ANGIE: So how has the tour been so far, cause I heard Gob were touring with you guy?
MARK: yep
A: and Nerf Herder?
M: Yep, actually there’s been a big misconception with that whole thing, they don’t join till the 25th, I think, but Gob’s been with us and Authority Zero and 1208 the whole time, except for last night where we played with No Use For A Name.
A: So you guys headlined the Punk-O-Rama tour last year, who was that with?
M: With the Deviates and the U.S Bombs…
A: So has this tour been good for promoting ‘Gusto’?
M: Yeah, Gusto is doing well up in Canada, yep, they’re being very receptive to the ‘Gusto’
A: Yeah, cause at Warped Tour in Toronto you guys had a huge crowd.
M: Yeah, we did well.
A: I was surprised
M: Oh, you were surprised, well thanks a lot. [laughs]
A: No, I mean I was surprised by the amount of kids at Warped Tour in general.
M: Oh yeah, it was a biggie, Toronto was massive. That was good day.
A: And your bass player right now, I saw you were requesting videos on guttermouth.com from people who thought they could hack the job, any interesting videos or replacements?
M: Oh yeah! We got a bunch of really disgusting people who want to play in Guttermouth and we wanted to see the people first and so far it’s been pretty pathetic…
A: So who’s your bass player right now?
M: We’re using our original bass player Clint who’s on the first two records, so he’s with us at the moment but after December he’s gone, he’s gotta go back to the real world and work and at that point we need to find somebody. But we’ve got some interesting guys, a guy who used to play in Yellowcard wants to play, the bass player from Slick Shoes might, we got all kinds of potential…
A: I’m sure you do,
M: yeah, but a lot of weirdoes too trying to sign up.
A: I can imagine, [laughs]
M: yeah a lot of weirdos who you know, have never been on the road and don’t understand how it works and that usually doesn’t work.
A: I saw you were doing a Punk-O-Rama tour diary on Epitaph.com and Guttermouth.com through out this tour.
M: Um, yeah, I’m trying to do it more on guttermouth.com actually.
A: I read some of your tour stories and they were pretty interesting.
M: Thanks, and they’re all true mind you.
A: Do you think your level of energy is higher at the beginning of a tour or near the end?
M: Ummm..
A: Does it just depend on the day?
M: Yeah, it’s just everyday is different. I’m a moody person, so if I’m in a good mood I’m going to have a great show but if I’m grumpy… Like right now I’m borderline grumpy cause I’m hungry and I get really irritated when I don’t eat and I want to eat something good but I can’t find anything good to eat right now, so I’m totally…
(Scott in the background, makes us all laugh cutting off, Mark with pretend sobbing cries)

M: And then they make fun of me and it makes me even more upset and then Ruben walks in here sticking up the whole fucking place, [laughs]
A: There’s been a lot of different rumours about you getting sick on this tour?
M: Yeah, on the first length I got so sick, remember in Chico, I was dying, But I had, actually I don’t know what I had, but I couldn’t speak and all kinds of like blood and mucus were falling out of my head. It was like my organs we liquefying, it was like I had, what’s that disease, Ebola…
A: On no, you don’t want to get that! [laughs]
M: No, But I’m better, [laughs]
A: You went on a European tour with The Line…
M: Do you like The Line?
A: Yes, I love The Line, their actually the first band I interviewed, they were really cool guys.
M: Yes, they’re a friendly bunch
A: Umm yeah, I heard you guys only saw the sun 2 out of 61 days.
M: That was a couple years back, but yes that was true and that was very depressing, very depressing…
A: Being a California native could you handle it?
M: Nooo, I was emotionally dead, I was, I had no soul by the time I came home from that trip I felt like a vampire.
A: And how many days did you predict of sun?
M: Actually my prediction was wrong we saw the sun more days this last time, which was good, it was uplifting. The sun really works it gives you energy. I mean the suicide rates up in Seattle, it’s all true. People kill themselves regularly there cause of depression.
A: Really, uh oh, cause I do the nightshift and rarely see the sun.
M: Well some people might have it but I don’t, I would hang myself for sure.
A: And ‘Gusto’ it’s different, I heard there’s a lot of country influences, are you guys trying to reach a new target market or?
M: No, we were just going with flow.
A: How long did it take you guys to record it?
M: We were partying a lot when we wrote the record, we were just writing funny lines and then we would make songs out of it. We’d sit there and if we giggled it was a good song. Oh yeah, we wrote the title of all our new songs already for our next record. The name of the album is going to be ‘Hotdog to the Head’ with the opening track called: ‘hotdog to the head, the paroles of the wiener’
A: Is this a true story?
M: Yeah! Totally the second one is ‘I’m thirsty’ third tacks ‘Ten Dick Dinosaur’ did you ever hear of that? The old expression ‘Man, I gotta piss like a ten dick dinosaur’ I say it all the time, it’s really cute. Um, fourth track is ‘You can lead a horse to water but you still need a step ladder to fuck him in the ass’ then ‘My neighbours baby’, ‘Nappy headed bitch’, ‘Reading makes you stupid’, ‘Don’t you know the Dewey Decimal System’, ‘Bacon lettuce and savages’, that’s my favourite, ‘I’m never wrong’ and ‘Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight. Yeah, so that’s our new record, this time we decided to take a new approach we’re going to write the titles first and then just grow on it from there, it just makes it more fun.
A: So do you think a lot of people misconstrue your lyrics?
M: Yes, all the time.
A: Do you write it intentionally with that purpose?
M: Nope, people are just stupid, people read too much. Yeah, people are always… their just idiots it’s amazing to me. Like last night for instance there’s this girl on stage and she dancing you know and she’s really irritating me, so I was kind of badgering her, kinda making fun of her you know and it was nothing malicious or anything. I was just like get out of here blah, blah, blah, and then she wrote on our web site today that I turned the crowd on her and told them to beat her up and stuff like that. And it’s funny cause we make a tape of our show every night and we listened to it and she was totally lying just because I embarrassed her in front of like a thousand people, so she made up some story. That happens all the time, people are idiots. And it’s scary cause people read that shit and they believe it, you know. And why would I want to have a crowd attack, some sixteen-year old girl for god sakes, I mean that’s just bizarre. I guess we don’t bring in the cream of the crop. [laughs]
(Some fans walk by the tour bus, Mark remarks ‘Do they have mohawks?’ Everyone cracks out laughing)
M: Yeah, yeah they always come up and ask for, you know other bands merch from us, who aren’t on this tour.
A: I’ve never heard of that…
Curt (Guttermouth’s manager)- Oh yeah, I work at Epitaph and people ask me for A.F.I posters…
A: Oh no…
M: Oh yes, it’s amazing.
A: Do you think it’s easier to sing about good times, bad or just the bullshit…
M: It’s all bullshit, bursts out laughing. Actually look, this is what we do for our job so if I’m having a bad day which to me I’m having a horrible day, this is as bad as it gets…
A: No, we have to enlighten this, c’mon it’s got to get better…
M: Better, well yeah it gets way better than this like tomorrow in Quebec it’s going to be great.
A: What about Ottawa?
M: Well wait, I love Ottawa but I like Quebec, it’s my favourite city in all of Canada.
A: I’ve heard that the eastern parts of Canada are way crazier than the western.
M: Yeah. It’s so cool.
A: Montreal any different than Quebec?
M: Yeah, I like the old parts of Quebec City it’s bitchin’.
A: It’s so pretty…
M: Yep, it’s rad and the people are nice and I like the way they speak to me and I love their ‘poutine’.
A: Do a lot of your fans request older songs or newer?
M: Um, both. Yeah, now that the record’s been out for awhile people are warming up to it and learning the songs. So now they’re starting to scream the new names of the songs they like and it’s pretty consistent across the board which songs people like, so we’re stoked on that and it’s working very well.
A: Good, so are there ever any disagreements about what the songs are going to be about, like someone doesn’t share your opinion on the song?
M: Oh yeah, that happens. I’ve been censored, not censored but I think I was told ‘Mark that’s really stupid’ or something like that or ‘that makes no sense’. Yep by some of the other guys in the band even though I whole heartily disagree, but myself I’m a team player I go with the majority.
A: Now, to think when you started out, did you ever think punk, your music would reach this level?
M: No, we just did it, it was just for fun. Like Scott and I have been doing it together the longest out of anyone. We’ve known each other since High School and stuff.
A: Were you guys playing in High School? Like how long did it take you to get on a label?
M: Um, fucking forever. I mean in those days you just played music for fun like kids today play music so the can make money and meet girls we did it because it is like a part of, that’s what punk was. Yeah, so most bands today I think are pretty gay and suck, well they don’t all suck they all play well and stuff but there’s no soul, there’s no heart to what they’re doing.
A: It’s true. I remember the first time I heard you guys years ago and punk had always been anti this and anti that, you guys were the first to come out and be like fuck everything and we’re going to say what we feel like.
M: Yes we do, we’re rebels, woohoo! We’re dangerous. [laughs]
A: For your last question, can you remember the last time you were embarrassed?
M: Um, I do get embarrassed though, I do, I have that side to me but I’m trying to think (asks Scott for help).
Scott- Well, I remember one time was it a girl, I think a girl, came up on stage but it was one of those girls that you can’t tell if it’s a guy or a girl. And Mark called her a sir and kept talking to her like she was a boy and we didn’t realise she was a girl till after she was off the stage.
M: I think I was blushing, ahh I don’t remember that I was probably drunk. There was another kid last night, remember he looked like a girl, it was creepy…
A: Thanks so much guys.