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

Follow @AAmmunition

Mother's Children

     Mother’s Children don’t care what you call them as long as it’s not pop-punk, which I don’t see any danger of that anyway. With influence’s ranging from Nick Lowe, The Raspberries, The Zombies, Sweet and ELO, Mother’s Children craft songs like a gourmet chef cooks fine food. Their last LP, Lemon, was anything but. Instead Lemon is filled with the kind of American meets UK power-pop songs that most bands dream of writing for a single and Mother’s Children filled an entire album them. Mother’s Children don’t like being called pop-punk, but after listening to their songs you may come to agree with one reviewer that they are “Power Pop, with Actual Power.”

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Kenneth James; Singer / Lead Guitarist / Song Writer

Give us a brief history of Mother’s Children? How did you meet? What other bands you have played in and currently do play in?

We’ve been a band since 2008, so about 7 years. I broke up Sick Fits a year prior to do something new with our singer; Michael Hurts. The Million Dollar Marxists; another Ottawa group, broke up around the same time. The ex-Marxists went onto to form the Sedatives and the White Wires, while Tim and Davey went onto join us. It’s been the same fab four up until last year when we got Seiji, the current Average Times bass-player on bass for us. Two of us also back up Ian Manhire from the White Wires in Voicemail. Voicemail has been playing for about two years and has recorded about two albums but hasn’t released anything yet. I played in a version of The Barracudas, for a tour once, which was pretty neat.

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

Kenneth James – Lead Guitar, Vocals

Michael Hurts – Guitar, Vocals

Tim Ostler – Drums

Seiji W. Hewett – Bass, Vocals

How is the Ottawa music scene?  Is it competitive or like one big family?

Well it’s the only music scene I’ve been in, so it’s hard to tell. It’s definitely way better now, than when we started out. I’ve read about how great Ottawa’s bands and scene are lately. It feels like there’s a more positive energy and bigger crowds now at punk/underground shows than there was like 10 years ago. The Ottawa Explosion surely has something to do with that. There aren’t really any bands like Mother’s Children, so there’s no competition. Even if there was, it wouldn’t matter to us, because we just want to make music on our own terms.

What bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

I’m not lying even a little bit when I say that I wanted to be in a band that sounded like The Raspberries, Cheap Trick, The Sweet, The Zombies and T.Rex. I assumed with that mix of influences we’d come out sounding like Supergrass. We even had an organ player in the beginning. Over time, the band developed a more fast-paced, straight-ahead approach, which some people say is called Punk Rock. But those old influences are still very much looming in our songs.

In an interview with AUX, Kenneth mentioned Sparks’ Mael brothers, Nick Lowe, Ray Davies, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Wood as influences. What was about these musicians that drew you them originally?

Sparks for everything. The songs are fun, hook-filled, and occasionally epic. And the lyrics are perfection to me. Just the right amount of weird. Same thing about Ray Davies (the Kinks) and Nick Lowe. Although not as weird; it’s the unique way they are able to throw a story into a simple pop-song that is a major inspiration to how I write lyrics. Lynne and Wood, well you can follow their careers from the Move and the Idle Race who were psych-pop bands, and watch them evolve into the hugely successful Electric Light Orchestra. Quite the musical journey, and the tunes were always top-notch. Another influence to my lyrical writing is John Waters movies. I love just how declarative his characters are. The acting is bad, but the actors speak with such conviction you just have to listen! That’s kinda like our music.

In the same interview with AUX, Kenneth spoke of a very interesting band philosophy “I don’t like pushing my music on anyone, especially since there are just so many bands and varying tastes out there,” he says. “But I’d like people to know how to find us when they’re ready.” One could make the argument, that when a band plays live they are indirectly pushing the band on the fans especially since the only other alternative for the crowd is to step outside the venue to not hear them. Can you elaborate more on that quote?

Yeah, sometimes you’re gonna have to listen to bands you hate, and sometimes you’re gonna BE the band people hate. I guess I’m just a sensitive “artiste.” I’d rather stay underground than be shrugged off by a cold, indifferent public. Yet I refuse to make the music that the public wants to hear, HA! I sometimes feel we belong in a different, simpler time. As a kid I grew up with the Oldies AM radio station playing all the time, and I never knew that they were “Oldies” until I got older. You are right though. All bands have to push themselves to get anywhere, especially when they’re just starting out. When you make music that isn’t the accepted norm, sure, you get creative satisfaction, but the fallout is a lot of folks just won’t care, and that can sting. We prefer to play small venues and house shows. I feel they have a more open-minded and fun vibe going down. If the crowd is up-front and responsive it’s the best thing in the world. If they’re not, I kind of feel foolish. I think we come off as kind of reserved compared to some of the bands we play with. Running around the stage or being super intense just isn’t our thing. I just want to sound good. So yes, you must go outside your comfort zone a little bit if you’re gonna blaze your own trail. A LOT if you’re gonna try to change anything for the better.

In an interview with 53^rd and 3^rd, the band didn’t really seem to enjoy being labeled power-pop, but then at the end it was stated “Call it anything you want really, just don’t call it pop-punk,” which begs the question, why not pop-punk?

HAHA! I guess we don’t leave a lot of options for ourselves do we? I dislike labels, but I understand it’s important to be able to categorize bands. I’ll accept “Power-pop” as a title. Our music is certainly heavy on both those things. Someone once said in a review; “Power Pop, with Actual Power,” which was great. I love Punk Rock, it’s truly thrilling. I have hundreds of punk albums and we play with punk bands all the time. We get a kick out of playing fast and loud, but I just never felt the music we were making was punk music. I guess I just don’t wanna set the wrong expectations.

What are some things you like about all the digital avenues presented to musicians nowadays (Bandcamp, blogs, blog writers, Facebook, smaller record labels, internet magazines, etc.) to help bands today?  And some things you don’t like?

There’s a lot of shit talk in some places, but all the other stuff is great. There are many web-zines and blogs worldwide who have reviewed us and said wonderful things about our records. There was a time when the only reviews I ever read were in an actual magazine. You used to have to create a website from scratch, with pages and everything. Now we just have a band camp and we make money without really doing anything. We’re not about making money, we just want our music to be accessible, and all the resources you just named are great for that. Small record labels however, are the true heroes. I know how hard putting out records is. Without them we’d be nowhere.

Where can people hear Mother’s Children and what’s next for the band?

HUGE Cross-Europe tour with Calgary’s the Mandates in May 2015!

Our bandcamp has pretty much all the songs. (motherschildren.bandcamp.com) It’s all on vinyl too. Our newest one is on Mammoth Cave Records in Canada (www.mammothcaverecording.com) Resurrection Records in the USA (www.getresurrected.com) and Taken By Surprise in Europe (www.takenbysurprise.net) We just recorded a few new songs this month. There will be a new 45 coming out soon to hold you over until our next full record.

Follow @AAmmunition

Steve Adamyk Band

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Steve Adamyk!

Where is the band from?

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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

Steve – Guitar, Lead Vox

Davey – Guitar, Vox, Keys

Dave Forcier – Drums, Percussion

Seb – Bass, Vox

Dave Williams – Guitar, Vox and more (studio only)

I had read in previous interviews that the band was primarily a vehicle for solo songs you were writing while in the Sedatives? What was the decision to start the band with two other members from the Sedatives especially after that band broke up? Why not move on to find new members?

Sedatives were not my band, by any means. The group wouldn’t have been complete without all four members participating. Plus, Sedatives had a specific sound in mind, and the songs I was writing didn’t really fit into the spectrum of what we were going for anyway.

When Sedatives and my other band, Million Dollar Marxists broke up, I didn’t really have a place to call home for a while. I never really talked about it, but it was a weird time. I’m the type of person that always needs to be focusing on some form of musical outlet. Once my bands ended, the rest of the guys I was familiar with moved on to other projects. I was homeless, so to speak. So, I started writing on my own. It ended up with me asking a few people to help out in the studio with some songs I had, which is much easier to get someone to commit to, rather than starting a whole new band. My intention was never to turn it into a full-fledged deal; I always assumed this would be short lived and I’d start something else up with new musicians. But, this now band, kind of took over.

It’s a big deal to have your name somewhere in the band name. Can you give a little background info on how you came to this decision?  Do you feel there is more pressure on you because your name is the band name?

As I touched on above, I never really expected the first batch of songs to go anywhere. I didn’t think anyone would care, and I wasn’t planning on expanding on it. So, I called it my own name, because, well… that’s all it was. It was never supposed to be a real band. But, the feedback we began to receive was great. Plus, it turned out that everyone involved was interested in playing some shows and taking it seriously. In the end, that resulted in the Steve Adamyk “Band” name change. None of us ever expected to get the attention we’ve received thus far, and had we known, we might have reconsidered and used an actual band name. But, hindsight’s an asshole, and ultimately I don’t really care. The only thing that concerns me is that some people might take it as some sort of egotistical thing, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I really don’t think I’m that important. On top of that, we’re really a band in every respect. I mean, I write the songs, but otherwise I only have 25% of a say in what happens (other than veto power, of course!). So, I don’t exactly feel any sort of pressure, but I think that the name can have both positive and negative effect, depending on the listener. Either way, a good song is a good song, and a good song will get heard. And, if they’re not good songs, then fuck it. We’ll still be playing and recording tunes, regardless of the reception. 

One thing about this band is that you are very prolific songwriter. 4 singles and an LP in 2010, an LP last year and another are already slated for later this year. A lot of bands choose to release an LP or so every couple of years. Why does this band do the opposite?

Just hitting my earlier thirties, none of us are getting any younger. I like to strike while the irons hot. It’s about making the most of it while we still can. I’d actually like to be putting out even more than we have been, in theory. We don’t tour THAT much (that’s going to change soon though, hopefully), so it’s not terribly difficult to write and record punk songs in our hometown. Also, some of these songs I’ve recorded are actually quite old.

List some bands that you feel have a direct influence on your songwriting?

Our influences are a lot of the same old, same old. Mostly, nothing out the ordinary. Only difference being, I try and bridge a few genres of punk together, specifically 70’s power-pop, modern garage and classic punk. It’s funny to me that a lot of people think we’re a pop-punk band. I suppose we are; but it was never really my intention to sound like that. Yeah, I listened to a lot of Screeching Weasel growing up and maybe that’s why it shows? But, for the most part, I’m trying to write power-pop songs with some attitude. I can’t really help how it comes out. A few obscure influences I could reference are a band called The Dogmatics from the eighties, Metal Mike from Angry Samoans’ solo material, Stiv Bators (solo material) and The Carbonas.

  

With the exception of Dirtnap, European labels put all of the band’s releases out. Are the European labels offering to put out releases before any US labels or is the band better known in Europe?

Oddly enough, it’s one of first questions we typically get. The answer’s simple: they were the first people offering to put out our songs. I’d just recently dealt with Ptrash, Red Lounge and Taken by Surprise Records with Sedatives, so when I had new recordings of my solo material, it was mainly just me showing friends of mine “Hey, check out these songs I did for fun” with the response being really positive. The first two singles came out before we had even played our first show (opening for OWTH). When Ptrash told me he wanted to do the “Speed it Up” single, he also asked if we’d be into doing an LP after that. Which, actually, was a real game changer. It went from being a side project to having something that we had to get done. Without that LP we agreed to release, we might not have taken the time to get anything out for a while. That LP ended up paving the road for where we are today.

The band toured Europe in April. How did that go?

If it’s not obvious, touring Europe is amazing. It was our second time over in two years, which ended up better way better than the year prior, which was also incredible. It just made sense to go over and help promote some of our releases that came out in those countries. Some of the best people we know.

How was playing SXSW?

I’ve been to SXSW five times. It’s always a blast. But, I think bands have a skewed perspective of what the festival is. It’s important to have it on paper, I guess. But no one’s getting rich and famous, or “discovered” there. You’ll go, play a show or two, party a whole lot and go home. If anything, it’s just a really great party.

How did you get on MTV’s Ridiculousness? Is Rob Drydek a fan of the band?

To be honest, I’m not sure how it came about, other than someone approaching Dirtnap to use a few of our songs at one point. I’ve never really been given an explanation. My old band had a song on Fantasy Factory years back, so maybe there’s a connection? Likely just a fluke.

50 years ago people use buy music and get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their music for free. How do you think this affects music in any way?

The world’s a pretty twisted place; and if I’ve learned anything, it’s that nothing stays the same. I was just telling my wife that I have a hard time watching those doomsday style movies/shows like “The Road”, because I’m freaked out that something like that will actually happen in our lifetime. Point being, I think artists across the board are hurting, and people are generally looking to cut costs wherever they can. Then there’s the over-saturated market of bands, to the point where people just expect you to play and release music for free. I don’t think there’s really a right or wrong answer to that, and frankly I’m a little undecided myself at times. But, just like anything else, it’s about learning to adapt. I don’t think anyone should feel bad for major labels losing money on the CD industry. If they can’t become creative enough to make their shitty products more appealing, they deserve to be run out of town. But, on the flipside, people often take advantage of an artists will to create “for the love of it”. There’s a happy medium in there, somewhere, is my point.

Where can people hear the band?

You can check us out at www.steveadamykband.com

What’s next?

We’ve got a new album coming out in February 2013, our 3^rd LP, 2^nd for Dirtnap, and we think it’s our best yet. More North American dates to follow in 2013, and Europe this time around as well. Other than that, we may kill each other, but who knows.


 

Follow @AAmmunition

-->