Line Traps

Line Traps forge brief, bitter, bare knuckled punk rock blasts deep within the lush green gardens of Victoria, British Columbia .  The band recently talked to us about their humble beginnings as a one man band, their meticulous song writing process, and why you shouldn't expect a Line Traps world tour anytime soon.  

Interview by J Castro

Introductions please!  Who’s all in the band and what does everyone do?

LINE TRAPS: T. Depression – Guitar/Vocals   P. Ethylene – Bass/Vocals   G. Debris - Drumbs

How did all of you meet and come together to form the band?

LINE TRAPS: T. was embarrassing himself playing with just a guitar and drum machine, ‘cause nobody else would play with him. It took him almost six years in a new city to find two people to play music with. He started jamming with the girls and asked them if they wanted to do a full band version of his drum machine project (New Krime) at a show he had booked in a couple weeks…that was it. Line Traps first show was with Big Eyes and Criminal Code, billed as New Krime.

When first starting out, did you have an idea of what you wanted Line Traps to sound like, or was it one of those things where the music kind of took its own direction once you started playing together?

LINE TRAPS: We mostly took existing songs and played them the only way we could… the sound has been changed by endless shows playing drunk and often angry… becoming increasingly faster. A lot of the songs started out really robotic, as they were choppy, stupidly simple cuts from the drum machine days…they’ve since evolved to just beyond stupidly simple and slightly less robotic. It’s hard to nail down what we wanted the band to sound like…it’s just a shit mix of all our favorite music…inept 60’s garbage, nasty basement punk, early 80’s hardcore, 90’s garage-punk, etc, etc…took all that crap in over the years and now we’re regurgitating it as a sloppy mess of shit-tone guitar, fuzz bass and robot beats.

The band is currently based in Victoria, BC.  Is there a supportive crowd/scene there that comes to your shows and understands what you’re doing musically?

LINE TRAPS: The music scene in Victoria is as underwhelming as ever. 20 somethings going nutz for 90’s pop punk and grunge revival…and whatever passes for post-punk these days. A few years ago, there were still a buncha scuzzy punk bands with names like Alcoholic White Trash, Lesbian Fist Magnet, Fuck You Pigs…and of course Dayglo Abortions. Bands singing about shit and dicks and fighting and hating cops. Lots of metal influenced punk bar bands playing to the lowest common denominator…and at the same time, an all ages scene that is very heavy on Grindcore and Crust stuff. It’s like everyone in Victoria missed everything that was good in music…ever. We play a lot of bills we have no place being on…and almost nobody in town gets it. Playing for people who don’t get what you’re doing can be a lot of fun though…just staring at a room full of confused faces.

You released your Self-Titled debut LP earlier this year.  Other than your demos, this is the first actual Line Traps record.  What led to the decision to do an LP first as opposed to a couple of singles first? 

LINE TRAPS: Having morphed from a one-man freak show, we started out with more songs than we could handle. It only made sense to record everything we had and get it out there. A lot of those songs are really old. I think the intention was to record them, put ‘em out and eventually phase them out in favor of new material. Sadly…we seem to be incapable of writing new material, and we’re still playing that stuff. Plus…a one sided LP with handmade packaging costs about the same as a 7” to make...and you don’t have to flip it every two songs.

Line Traps - S/T Debut LP 2015

I was reading the review of your record in Terminal Boredom and they compared the band A LOT to Rip Off Records type stuff like Dirty Sweets and the Kill-A-Watts.  What do you think of the comparisons, was Rip-Off Records a big influence on Line Traps music?

LINE TRAPS: So far we’ve been compared to like 6 different Rip-Off bands over 3 different reviews. T. was picking up a lot of Rip-Off releases in the 90’s, but I don’t think we sound like any particular Rip-Off band…or even a combination of a couple…and I don’t think Rip-Off was any more of an influence on our sound than anything else. The one thing I always appreciated about that label is that even though not all the bands had a similar sound…they all had a similar FEEL. It seemed like none of those bands cared too much about how they looked, what gear they played, or how well practiced they were, I think we can relate to that. Oh yeah…our next LP is due out in 2016 on Rip-Off Records.

What sorts of things typically inspire your songwriting?  Are there any subjects you purposely try to stay away from in your lyrics?

LINE TRAPS: It’s a mixed bag…conspiracy theory, robots, masturbating with electricity. What we do isn’t rocket science…and nobody is gonna be quoting our lyrics anywhere. Shit, half the time we just string random words together to fill up the space before the chorus, which is usually just the song title repeated 4 times.

photo by Don Denton

When people see your band live, what sort of feeling or sentiment do you want the audience to walk away with afterwards?

LINE TRAPS: I think we’d like people to walk away after 18 minutes of us playing with a smile on their face…but seeing as that is unlikely…agitation, anger or disgust would also be acceptable responses. We aren’t playing to crowds of our friends…and it actually takes effort for us to make it through a set without the whole thing falling apart. It’s nice when people we don’t know come up and say something…anything…about the band.

Let’s turn the tables a bit, what sorts of things have you ever seen people in your audience do that annoys you? 
LINE TRAPS: When people stand there and do NOTHING while watching a punk show is the most annoying thing to see. If you’re watching our band and we can’t even move you enough to bob your head…then go outside, we’re obviously wasting your time. I don’t know if it’s just the west coast, but I’ve seen way to many bands play in Victoria, Vancouver and even Seattle and Portland in recent years, where nobody is moving. I’d rather play for 6 people who clearly enjoy a live punk show…than 200 people standing there watching and taking the occasional picture with their cell phone.

I was reading this interview with a former drummer in The Cramps and he talked about how guarded Lux and Ivy were with their image, he said it was so bad that it almost imprisoned them.  Do you feel image is still an important aspect to being in a rock band these days?

LINE TRAPS: Some of the best bands had a carefully cultivated image. Then there were bands that rejected having an image, and their lack of image become their image. In the end, everyone is going to see you as something different than everyone else. You can try to influence how people see you, or you can just be authentic, and hope that comes across. These days, if a band dresses or acts differently on stage than they do in “real life”, I’m probably not going to like that band.

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

LINE TRAPS: People can hit up our Bandcamp page here:
https://linetraps.bandcamp.com/
Or just find us on Facebook and send us a message…we have like 30 different T-shirt designs too…
https://www.facebook.com/linetrapsvic

What lies ahead in the near future for Line Traps, any touring?
LINE TRAPS: We’ll be recording new material in the next couple months…probably for the second LP. Probably a short trip down the coast sometime soon, but two of us have young kids…so that makes any real “touring” kinda outa the question.

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Average Times

     Mere moments into the opening song from Average Times debut album the band quickly and eagerly throws back the curtain and reveals all of the fantastic influences they’ve collected over time. These are sons and daughters of punk from the last 20 or so years, the salad days of Rip Off, Dirtnap, Sympathy for the Record Industry, Crypt Records and many others. What Average Times seems to have done is gone and gathered everything that was great about so many of the bands from that time and the unique sound they created that set that era apart and discard the dead weight. They seize all they have learned and experienced, melt it and shape it into a crude yet sharp prison style weapon and stab you in the forehead with it and after they’re done you beg for more!

Interview by Jay Castro

Please introduce yourselves and what you throw into the Average Times band?

CURTIS: This is Curtis (Guitar, Vocals)

STEPH: Stephanie (Drums)

Where are you all from originally and how did you all meet and decide to play music together?

STEPH: We're all from Ottawa and surrounding areas. I started playing drums as a hobby a few years ago, then jamming with Curtis for practice. Soon after, we started playing with Todd as a three-piece and Seiji replaced our first bass player (Tim) about a year ago.

CURTIS: Well Steph is my better half and we met Todd and Seiji through friends.

Your debut album is out on Hosehead records (or at least it will be by the time this comes out). How did you hook up with those fine folks?

STEPH: Our friends in Ketamines invited us to play a show in Toronto last fall at the Silver Dollar Room. That's where Pat and Mike approached us about releasing a full length based on our tape released on Bruised Tongue.

CURTIS: The first time we met those guys, they were really chill and all of us clicked right away. They are definitely two hard working guys and it shows that they love what they do.

What’s the Rock N’ Roll community like in Ottawa these days?  

CURTIS: I think it's totally rad - a lot of awesome bands and super talented people all working together to make the city an amazing place to play music.

STEPH: Ottawa has always been a great city for punk bands and I feel like in the past couple of years, the scene has GROWN. So many wicked places to play and to party with more on the rise!

In your opinion, what bands do people need to know and understand in order to appreciate your music more?

STEPH: All of them.

Who are some bands you would like to take with you, or open up for on a world tour?

STEPH: David Bowie

CURTIS: 2Pac hologram

When you aren’t Rock N’ Rollin’ all around Ottawa, what kinds of things do you enjoy doing?  Hobbies etc..?

CURTIS: We never stop.

STEPH: Don't stop the rockin’ (nods head back and forth in a no position).

What’s been the most unforgettable show you’ve played, good or bad and what made it so memorable?

CURTIS: The Death House in the industrial part of Montreal - it was a super wicked punk squat. The front door was 3 feet away from some train tracks. It was also pissing rain and people were slipping on the plywood sidewalks all night.

STEPH: One of my favorite shows was our second show ever - we were opening for Natural Child. The Death House show was also super fun - lots of indoor smoking.

The cassette is making a raging comeback.  Do you think it’s a viable and collectable form of music or just another hipster trend that will soon go hobbling back to its dark cave of obscurity and take a seat next to the 8-Track where in belongs?

STEPH: Tapes were the first format of music that most people our age collected so I think it's pretty rad to be able to collect them again. Maybe one day soon, CD's will make a comeback.

CURTIS: Whether they stick around or not . . . time will tell.

What does the band have in store for us in the near or not so near future?

CURTIS: Just gonna keep on playing shows, and most likely record again this summer.

STEPH: We have a small Ontario tour coming up this June and hopefully Europe in the next year or two!

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Ramma Lamma

     Ramma Lamma are a melodic hard drivin’ Rock ‘N’ Roll band who’s music is rooted in 70’s rock. More specifically somewhere in the lands of Detroit glam rock queen Suzi Quatro and Boston’s searing DMZ. It’s heart bursting Rock ‘N’ Roll played fun, fast, and mean by boys and girls that know their craft. After all, co lead singers Ryan King laid waste to many a soul with Rip-Off Record’s Kill-A-Watts and later he and Wendy Norton in the punk-y power pop trio Plexi 3. Ramma Lamma has a hand full of 7”’s for your listening pleasure on various labels (see below). So relax boys and girls, you’re sanity lies in qualified hands!

Interview by Jay Castro

Who’s answering the questions here?

Wendy!

Daniel!
Ryan!

Who is in the band and how do they earn their keep?

WENDY: Wendy Norton and Ryan King play guitar and sing. Daniel James plays bass, and we have two drummers - Bart Farrara (Milwaukee shows) and Sam Reitman (road bork).

Ryan: Guitar/Sings

Where are you all from originally?

WENDY: I was a country kid raised in the woods outside of Sugar Camp, Wisconsin.  My mom got me into Elvis when I was six. I pretended not to like it at first because I had just gotten off of a big “time out” but she caught me dancing so I had to admit to loving it. She let me stay up late to watch the 5 part, made for TV movie about Elvis that week and it was all over from there.

DAN: I grew up in a trailer court in a college town in Central Wisconsin. All the locals were total hicks and the college kids were all hippies. Two totally different worlds and they were both kinda lame from a Rock ‘N’ Roll dude's perspective.  I was a total hesher.

RYAN: Wauwatosa, WI (a suburb of Milwaukee).

What is the band’s origin story? When and how did you all meet and come together?

Wendy: Ryan and I’s previous band, Plexi 3, had come to an end due to our irreplaceable bassist, Adam Widener, moving to SF, so we were settin’ our sights on our next project. 

At the time we were getting back into the classics, hard, stuff like Flamin’ Groovies, Slade, Wizzard, Suzy Quatro, etc. and diggin’ on all the Glam comps that had been coming out over the past decade or so. We wanted to get back to that sort of primitive/fun style of playing so that’s the kind of songs Ryan and I started writing.

We started under the name Roman Fingers (named after the horrible Suzi Quatro tune), played one show, and decided to make some adjustments, and over the course of a year or so we finally found the right formula, which is the Ramma Lamma you know today.

DAN: Ramma Lamma was going for at least a year before they asked me to join. They were doing this thing at first where Wendy or Ryan would play guitar and sing for half the set, and then they'd switch instruments for the second half of the set. I remember being kinda bummed when they started, because people in Milwaukee were starting this kickass rockin' glam punk band and I didn't get asked to be in it. Then after they had a couple singles out Wendy asked if I wanted to play bass and I was like "finally."

RYAN: Wendy and I were in Plexi 3 and the Monitors together (both writing) and wanted to do something more Rock n’ Roll. Both of us started out more or less playing basic garage punk type stuff. So in a way it’s a return to what has always been the most fun kind of music for us.

Razorcake described your music as “70’s arena teen pop.” However I also detect bands like Radio Birdman and DMZ in the Ramma Lamma arsenal, 70’s rock that’s catchy but with a harder edge.  Are you guy’s fans of either of the above-mentioned bands or am I totally off the mark?

Wendy: Yeah man, that 70’s arena teen pop is a more fitting description of our dear friends in COZY than Ramma Lamma. I try hard not to paint myself into a corner writing songs for Ramma Lamma, though, because it can be easy to get genre tunnel vision, then I get bored and uninspired to write. Our stuff varies from sleazy/bluesy Trex-esque mellow jams, to proto-metal 60’s stoner rock, garage, punk, pop, pub rock like Dr. Feelgood. When its time to self edit I just sit back and think, “Would Roy Loney approve?” If so, the song stays.

DAN: Radio Birdman is one of my faves. I think there was talk of Ramma Lamma doing a DMZ cover set for Halloween this year too. We definitely never practiced for it or anything.

RYAN: Yeah, actually DMZ “Relics” on Voxx records is one of my all time favorites. The lead guitar on that record rivals James Williamson on Raw Power in my book. As far as the teen thing goes, there are touches of that. We listen to a lot of 70’s rock, but it’s all over the map. I like a band like Flamin’ Groovies, who basically did whatever they felt like within the Rock ‘N’ Roll umbrella.

Speaking of your music, you released a Christmas EP a couple years ago. It included a song called “Merry Christmas to a Rock N’ Roll Lady”. Who is that song about? 

RYAN: All of the lonely rock and roll babes across the world. I had the idea to do an Xmas single with Steve from CPR Records. That song was a joke, I came up with it in about 2 minutes on an acoustic guitar in my kitchen.

Listening to your records, it is tough to pinpoint influences to any one era of Rock N’ Roll. I hear most of them in your music. Is there anything other than music that inspires your songs? Things like films, books etc… What kinds of things do you all like doing when taking a break from Rockin’ and Rollin’?

Wendy: Ramma Lamma definitely likes to sing about sex and partying, which is a big time hobby for all of us. When I am not rockin’ and rollin’ in Ramma Lamma, I have another band I play drums in called Rat Lips, all girl and PUNK AS FUCK! I also enjoy drawing, painting, sewing, plants, giving music lessons, and cooking food for my friends and band mates.

DAN: This is pretty much all I do. Rock ‘N’ Roll all-night and party every day. I got a pretty square job, but who wants to talk about that? I play in a bunch of bands. I play lead guitar in Chinese Telephones, but we're not that active anymore. I just started playing drums backing up my buddy Kurt Baker. I'm working on a solo album too. I just counted the other day and realized I'd played in nine different bands in the last year. I like chicks and drinking beer and comic books and whippets.

RYAN: I read a lot of comics, watch a lot of old horror and B movies. I have written a song about the 1974 Australian biker film “Stone” as well as the 1987 film “Street Trash,” highly recommended for fans of Repo Man/Troma studios. Both of those should hopefully be on our upcoming LP. 

I read that out of all the different art forms, music has the power to alter a person’s disposition the fastest. Do you agree with this? Do you have any favorite music that you can put on that will always lift you up from a slump?
Wendy: Because music is more aggressive than say, a painting, I certainly agree with that statement. However, if you choose music as your medium you are choosing the harder path because you have to rely on other people to get your art out there. Unlike a painter, which involves a whole lot of organizing, communication, and you kinda end up being the leader of a small gang of miscreants. Which is rad, but more work.

I like to listen to spazzy beat music or girl groups when I have a bunch of chores or tedious tasks to do, and also when I am at work, because it’s the “safest” weird music you can play in public without people bitching.

Serious slumps, or a case of the “thinkies,” require good food and exercise, not music. Temporary relief can be sought out from a 3-minute pop song, but I tend to simplify or trivialize my situation if I turn to records for relief, which makes things worse in the long run. 

DAN: My favorite record when I'm feeling down is the second Dictators LP, Manifest Destiny.  I just read some dumb review from some blowhard rock journalist that totally slagged it as sellout crap and the worst album in their catalog. I wanna punch that guy. I got my DFFD tattoo ‘cause of that album. It's healed many a broken heart. Thin Lizzy's Bad Reputation kinda has a similar effect on me.

RYAN: Great party records, I guess. Anything you put on right away after you’ve drank a few. Like if you could only keep 25 records or something what would they be. For me: Supercharger “Goes Way Out,” MC5 “Back in USA,” and The Who “Sings My Generation.” Lately I’ve really been digging the Lew Lewis Reformer LP, on Stiff Records.

If you could tour with any band/musician from times gone by, who would it be and why?

Wendy: Slade. I imagine life would be perfect in every way, but if we were to get real here for a second I think the best possible combination would be us and Guida!! And COZY, LOLA COLA and MICKEY!

DAN: Thin Lizzy or the original lineup of Alice Cooper. I wouldn't even really need to tour with them as much as just get a chance to see them live when they were around. I mean, both groups kinda exist in bastardized forms now, but fuck that shit.

RYAN: Probably The Damned, Brian James Era. They just seemed like the most fun and outrageous band in their early years.

You guys seem to play out quite a bit.  What has been the most memorable show you’ve played so far, good or bad?  Where was it and what made it so unforgettable?

Wendy: We have played some local street festivals and it always gets me going when I see some random, older locals going crazy because they haven’t heard what a loud, rock and roll guitar sounds like in the sunshine, with an open beer in their hand for a really LONG TIME. Sometimes they will come up to me after the show and talk to me about Lita Ford and the usual suspects, it’s pretty rad. Closest thing to a time machine.

Dan: My favorite mighta been with Cozy, Hot Rash, and Rabbit Holes in St. Paul, MN.  Much like the Point show it was in a basement, basement shows are always fun, and all the bands fucking ruled. I got to play an Ace Frehley cover with Hot Rash. Wait, how many bands did I say I played shows with in the last year? Add one more to that.

RYAN: We played a show in Stevens Point, WI that was a lot of fun. It was a packed basement show with all these kids going totally mental. We were also properly drunk at that perfect level of playing just good enough, but having a really great time.

I read an interview with Keith Richards where he said that anyone buying digital music is getting short changed.  Do you agree with this and if so, why?

Wendy: I have never bought digital music because I am a firm believer in the exchange of money for a tangible object. I also put all my stupid music up on the Internet for free. I will probably change my tune once our LP is finished.

Dan: Whatever. You lose sound quality with digital, but you make up for it in convenience. I buy everything on vinyl, and when I'm home that's what I listen to. I'm a busy guy though and I got no problem paying ten bucks a month to have Spotify on my phone. That shit's awesome. If I could take my record collection on tour with me for three months I would, but I can't. I love mp3s!

People from our generation might have this nostalgia for a physical product, but kids growing up today don't give a shit. They've never even seen a fucking CD. Vinyl's always gonna be number one for me, but whatever means you chose to enjoy your music in is alright by me.  I'm more interested in trying whatever kinda magic cocaine's been keeping Keef alive this long.

RYAN: I guess you don’t get the album sleeve. What are you supposed to clean your schwag on now?

I don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure” because I don’t think anyone should be made to feel ashamed of anything they like.  However with that being said, what to you listen to that you think a lot of fans may be surprised by?

Wendy: Let me break down my thoughts on “Guilty Pleasures” here for a moment. Since the entire catalog of everything EVER is available to download for free I don’t think that people are so dedicated to their niche as much as they used to be. Also, the lines between ironic and actual good taste have been blurred so much by the Millennials that it’s hard to say that anything could possibly be shocking at this point in time. I feel that all genres truly have their diamonds in the rough, even prog rock, but never RUSH because they are the worst band in the world!!!!

DAN: I used to hate the term "Guilty Pleasure" 'cause I was like "Why should I be ashamed of what kinda tunes I wanna listen to?" Then one day I realized I liked the song "She Don't Know Me" off the first Bon Jovi album. That shit's just embarrassing. I can't believe I'm admitting it here. I mean, I'll admit that I like "Runaway" but "She Don't Know Me" just kinda crosses a new line. Yet I still like it for some sick reason.

I like a lotta shitty pop music though. I'm a sucker for a good hook. I own a Kelly Clarkson 45.  That one Bruno Mars song "Kicked Out of Heaven" is kinda sick.  Sometimes I'll even get down with some nu Country. Even though they're singing about the corniest shit, like Jesus and watching your kids grow up and joining the army, and the production is horrendous, I can't deny I good three chord hook with a strong melody.

RYAN: I like a lot of sentimental wimpy stuff like Micheal Nesmith, solo country records, Sam Cooke, Donovan, oh and I’m a huge Rod Stewart fan.

What does the Ramma Lamma Rock ‘N’ Roll machine have in store for us in the near, or not so near future?

Wendy: We just recorded a demo of our first LP to take into the studio. After we finish our bout of summertime gigs we are gonna hit the studio. We generally record ourselves because we have been really unsatisfied, but we want to give the studio another try.

DAN: I don't know about any of that stuff. I'm just gonna drink some more of these beers and keep listening to this Giuda record.

RYAN: Recording an LP and touring somewhere outside the USA, hopefully Japan or Puerto Rico.

Where can people go to buy or listen to your great records?

RYAN: Check the Internet should be easy. Maybe Amoeba has some used copies of our 45’s, hey not everyone has good taste.

Stay tuned for gigs/tours/upcoming releases on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ramma-Lamma/123076214380043‎

Listen to songs here:

http://rammalammamilwaukee.bandcamp.com

We still have a few records for sale from these fine record labels:
RYAN: www.certifiedprrecords.com/‎
www.dustymedical.com/‎

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The Ills

     When I first started hearing about the Ills, I heard comparisons to bands like The Spoiled Brats and The No Talents. So, when I finally got a chance to hear these Iowa City monsters, they did not disappoint! Those influences are indeed there, but the Ills have taken that sound and stuck their own brand on it. It is theirs, they own it now, and lucky for us they are sharing it with the rest of us lowly dogs!

Interview by Jay Castro

Who’s answering the questions here?

Danny and Erika

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

Erika Ebola - Vox

Danny Dysentery - Guitar

Molly Marburg - Bass

Tommy Tinnitus - Drums

Are you all originally from Iowa City?

None of us are. Tommy Danny and Molly are all from different areas of Iowa, Erika is from Texas and Iowa.

How did Rip Off records find their way into your hands in Iowa?  

Danny: When I was a kid, Iowa City record stores carried a lot of punk and garage punk records.  I would make trips to Iowa City to go record shopping. I had heard about The Rip Offs in Maximum Rock 'n' Roll and spotted their LP at a local record shop and bought it and I loved it. When I met Erika she was into it too, and we started obsessing and collecting a lot of that kind of stuff, like the No Talents, the Drags, the Statics, the Makers, The Registrators etc.

Erika: I first heard about this stuff when I was a kid in Texas. I was kind of on the hunt for female attitude and vocals that kind of matched how I felt. I loved those classic grrrl bands from Olympia labels (like Bratmobile and Bikini Kill) and those awesome women fronted bands from the early LA scene, (X and the Bags etc.).  A friend had this Spoiled Brats song dubbed on a tape and made a joke that no one could like this, except probably me! So, it was played for me, and I instantly fell in love with it! Which lead to you know all that stuff, girl and guy, and then I ended up in Iowa.

Does the band play shows a lot in Iowa City?  Is there a scene out there that the rest of the country should know about?

Erika: We play a lot.  There are a lot of cool and different punk bands in Iowa City, but there’s not a scene of bands that sound similar.  Everyone is doing their own thing. It doesn’t really create a cohesive scene “sound” but I think that's great because that would be boring.  There are a lot of really cool bands here if your into different kinds of punk, like Lipstick Homicide, Slut River, Conetruama, NERV, Big Box, and a lot more… and they are all doing their own thing from straight up pop punk to black metal hardcore.

Also, it’s a very academic town. It has the highest percentage of the adult population holding a bachelor's degree or higher in the US, yet, it is still very small. Maybe this has an influence on how stuff end up playing out here, I dunno.

Danny: What she said.

Your newest 7” is on No Front Teeth records, how did you get involved with that label?

Erika: It’s kind of a strange circle. Jim from Rapid Pulse Records originally pointed us in their direction. They heard some demos of ours and were interested and put out our first 7”. Our new EP Get It is actually coming out as a split release between the Canadian label Shake! Records and No Front Teeth Records. We played a show with the Ketamines last year and their drummer Ryan (who is also in Fist City) helped connect us with Shake! Then, Shake! reconnected with NFT for this release.

The Ills did a pretty cool video for your song Total Dick.  Was that fun to make? Where and how did that happen?

Danny: Erika made it. We filmed it in a local junk shop owned by our friend Brian who’s a big fan of the band.  I think Erika did her part in the bathroom of our apartment.

People have compared the sound of your band to the glory days of Rip Off records and bands like The No Talents.  Bands I’m pretty sure are integral to your sound. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill!   Do you feel any pressure because of those comparisons?  Are the almighty Ills up for the challenge?

Danny: In the beginning it was kinda more of a “let’s be this kinda band”, and I still love them. Now we are not trying to be one kind of thing anymore, we’re just mixing all our influences and everything together. But those comparisons are flattering and kind, and we do love rip off records, but we’re nowhere as good as those bands!

Erika: It is flattering that we have those comparisons. They are a part of our influences. But, we would never try to or want to fill their shoes.  They are pretty fantastic at what they did and got that covered. Plus, we gotta do our own thing! I think there may have been a moment of pressure to self-edit to keep within that expectation. But that’s all self-inflicted pressure that we said, “ehh, forget about it”, to a long time ago! We have a lot of different influences and I think our music will continue to reflect that.

On your bands profile, you list your other interests as Punk Punk Punk.  Surely you have some non punk interests?  Baking, knitting, sculpting, c’mon spill the beans!

Danny: I really love Italian horror movies, film in general, pretentious art shit, coffee and rock n roll and all music really.

Erika:  I collect purses and nail polish and movies.  As a band I think we all like drinkin’.

Do you think Rock ‘N’ Roll can still be a vital and influential force for kids in such a disposable age?

Danny: I think on a massive scale, no. On an individual scale, yes. Because like there are teenage punk bands right here in my town that are exciting and inspiring... to see like 14 and15 year old kids taking the time to write songs and learn instruments and put together good bands shows that. But in the mainstream I think no, it’s time has passed. I don’t think there’s gonna be one band that's gonna come along soon that's gonna capture peoples imagination and bring rock back into the forefront. It looks like right pop is here to stay. Is there even big rock band right now? I guess I don’t know and don’t pay attention to even know.

50 years ago people used to buy music and get their water free; now people pay for water and get their music free. How do you think this affects the music industry?

Danny: I don’t know about paying for music, but they charge way too much for water here at the local grocery store. And you have to buy water because the local tap is so fucking nasty you can’t use it. I mean its 29 cents a gallon now...  as for music it’s harder to get people’s attention now, it’s not like when you had to read reviews, decide if you wanted to spend your money based on word of mouth, make a commitment and give that record a chance. Now all you have to do is go and click a button and if it doesn’t hit you on a gut level then… bam, yr done. You don’t give it any attention.

Erika:  People still buy vinyl and tapes. I don’t know much about the economics of the larger music industry and I don’t think it much affects bands like us.  But, you know because everything IS free and easy; it is disposable. It can be strangely difficult to get people to even listen to something that is free and in front of them. There’s no personal investment or connection with a band or record before hearing it. It’s “ill check that out” which translates to, I’ll listen to 10 seconds of two songs and then decide if I’m interested or writing it off entirely.

Where can people hear the band, purchase your music or buy those awesome purple Ills T-shirts!?  

You can hear some of our music at sand

http://snd.sc/11Sdz2q

Our 7” Ep Get It should be out in May. It should be able available from: Shake! Records, http://www.experienceshake.com/  and NFT, http://www.nofrontteeth.co.uk/merch.html  

You can get the shirts, our old 7” and our newest one (soon) at

https://sites.google.com/site/theillsrock/home/stuff

What’s next for The Ills?  Any tour plans?

Getting ready to record our 2nd album! Writing the third! We plan to hit the road soon for our EP and 1st LP that should be out on Big Neck Records this summer!

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