Fest 10 announces more confirmed bands, gives away free compilation

THE FEST 10 recently announced more confirmations on their website for its big 10-year anniversary of their annual multiple-day, multiple-venue party down in Gainesville, Florida.

Added to the massive roster of bands will be onikers, Kyle Kinane, The Emotron, The Forthrights, Scum of the Earth, Worlds, Rivernecks, Alligator, Mouthbreather, John-Micheal Bond, Billy Wallace, Greys (Canada), Pujol, Kite Party, Teenage Softies, Wet Witch, The Fucking Wrath, Arms Aloft, Despite Everything (Greece), the Ex-Boogeymen, Over Stars and Gutters, Unfun (Canada), Liquid Limbs, Nato Cole and the Blue Diamond Band, Sister Kisser, Dig It Up (Canada), Luke Fields, Chicken Little, Charles the Ospery, Nightmares For A Week, Hold Tight, Vena Cava, Timeshares, Rose Cross, Post Teens, Nightlights, Douglas Shields and the X-Factors, Saint Alvia, Die Hoffnung, Chotto Ghetto, Sister Kisser, Evan Rocha, Luther, Party Drag, International Dipshit, Young///Savage, Kevin Seconds, Mauser, Wavelets and Creepiod.

You can read below for a complete list of bands performing including Hot Water Music, Against Me, Less Than Jake, Bouncing Souls, Lifetime, Dillinger Four, Samiam, Youth Brigade and more.

The festival will take place Oct 28,29 and 30 of 2011. Weekend passes are currently SOLD OUT but organizers are trying to find more venues willing to participate so they can open more weekend passes up for sale

FEST 10 also launched a Bandcamp page where anyone can grab a free downloadable comp featuring some of the artists performing. This will be the first of a six-comp series being released over the weeks leading up to the festival. You can go here to download (or just click on the album art):

Even though the FEST is SOLD OUT, organizers have been working with bands and local venues to help organize two PRE-FEST shows to happen on Thursday Oct 27^th.

Bands performing include Cobra Skulls, Nothington, Banner Pilot, Worn in Red, Bridge & Tunnel, Moutherbreather, Spanish Gamble, O Pioneers!!!, Shores, Caves, Pure Graft, Landmines and Fellowship Project. There are also two TBA special guests to be added at a later date.

Head to the FEST 10 website for venue and ticket information.

Bands confirmed so far:

Hot Water Music, Against Me!, Less Than Jake, Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Touring Company, Samiam, Ted Leo + The Pharmacists, Defiance Ohio, Franz Nicolay, Lifetime, Bouncing Souls, Youth Brigade, Dillinger Four, Smoke or Fire, None More Black, Paint it Black, Small Brown Bike, Dead to Me, Teenage Bottlerocket, Toys That Kill, Lemuria, Tim Barry, A Wilhelm Scream, Polar Bear Club, Circle Takes The Square, Off With Their Heads, The Holy Mountain, Cobra Skulls, Magrudergrind, Bomb The Music Industry, No Trigger, P.S. Elliot, Trap Them, Dear Landlord, Underground Railroad to Candyland, The Menzingers, The Copyrights, Broadway Calls, La Dispute, Fake Problems, The Soviettes, Cheap Girls, Ninja Gun, Nothington, Good Luck, Shook Ones, Paul Baribeau , The Arrivals, Banner Pilot, RVIVR, Static Radio, Rehasher, Armalite, Screaming Females, Coliseum, The Swellers, Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves, We Are The Union, Grabass Charlestons, Iron Chic, Mikey Erg, Ampere, Worn in Red, The Measure (sa) [FINAL SHOW], Burning Love (Canada), Tiltwheel, Bridge and Tunnel, Dan Padilla, Blacklist Royals, The Snips (Canada), The Brokedowns, The Bomb, The Catalyst, Algernon Cadwallader, Red City Radio, New Bruises, Shores, Future Virgnis, The Riot Before, Make Do and Mend, We Were Skeletons, Pianos Become Teeth, The Flatliners (Canada), Young Turks, Campaign, OK Pilot (UK), Look Mexico, Dirty Tactics, The Dopamines, The Arteries (UK), Bent Left, SSSSNAKES(UK), How Dare You, Comadre, Grown Ups, Such Gold, Tigers Jaw, Touché Amoré, The Great Explainer, PJ Bond, Carpenter (Canada), Annabel, One Win Choice, Amateur Party, Cynics (UK), Sexy Crimes, Greenland is Melting, Spanish Gamble, Captain We’re Sinking, Senders, O Pioneers!!!, Pure Graft (UK), Caves (UK), Mixtapes, Vultures United, Living With Lions (Canada), Mose Giganticus Mockingbird Wish Me Luck, Whiskey & Co., Protagonist, Dukes of Hillsborough, Max Levine Ensemble, Big Eyes, No Friends, Failure’s Union, 1994!, Landmines, Heartsounds, After the Fall, Cletus, Coffee Project, Savage Brewtality, King Friday, Fellow Project, Gateway District, Worthwhile Way (Japan), Calvinball (UK), Leagues Apart (UK), Glocca Morra (Canada), The Slow Death, The Anchor, Punch, Goddamn Doo Wop Band, Banquets, Old Man Markley, Red Collar, Weak Teeth, Deep Sleep, No More, Reverse the Curse, Assassinate the Scientist, Army of Ponch, Naïve, Capsule, Jeff Rowe, Koji, Go Rydell, Pine Hill Haints, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Former Thieves, Elway, The Wild, Pygmy Lush, Too Many Daves, Joey Briggs. City of Ships, INxSANE (Slovenia), Spraynard and Vacation Bible School.

THE FEST 10 will host 250+ bands over three days at 11 venues all within walking distance in downtown Gainesville, Fl.

Last year, The FEST 9 had over 5,000 folks in attendance with visitors from 46 states and 14 countries such as Canada, UK, Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

In past years, The FEST has hosted numerous bands such as:

7 Seconds, Able Baker Fox, Against All Authority, Against Me!, Alexisonfire, American Steel, Ampere, Ann Beretta, Armalite, The Arrivals, As Friends Rust, ASG, Assholeparade, Atom and His Package, A Wilhelm Scream, Banner Pilot, Baroness, Bear vs. Shark, Ben Davis, The Blood Brothers, The Bomb, Bomb the Music Industry, Bouncing Souls, The Briefs, Bridge & Tunnel, Broadway Calls, Burning Love, Cheap Girls, Chuck Ragan, Cinemechanica, Circle Takes the Square, Cloak/Dagger, Coalesce, Coliseum, Communique, Das Oath, Dave Dondero, Dead to Me, Dear Landlord, Defiance, Ohio, Dillinger Four, The Draft, Drag The River, Engine Down, The Epoxies, The Ergs, The Eyeliners, Fake Problems, The Falcon, Fifth Hour Hero, The Figs, Finfangfoom, Fleshies, Floor, Frank Turner, The Gaslight Anthem, Ghost Mice, Good Luck, Gospel, Government Warning, Grabass Charlestons, Gunmoll, Hard Skin, Har Mar Superstar, The Holy Mountain, Hot Cross, Hot Water Music, J Church, Joey Cape, Kylesa, Latterman, The Lawrence Arms, Leatherface, Lemuria, Less Than Jake, Look Mexico, The Loved Ones, Lucero, Marked Men, Mastodon, Mates of State, Matt & Kim, Mercury Program, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, The Methadones, Minus the Bear, Municipal Waste, Naked Raygun, None More Black, Off With Their Heads, One-line Drawing, Paint It Black, The Pietasters, Pink Razors, Planes Mistaken For Stars, P.O.S., Polar Bear Club, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Radon, Rehasher, Riverboat Gamblers, Russian Circles, The Sainte Catherines, Savage Brewtality, Seaweed, Sinaloa, Small Brown Bike, Smoke or Fire, SNUFF, The Soviettes, Strike Anywhere, Suicide Machines, The Swellers, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, Thunderbirds Are Now, Tiltwheel, Tim Barry, Tiny Hawks, Torche, Toys That Kill, Transistor Transistor, Twelve Hour Turn, Valient Thorr, VCR, The Velvet Teen, Whiskey & Co., Wow, Owls!, Young Livers and Youth Brigade.

The FEST is put together by the folks who run No Idea Records and Southern Lovin’ PR.

None More Black to play 7 shows this year

None More Black announced seven dates as a part of its late October/early November tour. The band will be heading from its home state of New York down to Florida for Fest 10, then play a few shows on its way back up. About a year ago, Fat Wreck released Icons.

Oct 25 - Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY * w/ Polygon
Oct 26 - Fat Tuesday, Fairfax, VA
Oct 27 - Soap Box, Wilmington, VA
Oct 29 - The Fest, Gainesville, FL
Oct 31 - It's a secret.
Nov 1 - The Camel, Richmond, VA
Nov 2 - Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ

Now if they would just come to Chicago...

Fest 10 Info:

From No Idea Records:
THE FEST 10 has launched their full website for the big 10 year anniversary of their annual multiple day, multiple venue party down in Gainesville, Florida.
The festival will take place October 28, 29, 30 of 2011. Organizers have planned an alumni reunion from years past to celebrate the big milestone!!! See below a list of bands confirmed so far! The FEST 10 has also opened up weekend passes for sale as well as official FEST 10 hotel bookings. The FEST 10 passes will be available at an early booking special rate of $75 from now until July 1st. On July 1st the price will increase to $100 for the 3 day weekend pass.


Bands confirmed so far include: Hot Water Music, Against Me!, Less Than Jake, Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Touring Company, Samiam, Lifetime, Bouncing Souls, Youth Brigade, Dillinger Four, Smoke or Fire, None More Black, Paint it Black, Small Brown Bike, Dead to Me, Teenage Bottlerocket, Toys That Kill, Lemuria, Tim Barry, A Wilhelm Scream, Polar Bear Club, Circle Takes The Square, Off With Their Heads, The Holy Mountain, Cobra Skulls, Magrudergrind, Bomb The Music Industry, No Trigger, Trap Them, Dear Landlord, Underground Railroad to Candyland, The Menzingers, The Copyrights, Broadway Calls, La Dispute, Fake Problems, The Soviettes, Cheap Girls, Ninja Gun, Nothington, Good Luck, Shook Ones, Paul Baribeau , The Arrivals, Banner Pilot, RVIVR, Static Radio, Rehasher, Armalite, Screaming Females, Coliseum, The Swellers, Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves, We Are The Union, Grabass Charlestons, Iron Chic, Mikey Erg, Ampere, Worn in Red, The Measure (sa) [FINAL SHOW], Burning Love (Canada), Tiltwheel, Bridge and Tunnel, Dan Padilla, Blacklist Royals, The Snips (Canada), The Brokedowns, The Bomb, The Catalyst, Algernon Cadwallader, Red City Radio, New Bruises, Shores, Future Virgnis, The Riot Before, Make Do and Mend, We Were Skeletons, Pianos Become Teeth, The Flatliners (Canada), Young Turks, Campaign, OK Pilot (UK), Look Mexico, Dirty Tactics, The Dopamines, The Arteries (UK), Bent Left, SSSSNAKES(UK), How Dare You, Comadre, Grown Ups, Such Gold, Tigers Jaw, Touché Amoré, The Great Explainer, PJ Bond, Carpenter (Canada), Annabel, One Win Choice, Amateur Party, Cynics (UK), Sexy Crimes, Greenland is Melting, Spanish Gamble, Captain We’re Sinking, Senders, O Pioneers! Pure Graft (UK), Caves (UK), Mixtapes, Vultures United, Living With Lions (Canada), Mose Giganticus Mockingbird Wish Me Luck, Whiskey & Co., Protagonist, Dukes of Hillsborough, Max Levine Ensemble, Big Eyes, No Friends, Failure’s Union, 1994!, Landmines, Heartsounds, After the Fall, Cletus, Coffee Project, Savage Brewtality, King Friday, Fellow Project, Gateway District, Worthwhile Way (Japan), Calvinball (UK), Leagues Apart (UK), Glocca Morra (Canada), Slow Death, The Anchor, Punch, Goddamn Doo Wop Band, , Banquets, Old Man Markley, Red Collar, Weak Teeth, Deep Sleep, No More, Reverse the Curse, Assassinate the Scientist, Army of Ponch, Naïve, Capsule, Jeff Rowe, Koji, Go Rydell, Pine Hill Haints, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Former Thieves, Elway, The Wild, Pygmy Lush, Too Many Daves, Joey Briggs. City of Ships, INxSANE (Slovenia), Spraynard, Vacation Bible School, \…and many more alumni to come!!!
THE FEST 10 will host over 250+ bands over three days at 11 venues all within walking distance in downtown Gainesville, Fl.

Weekend passes are currently available for sale!
EARLY TURD SPECIAL RATE:
3 DAY PASS - $75 (from now til July1st)
*July 1st 3 DAY PASS = $100
Go to: http://www.thefestfl.com to purchase weekend passes/ book hotels/ buy FEST 10 merch.

Don Giovanni Records Showcase 2012: Screaming Females, Laura Stevenson & the Cans, For Science, Shellshag, Black Wine

Words and blurry photos by Jason Duarte

Saturday night was the night of THE Don Giovanni Records Showcase; the night when For Science played its reunion set and bands like Black Wine, Shellshag, For Science, Laura Stevenson & the Cans and the Screaming Females joined forces and delivered a sonic tapestry, not to be forgotten any time soon.

There was a line outside of the Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn of excited fans waiting in the frozen February night air for the doors to open. While in line, I met a tall guy from New Hampshire who was none other than Servo from John Wilkes Booth Records, and his girlfriend as well! It was great chatting, and putting a face to the guy behind a great indie label that I ordered from a couple days after that show, had I met him or not.

My favorite Don Giovanni band, Black Wine, played first and they were incredibly orchestrated. The band rotated singing duties throughout the set. I love bands with multiple singers because it adds such depth. Two vocalists is typically tops, but I can't think of any other three-piece band that equally distributes 100% of its lead vocal duties. Black Wine played a new song, that I can't wait to hear on record, and were incredibly tight throughout their set. Jeff, Miranda and Jason are incredibly talented and fun to watch live. It was a perfect set to kick off the night. Watching them go nuts and rock is one of my favorite things ever.

Miranda Taylor (drums/vocals), Jason Nixon (bass/vocals), Black Wine

After Black Wine was Shellshag. The male/female two-piece played facing each other on either side of a custom flying saucer-looking gizmo which held a mic stand shaped like a Y, housed speakers and may have lit up. They also shared vocal duties, but guitarist/vocalist Shell had a majority of vocal duties. Shag was a standing drummer, and she had bells affixed to her ankles and around her waist, making her a one-person, wiggling vocalist/percussionist. At the end of the set, the two made a pretty tall monument of the drums, and knocked it over. It was pretty awesome and they totally embodied that grungy Nirvana-esque way of destroying their stuff.

Shell (guitar/vocals), Shag (drums/vocals), Shellshag

For Science's much-anticipated reunion set was sandwiched in the middle of all the bands Saturday night. The crowd went ape shit for them, particularly when vocalist John Slover began to throw $300 in singles into the crowd. I caught $7, and gave it back to them by buying their freshly-pressed album, Revenge For Hire, as well as Laura Stevenson & the Cans and Screaming Females vinyl after the show. Toward the middle of the set, Mikey Erg jumped up on stage and joined his former band on backups. Vocalist John Slover had to stop and puff on his inhaler between songs because he was getting that into it. I've never seen someone with asthma be a lead singer, but it occurred to me during For Science's set how incredibly hardcore that is. John could have fucking died! Their set was rad, and I want to catch them again. People lost their shit, and it was fun to be a part of that.

Mikey Erg (backup vocals), For Science

John Slover (vocals), Brian Gorsenger (drums) and Zach Gajewski (bass), For Science

A lot of the younger crowd and indie folks lined the front of the stage for Laura Stevenson & the Cans. They're not a punk band, but their involvement with labels like Asian Man and Don Giovanni Records creates this sort of 'scene crossover,' which is really cool in a 'Mods vs. Rockers' way. The show was 16+, so there were a lot of younger girls and dudes alike, which was awesome because it's been a while since I've been to a show that wasn't 21+. There's a different kind of passion and excitement in the air, and I love witnessing that raw emotion and giddiness. Laura Stevenson has a great voice, and her band was very talented. They were captivating, super held together and the set had a lot of depth. Their lead guitarist embodied this folk-y slide guitar style, and they had an accordion player, who was cool to watch. Their set was magnetic, and their dedicated fan base hung on every word and note.

Laura Stevenson (vocals/guitar), Laura Stevenson & the Cans

Screaming Females headlined the Don Giovanni Showcase, and rightfully so. Don Giovanni is releasing the band's new Steve Albini-produced album, Ugly, this year and Saturday night, the band released its 7'' single from Ugly, featuring "It All Means Nothing" b/w "A New Kid." The 7'' was only available at that show, and then the week-or-so-long free record store tour that followed. It has no cover, only a dust sleeve. The new song is incredible, and already a fan favorite at their shows. They made a video for it, which is both hilarious and disgusting. I suggest spending the 4:24 watching it.
Anyway, their set was amazing. They played a lot off Power Move and Castle Talk, my two personal favorite Screaming Females albums. Vocalist/guitarist Marissa Paternoster shreds, and has a horrifyingly addicting scream midst her fragile voice. She plays these intricate lead guitar parts while harmonizing vocals over them, and it rules. Bassist King Mike is memorizing; he utilizes a lot of bass chords and by synchronizing with Jarrett Dougherty's drumming, they keep the song driving forward; perfectly orchestrated. The band has a dark presence. Most obviously, they're all clad in black, but there are other subtleties like Marissa's signature; simply "Marissa," with two upside down crucifixes on either side of her name. Of course, they received an encore, and the crowd lost its shit once more, and the band left the stage after throwing down their instruments. The set ended the same way the new video does, with instruments and gear left behind.
The whole show was awesome, and it seemed like every single person in the venue that night was completely enthralled at at least one point throughout the night. The Screaming Females' set really left me looking forward to Ugly, coming out April 3.

King Mike (bass), Screaming Females

The Queers Are Here!

The first known usage of the term "punk rock" was in the Chicago Tribune on March 22, 1970 in an article about a New York band called The Fugs, where lead singer Ed Sanders described his solo material as "punk rock - redneck sentimentality."

Punk was not just about making a different style of music for the hell of it, which is a common misunderstanding. Punk seemed to be a necessary step taken in the 1970s by those across the globe who didn't agree with the pompousness and sentiment of the era's rock 'n' roll bands and society.

"Punk rock had to come along because the rock scene had become so tame that [acts] like Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkel were being called rock 'n' roll, when to me and other fans, rock 'n' roll meant this wild and rebellious music," said John Holmstrom, founder of "Punk Magazine."

By 1977, the punk movement was in full swing. England had The Clash and The Sex Pistols. The U.S.'s punk scene stretched from The Germs in California all the way to The Ramones in New York. Australia had The Saints.

While it had a tendency to spawn in urban areas, punk was not just found in big cities. Many obscure towns birthed some of the longest-living and most influential punk bands of the era. One such place was in Portsmouth, N.H.

In 1977, then-vocalist John Hayes (also known as Wimpy Rutherford) was practicing with guitarist and current vocalist Joe King when his friend, Kevin came running in saying, "'Come out to the car, come out to the car, you gotta hear this tape I got,' Hayes said.

"So we went out to his car and we sat in his car and we listened to 'You're a Loudmouth, Baby' and 'PT Boat On the Way to Havana' and I've never heard The Ramones or anything like that before and that was the day - that was the actual day - that we just stopped doing all the shit we were doing and went down a whole other road. Once I heard the energy of that kind of thing, that just sent me right down the road."

"We were just inspired by The Ramones and Black Flag and we kind of just wanted to start a band," said King. "We were fooling around with our instruments and then we just said, 'Let's start a band.' And that was really it, to just have a legal reason as it were, to drink and try to pick up girls and stuff like that," said King.

At this time, Hayes and King (also known as Joe Queer) played in a local punk band called The Bugs and another called The Falling Spikes. Then in 1981, Hayes, King and bassist Tulu declared themselves "The Queers."

"Joe and I were both just sick of the crap of the '70s, the music that was out and what people listened to, like fuckin' Steely Dan and The Eagles and all that kind of crap, and we just wanted to be anti all that," Hayes said.

King and Hayes just wanted a name people would remember that was provocative and also pissed off the art community.

"We just wanted a name that we could spraypaint around our town to piss 'em off, so that's kind of where it came from and it stuck with us," King said.

When The Queers started out, punk was just punk. There was no "this type and that type" like there is today.

"You were nasty and snotty and played power chords with no beats and it was really, everything was kind of similar," Hayes said. "The only dissimilar things you had was, you had the east coast American and west coast American and then the English."

The Queers released two 45 rpm records between 1982 and 1984.

"I remember when we put out the first two Queers records, it was so small then, I remember being at my house, I was a just little kid, living in my little apartment and in came a letter from Jello Biafra and he said, 'Hey, I heard your two singles on some radio station somewhere, where can I get a hold of them? Thanks, Jello Biafra,'" Hayes said. "So even people like that were already in touch with other people that were doing the same. It was pretty small, pretty close-knit. I sent him the singles, I sent him a letter back and I never heard back, but I had come to find out that the guy's an asshole."

In the mid-'80s, the bandmates went separate ways.

King got into the restaurant business, and owned a two-story bar/café in New Hampshire at the time that had burgers, nachos and things of the sort.

"It's creative and there's a good energy," King said. "A lot of people complain about the restaurant business, but it doesn't have to suck, you know, it could be really fun if you get a good crew in there." We had the dining room area (where) there would be a lot of grilled salmon and Italian food and stuff. It was a pretty cool place and I miss cooking. Every once in a while, I wish I still had the restaurant."

King took me back to the 1980s and early 1990s when he had his own place in N.H.

"I was really dedicated, it was a small place. We only sat 46 upstairs and 46 down in the lounge. Everything was fresh," King said. "So, I cooked my own turkey for the roast turkey sandwiches, I cooked my own roast beef, I cut my own French fries, I made my own tomato sauce - I used canned tomatoes - but I used as much stuff fresh as I could, whether it's a burger or whatever. There's a right way and a wrong way to make it, so I didn't just have a restaurant that I opened up to throw frozen French fries in the fryer, no. I didn't do that, that'd be kind of boring."

As King got into the restaurant business, original bassist, Tulu and Hayes went to Boston.

The bandmates were doing their separate things until 1990 when King put out the first record with bassist Greg Urbatis, drummer Hugh O'Neill and guitarist "Young" Sean Rowley.

"I owned the restaurant then, Hugh and B-Face (bass) worked for me - my friends, you know. We were the punks and so I said, 'Let's make one album. Let's get together and make one more album, we'll put it out ourselves and we'll call it a day, but at least it'll be a great punk album,'" King said. "OK, so we hadn't played in about a year, but we still had a bunch of songs. I met Ben Weasel out in Chicago, I sent him an old recording or something. And he got on Lookout! (Records) in 1992 or 1993 and I was working at the restaurant and Larry Livermore called me from Lookout! and he said, 'Do you want to make an album?' So here I am in N.H. and I'm thinking 'Hey, fuck it, I was going to buy a restaurant in Portsmouth, N.H. There was a great deal, I had the money, I was going to go in there at the restaurant downtown and Larry called."

At that time, Lookout!'s own Green Day was just hitting it big.

"I said, 'You know what, I haven't gone down that path in life and I need to learn those lessons. So I know I'll probably regret this, but I'm not going to buy that restaurant,' so I didn't buy it," King said. "The people went in there and they made a lot of money. But I went down that path in life with music and I traveled and that's what happened."

To King, it was weird because he and his friends just wanted to have fun and play on weekend and work the restaurant business.

"That's the point where we made 'Love Songs For the Retarded' and put it out ourselves, we pressed like 500 vinyls or something and called it a day, but here I am," King said. "Then all of a sudden, I went down that path in life and that's how I met my wife and all my friends now are through music, so this whole big life I have was all because I took that decision not open the restaurant and take a chance and go on the road and play music and meet people and learn about life. It all worked out."

Before 1993's "Love Songs For the Retarded," The Queers' 1990 release, "Grow Up," was the band's first and, undergoing numerous lineup changes over the years, The Queers today have over 15 releases between full-length albums and 45 rpm singles. The band's 2007 release, "Munki Brain," deviates away from straight punk and into bubblegum pop and surf.

It's rare that a punk band outlives The Ramones' 22-year career, but The Queers have done it and are still traveling the world.

"You kind of get to the point doing music where listen, all of want to party, at least a bunch of us musicians, want to party and do drugs and drink and not have to work a regular job and sleep with girls you wouldn't meet otherwise," King said. "You want to do all that stuff, but ultimately, it was something inside, that I had to do music. Once I started doing music, I realized it was all about punk rock to me, and music was about being the better person and learning about life and becoming a better person through it. People think it's just about playing a gig to a bunch of drunken people, but its so much more. It's like a journey; if you don't learn anything from the journey, then I should've just stayed in the restaurant."

To King, musicians are lucky to take on the job of going out and touring and playing music to lots of people.

"Not many people get to do a job where they cheer, you know? And say 'MORE MORE MORE.' That doesn't happen when you're flippin' burgers or writing for the paper or whatever, right? You know, if you don't learn from this lucky trip that you're on right here, then you might as well go manage a fuckin' Taco Bell 'cause you're a fuckin' asshole and you haven't learned anything."

"Like George Harrison from the Beatles said: 'We woke up one day, we're the biggest band in the world but then we looked at each other and said, 'Now what?'' So yeah, that's the way I look at it, it's all about learning about life," King said.

Over the years, a lot of now-famous pop punk bands have opened for The Queers.

"A lot of the pop punk bands that got famous like Lit or Good Charlotte or Fall Out Boy or Blink-182 and tons of those other bands - Sum 41 - but really, the only truly great one was Green Day. I'm inspired by it, it's great and that's cool and more power to 'em, I mean, I did it 'cause it was something inside, but bands like us, Green Day, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Screeching Weasel, The Muffs, we didn't do it 'cause it was a career move," King said. "Now it is a career move. If you look like you dress at Hot Topic and got eye shadow on and you write some gay ass songs, you can get famous whether you have fuckin' talent or not, if you got the look.

"It was like a loser's proposition. You were either fuckin' 'Welcome to Burger King, may I take your order ma'am?' or a punk rocker. There wasn't any fuckin' safety net under you. You did it because something told you to do it. Green Day, they were going to do those songs on 'Dookie' whether they got fuckin' famous as hell or they didn't. They had those songs written - we saw 'em, they were showin' 'em to us - before 'Dookie' came out. Some of us got really famous, some of us got semi-famous and some died, some lived, some learned, some moved on, you know. But it touched all of us. Punk rock really did a bunch of cool people out."

King is now married, but playing more than 30 years of punk rock, he is definitely not looking to call it a day anytime soon.

The Queers, who tour a lot, can live off touring, but the band needs a break, King said.

"I'm opening up a recording studio and starting my first session next week, working with The Riptides from Ottawa, Canada," King said. "We're going to do a split with them and a couple other projects. I got a bunch of bands coming in. We're starting slow, but it's pretty cool. I'm spending all my money on stuff, but it's fun. To be honest, I'm more into getting behind the scenes. I see some of the newer pop-punk bands, not many of them really excite me and none of 'em can really hold a candle to Screeching Weasel or Mr. T Experience or The Muffs back in the day. So, I get inspired to show 'em how it's done properly."

Hayes is currently fronting The Jabbers, G.G. Allin's first band. The Queers' current lineup consists of King on vocals and guitar, The Bugs' Dangerous Dave on bass and backup vocals and Ryan from the Atom Age on drums.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, October 5, The Queers will be rolling through Urbana, stopping to play a show at The IMC, 202 S. Broadway, with The Independents, Roberta Sparrow and Dizzy Chair Time. Admission is $10.

Interview with Matt Hart of Squirtgun

My geeky self and Matt Hart (Squirtgun)
By Chris Carlton

Squid Pro Quo: Thanks for taking the time to talk with Squid Pro Quo, Matt. Fans know you as the lead singer for Squirtgun. Can you give us a little history on how the band got started?

Matt Hart: "Squirtgun started in 1992-93, though we weren’t called Squirtgun at that point. The Giorgini brothers (Mass and Flav) and the inimitable Dan Lumley were in a band at that point called Rattail Grenadier. I was in graduate school at Ohio University studying philosophy and teaching logic. For a variety of reasons that I can’t remember, Rattail’s singer (their fourth, I think) quit the band. That’s when I got the call from Mass to come to Indiana and do some demos with Rattail. The connection there is that during the late '80s, I was in a band in Evansville, IN (where I’m from originally) called Freaks of Nature, and we used to play shows with Rattail (who were from Lafayette, IN). That’s how we all became friends in the first place.

At any rate, in the spring or summer of ’93, I did go to Lafayette to do some demos, but it became pretty clear to all of us that with me singing, it wasn’t going to be Rattail anymore (they were a more hardcore/metal-ly band, and I just didn’t have the throat for that). Plus, I had a bunch of songs to add to the mix, and I started writing lyrics/melodies for some music that the other guys had already worked up. That’s how it all started. I think in those first sessions we recorded “Social,” “Mr. Orange,” “Allergic to You,” “Long So Long,” “Liar’s Corner” and “With a Grin and a Kick,” among others. Because of Mass’s connection with Lookout! (Records) at that point, it made sense for us to try and get a deal with them. Mass wanted the band to have a cartoon-y, pop-punk sort of name, and I came up with Squirtgun (I wish I hadn’t, but I did. In retrospect, I should’ve come up with Piano Smash or Death’s Head Rabbit or Notes after Blacking Out—anything but Squirtgun)."

SPQ: I had the chance to see Squirtgun play, and actually meet you a couple of years ago in Chicago when the band played with Teen Idols and 88 Fingers Louie and you guys were amazing live! Are there any plans for another Squirtgun album or possible tour?

MH: "I’m glad you liked the live show. We had fun doing those a couple of summers ago, but I kind of think that was it. The end. Maybe I’m wrong. I’ve been wrong before, and we’re all still great friends, so I guess anything is possible, but Flav is a research scientist in genetics at the University of Leicester in England now. Mass just got his Ph.D in Spanish and is teaching at several colleges/universities. I teach writing and literature at the Art Academy of Cincinnati (a four-year college of art and design) and I’m a poet (more on that below). Dan writes for the Lafayette newspaper. Additionally, Flav and I both have young children, so it’s tough to get away to rehearse, much less tour. The truth is, I haven’t even picked up a guitar, other than the toy guitar my daughter has, in more than a year. I get the same charge writing and reading poems that I got playing in bands, so it’s hard to imagine going back to music, but if something comes up that’s too good to be true…well, I’ll never say never, but there are no plans."

SPQ: Who were your musical influences growing up and do you think those influences come through in your songwriting?

MH: "Songwriting? Oh man, I’m sure it’s mind-boggling to some people, but I don’t write songs anymore at all—none. That said, the music I grew up with certainly influences who I am as a poet. In fact, I just wrote a long essay in four parts for Coldfront Mag online where I discuss exactly the connections between punk rock and my writing. You can see them here:

http://coldfrontmag.com/poets-off-poetry/by-any-means-necessary-part-1-by-matt-hart

http://coldfrontmag.com/poets-off-poetry/by-any-means-necessary-part-2-by-matt-hart

http://coldfrontmag.com/poets-off-poetry/by-any-means-necessary-part-3-by-matt-hart

http://coldfrontmag.com/poets-off-poetry/by-any-means-necessary-part-4-by-matt-hart

One thing I don’t discuss in the essays above is how much music performance, especially punk vocalists, have influenced the way I perform poetry. I think I’ve always been someone who likes singers/bands that nearly fly apart on stage. That’s certainly something I’ve always tried to do. There’s a recklessness to performance, which is both thrilling and potentially disastrous. I mean, if you’re really in it, you’re totally weird-wired and also vulnerable as hell. Every time I walk on stage/up to a mic whether it’s playing with a band or reading poetry, I’m trying for ekstasis—that is, to be literally beside myself, watching myself, the audience, the vast and the void.

Actually, I want a similar thing to occur when I’m writing; I want to 'wake up' typing with a poem in front of me. I get pretty wound up whatever I’m doing, but this keeps it exciting. Sometimes it’s great, and sometimes it’s terrible. Extremity is crucial. The experience has to be full-throttle. Volcano mixed with trickster mixed with stars and giant heart. Giant vision, giant voice.

In this respect, my influences were and still are bands like Alice Cooper, Black Flag, The Dead Kennedys, The Sex Pistols, The Circle Jerks, The Germs, Lifetime and Jawbreaker. More recent bands I’ve really been into are The Blood Brothers, Forgetters, Shellac, Titus Andronicus, The Gaslight Anthem and The Hold Steady.

I like performances (and try to give performances when I read) that are volatile, dynamic, noisy and declarative. I mean, whether I’m at a poetry reading or a rock show, I always want to have my face blown off and leave feeling like I’ve just seen something which is nearly inexplicable, totally surprising and somehow also provocative (both physically and intellectually). I want to be moved, and I want to move other people. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, 'Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis.' To me, this is the bedrock of punk rock, and it’s exactly the reason so many of us are so wide up awake even in our sleep. I’m looking in performances for something ecstatic (and there it is again, ekstasis), something outside the outside, totally in fits—like breathing fire by creating a flame thrower in one’s gut, not metaphorically but for real with the real."

SPQ: Back when you first started out playing in bands, pre mid-90's punk explosion, was it hard to find places to play outside of house parties?

MH: "We definitely played some house parties, but we also played a lot of gymnasiums and college student centers, VFW Halls, and little all-ages clubs that would pop up here and there (then disappear just as quickly). For example, Mass’s Spud Zero in Lafayette, which was around for a couple of years and hosted everybody from The Zero Boys and Screeching Weasel to Naked Raygun and Green Day. There were plenty of places to play, and when there weren’t, we created them. We did it ourselves, and that continues to influence who I am. I don’t ever have the sense that there’s something I can’t do. Not having money or resources is no excuse to not follow one’s dreams and passions. DIY all the way. Make it happen.

SPQ: How do you feel the scene has changed since those early days? Do you feel the scene has gotten better or suffered in the wake of "mall punk" and bands like Green Day going multi-platinum?

MH: "Well, given that Squirtgun’s most famous song is in a movie called Mallrats, I don’t really think I can disparage mall punk. I mean, where I come from, mall punk is all there was/is? I was mall punk in 1984. There was no such thing as punk rock in southern Indiana back then. We had nothing to do and nowhere to go, so we hung out at the mall—and hatched plans to have shows in people’s basements, etc. I once played a show in a stairwell, between a basement and a first floor. I played a show in a kitchen in Knoxville, TN. I’ve also played shows in soccer arenas. The point is: punk is and always has been about doing it yourself. The labels don’t matter. Labels are the antithesis of punk.

As for the scene, I don’t really think there’s much to say. And even if I did think there was something to say, it wouldn’t make any difference—which is a great thing. I’m just one guy, and I don’t even go to shows anymore, so I don’t really know anything about the scene—not even whether or not there is (or ever was) one. The important thing is that to some extent or other, there will always be young people in revolt—both literally and figuratively/artistically. And that means things may ebb and flow, but punk rock and its various tributaries (those established and those not even thought of yet) are a fact of our existence, which is lucky for us."

SPQ: Are there any newer bands out there, not necessarily punk bands, that you really enjoy listening to?

MH: "More recent bands I’ve really been into are The Blood Brothers, Forgetters, Shellac, Titus Andronicus, The Gaslight Anthem and The Hold Steady. Additionally, I love jazz—especially super noisy, squealy, squawky, tear your hair out jazz, e.g. Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Sun Ra. Love those Sonic Youth Records (SYR), Sonic Youth records (the super feedback-y noisy ones), Storm and Stress, DNA.

But man, I listen to everything from classical music to bluegrass to hardcore.

I always wanted to be in a hardcore band. Johnny Whitney, late of The Blood Brothers, has the most kick-ass voice of anybody. Blake Schwarzenbach, too. And Darby Crash."

SPQ: In recent years, as mentioned, you've worked at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and have even started writing poetry. Has any of your writing been published?

MH: Just to be clear, I started writing poetry long before I was in Squirtgun and I’ve continued writing it very seriously all these years. I have three published full-length collections, Who’s Who Vivid (Slope Editions, 2006), Wolf Face (H_NGM_N Books, 2010) and Light-Headed (BlazeVOX, 2011). A new book of poems—my punk rock book of poems—Sermons and Lectures both Blank and Relentless will be published in the spring of 2012 by Typecast Publishing. I’m really excited about that one. My hope is to open some punk shows reading from it. It’s pretty out there, weaving together references to early punk rock, my own personal life, and various philosophers/philosophical positions as a way to talk about human feeling/being, visionary activity and transcendence. The poems are really fiery, and it would be awesome to deliver them in front of a wild at heart, punk rock audience.

Speaking of the Sermons and Lectures, I should mention that a different section of it appears at the end of each of the essays I linked you to above.

Beyond that, there’s a ton of my poetry out there for anybody who’s interested. I also give tons of readings, so it’s pretty easy to catch me live. Over the last 10 or 15 years, I’ve given readings from NYC to San Francisco and everywhere in between. Last summer, I read in China for the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa and the U.S. Department of State. This fall, I’ll be back in NYC and also Portland, OR and Seattle. It’s great work if you can get it."

SPQ: Can you give us some of your influences as far as literature?

MH: "Yeah, I tend to like things that are surprising (both in terms of their content and the way/s they use language). I love the Romantics, the Surrealists, The Beats, The New York School Poets, etc. Here’s a reading list:

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (especially the Conversation poems)

John Keats

John Clare

The Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud

“Bartleby the Scrivener” by Herman Melville

Emily Dickinson (one of our weirdest poets!)

Walt Whitman

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein

The Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein

The Dada Painters and Poets, Ed. Robert Motherwell

The Poetry of Surrealism, Ed. by Michael Benedikt

The Dream Songs by John Berryman

The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara

The Sonnets by Ted Berrigan

Flannery O’Connor

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Wallace Stevens

On the Road, Dharma Bums, The Subterraneans and Big Sur by Jack Kerouac

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

Gregory Corso (anything)

On Bear’s Head by Philip Whalen

Dean Young (anything)

Indeed I Was Pleased with the World by Mary Ruefle

This Is Not a Novel by David Markson

Grave of Light: Selected Poems by Alice Notley

Haruki Murakami (especially the short stories)

Donald Barthelme

Kenneth Koch

Lydia Davis

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender

The Tennis Court Oath by John Ashbery

The Savage Detectives and 2666 by Roberto Bolano."

SPQ: Do you enjoy writing poetry as much or more than writing music or is there a nice counterbalance between both art forms?

MH: "I love writing/reading/performing poetry. Writing music, I was never very good at. I never really cared all that much about being a musician. I wanted to be a front man. I wanted to go the distance lyrically/melodically in dissonance and harmony, but more than that, I wanted to be a presence on stage. I wanted to throw myself against the wall. I wanted to be music. With poetry, I can do that. I do that. I try every day to do that."

SPQ: Is there a website where we can get news on what you're up to; where we can get some info on your literature writings, music news, possible new releases, upcoming appearances or merch?

MH: Yes indeed: www.matthartpoet.com. Also: www.artacademy.edu.

SPQ: I would like to thank you again for taking the time to talk with Squid Pro Quo. It was a pleasure talking with you, Matt. And I hope we get to hear more from you in the future. Thanks again.

MH: Thanks, Chris. It was fun.