Macho Boys: Portland Punks Positioned For Domination

I don't listen to a lot of new hardcore punk bands.  The new stuff I do like has to have at least a toe hold in the early 80's like Berlin's Dysnea Boys, the Bay Area's Neighborhood Brats or Seattle's Sick Ward.  Most of it to me either sounds contrived or just pandering to a bunch of sweaty, ignorant tough guys.  I didn't get any of that from Portland's Macho Boys.  They're a fairly new band that consists of members of Low Culture and Piss Test. They're so new in fact that they only have a six song Demo out but those six songs was all it took to win me over.  These songs are a lit powder keg of snake venom and extreme vexation with the fuse burning nearly to it's end. The music is stripped down to it's bare essentials to reduce air resistance and maximize the blunt force in which it hits your guts with.  Their songs sound well rooted, the band seems focused, driven and impassioned by their music. To me, those are the key ingredients to a good hardcore band, or any band for that matter.  Sure it sounds simple, but it's far easier said than done.

Interview by J Castro

Please introduce yourselves and tell me what everyone does in the band: 

TEKIAH: I'm Tekiah, I sing.

CHRIS: I’m Chris. I guitar.

SAMANTHA: I play bass.

SAM: Drums

How did you all meet and decide to play music together?

TEKIAH: I ran into Samantha at a show and mentioned I wanted to sing in a hardcore band and she was like "oh my friend Chris wants to play music like that let me find him!" I met Chris, then Samantha made a date for us to have our first practice. While we were talking I found out Sam was going to drum, which was funny because we work together. I was really nervous at first because I've never been in a band before but the first practice went really well.

CHRIS: Yeah, Samantha asked something like “Hey Chris, when are you going to start a hardcore band now that you live in Portland?” And I said “Whenever someone asks me.” So she introduced me to Tekiah and said “we’re all in a band now.” Then we took shots.

SAMANTHA: Tequila.

SAM: Chris said, “Come jam!”  I said “OK!”

Tell me about what it’s like playing shows in your town.  Is there a community that you feel gets what your band is doing musically?

TEKIAH: For the most part playing shows in Portland is awesome. There are so many rad bands that come through and that are from here. The only thing I don't like is how little people move. It's really weird to play a full show and look at the crowd and everyone's just staring at you. I think the community here gets us and wants us to play and that's a really good feeling.

CHRIS: I agree that Portland is a great place to be in a band. It is also true that not a lot of people move when bands play, but I’m usually in the back with my arms crossed (totally enjoying myself!) so I’d feel a bit hypocritical complaining about that.

SAM: Yeah; what they said.

Can you remember what band or musician first inspired you to want to pick up an instrument and learn to play and/or write music?

TEKIAH: The Ramones without a doubt. I remember the first time I heard them and was like oh shit I want to do this!!

CHRIS: When I was a kid I totally used to strap my dad’s guitar around my neck and pretend I was in the Beach Boys. Then in my early adolescence, there were plenty of DIY punk bands that helped me realize that writing songs, playing in bands, releasing records, and touring wasn’t just a pipe dream.

SAMANTHA: Portland band The Stops inspired me to make the jump from fan to band. You’ve got to get their LP on Dirt Cult Records, or Sabotage Records if you’re in Europe. They are amazing.

SAM: Music has been a part of my life since middle school band (I played the Clarinet); I've always wanted to be in a 'Cool' band.  Although, given how much I was into church and god at that time 'Cool' was probably a Christian ska band.

In your experience, what have been some of the best and worst parts about being in a band?  Is it totally different than what you imagined as a kid?

TEKIAH: The best part about being in a band is having fun. As long as you're having fun being in a band is great. I don't think we've been a band long enough for me to feel like there's any worst part to it. Since this is my first band everything is great.

CHRIS: I’d say the best part of playing in bands is that it’s allowed me to see all sorts of places and meet all sorts of people that I might not have otherwise. The worst part is loading equipment up and down stairs constantly. 

SAMANTHA: I like working toward shared goals with bandmates, getting new people into playing, and playing in other cities. I get bummed when I play a show and the majority of the bands on the bill are all guys, or if someone asks if I’m the merch girl, or assumes that a guy helping me load my gear is in the band and I’m there to help, etc.

SAM: Exactly.

What other bands do you feel people need to hear in order to better understand your music? 

TEKIAH: Other femme hardcore bands for sure like G.L.O.S.S., I.C.E., Heavy Hands, and Firewalker.

SAMANTHA: Minor Threat.

What’s your favorite part of making music: the writing process, the recording, or performing in front of a crowd? 

TEKIAH: I love writing new songs. It's so cool to hear the finished product and think, wow we made this together.

What music do you own or listen to frequently that you feel a typical fan of yours may be surprised you enjoy?

TEKIAH: I listed to a lot of do wop like the Shirelles, the Chantels and the Supremes.

CHRIS: I listen to a ton of music that isn’t punk and certainly isn’t “hardcore” - Hip hop (like Run the Jewels, A Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde), soul (like Wilson Picket, Otis Redding, Nina Simone), classic rock (like Neil Young, Big Star), indie rock (like Belle & Sebastian, Elliot Smith, Guided by Voices), etc.

SAM: Country/Bluegrass (Clifton Hicks, The Stanley Brothers, Stringbean, Dwight Yoakam); anything that Buddy Rich has been a part of.

Never mind the critics, what in your opinion has been your band’s most shining moment so far?

TEKIAH: Definitely our benefit for the Network for Reproductive Options. Samantha and I booked that show together and it had a really good turnout. All the bands were rad.

SAMANTHA: The show made over $500 for abortion access. We were fundraising as part of a nationwide event to raise funds for organizations that help people pay for abortion when they don’t have enough money or health insurance. There was a punk team called Pick Your Kingpin.

Do you ever feel like underground culture meant more to past generations that had to actually invest time and money into going to shows and record stores to discover new music as opposed to just using Google and Youtube on their phones?

TEKIAH: I think it still means just as much. Having the internet just means you can actually listen to a record before buying it instead of thinking the cover looks cool and buying it.

CHRIS: People spend too much time pining for “the good old days” I think nostalgia can be a destructive force that keeps people from living in the moment and/or moving forward. In regards to how people consume music, I mean sure, I look back fondly on the days that I had to pick up a record based solely on a recommendation, review, and whether or not the cover looked “cool.” But I also ended up with a stack of shitty fucking records as a result.

SAMANTHA: No. It’s great that people can access music really quickly. Maximum RocknRoll is undertaking the project of digitalizing their massive vinyl archive and creating a searchable database of the collection and music reviews. Having music online helps it be accessible. Not everyone can afford to buy an obscure, old, out of print $300 7”, and not everyone wants to. You can donate to the MRR archive project here: http://bit.ly/1VSIHzN.

SAM: Ditto.

What is the best way people can hear and get a hold of your music?

TEKIAH: Machoboys.bandcamp.com, you can buy our demo tape through there.

What lies ahead for the band in 2016?

TEKIAH: We're going on a short tour to California at the end of August and trying to record another demo tape. I've never been on tour so I can't wait!!!


Don't forget to follow Macho Boys on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/machoboyspdx/

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Piss Test

                                                                             (Photo by Rita Gonsalves)

     Piss Test is a tried and true punk band, for better or for worse. They’ve got 2 EP’s and an LP in their cache which consists of short, bratty bursts of agitation and frustration mixed with a hearty dose of wit and sarcasm, enough so that when they’re done with you, it’s hard to tell which end is up. They’re music is also peppered with their irreverent sense of humor, which much like the Angry Samoans is one large blazing middle finger in your face. Piss Test sing about what they think about you, your stupid friends and that ridiculous life you actually call an earthly existence. They don’t care if you agree or if you get it or not, these are not their concerns.  Their music is so loud and in your face you can’t get a thought in edgewise and even if you could there’d be no one there to listen. To me, this is Piss Test: love ‘em for it, hate ‘em for it, they don’t care. 

Interview by J Castro

Let’s start out by telling us who is currently in the band and what everyone does in Piss Test:

PISS TEST: Zach plays guitar and sings, Rodrigo plays drums, Samantha plays bass and sings.

How did you all meet and decide to play music together?

SAMANTHA: Zach and I are both from Denver. I had a raging teenage crush on him before he moved to Portland and my persistence worked out. I moved to Portland almost eight years ago and we met Rodrigo when he joined the band Therapists. He really impressed us. I did not play music before this band.

ZACH:  Despite the fact that Samantha and I are a couple, it was Rodrigo’s idea to have her play bass. I asked him to start a band after he quit Therapists. He claimed he was done playing drums, which was utterly unacceptable.

RODRIGO:  I'm glad didn't stop drumming. I seriously wanted to quit, and play bass.

Your band is currently based in Portland, OR. With so many other great bands out there at the moment, is it tough playing shows with so much else going on? I know here in Phoenix sometimes there are two or three good shows and as a fan, sometimes it’s hard to choose.

SAMANTHA: People go to a lot of shows. Our last show competed with Bad Brains at a huge venue, Fred & Toody Cole of Dead Moon at a fancy venue and members of Autistic Youth playing in an indie rock band on a boat and was still decently attended.

ZACH: Most of the good bands in Portland barely play.

RODRIGO: There are so many rad bands here in Portland. At first I think it was tough, but now I think we are starting to have a following here.

People have reviewed your records and compared Piss Test’s sound so early ‘80’s hardcore and bands on the Killed by Death compilations. How would you describe your sound to someone that’s never heard your band?

ZACH: Recent reviews keep saying we sound like Boston’s The Proletariat, so I guess we sound like The Proletariat. We were going for more of a Blood Stains Across Texas meets 100 Flowers vibe.

RODRIGO: I can't think of anything we sound like.

I was watching this old interview with Henry Rollins and he was saying how much he hates Bruce Springsteen because he doesn’t offer any solutions to some of the things he sings about, he just whines about them; things like poverty, social inequality etc. Do you agree with this at all? Do you think bands should offer more solutions to the things they talk about in their lyrics?

SAMANTHA: Nothing that Henry Rollins says matters. Bruce Springsteen is The Boss. Giving “solutions” or suggestions for how to live life is a major mistake that Minor Threat made. We hope to never be like that.

ZACH: Henry Rollins has never solved anything!

RODRIGO: What did Henry Rollins offer? Is he even playing music? Who cares? 

ZACH: One of the things I love about Bruce Springsteen records like Nebraska is that they are lyrically a collection of short stories. None of the characters in Piss Test songs are autobiographical. We write about addicts, aging skate bros, suicidal teenage girls, etc. You can shed light on social issues by writing about individuals.     

Piss Test’s song lyrics seem to be all over the place in terms of subject matter. Can you remember the most bizarre person or event that inspired a song? Have you ever written songs lyrics that you regret for whatever reason?

ZACH: “Necrophilia, It’s Halal” was inspired by a supposed fatwa issued by Moroccan, Iman Zamzami declaring necrophilia, well, Halal. There were reports claiming the translation to be sensationalized, but that is completely irrelevant as far as song writing is concerned. Never regret anything, especially song lyrics.

SAMANTHA: In “Nazis” we name drop the tax preparation software Turbotax. I think that is weird.

ZACH: I stand by the lyrics.

Sometimes I hear a song and its lyrics or guitar riff are so great I think to myself, man I wish I would have written that! Have you ever felt that way about a song or lyric that strikes a similar chord (no corn ball pun intended) with you?

ZACH: All the time. If you don’t feel that way about other people’s music, you shouldn’t be trying to write music.

SAMANTHA: Nick Lowe, “Rollers Show,” The Next, “Cheap Rewards,” the entire Adolescents blue album and Boys Next Door “Somebody’s Watching Me,” “Death of Innocence” by Legal Weapon and a couple of hits by the Go-Go’s…

I was listening to your song “Everybody” from your 2014 LP Biggest Band in Europe (Johnny Cat Records/Taken By Surprise) and it got me wondering; do you feel people in bands put too much pressure on themselves to write and/or perform? Do you think that may be why so much popular rock n’ roll music lacks key ingredients like spontaneity and recklessness that made it great in the past?

SAMANTHA:  The song isn’t pressure as much as delusions of grandeur. Some bands don’t work hard enough to write or perform, which is why there are so many sloppy, shitty, and boring bands.

ZACH: “Everybody” wasn’t inspired by bands who were trying too hard; it was inspired by bands who were posing too hard.

RODRIGO: I like to think that the best performing bands are having fun. Great music shouldn't be forced. Bands that sport their best fashion and hair styles before the music suck ass.

Where can people go or log on to listen to your music and buy your records?

ZACH: The internet

RODRIGO: Portland

SAMANTHA: pisstest.bandcamp.com and the coolest of cool record stores

What does the rest of 2015 have in store for the mighty Piss Test?

ZACH: More of the same shit

RODRIGO: Hopefully touring more

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