The Sweethearts

The Sweethearts are an explosive female fronted punk/power pop band from Austin TX.  Lead vocalist Linette was kind enough to recently lend us a bit of her time to tell us about her band and give her opinions on a few topics.  Enjoy! 

Interview by J Castro

Let’s start with some introductions, who is currently in The Sweethearts and what does everyone do in the band?

LINETTE: Hi! I’m Linette, singer and songwriter for the Sweethearts.  My husband, Ren Hernandez, plays guitar and sings backups, and also writes songs for the band. We are the founding members of the band and have had several lineup changes throughout the years. We currently have Christy Darlington on bass and Rudy Rodriguez on drums. Christy Darlington is a Dallas native that plays in his own band, Darlington. We were fans of his music before we became friends and he became our bass player. Rudy is an awesome drummer with excellent stamina and he understands pop/punk music very well. He is originally from Waxahachie, TX.

Now for The Sweethearts origin story, how did you all meet and decide to play in this band together?

LINETTE: Both Ren and I have been playing music together since we were teenagers. We used to be in a punk rock cover band in our home town (playing mostly Screeching Weasel), Brownsville, TX. We met at band practice, started dating, and have been together for almost 20 years. We just got married last year. We moved to Austin in 1999 and started playing as The Sweethearts, shortly after. We’ve gone through several band members and have had several breaks along the way, but always managed to come back to playing music.  After a two year break from playing, both Ren and I were feeling that it might be time to start playing again. We didn’t want to put an ad out to look for a drummer and bass player, we just wanted it to happen naturally, and it did. Christy drove down from Dallas to play a solo gig in Austin and was staying with us. We went to his show and ran in to Rudy, who was also there to see Christy perform. Rudy was a familiar face that we would often see at the same punk shows. Rudy offered to play drums for The Sweethearts that night and so we took him up on the offer. We practiced with Rudy and it sounded great!  All we needed was a a bass player.  We told Christy we were looking for a bass player and he offered to tryout. It worked out perfectly, and we’ve had three great shows with the new line up so far.

When you first started playing together, is this the sound you had in mind at the beginning or did you just start playing together and just saw what came out?

LINETTE:  Both Ren and I have always loved punk rock music. It’s our number one influence. We also like oldies, 50’s rock n roll, and 60’s girl groups.  When we both started writing songs our influences naturally came out in our song writing. We wanted it to be fast, catchy and fun with a little bit of heartbreak and attitude.  I think over the years we developed our own style and also grew as musicians but we never strayed too far from our original influences.

I found the lyrics to your song “Press Kit” interesting.  It sort of gives information like a press kit but more, it seems like you tell the philosophy of why you do what you do in the band.  Did you find having to answer to people, having to explain being in a punk band?

LINETTE: I wrote “Press Kit” around 2003-2004. At the time, I had been working on mailing Press Kits to record labels and was getting a few responses from some of them. Lookout Records and Fat Records had responded back to me by a letter in the mail stating how they liked our music but they were not signing any bands to the roster at the time, and to let them know when were in town. I wrote “Press Kit” out of frustration but at the same time was accepting the fact that we could still do things DIY and that not having a label wasn’t going to stop us. It was harder back then for bands when there really wasn’t any social media. I really don’t care to be on a label now. We are perfectly fine doing things DIY.

 And speaking of your songs, what led to the decision to sing a song entirely in Spanish (Spanish Love Song)?  I love that you did that, there don’t seem to be enough of us Latinos into punk, at least not around where I live!

LINETTE: I had always wanted to write a song in Spanish. I am not super fluent in Spanish, but I am Hispanic, and have been around the Spanish language my entire life. I was also influenced by Selena Quintanilla when I wrote this song. I was a big fan of hers when I was younger, and still am to this day. I thought it would be cool to write a song in Spanish and to play it in a punk band. Ren is very fluent in Spanish, and we plan to write more songs in Spanish in the future. We are currently covering “Como La Flor” by Selena.

The Sweethearts are currently based in Austin TX.  With Austin being such a music town, is it hard getting noticed and getting people to come to shows with so many other bands playing live?

LINETTE: The music scene in Austin is constantly changing and people are moving here every day. New bands pop up and play a couple of shows and then disappear. It is hard to keep up with the scene but we’ve been in Austin for so long that we’ve gotten used to it. The crowds are very random at times and you never really know what to expect. The venues are also constantly changing. It can definitely be hard for a band to get noticed but we just go with the flow and really just play out to have fun. Some of our best shows are when we open up for bands that we like who are on tour.

With The Sweethearts being around for a while now and I’m sure you remember the days without Facebook and Instagram, what are your thought on promoting with social media?  Do you feel it actually works or is it just another pain in the ass to have to deal with?

LINETTE: Social media has definitely helped us to promote our band and shows. Back in the day we used to run to Kinko’s to make copies of our show flyers and then would drive around town and post them up in record stores and have friends pass them around. Now we just post our shows on Facebook and Instagram and it’s so much easier. Facebook and Instagram has also made it easy to connect with other bands, book shows, promote merch, and connect with fans. Although, we have noticed that Facebook is not so user friendly for band profiles. They require band pages to pay extra to boost your post.

And speaking of social media; I noticed you list The Queers and Screeching Weasel as influences.  What are your thoughts on this wave of political and moral correctness going around in punk rock lately?  It seems like these two bands are getting the brunt of it and being bombarded on a daily basis. 

LINETTE: We’ve played shows with both bands before. We’ve known Joe Queer for a really long time and we’ve also met Ben Weasel. We are fans of their music and think they are both genuinely good people. I think people now a days are very sensitive and constantly trying to find things to complain about and social media is giving those people a platform to post their opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and beliefs and that is fine. Punk rock music is meant to be different and is meant to be rebellious and to go against the norm. You can’t always please everybody.

Where can people go to hear The Sweethearts or buy your music?

LINETTE: You can find all of our albums and merchandise at: https://thesweetheartstx.bandcamp.com.

What lies ahead in the near future for the band?

LINETTE: We plan to keep playing shows around Texas, and to hopefully do a little bit of touring within the next year. We also have some new songs that we are currently working on. We should have enough new songs for a full length album within the next couple of months so we would like to get back into the studio soon!

Follow The Sweethearts here:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thesweethearts/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sweethearts/7408664287

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Flash Boys

     Flash Boys have been slinking and slithering their way around the dusty floors of Austin, Texas since 2006. Snagging their name from the Dead Boys song “War Zone,” these guys aren’t just a flaccid Dead Boys tribute band though. Flash Boys are however a band that is heavily influenced by punk and glam bands from the past. Just from the opening song to their killer 2011 LP Dyin’ For Somethin’ To Live For you can hear Hanoi Rocks strut, Heartbreakers chops, and yes sprinkles of Stiv and the boy’s bombastic style. The guys in this band are all rock n’ roll veterans and have had some time to really hone their craft. Flash Boys write new and fresh sounding songs that are heavily swayed by the music you can tell they so dearly love. 

Interview by J Castro

Let’s start off by telling me who are The Flash Boys and what you all do in the band:

Johnny Miller on drums

Mark Douglas on bass

Darren Bond on guitar

Frankie Nowhere on vocals

Frankie will be answering these questions.

The band formed in 2006 if I’m not mistaken, can you tell me about how you all met and decided to play music together?

FRANKIE: I put the word out in February of that year. I got responses from Mark, Jamey Simms and Mike Dempsey. That was the original line up. I knew all those guys from playing shows with their bands over the years. We locked in our sound pretty quick and recorded a debut CD that we put out ourselves that is now out of print. We’ve had a couple of lineup changes over the nine years. The current lineup is the same formula. We’re all friends that’ve been playing shows together for years.

The Flash Boys are currently based in Austin, TX.  Is it tough playing shows in a town like that where there’s so much happening all the time or does the fact that Austin is such a music town make it easier to draw crowds for you guys? 

FRANKIE: You have to be something special to stand out here. There are a ton of bands and some really great bands. We’ve been pretty lucky that people come out and support us.

You guys name bands like The Damned, The Germs, and The Dead Boys as influences. Can you remember the first time you heard punk music? Where were you and who introduced it to you?

FRANKIE: I discovered punk through skateboarding in the Mississippi Delta, which was like being on an island, in the ‘80’s before the internet. I really loved what I heard first which was west coast punk. A friend had a cassette tape with various bands on it. On that tape was The Germs “Land Of Treason.” I went on a mission to find out everything I could about the band. In the process I found out that I had to get out of the delta.

You guys have played with some legendary musicians before: Cheetah Chrome, Sonny Vincent, and most recently Dick Dale. Someone once told me “Don’t meet your heroes.” In your experiences, do you find that statement to have any truth?

FRANKIE: For the most part all the legendary guys we’ve played with have been good to us. I personally have shared the stage with many of my heroes over the last twenty years and had good experiences. I hope it stays that way.

The profile picture on your Facebook page is a great picture of Bo Diddley and Joey Ramone? Can you tell me a bit about it?

FRANKIE: Nick Curran, may he rest in peace, created that when he was our guitar player. We used to always talk about how we didn’t see boundaries in genres of great music and artists. We actually did a small run of shirts with that design. Nick was always doing cool things for us. He did the “Dead at the Bus Stop” video on YouTube for us too.

I was watching this interview with John Lydon and he was saying how much he dislikes Green Day because they don’t have anything original about them and everything they do isn’t their own.  Putting Green Day aside, do you think a good rock n’ roll band these days has to be “original” to be relevant?

FRANKIE: All I know is that when the right group of people come together and make music, a magic happens. I’m not sure what’s original in 2015, but I know what I like and what sounds good. It’s relevant when that magic happens.

I always hear people saying how many “life lessons” one can learn by playing Golf.  What do you think are some “life lessons” people can take away from being in a band, if any?

FRANKIE: It’s a marriage, so you have to learn how to work together. When to give each other room, cancel practice, deal with their personal issues, etc. There are so many ups and downs in life and in a band. The thing to do is take those experiences and grow and write good music from the heart.

What’s the best way for people to hear your music and where can people find your records?

FRANKIE: We have videos on YouTube. You can get our music on CD Baby http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/flashboys2 and Spotify. Whenever our stock runs out at CD Baby we’ll make some more. We have put out everything ourselves, though that kinda hurts us because no one has heard of us.

What does the rest of 2015 have in store for The Flash Boys?

We are currently in the studio recording nine songs we’ve had around for a little bit, then taking some time off. Johnny’s playing in Zero Percent. Mark is in The Stabbies, Darren does solo shows and I’m reuniting my old band Eastside Suicides. We’ve had a couple of lineup changes since our guitar player Nick Curran died. We decided to record what we have, hopefully that’s well received and we’ll be back fresh. We just did the basic tracks on 7/12/15 and are pretty excited already.

Learn how to get your music heard at ReverbNation.com

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The Rich Hands

     San Antonio’s The Rich Hands sound like early Rolling Stones covering Buddy Holly with a bit more dirt and fuzz collected around the edges, which serves in adding warmth and charisma to the music. What separates these three lads from the rest of the hungry pack is the genuine, hearts on their sleeves style approach to their music. At first listen to their dazzling LP, Dreamers, on Fountain Records, you can tell they take their craft seriously. With all the overproduced electro pop rubbish floating around youth culture lately and things getting worse with each passing year, knowing there are bands forming out there like The Rich Hands help me sleep soundly at night. The future of Rock N’ Roll rests safely in Rich Hands!   

Interview by Jay Castro

Please introduce yourselves and how you give to The Rich Hands.

NICK: I'm Nick and I play drums. 

MATT: My name is Matthew and I play bass for The Rich Hands. 

CODY: I'm Cody Mauser. I play guitar and do the main vocals.

Where are you all from originally and how did you all meet and decide to play music together?
CODY: Nick, and I are from San Antonio and we met when we were in high school through our mutual friends. We decided to play music together after we found out we all play an instrument and liked the same things.

Where did the band name come from?

MATT: Cody's heart. 

NICK: Cody's dome. 

CODY: No crazy awesome background just wanted something that sounded good and The Rich Hands stuck. 

I detect in your music traces of fellow Texans 13th Floor Elevators as well as Buddy Holly. Are these in fact influences in your music or am I totally off the mark?
MATT/CODY: No you're pretty close too it because we love Roky and who doesn't like Buddy? Although, our dynamic has changed since the first album so expect something a little bit heavier but in a good way!

NICK: We like a lot of music so influences change on a daily basis for us. That also means our sound changes a bit too! It's pretty sweet.

In 2012 you guys told The San Antonio Current that Austin was more welcoming to the band than San Antonio was. Is this still the case or has the San Antonio crowd warmed up to you guys more lately? 

ALL: The crowd here has definitely become more solid and I think more and more people want to hear what we have to offer. It's definitely warming up. We try to bring as much as we can to San Antonio to give more diversity to the city. Whether it's from bringing touring acts or friends from out of town to putting on mini festivals, we like to keep things fun and different. We have to remember that Austin is still a great place to be heard because a lot of people in Austin are willing to listen to it once. I think it's hard to be a band in San Antonio that isn't "metal" or anything along the lines of that genre. 

In that same article, The San Antonio Current called you guys “Mature and Unified”. These are pretty rare adjectives used to describe young Rock N’ Roll bucks like yourselves. I’ve never seen you guys live, but just listening to your music that description doesn’t sound too far fetched.  Do you agree with that depiction?  

MATT: Yea sure. I mean we're pretty stupid and immature when we're by ourselves. You should see our text chain, but we know how to be mature when we should be until we drink too much. 

CODY: Definitely we take ourselves serious but not too serious to where we don't have fun.

NICK: We like to have fun. That's why we do this. Then there's the business side where we have to be serious for a bit. 

I don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure” just because I don’t think people should be ashamed by anything they really like. With that being said, do you guys listen to anything that some of your fans would be surprised by?

MATT: I still throw on Taking Back Sunday or Brand New. Not ashamed. 

CODY: I like ELO, but I'm ashamed

NICK: I like Ja Rule and old Fifty Cent. Not a biggie.

What’s been the most unforgettable show you’ve played, good or bad and what made it so memorable?
MATT/CODY: The first time we ever made it up to Caldwell, Idaho was one of the coolest things we done ever did. Look up "The Rich Hands Caldwell, Idaho" on YouTube and you'll see how crazy and fun it was. 

NICK: Boise/Caldwell is always a blast but I will always remember any and all our Atlanta shows. Those guys know how to party.

When you guys aren’t causing a ruckus in the San Antonio area, what kinds of things do you enjoy doing, any hobbies or interests outside music?

MATT/CODY: That's pretty funny actually because we don't do anything else but work. We work 5 days a week and pay bills. 

NICK: Yup, we just work all the time. I play in another band but that's about all we do.

Where are the best places for people to hear or buy your music?
ALL: The best place would to be from us personally or through Michael Monte at Fountain records. We have tons of merch on us so just ask and we'll hook you up with what you need.

What does the band have in store for us in the near or not so near future?
ALL: We'll be putting our single out hopefully in a few weeks and our new record "Out of My Head" will be released on May 6th! After that we'll just keep writing and touring and trying to get the music out there to those who haven't heard us yet.

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