Barchords & Lincoln Theatre Showcase band submissions.
Wednesday January 11th
8pm - 2am
Aries Lounge
400 W Morgan St
Raleigh, NC

Come out to Aries Lounge for Overdose and be on TV!
That’s right, be on TV.
Barchords will be on hand filming all night, let your voice be heard on your local music scene and your face on TV from Atlanta to DC.

Bands, bring in your CD and press kits for submission to the next Barchords Showcase at the Lincoln Theatre.

Opeth
Dark Tranquility
Devon Townsend Band
Wednesday, February 15th 2006
Lincoln Theatre
126 E. Cabarrus St
Raleigh, NC
Doors: 7pm
Show: 8pm
Tickets: $20 in Advance.
Tickets go on sale Friday January 6th, and can be purchased online at www.stmmusic.com or any School Kids Records store.

OPETH’s new album, “Ghost Reveries”, is available now on Roadrunner Records. The band utilized the services of STRAPPING YOUNG LAD drummer Gene Hoglan during the bulk of this summer’s Sounds of the Underground tour after the group’s regular skinsman, Martin Lopez, went back to Sweden for treatment of a rare blood disorder he’s had for most of his life. The group have since enlisted Martin Axenrot (BLOODBATH, WITCHERY, NIFELHEIM) to take over Lopez’ duties until he’s fully recovered.

Daivd Allan Coe was yet another sold out show for us at the Lincoln Theatre and we had just about 400 folks come out on a very nasty Monday night for Yngwie.

Highlights of the two shows for me were DAC singing “Please Come To Boston”, and Yngwie doing “I Am A Viking” during soundcheck, and “You Don’t Remember (I’ll Never Forget)” during the show.

Hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did!

Here’s the scoop.

STM Music Productions present:
STM Music Productions’ Annual Holiday Brawl
Friday Dec 16th
Featuring:

Blatant Disarray
Isabelle’s Gift
Automag
Brad Benson
John J’s
106 S Eastern Blvd Fayetteville, NC
9pm doors - $6 gets ya’ in

come on down to John J’s for a rockin’ holiday party! there’s a howard johnson’s within stumblin’ distance…so get a room, get some jager and let’s have a party!

gear yer ear up for the show! check out music from all the bands at these sites:

www.automagband.com
www.myspace.com/bradbenson
www.isabellesgift.com
www.blatantdisarray.com

HOTEL INFORMATION FOR STM MUSIC HOLIDAY BRAWL

Howard Johnson Express Inn - Fayetteville
220 S. Eastern Boulevard
Fayetteville , North Carolina 28301
United States
910-483-1113

UPDATE….

Mention the John Js discount and it will be cheaper than the AAA discount formerly mentioned.

We strongly urge anyone going to please get a hotel room as you know how our holiday parties can get.

www.away-team.com

These after show partys are killing me.

Dog Faced Gods, cool guys, need to work on their sound. A little too low key for me, even when they are trying to be hard.
The Giraffes, cool guys too. Interesting show, mediocre sound. Given some time they might get somewhere.
Supagroup, 4 of the coolest guys. For reasons I won’t go into here, our hats are off to Supagroup for performing last night. Just know that it was because of the people in the crowd that went up to them and said they came to see them because they had seen them with COC or Whitesnake; the guys played just for you.

Brand New Sin… I sream out Wyoming! First time played live is my understanding, or else everyone else that’s seen the tour has kept it all under wraps. Great set, great songs, great guys, great crew, and they are finally gettin’ what they deserve.

They just found out right before the show that they are confirmed to be direct supprt for Black Label Society on their upcoming US tour. They are then going to Europe with Life Of Agony, and spending the Christmas holidays at home. So it won’t be until 2006 when you’ll get to see BNS back in Raleigh.

So, go see Black Label Society Wednesday October 19th with Brand New Sin and Dope at the Milinium Center in Winston-Salem.

Isabelle’s Gift to open for LA Guns and Stephen Pearcy Thursday July 28th!

Thursday July 28th

Jesters Pub

Fayetteville, NC

LA Guns

Isabelle’s Gift

Doors: 7pm

Show: 8pm

TIX: $15

Jesters Pub

6577 Fisher Rd.

Fayetteville, NC

WASP, LA Guns, and Stephen Pearcy were scheduled to play Jesters Pub in Fayetteville, NC this coming Thursday. Blackie Lawless needs two days rest, so he cancelled the show. LA Guns and Stephen said, “FUCK THAT”, and are still playing. They asked Jesters to give them a kick ass opening band, and Jester’s wanted Isabelle’s Gift.

Ask and the Gift shall deliver.

That’s right - it’s Jason’s wildest fantasy (well, okay, there’s no spinning drum kit and / or Phil Anselmo when he had long hair and Sebastian Bach was headlining over his sorry ass, but it’s close). LA Guns and Stephen Pearcy, sharing a stage with IG. If only it were 1987…oh, wait - then Troy would be the only one of legal drinking age.

Major thanks for making last night’s show kick ass goes to…

The peeps of the triangle for ensuring that the first COC show in five years in their hometown was a sell out.

96Rock and JJ for blowing the show the hell up.

Supagroup for coming out on stage and blowing everyone away. Absolutely nobody knew what to expect from them, and they kicked everyone’s ass. Luckily they will be returning on August 16th to the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh with Brand New Sin, Black Halos, and Dog Faced Gods.

Alabama Thunderpussy for never giving up, and getting to the venue as the doors opened. For being class acts and rolling with the punches. For blowing up their trailer an hour outside of Raleigh, and still making it to the show!

To the Fu for a hell of a show. Fu Manchu live is simply great Fu. Hopefully it won’t be another 7 years before we get them back!

COC for an insane set, some guest appearances, “13 Angels” live, keyboards, jams, playin’ for what… 2 hours? Hopefully it won’t be 5 years before they play Raleigh again.

The Dive Bar for allowing us to throw down till the sun came up. To Amy and Brit for being a couple of hot kick ass bartenders and taking care of everyone.

To everyone who came out and partied with us, the bands, and the fans. We had a ball and hope you did too…

Throttlerod is still touring in support of their breakout album “HELL AND HIGH WATER” (Small Stone) and their semi-acoustic EP “STARVE THE DEAD” that takes the listener on a journey quite unlike anything Throttlerod has ever done before without forsaking the overall quality and grittiness of the signature Throttlerod sound.

To ensure massive casualties and maximum carnage on the road, Throttlerod has enlisted the likes of Isabelle’s Gift (Universal) to support the undertaking of helping Throttlerod bring the rock to the people. Isabelle’s Gift has recently finished recording their debut album for Universal and have begun to make a name for themselves with their passionate live show. Described by many as the next “Guns N Roses” their white trash brand of Rock N Roll must be seen live to truly be understood.

Not to be outdone Throttlerod is sure to deliver the goods every night, and having such a raucous support act that delivers 110% of in your face Rock And Roll at every show ensures that Throttlerod will win the hearts and minds of every concert goer or kick their teeth in trying.

Be sure to catch Throttlerod and Isabelle’s Gift as they tear through a club near you this summer.

August 3rd - The Village Tavern - Mt. Pleasant, SC
August 4th - The Brewery - Raleigh, NC
August 5th - New Brookland Tavern - West Columbia, SC
August 6th - The Jinx - Savannah, GA
August 7th - Tremont Music Hall - Charlotte, NC
August 8th - McCormick’s Irish Pub - Richmond, VA
August 9th - Goodfella’s - Huntington, WV
August 10th - Skully’s Music Diner - Columbus, OH
August 11th - Monty’s Krown - Rochester, NY
August 12th - The Hudson Duster - Troy, NY
August 13th - Abby’s Lounge - Cambridge, MA

*dates and venues subject to change*

Jim: Okay, first and foremost, who are you?
Jason: Jason, Bass Guitar, Isabelle’s Gift
Chris: I’m Chris. Isabelle’s Gift. Not sure where I was on May 22nd. But uh, (laughs) we’re just a rock band.

Just a rock band. And what do you do in it?
Chris: I sing…I say a lot of bad words and try to promote the devil as much as humanly possible being a good southern boy.

Why The Bass?
Jason: It’s only got four strings, nah, it’s probably been my favorite instrument for a long time. The groove of it, I love the groove of the bass and drums, the groove of the song. Love it.

Who were your influences?
Jason: Oh God, my fucking influences are like retarded cause, like, my favorite bass player of all time is Duff McKagan, and a big fan of Rachel Bolan of Skid Row, Nikki Sixx, of course Gene Simmons, I mean look at me [Jason does exhibit an uncanny resemblance to Gene…blame the hair]. Sex Pistols, Ramones, fuckin’ Misfits. Motorhead, definitely. Anything that kicks ass that’s not rap.

Why vocals?
Chris: Cause I was too shitty to be the guitarist. We started out and I really, really wanted to play guitar. I was playing, well, I thought I was playing and I fucked up when we were having practice, years ago, trying to show the guys how I wanted the vocalist to sing a song over my guitar riff…when we got one…and I think everyone probably knew already how bad I was at playing consistently anyway and it seemed like I talked a lot and had the charisma to be up front. So that’s sorta how it came to be. I still play air guitar at home. You know, instead of standing in front of the mirror like (mimes air guitar pose) that, I’m more this kinda guy (mimes vocal pose) you know. Rockin’ out broomstick style.

So, do you still play at all?
Chris: Yeah! I still play at home and you know it helps a lot with the writing just cause I have a better idea of how to go (makes crunching guitar sounds).

(laughing)
Chris: “That’s the riff I’m talking about man!” No, I don’t know if it helps at all, but I still play because I love it. I’m really into the Melvins, noisier stuff like that. It’s just the kind of thing you kind of groove on, you know, in your room at home.

What other, if any, instruments do you play?
Jason: I play rhythm guitar, a bit, I fuck around with the piano a bit. I like playing rhythm guitar when your playing these old timey songs or whatever, like “Brown Eyed Girl” or whatever, cause it’s just got this really cool kinda (makes guitar nosises), awesome, I love it.

How long have you been in Isabelle’s Gift?
Chris: I started the band…I graduated high school when I was seventeen that was 1990, probably started the band in ‘80. I’ve been drinking so, whatever that is…

You started the band in ‘80?
Chris: Did I say ‘80?

Yes.
Chris: I graduated in ‘90, the year after I graduated I was eighteen so I guess I started it then…uh…I don’t know. How long ago was that?

Fifteen.
Chris: Shit. Yeah. Let’s lie and tell everyone it’s six. (laughs)

Okay. Six years ago. Six years, or six months. Which is better?
Chris: (still laughing) But, yeah. Started it at my grandparents garage and, uh–

Because?
Chris: Because! (laughs), because we wanted fucking drugs and chicks, you know, naturally. It kinda evolved. You know, at that point in my life I was in a totally different place than I am now. I mean, since then I’ve gone through being a straight edge, now I’m just a…I don’t know what the fuck I am. I’m an effeminate redneck maniac, I don’t know. But we started it for those reasons, but now I’m in a band because now simply everything on the radio sucks and I gotta do something about it. And so (laughs), that’s all I’m doing is trying to fix things. One drug at a time.

How long have you been in IG?
Jason: I was actually…I’m the second bass player in Isabelle’s Gift. I joined about twelve years ago.

Before that?
Jason: Before that I was with some shitty glam rock bands in Columbia, South Carolina. (laughs) Uh, none of which I care to talk about. Next!

What is Isabelle’s Gift?
Jason: Isabelle’s Gift is five guys making music together that they want to make and, I mean, we’re not about conformity we just fucking go in there and jam the fuck out.
Chris: Slang term for venereal disease is the short version of the story, which I keep swearing I’ll never tell again but we wound up picking names out of a hat and that’s where that one came from but it wasn’t one of the ones I picked. I still think it sounds like a hippie jam rock band but come see us play just once and it’s kinda hard to imagine Phish up on stage but—

Well, there might be fish up on stage but…
Chris: Yeah, but they’re falling out of my ass. (laughs)

So, when Rolling Stone comes knocking? You’ll tell them?
Chris: Tell them what?

The true story.
Chris: The true story? No. I can guarantee you the higher caliber you are, the more clout you have, the more bullshit you’re gonna get from me.

(laughing)
Chris: Like you, or a punk ‘zine is gonna get a lot of truth out of me and, uh, yeah. Anybody important talks to me, I mean, I’m just gonna lie my fucking ass off. They can revert back to these interviews for the truth.

There ya go.
Chris: That’s how you weed out the real fans.

So, who does the song writing?
Chris: Everyone. It’s collaborative. It’s a group effort. We get in a practice space together and somebody kicks out a riff or a drumbeat and we jam on it. It basically is, if any one person tries to take over the writing, it seems to, it seems to bog us down a little bit and I think it works a lot better when we’re all just kinda stoned and playing together. And it’s a lot easier for us to find the movement. We’ve been playing with each other long enough now that, you know, even in this final incarnation of the band that we’re starting to get to that point where things go and we don’t finish with a song until all five of us are happy with it. It sets a pretty high standard when the five of us…because we all have different musical tastes so if the heavy metal guy is as excited as me, the punk rock guy, and the guy that likes Sunny Day Real Estate is just as happy as the dude that likes Queensryche we’re all good! It’s kinda how we know when we’re done with a song. When we’re all happy with it.
Jason: The whole band does the songwriting, nobody comes in and says, this is where you play the part, or this is my song, never happens like that. We just fucking go in there and start just rocking on a riff and if it’s working and Chris comes up with a melody then we’ll work with that and come up with three choruses and bridges and stuff like that put the song together and then two hours later, bam, magic.

Lyrically, is it the same or is it all you Chris?
Chris: It’s all me. I need to take responsibility for everything that I say all the time. I think one of the things that kinda separates us from everybody else is because I wasn’t a natural front man, I don’t think, I didn’t want to be one. I’m not as concerned with the popularity, I don’t think, as a lot of the other front men are. I’m not gonna dance around for ya, like Mick Jagger or, you know, any of that shit. I think that, uh, it just made things different and unique and I pour my heart into it. I gotta sing something that’s gonna make me feel something, I gotta pour my heart into it. Whether it’s a great idea for a horror movie that I just love so much and I’m not Rob Zombie’s level so I can make it so, I can get it out of my system or whether it’s something with the West Memphis Three www.wm3.org, that I feel strongly about it’s for me to really get into the songs and get into the show that we put on. I gotta feel them each night so each one of them kinda has to have something that I relate to and feel strongly about to some degree and unfortunately sometimes it’s drugs, sometimes it’s injustices, it just totally depends, but I try not to pigeon-hole myself. I’m not politically correct in that area.

So, you’re not a dancing front man, but you are a front man.
Chris: (laughing)

And you are a good front man.
Chris: I, I don’t even know if I’m a front man. You know, I’ll tell you what, like I’ll totally blow my own shit. Like, if you want to know where it all comes from pick up Faith No More’s “You Fat Bastards”, and, if you’ve ever seen that show you’ll probably know why I act the way I act. I mean, um, that and Mick Foley’s first book. You know, I used to love…he’s a wrestler–

Oh, right. Is that Mankind or–
Chris: Captain Jack. He played Mankind as well–

Okay.
Chris: But he talks about, I dunno…I feel the same way about music as he did about wrestling. I’ve gone and taken trips for no money. I’ve stuck my own money into it for so many years and all this, just because I love the music and he loved the, the fake sport of professional wrestling but yeah there’s a lot of times I felt like I need to, I just…there was a long period of time where I felt like if I hadn’t left blood on the stage or I don’t go to the hospital… like unless I did those things I hadn’t given a real show. I’m starting to get over that a little bit now, which is good. My friends are pretty good now about letting me know that the broken bottles and all that shit doesn’t need to be done. Iggy Pop did it well, and uh, I’m trying to back off of it. I don’t know. I never wanted to be a front man, I never wanted to be famous, perse, I just want to pay the bills. Put out some really good rock and roll. I love talking to people afterward who are looking for really good new bands and turning them on to new music whether it’s us or somebody like Milligram or Alkaline Trio or whatever I’m listening to at the time.

You recently signed a contract with Universal Records. What did you do to celebrate the signing?
Jason: What’s your next question?
Chris: Jesus Christ man. How many times have you seen me so drunk I didn’t remember what I did?

(laughs) Okay what were you told you did?
Chris: (laughs) I don’t know. Like the whole thing was weird. I had a lot of slaps on the hand like right off the bat. Fucked a couple guys up at a show in Philly. That wasn’t really to celebrate that was just gigs we did with the Bloodhound Gang. We went up and we hung out with Ville Valo and the HIM guys and got taken out in a limo and just a big, long, rock star night. Ended up in a club with people kicking us out, the shit you normally do. We go up to Philadelphia a lot these days and that’s kinda where we had our blowout for getting signed up in Philly. We met Jim [Pop], from Bloodhound Gang, our manager and mentor, and he picked us up in a limo and took us out. Got us really fucking hammered. So, I don’t remember a lot of it, I just know it was fun, it was a good night.

Since you signed the contract, one would assume you are going to release and album. I know it’s been recorded and I know the name is “American Idle”, but I don’t see it in stores.
Jason: Ask Chris.
Chris: No. It’s not in stores. And you hear that story from everybody. Once you’re signed it doesn’t necessarily mean that you made it or that you’re done. We’ve been told the record is going to be out in October, which probably means November, but, there was…a lot of stuff I can’t talk about that affected pretty much everybody but us that’s a rock band at Universal and we’re really lucky to be in the position we’re in is pretty much all I can say. We’re still on Universal and a lot of rock bands aren’t. I know that everybody that works for us is excited about the record and they seem to think it will be out. Whether it’s on Universal proper or a Universal subsidiary in the very, very near future. I mean, you know, hopefully before Christmas we’ll get this thing out because we’re already touring so…And we’re happy with the record, really happy with it, so…

Are there any special guests on the album?
Jason: Ville Valo [HIM] came in and worked with us on a song and did back up vocals and man I was fucking blown away. I’m in awe of him. I’ve been in awe of him since I fucking heard Razorblade Romance, so.
Chris: Ville Valo’s on the record, from HIM. Hutch, who works for Queens of the Stoneage and Kyuss…laughs…chugs a shotgun for us on the title track, “American Idle”, which we consider an instrument and it will be listed as such–

laughs
Chris: cause Hutch is such a badass, guru motherfucker. I love that guy. I think that’s about it. We were offered a couple other people, to do things but I think we kinda want to keep it low key, I think we really rushed the weeks prior to us…I mean, we were writing all of the songs up until we got into the studio and we were just finishing things so that’s what was important…to get out as many types of sound and make the album dynamic as possible. So I think, trying to pull people in to be on the record, even if they were friends of ours that we coulda worked with, we just didn’t get a chance to really get into it much. The Ville Valo thing is phenomenal. He did a great job, he really—

Which track is that?
Chris: It’s called “If I Die Tonight”, and great, great track and I’m very excited about what he did to it. It’s probably the most southern sounding song on the record so naturally we put the most gothic—

Put the Finnish guy on it.
Chris: Yeah.

Absolutely.
Chris: He was excited about that. He dug it. He loved the idea. Yeah.

Very cool. What’s your favorite memory of the recording sessions?
Jason: Ville Valo being in the studio with us. (chuckles) Definitely. Jimmy Pop brought him to the studio and we all met and hung out in some tiny fucking corner and Jim actually gave him the idea for the melody or whatever he was going to sing, and he went in there. Like watching him perform, that was awesome, but I can’t say that Valo was the best thing because actually, watching the whole band perform in the studio, watching them do what they do, cause they knew they had to do it. That’s probably my favorite, that’s my best memory of it. Me and my fucking best friends, my four friends in there. It’s really amazing, that would be the biggest memory of the recording…OH!…I did my bass parts in two takes. So, That’s it! That’s my favorite.
Chris: I hate recording. My favorite memory is of Hutch getting me fucked up. I hate being in the studio more than anything, I do it and I’ll sit there, I’ll sit there until editing is completely finished because I’m a maniac, but I really do not like being in the studio at all. Even though the guys were great and everybody was friendly and I’m happy with the results I just, there’s something that, (sighs) feels really un-rock and roll about the whole thing to me for some reason. And it always has, I can’t put floor monitors down and sing like I do at a show in the studio. If I could do that maybe I would like it more, it’s what I’m used to doing, it’s what I’ve been doing for fifteen years now…thanks to your math—

So, there’s no creative process or birth there for you? The songs are basically done, cause you’ve been doing them for quite a while—
Chris: No, uh, the thing is that there are songs on the record, especially when it comes out and people hear it, uh, there’s a song called “That’s Mr. Faggot to You” that almost didn’t make the record just because guys in the band thought that it wasn’t finished. I fought for it and that’s my favorite track I think. We just went in there and did it. We had a short amount of time and we went in there and we tried to get as much, we tried to get as many of the ideas as we had onto the record and into the new songs as humanly possible before the record got recorded. The good thing is that now we’ve already learned that lesson, we’re already working on the next album and dynamically it should be even more heavy, more punk, and more pretty at times than even this record is—

Punk. Pretty? Punk pretty?
Chris: Punk pretty, exactly, punk in the sense of you know… aggression and fear, you know, Fear and Dead Kennedy’s and the Dwarves and Gorilla Biscuits you know, real punk bands. The Misfits. So—

How do you balance that out with pretty, though?
Chris: Well, you know, I think that people really underestimate the hooks in punk rock, even a band like Fear. I mean everybody knows that the Misfits and Danzig had big giant hooks in them as bad as the recordings were, but there’s pop hooks in all kinds of great punk bands’ records. I think maybe they’re afraid to treat them like pop hooks and I think we’re somewhere in between. I’m all about the music being as heavy as humanly possible but if the music is that heavy I don’t really feel like I need to fight it, I think I just need to kinda just, (laughs) just carefully bend over and take it up the ass, you know? Just, just, just whisper in its ear. I really don’t you know, I mean, I scream…you’ve heard the stuff on the record, I scream when it’s necessary but I don’t feel like I need to battle the guitars all the time and I think most guys in our genre of music do.

What’s your impression of the state of rock and roll, or just music in general, today?
Jason: In America? Yeah, rock and roll is probably put on the back burner, and it has been for the last, fucking, I don’t know, seven years. The whole hip hop Mtv trendy thing, it’s pretty much taken over everything that’s been going on and it’s, to me it’s boring. But there’s a lot of great bands, like Dozer, Turbonegro who probably nobody’s ever heard of, Backyard Babies, stuff like that from over in Europe, dude. And we’re like huge fans of the stuff that’s happening in Europe but nothing’s going on here that’s worth a shit at all.
Chris: Oh Jesus Fucking… You know, I would say its dead to the average person at home watching Mtv2 or the Fuse or whatever it is that they’re trying to get music from or listening to on the radio. But we’re playing with so many bands who are, I consider our peers who are phenomenal. There are so many great bands who are out and who are unsigned and I hope that they have the work ethic to continue through the shit you have to deal with to be in a band. There’s some phenomenal bands out there and I think that there’s some great music out there I just don’t think it’s getting to the people.

Will Chinese Democracy [Guns ‘N Roses] ever be released?
Jason: Yes, it’s gonna be a double album. It’s gonna be us and Guns ‘n’ Roses on Chinese Democracy at the same time.

Do you think that it will have the impact that Appetitie For Destruction did?
Jason: Absolutely not! Appetite For Destruction was probably the best record ever in the history of mankind. It’s my favorite record, I listen to it weekly. Some people call me fucking old school, like stuck in the past or whatever, but that record right there, everything on that record represents, to me, what rock and roll is all about.

You’re from Columbia, South Carolina, land of Hootie and the Blowfish and Crossfade, two very different styled bands. Isabelle’s Gift is also very different from Hootie and Crossfade. How do you think so many different styles can come from a relatively small place in South Carolina, USA?
Jason: There’s a lot of fucking bored people, I mean, there’s not a whole lot to do there you can drink, fight or fuck. Or write songs, and shit, I mean some guys put bands together, some of them work out some of them don’t. Hootie and the Blowfish they put something together, like, back in the college days and stuff and it blew up and it was huge and it was a lot of fun back then. The music scene in Columbia was probably at it’s highest back then. The thing about Crossfade, they, they’re from Columbia, I don’t know where they went and got signed cause they didn’t from Columbia and they’ve blown up amazingly because of their…they’ve got hooky songs. I’ve got nothing bad to say about that band at all. We’ve been around for a long time, not as long as Hootie but longer than Crossfade. The thing in Columbia, like I said, back then the music scene was so diverse, I mean it was amazing. I’m gonna kiss ass right now. There’s a lady by the name of Danielle Howle, that I’m a huge, huge fan of, and she was in a band called Lay Quiet Awhile. They were probably my favorite band to come out of Columbia, but they broke up for reasons that I’m not too familiar with, she’s still playing, like solo and stuff and she does stuff a band called The Tantrums. Her, who else is…Brent Lundy, he’s an amazing musician too. There’s a lot of good stuff going on in Columbia it just doesn’t get the recognition it should get because of MTV and the radio.
Chris: Uh. That’s a tricky question without me saying anything that I don’t want to say that’s rude.

I’m not looking to bash the bands—
Chris: Yeah, yeah,—

I’m just pointing out the extreme differences in styles.
Chris: I don’t want to bash anyone…in my answer…I’m a big fan of, you know, Oregon has a great music scene for a while and, of course, everyone knows about Seattle and everybody knows about Los Angeles, especially in the glam rock days, so I don’t think that the fact that even thought we’re in a small area, and Hootie and Crossfade have done so well I don’t really think that makes a, you know, a ground swell or anything, or anything even important, I mean neither of the bands are…

Indicative?
Chris: Neither of the bands are decidedly different from everything else that’s out and I think that the big thing is, that’s what really made those scenes all the time was, you know, these bands all had a similar sound and they all had their new sound and it was theirs and it didn’t sound like anything that had been out, for at least the last twenty years. I mean Sub Pop stole a lot of Blue Cheer and thank fucking god for that. I mean when I think to the smaller scenes blowing up and doing well, I don’t see it. And I don’t listen to the radio much so I really don’t know. I know Crossfade’s doing well and I think its awesome cause we’ve hung out with those guys you know, years ago at parties. I think they were called Sugar Daddy Superstar, I still have the demo. I’m real, real happy for them, just like I was Hootie, but, I really don’t consider that part of what it is that we’re doing, nor do I think they consider us part of what they’re doing. That commercial, the Hardee’s commercial is phenomenal, I have to say that.

Burger King?
Chris:” The breast that grow on trees”, man…is that Burger King?

(laughing)
Chris: Jesus Christ. Oh my God!

Money’s money, baby. Where are you going to be in fifteen years?
Chris: I would be surprised to be alive. I dunno, I really don’t think about that far down the road at all, you know, I’ll still be playing music if I’m alive. Whether it’s, you know in front of thousands of people or in front of twenty-five in a club somewhere. I do it because I gotta get this shit out of me. So I know I’ll be doing that but that’s the best guess I can make that far away from now.

A lot of your songs reference drug use…
Chris: Yeah.
Jason: I don’t do any drugs.

In this day and age, does the old adage ‘Sex, Drugs and Rock n’ Roll’ still apply?
Jason: Sex is good, drugs is good, if you wanna do ‘em, and I’m all about rock and roll, I mean, shit. Do what you gotta do.
Chris: No, but it should. I mean, it really should and the other thing I noticed everybody doing too is they, they really put the emphasis on sex and rock and roll now, and they take away the drugs…which bothers me a little bit. Cause, you know, sex is a lot easier to come by than good drugs so I don’t know what’s going on in rock and roll, but that bothers me a little bit. I have a, have a problem with that. It’s not like it used to be. I mean, it is amongst the bands, you know when we all talk and we’re playing gigs together everybody’s got the heavy handshakes. Like, you know, (mimes handshake, looks in palm) ‘oh, thank you man, that’s good.’ But overall, I’ve noticed no one else has got the balls to talk about it or to let everybody know we’re doing it or, more to the point, more what I do, beg for it like a baby at shows. “Please get me some drugs.” So, I don’t know why it changed. I guess it’s just not cool, you know, right now but fucking, that’s what rock and roll always was. I mean, it works for me. I guess some people in some bands can’t really handle their drugs; maybe that’s part of the problem.

Well, that actually leads me to the second part of the question. Can a band do drugs recreationally and party like a rock star still, or is the recent passing of Bryan Ottoson from American Head Charge a wake-up call or simply a tragic mistake?
Jason: What happened to that guy is very, very tragic. I’d hate that to happen to anybody. People are going to get wound up in whatever they do, how they do it. A wakeup call? I don’t know, like I said, people are going to do what they do.
Chris: I’m so glad I’m not drunk right now…while answering this question. You should, you should get the real answer to this question when I’m drunk and I’m not gonna be a politician, just to let you know. It’s possible. I mean, the problem is everybody from Nick Oliveri on down, I mean, there are those of us who are in this business who raise hell and that’s all we know how to do and, you know, I don’t really know what to say about it. Obviously a lot of people can’t handle their fucking drugs and just because all of a sudden your single hit the radio you shouldn’t start doing shit that you weren’t doing before. I mean if you weren’t chugging lines this long five months ago and now that your records on the air the last thing you need to be doing is trying to hang with people like me. (laughs)

A seasoned drug veteran.
Chris: So, you know, I don’t know what these guys are thinking, and I don’t know what their management’s doing or anything like that, but you gotta build a tolerance and you gotta know what you can and can’t handle. I mean I’ve got no sympathy, if it happens to me I would expect the same thing from other people. You know this is the life we choose to live and if you’re gonna mix one too many things late at night…I mean, you should know better.

You’re very unabashed about this. Why?
Chris: Because it’s rock and fucking roll and I’m sick of, or it’s punk, I don’t know what it is. Whatever the word needs to be for music that’s real, I mean this is the way we all talk when the camera is off, this is the way we all talk when we’re not on the radio doing fucking interviews, you know we’re all having a good time, we’re all partying like it’s the fucking 80’s again. You know? I’m sick of that not be represented in rock and roll, if you’re fucking doing it and you’re real about what you’re doing, let the people know. I mean a band like us, a lot of problems came from drug use, and those are in the songs along with a lot of good things that came from drug use. I don’t just say it’s a good thing, ever, or that it’s for everybody, but I don’t like the fact that so many people bow to the concerns of radio stations and record labels. I think that, especially with the status of music these days, I don’t think that Mtv and some of these other outlets are quite as important as they used to be, especially with people burning CDs. It’s just my honest opinion that truth is gonna hit people a lot harder when they’re in their car, rockin’ out playing air guitar, or air drums, or whatever. And the bottom line is that’s just how I feel, so that’s what I sing about, talk about.

Point in reference. There’s a song off American Idol, it’s called “Downer” it’s a love song, of sorts, written about prescription drugs.
Jason: That song wasn’t actually written for prescription drugs, it was a riff we started rocking on. It sounded like The Cult to me, I was like, “fuck man, let’s fucking rock it out”, and we did. The lyrics…all of our lyrics are written by Chris and he’s got, he’s a beautiful guy but he’s got a lot of demons that he deals with and the stuff that comes out of his mouth is put on record. That’s his stuff, he says it or doesn’t say it, that’s kinda a crutch on him, not on anybody in the band.
Chris: Well, not necessarily. I say that at shows but it’s a, it’s comparing, like a love for drugs and a love for someone bringing you down. You know, like it compares the two a lot. The lyrics will be in the record and you’ll see, but, it’s a little bit more complex than what I say it is at shows. It’s easy to say that the song “Downer” is about downers, and it is, but it’s also about being in love with someone that’s bringing you down.

(chuckles) What well known band out there today do you think should be playing some dive bar, slowly fading away, instead of a stadium and what small time band is playing the bar or club scene should be performing in arenas?
Jason: I think Velvet Revolver should be playing the dive bars so we could do shows with them, that’s probably my favorite band out there right now, besides HIM, obviously. I’m not knocking them at all because I fucking love Velvet Revolver. Small bands…get back to me on that one, I gotta think about that.
Chris: That’s a trick question, cause there’s a lot of bands out there that I’d like to see playing small clubs just so I could fucking see them in a small club. So we’ve played with a lot of bands that used to play arenas. We opened for a lot of them, and they’re playing small clubs now and I don’t even think you should wish that on them, even if I was pissed at them or even if I got in fights with some of these people. That’s a tough question and I, I know this hits home with you and you hate it, but I’m really disappointed at this point in Metallica. I think—

Okay, I’m sorry. This interview’s over, we gotta-
Chris: (laughing) Yeah, I know, I know! I just, I really am. I watched that, I watched that movie [Some Kind Of Monster] and I thought, Jesus Christ these guys need the same kick in the balls that they had years ago, so badly, it’s crazy. And I say Metallica because they’re easy and they’re the first one that comes to mind and, shit they got a fucking movie that I just fucking watched, that I couldn’t believe—

Oh, no. It’s definitely fair game, by all means.
Chris: Yeah, so, Metallica is an easy one and I hate that I’m not more prepared for the answer to that question cause I’m sure that there are other people out there that I could easily rag on that just definitely need to be huffing it they way that we are. I think every band should. I think every band should go through this for, maybe not as long as we have but everybody needs to know what paying your dues is like. As far as bands that should be big, playing arenas, there’s a list. I mean some of them aren’t even together anymore but, The Brought Low, Milligram, Gonzalez, I love my boys Throttlerod. There are just so many bands. The Alkaline Trio, I don’t know if they’re stadium material but, there’s a lot of great bands out there. Death From Above 1979, it’s two guys in the band, just heavy as shit. There’s just so many great bands out there right now who should be playing in front of a lot of people and probably asking themselves the same questions we are, you know, ‘where the fuck are they?’ but…
Jason: Definitely Throttlerod, The Independents, Death Valley Driver, Brand New Sin.

Isabelle’s Gift’s show is a sight to behold. At the end of every show there’s at least an inch of beer, blood, sweat and God knows what else on the floor. When you’re on stage and awash in the moment what’s going through your head? Or are you even there?
Jason: Chris don’t hit me with your fucking mic stand! Well, it depends on what I’m seeing, I’m hoping to fucking god that Chris doesn’t hit me with his mic stand, cause that’s happened quite a few times. Let’s see…I don’t know, fuckin’, I’m just groovin’ with my friends and hoping I don’t get hit.
Chris: There’s nothing particular, I’m not there. I mean, I am like a turtle, I just go into a shell and something else just comes out. I say what I’m thinking at the time, I do what I’m thinking at the time. Sometimes it gets us in a little bit of trouble. I miss the days when bands would come out and just put on a fucking amazing performance and I believe that the best way for me to do that, personally, is just to dig deep and hurt myself. Whether it’s physically, or mentally, and just pour it out on the crowd and some nights those turn into great shows. I’m having a good time doing them, its cathartic. Nothing in particular is going through my mind, I’ll tell you, the honest truth is if I look out in the crowd, because I do, I catch people’s eyes a lot, I want to know what they’re thinking and I can read a crowd pretty well because I do look them straight in the eye but if I find myself thinking too much, that’s usually when you’ll find me cutting myself. To get my mind off of what I’m doing, dig deep, you know, quit fucking over thinking this and that’s something I’m trying not to do. I mean, I’ve seen so many videos, heard so many CDs of bootleg shows of ours and I just don’t remember saying shit that is usually pretty fucking funny. Things I wouldn’t normally say unless I was in a small group of friends, so I think it works out best that way.

What are some of the best bands you have toured with, and why?
Jason: First of all, Brand New Sin, they’re from Syracuse [NY] and I read about, the reason we got into them is because I read about them in Guitar World magazine and they’re interview, when I read it was like, these motherfuckers are badass. And I got the CD and I was like, holy shit, if we could play with them that would be awesome. And then we got to play with them here in Raleigh. We met them, those guys right there are probably the coolest band that we’ve ever been on tour with and probably going to be the coolest band we’re ever gonna tour with. All five of them are the greatest guys in the world. All of ‘em. All of them are very down to earth guys, there’s no rock star ego about them whatsoever and they, there could be because they’re a very talented band, just totally, totally enjoyed touring with them. Nothing bad to say about them whatsoever. Bloodhound Gang, toured with them. Let’s see, who else? Ah, go ahead.
Chris: Well, I gotta say Bloodhound Gang cause they’re our fucking boys, they’re family, and Brand New Sin fit into that category too. Those are just bands that we’ve been out on the road with, and we’ve been fortunate that we had a really good time together, that we respected each other, treat each other really well. Bands we’ve opened for that were really cool were, believe it or not, Marilyn Manson. Kid Rock was probably the coolest group of people, ever. The worst were Suicidal Tendencies and Ace Frehley. Ace Frehley is absolutely, positively the worst group that we have ever opened for, and that was a few years ago before he rejoined KISS again, or whatnot.

Is that where the song “West Virginia” comes from?
Chris: That’s where a part of “West Virginia” comes from; it’s just that whole L.A., can’t believe these guys are acting like this, type of shit. We played with a lot of the glam rock bands that were coming through and used to do well and they were just angry and took it out on us, one of the younger, newer bands who, I guess to them, had a more modern sound but I don’t even think so. I don’t think there’s that much difference between us and what I was listening to when I was in high school. We just never really tried to fit into a clique, we just tried to write songs that we liked and those guys were all like, we gotta look this way, we gotta sound this way, and they bracketed themselves a certain way and it’s hard to get out of that, and they’re all mad.

(whispers) Fuck them.
Chris: (quietly) Fuck’em.

Who would you like to tour with?
Chris: God…

I don’t know that God’s touring.
Chris: Huh?

I don’t know that God is touring.
Chris: Yeah, I don’t know if God’s touring, (laughs). I’d like for Kyuss to get back together and tour with them. We opened for them in their prime. “Gardenia” was the first song they played that night and the played phenomenal. Once again, I’m a fanboy. I love other bands just as much as I do mine. I’d love for them to get back together and tour. I’m really into Alkaline Trio right now, I’d love to go out on tour with them, I’m not sure how well that would mix, but that’s a gig I’d like to see every night. Fu Manchu, Jesus Christ, jus because it’s Fu Manchu, same with Clutch. I’d be excited about touring with washed-up Sub Pop bands like Mudhoney. I’d love to just get on the road with bands like that. I want to tour with bands that I could get really high up in the dressing room and walk out and enjoy the set every night. You know, Turbonegro, let’s just cut to the chase. Turbonegro is the band I want to tour with!
Jason: Velvet Revolver

Okay, other than Velvet Revolver.
Jason: Velvet Revolver definitely. Brand New Sin. HIM, definitely, I would do anything to go on tour with HIM. I’m such a big fan of the music. We don’t sound like them, but I’m…I’m a fan of them, the five of them, what they do, like musically. The way they put everything together sonically is like, it’s beautiful, I mean I’d love to be a part of that. Love that band.

When American Idle finally drops, what do you want, or what do you expect to happen?
Jason: I better get a fucking bus or something, I dunno.
Chris: There’s nothing that I expect, I want to be able to make a living off doing what we’re doing, going out, you know, just pay the bills, and eat. I don’t really care about being the next Guns ‘n’ Roses, despite what any sticker they might slap on our CD says. I just want to be able to tour, come home, and afford to be able to be there for a couple of months off, write another record, tour, and repeat. Those are my concerns, keep the people that are my friends close to me and part of the organization that we have and just make a living out of it. That’s all I’m really concerned about and I’m happy with the material, I think we just got to get it into the hands of people that like rock and roll.
Jason: I want a bus…that’s it. All I want is a bus, I don’t want to ride around in a fucking van with a fucking trailer and I don’t want to have to worry about if we’re gonna run out of gas or break down on the way to the next show. I’d like to be able to like go from show to show comfortably, hang out with people. Definitely hang out with people cause that’s something that we definitely do, cause a lot of bands don’t do that. We do it, we hang out with people. So that’s what I want to have happen. I want a bus, be able to get where we want to go, and hang out with the kids.

You know you’ve made it when…
Chris: Jesus, when you’re on Saturday Night Live, man. You know you’ve made it… I know I’ve made it when I know that the amount of people I am about to piss off is so staggering that I can’t comprehend it. (laughs) Whenever I, because I will, there’s no question, whether it’s some sort of musical awards or whatever, I’ll know I’ve made it when I get the chance to really fuck a bunch of people up. That’s when I am going to know I made it, you know?
Jason: I don’t know man, cause there’s a lot of different answers that I’m sure other people could give to that. I’ll feel like I’ve made it when I don’t have to worry about getting from show to show, when I don’t have to worry about a fucking mortgage or anything like that, or worry about when my check’s gonna come in cause we’re doing something productive. If you’re talking about like, made it, spiritually or ethically or whatever, I’ve made it. I’ve got the best friends in the world in this band. I wouldn’t change it.

Any last words?
Jason: Don’t Drink And Drive!
Chris: Not really. I mean, just have a drink with me after the show, or before the show, especially during the show. You know there’s a lot of great bands out there, just ask me about them afterwards. Like I’ll write ‘em down on pieces of paper, no matter how drunk I am, you know. I’ve turned so many people onto bands, just hammered after shows. (puts on drunk voice) “You know, if you like us, you gotta listen to these guys”. Great, great music out there, people really have to keep their eyes and ears open for it cause, cause they’re missing great bands who just aren’t sticking around long enough to get crowds.

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