Are you guys trying to stick to that? It’s a hard thing to pass up the opportunity.

I mean at what point do your convictions about DIY get compromised?

 

Jake: You know, I think that this goes back to what we were just talking about.  We’re not going to go on stage and do something that we don’t believe in.  So if someone came to us and said you guys can do stuff that you believe in and we’ll reward you for that and you can do it the way you want to, you know, show me where to sign.

The way the industry is it almost makes more sense in a lot of ways.  We’ve done it more out of wanting to keep control of what we hold dear, you know, but in a lot of ways there’s just not that kind of industry anymore.  You know, if they put us in jump shoots and eyeliner and, you know, make us play in sequins and had their way with us - whoever those people are I’ve never met them.

 

Austin: They’re there.  They’re not interested in us!  That’s for damn sure.

 

Jake: The people in the industry that are interested in us are the people that believe in what we are doing.  But, until we can prove that we can make them a lot of money, then it doesn’t really matter.  I mean, they like our songs and that gets them out to the shows.  They love what we do but that doesn’t make them want to write our checks, which is fine.  We’ll just keep doing it ourselves and keeping all the money.

 

Matt: I mean everybody’s selling out now anyways I’m not sure if the term applies anymore.

 

How are you all funding the tour?

 

Band: We work a lot. We have jobs.  Day jobs.

 

Matt: They’re not being completely honest about it. We make money on the road.  We sell a lot of merchandise.  So the band is self-sustained within the band.  But when you’re out on the road for two or three weeks at a time, you’re not here working so you have to make up for that money somehow, you know.  And you might get paid a little bit out of the band and everybody is getting their per diems now and then. I mean, you know, it’s not this – it’s not our parents, if that’s what you’re asking.  We’re a pretty blue collar band and our fans know that too.  We’ve never had any help from any kind of outside sources that have said, you know, “Here’s 20 grand. Now go get famous!”  Nothing like that.

But we work very hard and we don’t, you know, I watch what I do. I mean, of course I want to go out every night on 6^th St. and get as drunk as I can and put as much shit in my body as I possibly can. But I don’t, because I can’t afford it.  But I get to go out and travel the country and play in front of tons of people and get as fucked up as I want to for free, because I’m in the band.  That’s the give-and-take, man.  You decide how you want to do that in the end, but its gotten a lot better.

The goal was at the end of this year we were gonna be able to quit our jobs.

 

Austin: And, theoretically, it looks like we’re gonna reach that goal.

 

Matt: And, theoretically, that looks like it’s gonna happen.  But you never know until the day you walk into your boss and say, “Hey motherfuckers! I’m quittin’!”

You know, that’s what I think. You know, when you’re 15 years old and you tell your parents your gonna be a writer.  I mean, nobody really believes that you can do it.  And whenever you pick up a guitar and join a band, nobody’s gonna be like, “You’re gonna be famous!” No one thinks that!

Except for you and it’s gonna be nice one day to finally -because now the reality is starting to really happen. It’s not some sort of farfetched dream.  And the day that that happens, it’s gonna be pretty exciting.

 

Austin:  I’m gonna do what I want to do now!

 

Matt: Like I said, it’s starting to become a reality.

 

Austin: There’s a glimmer at the end of the tunnel.

 

Matt: There’s a glimmer and we’re staring at it.

 

Jake: I hope that light’s not an oncoming train.

 

Which brings me to the tour, this is the biggest tour you guys have had…

 

Jake: Well, we just got off of the Local H tour opening for them, which was totally awesome. But this is definitely the biggest rooms we’ve ever played in.

 

The check comes and Jake takes care of it. 
* (Note from author:  Thanks again....!)

 

But, yeah, that’s gonna be great. We did three days in Texas with Toadies in December and we had an awesome time with them. They’re really great guys. I mean, they fucking rock! Yeah, they’re just awesome.  There’s a mutual admiration.

 

Austin: And the crowds were good too, you know.  Sometimes, you know, we’d go out with Local H and their opening bands can get a hard time. We usually win a crowd over live pretty quickly but with the Toadies - those shows, we’d get out there and like by the third song everybody was jumping and it’s a pretty exciting feeling when there’s like 3000 people.  We’re used to playing shows where there’s like 30 people and they’re still having a good time but…

 

Matt: Well, that’s not entirely true.  There’s a real defeatist attitude in the band sometimes.  We could sell out places in Austin or places in Texas, but he’s talking about when you go to a place you haven’t been to and you’re headlining a show because you’re on Guitar Hero and there’s like 30 people there.  You know, it does get lonely.

 

Tell me about how the Guitar Hero gig came about.

 

Jake: Trevor, our bass player, met a guy and introduced him to the band and he came to see us at our showcase two years ago at SXSW.

 

Did you know who he was?

 

Jake: No. No idea. No.  Actually I had no idea who he was until we were headed to an after party.

 

Matt: He couldn’t get in.

 

Jake: He couldn’t get into our showcase.

 

Matt: He stood watching from the street.

 

Jake: Yeah, so he ended up coming back to an after party with us and we stopped up at a 7 Eleven up here. He was like, “C’mon in!“  He ended up buying cigarettes and stuff and we got back in the van and we started talking. He was like, “Yeah, you guys like video games?” And I was like, “ Yeah, I like video games.” And he was like “ Well, if you could have your choice, would you rather be on Tony Hawk or Guitar Hero?” And I’m like, “Guitar Hero would be cool.” And he was like, “OK” And we ended up going to this after party and just hung out and drank till whatever ‘o’ clock in the morning. And we weren’t sure about if it was actually it.

 

Matt: I knew that he was with GameVision, Trevor had known.  He couldn’t get into the showcase.

 
Jake stands up to leave for another appointment. 
Handshakes and well-wishing…more gratitude for the beers.

So he came to the showcase and he couldn’t get in.  And what happened is the club, the showcase was sold out but the room wasn’t sold out.  It was weird.  They let in 200 people and then they stopped letting them in and there was a line like 30 people deep in the street trying to get in during our set.  It was one of those venues where you can see the show from the street, you remember that?

 

Austin: Yeah, it was at Bourbon or whatever.

 

Matt: And I’m looking out there and there’s a couple people we knew.  So I started pointing, and they started jumping up and down and then we figured out while we were playing that they wouldn’t let the people in.  So, while we were playing, Jake, I remember, Jake did this…but I got on the microphone and started parading the guys at the front and started screaming, “Let these fucking people in!!!”

 

Austin: Yeah! We were all yelling at the door guy.

 

Matt: And there were like 30 people over on the side that weren’t even watching the show.  I was like, “Let these fucking people in!!! They want to see our band!!!!”  And then Jake started throwing drum sticks at the security guy and that’s when Brandon (from Guitar Hero), when he got back to us, he was like, “That was the most rock and roll thing I ever saw!!!” And then he got in the van with us and bought us cigarettes ‘cause we were actually goin’ to some ‘unnamed bar’ for drinks after hours.

 

Austin: He’s like one of our best friends now.  Yeah, he’s pretty cool.

At this point, the recorder cuts out.
For what its worth, this interview was a rare opportunity where I’ve gotten to know a band before seeing them live or hearing any of their albums in their entirety.

But I do know that, a self-sustaining band that can take their show on the road for nearly two months has got something to show, something to say… So I suggest you get out there too for a look and a listen.