Comedian Connor Ratliff really, truly, unironically, honest-to-Godly, hates the summer. Ratliff has honed his creative chops at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater and later, as a regular on the Chris Gethard show. But, despite the fact that he's a funny-man, for some reason, he has a blazing hatred towards the sweetest of all seasons.
In fact, his ire runs so hot that he actually recruited pop-punk titan Mikey Erg to record an entire EP about just why he hates Summer. The record has a loose jangle with slight touches of Moldy Peaches type whimsy and Fugs type bitterness, but through it all, despite that Ratliff gets paid for yuks, there really is a seething hatred towards the warmer months on this record. So, Punknews' John Gentile spoke to Ratliff about just why he hates the months that everyone else loves so much.
Photo by Mindy Tucker
Why do you hate summer? Everyone loves summer!
Not everyone! I'm half-Irish, I'm not built for this heat. I'm pale-skinned and covered in hair, so hot weather ruins my day within four minutes.
Really, did something traumatic happen to you as a youth, during the summer?
Summer itself is the trauma, you don't need to seek out some other explanation. In fact, they try to make summertime fun for kids-no school, activities like going to the pool or summer camp. Summer movies are fun. Really, the only traumatic thing is the weather, and it feels like it gets worse every year.
You frequently complain about the effects of the sun- such as "lotion." But, all life on earth is literally dependent upon the sun. How can you hate the thing that literally enables life upon this planet?
I'm not going to forgive the sun for burning me and making me sweat just because it helps me be alive.
I do agree that lotion is gross. It is slimy, smelly, greasy, and generally unpleasant. Why do you specifically think lotion is gross?
Some people like it. Ugh, it's such an ordeal to put it on every day. They should call it "skin medicine." In some senses, it's a miracle, that we have a lotion that helps protect us from something as powerful as the sun. I think it's grossness is in direct correlation to how terrible the sun is.
You have an Anti-Fourth of July song. Are you anti-America?! Do you feel that the Fourth of July is used as a tool to cloud the realities of what is required for a country to exist?
I wouldn't call it an "Anti-Fourth Of July song." I'd say it's more of an honest and complicated song about America. I think it's a corrective to simplistic songs like "Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood. I think the origins of this country are too complicated and messy and that Independence Day deserves a song that at least acknowledges that. I'm not at all anti-American, I love it here despite all the terrible things that happen and have happened. But I think even the rah-rah patriotic American songs accidentally tip their hand a little. Lee Greenwood sings "I'm proud to be an American, where and least I know I'm free." The "at least" part always struck me as weird.
Your previous release was also seasonally themed. Why do you think the seasons drive your creative output?
Well, the first EP of songs Mikey and I wrote were specifically because I was making and Xmas special and it occurred to me that it should have an original soundtrack, since music is and huge part of most of the great Xmas specials. And one of those songs is called "Endless Winter," about how much I hate summer. But I felt like I had and lot more to say about it, so it was and logical follow-up. Also, Stephen Merritt is a big inspiration. I like the way he'll often do very thematic records.
If you hate summer so much, what season do you like?
I love winter and fall and I like Spring. The only bad thing about Spring is that I know it's a precursor to summer coming back, so it's very ominous to me. All the nice things about springtime feel like I'm in the early scenes of a thriller or a horror movie where everything's really nice and you know that something awful is about to happen.
Why did you work with Mikey Erg on this project? What does he bring to the music?
Mikey and I became friends through The Chris Gethard Show, which we both work on. He's a genius and an actual professional musician. What he brings is that I'm just a comedian and if I did this on my own it would be total garbage. We're great pals and we have a shared love of Elvis Costello along with many other recording artists, so the main thing is that it's a fun and beautiful thing to be able to hang around and make something with him.
We have a weird process, because he and I will figure out the music and some of the lyrics together but then I will finish writing the lyrics after we've recorded all the guitar parts. I don't want to waste Mikey's time-- we made this as his excellent new solo LP, Tentative Decisions, was starting to ship, and he was planning his big summer tour, so I was very lucky to be able to find find a window of a few hours to do this together.
Do you REALLY hate Summer? Really?
I do. It's not an act. I spend 3 full months trying to stick to the shadows to avoid the sun. I invented the #TeamEndlessWinter hashtag, but I'll admit that it's it's a bit of a negotiating position. I'd settle for Endless Autumn or Endless Spring, but I know if if start there the compromise will still be too warm for me.