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What are your names, place in the band, and where are you from?

Bret: I’m Bret, I play guitar, and I am from the San Fernando Valley.
Veggie: I’m Veggie, I play guitar and I do back up vocals, and I am from Montrose, Ca.
Mike: I’m Mike, I play bass and I’m the sing and I’m from Granada Hills, Ca.
Alan: I’m Alan, I play drums, and since back up vocals and I grew up in Palmdale, Ca.

Do you guys have any goals or expectations to meet by the end of this tour?

B: You know, hopefully just to…well, this tour right here, the main aspect is to raise awareness of the homeless across the United States. Basically, we’re hoping get the word into the youth, and have them not ignore it cause it’s on every street corner…We’re not expecting everyone to donate like thousands, just to be aware that this is existing and you can’t ignore it. That’s the main aspect of this tour.
M: And also to get our music out to as many kids as possible… We have an new album coming out, and we’re giving away a bunch of free samplers.

(I point out the CD in my hand)

M: Yeah that’s our full length.
A: Full-length advanced copy.

Cool.

M: We pressed like 3 songs for the samplers. And hopefully we’re gonna be bigger at the end of this tour than we were at the beginning.

I don’t think you could really go downhill…

A: Oh you could go downhill.
M: Yeah, it’s possible.

On your website, you are described as having the San Fernando Valley sound. For people who have never even heard of San Fernando Valley, how would you describe it?

B: It’s basically just that so-cal punk rock sound, which exploded in the early to mid 90’s, and what we put up on the website, there was a pretty decent following going on in the San Fernando Valley.

Are there any particular spots on the tour you are looking forward to most?

B: New York.
M: I’m probably the same with New York, cause it’s like the furthest place on this tour that we could go, and it’s just cool that we are Californian kids and we can go to the east coast in a totally different city. I guess, it’s like to meet people in New York, they’re like ‘Oooh California’ and when you’re in California, it’s like ‘ooo New York is pretty fucking kickass.’
B: I guess just the East Coast in general. We got a taste of it last year.
V: Yeah, we had a lot of fun.

M: The people there treat us sooo much differently than we are treated here on the West coast. And in ways, it’s better. It’s cool.

Would you say they are more appreciative?

A: Less…Less bullshit.
(laughter)
M: Yeah.
A: They are pretty up front about what they think of you.
B: And they’re just more excited to see a show, you know?
M: They really, really appreciate what you are doing. Compared to like the West coast, where we are from, they don’t appreciate it as much just because there is so much of it out here, already with the local bands and the local scenes. Not necessarily Punk Rock, more so with Screamo out here. On the East Coast, it’s just like, we are from California, and they seem like more what we are coming from.
A: Out there, kids don’t really front. If they don’t like you, they don’t like you. And they know how to show their appreciation for a band.
B: You don’t see too many uh…arms folded which you get especially in Southern California.

You’ll get that here, definitely. What type of stuff runs through your mind when you are on stage?

V: Having a lot of fun, really.
A: It depends on how the show’s going, really. If my drum set, for instance, is moving around a lot, I’m thinking “Dammit, I hope my bass drum doesn’t keep moving” and…
B: Fall off the riser...
A: And all that stuff.
B: Like at The Whiskey (Hollywood, Ca).
A: Fall off the stage, yeah. But if it’s going good, and the show’s good, and the vibe’s good, then we just really vibe off each other. Not really thinking about anything except just the music.
All at once: Yeah.
M: Yeah, look at the crowd, see how it’s going.
B: I just totally draw a blank when I am on stage. Like I kinda just let my body take me over, and I mean the songs are just automatic. Like (snaps a few times) and I’m just up there to have fun; I don’t try to think about things too much.
M: Yeah, I agree with that. The only times I do think about stuff is sometimes when I try to remember lyrics and stuff like that.

What are your favorite songs to play live?

M: I’d have to say…“Vacant.” I really like playing that song, really enjoy it. It’s a good song. It has a cool bass riff in the beginning…makes me feel like I am rocking.
V: I really like playing “Severance Check.” That’s a fun one.
B: I’d have to agree with “Vacant.” That’s a very fun song. I also like everything, ‘cause it’s just like no bullshit, straight, through, one speed, good song to dance to.

Do you guys have any pre-show rituals or habits?

M: No, but we’ll probably make some up.
V: Stretch.
M: Yeah, stretch.
A: I try to clear my mind of all the bullshit from the day, get all those thoughts out of my head, try to get as relaxed as possible.
M: Alan deals with a lot of bullshit apparently.
(Laughter)
A: Yeah, like my singer.
(Laugher)
M: I wanna to start drinking some tea before shows.
A: Some throat coat.
M: Yeah, throat coat.
A: Bret will prepare it for you.
B: Yeah, I do a lot of Heroin.
A: Yeah, not really.
M: Hang out with the homeless guys.
A: Try to find some cool homeless people before the shows, get a vibe out of them.

Let them know you guys are helping them out?

All: Yeah.

Who are your favorite bands, and do they influence the music you make?

B: Face to Face, Sick of it All, Millencolin, you know. I don’t rip them off, but yeah, they are a big influence.
V: I’d have to say NoFx, Millencolin, and yes they do influence me.
M: Uh…there are so many bands. Okay, so bands in my CD player right now, Alkaline Trio, all the bands Veggie said, all the bands Bret said, uhmm I was listening to the new Sugarcult album the other day, just a bunch of stuff. And it influences your music to a certain point because you know when you grow up listening to music, it’s just in you. And you play it, but you’re also just playing what you like to play, so my greatest influence would be just having fun.
A: I think, for me, definitely the Foo Fighters. Lately, I have also really gotten into the band Rise Against; I find myself listening to that a lot. Eight Fingers Down has gotten me into Face to Face; I really like that. A bunch of other various types of music.
B: I also listen to a lot of 80’s and stuff (makes some 80’s music noises, laughter ensues) my ipod is full of that stuff.
M: (Makes some more noises)

If you guys could go on the perfect tour, who else would be on it?

B: Dead or Alive?
M: Yeah, does it matter if they are dead?

Uhhh, No. Just pick whoever.

All: Hmm uhh...
B: It’s a toss up. I mean, I’d love to play with Nirvana.
A: Well, we’d probably open.
(Laughter)
B: If I could set up a tour, it’d probably be us, Face To Face, Nirvana, Reverend Horton Heat, and…I don’t know. Maybe Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, so they could serve us drinks.
V: That’s a really hard one.
M: ‘N Sync.
(Laughter)
A: I’d have to say, The Eagles.
(Laughter)
M: We should have Kansas come out, too! So they can play “Dust in the wind” with us.
B: I’d like to play with Tupac, too. That would be cool.
M: That’s one thing. I would really like to get the hip hop and punk on tour together. Like Hazen Street style, but just have a hip hop show, with a punk rock show.
B: Yeah.
M: I’d like to see how that would work out. I hate how scenes are really cliquey, and they don’t respect each other. I think people really need to start respecting all kinds of music and just get along.
All: Yeah.
M: Especially with the Screamo/Punk rock scene. They are just such haters. We’re all here doing the same thing, sharing the same stage, just trying to have fun and play music, and people just really don’t see it, and I really wish that.
B: And like, the bands respect each other, but the fans don’t. We’ve done quite a few shows with Screamo bands, and they’re always like, “Yeah good stuff” and we’re nice and respect each other, but like, the fans, are like “Uhn!”
(Laughter)
B: How do you spell “Uhn”?
I don’t know, I’ll have to figure that one out later.

V: I think it’s U-g-h.
M: That’s “Ugh.”

Maybe u-n-h?

B: Anyways…
(Laughter)

After this tour, do you guys have any plans?
A: Yeah, we are going to be doing some dates on, maybe the entire, Warped Tour. Still waiting to find out.
M: Our album is dropping May 24th. Make sure you put that in bold…
V: And we might go to Canada after Warped Tour.
M: It’s called Joy of Complication.
A: And might go to Canada, and you never know what else might come along. We’re definitely trying to keep out on the road, push our album, get as much exposure as possible.
M: So we can come back to Palmdale, and this place will be packed!
(Laughter)
B: Dude, we’re in Lancaster.
(Laughter)
A: The Antelope Valley.

Yeah, it’s all the same difference. Thanks guys for the interview!

For more info:

www.EightFingersDown.com
www.myspace.com/eightfingersdown
www.purevolume.com./eightfingersdown
www.IbexRecords.com

Interview By: Candice