HEY PUNKS N SKINS!!! CHECK THIS INTERVIEW WITH RAT CITY RIOT!!
1. First of all, could you tell us about your band? When was
it formed?
- Rat City Riot was formed in 2002 out of a few San Diego bands who had just broken up... A few of us were standing around outside a local music venue and I pretty much just said "we should get something going" and we did.
2. Who are in the lineup?
- Currently the linuep is Noah (me) on Vocals, Gavin on Drums, Andy and Kevin on Guitar, and we are looking for someone to step in on Bass. We have a European Bassist for tours, but need a guy at home full time to take over.
3. As a band, who/what are your influences?
- Myself personally, I listened to a lot of Harcore growing up, and some streetpunk and psychobilly/Rockabilly. Bands that come to ind are Sick of It All, Madball, Agnostic Front, The Trouble, and Pressure Point, just to name a few. Can't forge the Ramones and Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard too!
4. Does the band's name have a meaning?
- The bands name came about when our drummer was looking through a skateboarding magazine and saw San Diego as "RAT CITY" from there he wanted to call the band Rat City Rebels, but I thought that was too much... and we settled on RIOT. Later on we found out that the Unions in SD called it Rat City as well because of the lack of support.
5. How many albums does the band have?
- Demo, Dirty Rotten Games on Taang! Records, The Open Road EP on Street Anthem Records, Load Up on People Like You records, and Better Than Nothing on I Hate People Records... so thats 5 if you count our demo.
6. Please describe the sound of your band to those who are not familiar with you guys.
- I always hate this question- I can tell you what I've been TOLD if thats ok? ... and that would be either a mix between Black Flag and ACDC, or Anti-Heroes mixed with Sick of it All.
7.Are there any important messages behind your songs? and tell us about martyrs and saints song?
- All our songs are about day to day life, personal troubles, love, or whatever is currently going on in the world. Martyrs and Saints was a clever way to name drop a few of our friends' bands in the lyrics....but mainly is saying we are the ones who are sacrificing for what we love, but that doesnt make us "angels" or saints. Live the life, not the lifestyle.
8. Tell us about the scene over there.
- The San Diego Scene has an eclectic mix of bands...some good, some bad.... some terrible. As for the people in it- the punk scene is going stronger than ever thanks to the Pirate Punks booking a lot of shows and Rob from a band called The Strikers booking a lot of bigger Rockabilly, Psychobilly and Hardcore bands. The last big show I saw that he booked was THE CRO-Mags and it was awesome. All it takes is DIY efforts and bands to take care of each other.
9. How many gigs has the band had? Tell us about the best and the worst gig you've played.
- I have no idea anymore how many gigs we've had...usually our tours last a couple months and we have very few days off- We've toured for 6 months straight in the past... now im curious, I may have to try and figure this number out somehow. Worst show ever was on this last European tour in France. We showed up in the dead of winter to a freezing club and had to load down a tiny staircase into a basement (also freezing) and several of us were very,very,very sick. I was sitting on a table with a hot water kettle plugged in to keep warm while the guys set up and soundchecked. I was so sick I was going to go on stage wearing my jacket and cold weather gear. After awhile, we had dinner and relaized that the club hadn't promoted the show, and only one person showed up. We decided not to play, and loaded BACK up the little staircase and back into the freezing cold to load the van. Then had to drive 8 or 9 hours the next day. that sucked.
10. Have you had any problems organising gigs there?
- Not usually, worst thing for us is trying to get work covered for out of town trips. For tours, getting time off approved can be hard but usually we make it work- or use a fill in person. We dont cancel shows/tours unless theres no other option.
11. Have you guys ever been invited to play abroad? Which countries do you guys want to visit?
- We have toured Europe 5 times, and the UK once... I want to go to Brazil, Australia, Chiona, Japan, and of course Indonesia!
12. Have you heard about The Indonesian scene? Yes!
- I have recently been checking out the scene there and checking out bands... I ended up in Bali on vacation and am regretting not bringing a bunch of RCR records to give away!
13. What record label is the band signed to?
- I Hate People Records (Germany)
14. What are the bands short term and long term plans?
- Short term= world domination. Long term= world domination. haha.... ok so basically we want to tour as much as we can. Play as many cities, and Countries as we can, and make friends all over the world.
16. Do you have any comments for webculture zine?
- Keep up the good work, Spread the word about the music scene and stay United.
WEBCULTUREZINE
1.First of all, could you tell us about your band? When was it formed?
- The band was originally formed in 1982 in the days in England when pubs used to close for the afternoon. Some friends had been drinking in the pub and had to find something to do to keep them occupied until the pub reopened. They decided to make music to pass the time, The Hotknives was born.
2. Who are in the lineup?
- The line-up of the band is Mark Carew - lead vocals/bass, Clem - drums/backing vocals, Stuart Brown - guitar/backing vocals, Richard 'Bosky' Allen - keyboards/vocals
3.Does the band's name have a meaning?
- Hotknives is a way of smoking cannabis. There were lots of people doing this around the time that the band was formed and so the band name was inspired by this.
4. As a band, who/what are your influences?
- We have many influences, predominantly Jamaican ska and reggae, two tone ska, punk, psychobilly, northern soul, indie and bands such as The Police, The Cure, Blur etc.
We're particularly into songs with strong melodies.
5. Are any of the band members working with other bands on any projects?
- Mark is the lead singer and double bass player with psychobilly band - The Long Tall Texans; he also plays bass with the Astro Zombies. Stuart sometimes works on projects on Cuban music in Cuba. I'm going to be working on a project in the future with a couple of guys from my previous band - Too Many Crooks.
6. What do you think about your new album?
- We're very happy with our new album. It's had some very positive reviews and we feel very lucky to still be listened to in the ska scene after a 10 gap from our previous album.
7. Did you feel something different about your new album that you didn't feel about your last album?
- About Time was going back to the roots of the band with some of the songs. We worked with a producer - King Glover - who we hadn't worked with before and we're very happy with the sound of the album. I think the dynamics between the happier songs and the more melancholy songs might be more with this album. The engineer who mastered the album described it as schizophrenic!
8. If you were to cover a song, which song would you want to cover?
- We've recorded a couple of covers : - D'yer mak'er by Led Zeppelin on our previous album 'Screams Dreams and Custard Creams'. We also recorded Martha and the Muffins - 'Echo Beach'. We're touring as a package with Mark Foggo in October and we may do a cover of Ian Dury's 'Hit me' for the tour.
9. what do you think about ska scene in the world today?
- It's great that the ska scene is always regenerating and finding its way to new countries, it's a great subculture. It's such an infectious genre of music that you can't help but dance to it.
We play mostly in Europe and we're lucky enough to get to see lots of different styles of ska bands from all over the world.
10 Do you have any plans to tour Southeast Asian countries? Like maybe Indonesia?
- We'd love to tour South East Asia, if any promoters out there are reading this interview, please get in touch. The nearest we've been so far was our tour of Japan in 2008 and we had an amazing time.
11, Any final comments for webculturezine?
- Thanks for the questions, keep on skanking and cheers from England!
WEBCULTUREZINE
1. First of all, could you tell us about your band? When was
it formed?
FRANK;- I formed the band with Pat McVicar and his brother Rob in 1995, we were mates and wanted to make music about our way of life. They are no longer in Superyob but we are still good mates. I have written many Superyob songs with Pat and many myself. To start with Pat and Rob wrote the early songs.
2. Who are in the lineup?
FRANK:- We have had line up changes but now the line up in Superyob is;- me (Frank)- (ex U-Boat, Frankie and The Flames) lead vocals, and keyboards and 12 string guitar on recordings; Dave Hayman- (ex The Concrete Gods) lead and rythmn guitar and backing vocals;
Andy Nicholas- (ex The Gonads) bass and backing vocals;
Micky Fairbairn-(ex The Business) drums
3. As a band, who/what are your influences?
FRANK:- Oi!, Punk, GlamRock and Mod bands, Pub songs and Football chants
4. Does the band's name have a meaning?
FRANK:- Superyob is the name of the guitar used by Slade’s guitarist, and we are big Slade fans, we have recorded a cover of one of their songs. Our name comes from that. In the Uk a ‘yob’ is slang for a bootboy or thug….. so ‘Superyob’ means a big bootboy!.... Our guitarist Dave has bought a custom built ‘Superyob’ guitar and uses it on stage sometimes.
5. How many albums does the band have?
FRANK:- So far 4 albums. 1.‘Aggrophobia’, 2. ‘Machine Guns n’ Alcohol’, 3.Ghetto Blaster’, 4. ‘Quality Street’………… we have also released vinyl singles, a cd ep, compilation tracks etc etc. and recently we re-issued the Aggrophobia and Machine Guns n Alcohol albums plus rare bonus tracks as a cd/ vinyl collector’s package called ‘Double Trouble’…………. And we have just re-released ‘Ghetto Blaster’ album with bonus tracks on cd and vinyl due to the public demand for the records. We are working on our fifth album now, and hope to release it later this year.
6. Please describe the sound of your band to those who are not familiar with you guys.
FRANK:- Superyob’s sound is powerful and melodic, the sound of urban working class reality and force; diamond hard lyrics set to anthemic music- it’s the sound of quality Oi!
7.Are there any important messages behind your songs? FRANK:- Yes, we write songs about the world as we experience it and try to express what we think about issues that affect us as urban working class people; to us they are important issues.
8. Tell us about the scene over there
FRANK:- It’s good in the UK, the scene is stronger again and a lot of bands are playing gigs, and the scene in Europe is big now.
9. How many gigs has the band had? Tell us about the best and the worst gig you've played.
FRANK:- We have played many, many, gigs over the 15 years Superyob has existed, the best gigs include Boston USA with the Dropkick Murphys, and Back on The Streets Festival with Krawallbruder in Germany and Oi! The Meeting and Endless Summer festivals in Germany…. also, shows we have done with the Cockney Rejects ….The worst gig for me personally was in Erfurt, Germany when I had lost my voice and could’nt sing properly- (croak!)
10. Have you had any problems organising gigs there?
FRANK:- There is always a problem with bands like us when it comes to organising gigs ...... the mainstream venues don’t like Oi! bands! No, we don’t really have a problem; as a band we only work with people we trust for promoting gigs. Some places won’t put on Oi! gigs, so we have to be selective with venues and promoters. But there are some very good venues here for our scene.
11. Have you guys ever been invited to play abroad? Which countries do you guys want to visit?
FRANK:- Yes we have been invited abroad many times. Of course we have played many venues in the UK….. Outside the Uk we have played in Scandinavia- (Norway, Sweden, Finland), Europe- (Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, Czech republic) and the USA- Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Boston, Buffalo, New York, (Ithaca); New York (Albany); New Hampshire, Delaware, New Jersey. We will play again in the UK and Europe this year and hope to return to Scandinavia and the USA for more shows next year maybe.
12. Have you heard about The Indonesian scene?
FRANK:- We have heard that there is a big skinhead scene in Indonesia, and I have had a lot of contact here with people from the scene there, but we have never played there yet.
13. What record label is the band signed to?
FRANK:- We are signed to Randale records in Germany.
14. What are the bands short term and long term plans?
FRANK:- Short term and long term we hope to get better at what we do; keep playing shows, making records and videos and celebrating the scene! Also we try to support newer bands by putting them on our shows if we can.
16. Do you have any comments for webculture zine?
FRANK:- Greetings to you all from us in Superyob. Keep the faith! Cheers! Franky
WEBCULTUREZINE
