Yellow Scene: What’s happening in Detroit?

Matt Puhy: Honestly, I’ve been talking about this quite a bit over the past six months. It seems like the city’s always changing, with how often we’re gone. When we come back, it seems like somebody’s doing some new project somewhere. The one thing that I’m at least hearing is that things are always progressing. It’s nice to hear, after all of the negative press that the city already gets, that every time I come back I’m hearing something positive about what’s going on, regardless of what it is. Nothing too particular stands out at the moment, but it’s definitely moving in the right direction which is good.

YS: People love the Right to Rise album – have you been working on a follow-up?

MP: We started recording demos for the next record about a week after we finished the last one. We’re constantly writing. Jason, our lead guitar player, he’s got this little ProTools rig on his laptop so he brings it everywhere we go. Whenever we get some spare time, he’ll knock out a couple of ideas and then we’ll sit down and just kind of mess with them. At this point, we probably have seven or eight new songs, maybe a few more. Right when we got out of the studio, we were still in the process. We had spent a few months out there, living in a house, and that’s what we were doing all day. As opposed to the first record – we went out and did the whole thing in two weeks. We had this whole process inrained in our heads so it seemed natural to keep going with it. All the while we were recording, we were still plugging away on some new ideas because there were a few songs that we had written for the record while we were in Atlanta. Working on the follow-up. Can’t wait to record that one, even though this has barely been out for a few months.

YS: Do you like playing Colorado?

MP: Oh yeah. We’ve done Denver quite a few times, and Colorado Springs as well. Within the last seven or eight months, this will be our third or fourth time in Denver proper. It’s a great city – we always love coming there. We actually have a lot of family and friends from Detroit that are living in Denver, so it’s a home away from home. We can stay with friends, reminisce and enjoy the city. It’s a great stop for us for sure.

YS: What can we expect from the set?

MP: Probably the same things that we try to provide every time we play, which is something hard, heavy, and leave the people wanting more. We’ve got thirty minutes on this tour, so we’re trying to get everybody properly warmed up. We’ve got a couple of songs from the first record, and then the majority are new tunes. We definitely put together a banger set because these two bands, Trivium and Tremonti, are bands that we didn’t really know how we’d fit in. They’ve got their own things, and we wanted to see if we’ve got something that would appeal to their fans but still something that’s high energy and unique in our own way. So we’ll definitely be trying to hit everybody with our best for those thirty minutes.

YS: When the tour’s over, what’s next?

MP: We’ve got a couple of pending tours that might end up taking us overseas at the beginning of the new year – nothing we can announce just yet. We have a couple of home shows with Pop Evil and some more one-offs.

Yellow Scene: ell us about the new album – you say it’s back to the DOA roots…

Joey Shithead: Yeah. It’s called Hard Rain Falling. I just tried to write some songs that, rather than adding extra guitar riffs I was thinking of old DOA that was quick and to the point. When you think about really early punk rock, from the English stuff to DOA to Bad Brains to Black Flag, it’s pretty um-tempo, quick and to the point. I made it topical, about street gangs and racism.

YS: You’ve used crowd-funding to pay for it, right?

JS: Yeah, partly. Our record label is a small label, so we were getting the fans to help out a bit. It won’t cover the whole thing, but it’s going pretty well. We’re going with Kickstarter, and we just started with that six days ago. Its going up for two months, which is really when we’ll be finished and we’ll be able to deliver the stuff to the people that donated. When people did it five-seven years ago, it was probably more successful because it was so unique at that time. But I think that, as long as you’re really fair with the fans, then they’re good. Give them CDs, signed stuff, drum skins, posters and stuff like that. The thing is, they probably would end up buying something anyway, so this way they can get a greater level of participation and feel like they’re part of it, which they are. The record company model obviously has broken down for a bunch of different reasons.

YS: Do you like playing Colorado?

JS: You know what – we have not played there a whole lot lately. I think the last time we played there was maybe 1999, and it was a punk rock tour with about 14 bands called something like Social Chaos. It was like us and TSOL, UK Subs and a whole pile of other bands. I’m pretty sure that’s the last time we were in Denver. But, having said that, we have some fond memories of Denver. If nothing else, we should do well because we haven’t been there for so long.

YS: What can we expect from the set?

JS: One of the things we’re doing on this tour is playing the Hardcore 81 album from start to finish. There’ll be still be time for more songs, because that album’s only 29 minutes long. If I get a beer, that’s 30 minutes. There’s that, and then we’ll play a few new ones. Songs like “Police Brutality,” which is pretty important when you think about what’s going on in places like Ferguson.

YS: When the tour’s over, what’s next?

JS: I think everyone can look forward to a wild, unbridled show, no holds barred, trying to maintain that reputation on stage. Every time we go to a town, especially because we’ve been around for so long, I just go, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna put everything into the show because who knows, this might be the last time I’m here.’ That’s important. People can tell when you’re going through the motions. It takes a while, but eventually they figure out that it’s lame. DOA has always been loud, upbeat, political and funny. That’s really what we are so we try to keep doing that.

Yellow Scene: I just watched the “English Girls” video and I was wondering what inspired that? As an Englishman, it’s not my experience that English girls just walk up to people and say they like sex…

Kennedy Brock: That was actually very literal for an experience that we had one of the first times we were in the UK. I think we were in Manchester. It was just a fun, wild time the first time we were there. We’re just a bunch of nerds though.

YS: American Candy is the fifth album – how do you think the band has grown?

KB: We’ve been on the road a lot. We love making music together and we’re constantly writing. Everything’s very natural. We like to keep moving forward and pushing ourselves to do different things.

YS: Do you like playing Colorado?

KB: Absolutely. We’ve had good shows at the Summit Music Hall. I really love the area and the shows have always been really good. Denver’s just a beautiful place.

YS: What can we expect from the set?

KB: We’re gonna be playing a bunch of new songs – I think like half the record. Then a good mixture of some older stuff we’ve done and some things we haven’t played in a while. It’s gonna be loud and fun.

YS: When the tour’s over, what’s next?

KB: As much touring as we could possibly do. We have plans to go down to Brazil in a few months, and we have other plans to go to the Philippines soon. We want to go all over the world.

Yellow Scene: The project is 20 years old now – how do you think it’s evolved in those two decades?

Ben Barnett: It evolved emotionally, in that the shows used to be big hardcore kids who would see the shows and be crying during and after. The old shows would be these really heavy experiences. That’s the way I write. Now that two of us are pushing 40, we’re not really there to bum people out. The perspective has really changed. It’s a lot more fun than it used to be, and we’re better too. As a band, we traditionally had really bad luck, whether it’s an amp exploding or a member exploding. Something always exploded. Now, I feel that we’re really even. The shows have been great. The short answer is that we grew up, and we’re happier people. We still play a lot of the older material and it’s really cathartic. Ultimately, there are better attitudes in the band, at practice, at the label, with the people who want to interview us – we went around with a chip on our shoulders in the beginning.

YS: Back in the day, you put out 12 albums in seven years which is amazing. What caused the band to break up in 2006?

BB: My fiancé left me and it hurt too much to sing the songs every night. A lot of the material was about being broken-hearted. I challenge anyone to sing an hour of Spitting material and not be upset by it at the end. Especially the old stuff. I was exhausting myself. I’m bi-polar, so I was exhausting myself touring constantly. Whether I was in a car by myself or with four or five people, I didn’t know. Our bassist now, we’ve been playing together for 16 years. The aforementioned attitude problems were just exhausting and I had a lot of growing up to do. In 2006, almost 10 years ago, I had a look at my life, and I wasn’t at an intellectual or emotional level that I wanted to be at. I feel like a lot of my motional development has been retarded by abuse as a kid. I feel a little bit behind the beat when I learn normal stuff. So yeah, ultimately it was just exhausting.

YS: What had you been doing in the break, and what made you want to put the band back together?

BB: During the break, I was the music director for the School of Rock in Seattle. I started the school, and I discovered bands like the Globes and Special Explosion, and I got them on their labels. They were all my students and I co-wrote their first EP. All of my talents and failures as a musician became an amazing skill-set for the School of Rock. T was like, “Here’s what not to do, guys.” We started with eight students and, by the time I left four years later, we were at 120+ students. After that, I had some other projects – I was in a musical. I had a funk-pop recording project called Error of Light with all of these heavy North-West characters. When that finished, my partner said that I should do Kind of Like Spitting because a lot of people like it and we made a dent. I didn’t understand that – I ignored it, I never Googled it or looked it up. I didn’t want to be that guy. But then I went to SXSW a couple of years ago and did the Top Shelf showcase, and spoke to the bassist about doing Spitting again. So we got together, played very little and hung out all the time. That friendship is what brought the band back. We found Dante, the drummer. He has an amazing attitude and he’s a sweetheart. We found a way to be happy, so the next logical step was to be active again.

YS: What can we expect from the Denver set?

BB: Actually, the Denver set is I think the second show of the tour. Lee from Lee Corey Oswald is playing bass until our regular bassist Brian meets us in Chicago, but it’s literally just as good. We thought I was going to play mostly an acoustic set and then four or five band songs. He showed up and knew 11 band songs. So we’ll do pretty much an entire band set plus solo stuff when it feels right. We haven’t built the set – we’re not very professional yet. We’re just playing the songs the best we can, and we don’t have the same exact set we play every night. We’re not a major label band – we don’t work that way. We have other jobs and other things going on. We play a lot of old material, new material. Honestly, I think this is the best the band’s ever been, for a number of reasons.

YS: After this tour, what’s next?

BB: We are currently looking around for labels to do the next record. It’s not for a lack of labels wanting to do it. For the first time in our careers, we have choices. We’re going to start sending out the demos, and then do a full-length. Musically, I hope that we play at the edge of our ability. We’re not trying to blow up. We’re not going to get much bigger than we are, and we’re never going to get rich. It’s about a life in music – we’re just jazz guys. The band that we can afford to be with everybody living a few hours away from each other. Touring is pretty heavy on your body. I think we’re just gonna keep making records and touring. We have no plans to stop. This isn’t the reunion tour – we’ll be back if Denver will have us. I’m really interested to see how Denver goes. I really don’t know if we have a draw or a presence in Denver. I really hope people come out because it’ll be super-fun.

Yellow Scene: Blackheart Burlesque has been touring for a while now – how do you keep it fresh?

Missy Suicide: We incorporate different numbers every tour. Whatever the new pop culture reference is, like there’s a Fifty Shades of Grey number in there. So we just keep it fresh with the music and the routines.

YS: So what are the differences going to be between this show and the last time you were in Denver last year?

MS: There will be different girls from the last tour, and I think this show is 420-themed, so this show’s a little bit more stoner-focussed.

YS: Do you guys get a good reception in Colorado?

MS: Colorado is one of our favorite towns to play. You guys are amazing. There’s always a big turn out, and people are always loud and having fun. You really cheer the girls on. It’s a fun town.

YS: What impact has the choreographer Manwe Sauls-Adison had?

MS: He’s been with us from the beginning of the tour. He’s amazing. He takes whatever crazy ideas I have and brings them to life in the best way possible.

YS: What’s next, after this tour?

MS: This girls will be in Canada at the same time, and then they’re going to do the first ever burlesque tour in Singapore. It’s nerve-wracking, fun and exciting all at the same time. It’s a big responsibility to be the first.

Yellow Scene: When did the band form and what were you looking to do?

Nick Bassett: We were just looking to straight-up rock, dude. Get ass and smoke grass. We started back in 1998.

YS: Describe the sound…

NB: Bro, the first song on our record tells you what we’re all about. The first line is, “Shallow, I’m wading.” We’re all about the women in the ocean. “Drifting down your seams.” That basically means, “I’m f&*king you.” The whole band is basically, if you took an R&B and soul band, and made it into rock. We like Drake a lot, the Delfonics, the Stones, and we like to rock too. The lyrical content is about straight up getting ass. That’s not even a joke.

YS: Do you like playing Colorado?

NB: Yeah, we’ve played Denver. We played somewhere, but they got mad at us because we put a hole in the wall and I had to pay $50 out of my damn pocket. Other than that, it was cool. You can smoke buds there – I like that. Hell yeah.

YS: What are your plans for the set?

NB: Bro, I tell you right now, we’re doing a couple of covers bro. Merciful Fate’s “Melissa.” We’re opening up with that, and closing with BOC [Blue Oyster Cult]’s “Burnin’ For You.” [Nick proceeds to sing the song, including the guitar riff.] You like that song? We’re playing it dude. We’ve got the harmonies down and everything.

YS: What’s next, after the tour?

NB: Hell, I don’t know. Hopefully we’ll make a million bucks and retire.

Yellow Scene: Tell us about the new version of Happiness Is – what else are we getting?

John Nolan: There are three songs that was recorded with the album. During the recording, we didn’t know what would make the record. We went with the songs that made for the best flow, and there was a lot of debate within the band. These three songs were great, they just didn’t make the cut and we want people to hear them. Plus, there are three acoustic versions of songs from the record.

YS: You guys are 15 years old now – still loving it?

JN: It’s unbelievable. When we id the first album, I wasn’t thinking past that record. It’s mind-blowing.

YS: Do you like playing Colorado?

JN: I love Denver – it’s a great city. I have friends who live in Boulder, another great city, so we try to get there too. That whole area is beautiful.

YS: What are your plans for the set?

JN: We’re still working it out. We like to do something different on every tour. We don’t have a definite set list, but it’ll be a good mix.

YS: When this tour’s done, what’s next?

JN: We’re going to the UK for the Slam Dunk Fest. We’ll be doing one-off shows and festivals, and when that starts winding down we’ll start thinking about writing for the next record.

Yellow Scene: Do you like playing Colorado?

Sean Mackin: Many people know, some don’t, that I was born in Denver and lived there for almost the first ten years of my life. That’s where my love for the Denver Broncos comes from. Right when I was learning about football, we drafted a guy named John Elway and the rest, as they say, is history. Half of my mom’s side of the family have migrated down to Jacksonville. My grandmother, my two other aunts and their family are all in Denver. It’s a great city. The whole Downtown area’s been built up really nice. We’ve got John Elway back in the building, and Peyton Manning on the field, so it’s a good time to be a Denver native and we’re going in a couple of weeks so I;m looking forward to it.

YS: How do you celebrate Halloween?

SM: Halloween in fun and games. We’re in New Jersey tonight – I’m a little scared for everyone’s sanity and safety. We’ve been writing hard – we put out Lift a Sail a couple of weeks ago, and we’re co-headlining with Memphis May Fire with the shows, all the excitement from the fans and the interviews – we’re run a little thin. We’ll cut loose tonight and have some fun. It’ll be good.

YS: You recently became a father – how’s that going?

SM: It’s great. My wife did all the work – I was just there for support. Little Madeline arrived just over seven weeks ago. I was home for the first four-and-a-half, and the month before that to prepare. So I had about two months off before the release of the record and everything. I was just blessed to be part of an amazing process, bringing someone into this world. You definitely learn how fragile life is. It’s great to be back out here and working, but my wife’s back home taking care of the family. You do what you can. Obviously, we’ve been playing music for a long time and my family’s counting on my to see some records but, other than that, I’ll go home and live life to the fullest with the family.

YS: What are your plans for the set?

SM: We’ve out together an evening music to get people out of the box. We’ve done our festival run and toured with Memphis May Fire, and they’re great guys. They have heavy music lined with melody and positivity. Yellowcard fans enjoy the same thing – positivity within the layers of melody that we try and put within our music. We want to introduce the fans to each other, and it’s really proving to be a really exciting evening. We didn’t want to do just another Yellowcard tour with bands that check the same boxes. It puts everyone out of their comfort zone a little bit, and the shows are great. There are a lot of acts touring right now, but we have a handful of new songs in the set. It’s just a good old fashioned, high energy Yellowcard show.

YS: What’s next, after this tour?

SM: We are booked through next summer, and it;s really special for us being at the beginning of a record cycle. Some things I can talk about, some things I can’t, but we’re going to southeast Asia a little bit this year. We just announced Japan, and we have some European stuff coming up with Less Than Jake. We preparing for a big year.