The Accidents
Virus: Do you consider yourselves a political band?James: It's a hard question to answer.
Virus: (that's why i asked it)
Brent: The majority of our music is not overtly political, but we're all politically minded to different extents.
Doug: I think we started 50/50 on political, not political, and now I think we're leaning more towards political as we go on.
James: We have some very political songs and ideas. We are very well edumacated.
Doug: Maybe "Socially Conscious" is a better word though, or something regarding to values of society.
Virus: Do you feel there is a certain obligation to DIY punk bands *not* to sign to a major label?
Doug: Ha ha ha, anyone wanna take that one?
Eric: Man I feel dumb.
Brent: I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with signing to a major label as the long as the music and ideals are not sacrificed.
Eric: Agreed.
Brent: Unfortunately, most often bands are not allowed enough creative control and sacrifices are made as a result.
James: I dig the DIY style. I don't want some record company CEO bustin my nuts about what music I have to make, and how much of it. I'm in it for the music.
Eric: Just because the money is more doesn't mean the music has to suck more.
Doug: I agree with Brent, I definitely respect bands like Against All Authority and The Dead Kennedies that don't, but at the same time, there's some bands that went to a major and did not sell themselves out.
Virus: Do you as a band lean more toward the DIY ethic?
Doug: As for us, I think I'd like to stay DIY, if it doesn't break us up.
Brent: Definitely.
Eric: For sure.
Doug: Like what James said. We used to throw pirate shows in the basement of a foreclosed house for a couple months.
James: I say, if someone wanted to pay me, and distro my music and that is it. It's all good. That will only come from DIY.
Virus: What do you hope to achieve with this band?
Brent: Rock stardom, lots of drugs and groupies...
James: I just want people to be excited about OUR music.
Eric: Ya.
Brent: Seriously, though, it's hard to say.
James: I want to spread our name and our ideas.
Doug: I'm just in it for the rush I get everytime I see someone in the crowd that into our sound, and I'd like to piss off as many people as possible along the way.
Eric: I want to have people come up to me after shows and just say how amazing it was to see us play..like people do with other "bigger" bands.
Virus: What are you guys up to now?
James: I work and do the band, we are getting ready to saddle up for our tour.
Eric: Work.
Doug: We're setting up a west coast tour from May 25th thru June 27th.
James: Playing some local shows as well.
Doug: Also recording a new CD, which I think, is still gonna be called Dystichiphobia.
Eric: Mainly we write songs and are trying to re-record our last CD.
Brent: We're in the process of recording a new CD with some of the songs from "Pull Out!!!!!" and a bunch of new ones as well.
Virus: How is songwriting handled within the group?
James: Improve.
Doug: Yeah, a lot of it starts with Improv.
Eric: Definitely. We each come up with our own ideas and then just go off of that.
James: Then add structure to that. Basically freestyle, and keep the good beats.
Eric: Lyrics wise that's up to Dougie.
Doug: There's some though that one guys walks in with an idea and we all just add to it, like a new song, "Priorities" that started with Eric's sax line.
Brent: Generally, somebody comes up with a riff, then everybody kind of builds form there, adding in suggestions for structure along the way.
Eric: Every once in a while somebody in the band will come up with something they want to build off of.
Virus: Who are your favorite local bands to play shows with?
Doug: Dibs on Special Ed!
James: Boondoggle and Special Ed.
Brent: The Disasterbators.
Doug: The Fidgets.
Brent: Donny Bean.
Eric: Meh.
Eric: Special Ed!!!
Brent: Doug already said Special Ed.
James: Bitch.
Virus: I take it you all really like Special Ed?
Brent: Yes. Three piece Queers/Ramones/early Green Day kinda thing.
James: Hell yeah.
Doug: Yeah we have a blast with those guys.
Brent: They are a very good band, and they make us drink.
Eric: Hahaha.
Brent: A lot.
Virus: Favorite local clubs?
James: Chess club.
Brent: The Roxy was good for a little while.
Doug: Well, we used to love playing at The Roxy but the owners are all shady morons, so that's '86d.
Eric: The Raven's aaalllllright...
James: I liked the Roxy.
Doug: I guess at this point my favorite is the mountain town bars like The Goat and The Back Alley.
Eric: When there's people there, The Goat is awesome.
Brent: The Raven would be good if the entire crowd didn't consist of about 20 14 year olds.
Doug: It's really hard to get a good turnout in any major cities in Colorado.
Brent: The Goat is great.
Eric: Colorado's ska scene sucks.
Doug: But we have a lot better luck in small towns, ironically, though we always expect to get jumped after we play, lotta hicks out there.
James: Yeah. We are 1 of 2 ska bands in our neck of the woods.
Eric: Enthused.
James: ...
Brent: After making fun of them all night, I'm surprised we haven't gotten run over by a huge, lifted Ford truck.
Doug: Ha ha ha
Eric: Ha ha ha.
Doug: Or a black IROC.
Brent: Shutup bitch, it's not an IROC.
Virus: What are you guys listening to right now?
Eric: Capdown.
Brent: Capdown, yeahhhh.
James: Skoidats and James Brown.
Doug: Square Roots.
Eric: Motherfucka watch you know about some James Brown??
James: I feel good bitch, so sit down.
Doug: He don' know Karate but he know Ca'razy, actually, he's asian so he probably does know karate.
Eric: ...
James: Sex Machine.
Doug: ha crazy ha ha, Eric, James just trumped yo' ass.
Eric: ?
Doug: This one show, we opened for this band called Soul Fed Joe.
Brent: Eeh.
Doug: We were brought in because the owner thought they were like a rock act, but they were total redneck blues/country cover band.
Virus: Haha.
Doug: ...and the turnout showed it. So there's all these shaved head goatee mother fuckers and old trailer chicks everywhere, and we're up there goin "Smash The Pig! Smash The Pig!"and gettin glared at, and we see a couple people bouncin their heads around like they're makin fun of the moonstomp beat.
Virus: That must have been hell.
Brent: Yeah, and we talked about hicks fucking goats.
Weird Story Time...
Doug: So we played one of our darker heavier songs (most of them are) and then after words...
Eric: Finish your thought Doug.
Doug: ...I said something like "Yeah so we're a ska band, but I'd like to see any of you glam-rocking-kiss-humping-pussies try and top that" or something. Apparently they're kind of sensitive about that issue.
Eric: Oh ya
Doug: And it got all quiet as shit
James: lol
Virus: Hahaha
Doug: We also missed our set at a Christian venue because we were drinking in the parking lot...
James: Yeah, it was a "don't have sex until your married" [benefit]. We have songs about fuckin goats and jerkin off!
Doug: Those guys are fucking loony man.
James: It would have been glorious!
Doug: That's the best part of that Christian show.
Eric: I guess people wanted to hear us that night though.
Brent: Yeah, weird, eh?
Doug: It was a benefit for abstinence, and of course our first CD is called "Pull Out!!!!!" with a guy holding a dripping torn rubber in his hand. Which, of course, was on display.
Virus: Of course!
James: We would have gotten stoned afterwards by angry Christians.
Eric: Hahaha.
Virus: Oh gawd.
James: Those assholes.
Brent: The Bikers for Jesus would've kicked our asses.
Eric: Hahaha. The biker\bouncer\security guys.
Doug: Actually, we sold a few copies of it that night too, to little kids that were like 11.