to spend the time interviewing him about his band. At least, that's what I can gather from the gargantuan length of our interview here.

The band is gearing up for the release of their new full-length, The Misery Index: Notes from the Plague Years, their first since 2003's Tomorrow Come Today, to be released on March 7th in North America, and on February 24th in Italy, Austria, and Germany. EV also released a collections album late last year entitled Before the Eulogy as well as a reissue of 1997's Initial-released The Day the Sun Went Out. Plans are also in store for a UK run with Hell Is for Heroes and a stint on the Warped Tour's Smartpunk stage.

.pullquote { float: right; margin: 1em; padding: 0.75em 0.75em 0.75em 34px; width: 25%; font-size: 1.25em; background: url('/images/icons/interquote.gif') no-repeat #ddd; text-align: left;} Please state your name, what you do in the band, and your astrological sign.

Nathan: I’m Nathan, I sing, and I’m a Gemini.

First off, I want to hear from your mouth about the events that transpired in Sayreville, New Jersey on November 18th and not only about the events, but about how you truly felt as they transpired.

Oh, Lord [laughs]. Well, we’ve been dealing with it ever since, apparently! Actually, after I answer this I’m never answering questions on this issue again! We’re just trying to let it go because it’s going to end up turning into some stupid kind of bullshit, but yeah, said band played first; no, they played second or something, I don’t know when the fuck they went on, I was just watching it, you know? A bunch of fights were breaking out and all that stuff and there was the "tough guy" / "faggot" this and that, among other things, and you know what? I don’t really give a fuck about that, whatever. It’s sort of laughable, it’s like "Okay, you’re tough, you said ‘faggot,’ um, great, whatever, nobody cares anymore," but the problem was that their friends were there fighting kids and stuff like that, and the thing that really got me was that they were instigating it from the stage. It shows a lack of respect for the other bands, a lack of respect for the club, the fans that came to see not only them but the other bands there, and we’re just not down with that kind of shit, you know what I mean? And we said something about it, and it apparently got us in a lot of trouble. But there were a lot of miscommunications and misunderstandings as to what happened exactly, because you know we got a lot of shit about like "Oh, you guys started this fight" and actually, I said something, and then one of our roadies told me that they were outside waiting for us, and that’s when I started all the fight talk. If there’s no avoiding this, then okay, let’s do it. I wasn’t planning on fighting anybody; I was just planning on saying my piece. The only thing that I do regret is that I kinda wish I had just gone up to them and said something instead of saying it on stage. I think that that wasn’t the best way to go about it. That’s what probably started a lot of hostility, because not that it would have avoided a fight, but maybe I could have avoided some of the hostility if I had just gone up there and been like "Guys, that fucking sucked. That was ridiculous. Why did you do that?" on stage. But I have no apologies for what I actually said, you know what I mean? It was true; it was bullshit and it had to be called out.

We were the rednecks of emo.

You know, there are a ton of rumors flying around about that whole thing, like how apparently you guys are against violence, yet challenged Years Spent Cold to a fight.

Untrue. We were not the first to challenge a fight, unless I am mistaken about how this transpired on stage. I said what I said and a couple songs later, our roadies told me that Years Spent Cold and their friends were waiting outside to fight us…so, I said fine, and basically accepted the challenge. I told the audience if they would like to come out with me, and take care of this, it’s their scene and not mine; but I am going out there and taking care of business. Then someone in From Autumn to Ashes called the cops. End of story. For the record, we are not against violence; we are against violence for no reason, or for reasons we find to be stupid.

A lot of those kids are also bringing up how you guys demanded 500 bucks to play the Matt Leveton benefit in New Jersey. What’s the story behind this?

Also untrue…at the time, we had no transportation, we were working construction and couldn’t get off, or afford to get off at such short notice. We said that in order to do it, it would take too much money (possibly 500 dollars), but that we would rather just not do the show, because it seems unfair to have to ask for that. Us and the promoter tried to work it out, but when it came down to it, we didn’t feel right about taking the money we would need, so we declined. We also stated that, if possible, we would be more than happy to do another benefit for him once we got our shit together. We still would, if asked.

Don’t forget, you also love to tell child molestation jokes on stage, right?

Untrue! It’s not that I like to, I just can’t help it. Did you hear the one about the ten-year-old boy in the woods? Me neither.

So are you guys really a bunch of AIDS-ridden faggots that only stop sucking dick for long enough to talk shit?

Um…[laughs]. Yeah, this one’s true. You caught us. Anybody up for some butt fucking?

How is the current scene in comparison to the scene ten years ago when Boy Sets Fire first started?

You know, I have no idea. It always seems relatively the same with a couple of changes here and there, but I mean, everybody sorta still looks alike. It still looks the same as it did then; everybody’s still wearing the same band shirts and hardcore clothes. I mean, the hardcore uniform has been hoodies and jeans for a pretty long time. The only thing that’s changed as far as I can see is the popularity of the music; now you got bands and stuff on MTV, when before, bands like that weren’t even looked at. But it’s just another market just like anything else in some ways. Oh well, what are you gonna do, you know what I mean? You just keep doing what you love to do and you don’t really worry about other bands and the scene and whatnot. The only things that we worry about are the things that actually matter to us, like violence in the scene, or like dumb bullshit, like 200 people being scared of 20. I mean, that’s retarded, just fucking retarded. At some point you gotta look around and be like, "Hey wait a second, there’s like 200 of us, what the fuck are we doing?" That’s actually what’s happened in the past in great revolutions, when people go "Wait, there’s only ten of them." And then off go their heads! That’s just how it works.

Have you noticed that the way you have to handle things and approach certain business aspects changed, especially given the political stance of your band, as the bar gets raised continuously by bands that just keep getting bigger and bigger? Does the popularity of the scene make it harder to get through?

Yes and no. Sometimes it just happens, like if you work your ass, you’ll make something out of yourself. And it also depends on where you think the bar is set in terms of popularity and success is. As far as I’m concerned, if I can do this and be able to make enough and pay my rent and eat, I’m set, you know? I have a car. I would take more, but I’m not gonna work at it. We do what we do and hopefully it works. We do try to combine a lot of our politics into how we do things, like T-shirt sales. You’ll notice our shirts, most of them are made by the Allure company, American Apparel, stuff like that, because you don’t see much of it. It actually started like five to seven years ago when people were actually giving us shit like "That stuff is made in Taiwan by slaves" and at first we were like 'fuck you,' but then we were like "Nah, they actually got a point." So we take great strides to make sure that that stuff doesn’t happen anymore. I don’t know if that had anything to do with your question [laughs].

So The Misery Index: Notes from the Plague Years drops in just about a month. How excited are you guys?

Oh, fucking stoked. I’m just excited to play new songs. Thank God! People will know new songs! It’s not the same fucking songs over and over again! Maybe we can use some other song to start off the set besides "After the Eulogy?"

Well, you closed with it in Sayreville!

That’s right! Well, I think we’re opening with it tonight.

You know, some people on the website are actually complaining that some legendary band called Assuck, ten years ago, released a CD called The Misery Index.

You know, there’s also a band called the Misery Index. And I don’t give a shit. It’s really funny because it’s not like they made it up; there’s a reason why they named it that. But yeah, no one has a patent on it.

How is the new album similar or different from your previous work?

I think one of the similarities is that we got back to some of the diversity of The Day the Sun Went Out and a lot more of the passion of After the Eulogy, but then there’s sort of the maturity of the newer stuff without the [clears throat] shitty production.

Nü-metal guitar tones!

Yeah [laughs]. We got rid of that, but it was unfortunate because I think there were a lot of good songs on that album, but it got destroyed by Jay Baumgardner, and fuck that motherfucker.

It seems like the new album is more of a team effort, like everyone totally clicked on this one.

It was great doing this album because we had no pressure from the last album [laughs]. It’s only going up from here! But it was rough after After the Eulogy…wow, that sucked to say.

Well, that’s because we self-produced it too, and when you’re in a situation where everyone is fucking miserable, you tend to lock together. You tend to sort of circle the wagons. It was a very unifying experience, and I guess it made for that kind of an album.

Do you notice that after the reviews that came in for After the Eulogy, where it’s compared to albums like The Shape of Punk to Come and albums at that level that there’s more pressure on you guys when recording a new album?

Oh, absolutely. It was great doing this album because we had no pressure from the last album [laughs]. It’s only going up from here! But it was rough after After the Eulogy…wow, that sucked to say. It was difficult because people had expectations, but no matter what, people have stupid fucking expectations about us. And seriously, like now even with the new album and stuff, with "Requiem" it’s like "What the fuck, you guys pussed out!" and it’s like, it’s one fucking song! Are you kidding me? Have you never heard our band? There’s like four to five heavy songs on every album, and the rest are sorta like rock or pop, or somewhere in between there, you know what I mean? Why don’t you wait for the album to come out there, Jethro, before you start freaking out! People just bug the fuck out about the dumbest shit. "Well, this isn’t the Boy Sets Fire that I know!" Well, I don’t know what you were listening to then!

One song on the new album that stands out to me lyrically is "(10) And Counting." It sounds like shit got pretty rough for you guys.

It was a terrible point where we’re breaking down almost every other day. We were stuck in Arizona for like two weeks when we broke down once. We went for that same two weeks without showering and stuff; we went into a Denny’s and there were flies circling around our heads -- it was disgusting. We would dine and ditch most of the time. We would find certain places and have an escape plan and everything, or like go into the supermarkets and steal food, like peanut butter and bread. It was a rough time. I remember one tour, for like three days, all we had to eat was a can of peanut butter. It was a little rough. But that was a unifying period for us. It’s what made the band what it was. Fond memories; I don’t want to go back to them, but they’re fond memories.

There are a lot of songs lyrically, "(10) And Counting" is one of them, "Loser of the Year Award" is another, that seem to sort of defend your place as musicians and what you’re doing in life. I know you had a lot of trouble with labels, but do you guys find that there’s not that much in the way of support from other people in your lives?

Well, it used to not be. Now that we’re doing better, we’re getting a lot more approval from family and stuff like that: "Oh, you’re making money? Okay, great!" Thanks, Mom! Now you love it, when before I leave for two weeks and I’m broke and…[trails off] and she’s like "Why are you doing this?" Now the only complaint from my Dad is "Why do you have to say ‘fuck’ all the time?" [laughs] It’s pretty funny.

Also, in "(10) And Counting" I noticed you guys sort of glorify drinking a little bit and not necessarily just drinking but as a bonding experience, and coming from the period that you guys did where bands like Earth Crisis really… Oh yeah, we got so much shit for that.

And it just surprised me, because obviously you guys aren’t edge, but it just surprised me to hear that.

Let me tell you, back in the day when the hardcore scene was vegan and straight-edge, even farther back before Earth Crisis, being vegan and straight-edge was the thing. We were the rednecks of emo at that point. Like seriously, we would walk in with beers, smoking cigarettes, cursing like sailors and people would be like "What the fuck is this? You guys are a political band? Oh my God!" They went completely out of their minds and had no idea what to do with us, and it’s been that way ever since. It just so happens that the scene has changed to the point where we sort of just started fitting in. Everybody drinks and stuff now. But we were never like PC; to outsiders that were farther on the right, we were very PC, but in the scene, we were the biggest redneck assholes ever. We would play and drink and smoke and it’s always just been like that and it’s funny because it’s a common misconception from other bands that I won’t mention that think we’re this pussy emo band that they can push around. No names needed I’m sure. We’ve run into that problem several times in different states where they’re like "You pussy emo fuckers!" Oh yeah? Really? [punches hand, laughs] We don’t fuck around, you know what I mean? I think it’s just funny because it was a really weird time period where it was just like…we’d sit in on like these political discussions and we’d sit in on them and talk because they’d have these workshops and shit where people talk about politics and stuff, and people had no idea where we were coming from. They were just like…"Really?" Because now we look like the most crazed, leftist anarchists in the world and at the time we were just some asshole rednecks. We weren’t severe enough at the time, I don’t know.

Another song on the new album that stands out to me is "Deja Coup," not only for the different sound but also for the satirical lyrics…did you guys feel the need to write a departure on the album, or were you just messing around with different sounds?

Well, this whole album was an experiment. We were going into new fields where we hadn’t been. And also, with "(10) And Counting" and "Deja Coup" we did to an extent try to take off the edge because when people meet us, it’s a lot different from what they think we’re gonna be, because they hear the music and they think we’re gonna be like reading Chomsky and playing "Name That Anarchist" on the bus. So I think in a way there was a need to show another side and be like "No, we joke around a lot, actually…we’re sort of pricks."

One last song-specific question, the song "Social Register Fanclub" and the line about "the last five years"…I know it’s a touchy subject, but is that about Rob Avery leaving the band?

No, but it’s really funny, because the other dudes in the band were like "Is this about Rob?" No, but I’m glad everybody thinks so highly of him! I won’t even start with that. But it is about the elitist bullshit that goes on in the scene and people that think they are better than other people because of their style of music. It’s fucking music. Are you kidding me? That is the dumbest fucking shit I have ever heard in my life.

Speaking of the different sounds, there are a lot of sound effects and cool little vocal things on the new album and…actually, I don’t even know where I was going with this, it was more of a compliment. I like the vocals!

Okay! Sweet! [laughs]

I’ve noticed a change in the way you scream from After the Eulogy to Tomorrow Come Today and back to the new album, where After the Eulogy is more of like a yell and Tomorrow Come Today is almost more of a throatier, deeper scream. Is that conscious or does it just work out that way?

Yup, it’s conscious. It’s just change. You get bored. You want to reinvent what you’re doing; I don’t think I’ll go back to the Tomorrow Come Today sort of stuff because it was too much like…[growls deeply], you know? I mean, it was a little dumb, I’ll just say it right now, it was a little stupid. Don’t shake your fucking head! I’m just kidding!!! [uproarious laughter] We were talking about Baumgardner already! [throws chair down, gets in fighting stance] Let me pick that up. It’s the roids! Every once in a while I just freak out. But on the new one even with the music, we were just trying to reinvent our heavy style. It was just like, let’s do something sort of new. Let’s just make it sound insane. Instead of trying to make it tough, let’s just make it sounds like someone’s going fucking nuts. It’s just a pissed off sounding record.

At the very end of "A Far Cry," you guys re-did "Still Waiting for the Punchline." Any reason for that particular song?

Because we started doing it live. We were playing around with it one day and we did sort of that lighter version and we were like "Oh! We like this!," so we started playing it live, and then we were like "Why don’t we put it on the record?" We wanted to add an extra track, so we sort of just reinvented that as well. Plus the piano part is so fucking good!

And that kind of stuff is what makes the new album so good! You guys executed all of the little things perfectly, and it all comes together and the result is just this awesome fucking record.

Yup. Thanks!

After releasing what was unfortunately called a disappointment in Tomorrow Come Today, do you feel like the stakes are higher concerning this new record?

Oh yeah, absolutely, but I’m totally not scared because I think this record is gonna do it. The response has been real good so far, here and in Europe, everyone’s been flipping out about it, so I’m excited.

Has the label transition been smooth?

Absolutely; it’s gotta be smooth, we moved to a better label! Equal Vision is pretty much the hot spot right now -- a lot of the bands that they are picking up are jumping up to majors now, like Coheed and Cambria… Do you feel like you guys are going to get a push or that you’ll just be able to move up in the ranks a little bit? I mean, a lot of the kids that are entering the scene now… You guys have sort of been away for a few years; will the new label really help you in terms of getting recognition or just getting your name out?

I think in general it’s a better idea for us to be on Equal Vision. They love us, we love them, we’ve gotten along for years, and we’ve been friends for a while. And it was really funny, we were in negotiations with labels and we were just like "Why didn’t we ask Equal Vision?" and I called him up and was like "Uhh, Dan, wanna sign us?" and Dan was like "Uhh, yeah!" It was great. Very easy.

And they had put out stuff of yours in the past, like the split with Snapcase.

Oh yeah, and they’ve always done our merch and stuff like that, so it was an easy thing to do.

How about the video for "Requiem?" How did that go, and do you see it getting play on FUSE or MTV2?

Yeah, I think it will. I know it’s getting sent to MTV and Europe Monday, because, ya know…we’re bigger in Europe than we are here! We’ll see what happens. I think it will get on there, but I don’t know how long it’s gonna last. Who knows? You never know, and that’s the thing about being in a band: You have to keep doing the best you can and you can’t really expect anything. I like to not expect anything, because if things go well it’s awesome and if it doesn’t then yeah, okay, cool.

How would you respond to a fan that says something like "You know what? Boy Sets Fire signed to Creed’s record label, they put out a shitty record, I don’t wanna listen to them anymore, fuck them?" How do you respond to stuff like that?

I don’t care. I have no response to anybody like that. If you’re that fucking pissed off about a rock band, you have worse issues than this. Go see a psychiatrist; I don’t need to talk to you. If you’re that bent, then hey, go seek help.

How different is it playing overseas than over here?

We’re bigger over there. I think that people here are a lot more fickle. We wouldn’t tour for like two years. In Europe, they’re used to not seeing you for two years at a time. In the U.S. though, it’s completely different, like you have to be out in the public eye every fucking day or people will forget you immediately. But in Europe, they’re used to not seeing bands for so long, so we kept building in Europe while we were going downhill here. But it’s great! We’re basically doing a European tour to help fund our U.S. tour, and we’re starting from the ground up again and see what happens.

If you have five minutes with President Bush face to face with no repercussions, what would you say to him?

Five minutes alone, what would I say to him…you know, I wish I had a really good answer to that one, and honestly I could go into this big tangent about what I would say and my big political beliefs and all this shit, but honestly, I don’t know what I’d fucking say. I might just be like "You’re a fucking douchebag" and walk out. I don’t even know!

You could just say that for five minutes!

Yeah! Yoooooouuuu aaaaaareeeee aaa fuuuu…

Slow enough for him to get it?

Yeah! Or maybe just bitch-slap him or something? You said no repercussions! Yeah, I’m sorry, I really should have a better answer for that one.

Any favorites for `08 in the Presidential election?

Five minutes alone, what would I say to [President Bush] …you know, I wish I had a really good answer to that one, and honestly I could go into this big tangent about what I would say and my big political beliefs and all this shit, but honestly, I don’t know what I’d fucking say. I might just be like "You’re a fucking douchebag" and walk out. I don’t even know!

You know, I’d really love to see Howard Dean run again. I think he didn’t get his shot and I think that sucks. I’m not much for any President in particular, but the thing that sucks is how you can destroy a man’s career because of one yell. Are you kidding me? The dude got excited and he yelled! The dude basically said "yee-haw" and everybody was like "Oh he’s crazy!!!" It’s not like he’s Ross Perot! He wasn’t up there like [in Southern accent] "Now you can pull fried chicken out of a chicken’s ass but you can’t…" [insert unintelligible but hysterical Southern-type rambling]. Come on! He yelled and it destroyed his career! At least he had something good to say. But you know, it’s gonna be the same bullshit over and over.

I know this is a tad dated, but do you applaud or condemn someone like Kanye West for doing what he did on national television?

Honestly, I totally back it, because it was so fucking honest. The blank look in his eyes, I’m serious, it was the most honest political commentary I’ve ever seen. And in that situation, I’m sure he’s scared shitless. And Mike Myers was just priceless. Cut to Chris Tucker!! He did like a double take like "What the fuck did that motherfucker say!! Oh my God I’m standing up here next to him! Oh my God, I have nothing to do with this!! Do I say I agree? I’m white, I’m white, I didn’t do it!"

"He cares about me!!"

Right! I thought it was great because he said what he said and it was so honest and it was so raw and he didn’t have some big speech and he didn’t use twenty-five cent words. And everybody knew what he was talking about, and I know it hit home for at least some people, me included where it was just like [slow clap] "That motherfucker just said that!" And he didn’t plan anything, he was just like "Now’s the time, I’ve gotta say it." And he said it. It was fucking great. Now the Pepsi commercial that he did, that was stupid. It’s just him walking around with a Pepsi, it’s like "Where’s the politics!"

How did this free show get set up?

She [points to some girl] called me. No, she called Matt (Krupanski). No, yeah, she emailed me. Oh, whatever! It was only two weeks ago though. It was like hey, let’s play a show. Okay! Yeah, she called Matt.

Are you really excited to bust out the new tunes?

Absolutely, we’re gonna play a few of them tonight, like four or five new songs. Well, we’re gonna do "Requiem" and "Final Communiqué," which we’ve been playing for a while, "Falling Out There," and "Walk Astray."

With the intro?

We were actually gonna do the intro as a sample in the beginning, but we forgot our sample thing. But on the next U.S. tour, that will be the opening sample, into "Walk Astray" more than likely.

Speaking of which, Chad’s vocals on this album complement you so well. He did an awesome fucking job. Like, high five dude. You can tell him I said that.

You know, we really worked off of each other in the studio this time and really, I’d go in and hit the buttons for him and he’d do it for me and because some of it was recorded in our studio and some was recorded in a friend’s studio, and I’d go in and be like "You sound like a pussy, do it again" and he’d do the same thing to me: "That had no emotion whatsoever, do it again you fucking asshole!" It was cool.

It always impressed me how Chad--

Yo, Chad! [yells across the room] I didn’t realize your dick was that long, they’re over here sucking it. They’re telling me how awesome of a job you did singing on this album and how amazing your backups are amazing on this one. [uproarious laughter]

Chad: Hey, thanks! I appreciate it! It’s getting bigger…[more laughter, I slap myself in the face pretending to get hit in the face by a penis, whatever]

Are you guys ever going to record "White Flag of Desire"?

We are actually going to put it out, sort of, but on a Japan-only release, so you’d have to get it through import. The Japanese wanted like three extra songs on the album so we put some stuff that didn’t make the album on it. It’s all stuff that we probably will never play, and we actually used part of "White Flag" in "A Far Cry," the "surrender" part. But that will be on the Japanese release with another song called "I Could Be Wrong" and something else. "Dear George" should also be on there, but "The Plague" and "Phone Call 4 AM" were only for the website.

I noticed on your website you guys are asking for input from the fans for the set lists. How important is it to stay in touch with your fans through the medium of the internet?

That’s all Josh (Latshaw). It’s only as important as, you know, we’re just trying to make some money off these bitches.

[apparently I make a sad, puzzled face at this moment]

No I’m just kidding!!! [much laughter] Your eyes were like saucers! That was amazing!

Thank you, have a great performance! [pretending to get up and leave] And…we’re done!

Your face totally dropped a little [still laughing]. I should have kept going for a little. I mean, it’s very important. I mean, we wouldn’t be here without the fans, but it’s also important to keep our own individuality and what we want, because it’s our band, motherfuckers! Of course we listen to constructive criticism, but not to the extent where it takes away our own thing. So yeah, we try our hardest to keep in touch and be a part of our fan’s lives. I don’t go scrub their backs or anything in the bathroom, but, I want to! Every single one of you! I wanna scrub your backs!

He’s scrubbing mine right now! IT FEELS GREAT! [laughs all around]

Get us a little soap back here!

How about MySpace?

You know, it’s…whatever. There’s a little drama that goes on with shit on that, but that happens in any weird little dumb thing. It’s cool, it’s whatever. It’s helping us out, so I can’t complain.

Are we ever going to see half-naked shots at awkward angles in the bathroom mirror of Josh?

I hope so!! Everybody wants naked Josh pictures. He’s a sexy beast. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s got a thirteen-inch dick. He gets a hard on and passes out! Remember when I said that people don’t expect certain things? This is great! "They’re such a serious political band." Yo, Josh has a big dick! [still laughing]

I remember first reading your band’s new bio and just being in stitches the whole time.

Yeah, Josh wrote that, he’s a funny fucking dude. That’s why we let him write things, because he’s funny.

In 2001 or 2002, you guys went on tour with Thursday and Rise Against. Did you ever think that all three of you guys would end up on majors in the future?

Nope. Didn’t expect that, didn’t expect they’d make it bigger than us! No, just kidding. It’s awesome; I’m proud of them. It used to be we would take them on tour, and now they can help us out!

At a time where music downloading and album sales are down, how important is it to have an intense and passionate live show like your own? How important is it for you guys to go out there and play as well as you do?

I don’t know if it’s important, but it’s the only way we know how to do it. I wouldn’t know how else to do it.

Everybody wants naked Josh pictures. He’s a sexy beast. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s got a thirteen-inch dick. He gets a hard on and passes out! Remember when I said that people don’t expect certain things? This is great! "They’re such a serious political band."

Have you recently seen the state of your old label, Victory Records?

Everybody asks us this question and I don’t know why! I mean, we have no ties to them, so it doesn’t matter what they’re doing. Whatever they’re doing, good for them.

If there was one thing you guys could do differently over the course of your career, what would it be?

I would have skipped the Wind-Up thing and gone right to Equal Vision. But, that’s said without malice to Wind-Up, it was just that they weren’t good for us and we weren’t good for them. It just wasn’t right. It was just better that we separated. Sort of like my ex-wife, it was just better that way.

What were, in your opinion, the three best albums of 2005?

Oof. I’m trying to think what was released in 2005. Well, I’m gonna say some of the newer albums that I’ve heard in 2005, but I don’t know if they were really from 2005. But that fucking Bars record on Equal Vision was fucking hot. Like, I spent a lot of time listening to shit like Black Flag before that record came out and then it was like "Shit, that’s the new Black Flag." That album is fucking brilliant. It fucking blows me away. That’s one. Two…I really wanna like the new Propagandhi album. I wanna really like it.

I think everyone really wants to like the new Propagandhi album.

It’s just sorta boring. It’s like they wrote this cool speech and then put music to it. And then there are parts where it’s like "This is the best part ever!" and then it’s over. Damnit! Um…I’m still on one, then. Oh! You know what's a fucking awesome album? I can’t believe I didn’t think of this. Fucking Tegan and Sara [laughs]. I mean, have you ever heard ear candy like that? It just like fucking floored me. Seriously, not only was it awesome, but I wanna make out with them. I don’t even know what they look like! I wanna make out with their voices! It’s adorable!

I never would have expected that.

The first time [the Steelers] won a Super Bowl, I was fucking seven years old. I remember it was the first time the Patriots went to the Super Bowl, after the Raiders game when they beat the Raiders in the Snow Bowl and the Raiders should have won because that was a bullshit call, but anyway, the Patriots went on to beat the Steelers and I was in the fetal position at Josh’s house. I was screaming

Fucking awesome. And you know what’s weird? The album before it sucked! It sounds like really bad Ani DiFranco. But this album blew me away! You gotta be kidding me, it’s fucking amazing! I’m gonna go for one more…there’s this band called I Am Kloot. I don’t know if it’s a band or just one guy, but the album is called Gods and Monsters. Amazing album. It’s really good indie rock. Wait, do I have one more? Let me have one more. You know what’s one of my guilty pleasures besides Randy Travis, because anything Randy Travis does is fucking gold because he’s got a voice that, fucking…I wanna make out with him! Jesus Christ, that fucking voice! But…No Warning, that shit is fucking good. It’s the best tough guy hardcore, like Cro-Mags type shit. It fucking kills me when I listen to it, it makes me wanna fucking fight!

How do you sell the new album to someone that has heard your band and that hasn’t heard your band?

You put it in the stores and then…you don’t know how this works? People come in and they pay money, have you taken economics, man? No, but…I’d just say "Yo, listen to this shit. This shit is the bomb. Word." And then I’d throw up my gang sign. Done deal. It sounds like Snoop Dogg and shit. Buy it. Honestly, I don’t know.

And we end on this…who wins the Super Bowl?!

Steelers, 24-17! Guaranteed! I’ve been a Steelers fan all my fucking life. I love that team. Dude, let me tell you, the last time the Steelers made it into the Super Bowl, I was 23 years old, and it was crippling. Fucking Neil O’Donnell. My fucking God. And then we traded him for fucking Kordell Stewart! Oh God! Can it get worse? Tommy Maddox, OH GOD!!! It kept getting worse until we got Ben Roethlisberger. Do NOT get me started on football because I’m gonna keep going. The first time they won a Super Bowl, I was fucking seven years old. I remember it was the first time the Patriots went to the Super Bowl, after the Raiders game when they beat the Raiders in the Snow Bowl and the Raiders should have won because that was a bullshit call, but anyway, the Patriots went on to beat the Steelers and I was in the fetal position at Josh’s house. I was screaming. I was so pissed off, and every fucking year the fucking Patriots kick us out of the playoffs. And dude, when I saw Denver beat the Patriots, I started crying, it was amazing.

I think we’re done! I’m gonna post this shit on ESPN! Editor's Note - This interview was done before the Superbowl. Precongnizant Nathan Grey may be.