Interviews

Bouncing Souls

Interview with Bryan on Nov 30, 2000 by Archive Bot

This interview was done via email with Bryan of The Bouncing Souls. The Souls new album "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" will be released on May 22, 2001. For more info and the latest tour dates check out www.bouncingsouls.com. 

PB: The Bouncing Souls is a creative name............... what's the meaning behind it?
BS: I took it off the back of my Doc Martens boots. They have a tag in the back that says: "with bouncing soles", but it's all about the "Soul" for us, so....... there ya go. I was a crazy skinhead in my younger days and Docs were a scared boot back then. Later I learned that nothing is sacred.

PB: I know that you guys are originally from New Jersey. Where are your favorite hang outs when you're around?
BS: No whenever I go back to Jersey, it's to visit "Kate Is Great" down at the beach. Our label, Chunksaah Records is pretty much run by our beloved Kate (Is Great) who lives in Asbury. There's now an office of sorts for Chunksaah Records and me and The Pete sometimes go down there to do mail-order stuff with Late and hang at her house. Our friends Matty and Wig also now have a business there printing shirts for bands, it's called DogWig Printing so we all hang in Asbury sometimes.

PB: Would you prefer to get around by riding one of your BMX's or driving a car? What kind of bikes do you have..... and how often do you ride?
BS: I tell ya, I am now a mutli-vehicle guy. I have my good ol' Redline BMX, but now I have a 1977 (punk!) Honda 550. So I fly all over the city on a motorcycle too. As long as I got some kind of whells under my feet I feel better, walking seems to damn slow!

PB: What is it like on tour with The Bouncing Souls? What do you do on your off days?
BS:An off day usually just means we're driving all day actually so we don't get that big of a break from the routine. It's always exciting if we have some need to go to like a giant Walmart or Big K.  Just walking around one of those places like "we need this right? hey lets go get this! yo we need that!", and just being retards and bumming lives in middle-America. Giant truck stops are fun too. Everytime we stop driving, like every four hours or whatever, people just file out of the truck and do the "zombie walk" around the aisles of junk food, then everyone gets in and we have a "chip party". Theres like five different kinds of chips, the newest Doritos flavor, some shit like "Flavor Rush", Lays chips or whatever, then all the drinks, coffee, sometimes we got beef jerky, it's really kind of foul. By this time a couple people are always stoned as hell, which makes the scenario so much more fun (we smoke out the vent while the truck is moving). We have rituals like these throughout the day. They add up to just ways of passing time. Sometimes everyones together, other times people do their own thing. I go off and stretch and do some kung fu to keep in practice and in shape. Everyone has walkmans and lays in their bunks listening to their own music, two people up front driving, listening to totally bad retarded shit on the radio cuz we have no tape deck, wearing "Ambervisions" we bought at some truckstop, looking silly! At night after the show most of us usually get drunk and watch stupid shit on TV at some hotel room, sometimes we go to a bar or something after the show or just hang around the club and party, sometimes we split right away and drive.

PB: Epitaph is one of the scenes bigger labels. What's it like being on a big label, and how has it effected you guys as a band?
BS: It feels the same as it did when we worked with BYO, it's not so big I can't call the president of the label and tell him exactly how I want to do things with my band. As they say in their own words, they work for the bands and no the other way around. That makes all the difference, we call all the shots. The people there are all super-cool and really chill. There's a good vibe there!

PB: Are The Souls fans or opponents of Napster and why? It seems like the line in split evenly between many bands? What are your feeling?
BS: Napster is cool, I think it's fine but there is some truth to the concept of hooking up bands somewhere down the line cuz it is their shit. But, it doesn't matter to us either way. We never think abou it. I'm rooting for any and all music saturation on the internet, it evens out the playing field and screws the old system up, where no one could get their shit out there without some major label signing them.

PB: Were any of you in bands prior to The Bouncing Souls? How did the band start?
BS: It was always me and Pete doing covers and shit together, but The Souls was the first real band we ever had.

PB: How hard do you find it to carry on a relationship wihile on tour?
BS: I tell ya, it takes a special kind of lady. My girl is so into her independance that she actually likes to get rid of me. Still, when the tours are really long it's rough, it's hard to maintain a sense of any homelife at all. We start to miss each other and I feel bad and she resents the whole thing but hey you know, it's the band first, I hate to say it. Like I said, it takes a special kind of lady. She knows the deal, and is cool with it and still wants to be with me, and we've developed a pretty smooth routine to it.

PB: Who makes up The Bouncing Souls?
BS: I'm Bryan, I play bass, The Pete plays guitar, Greg sings, and Michael hits the drums. 

PB: As you know the "boy bands" are trying to take over the world. What are The Bouncing Souls going to do to help me prevent this from happening?
BS: Slingshots! We can take out their eyes with slingshots.

PB: Do you hang out with other bands from the label or scene?
BS: I think this is a question where if I started naming bands, I would forget someone or some shit and piss someone off. This is the same reason we don't list band thanks on our records. However, most bands we tour with or have ever toured with become our circuit of friends. A bond develops I can't describe, but we have so much in common with a lot of people in bands, cuz we live the same strange and crazy life! So yes, it's like a worlwide circuit of friends actually.

PB: What's the most memorable experience you have as a band member with The Souls?
BS: Aaagghhh, this is another question like: "what's your favorite song?" or "what's your favorite band?". These years of Bouncing Souls life sorta have blended into one big memorable experience. It's been a lotta crazy shit, you'd have to get me talking like flow-of-consciousness with a couple friends and a joint, then all kinds of insane stories would come out. Actually, speaking of that, our friend and merch-guy Rob Santello is releasing a book soon on Chunksaah with all the stories from tour. You can check out the info at www.bouncing souls.com.

PB: What can we expect to hear on your new album, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation?" Is it different than the rest? If so.... how?
BS: To me, I think it's the best record we've ever done. It's everything we've learned along the way, good stuff and mistakes. It rocks harder and sounds better, there's not a bad song on it. It starts off with a kickass old school-like-7 seconds hardcore-a-la-84 four chord rocker about music and feeling good. I'll give ya some lyrics: (first song/first lyrics) "I put the record on just to make a sound, the rythm hit it got my movement off the ground...... the soundtrack to what I want to be, it I wanna change the world, it's gonna start with me....".

PB: Please tell me things about The Bouncing Souls that no one else knows?
BS: Uhhh, lets see..... Pete has scabies, I think in like 91.... also a lethal case of foot fungus which he gave to me on so many tours (same shower) Hmmmm..... McDermott played with Mephiskapheles, Skinnerbox, NYC Ska Mob, Stubborn All-Stars, Murphy's Law..... I have two reconstructed knees which I shredded skating vert. Greg surfs whenever he can, so do I but I don't really bother as much. Me and Greg snowboard and we're ok but not that great. Pete is still with his highschool sweetheart, it's over ten years now. In 28 days from now, I will have completed iron palm training, which among other things, entails 100 days of total abstinence from sex, booze, drugs, etc.... I'm about the flip my lid any second now. We all really like Bruce Springsteen, excluding "Born In The USA" and a few other cheezy songs!