GRATH MADDEN

photo by Felix Strates

GRATH MADDEN

Having grown up in Northern Virginia, I have a sense of what Maryland must have been like as a starting place for exploring music and discovering songwriting. How did it come about for you? When did you realize that music was an important outlet in your life, and at what point did you decide to try writing your own songs?

Well, first of all, I’ve read ahead, and you have established a very complicated question maze here, wherein it’s kinda difficult to answer any of the first three questions (which are actually like 130 questions) without answering all three questions, so in sorta-answer to your first question(s); Baltimore had a great oldies station that occupied me until I was old enough to start buying rap cassettes, and, by the time I’d transitioned from the Juice soundtrack to Nirvana CDs via Columbia House memberships I would never pay for, my friend’s little brother had showed me that every chord on the guitar was the same and how to read guitar tabs off the old timey internet.  That quickly (d)evolved into me reverse engineering the songs I was larning into much worse songs.

You and I are both 80s babies, so I'm wondering if MTV had a profound impact on you as it did for me? Where were you going to seek out new music? Were there family members or friends who were introducing you to new bands and genres? How did you discover punk rock? Were there any transitional genres or bands that led you to it? Who was your first favorite band?

I always went to private schools where everyone either listened to Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead or Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead, so everything I knew about music until I was 13 or so came from MTV.  I discovered punk rock because MTV played the “Longview” video. I went to The Wall at Towson Town Center and bought the tape and came home and listened to it and was like “oh, this is punk rock,” and then I liked punk rock.  I was really obsessed with Nirviana, Sonic Youth, The Breeders and that whole end of things before that, so I was always kinda floating adjacent to it, but “Dookie” was definitely an a-ha sort of moment where I realized that entire albums could be catchy and good.  Before that, I basically just thought all bands had like one to three good songs per record and then just a whole bunch of stuff I didn’t understand to fill it out. So I guess Green Day was my first favorite punk band, but within a month or so of discovering them, I’d started down the Lookout rabbit hole.

Was there a particular moment when you began to gravitate more towards pop punk in particular? Which pop punk bands inspired you to have a go at writing in that style? Has pop punk been your primary songwriting style? When you were learning to write songs, had you played guitar for very long? How did you learn to play an instrument, and what provided the basis for your understanding of song composition?

Half-learning guitar and pop punk both happened at more or less the same time for me, so I would just sit down and learn how to play stuff by ear and scribble down my own sort of pseudo-tab version of how to play it.  The Ne’er Do Wells/Judy and the Loadies split on Lookout was one of the first things I realized I could figure out how to play along to, and I realized quickly after that that all pop punk songs were easy to play along to because all pop punk songs are the same.  That spilled into me making up my own nonsense almost immediately.

When The Steinways formed, had you any prior experience playing in bands? Did you have specific songwriting goals at the outset for The Steinways? What were some of your goals for the band starting out, and when did you begin to sense that you had a place in the pop punk world?

I was really shy and weird about showing people songs I wrote and even more so when it came to singing in front of people, but I had a pop punk band with three other friends for a couple of months right before and during the first couple of breaks at college called The Kevins.  We played maybe 8 shows and never recorded anything. It was very much a me-dragging-my-friends-along-for-the-ride-I-want-to-go-on sort of thing, so I doubt it would’ve gone on much longer even if we weren’t all going to schools in different states. Also, we were very bad. I also played in a “band” late in college with some friends called Steve McQueen that was intended as a grindcore band but immediately turned into us getting messed up and playing the same 3 note riff for five minutes at a time.  I thought I would find more like-minded folks in college, but it was the late 90’s, so it was already super not-cool to like pop punk. By the time the Stewinays started, I’d been writing songs for like 8 years or so and just really wanted to record one thing. That was my only goal with that band. After we finished our first demo, I would’ve been happy to call it a day. I was only 23 or 24 but felt like I was already way too old to be doing this, so I was initially looking at the Steinways as just a way to have some of these dumb songs I’d been writing recorded on something other than a hand held tape recorder.

In past interviews you've indicated that your move to New York had a lot to do with wanting to participate in the healthy pop punk scene that was happening at the time. Did you find that transition to be challenging? Who were some of the first New York musicians/songwriters that you linked up with? Which bands in that scene were particularly inspiring to you?

I was a major Dirt Bike Annie fanboy starting in college.  I had also internet-befriended this guy Lew Houston who lived in Pennsylvania, did a webzine type thing and was buddies with DBA, so more or less through him, I started to get to know those folks (Mikey was their drummer at that point, so that’s where I met him).  These were the first people I’d ever met in real life that were willing to have a conversation about Mutant Pop Records that didn’t involve making fun of me for being interested in Mutant Pop Records. I was more into seeing bands and buying records and writing about those things than playing or writing songs at that point, but the first Ergs 7” (which I heard a few months before I moved to NY) really made me want to start a band.  Mikey was the first guy I had heard write good pop punk songs that were super catchy without being as obvious and copy-cat-y as most stuff was at that point in time and prior. Plus, he was closer to my age, so you could tell his points of reference were a little more contemporary which was nice because the world only needs so many Dion and the Belmonts covers and/or Brady Bunch references. But, yeah, between those two bands, The Unlovables and the fact that there were clearly like 13 other weirdos in the area that were actually interested in this type of stuff (vs. 0-2 in most other parts of the country, it seemed), I was really excited to move up to NY.  

Is there a sense in which you do feel that you "missed the boat" based on the timing of your entry into the scene? It seems plausible that your songs could've ended up on Lookout! releases had you been born a decade earlier. How did you find a pop punk community once The Steinways began gaining momentum?

Not really.  I think it took me until sometime in the early 2000s to realize that every song didn’t have to be “[Girl’s-Name] Is [Doing-Such-And-Such],” so I’m much happier that I did stuff in a slightly less embarrassing (heavy emphasis on the “slightly”) time..  Also, so many of those guys from those decade-earlier bands are so insane in so many different ways, so I’m happy to not have had a bunch of smoke blown up my ass or to have not sold like 10,000 records once. I have enough normal person complexes as it is, so I don’t need “I’m a bitter weirdo because I think I used to be a big deal” on top of that.  And to answer your second question; the internet.

What was the ultimate effect of playing in a band where your bandmate was also your girlfriend? Was this something that impacted your songwriting in significant ways later on? I recall a description of the first Barrakuda McMurder album including that you had written songs in response to feeling "sad". Do you find that loss and pain your life has contributed to your ability to write better songs?

I feel like there are funny songs that are kind of good and then there are good songs, which 999/1000 times are about something being wrong, so I guess so.  Playing in a band with my girlfriend at the time was fine. I don’t think it’s something either of us would recommend, but it was more or less not-a-thing.

Something that's always interested me about your songwriting personality is your penchant for long song titles and very short songs. Often your songs begin without an intro riff, and there's an immediacy to your delivery that seems to have been very influential. Are these just natural tendencies that you have as a songwriter, or did you develop this style through a more methodical approach?

I think it’s fucking insane how long songs are.  I think the fact that most songs repeat parts over and over and over as a rule or a standard is also super dumb.  People have been writing this exact same song for like 70 years at least, so I sort of feel like we all have enough of an understanding of how it goes by now that everyone should just get to the fucking point.  I don’t intentionally write shorter songs; I just tend to naturally veer away from repeating parts. Some of that is due to the last few sentences and some of that is me not having a lot of confidence in what I’m making up.  But mostly, all the music I really like is brief and catchy and makes me want to immediately listen to the song again, and I’m always just trying to make music I’d like. I recorded the two Robot Bachelor albums with Luke from the Copyrights/Hospital Job, and he’s convinced me a few times to lengthen songs a bit by repeating a part or returning to a part.  Even though he’s been right and the song is better every time, my instinct is always that it’s a crazy thing to do.

Have you always recorded home demos? What is your process for composing, remembering, cataloging, etc. your song ideas? Over the years have you sensed an evolution in your own songwriting? When you revisit the old material, what are your impressions? You just released a large and seemingly complete collection of your pre-Robot Bachelor material - what inspired you do to this? That's a lot of tunes to upload onto bandcamp!

“For my ninth question, I have five questions for you…”  

1 - Yes.  For years I just used whatever hand held tape recorder or cassette boom box or whatever that I could find.  I probably don’t really “need” recordings to remember how things go anymore, but I definitely did then and still operate as if I do.  

2 - I bought a 4 track when I moved to NY and quickly realized I could plug that into my computer and record stuff on garageband.  I’d been writing songs for years at that point, but that really opened up a lot of stuff for me just cause I’d never really had a way to mess around with vocal ideas or guitar parts or anything like that.  I write songs like everybody writes songs in that I either have an idea or I sit down and make myself have an idea and go from there. I tend to think of recording the demo as “writing the song” cause it’s pretty rare that I have anything past an idea or two when I sit down to record something.  And going back to the short song thing, I think a lot of my songs end up that way because I sit down with an idea and I make that idea a “part” rather than a “verse” or a “chorus,” and I just add more parts to it until it’s over. As far as just cataloging ideas go, I record stuff into my phone if I think of something when I’m out in the universe.  I’ve also quasi-upgraded to a usb recording interface and a non-garageband recording software, but I still use garageband like half the time.

3 - Sure.  Not in any sort of epic sense, but I think the songs I write have gotten progressively better despite being more or less exactly the same.  I at least like them more, and that’s at least like 94% of the point for me, so I’ve noticed it even if other people haven’t. My sense of progress and evolution is tied up in shit no one else cares about.  Like no one in the universe would listen to the second Robot Bachelor album and think that the drums sound more considered and less garage-band-drum-loopy than on the first Robot Bachelor album, but that’s what I think because that’s the type of nonsense I am concerned with when I write and record things.

4 - Like anyone who’s ever recorded pop punk songs, I like some of the stuff I’ve done, am indifferent to some of the stuff I’ve done, and am horrifically embarrassed by some of the stuff I’ve done.  Lyrically, what can you do? Like, I’m the one that decided to write songs with girl’s names and weird personal details and insecurities littered throughout. Fortunately, someone else’s far more embarrassing musical history is never more than a stone’s throw away, so it’s fairly easy to stave of the shame of bad Steinways songs.

5 - I feel like my weird insistence on constantly changing the name of this one band I’ve been doing for 15 years has probably made locating everything I’ve done sort of difficult.  I mean, I’m fortunate in that I play a highly unpopular form of music and personally know most of the 100 people that are interested in things I put out, but it’s probably not a stupid idea to have everything in one place.  I won’t do any better of a job promoting this thing than I do with anything else, but it’s there.

Your sense of humor and public persona on the PPMB has always intrigued me - it seems that you take a very casual, understated position with regard to your own songs and contributions to the scene yet clearly you are recognized as a major contributor. You have many fans and the whole "Insub Fest" era may be best represented by the sound that you created which seems to have influenced many other songwriters. What's your take on that whole thing? Do you feel that the PPMB community carried the torch from the Lookout! era into the digital era? It always had a tight-knit, even exclusive feel at times. How did you see your own role in it?

I think the internet does a really good job of masking reality just enough that people can sort of paint whatever perception they like of how things were or are.  Insub Fests were nice momentary ego boosts there for a couple of years, but those were very isolated events. That message board certainly connected a lot of folks.  I met a bunch of people I still really like more or less through there, but I think at the end of the day it created just as much (if not more) confusion and weird feelings as it did anything else.  I think it basically forged a lot of realities out of misperceptions, the “exclusivity” of the whole thing being a good example. Ultimately, I think it started with a lot of folks that were teenagers through the 90s and had suffered through some brutally lean years, pop-punk wise, at the end of that decade, and as we all turned into 20-somethings, we started making better music and started learning to interact on the internet with each other at the same time.  That led to a lot of individual people doing and saying a lot of weird things, individually, but I think if there was ever really a group-think surrounding that message board it was the “I feel excluded” idea. I’m not sure there was a single person who felt included, and if they did, I’m not sure what it was they felt included in. I knew a lot of people that posted there in real life, and I was pretty fortunate in that the ratio of people being nice about my music to people being mean about it was generally in my favor, but I never felt like I was a part of whatever dark illuminati that people were sad and angry about all the time.  To be a bit less Debbie Downer about it, there was a ton of great pop punk music being made for like 5, 6, maybe 7 years there, and guys like Chris Thacker and Mark Enoch who maintained the message board(s) and set up the Insub Fests definitely made it 100,000 times easier for a lot of people to connect with each other and helped consolidate a big-picture small audience into a small-picture big audience. It was awesome to get to go play to a couple of hundred interested weirdos once a year instead of playing to Chadd Derkins who just wants to get on the train and listen to podcasts, and it was great to be able to make a record, post a sentence about it and know that 99% of the people on earth who would be even remotely interested would read that sentence.  I think the best records from like 03-08 at least rival my favorite Lookout things from the early/mid-90s, and I do think there’s MORE good stuff from that later period overall.

One thing that I've always admired is your tendency to continue cranking out songs in spite of it all. What would you say is your primary inspiration to be prolific as a songwriter? Do you think you'll continue writing songs throughout your adult life? What forms of relief or therapy does songwriting offer to you personally?

Well, I wouldn’t say I’m not going to write songs anymore because I like doing it, but aside from a podcast theme song I haven’t written anything for about a year now.  It took a really long time for the sheer novelty of “Oh, I get to record music” to wear off, so that was all the motivation I needed for years, and by the time I didn’t feel that way anymore, I’d learned that if I just booked a recording date or started a new band or had some sort of something in front of me that required songs, I’d suddenly have 10 ideas and write a bunch of stuff all at once.  I wrote most of the stuff on the 2nd Robot Bachelor album the month before I went to go record it, but that was last August, and I haven’t felt the urge to do anything since. I’m sure I’ll want to record something again some time in the next couple of years, but I definitely don’t see myself putting out much more music. And I definitely think that writing songs about bad shit makes me feel less bad about shit and more excited about writing a song, but that feels corny as fuck to say, so I’m going to tell people that you hacked this interview and typed this.   

One thing that seems to frustrate the pop punk scene as it exists now is this idea that there are many people (like yourself) who have explored pop punk far beyond the trappings of the traditional forms that people tend to obsess over (mostly the direct influence of Screeching Weasel and The Queers). The sounds that you and your friends have created are unique, and it seems like there's somewhat of a divide between the pop-punk "purists" who sort of keep trying to reinvent the wheel compared to those whose definition of pop punk extends into other realms of songwriting. Lemuria comes to mind. I guess my essential question is: Do you feel like you have much in common with the "average" pop punker?

Much as I’d love to take credit for crafting some new and unique form of music, I think we sound a whole lot like Screeching Weasel.  I’m not sure what the “average pop punker” is today or yesterday or in 2010 for that matter. I always feel like “pop punk” fluctuates pretty frequently between being considered a genre and being considered a stigma, and from my highly limited view of the world, it feels like we’re pretty firmly camped in the latter at present.  I feel like that results in most people hanging on either the uber-faithful-Ramones-and-or-some-other-band-core end of the spectrum or the “We’re like a weird version of something weird with a twist and another twist. And another twist. And those three twists all have at least two twists. And our drummer wears an Ergs shirt sometimes” end.  The stuff in the middle either doesn’t exist or is bad right now. I’m sure there will be another small clump of good bands to come along at some point, but as much as this stuff is cyclical, it’s not endlessly cyclical. Also, I’m sure there are a ton of great bands I don’t know anything about right now, so feel free to disregard every word I have typed in response to this and all other questions so far.

It's absolutely necessary that I ask this question: What is your honest opinion of heavy metal as a genre? Are there any metal bands that you are genuinely stoked on? Has metal music in any way informed your songwriting? What would it take to hear a Grath-penned metal composition? I've seen that Explorer melody maker! It's metal enough, dude.

Pantera and Type O Negative in Detroit was the first concert I ever went to, and “Some Kind of Monster” is a timeless cinematic treasure, but I’m not currently or historically a huge metal fan or anything.  I don’t know how to play other kinds of music, so if I wrote a heavy metal song, it would probably end up sounding like “Spike-A-Da-Punch” by The Proms somehow. That Explorer was a great guitar, but I threw it on the ground years ago, and it snapped in half.

As we wrap up, what are some of the musical accomplishments you're most proud of, and what are the remaining ambitions and goals you have as a songwriter? Do you feel that you have a lot more to say/contribute/learn as a musician?

I feel really fortunate that I’ve been able to make records and have people put those records out and that some people have liked them.  I’m grateful to have played a few handfuls of really fun shows, gone on a couple tiny tours, gone to Europe and to have met and played with a bunch of folks who I liked as a kid or a grown up or both.  Like I said, I don’t really have any immediate or long terms goals or plans or anything with music. My musical ambition was to record a couple of songs, and I’ve recorded those couple of songs a hundred times or so at this point, so I’m pretty set.

RICKY ROCHELLE

RICKY ROCHELLE

What are your earliest memories of loving music? You told me once that your parents were pretty supportive of you singing at an early age - do you recall any formative experiences where you realized, "Yes! I want to do this!"? Also, which bands/artists were your earliest favorites? 

I first got into music from hanging out with my Dad and listening to the oldies station in the car, which played “Runaway” by Del Shannon and songs of that sort. I bought a few CDs in the late 90’s, like Stunt by Barenaked Ladies. Then I heard “What’s My Age Again?” on the radio in 1999 and loved it. I bought Enema of the State by blink-182 and I was hooked on pop punk from then on in. I discovered the Queers and the Ramones and everyone else from there.

When I was 13, my friend and I had the same taste in music, so while at a Mets game, we decided to start a band. I chose to play drums and he would play electric guitar. We met a bass player, and then a singer, which became my first real band, Project 27. 

Were you in any bands prior to Project 27? That band seemed like it had the potential to really take off, but then it ended after the great album Smarten Up!. What are your recollections from that time, and how has your songwriting perspective evolved since then? 

Project 27 started things off for me. We played from 2001 through 2011. I was the main songwriter for the band and I handled almost all of our responsibilities, it was a lot of work. We played almost 200 shows, including Insubordination Fest in 2008. We went on three national tours, released a few vinyl EPs, and two full lengths, Smarten Up (2009) and Missing One (2010). 

Rookie Rochelle was our merch guy for years, so he was always hanging around and helping us. The guys in the band were a lot of fun. Sometimes I felt like the ringleader of a bunch of degenerates, which I basically was, but I liked it, and I miss that action. That said, things are easier now in the Young Rochelles because we all have roles we play to keep the band moving forward.

My songwriting perspective back in Project 27 was completely based on my reality. I was young and my emotions were a little less regulated. I write with a greater sense of understanding now, of music and life. I’ve since been successful in writing songs both novel and serious. I learned a great deal about production value by spending a lot of time in recording studios, which has helped me grow too.

Before The Young Rochelles, there was/(is?) The New Rochelles. My impression is that you weren't the primary songwriter in that band - so how did the transition occur and how did you want to distinguish The Young Rochelles from the former band musically? Both are clearly rooted in a very straightforward approach, but they each have their own distinct flavors.

The New Rochelles actually formed in 2002 as a side band to Project 27. Once Project 27 started to fade, we focused our energy on the New Rochelles. Ronnie Rochelle wrote most of the tunes and I was happy to drum and sing backups in the band. We were only really active in 2010 and 2011. In that time, we recorded It’s New! and then additional songs that made up EPs and later our full discography entitled, It’s New Too! We agreed to record the Ramones Animal Boy album, but Ronnie Rochelle moved to Florida in 2012. That left me, Rookie, and the Rochelles engineer/producer to learn it and start recording it ourselves. During that time, we won a contest to record for free at Converse Rubber Tracks studio in Brooklyn. The Rochelles producer became Ray Jay Rochelle, and we formed the Young Rochelles with leftover songs I had written for the New Rochelles. We recorded the beginnings of those songs at Rubber Tracks in January 2013 and the Young Rochelles were born. Next we recorded the music for Animal Boy, and in 2014, Ronnie Rochelle visited New York and tracked vocals for the album. The New Rochelles Animal Boy will eventually come, with it’s release date to be determined. No other plans for the New Rochelles are in the works.

I aim to be true to my sound as I write songs for the Young Rochelles. It wasn’t natural or necessary to copy the New Rochelles, though we still maintain a similar enough sound, but with a twist for sure. We’re family bands, and the Rochelles live on.

Not sure about the timeline here, but you recorded a solo album a few years ago. I don't even think a lot of YR fans know about it - care to shed light on this mysterious album? What were the circumstances that lead to it, and what were your goals in writing it? It definitely wasn't a Ramonescore album! 

I recorded a solo album under my “alter ego” in 2012. It was in between the time when the New Rochelles became inactive but before the Young Rochelles existed. The album wasn’t promoted at all nor was it on a record label. It was electronic pop album. I’m proud of it even though hardly anyone has heard it. My goal for it was simply to make a great album that was different sounding than my other recordings. If people want to find it on Bandcamp, they can. I made a music video that’s on YouTube as well.

Something interesting I've noticed is that the Young Rochelles songs seem to stray further from the typical "Ramonescore" structures and trappings arrangements-wise, yet the overall aesthetics are still clearly rooted in what I'd consider to be a modern and updated version of traditional pop punk. What is your take on this? I know you write songs on an acoustic guitar, so do you think that these songs could be just as easily recorded in a different style of rock?

The Young Rochelles preserve the Ramones energy in the way that suits us. I dislike the term, “Ramonescore,” when describing my band because it pigeonholes us. The best listeners will hear and appreciate our true formula which extends beyond that.

When writing, I have a “campfire rule.” I write songs on acoustic guitar to ensure their universality, if you will. If someone could play my songs on a guitar around a campfire and people could easily sing along to the song, without the big production value necessary to its success, then I know what I’m doing is working. I intend for people to digest and cover my songs with ease. Finally, I believe transposition is powerful -- Most songs can be transposed into any genre and any key.

Production-wise, I've always been rather jealous of both your patience in pacing your releases and also the extremely high quality of your recordings. Do you personally have a lot of knowledge that lends itself to the YR recording process? Have you always had a specific criteria for quality with respect to the recordings you release? Even going back to Project 27, everything has always sounded very tight, clean, and full production-wise. 

Anything I release officially has to be ready for all ears. I want it to appeal to everyone, so the quality has to be high. Occasionally, punks perceive “overproduction” in my music, but I think a song is a song at the end of the day. 

I work with producers who I trust. I put my faith in them and allow them to shape the music. The balance of ideas are an important part of both the journey and the result.

Is it ever weird being the drummer who's also a lead singer? And furthermore, how did you develop the perfect Marky Ramone technique? When I watch your hi-hat attack, it's got a lot of finesse and technique in there that suggests you may have some formal drum training? What about vocal training or other musical schooling? How formal are your skills? 

Thanks!! I’ve had drum lessons, yeah. At points in time I’ve wanted to just sing, but it doesn’t end up happening. 

I was in the school chorus for nine years, from grades 4 through 12. I took several music theory classes and joined songwriting workshops. I attended graduate school at one point for music therapy, but decided to discontinue it. I worked in a nursing home and rehab center for seven years as a musician which furthered my experience. I strolled around the hallways and rooms playing guitar and singing, and I held jam sessions where the residents played percussion instruments and sang. I also led a chorus there and we held four concerts a year. 

Your voice for the Young Rochelles is very tuneful and crystal clear in pitch, but I know it's only one of many styles of singing that you can achieve. What were your intentions when you developed the vocal aesthetic that you're known for? How would you describe it? To me it's a very friendly, inviting tone that is an interesting contrast to the fast and loud rock attack it's set against.

I’d say I’m a friendly and inviting person, so if my singing reflects that, that’s cool. I had no clear intentions of my vocal style beyond just being me. I hope it has a unique quality to it, but that’s not for me to judge. I knew I wanted to mostly sing and not yell, although I do like to switch between my typical singing voice and my throaty snarl within the same song sometimes. I always warm up my voice before practices and shows, and I use a headset monitor while on drums so that I can hear myself sing. I think all that’s rare for singers of the punk genre.

Punk rock has become a habit for me, and at this point in time, I’m tired of hearing synthesizers in every song on the radio. I want rock to return. The world is too shallow in feeling without it. I’m making an effort to continue the legacy of rock’n’roll for the people who need it.

You guys are a New York band, yet always seem to be on the periphery of the New York scene. Even though you got to play Insub Fest in 2013, I always felt that you guys were outsiders somewhat in the PPMB scene. Do you feel that way? To what extent do you feel like you're part of a pop punk community? Which bands and fans do you connect with the most on a personal level? 

I didn’t make efforts to be active on the PPMB, but I think we are liked by the our local music peers who were on it. Unfortunately, there’s not much happening in the New York pop punk scene right now, but it’s always good to see those old friends out at shows when bands like Teenage Bottlerocket come through town.

The Young Rochelles go beyond the New York scene. We’re a part of the global pop punk community, if you will. The internet has made that easier. Our friends are truly scattered all over, but they know who they are. You’re one of them, DEEDS!

You guys have filmed several music videos and they're all very official. I know that must be a very time-consuming and exhausting process, though. Do you feel it's worth it? Does it sometimes feel that the collective attention spans are so short that your hard work is bound to be digested and shat out quickly, if at all?

Our videos are actually pretty easy and lots of fun to film. We get involved in editing when necessary, which can be more of a process. We make music videos for fun and to keep the band official. The videos highlight our timeline as a band. It’s another way for fans to enjoy the our work, so it’s worth it.

What are some of your long-term goals for the Young Rochelles and for yourself musically? Are there other genres of music you'd like to explore? Do you sometimes feel that the aesthetic of The Young Rochelles is too confining? Band uniforms, all downstrokes, LJ's in tow - do you ever get sick of that? 

My long term goal is to compile a respected discography throughout my music “career.” It’s sometimes a challenge to work within the aesthetic of the Young Rochelles, but I like that challenge. I also feel the power to stretch the formula if I’m inspired to do so. The Young Rochelles can be whatever we want it to be, and there’s freedom in that, while still focusing on the big picture. It’s all about balance. 

Who are your all-time favorite songwriters? What more would you aspire to be as a songwriter - are there levels you've yet to achieve that you're working towards or are you just letting it happen naturally? How much "study" and thought goes into your songwriting craft? Do you feel that your songwriting personality is distinct?

I feel more strongly about songs, not songwriters. That said, some that stand out in my mind are: Lennon/McCartney/Harrison, Brian Wilson, Billy Joel, and Tom Petty. For punk rock, I think Dee Dee Ramone, Fat Mike, Ben Weasel, and Joe Queer have written some of the best songs out there for our genre. I hear a lot of craftsmanship in their music. The Dickies are one of my favorites too...there are just too many to list.

I’m constantly thinking about songs and the elements that make them hits. Music is a language which I’ve worked to understand, and I use thinking and feeling when creating songs. I like to utilize as many chords in the key that I’m in. I sometimes sprinkle in extra chords that are outside of the scale, yet still work in context. I like to add unexpected elements when I can. For instance, including a descending key change, like in “She’s Always Glowin’.” My best songs capture a particular feeling or mood, have emotional lyrics that are personally meaningful, include melodic leaps in its vocal melody, and contain interesting chord progressions.

I’d say my songwriting style is distinct. I think about it more as a timeline of my life versus it being levels to achieve; I grow as a songwriter in time with experience. It’s a natural process. I’ve always been critical about what songs I choose to keep for albums because I believe that’s an important part of the big picture. I’d like to have a greatest hits album someday.

You also play in a cover band and have told me that it's more "successful" in terms of the money and the crowd enthusiasm. Is it fun for you? Do you feel that this avenue is satisfying enough that it could potentially eclipse the independent route of playing originals and trying to "make it" in a punk band when pop punk's relevance today is highly questionable? 

It’s been fun at times, but no, I love making original music and I don’t get enough satisfaction out of playing strictly covers. It’s not what I was meant to do. 

What are some of the best and worst times you've experienced as a musician? Do you often feel discouraged or frustrated by the results of your musical efforts? What do you consider to be your proudest moment as a songwriter? What's your favorite song that you've written and album that you've played on? What's next for Ricky Rochelle?

My favorite album to play on was Project 27’s “Smarten Up,” because I enjoyed collaborating with all the musicians that were involved on the album. My favorite song for Project 27 is “Next September” and my favorite song for the Young Rochelles is “Cannibal Island.”

The best times as a musician happen when listeners appreciate what you do. It brings about feelings of pride and the reputation earned makes it worthwhile. I suppose the worst experiences stem from how musicians are treated. There are times when we’re treated pretty poorly and left working under stressful conditions. We don’t want to be paid in pizza either, as tasty as in may be. I appreciate anyone who has taken care of us and made our appearances worth our while. 

I sometimes get frustrated by the public results of my efforts, but not discouraged. I see the long view and steamroll through adversity because I have enough knowledge and drive to keep going. I know that time is on my side, and that’s a big factor.

My proudest moment as a songwriter came in 2012 when I had a meeting with Sony/ATV Music Publishing in New York City. I met with the co-president of the company and the vice president of marketing who were impressed with the songs I had sent to them. They asked me to travel to California to be on a songwriting team that writes for radio. I should have done it, but out of fear of the uncertain and because of loyalty to my job, I said no. You’ve gotta take the opportunities when they come to you. Sony/ATV later assigned me to write and record a song for a commercial, which I did, but it unfortunately didn’t end up being used. 

Luckily, songwriting is my true passion in life and my motivations continue beyond a past regret. I’m working obsessively now on the next record for the Young Rochelles; Thinking, writing, and constantly sequencing the existing songs. We’ll be touring this July/August in support of our live album entitled, It’s Alive, Too! and we hope to begin recording our next studio album by the end of this year. It’s gonna be a great one... I can’t wait for the world to hear it!!

Thanks for the interview and thanks for reading!!

LES HERNANDEZ

LES HERNANDEZ

How did you develop a love for music, and what was your first exposure to rock music? When did you reach a point where you wanted to play and write songs, and how did this come about? Were your early attempts private or shared with others, and did you receive encouragement from friends/family?

Music, rock and roll in particular, has always been a part of me. I was always surrounded by it and always glued to the oldies channel on my transistor radio when I was a kid, listening to classics from the 1950s and '60s. It's the type of music I was drawn to the most back then in the 1970s, until I caught the Ramones on Sha Na Na's TV show.

My dad managed a (then) contemporary rock/funk/soul band who rehearsed in our dining room when I was really young, and I'd sit in an watch them in awe, feeling the bass drum thump through my chest. I guess I always knew I wanted to do that--play music--so it was never a conscious decision. I wanted to grow up and be just like Buddy Holly, with becoming a priest running right behind that, based solely on the cool looking fascist-chic duds those guys wore. Of course, the priest idea was dropped in the fourth grade when I decided to read their bible and didn't like what was in there. That's when I started actually trying to teach myself chords, though I actually started taking guitar seriously later, at around thirteen.

I learned your basic open chords first, just from watching my dad play his acoustic and trying to replicate it later by myself. I taught myself simple tunes like La Bamba and Twist & Shout, writing my first song almost immediately. It was, of course, about a girl I had a crush on at the time. I won't even pretend it was good in any way, but it was a start. My friends and family encouraged me early on, until I was fifteen or sixteen and my mom found some very anti-Christian lyrics I had written. By that point I'd already been into metal and punk for a few years, but still loved my oldies music.

Was The Catalogs your first band? Were you doing any songwriting or recording prior to The Catalogs? How did you get together with those guys, and what were your goals? Which bands influenced the sound the most, and how did you end up connecting with Timbo's Mutant Pop Records?

My first band was actually a band I joined that a few friends started, called Trill. I was on rhythm guitar, playing a beast of a guitar my friends and I called my Bumper guitar, because it wasn't quite a Fender, but it had Gibson pickups and was cobbled together with a Fender neck and homemade body by a friend of my father. That band never made it anywhere the gigging stage, but we did make a whole lot of fun memories. I had a boatload of songs written by this point, but never shared them yet. Hell, I still haven't shared most of those tunes with anyone to this very day.

The Catalogs came about in either late 1993 or early '94. Some friends and I who were all heavily into bands like the Ramones, Screeching Weasel, The Queers, MTX, etc., were bullshitting over beers, as we loved to frequently pass the time doing, when we started talking about starting a band of our own. Our original singer, Pat, and bassist, Kevin, knew another guitarist and drummer, so I said we should do it--and we did. It came together immediately, and so I just kept pulling out more songs as quickly as we could learn them. We were playing shows in no time, and recorded our first demo, Viva los Muertos!, in mid-late 1995, just before we had a show booked with The Queers. The Queers covering Another Girl is what got Timbo at Mutant Pop interested in us.

The Catalogs didn't release a lot of material, but everything released was very solid. Were their plans to do a full-length? Also, what are your recollections of penning the song you're probably most known for - "Another Girl"? It's truly a timeless one!

Thank you! We did want to do a full-length, for sure! Things happen when everything moves so fast and stuff gets in the way, so we just never got around to it. Not long after we released our demo, our then drummer (who wasn't our original drummer, but whom recorded with us) quit the band to move away. Justin became our main singer a while before that. Another Girl was written about, let's call it bumps in the road, and that particular bump was affecting a friend of mine. I'll leave the rest of that one in the past for now.

Did Joe Queer tell you ahead of time that he was going to cover Another Girl? What did you think when you heard Don't Back Down and his version of it? Have you written songs for other bands before or since? 

The way it happened was, the night we played with The Queers in Honolulu, we had never played Another Girl live before in front of anyone, so it was the last song in our set right before they went on. Joe came up to me after the show and told me how much he liked the song--I was incredibly flattered! He mentioned wanting to cover it and I, of course, said I'd be more than happy for them to. So, Lookout! Records drew up a contract and the rest is history. I played their version on repeat countless times from cassette Joe sent me before the album's actual release. I loved it!

I never purposely tried to write for other bands, though I'm not opposed to the idea of writing material for others. If a band wants to cover something I wrote and are willing to go through the whole legal royalty thing, I'm cool with that!

How has being a resident of Hawaii impacted your goals in terms of touring and exposure as a musician? Is it daunting to try to plan shows on the mainland or elsewhere? Was there a significant pop punk scene in Hawaii at the time The Catalogs were active? How about since?

Living in Hawaii is pretty expensive, so that plus distance makes touring next to impossible. I moved to Washington State in 1997, when The Catalogs were prepping to record our 7" for Mutant Pop, and we played a few shows in the PNW. When I moved to Portland in 2006 and reformed The Quintessentials there, we toured. In Hawaii I prefer to keep shows few and far between because no one wants to see the same band week after week. It should be special and exciting.

The scene here today is very different from back in the mid/late 1990s. Poppunk has changed a lot as well. I can't say I really recognize it anymore. There's already a generation gap too wide to bridge the disconnect. The punk and metal scenes I grew up in are nothing like the ones active today. Needless to say, as much as I want to support the scene, I can't be disingenuous or phony about it.

When did The Quintessentials form and under what circumstances? Were you already interested in/studying Lavey's work and affiliated with The Church of Satan at that point? How did occult study and Satanism in particular become a central part of your life? Did you set out to form the world's first Satanic pop punk band? To me it's one of the aspects that makes The Quintessentials such a unique and interesting band.

Before I moved to Washington to reform and record The Catalogs, I played in another Satanic punk band called Crawling Chaos, which wasn't so poppy. When both bands dissolved and I moved back to Hawaii in 1998, I wanted to continue both, but under one banner, so I formed The Quintessentials. We originally went by The Products, but I found out that name was taken and quickly changed it.

I'd first read Anton LaVey's The Satanic Bible when I was around thirteen, and I had been corresponding with current Church of Satan High Priest, Peter H. Gilmore, since I was eighteen, so I had identified as a Satanist for many years before I officially joined the COS, receiving my membership packet in January of 1997. I had been publishing a Satanic 'zine called BLOODFIRE! and had been contributing to various other Satanic publications. When I first read the LaVey's TSB, it resonated deep with me, and I just knew this was who I was. From that point it wasn't a matter of really trying, but of doing what came naturally, you could say. I suppose that the very fact that I am a Satanist means I view the world through a Satanic filter or lens, and my Satanism spills out from me into everything I create, if that makes sense.

With both Crawling Chaos and The Quintessentials, I wanted to get real Satanic thought out there because I was tired of so many bands faking a Satanic image to sell records, plus the bands that didn't want to try to understand actual Satanism and just made up their own half-assed forms of self-styled devil worship and calling it Satanism, which it wasn't. Most of these bands were metal, but there were (and still are) punk bands trying to pass off Satanism's iconography while lyrically and idealistically they are anything but Satanic. I wanted authenticity, but authenticity that could still be a lot of fun!

What exactly is your role in The Church of Satan? Do you feel that your philosophy/spirituality informs your music and songwriting? I always found it interesting that the music of The Quintessentials is still essentially traditional pop punk in every way - there's no "dark vibes" melodically or anything that would immediately clue the listener in to the bands' Satanic themes before hearing the lyrics. 

Right now I hold the title of Priest in the Church of Satan, which is our third degree of five, and is by invitation only. It's a recognition of my successful application of Satanic principles in my life and my ability to inform others on the topic in an official capacity as a representative of our religion.

As I mentioned earlier, yes, I do feel my Satanism spills into everything I do. It's not so much a conscious effort as much as it's just who I am. It's not like "Satanist" is my sole identity, but it is an integral part for certain. Much like "Guitarist" doesn't solely identify me as a whole, or "Horror Movie Lover" or "Buffy Nerd." So yeah, everything I'm made up of comes through in the music, and I happen to be a very happy guy, so that comes through in my happy sounding music as well.

Getting back to songwriting, what is your typical approach? Do you tend to start with a melodic idea, a title, or something else? How do you catalog your ideas so you don't forget them? Do you tend to write on an acoustic guitar? How quickly are you able to compose new material? Does your inspiration vary, or can you churn songs out more or less at will?

With me, it varies. Sometimes I'll have an entire song in my head and have to record a demo before I forget it. Other times I'll just have an idea for subject matter or a melody and have to start with just that. A couple of songs formed themselves in dreams and I woke up needing to learn them right away. It's as if there's a Jungian collective unconscious that I sometimes tune in with and everything just flows from it into my head. When I try without that muse feeding my brain, it can work, but it takes a lot more effort and doesn't always come out the same or as good.

What are your impressions of the newest Lillingtons record Stella Sapiente? Are you aware that Kody and Tim are knowledgeable practioners? Did the music evoke anything spiritually that you related to form an occult perspective? I felt that the record had a certain atmosphere that certainly complimented the lyrical themes of the occult, rituals, secret societies, etc.

I love the Lillingtons, and I had a brief discussion with Kody that kept getting interrupted when we played with Teenage Bottlerocket our here not too long ago. Bear in mind that when I say "Satanism," I mean a very specific thing, and that thing in defined in The Satanic Bible and is by its very definition, atheistic and non-spiritual. That said, I think they and I are on different paths, but their bands fucking rock!

Can we talk about your guitar playing a bit? Based on the music videos I've seen for The Quintessentials, you play very badass looking instrument. Is that a custom guitar? How did your style of guitar playing develop? Who are some of your favorite guitarists? At any point were you inclined to play all downstrokes and do the Johnny Ramone thing like so many other pop punk bands?

Hehe! Thanks! I'm assuming you're talking about my red Halo Invert. That I got through an endorsement deal many moons ago. It was discontinued due to some legal issue Halo was having at the time, so you can't get 'em anymore. Beautiful instrument. I switched out the pick-ups and put a Diesel '59 Woodshred in the neck position and a Mighty Mite Motherbucker in the bridge position. Great combination for that guitar. I recently lost a volume knob and so I replaced them all with these cool black skull knobs with red gem eyes. I named her Ginger, and my black Epiphone Les Paul is named Brigitte--both after the sisters in one of my favorite werewolf franchises, Ginger Snaps. I also have a black Alvarez acoustic I like to write with at home--named Morticia.

I think playing with predominantly down strokes is a natural byproduct of being really into bands like the Ramones and Misfits and learning as much of their stuff as accurately as possible. It doesn't sound right otherwise. I also like playing full barre chords instead of power chords, for a fuller sound. That's the basics for punk guitar 101 right there, really. Musicianship-wise, my favorite guitarists are Chuck Berry, Randy Rhodes, Ace Frehley, Slash, Doyle, Yngwie Malmsteen, Brian May. Basically Yngwie is the exception to the rule for me because I generally like big fat Gibson-style sound through Marshall amps, blues-influenced rock playing, but he plays a thinner sounding Fender Strat, which usually I don't like at all, but he makes that thing his bitch. I can't stand Led Zeppelin, but I have a deep respect for Jimmy Page's playing. The guitars on the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack are top notch, too!

Recently you had somewhat of a health crisis from what I understand - what happened exactly and what is your current health status? Did the experience provide you with any new perspectives or give you any renewed musical inspiration?

On April 20 of this year I was diagnosed with small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the prostate. It's a rare form of cancer that usually shows up as lung cancer, but I got mine in the prostate. As of right now I've gone through three rounds of chemo and am about to start my fourth, followed by surgery to cut it out. I guess you could say that, as much as I've always loved life and doing everything I can to make my dreams come true, I'm even more determined to do so now.

There is no god in the sky that's going to make my life any better. No afterlife waiting for me. If that were true I'm sure such a benevolent deity wouldn't allow such a horrible thing like cancer to exist, so it's definitive proof that by cancer's very existence there can be no such thing as god. So it's up to me to be my own god and steer my life where I want it to go. I'm sure I'll get a few new songs out of it.

What are your future goals as a musician and songwriter? Do you feel satisfied with what you've accomplished so far? Do you feel that The Quintessentials have made enough of an impact despite being a largely local phenomenon? Are there any "bucket list" musical goals that you still hope to meet?

Well, I'm currently on the final edit and mixing phase of our sixth album and already have ideas for our seventh, so no signs of stopping any time soon. I'd like to tour again. In time. I really love being in the studio and making albums--everything about the process; from an intangible brain construct to audible sound to coming up with artwork and then a physical thing you can hold and smell and put in a CD player to listen to. I just love the entire process. I just want to be able to keep doing it. Folks seem to enjoy it, so hopefully I can keep making stuff they like.

Who are your all-time favorite songwriters? Do you still follow the pop punk scene at all? Are there any current or new pop punk bands that you're interested in? What other styles of music do you enjoy listening to/playing?

This takes me back to my love for the music from the 1950s and '60s. Lennon/McCartney were among my favorites as a songwriting duo. Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, whomever was writing for all the '60s girl pop groups, Elton John back in the 1970s. Meatloaf. The entire 1970s powerpop movement. Neil Diamond.

I haven't really gotten into new music for quite sometime. There's an old-school sounding black metal band called Chapel that I recently got into that I really like--they remind me of old Venom. I like Flamingo Nosebleed and am excited to see what Hideous Monster is doing--both Portland bands. When I'm not listening to all of that type of stuff I like listening to classical music--symphonies in particular, though I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable on the topic as I'd like to be. Classical music has as deep a grit to it as any type of rock. It can drag you into the gutter and lift you to the clouds.

Do you feel that Satanism is connected to the style of music you play in any significant way? Do you think that Satanic themes or inspiration are a natural occurrence for artists and musicians? How do you define "evil" and what's your advice for living a fulfilling life spiritually and musically?

There's Satanically themed music--regardless of genre--and there's Satanic music, which is music that is larger than life in that it will move you whether you like it or not. You'll feel it to the core. Satanic music is timeless music. What I write is, generally speaking, Satanically themed and not specifically bombastic, so I won't fool myself into the pretense of creating the latter when I recognize it more as the former. That said, I do think that rock and roll in general has an inherent Satanic streak in that its very nature is rebellious and raw, lustful and angry. It isn't afraid to cover the entire spectrum of deep human emotion. That's the difference between genuine music and the plastic garbage on top 40 radio. Rock and roll comes from the blues, and the blues has always been associated with the devil, but rock and roll also has a classical influence, and Vivaldi and Paganini both have their infamous Faustian myths just like Robert Johnson. Humans have a way of labeling the parts of themselves they can't accept as "evil" and so they hide it away and pretend it doesn't exist, but rock and roll brings those parts alive.

I do think it's easier for artists to delve into darker themes because they have to reach deeper into themselves to come up with original subject matter, and that can be a dangerous undertaking for some people. Not everyone likes what they find inside. I'm lucky enough to be someone who really likes what I see inside myself.

I personally have two definitions of "evil." One is a pragmatic definition that basically means "evil" is what is bad for me or what gets in the way of my well-being, comfort, or happiness. It isn't a tangible thing, nor is it a living entity. It's a cockblock in the way of enjoying life. The other definition is the tendency toward doing malice, which isn't entirely solely a human characteristic, as we see it in many mammalian species, and it seems to be more apparent in groups. A good example of this is in Howard Bloom's The Lucifer Principle and displayed in the Derren Brown special The Experiments: Remote Control. Needless to say, I don't condone folks going out and being an asshole for the sake of "evil." That has nothing to do with living Satanically.

My best advice? For music: practice! For life: squeeze every last drop of joy you can from life while you have it. Drink that shit up while you can. Make the most of your life in the here and now and live as the god of your own subjective universe--and without being a dick just for the sake of being a dick. Then all of the things you're passionate about will begin to bear fruit and others will remember you after you die, fondly.