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David Lee Roth is calling me |
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Converge - Jane Doe |
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Here is the interview I conducted with MxPx yesterday:
1.What are the feelings you all feel inside while touring now compared to when you first started? What I mean by this is, is it still as exciting as it was at first or has it become more of a routine that just feels "normal" now?
TOM: It is, but it is way more normal now. At first everything little thing was mind blowing; but now everything has become normal. Like, there is supposed to be golf ball sized hail in North Dakota, we know that now.
Some things are still exciting though; like playing a show in Peru, that sort of thing is still crazy to us. It is cool to look back at all that stuff now. But yeah, definitely, it is all a lot more common now.
2.Is there any fan-related occurence that sticks out the most in your mind as far as being the most memorable? As in, something a fan did for you all that seemed to go "above and beyond" what most fans do?
TOM: It's always cool when people go out of their way to do stuff for us. Like those guys who won fan of the year the year before last. They made us a really cool video with GSF; it was just really awesome. They
always stick out in my mind. Like, meeting people who get to a show like 8 hours early, and I will just ask them, don't you have anything better you would rather be doing? And they just say we just wanted to get here early to see you guys. That sort of thing is really cool.
3.What would you call the most career impacting moment for the band?
TOM: Recording Life In General for the 2nd time with Steve Kravac. He just made us such a better band. He made us all play better and just beat into us so much.
We played so much better as a band when we went out on tour after that. Also, going on tour for the first time. I mean, most local bands play what, 1 or 2 shows a week? We went from that to playing 6 or 7 shows a week
and it was like getting all this practice and we just got way better at what we did from that. And meeting Aarron Sprinkle, I mean, he introduced us to Tooth and Nail. At the time there wasnt anyone going
around trying to get bands signed. We wouldn't have gotten things started without him.
4. What was the "low point"(if there even was one) in the bands career? The point in time where everything seemed to be going downhill or maybe seemed to be going the way you didn't want.
TOM: Well, there are always times when it sucks. Like, on our first tour that we did, our second to last show was in Virginia Beach, VA and our last show was in Long Beach, Ca and we had 2 days to drive there
Oh we were all hating life so much. Being worn out on the road always sucks man. In 1998 we did the entire warped tour and the night we were finished we had to fly to Europe; and I hate flying to Europe.
I was like, is there any way we can get out of this? Like, if I break my leg or something we don't have to go, right? But ya know, you gotta push through it and strive on.
This is where Mike took over for a few questions...
5.Has there been a song that you have written that was too personal to be released and you will probably never release it? I believe I heard about one such song from the Ever Passing Moment era but I am not 100% sure.
MIKE: Yeah, sometimes songs don't make it to a record for different reasons, some personal, some for other reasons. Like, sometimes I just sit down and write songs
that are just so ridiculous and just like.. well, you know how you think things that you would would never want anyone to hear or anything? Yeah, sometimes I put that kind
of stuff into a song and stuff like that will probably never get released. Some songs are just never meant to be heard. As far as a song from the Ever Passing Moment goes,
I don't think there was anything we didn't release because of how personal it was. There were songs that didnt make it because they didn't fit well with the rest of the cd, but that was about it.
6. Are there any hobbies that you all have that when the band is done, you would maybe consider picking up as a new career?
MIKE: Tom likes to cook, or BBQ; so that sort of stuff. Yuri.. well, I don't know about Yuri... he likes to camp and stuff but that isnt really anything you could make a career out of.
I like mainly music, skating, and riding my bike. I really like recording bands; like bands that are different styles and aren't just punk. So basically everything music.
7. When you are completely finished recording a cd and sit down to pick out which songs will stick and which ones will become B-Sides; what process do you use to determine this? What makes you say, "Okay this one stays" or "This one goes?"
MIKE: A lot of times, I have my favorites and Tom and Yuri will have their favorites. Then everyone we show the songs to will have their favorites. It can get confusing with the more people you involve.
Things change when you get more people involved in the process. I try to ignore what people say but kind of listen at the same time. Fans always seem to like the b-sides a lot and ask, why didn't you put THAT on the cd?
I think that is just because it is something they can't have on the actual cd. Like, I think they would feel that way about the song regardless of what it is as long as it is a b-side. But, as far as picking what
goes on a cd or not, that is kinda tough.
And now, the Yurinator took over..
8. With the drastic change in the music world as far as the types of bands were are hearing hearing on a more constant basis as compared to when you first started out, how do you feel your band fits into place as far as the music "scene?" Things seem a lot different than they were back in the early to mid 90s.
YURI: It's interesting, we will have be a band for 14 years in like two weeks and we have seen so much music come and go. Like ska; it was HUGE and the just
vanished suddenly. We've just maintained our sound. We understand that music world is fickle and we just had to find out who we are and what we wanted to be and stick with it. Our fans can believe in what we do
and that we do what we want to do; people appreciate that. That is just how we have stuck. There are times where we want to change or experiment but never because of
what has been popular. When you create something yourself, you always want to throw something new into the mix.
9. Here is sort of a silly question; what is YOUR favorite MxPx song and why?
I would have to say Tomorrow Is Another Day. Not because it is a better song than other songs, but because I think it really captures what we are about and how we feel about
life and look at it. That song is positive and I think it transcends what we could have done on purpose. So many people tell us how much that song has helped them, or changed them and I just never thought I would have a positive
impact on someone just by playing drums. It's hard to compute. -- you can see by this last sentence that Yuri is actually some sort of robot. --
10. What does the future hold for the band as of right now? I know you get asked this questions A LOT but I am sure the answer is constantly changing. Are we lucky enough to be in store for another 10+ years?
YURI: I don't know; I don't usually like to think about that kind of stuff. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? I mean, my life changed drastically one day when I was
10 and I could have never seen it coming. I don't even worry about it really. But we are all still having fun and loving what we do so yeah, I think we will be around for a while still.
It is pretty amazing to me to think that I got a chance to interview my favorite band on the phone.
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