Well, the streets are empty and SXSW is officially done for the year. All I can say about this famous Austin music festival is this: insanity at its finest.
Nothing went to plan for me. I didn’t get to see all the bands I wanted to see, but instead chose to take in bands I had never heard of. The choice worked out to my benefit as I got to see some really kick ass bands.
Friday night’s Screeching Weasel meltdown was the one thing I wish I could have seen. It was the talk of the town. I am going to be posting some more about that later as I have a few eye witnesses who are going to share their stories. It was just too messed to to not talk about.
Saturday was fun as I headed downtown after a gluten free breakfast. (I am seriously going to look into a gluten free diet of sorts) I caught some killer bands including a metal/classical/instrumental act from San Francisco that blew me away.
Bands and beers. It was a good time for sure.
The Lone Star beer was pretty damn delicious too. Way better than my beloved PBR. I opted to chill out as Friday I may or may not have drank myself stupid.
Saturday night though was pretty insane as well and I am sure that gigantic moon in the sky had something to do with it.
I was at the Eastside Drive-In to see The Dead Milkmen at the Mess With Texas party. It was packed as hell and thanks to some fine maneuvering, my friend and I were able to get up to a good spot to see them do their thing. It was awesome and I am happy to say I can finally scratch them off my list of bands I want to see before I die.
Immediately after their set we tried to head out but everyone started bum rushing the grounds. Kids were climbing over fences and porta-potties and there was an instant sea of people. We just wanted to get the hell out.
After pushing through easily a thousand people we finally got to the exit where there was a situation going on and security, who could not control the thousand of other people getting in, would not let us out. Words were exchanged, patience was lost, and we finally said screw it and rushed through them and got out of that cluster eff.
The night was far from over though. I think it was only 9pm by the time we peaced out of that mess and hoofed it to the Scoot Inn (the same venue that Ben Weasel had his incident at the night before).
I ran in to two friends who I had not seen in forever and chilled with them on a log, yes, a log. The place was like a campground atmosphere with picnic tables and a decent sized stage and standing area. It was fenced in and really to me looked mobile.
So the night seemed to be going well and Eyehategod finally took the stage. The were tearing things up when suddenly the moon came out and provided for another mess to the night.
Apparently my friend’s boyfriend was front and center and having a good ol’ time. Not sure what all transpired but the lead singer told the crowd to kick my friend’s boyfriend’s ass. Nothing really happened immediately but the guitar player said he was going to kid the guy in the head and it was just an ugly vibe. Soon some douche tried picking a fight and that was enough, my friend grabbed him and got him out of the area.
Apparently no one can just have a good time.
That was enough. We went home and skipped Pentagram. I really wanted to see them too. Oh well.
Yesterday was chill for me. I saw a few cool bands at Lovejoys and then headed to a place I have been wanting to go to for years now…
Dale Watson was awesome. The place was packed and was just so much fun to be a part of. I wish I would have stayed longer but I was exhausted and starving. At least I can say I finally made it to Ginny’s. I’ll scratch that off my list too.
I missed out on a few acts I really wanted to see thanks to the flight screw-up. I missed Wagons who I really wanted to see as they came all the way from Australia. I’m also a huge fan of them and would loved to have seen them again. Oh well, next time.
Austin is an amazing city and I adore it. The people I have met this round were kick ass folk who welcomed me into their great city. I met at least seven people who used to live in Ohio (I may be one of those people one day…). The Lone Star beer was pretty damn delicious too.
SXSW was a bonus if you ask me.
My adventure in Austin us coming to a close, but I will be back soon. I love it here too much.
Just a quick update to all who woke up this morning wondering how my first night went in Austin.
I finally got here at about 7 o’clock. Sadly, I missed all of the bands I wanted to see in the afternoon, but I made it and am loving it.
I was able to take in Dead To Me at the Scoot Inn for a bit. I wanted to stick around for Screeching Weasel but wanted to also see Ringworm play. The choice was made and I took off missing the punk rock drama of probably the entire week.
In case you did not hear, Ben Weasel flipped his shit last night. My pal Sam, who is a Twitter addict and follows @benweasel gave me the heads up on what I missed out on.
Apparently Ben did not want to be a part of SXSW and was having his moment letting the crowd know this when someone tossed a beer on him. Of course he did not take it kindly and when he found out it was a girl he offered $20 bucks for someone to beat her up. Moments later another girl tossed an ice cube on him and he jumped in the crowd Sebastian Bach style.
I’ll post a video later on but all I have to say about this is… What an embarrassment.
So here I am. Sitting in beautiful Newark, NJ waiting for my connecting flight. Thanks to a super early cancellation of my flight, I am a little delayed on getting to where the action is.
This update comes from my iPhone as Wi-Fi here is like 8 bucks an hour. No thanks, I’ll spend that on a soda.
I do have to mention though that I’m digging the NYC skyline in the background.
Royer is most known as the front man of D.I. as well as was the original drummer for a little band called Social Distortion.
A few years ago I was lucky enough to interview Royer for Blogcritics.org. No, we did not share needles….
It’s actually kind of sad as he stated in the interview I did with him that he “wised up” when I asked about drug addiction. Read on if you would like, I really enjoyed interviewing this guy. He has a ton to say and held nothing back. I hope he gets out of his funk.
Remember when punk was not glorified and when the scene was almost forbidden?
I know it may come to you as quite a surprise, but punk has come a long way over the past 20 years. A lot of bands today credit the founders of the genre many feared when first created. D.I. was there when punk was growing. You may have never heard of them but I can tell you this, they are punk.
I had the opportunity to chat with Casey Royer, the founder of the punk band D.I. and also the only remaining member of the twenty something year old band. He was also once of the original members of Social Distortion, bet you did not know that. (If you did, props to you.)
Here lead vocalist Casey Royer takes some time to give me some excellent answers to some questions I have been pondering since I first put D.I.’s latest release On The Western Front into my CD player.
Where have you guys been? And what have you been doing to keep occupied throughout the years?
We haven’t toured internationally since the mid ’90s so, never breaking up, we’ve been playing west coast shows solely. All the members, past and present of D.I. are still based in Orange County [California]. To keep occupied, I surf, play music, and try to set a good example in this confused world.
We also did a Monster Garage episode with the awesome Jessie James; whose favorite band is D.I. We played the Song “O.C. Life” while Jessie Built a Flying Car. As well as [featuring a song in] Tony Hawks Skate Video 2.
You’re one of the pioneers of the 80’s punk rock movement, what obstacles got in your way throughout the years?
Early on, our parents and teachers thought we were freaks, a dangerous sub-culture that was consuming the children, us. Then, the police battling punk by arresting as many people as they could for any violation they could think of. Then the pop-punk movement that ignored the old school punk style with punk looks but soft musical context.
I know Mike Ness [Social Distortion] suffered with a drug addiction that almost
ended his career; did you incur any experiences like this?
When Mike and I made up Social Distortion in 1976/77, in my bedroom at my parent’s house, pretty much all of us were experimenting with drugs. Luckily, I didn’t hit rock bottom before I wised up. My advice… hard drugs will ruin you and your music, unless you live in Amsterdam. Then you will write good music, but die young.
What brought you to disband Social Distortion? Was it really because of original guitarist Dennis Danell’s inability to play?
Mike and I were jamming for a couple years with bass player, Mark Garrett (RIP), with Rikk Agnew on guitar, and Tom Corvin singing. With a couple personnel changes, Mike wanted Dennis to play guitar. Dennis didn’t know how to play guitar, Rikk and I played well and were ready to play gigs, so we joined the Adolescents when Tony Adolescent asked.
So did you leave Social Distortion to pursue the Adolescents?
You have to understand, no one really was famous or trying to achieve rock and roll fame, so the decisions we made were pretty off the wall. A total disconnected new world that we ruled. Mike and I split up and I became the singer of S.D. for about a year with some early D.I. guys in 78. Even though Mike and I were the first S.D. I did make up the name so I went with it. I broke up S.D. and formed the Adolescents with Rikk Agnew. A new S.D. with Dennis Dannel (RIP), Brent Lyles RIP, (replaced by John Mauer) came about in 79; Social Distortion II… A whole new chapter.
What was it like growing up in the OC [Orange County, California] when punk rock was just starting to rise?
I was a junior in high school and it was the coolest movement you could ever imagine. A bunch of creative, upper-middle class, wasted youth terrorizing southern California. All of our parents had good jobs, living the American Dream, a perfect medium to facilitate a bunch of wild kids to do their thing. Hiding behind the middle-class facade with our parents in denial.
How was D.I. conceived?
A friend of mine, Steve Roberts and I jammed the first D.I. music at a place called Brea Beach in 1980. It didn’t re-surface for a few years after, when we practiced behind the pawn shop.
Have you worked with any other bands over the years?
Yea, I played in Agent Orange for a summer at the Hong Kong Café in Chinatown, Los Angeles. Also, Slayer covered a couple songs I wrote, “Richard Hung Himself” and “Spiritual Law”.
What kind of music are you most into?
Classic punk and a little classic rock.
How did you hook up with Suburban Noize records?
I’ve known Brad X and Lou-Dogg since the late 70’s when they were in a punk band called Doggeystyle. We have run into each other periodically throughout the years. When Daddy X heard that we had a new CD available, he immediately came to us with a deal. Knowing Brad personally, like a brother, I felt that it was our duty to join the ranks of Suburban Noize. I feel, even though we have different styles of music, we both
have the same beliefs and convey the same concepts.
You’ve done a couple of songs with the Kottonmouth Kings in the past, any plans on collaborating with KMK again?
We did some tracks on their recent release, Cloud Nine. The future… ? Who knows the sky’s the limit
Any plans for a tour in support for the new release?
Yes, of course. We plan to tour the US, Europe, or anywhere else they’d let us play. We’ve toured Europe a few times before, and have always received great response.
What’s it like being in the scene for over 20 years? How do you feel about the punk scene today?
It’s kind of weird, punk used to be fresh, dangerous, and violent, then it turned trendy and fashionable with watered down music and lyrics. The true old-school hard core still lingered underground in a non-popular, powerful way only to re-surface 20 years later. Weird.
In the 80’s punk movie Suburbia, you played “Richard Hung Himself” an Adolescent cover. Who’s idea was it for you guys to cover that song?
First of all, “Richard Hung Himself” is and always will be a D.I. song. I wrote the song while I was playing drums for the Adolescents. We never played it live and it wasn’t released on vinyl until 2006. Let me put it this way, in the Adolescents, we played the song for 20 minutes, twice. D.I. has played it for 20 years.
What was it like being behind the camera? Was it more improv or a live show? Was there a lot of takes of your performance during filming?
It was easy being behind camera because they told us all to just be ourselves. There was a script for all the parts in the movie, but all actors and band members fell victim to improv. They shot our performance about 2 or 3 times during filming.
What’s it like to play the movie at home and see yourself on screen as a young punker?
The same as it was when I saw it for the first time. I feel I have never had the chance to grow up and look at myself as old. Being a punk rock singer has locked me into a 20-25 year age bracket, and I can’t get out.
On you latest release On The Western Front, is the song “Punk Rock Suicide” about anyone in particular?
The song is about all the musicians who have given their lives to their musical scene with no regard to their social stature or political persecution. When we lost the Ramones, Joe Strummer, Sid Vicious, Dennis Danell, Brent Lyles, and so many other great artists of the underground, it makes one realize that we don’t seem to appreciate true dedication.
They will be missed but never forgotten.
How long did it take you and crew to record On The Western
Front?
About a year. We hop-scotched all over Los Angeles and Orange County, drum tracks in one studio, guitar tracks in a different studio, vocals, mixing, I’ve gone cross-eyed.
Will D.I. continue to put out new material?
Yes and a lot of it. We already working on the next CDand we’re having the best times of our lives. With Clinton Calton, guitar; Eddie Tatar, bass; Joe Tatar, drums; and Chicken on guitar, I feel we have the potential to go further than any punk band has gone before. And with Suburban Noize behind us, nothing can stop us. Check it out… www.diunderground.com.
Once upon a time, rapper P.O.S. and punker Chris #2 of Anti-Flag were just minding their own business on a Warped Tour. To make a long story short, they met, became friends and formulated a collaboration of sorts called Wharf Rats with the help of a couple more friends who also fancy themselves musicians. They all recorded material on the mobile recording studio that was offered during the Warped Tour during their down time and a side project was born. Don’t worry, it is not a rap punk pop rock mash, it is actually very D.C. Hardcore-ish…
The band actually is full of musicians you have probably heard of before:
P.O.S
Chris #2 (Anti-Flag, White Wives)
Wade MacNeil (Alexisonfire, Black Lungs)
Chachi Darin (formerly The A.K.A’s)
At this time there is only a 2 song 7″ EP up for grabs on the No Sleep Records website (available May 31st). The 7″ actually has the two songs on one side while the other side is etched with some sweet artwork. It’s limited to only 750 copies and includes a free digital download. The project is limited only to those two songs with no mention from the band yet on a full length in the works or anything else for that matter. That can always change though…
According to Wikipedia, Wharf Rats actually are a group of concert goers who have chosen to life drug and alcohol free. I am not sure if these punk rock Wharf Rats are, but regardless, I am a fan of their full time projects and really am digging what they have created.
Currently they have their song “Capital Gains” streaming on Spin.com for you all to hear. See for yourself why I am digging this.
