Fuck the Facts [Interview #162]

1)      After being around this long, and with other bands out there now like Fucked Up and Starfucker, do you feel like people still have a problem with your name because of the “profanity”?

I think it’s becoming less and less of an issue.  When we started in 2001, there were bars that wouldn’t have us simply based on our name and people would harass promoters because they booked us, but things like this never happen anymore. It’s pretty amazing that we’ve been brainwashed into thinking that this four letter word is worse than any other word with a similar meaning.

2)      You are a hardcore/metal band.   Do you feel like in some ways Hot Topic is ruining the hardcore scene by promoting bands that aren’t really that hardcore?

I’ve never been to a Hot Topic, so I don’t really know what they’re doing or not doing to ruin anything.  If I got upset about every company that’s promoting music I don’t care for, then I wouldn’t have time to do anything else. I think if you’re focusing more on things that bother you rather than your own happiness and doing what you enjoy, then you’re probably the one to blame for ruining what you love.

3)      What is it like to be a hardcore band from Cananda?  You are particularly heavier than Grade I’d say.

4)       

I don’t know if I would say we’re a hardcore band, but we are a Canadian band and it’s pretty sweet. The donuts are usually pretty fresh and the beer stays cold.

5)      You used to be on Relapse Records back when there was also a band called Haste on Century Media.   Now a days, Century Media is home to Buckcherry.  What’s that all about?

You would have to ask Century Media and/or Buckcherry.

6)      Your music has been described as “mulletcore”, but being from Canada, shouldn’t the proper term be “hockeyhaircore”?

I’ve always referred to that hairstyle as a “mullet”, but I have heard it being called “hockey hair”. I played hockey for a few years when I was a kid and I never had it “business on top and party in the back”, so maybe that’s why I can’t make the connection.

7)      As with a number of your releases, your newest EP “AMER” is available on cassette.  Do you feel that cassettes are the optimal form of musical playback?

Probably not, but I still enjoy the format. When I started getting into this music it was all about tape trading and dubbing your own releases because that was the only affordable format. Now it’s more of a novelty than anything, but I don’t see anything wrong with that. The tapes still come with a download code, so you can still get a more “pure” version if you want and at least you still have the artwork and lyrics right in front of you.

8)      Final thoughts,  plans to tour the U.S., etc…??

We’re going to be playing 3 shows in the US in October. We have the 17th in Clifton Park NY, the 18th in Brooklyn NY and the 19^th in Stanhope NJ. That’s pretty much all we have planned for US dates at the moment, but a larger US tour might happen in 2014.