C-Rap
recently took a much-needed break from its typical daily activities,
using fake identities to get welfare money. Why?
Well,
one of C-Rap's favorite bands Strike Anywhere came to town
on the Punk Voter tour and vocalist, Thomas Barnett was gracious
enough to make time for us in one of lower Manhattan’s
last standing abandoned lots.
For
those who don't know, tell us about the band you were in before
Strike Anywhere?
It was
called Inquisition. It's the band whose one
record has killed all the small labels that tried to put it
out. (Laughter)
We are
gonna re-release a discography on either No Idea! or A-F records.
Whichever one of those labels seems the most interested.
I think
the Anti Flag guys are in the lead because
they all have tattoos of the album cover. (Laughter)
It hasn't
been out in years and I have one copy of it at home.
How
did you go from Inquisition to Strike Anywhere?
Inquisition
existed from 1991 to 1996. When we broke up some of the guys
from the band went on to do Ann Berretta and River
City High, and I went on to do Strike Anywhere. Matt
Sherwood was a roadie for Inquisition and he did backing vocals
on our record. When Inquisition ended, we started playing
together but it wasn't that immediate. I traveled for a while
to Russia and we went through some different lineups before
it all become complete. It was a start and stop process for
a bit before it got up and running. Our first show was with
Ann Berretta in 1999.
How
did you guys come up with the name Strike Anywhere?
It was
the name of track eight on the Inquisition album. It’s
oddly enough the most like Strike Anywhere, in terms of music
and the ideas. It has similar themes to our material, the
disparity of rich and poor and the brutality of the American
dream.
Did
Strike Anywhere start touring right away? Did you run with
the momentum and experience from previous bands you guys had
been in?
We did
weekends a lot and we had some generous friendships with Hot
Water Music and Avail. Both of those bands helped
us out in the beginning. From those tours we met the guys
in Alkaline Trio, Jade Tree and No Idea!
Then Fat Wreck contacted us and we did a 7-inch of the month
with those guys. We kept touring and working hard
What
releases have you guys had, from the beginning to now?
Well,
We put out an EP called Chorus of One,
which is available on vinyl with No Idea!, and then we did
a limited pressing 7 inch of the month with Fat Wreck. Both
of our two full lengths that followed came out on Jade Tree.
We're in the process now, of compiling all our early stuff
along with some outtakes and covers on an album that we'll
be releasing on Jade Tree in January of 2005. Some of that
early stuff is hard to find, although No Idea! does a great
job and you can get the vinyl through them.
You
recorded both of your full lengths with Brian McTernan. What
is that like? How is he to work with?
We also
did our 7-inch on Fat Wreck with Brian. We've been working
with him for so long, its great. We always record with him
in the spring and last time we were there we helped do dry
wall and paint the attic that he was converting to a bedroom
for him and his wife. He helps us so much. He understands
punk and hardcore, and he knows what’s special about
it and he knows what’s useless about it. He doesn't
want you to leave unless you've done the best you can. It
can be grueling, especially on the vocalists. I was having
this conversation with Dustin from Thrice about how hard he
can be on you. He is great at getting a performance out of
you that is filled with adrenalin and drive.
Do
you think your gonna work with him again?
I'd like to.
What
new bands are you all about these days?
I was
hearing all this stuff about Against Me!
and I never heard them. I was hearing about them for years
but never picked up the record and when I did I was blown
away.
It was
so cool to discover new music like that. Ted Leo
is another guy. Both of those records are new, but sound old,
but aren't. (Laughter)
They're
so good that you think they must be twenty years old (Laughter).
It's really
great to know that music is that good, now.
In
a related Ted Leo Story, I used to play in this meaningless
local band and we got offered a show at The Bloomfield Cafe
in New Jersey. I was told by the promoter that he had a show
for us. He wanted us to sell a hundred advance tickets and
we'd be opening for a singer songwriter. I asked him who and
he said it was a singer songwriter on Lookout! named Ted Leo.
Now, I didn’t make the chisel connection and hadn't
heard anything about Ted's solo stuff yet. So I turned down
the show thinking it would've sucked. Two years later I'm
listening to Ted Leo all the time and trying to figure out
where I know his name from and sure enough it hit me, I turned
down a show with Ted Leo! I felt like such an ass.
In 1994,
Propaghandi was doing maybe their first tour
of America. They were booking their summer tour and it was
extremely DIY; just DIY venues, and house shows, and things
like that. This was before the Internet. This was back in
the day when kids would use a chip in payphones to make phone
calls for free, and have tour contacts listed on rolls of
photocopied paper. My friends and I had a house in Richmond
VA, where we used to throw shows. Inquisition used to play
there a lot. We had gotten into a really tense fight with
our landlord and we were told if we had any more shows we
would get evicted. So the Propaghandi guys call and ask to
play. We told them we couldn’t do it. We'd never heard
of them, but we would've helped any band if we could. Sure
enough, the next year everything changed. Propaghandi released
an amazing record. We felt a lot of remorse. (Laughter) Now
we're friends with those guys and we've played some shows
with them.
Its
surreal isn’t it how paths cross? You’re on one
side of the fence and then in an instant, the other.
That’s
what punk is like. The fence is an illusion. Everyone is everywhere
at once. The idea of the separation between band and people
is such an illusion. Sometimes the audience wants it because
they've been told to want it by mainstream rock culture. It's
never there though, the audience, the people shape the idea
of what we are. This art is a living force; we're doing more
than just a reinterpretation of our record. It has a desperate
vitality. People don't even understand how much they are a
part of this band. We can't even articulate it properly. This
band is us, but it’s an us that’s bigger than
just the five of us.
Strike
Anywhere is clearly a political band, from its lyrics to its
tours.
How did you find an interest in politics? What about your
life brought you to be so political?
I think
it’s a series of diverse influences that went into making
me who I am. I had a really close connection with a minister
as a kid, although I was agnostic and very suspect of organized
religion. Regardless of faith, I used to work with a youth
group that went to the projects in Richmond, VA. These kids
didn't have families. These kids were trying to make the most
out of their rusting swing sets and we would take them out
in the country. They had never seen forests, or rolling hills,
or mountains. Those moments, that goodwill and discipline
was a really inspiring thing for me. I think a lot of experiences
as a kid and my experiences in punk rock, that communality
that exists in punk have really brought me to who I am.
What’s next for Strike Anywhere?
We're
writing for our next record. Recording some covers and we're
planning to tour and go places we haven't been yet
What
covers are you doing?
Two
Sides by Gorilla Biscuits.
I hear
a lot of Gorilla Biscuits in you guys.
Yeah we
love them.
Are
you guys gonna do a Civ cover?
I hope
not. (Laughter)
We want
to go Eastern Canada, and go back to Asia
Last time
we went to Asia we wound up not getting let in to Japan. We
were detained. It was really intense. We were put into cells
for two days where we weren't allowed any outgoing or incoming
calls. They took away our passports and tickets. I was allowed
to send out one email, which was to our Australian tour promoter
who then spread the word about our situation to the Japanese
promoters and Jade Tree. We were held in these cells and all
over the walls various other detainees from around the world
had written their stories in English.
It was
really intense.
So,
how did you guys get out?
Well we
were gonna tour Japan, then go to Australia next. They stopped
us from touring Japan and we thought they were gonna deport
us back to the US, which would have forced us to cancel Australia
as well. After two days, these two cool guards came over to
us, because they were curious about us. We told them our story
and they told us to buy tickets to Australia and leave that
night and we did. It turned out ok, but it could've been so
much worse.
... At this point Dan Yemin, the ex guitarist for
Lifetime and singer for Paint it Black came over and interrupted
us because him and Thomas had to go back to the club.
It
turned out that they were practicing an Inquisition song that
Dan performed with Thom during the Strike Anywhere encore.
Good
Times.
-Shane
Gill
http://www.exitenglish.com
http://www.punkvoter.com
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