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Tuesday, December 05, 2006I did an interview for the upcoming tour. Here ya go.1. It would seem safe to say that many of the members of your band never thought this group would last as long and continue to evolve and grow as much as it has. Looking back to when you first started the group, what would have seemed like the farthest that the band could have gone? About half a mile. That's as far as I thought we'd go and that's as far as we did go. We started in a little restaurant in south Austin and right around a year later we played the Austin Music Awards at the Palmer Auditorium about a half mile down the road. 2. From your current vantage point, how far can the band go from here, and in what ways can the group further change and mutate without straying too far from its original intent? Well, the band started out as a side project for most of us. It's the side project that snowballed and turned into a monster that ate up our lives. The "original intent" flew out the window after the first year or so. This band constantly changes, so there's no telling what's gonna happen. 3. The Spankers have been doing what they do for over a decade now, and during that time, many other duos, trios and full bands have embraced the same basic catchall-acoustic-hodgepodge that you guys virtually minted. We seem increasingly to be in the midst of a growing Vaudeville/swing/hokum blues revival. Do the Spankers ever feel at all like elder statesmen of this burgeoning genre, or would it be inherently limiting for the band to even accept such a mantle if it were offered? What's unique about us is that we write original songs that sound like music from the 20s, 30s and 40s. An obvious example is Winning The War On Drugs, it's completely influenced by the song Ghost Riders In The Sky, which was written in 1948. However, the words are obviously steered toward a more modern theme. The elder statesmen of our musical style are folks like Spike Jones, Fats Waller, Blind Blake and Bessie Smith but we pull our influences from everywhere. 4. You guys seem to live fairly frugally while on tour. How has life on the road for this band changed since you first ventured beyond the confines of Austin? Would you describe the touring lifestyle at your band’s level as comfortable? The older I get, the less comfortable it becomes. I love travel, I love the road but this is a hard life. We travel in vans for an average of about six hours every day. Somedays it's two hours, sometimes it's twelve. We unload the vans, set up the stage, check the mics, choke down some food and then the fun begins. The people show up, the beer starts to flow, we get to play music and they actually pay us to do it. Not much but enough to keep ourselves alive. Then we pack everything back into the vans, drive to the hotel and unload everything into the rooms. The next morning we load everything back into the vans, slam down some breakfast and it's back on the highway. 5. What’s the single biggest (or most common) misconception that you find people have about the band? Some folks find it hard to realize that we're real people. We have good moods and bad moods just like anyone else. Some people get offended if we don't drop everything we're doing and stand on our heads for them. Now don't get me wrong, we have lots of great fans. It's just that some people think that since you are an entertainer, they have certain privileges beyond simple manners and decency. I've had people I don't know come up to me and start pulling my hair or whacking me on the back while I'm trying to eat my dinner. I'm serious. One guy smacked me on my back like I was his old high school buddy while I was trying to swallow a bite of linguini. I nearly choked to death and it didn't even phase him. He kept on getting in my face like nothing was wrong. I could have stabbed him in the forehead with my fork. If the jury had smelled the cologne stink that followed him around like a lost puppy, I would have been acquitted. He smelled like Ralph Lauren had just vomited on Calvin Klein. Of course I'm guilty of the same thing. I was a huge Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper fan and after one of their gigs I smacked Skid Roper on his bicep a little too hard. He wasn't even looking in my direction at the time but he turned and looked at me as if he was about to pull a razor from his boot. I felt like a douche but it was a good lesson. Even though you know who a performer is, you are still a stranger to them, so it's wise to show them the same courtesy you would offer to any stranger. 6. What’s the single worst gig the band has ever played, and why was it so awful? We've played a lot of shitty gigs but the worst was probably the one in Williamsport, Pa. It was so over the top horrible that one of the other band members and I got really close to killing each other out of sheer frustration. If I say any more, I'll start replaying the entire nightmare in my head. Another horrible gig was Fishcreek, Wi. These all happened back when we used no microphones or amplification. Every once in a while we'd play a place where the audience just didn't get it en masse. 7. It appears that all of the members of the group contribute in some way to the songwriting process, which gives the group a rather unpredictable nature and an off-kilter repertoire. Tell me a bit about what sort of process (if any) is utilized to ensure that there is a cohesive thread or feel that runs through such disparate contributions, so that everything comes out “appropriately Spankerized.” Christina and I are the song filters. If we think a tune doesn't match the band's style or if it isn't irreverent or funny enough, we tell the songwriter in the cruelest way possible. Usually by making them sit in front of the class in their underwear and taking turns poking them with pointed sticks. 8. Are there any hard and fast rules to being a Spanker that members dare not break on pain of torture? Every morning each Spanker has the choice of doing a shot of whiskey, a bong hit or being the band's sex slave for the day. Some of the guys like to do all three at once so they can have a couple of days off. Sometimes the rookie members will complain a little but when Christina puts on her prison guard uniform, they know she means business. Nevada (guitar) likes to dress like Boss Hog. Scott (drums) is more into the Tarzan/Conan thing, actually he likes anything that ends in "an." He'll come down from his hotel room covered in marzipan and flan. Sometimes he dresses as Uzbekistan. It's really hard for him to get in the van in that outfit. Sometimes he actually dresses as the van, then one of the guys will eventually try to drive Scott around. That's always good for a laugh. As for me, I like the simple things. You know, wearing my Burl Ives as Frosty the Snowman outfit and my raw veal boxer briefs. The same kind of stuff everyone does. 9. What is it about old-time Americana music that you find so appealing as a musician? As a listener? I think a lot of old-time American music shares an esthetic similar to punk rock. I'm a huge fan of what they used to call "race records", they have a do it yourself/ride the censors aesthetic that feels like underground stuff from later decades. 10. You shrugged off your metal roots once you were exposed to punk through the Sex Pistols. Now you channel that energy through music that’s much, much quieter, but no less intense (and maybe more intense, in fact). Tell me a bit about the similarities you’ve found between the attitude and musicality of punk rock and that of the type of anachronistic, acoustic tunes the Spankers are known for. I never shrugged off my metal roots. Hell, I bought The Essential Judas Priest CD on the last tour. I became enamored with punk rock and new wave in 1979 but that doesn't mean I stopped listening to Black Sabbath. I tuned out from metal when all of the Mtv hair bands showed up. At the time it was the antithesis of my Scratch Acid/Butthole Surfers/X/Black Flag/Dead Kennedeys mentality. Now I've gone back and watched all of those cheesy 80's hair-band videos and I fuckin' love 'em. My favorite TV show is Metal Mania on VH1 Classics and without a doubt, the funniest metal video ever made is Dokken's "Breaking The Chains." It's the Citizen Kane of unintentionally gay metal videos. 11. This band has something of a reputation for being brazen, satirical and blunt when it comes to political or social commentary. Is there ever any concern that the members’ political or societal views will have a negative impact on audience’s appreciation of the band’s songs? Conversely, is there any fear of the band becoming popular for the wrong reasons, and being seen as more of a snarky novelty act than as a dedicated group of ace musicians and songwriters? There's nothing wrong with novelty. I don't see us as a novelty band but sometimes we get lumped into that category by the press. We're a band that plays all kinds of music with all kinds of influences, that's why we often get described as "genre defying." I like that, you can't pin us down. As far as audience members that don't like the views we express, they are welcome to ask for their money back, as long as all forms are filled out in triplicate and signed in blood. As a matter of fact, they are welcome to drive their hummers off a cliff. We're not going to pull any punches to make the shows safe. The only safe Spanker shows are the ones we do specifically for children. 12. The group plays at such low volumes that you’re known for insisting on quiet, respectful crowds – simply so everyone can hear and enjoy the show. I’m told that virtually everywhere you go, the audiences readily get into the spirit of the event and focus their attention on the stage. How difficult is it to get that sort of concentration and respect out of crowds in 2006, most of whom are more accustomed to loud, chatty rock concerts? It's not too hard. We played without amplification for ten years. In that time we learned some tricks into getting folks to concentrate on the show. We finally had to break down and start using mics, the audiences and venues eventually got too big for everyone to hear. 13. Your tongue-in-cheek music video for “Stick Magnetic Ribbons On Your SUV” has gotten worldwide acclaim and airplay on YouTube.com. The song is obviously a poke at shallow U.S. citizens who would rather fall in lockstep and brandish patriotic symbols rather than educate themselves on the harsh realities of our current military conflicts. However, you had to know that plenty of folks would not get the joke, and instead misinterpret the tune to be a swipe at members of the Armed Forces themselves. What sort of response, both positive and negative, have you received from the video and the song? The response has been, for the most part, very positive. There are some nut jobs who have made negative comments on the web but then there have been some nut jobs who have made disturbing comments in favor of the song's message as well. Most people who get irate or verbally violent on the internet are just cowards that hide behind easy anonymity. At the live shows, people come up to me and thank me for writing the words to that song. They laugh and applaud - because the song is funny. That's the bottom line, it's a funny song and a funny video that makes you think twice about the statements your life choices are making toward the war, oil issues, etc... Every once in a while someone will storm out of a show or tear up one of our bumper stickers, that's cool too. It's still a relatively free country. 14. This show you’re playing in Savannah is actually inside of an historic American Legion Post, and in fact, it’s the home of the legendary Mighty 8th Air Force. In all your travels, have you ever played in such a venue before? We've played American Legions in the past. All of the folks have been really nice. They are one of the few places we've played where the majority of the audience can keep up with me, beer for beer. 15. Do any of the band members have immediate family members or close friends serving in the war, and if so, what sort of an impact has that made on the band’s attitude on the current conflicts? I think no one in the band has any family members in Iraq or Afghanistan at the present time. We certainly have veterans in our immediate families and one current Spanker is an honorably discharged US Navy veteran. We have some friends over there though. We get emails from the troops abroad, thanking us for the song. Plus, we've met quite a few folks who have come back from the war. Lots of them thank us for the song and tell us stories about how messed up everything is over there. It's overwhelming sometimes, our current administration has really screwed the pooch. 16. What can the Savannah audience expect from this upcoming gig? Will you be playing mostly newer material, or will you draw from your entire back catalog? Most of the songs in the current set list span from Hot Lunch all the way to the new kid's record, "Mommy Says No!" That's songs from the last seven years. 17. What’s next for the Spankers? We're working on a musical, I don't want to say much about it because it's still in the writing stage. All I can tell you is it's going to be disturbingly funny. Extra Question #1: What albums have the band been listening to lately on the road? We travel in two vans. One van is the quiet, neat van. One van is the loud, messy van. I can only attest to what gets played in the loud, messy van. The record we've listened to most as of late is Patton Oswalt's comedic masterpiece, Feelin' Kinda Patton. It's one of the funniest records I've ever heard. He goes right up there with Bill Hicks in my book. He just came to Austin to record a live album and the whole band went out to see him perform. He's a genius, a true force of nature and he's gut-bustingly funny. Other than that, we listen to everything, AC/DC to Zutty Singleton. Actually, I just checked my iTunes and it's 2Pac to ZZ Top. Numbers have replaced A as the first letter. Extra Question #2: What’s the best part about being an Asylum Street Spanker? Not having to rape the environment, rob, screw over or kill anyone to make a living. Plus we get to spank people on stage and the drinks are usually free. posted by Wammo at 5:42 AM
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