Interview with Uptown Psychos - Enero 2020

Hi, who are you Uptown Psychos and what instruments do you play?

Hello, I’m Roman Gomez I am the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the band. Amongst the group we have Jose Torres on Drums, Andrew Pulido on the contrabass, and Johnny Pineda on lead guitar. 

Uptown Psychos is a Los Angeles based Psychobilly band. We throw many events locally in Southern California and try to keep the scene thriving. 

What is the musical genre of the group?

 To be quite honest we don’t really fit the mold to be labeled as a 100% Psychobilly band, we all play and listen a lot of different music. Our roots are definitely strongly influenced by a lot of early Punk Rock and Psycho/Rockabilly for sure. But I guess If you took a listen to us you’d agree that we have a different style compared to most of the bands in the Psycho scene. 

Why Uptown Psychos as a name?

Hugo Martinez actually came up with the name, he is a close friend of the group. In high school we had a crew/social club whatever you want to call it, and it was called Uptown Psychos. The original singer Jonathan Pinkard and myself decided to start a band after having heard bands like Demented are go, Calavera, and Os Catalepticos. Since we weren’t clever enough to think of a name ourselves we decided that Uptown Psychos was a name good enough for our band. And here we are 13 years later 😂

Where are you from?

Originally from Whittier California. 

But we are all living in different parts of Southern California. Andrew is in Commerce, Jose in Corona, Johnny in Fontana, and I’m now in Riverside. It makes things difficult since we all live apart from each other but we all make it work. 

When did you start playing as Uptown Psychos? That would be September 2007.

Do you have other parallel bands or do you play in other bands?

Andrew: Uptown Psychos, Psycho Demons, Rhythm Reactorz, No Way Jose.

Johnny: Uptown Psychos, Badluck Aces, Rhythm Reactorz, Los Pakololos.

Jose: Uptown Psychos, Sin of the Innocent, She’s a Kreeper, Wrecking Dead, Los Chilaqz.

Roman: Uptown Psychos, Resist and Exist, Corrupted Youth, Hardstride, Rhythm Reactorz, Wrecking Dead, Los Difuntos, Calavera, The Slanderin, No Way Jose, Psycho Demons and The Howlers.  Many more I can’t even remember haha. This is an on going joke for everyone, because I play for everyone and anyone. 😂

Influences? (Musicals, literary, cinephiles, etc.)

My personal influences would have to be Torr Skoog from Kings of Nuthin’ for writing some of the best lyrics and music I have ever heard in my life.

And I would say I am personally influenced by people who seek discomfort, go against the grain. In my opinion say fuck the path of least resistance, nothing has been easy for us as a band. The little we have, we have shed blood, sweat, and tears for. At the age of 16 I was sneaking into bars with a high school identification card, just to play for a group of 8 people. 4 of them being the bartenders and security, the rest being our supportive friends who were there even if we sucked. 

We’ve accomplished a lot of cool things as a band, I believe we have played as direct support or as an opening band for every single psychobilly band I own a record of. And that means the most to me, we do this because we sincerely love the music. I never want to stop doing this because whenever I needed a helping hand, music was my therapy. 

PSA (We still suck.)

Do you have something recorded? Tell us what you have. Are you going to record something soon?

We have only a handful of demos released, but the latest recording we have was done with Raul Cuellar. One of my best friends and favorite engineers. 

You can find it on almost every streaming app Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, xHamster, and I believe Pandora. 

Just type in Uptown Psychos-Had Enough and you’ll run into our music. 

What do your songs talk about?

They used to be about zombies, hotrods with zombies driving, hair grease, spider webs and cemeteries. 😅 

But now after growing up 13 years and living the life I do, and to have seen as much as I possibly can around the world. I’ve decided to start writing more personal songs. I’m currently writing a song about our borders from United States and Mexico. And another song about a friend who’s passed away. Torr Skoog really influenced the way I write, because he made me feel like it’s ok to be personal and write sincere things. Not enough bands do this anymore, and it irks me. 

With whom and where have you played? 

Our first show was at the Slam Theatre in El Monte California. The Henchmen, Goddamn Galows, and Calavera played those events. This was the earlier years of psychobilly. Where everyone actually sounded pretty unique and not like some cookie cutter assorted Meteors sound. 

We have shared the stage with a lot of really amazing bands.

Astro Zombies, Total Chaos, The Quakes, Skitzo, Los Gatos Locos, Nekromantix, and so many more. 

Upcoming events of Uptown Psychos? 

The next show we have lined up will be direct support for Torment in Anaheim. And after that I believe we will be playing with The Psyclocks from Japan. 

To keep updated on those events find us on Instagram: UptownPsychosOfficial, and you can also follow Diabolic Events and Checko Presents for the updates on the Torment and Psyclocks show. 

https://www.instagram.com/uptownpsychos/ 

Are there good bands in your environment?

Yes there is! 

Take the time to look up Radarmen, Uhh Random Bunch, Deranged, Quaranteds, The Vectors, Patient Zero and Spectre. 

And we need your support to help rebuild it! So please help promote our bands and our events. Honestly if you just keep up with our social media pages we will post all of the bands sometime or another. The Los Angeles Psychobilly is on the verge of blowing up again.

End Transmissions... 

HISTORY OF THE KREWMEN by Bello Krewman

Please listen to THE KREWMEN while reading this! Courtesy from Edgar Valencia. 

HISTORY OF THE KREWMEN,  part I

I am writing what I feel deep inside my heart. Not something I make up in my mind. Feel the truth in it and fulfill the prophecy of THE KREWMEN: "THE KREWMEN are not a police or military force nor under control of anyone. We are free undefined beings with a free will and free believe. No-one but a real Krewman will ever understand us."

-

In the beginning there was hate and love divided into two worlds known as heaven and hell. In heaven there was harmony, love and inspiration - in hell pain, hate and the most stupid beings ever. We don't know why, but the stabile system collapsed, known as the "big bang". Some good became evil and some evil became good. No-one knew any more who was good and who was evil. All universes transformed into different realities. ENDLESS WAR broke out. THE KREWMEN used to be the most evil killing machines of the dark lord. When they were ordered to kill enemy soldiers that had surrendered they denied and became outlaws of both sides of the world. The only friends they had were the machines of all kinds. Machines love THE KREWMEN and soon they became the most powerful power in the galaxies. But THE KREWMEN were not interested in power and did not take part in the wars between all those that remained after the big bang.

-

The empires agreed after endless millions of years of war that there must be a central parliament to control the universes. This was the birth of the federal law center that was given the executive power of the interuniversal parliament. THE KREWMEN agreed to become the secret power behind the federal law center that was directly under order of the interuniversal court. The first order to THE KREWMEN was to build a reconnaissance patrol and watch the compliance with the nuclear treaty.

-

We detected an irreversible phase shift when radioactive rays were emitted on Purgatory, first city of hell. THE KREWMEN were ordered to examine this contamination of broken interuniversal law. It led us deep down under ground where lost souls were sitting playing a game: the pain game. The direct order was to destroy this universe. THE KREWMEN denied this highest order by the interuniversal parliament and the interuniversal court. The commanding General Reg McMillan took over responsibility and transformed into the contaminated universe himself by taking part in the pain game. The federal law center defended the decision of THE KREWMEN and riots began to follow. They had underestimated the POWER of THE KREWMEN force. War machines appeared from everywhere out of the dark and took over power of the federal law center. War broke out. But the more enemies THE KREWMEN had, the more other units united with THE KREWMEN. KREWMEN forces had to enter endless battlefields in other universes to reach universe "Earth". "-THE KREWMEN- leave this sector we are to pass this universe.". From everywhere appeared machines (starships) with KREWMEN signature. It was like a storm of machines running for the contaminated universe "Earth" to protect them from being destroyed by the regular armies of the universes. Two third of all KREWMEN died in this battle. But they knew that KREWMEN can't die like the others. We believe in another religion. A real KREWMAN is taken to the next level. Somewhere we couldn't even think of in our wildest dreams. Something we can't understand. Simply another dimension! We are looking forward to meet them real soon.

-

But don't misinterpret THE KREWMEN. We are not good nor evil. The first time we denied an order was because we appraise enemies with fair fighting methods. Second we denied because there were friends in the contaminated universe. Third we only do orders we agree to ourselves!

... to be continued.


One day we will all die. THE KREWMEN will be waiting. This is
just the beginning for us!

=

ADVENTURES OF THE KREWMEN, part II

The Federal Law Center removes a license to life in case of violation to interuniversal law. When someone dies his license to life has to be approved by the federal law center and the person gets reincarnated. When the license had been removed his soul is automatically transferred to the interuniversal court for further decision about its future. There is no prison because a removed license can be burnt in case of continuous crimes against universal law. The soul is then transferred into the neutral zone of eternal isolation where there is no way back out of this black hole.

-

Reg knew, that he had made a tough decision by taking seat at the pain game transferring himself into the contaminated universe called “Earth”. Reg had been serving THE KREWMEN his entire life. Now he was trapped into a situation where the death dealers were making the rules of a game, Reg had to win by all means. Death Dealers deal with souls. Pain is their passion. He looked around into the pale faces and empty eyes of the other players: those, the lost souls were called. Beings that were never registered, living at a hidden place deep down under ground at Purgatory. Suddenly someone joined the game and as Reg looked into his eyes full of fire he knew it was Paul, the son of Satan. They had known each other very well since the early days before the big bang. He knew with Paul on his side, they would win the pain game. But what was Paul’s price? Paul ain’t the man for charity. He is the crowbar when it comes to serious problems. They were surfing together at Surf City and it was Reg who was protecting Paul in his early days from the priests of the holy church that Paul hated more than his meanest enemies. And the pope was recognized as a player in the pain game as well.
-
Paul had lost his empire after the big bang. Same did the pope. So they had agreed to create a game, a place for their empires to survive and immortalize their powers. With the use of atomic weapons inside the universe of the pain game the natural balance between hate and love was destroyed. Every tree and blade of grass functioned as antenna to spread a signal for help that added up to an irreversible phase shift emitted as fire on Purgatory. Love was leaving this place due to the pope not serving love any longer but his interests in his empire. For Paul the pope was not only his natural enemy but now also competitive to the crown of Satan himself. Reg took advantage of the uncertain situation. His son Tony took over power of THE KREWMEN. At the Federal Law Center all licenses of those involved were removed.
-
The main ship to protect universe “Earth” from being destroyed by the regular armies of the universes was controlled by machines only and the neutron bombs they were fired at started to take effect on them. More and more starships followed the call of the interuniversal parliament. Therefore the situation had to be solved soon.
Tony called for the “Undead”, those souls that had been banned in the black holes. Nature let another big bang to collapse the black holes. Endless amounts of trapped souls spread out of nothing and destroyed the church on planet earth. Endless pain fused with endless pain. In a ray of light the sun raised. Love returned to the unholy planet.
Reg and Paul were looking at each other’s eyes, stood up their chairs and left the pain game with the other players left behind in their own grave. No-one survived.
The raw deal between Reg and Paul was to free those isolated in the black holes and free mankind from the evil pope. God and Satan had lost their unholy battle that nature won with the help of THE KREWMEN.

Reg and Paul went to a pub for some drinks, planning to return to Surf City to meet the Surfers from Zorch like in the good old days.

THE KREWMEN had fulfilled their mission ready for the next adventure.

To be continued …

Bello Krewman

Entrevista a The Southern Wolves - Enero 2020

Hi, who are you Southern Wolves and what instruments do you play?

Louie - guitar/vocals

Brandun - electric/stand up bass

Coco - drums

What is the musical genre of the group?

Garage punk/Psychobilly

Why Southern Wolves as a name?

Louie: el nombre viene de las instancias cual este punto cardinal me distingue. Siendo del sur de mi ciudad, de ciudad al lejo sur de Los Ángeles y de ser del sur de California. Lobos porque mis compañeros somos feroz y al igual leal. También en modo de pensar, mejor ser manada de lobos (independiente/libre) que rebaño de ovejas.

Where are you from?

Louie: Santa Ana

Brandun: Long Beach

Coco: Baldwin Park

When did you start playing like Southern Wolves?

Yo inicie la banda con brandun. Tocando cerca la playa de Huntington beach. Después componer suficientes temas buscamos bateristas. Coco es nuestro 3ero.

Do you have other parallel or tested bands from other bands?

Coco: zombillyz y volkanik rockers

Brandun: the Dead Ricardos

Influences? 

Brandun: meteors, Psychobilly old school. Rockabilly, garage and anything that's rocking

Louie: Django Reinhardt, gypsy music, garage punk, the Sonics, the meteors, the Stingrays, Mad Sin (pre 1992) Scary B.O.O.M, Psychobilly mostly 80s

Are they your favorite bands?

Everyone: Yes

Do you have something recorded?

Louie: 

Yes, 5 track demo on YouTube and Bandcamp First 5 songs I wrote.

Southern Wolves bandcamp 

Are you going to record something soon?

We are hoping for 2 new demos of garage and of Psychobilly

Depending on response we want to publish to vinyl and tour. Eventually a full album.

What do your songs talk about?

Louie: I mostly talk about real life feelings and fears. My problems that I live and how the rocknroll lifestyle is the and most intense way to party. 40% is about partying and moderate drug use. 30% about girls who betrayed me. The other 30% is about my real life fears/anxiety/problems and drug/alcohol dependence.

We're not about horror or b movies, or the cats/bats/rats dichotomy. Mostly real life and fun.

With whom and where have you played? Upcoming events of Southern Wolves?

Our biggest so far is opening for Batmobile. Twice we have played in Mexico once with Los Gatos zombies (Ecuador) then the following year with Radarmen (Los Angeles) for the event on Mexico City: Mexico psycho.We have also played with great local bands in the garage scene and to be honest promoters are not friendly so we remain outside the scene.

Are there good bands in your environment ? 

Yes.

LA is very much the center for north Americans to enjoy Psychobilly and garage punk. Our friends are very loyal although WE ARE outsiders but with hard work we hope to gain a bigger following both here and everywhere rocknroll is alive.

SxW

  

The Southern Wolves

Cinefilia por Alfonso Romero - The Addiction, Abel Ferrara/Christofher Walken, 1995

Ya es casi habitual la sabiduria de Alfonso Romero en SdP. El Minestomper para leernos la mente y hacernos una reseña de lo que deseamos leer en sus criticas siempre positivas de peliculas que a todos no nos gustan. Hoy nos escalpea una película sobre vampiros, algo así cómo -la película de vampiros-.

Fotograma de The Addiction elegido por el mismo Alfonso Romero

Cinefilia.

Los noventa fueron prolíficos en películas de vampiros. Aplaudidos realizadores como Francis Ford Coppola, Neil Jordan o Robert Rodriguez nos dejaron variadas y exitosas propuestas adaptando las visiones de los chupasangres de Bram Stoker, Anne Rice y Quentin Tarantino, respectivamente.
El atormentado Abel Ferrara, ya por entonces un director reputado gracias al reconociemiento de títulos como “El rey de Nueva York” (1990) o “Teniente corrupto” (1992), nos ofrecía en 1995 su particular mirada al cine vampírico con “The Addiction”. Un film rodado en un agresivo blanco y negro, lleno de simbología y donde su responsable equipara el vampirismo con la enfermedad y la adicción (como bien refleja el explícito título).
Kathleen Conklin (Lili Taylor), como tantos y tantos personajes del universo de Ferrara, busca la redención frente al Mal, sólo que en lugar de los universos viciados y decadentes por los que se movían sus anteriores trabajos, aquí el italoamericano pone en boca de uno y otro citas de Sartre, Nietzche o KierKegaard.
La salvación a través del reconocimiento de la culpa, nos viene a decir Ferrara en esta “The Addiction” que algunos aplaudieron con fervor mientras que otros tacharon de prepotente y aburrida.

Trailer:

B.S.O.:

Interview with The PeaBrains by Ezekiel "Zeke" Wateley; Edgar Valencia & Hektor Plasma

INTERVIEW BY ZEKE:

OKAY. YOU THE PEABRAINS ARE DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BETTER PSYCHOBILLY BANDS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. YOU HAVE A GOOD SOUND, HAVE A GOOD BASE IN ROCKABILLY, AND GOOD SONGWRITING ABILITY- ALL VERY FRIGGING IMPORTANT THINGS FOR A BAND. YOU RECENTLY FINISHED RECORDING YOUR FIRST LP, “IN THE HANGMAN’S SHADOW” FOR CRAZY LOVE RECORDS WHCH HAS SINCE BEEN RELEASED IN EUROPE AND IS SOON TO BE RELEASED IN THE U.S. TO YOUR LARGE FAN BASE WHO HAVE BEEN EAGERLY AWAITING A FULL-LENGTH RECORDING FROM YOU FOR YEARS. LET’S GET TO KNOW YOU GUYS. YOUR NAMES…WHAT YOU DO IN THE BAND…? 

Rob: I’m Rob. I play the double bass. 
Abe: Abe. Play guitar and vocals. 
Alex: Alex. Drums. Adrian: Drums 

WHERE ARE EACH OF YOU GUYS FROM? 

Adrian: I spent most of my life in Chino…in California. 
Rob: San Pedro, California. 
Alex: I’m from Lynwood, California. 
Abe: Lynwood.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BAND. FROM THEN TO NOW…ANY CHANGES…IN PERSONNEL…ANYTHING.

Abe: Well, we started out in 2007. I have always been on vocals. I started on bass and had a guitarist. We went on like that for maybe two years…? And just decided to change it up. Decided to part ways. I got on- I was still on bass for awhile and then we got George from Los Mumblers.. 
Adrian: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Abe: …And he was playing with us for maybe two years. And me and Adrian were playing for HIS band- for Los Mumblers- so, I was playing bass- 
Adrian: Yeah, we were doing two shows for them… 
Abe: Yeah, so he was playing drums for Los Mumblers, I was playing bass, and George was still on vocs and guitar. Then about 2009, I decided to jump on guitar because I couldn’t really find someone to play the way that I wanted them to. 

YOU HAD A VISION IN MIND AND YOU COULDN’T FIND ANYONE TO MEET YOUR VISION. 

Abe: Exactly. I started off playing guitar as a kid. I was never any GOOD at it…but I enjoyed playing bass a lot better, a lot more. I met Robbie through a mutual friend back in the day..

WHAT YEAR WAS THAT? 

Rob: I met him in 2008? Abe: 2006. 
Rob: 2006, Yeah. I roadied for them and then what happened was that they switched guitarists and I ended up- I had a bass and I used to just fuck around with the bass and that’s when he started playing guitar (in the band) and he asked me to start jamming on bass. And since I was a roadie I was already familiar with the songs, we were already good friends- going to all the shows together…He just had me back him up since then. Adrian: I remember the day. We just said started dicking around and Abe said “Let’s write something” and I said, “Alright. Cool!” and..uhh…he said “You need to get some drums.” Abe: I basically talked them both into it. 
Alex: He’s a sweet talker. Abe: He (Adrian) didn’t play drums before and he (pointing to Rob) was only messing around on the bass, he never tried to do anything like learning notes and stuff like that… 
Rob: He taught he how to go along with the guitar and figure it out from there…Fuck, that took years. 
Abe: Yeah, I started teaching him, like, notes and how to tune it and stuff like that and slowly but surely he started progressing. Slowly! (Abe laughs) 
Rob: So, I’ve stayed with it over the past few years. For five years I’ve been solid (with the band).

AND, ADRIAN, YOU’VE BEEN SOLID WITH THE BAND OR YOU’VE BEEN ON-AND-OFF WITH THE BAND? 

Adrian: I was solid with them, and I was filling in with other local bands. But then I stepped back about 3,4 years ago. Still doing fill-ins with other bands, but doing my own thing. I’ve been back with the Peabrains for a good solid year now. 

AND ALEX WHAT IS YOUR HISTORY WITH THE BAND? BECAUSE YOU WERE THE DRUMMER AFTER ADRIAN AND NOW HE’S BACK IN THAT SPOT. 

Alex: They just needed me to fill in and I came in. I didn’t wanna step on anybody’s toes because Adrian’s my friend…I took a lot of influence from him, so anything that I did play was whatever HE did. 

HE WAS YOUR INSPIRATION AND REFERENCE POINT. 

Alex: He’s the originator and I gotta give props to him. 
Abe: And did you know that Skum (The Vectors) started playing drums because of Adrian? NAH! 
Alex: Adrian’s energy is just different. He’s gotta lotta off-the-wall fucking energy. And that’s one thing that I really admired. When I was just a kid watching The Peabrains, roadie-ing a little bit, you know- helping ‘em out…? The way I came in- I smoked out with Abe…I smoked out with all of ‘em, actually…at the Mad Monster Party… 
Abe: I didn’t like this guy when I first met him! (Everybody laughs) Alex: The Meteors came and they didn’t fucking play…I smoked a joint with them- I snuck it into the Vex(?)- and that’s how I met them. Abe: That’s when I was like, “Oh, he’s cool!” (All laugh.)

SO THE BAND HAS BEEN TOGETHER FOR HOW MANY YEARS? THEN TO NOW. 

Adrian: Since 2007. 
Abe: Twelve years. 
Adrian: From what I remember, around 2007 was our first official shows. 2007, 2008 when we had our first gig. Awful. (Laughs) 

HOW LONG WERE YOU PLAYING BEFOREYOU PLAYED YOUR FIRST GIG? 

Adrian: I think that was it. Maybe a year while we put together those first three or four songs. 
Abe: Nah, it was a few months, dude. I don’t think it was a whole year before we started playing. 

 IN THAT TIME, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHANGES IN THE SCENE YOU HAVE OBSERVED? IN THOSE 12 YEARS, WHAT HAS CHANGED? 

Adrian: Goddamn. Well…how people get along with it. For awhile, there were a lotta people trying to dress to impress. People trying so hard has died out a little… 
Rob: I’ve just seen changes in styles, influences…new music being brought into the scene. You get the waves that go by…like the hardcore psychobilly style and then later a more surf style will get big. Right now the scene’s doing good- seems like every week we have a show. 
Abe: I think the main thing and the main reason why the whole scene started changing was the bands and their influences. I feel like there was a major shift- I’m not sure what year- from just shitty music…That’s the only way I can say it. All the music coming out was just no good, and I feel that maybe the internet had a lot to do with it…people started coming across better music and so the bands started CREATING better music…which influenced the AUDIENCE, and the audience started creating better sounding bands. VIA INSPIRATION. Abe: Well, I don’t know about via inspiration, but maybe via asking us what we listened to or by shit they would see in posts or on shirts or…who knows? “Inspiration” is a little far-fetched. Like, I don’t think I inspired anybody. Know what I mean? I feel like I might have influenced them through my 

MUSIC… THAT’S WHAT INSPIRATION MEANS. DON’T UNDERSELL YOURSELF. 

Alex: I was in the audience ‘cause I wasn’t playing with you guys yet, and I can tell you that I saw a lot of bands that…I didn’t know what they were selling. 
Abe: That’s the point- they were trying to sell something, you know. 
Alex: They were trying to be like somebody else. 
Abe: They were trying to push omething.
Alex: Whoever was making it “corporate”, they wanted to be like that. 
Abe: To “make” it.
Alex: They wanted to be like Zombie Ghost Train, they wanted to be like Nekromantix… 
Abe: Tiger Army. A
Alex: Tiger Army…and they weren’t playing anything that was psychobilly at all. 

WHICH IS INTERESTING BECAUSE MY WHOLE TAKE AWAY FROM THE PEABRAINS WAS THAT YOU CAME AROUND AT A TIME WHEN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SCENE WAS OBSESSED WITH THIRD-RATE HARDCORE BANDS WITH UPRIGHT BASSES… 

All: Yes. Rob: Exactly. 

 AND IT WAS ALL JUST METAL RIFFS, SOMETIMES A DOUBLE BASS PEDAL… 

Rob: Just fast. 

AND JUST FAST. AND IT WAS MISSING THE POINT. 

Rob: It was punk rock, metal, not really… IT WAS A GIMMICK. 
Adrian: Like wrestling.


INTERVIEW BY EDGAR & PLASMA

SO, IT’S KIND OF A CORNY QUESTION, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW IN MOST INTERVIEWS- WHAT JAS INFLUENCEDYOU TO MAKE THE MUSIC YOU MAKE AND TO LIVE YOUR LIFE THE WAY THAT YOU DO? 

Adrian: The music me and Abe grew up on…rock’n’roll…what was happening when we were kids…I hate to say “folk music” too… 
Alex: For me it started with Black Sabbath, Christian Death…and then we can say, for psychobilly, The Peabrains, man. Honestly. I like The Meteors, I like psychobilly in general, but once I saw them (The Peabrains) it was like…And The Grims too, man, and Cannibal Madmen. Once I saw those three fucking bands, that’s when I knew, that’s the shit that I wanna move forward. And it started off with something that’s not even related to that at all. 
Abe: Like Ade just said, I grew up listening to what my parents were listening to, obviously, and the area where they were raised- they were basically, like, ten years behind the United States, so their heydays were about the sixties and seventies. In THOSE days, there were a shitload of Mexican bands that were covering a bunch of songs from the fifties…

AND WHAT PART OF MEXICO WAS THAT? 

Abe: Jalisco. In a little town called Acatlan de Juarez…This was a little village- cobblestones, dirt roads…It was tiny. And, they were ten years in the past…so all the music coming around was from the fifties. Fifties, early sixties. So, you had all these bands that were doing nothing but covers from the U.S. and that’s what I was raised on. That’s the first time I ever heard, like, Suspicion, or like a lotta shit from Creedence, from the Rolling Stones, a lotta stuff like that. The first time I ever heard it was in Spanish. And then I hear as I’m growing up, I hear it in English and it just blew my mind! I was trying to figure out who did what first…NOW, obviously, I know…But even still, as a kid, I had older sisters. They were listening to roc en español, which is in a lot of Spanish-speaking countries, but that was from the eighties. Now the first time I ever heard “There is a Light That Will Never Go Out” by The Smiths it was a Spanish version by Duncan Dhu. And then as I was becoming a teenager I heard The Smiths and I was like ‘What the fuck?’. Mind fucking blown. My godfather, he would listen to more rock- more “mainstream” rockabilly, like Elvis, the Big Bopper, and all that. So, I was like five, six, seven- that’s what I grew up on. So just the whole music style, the whole scene, the whole…how people looked back then, that was just a huge influence on me growing up, and it just stuck with me. 
Rob: Myself, I found rock’n’roll and psychobilly in my high school days. I got interested in it with Frenzy and Meteors and since then haven’t looked back. Up until today I feel like it’s been a part of me and won’t leave! And for any mood I feel, I can find psychobilly, I can find that music to fill that mood. And I don’t have to go just to psychobilly- I can go reggae and rockabilly. But I don’t have to go that far to find that mode of music that I wanna hear for that shitty day, for that fucked-up day, I will find psychobilly to fit that mood and fill that need.

WHAT KINDA REGGAE DO YOU LIKE? 

Rob: Traditional. Sixties. I don’t really care for that second- and third-wave…2-Tone…I just like the first- the early shit. 
Abe: Ska, rocksteady… 
Rob: Yeah, I get really into it. First wave. But anything after that, I don’t really care for it. It’s cool when you listen to it in the club, but personally I’m not really into it. Alton Ellis, Desmond Dekker, Ken Boothe…I like Prince Buster…!

ABSOLUTELY! THE PRINCE, BABY, THAT’S THE MAN! 

All: Yeah!

YOU JUST FINISHED THE RECORDING. LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT. HOW MANY RECORDINGS YOU HAVE OUT SO FAR? 

Abe: Oh, man…We have…We have a lot, man, we have a lot. The first time we recorded was in 2007. That was a little five-track demo, EP little thing. But nothing ever really happened with that. It was just to hand it out for a buck or two, y’know? We’ve given out CDs at our shows…Even to this day it’s never been about trying to make a buck, publicity, or…If you hear it. It’s because you wanna hear it, you had to look for it, but if you stumble upon it, that’s great too. I’ve never been one to push our music on anyone, really. As far as recordings go, we probably have about…seven different recordings? And each recording has been between five and fourteen tracks.

HAVE THEY ALL BEEN DEMO RELEASES? 

Abe: Yeah, there hasn’t been anything official until now. 
Adrian: I was trying to figure it out…There’s been two LPs or just one LP? Like, demos with enough tracks on them to make an LP…There’s been a few. 
Abe: Technically there’s been nothing official until now. All that stuff that we recorded has been self-produced and self-promoted. Only released through us. So the only way to get it is at a show. This is the first time anything’s ever been pressed to vinyl.

SO, YOU HAD TO RECORD SEVEN TIMES UNTIL YOU HAD SOMETHING THAT MADE YOU SAY ‘OKAY, I’M GONNA RELEASE THIS’…

Abe: It’s never really been a choice or a decision. If we woulda been approached back then, we woulda released it. This is just the first time we’ve been approached. And I’ve never been one to go out there to try and find somebody to press my shit. Y’know?

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING ON AN ORGANIZED ALBUM? 

Abe: It was great! It was a lotta fun, there’s a lotta new songs…Some old songs, but they all have a new different energy, which I really enjoy, and, out of all these recordings I’ve ever done- twelve years now- this is the only time that I’ve been 100% satisfied with the way that they came out and the way that we performed them.
 
I WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE EQUIPMENT YOU USE TO PLAY. WHAT DO YOU ALL USE? BESIDES TALENT, WHAT DO YOU USE TO GET THE PEABRAINS SOUND? 

Adrian: Shit, man, if I gotta piece together my main traveller kit, it was a Pearl kit that I traded for a bump. Abe: The first thing that you started upgrading was the snare and cybals. Rememeber that you started getting different types of snares from pawn shops and shit? 
Adrian: Now I am using a Zildjian ride and Zildjian crash, Pearl Rhythm Traveler kit…Uhh…that’s my kick drum…Floating tom, floating snare, Pearl pedal…I like the sound everything gives out now.

AND YOU WERE THE ONE ACTUALLY PLAYING DRUMS ON THE ALBUM. WHAT WAS YOUR SET-UP FOR THAT? 

Alex: A big, fat fucking ride…a 22-inch ride. I need it to get that sound- it has to be nice and clean. The one that I have is Paiste, but you can get any one as long as it’s huge. As far as a snare, the one that I have, we call it “The Boobinka” (laughs). It’s made outta wood from Africa or some shit. We decided that a wooden snare would be a lot better than a steel snare. And the rattle is a big fucking thing because they got that one that has only twelve strands. I don’t know how much (mine) has, but just get fatter than twelve. We tone it down low, we want it to sound like that; that eighties snare that sounds like you’re hitting a barrel of acid in a big warehouse. (Demonstrates sound.) That’s exactly what we fucking did. We didn’t want it to sound like that high-tuned..like that crust-punk snare? That’s just what we didn’t want. 
Abe: That tight… 
Alex: Yeah. So, get the fattest fucking snare that you can. Widest too, as well, y’know? And that’s pretty much it. The rest is some shit that I got when I was in 4th-grade, when I was, like, nine years old. It’s been sitting out, it’s got mold, it’s got rain…It’s got new skins, but it’s the same shit that I had when I was nine years old. Rob: At the moment I got a generic bass, K&K preamp which is Abe’s, um…Vics Pickups- really good stuff, right there. For bass amp I have an Avatar 212 cab and a Hartke head. Still trying to find my sound basswise. 
Abe: That’s like a lifelong journey type of thing. That’s how it should be.

(TO ABE.) WHAT’S YOUR SETUP? 

Abe: Well, to contradict myself, I’ve been using the same guitar for twelve years. (All laugh.) Rob: Nah, you had the acoustic… 
Abe: Well, I was using the acoustic in the beginning when I first started playing guitar for the band. This old, shitty Yamaha and I just took off a pickup from another old, shitty Yamaha ELECTRIC guitar and I just jury-rigged it onto the acoustic in the hole, and it souded alright…Because it wasn’t electric, it couldn’t plug it, but I drilled a hole, I did all this shit and said ‘Now I can plug my acoustic guitar into an amp!’ 
Alex: Didn’t you fucking record with that shit too? 
Abe: Yeah! We recorded a COUPLE times. That worked for a little bit, then I decided to just go with my electric guitar…that I’d had since high school. This old Epiphone Les Paul. And I was using the same setup for years, up until about maybe four or five years ago when I started to upgrade it. So, I put a bixby on it- did it myself. Put some new humbuckers on it- me and Mondo from The Grims put ‘em on there…Just upgraded the guitar, but it’s still the same one that I’ve had since I was seventeen. And as far as the amp? Yeah, Ive gone through a bunch of amps. Right now I’m using an old eighties English KMD. It gets the job done. I like the way it sounds. I think that’s the point, y’know? Just ‘cause one person gets a certain sound out of their setup, it’s not gonna sound the same way when YOU play it. 

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SONG OF YOURS NOW? 

Adrian: “Into The Sun”’s fucking great. Um..You can’t do that to me, you asshole! 

IT’S HARD AND I’M PUTTING YOU ON THE SPOT, BUT THAT’S WHAT I DO! 

Alex: “Duranged”. 
Rob: “Duranged”. 

WE GOT TWO VOTES FOR “DURANGED”! 

Rob: It’s fucking fast and it’s, like, half instrumental. 
Alex: You just close your eyes and go wild. 
Abe: That song does sorta induce auditory hallucinations at a certain point when you’re playing it. That’s what I enjoy about playing music. I don’t think I could really be in a band if it’s not like that; to the point when you (are playing)

WE GOT TWO VOTES FOR “DURANGED”! 

Rob: It’s fucking fast and it’s, like, half instrumental. 
Alex: You just close your eyes and go wild. Abe: That song does sorta induce auditory hallucinations at a certain point when you’re playing it. That’s what I enjoy about playing music. I don’t think I could really be in a band if it’s not like that; to the point when you (are playing and) you feel like you don’t need anything and you have this sense of euphoria just from playing with your band mates. Nothing comes close to it- no drugs, no alcohol, no women- there’s just…complete bliss when you’re in the zone. My favorite song right NOW…probably…”They Say”. It always just hits the spot. 

WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST STYLISTIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHERE YOU STARTED OFF AND WHERE YOU ARE NOW? 

Abe: That’s been affected by…Mainly just the way that I perceive the world in general. The way I perceive life and what I’ve been through so far. All of my songs are based off of life experiences, except for maybe one that’s based off of a movie- “Leon”, based off of “Leon, the Professional”. Other than that, my changing life experiences affect that style- I start going through some shit, I start wriying about it, and…it turns into a song. Sometimes it’ll be years later after I wrote some shit down, and then I come up with the melody and I just put it together. Years between each of those things individually sometimes.

AND THAT’S BEEN A CHANGE FROM WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED WRITING TO NOW? IT’S LIKE A DIFFERENT PROCESS? 

Abe: That sort of has always been a thing, that very unorganized type of writing. At the same time, sometimes I could sit there and…there’s certain songs where I sit there and write the whole thing- the melody, leads, and the lyrics. 

AND YOU ARE THE PRIMARY SONGWRITER FOR THE BAND. Rob: He’s the ONLY… 

Abe: I write everything. I give them the (song) structure and then give ‘em artistic freedom to do what they do whatever they want. If I don’t like something I let them know respectfully…constructive criticism sorta thing…But pretty much 100% I am the songwriter, composer.

WHAT DOES EACH ONE OF YOU SEE AS THE FUTURE DIRECTION FOR THE PEABRAINS? 

Adrian: Travelling, if we could. Going anywhere that they wanna hear us. I love making music with these guys and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 
Rob: We have more music to record, definitely. We had many ideas for this album that’s coming out within a few days or weeks and we’ve been working on a whole ‘nother album already. With Adrian AND Alex. A mix of semi-old and new stuff. A lotta new stuff that’s still unheard…I wanna tour with these guys. We’re older, we have families now- some of us- and I wanna enjoy the time with my boys, going to Europe or Japan and see what the world has for us. After being in this band for ten-plus years we barely got an album coming out…it’s like ‘Oh, shit, we still gotta lotta shit to do as a band!’ A lot of stuff that we all can go through- all four of us here. 
Alex: I just wanna keep having fun with these guys who are now my brothers, and that’s all I could ask for. Just to keep jammin’. That’s our main excuse to get fucked up together. 
Abe: I think that’s been the major problem with the band’s progress- it’s that I never really had a goal. Never had any expectations, never had any direction. The main thing for me- and I’ve told all three of these guys- as soon as it’s not fun, there’s no point. There’s really no point. At least not for me. I’m here to enjoy myself with my friends, with my brothers, and uhh…just…Not that I don’t care about anybody else’s opinion, but I’m not doing it for nobody else. I’m doing it for me and to have a good time. So, it’s hard to say “directions and goals”. There is really no LIMIT, you know? I want it to go as far as it can, but at the same time it’s not really a goal. It’s not something that I hope for or something that I wish for..It’d be cool, but I just wanna have fun and… 

AND LET IT GO WHERE IT GOES. 

Abe: Exactly. But still being true to ourselves. To myself. 
Adrian: Not doing it for any reason besides that we want to. 
Abe: And that’s the only reason we’ve ever done it.
Alex: A lotta this (indicates the conversation)

 The PeaBrains