Interviews

Superdrag

Interview with the whole band on Nov 30, 1999 by Archive Bot

This interview was done August 8th, 2001 outside of the Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA. I would like to thank Superdrag for meeting with me, Kristen from Midnight Feeding for setting up the interview and Darren and Ben for their help. 

PB: Do you want to introduce yourselves and what you do for the band?
Don: I'm Don, I'm the drummer.
John: I'm John, I'm the guitarer.
Sam: I'm Sam and I'm the bassist.

PB: So, I know your first two albums were put out on a major label and that your last release "In the Valley of Dying Stars" was on an indie label. What was that transition like for you guys?
Don: Well, it really wasn't that big of a deal. It took a long time because of our little battle with the label, with Elektra. But we've known Greg, he put out a 7-inch for us a long time ago, he's the guy that runs Arena Rock. So as soon as we got off we just called him up on the phone and said hey, we got half a record, when we finish it will you put it out? and he said sure. That's all there was too it really.
John: It was a big relief I think. It's nice to be able to do what you want to do and not have to be told otherwise and not have to sit around for months on end and wait for somebody to tell you its OK to go on tour. I mean that's how really wanted to do it in the first place. It got harder and harder just to do that. So, I think we've been a lot happier with the whole situation. It's a way of doing things that we feel more comfortable with.

PB: So, aren't you guys preparing to release a 4th full length, and are you demo'ing the songs or what's going on with that?
John: Well, right now we've probably got 16 or 17 new things, which would be more than enough for a record. So now we're in the process of trying to beat some of the ones we already have so we can kind of narrow it down to 12 or 13 songs. The last couple months we kind of took a break from touring, we've been doing some demos, doing some writing and doing some beer drinking.
Sam: And some rocking.

PB: Are you going to be releasing a Japanese EP sometime soon?
Don: It's already out, in Japan anyway.
Sam: It will probably be out here in the states, we'll have a different version of it probably in September.

PB: And what's that titled?
Sam: Greetings from Tennessee.

PB: Isn't that where you guys are from?
Sam: Yeah, and the cover is like one of those corny 50's postcards.

PB: Like with a map and everything?
Sam: Yeah.
John: Well, we ran into some problems. There is kind of a communication barrier dealing with the folks in Japan. I mean they were super nice and they took us over to play some shows and that was great. But, the biggest problem we had was we got the EP done and they wanted to mix it. So we finished it at our studio in Knoxville and sent it to them and they sent the mixes back and it kind of sounded like Billy Idol. It was like bad 80's reverb on everything. So we weren't satisfied with that, so we kind of got into a little hassle with that. So we redid it ourselves. So, there will be some copies pressed in Japan that will have the bad 80's reverb, which is unfortunate. But you know, we kind of learned the hard way you don't send your record across the globe and let some dude mix it that probably can't even read the track sheet. Actually, most of the people that we met there spoke English.
Sam: Spoke English when they wanted to.

PB: Do you plan to continue your relentless touring after recording your next album?
Don: Oh yeah. We like our van.
John: We like spending a lot of time in it.

PB: Has touring ever been a problem with any current or former members of the band?
John: Well, our old guitar player Brandon, he was in the band pretty much from square one. It was a problem for him. I don't know if he couldn't do it or just wouldn't do it or what. Either way he just pretty much refused to go on tour again after we got our record done. It's pretty unrealistic to think that you could put a record out and not tour and exprect anyone to care about it. So we just, there was one point that we had another guy out, Willie T, like when we were out here last summer, he was with us. And then he has like two or three other bands, so, for the last year or so we have been traveling around as a three piece and there are certain things about that that we like better. It's just a little bit more efficient, there are no vegetarians, no wine drinkers. So everything's pretty much unanimous which is good. 

PB: What sort of things do you look forward to while out on the road?
Sam: Running into friends. Running into people at our shows hopefully.
John: I'm always just happy meeting kids that like music, people that have the records and are like hey, you know, I've got the records, here I am at the show. Let's rock. That's kind of our whole purpose. Without being on Elektra or a label like Elektra, it's kind of up to us to do a lot of the work and to make people aware of what we are trying to do just by going out and doing it.

PB: I know that awhile back you two of your videos aired on MTV, what do you think of the current videos that MTV is airing?
Sam: They are awesome.

PB: Really, you think that?
Sam: I can't get enough Jennifer Lopez!
John: Everything just runs in cycles, it's kind of like the 80's all over again.

PB: Instead of hair metal we have rap metal?
John: On the one hand you have your totally watered down prefabricated pop groups and then you have your metal bands. It's exactly like the 80's and sooner or later something will happen, some really really great band will get some attention and then all of the other labels will scramble to find the same thing. It's what always happens. That's the cool thing about not being on a major label, because you kind of operate outside of all that. You don't really have to pay any attention to what radio programmers may or may not like or what people, like the label we have been dealing with for the last couple of years, they are pretty much happy to put out whatever we feel like putting out. Which is a good deal.

PB: Are there any bands that you are dying to tour with?
John: The Replacements.
Sam: When they were drinking.
John: Guided by Voices.
Sam: Cheap Trick.
John: That would be hot!

PB: That would be so hot!
Don: Big Star

PB: Didn't you just play a show with them in your hometown? How did that go?
Don: It was great, it was awesome. I was standing in the front row acting like it was the first band that I've ever seen in my life. John: It's always cool to just go see a show and see a band whose songs you have listened to thousands of times. You know every word, every note of every song, you just get psyched. We played and there were people there to see us, but we just wanted to get it over with so we could see Big Star.

PB: What role do you think the internet plays in the music industry today?
Don: It's a great way for kids to find new stuff, a lot easier than going to stores because a lot of the indie records and stuff that is really interesting aren't in stores. It's a great way for a band like us to get our music out there as well because our records aren't always in stores. It used to be that kids that were really into music could only do a zine, now they get on there and make pages for their bands and make up fan clubs and all kinds of stuff. And it makes getting in touch with a band that you really like is a lot easier now than it use to be.

PB: Do you guys use the internet to stay in touch with all your fans?
John: Yeah, we have a message board on our website and it always amazes me that we'll play a show tonight and you go on there tomorrow and there will pictures from the show, there will be the set list from the show, description of all the new songs. I mean it's freaky. Especially for us because when we were growing up and going to see bands there was nothing like that. It kind of takes some of the mystery out of it. You have to mix up the set or people start calling you out and say hey you know they played the exact same set list in Anaheim two nights ago, you have to keep it interesting. Especially in a case like this where maybe some kids will come down from L.A. and maybe they'll be there tomorrow. I think it's awesome. I get a kick out of going on there and looking at what people have to say. And it's usually good things, but I even get a kick out of the bad things. They were shit faced, they sucked, it's funny. 

PB: Didn't two of you get to play "Diane" with Grant Hart of Husker Du? What was that experience like?
Don: We covered the song a long long time ago on a 7inch and we played it periodically through the years as an encore song or something. It was cool to get up there with the guy who really sings it and wrote it, it was a mind blowing experience. I messed up the song.
John: Don's roommate has a band called 30 Amp Fuse and we kind of off and on for five or six years have been playing with him because he has a hard time keeping a band together. For whatever reason, I'm not going to speculate on that. But about once or twice a year he gets in the mood to play a show and when Grant Hart was coming to town he was all over it because Husker Du is his favorite band of all time. So we got on the bill...
Don: And I brought it up to Mike. I just said hey, we know Diane, if you want to do it we'll get up and do it.
John: We got up there and started doing it and I look over at Mike and he just had this shit eating grin on his face. I mean he was like a kid on, you know....
Don: Crack.
Sam: And at the end of it too, Grant Hart walks off stage and he's like, what a treat.

PB: Where do you guys see yourself in the world of rock today?
Don: Well, wherever there is rock music. There aren't a lot of just plain old rock and roll bands anymore and we fit with those that are.
John: We fit in the back seat, next to the antifreeze and tire iron
Sam: And the half used can of oil.

PB: And what's one thing that you want people to know about your band?
Don: Always bring us beer.
John: We just really enjoy it, we just really enjoy what we do. We feel really lucky to have the job that we have. It's kind of what we always wanted to do and I think I can speak for these guys when I say we never really cared about doing anything else and it's kind of an all or nothing kind of deal. We go for it and try to keep it going. This will be fourth record and I feel like when we have ten records we'll have something.