Squid Pro Quo Talks With The Scissors' Singer/Guitarist, Darren Vorel

Photo by Randy Michael Korwin
L to R: Ken Fletcher (bass), Darren Vorel (vocals/guitar), Yvonne Szumski (vocals/guitar), David Schneider (drums)
Interview by Chris Carlton

Squid Pro Quo: For the new fans, or people just discovering The Scissors, can you give us a little bit of background? How did the band get started?

Darren Vorel: "Originally, we started out to do a record or two and play around Chicago a few times a year. We didn’t want anything serious or time consuming, just a way to satisfy the urge to play four chords as loud as possible. We recorded our first E.P., “Riv Rat Rob” in a couple days back in 2002. That got us excited to do more. We went back to Atlas Studios to record “Tijeras” (2004), “Viva” (2007) and our latest release, “You Can Make It Dangerous” (2010). We’ve been touring around the Midwest and east coast lately and have plans to tour a lot more in the coming months."

SPQ: What was it like early on? Was it hard finding gigs outside of your hometown?

DV: "Yeah, it’s really hard. Most places don’t answer phone calls or e-mails. You really gotta work to get their attention. Luckily we were content playing only Chicago shows. Our city has great venues and helpful people who book them. MPshows has been insanely kind as well as the fine people at House Call Talent."

SPQ: What was it like working with Matt Allison at Atlas Studios? Was it nerve wracking just knowing who this guy's worked with?

DV: "Matt is an extremely knowledgeable guy when it comes to music and baseball. If you’re interested in either of those things, you’ll probably get along with him famously. He has wonderful insight into recording and life in general. A few times after our sessions, we’d grab a beer at a bar and catch the Cubs game. Those were the best studio days for me. I can see how working with him for the first time would be intimidating, but after about 10 minutes in the studio, bands will feel right at home."

SPQ: The band's music has really grown over the course of the last few years. Do you feel that the band has matured musically?

DV: "I feel like people are constantly changing, whether they know it or not. The Scissors as people are changing, which reflects the music we make. Everyone’s writing what they know about and that keeps us honest. Every record we’ve done has been different from the last. I’m not sure I’d say we’ve matured musically, but I will say that we’ve allowed ourselves the freedom to write without limits or expectations."

SPQ: Since Yvonne and Ken have joined the band, how has the songwriting process changed?

DV: "It’s changed for the better. Yvonne is one of our strongest songwriters. She’s really grown into that role since our last record. She writes completely different from the rest of us, and that keeps us on our toes. Ken has us laughing through it all. He keeps us from taking it too seriously. That’s a really important part of why we’re still a band."

SPQ: I understand the band's working on a new album. Is there a tentative release date?

DV: Not going to set a release date yet. We’re demoing at a studio right now. There’s about 20 songs floating around. We’ll Probably demo 10 more before we start recording for real. Hoping to start that next month (May)."

SPQ: What can we expect from the new Scissors release?

DV: "We haven’t chosen the final songs yet, but I can say that it’ll take a side. Our last record was a little in-between genres. We loved experimenting with different things, but this record will be more of a straightforward effort. Yvonne will be singing lead vocals on half of it too. We’re all really excited about that."

SPQ: Over the last few years, the band's been able to tour outside of Illinois. What's your favorite city to play outside of the Chicagoland area? And is there any plans for a nationwide tour in the near future?

DV: "Hmm, so far mine would be Indiana. It’s close enough to home and the punk rock scene is really alive. Kids come out to support local acts and touring acts. I just gotta remember to watch what I say when I talk about The Bears. They don’t like Bears fans too much. Of course there’s a ton of other places I enjoy...every place on the map is interesting and gives us an opportunity to perform for people who really care about the music we make. We’re working on a tour right now, but it’s too early to talk about the route as we are still booking it."

SPQ: You recently played SXSW in Austin, TX. What was it like being part of something so special, and how was the band received?

DV: "SXSW is incredible. Music is literally in every bar/restaurant in town. It’s a great mix of styles and genres. Bands get little to no money to play, so I recommend touring around it if you’re broke like us. I think we were received well. At SXSW, people are actually interested in checking out bands. There’s only a few ‘big’ shows to catch, so most people are looking for that diamond in the rough."

SPQ: The band's song, "Let's Go," is featured in the new Playstation 3 game, "MLB 3: The Show." How did the band get involved with the game?

DV: "Luckily, the Internet has been our friend. The fine people at Sony saw our video for the song and liked it. We spent most of October 2010 – February 2011 biting our nails and hoping we’d get on."

SPQ: Being a big baseball fan myself, I can only imaging how exciting it must be to be involved in something this big. Has the bands fan base grown since the release of the game?

DV: "I think so. We’ve had a lot of nice responses from baseball and music fans. 'Let’s Go' has that great 'whoa' hook. I always pictured it playing over the loudspeakers at a game to rile up the crowd...so it’s amazing to actually have our song affiliated with MLB in some fashion. I’m an avid baseball fan myself, so I can’t tell you how excited I’ve been about this."

SPQ: The band recently got an endorsement deal from Ernie Ball. That's a pretty tall order! How did that come about?

DV: "We sent out our CD to Ernie Ball. We all use their strings and products anyway, so we thought it’d be a good pairing. Turns out, people actually listen to CDs when you send them, and they liked us enough to sponsor us. We’ve been fortunate to have them as friends."

SPQ: I know the band's got an acoustic gig coming up in a couple weeks (Thursday, April 21st at Rockit Wrigley - 3700 N. Clark, Chicago). Are there any plans for an all acoustic album?

DV: "Not really, but I like the idea. I always liked to hide behind loud guitars, but I’m finding myself performing acoustic shows more and more."

SPQ: Besides the upcoming acoustic gig, are there any Scissors shows coming up?

DV: "Yes, we have a show coming up on April 30th with The Frantic. Then we'll be at Subterranean on June 4th with our friends, The Super Happy Fun Club. It's their record release show. We’re also really excited to play the Ryan’s Hope reunion show on July 16th this year. Those guys are great dudes and we’re all huge fans of the Hope and The Reaganomics."

SPQ: I want to thank you for your time, Darren. Always a pleasure talking with you. How can people reach The Scissors for further tour dates, record release info and merch?

DV: "Thanks for taking the time to spread the word about us. We appreciate the help! Everything you need to know is encapsulated here."

The Queers/The Scissors show review (3.14.09):

So tonight, Reggie's in Chicago hosted The Queers with The Scissors. There was another band in between called The Poison Arrows, but they had to cancel due to alleged "van trouble."
It was cool because unlike the last four times I've seen The Queers, this time had something different; something special. They had, on tour with them, Wimpy Rutherford. Wimpy used to play in the original Queers in like 1982 (See:The Queers story) when they first started out as just a local punk band to piss off local art fags, as he once called them. Ah, who am I kidding? Art fags are everywhere.
They did a Ramones cover of "I Don't Care," which was pretty cool considering they usually do "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" and "Blitzkrieg Bop." Adam from The Leftovers was playing drums for them, which was awesome because The Leftovers are a really great band. He was a really nice guy too, which is always cool. They all are nice guys.
They played a lot of the usual stuff - "Debra Jean," "Granola Head," "Hi Mom, It's Me," "Ben Weasel," "Teenage Bonehead," "I Hate Everything," "I Want Cunt," "You're Tripping," "Fuck the World," "Punk Rock Girls," "No Tit," "Born To Do Dishes," "etc...
But with Wimpy, they did "MacArthur's Park," "Fagtown," "This Place Sucks," "Tulu Is a Wimp," "Kicked Out of the Webelos," "Terminal Rut," "I Spent the Rent," "I'm Useless," "Wimpy Drives Through Harlem," "We'd Have a Riot Doing Heroin," "I Like Young Girls," "Nothing To Do," "Fuck You" and I think some others. They did a cover of Screeching Weasel's "Cindy's On Methadone" too.
It was a really good show. The Scissors were pretty good. I don't recall seeing the chick guitarist the last time I saw them play at The Note. So, possible new addition there. Pretty good stuff though. Queers are coming out with a split with The Riptides sometime this year as well as a new full-length, I believe. I'm pretty sure both are going to come out on Asian Man Records. Go catch The Queers with Wimpy Rutherford, it was fuckin' good.

TEEN IDOLS: Back in 2009

(Phillip Hill/left, Jason Fanboy Duarte/middle, Pete Mittler/right)

By Jason Duarte

Growing up as a punk rocker in Tennessee or "redneck central," as Hill explains, was tough - the bullet scar on his leg proves that.
"You'd have about 30-50 people at each show. Once Green Day hit, it got bigger. The biggest we ever had was about 700 people for a Teen Idols show. The last few shows I saw in Nashville were pretty small. Even the bigger bands only have maybe 200 people show up. We haven't played there since I think 2002, but it was packed back then - it sold out," Hill said.
But since he left Tennessee in 2001, Hill has been working as an engineer at Sonic Iguana Studios in Lafayette, Indiana . He moved to Chicago in 2003.

One thing's for sure though - the Teen Idols' new album will be out in 2010. The Teen Idols haven't released an album since 2003's "Nothing To Prove" on Fueled By Ramen Records.
"We're thinking about recording around Christmas time, maybe a little after," Hill said.
The new album will be recorded at Sonic Iguana. The current band he's producing in the studio is the Old Wives from Alberta, Canada.

The Teen Idols' upcoming album has yet to get a title, or songs, for that matter.
"Usually, that's the last thing that happens," Hill said. "I think that when we did 'Pucker Up,' we were just calling it 'The Second Album' until we decided to call it 'Pucker Up' because that's the song that stuck out. And our third album - that title's just a joke. It's a play on the movie, 'Full Metal Jacket.' It was supposed to be funny but people took it the wrong way and said, 'Oh, they think they're so cool with their leather jackets,'" Hill said with a laugh.

The band broke up in 2003 after an argument between the band members. "My hollow body guitar got smashed," Hill reflected of the 2003 fight. "I had gotten in an argument with Heather, she pushed me into a drum kit with my guitar and the neck split down to the seventh fret. It sat in its case for five years. Then, a guy I know who used to play rhythm guitar for The Queers said 'I'd like to try and fix it,' so I sent it to him. He brought it to one of the shows and it was like brand new. He used glue, clamps, epoxy...but there were still battle scars. Two days after the fight, I took a Greyhound bus from California to Chicago. I thought a lot and wrote a long e-mail basically saying how things had gotten fucked up. So I made sort of my 'manifesto' - like 'this is the way it should be run' kinda thing. Everyone was still too upset over the argument and weren't willing to talk about playing together at that time."

Predating that, Hill and Keith Witt didn't speak since late 2000, when Witt was fired after their last tour of Japan.
"Keith kind of became our arch-enemy. There were lots of hard feelings," Hill said. "He moved to Chicago, and I had already been living here. He got a hold of my number somehow, called me and told me he was living here now. We patched things up and we're good friends again. He actually got married last year to a girl from Tennessee and I was the best man at his wedding. So the old wounds have healed." Hill said.

In the past year, Hill has tried to get the original Teen Idols members back together to record and play. Drummer Matt Drastic was originally interested, but his busy schedule wouldn't allow him to commit to the band. Heather was also approached to fill her old position as the band's bassist, but she declined.

Since 1992, the band's been through its problems, trials and tribulations.
"There have been about 13 different band members since we started", Hill said.
But the Teen Idols are back in 2009 with Phillip Hill on guitar, Yvonne Szumski of The Scissors on bass, Keith Witt back on vocals and Nathan Bice of Even In Blackouts/Deadly Sins on drums. Catch the Teen Idols for Riot Fest Saturday at the Metro in Chicago with Anxiety High, Teenage Bottlerocket and the Dead Milkmen.