On a rainy night down the Jersey Shore, The FSS took in The Stun Gunz, The Arteries, Static Radio, Cobra Skulls and Teenage Bottlerocket at The Brighton Bar in Long Branch. If there was 50 people in the club it was a lot but it was a fine night of pop punk any damn ways. In between sets Brandon, TBR’s drummer was kind enough to answer some questions for us.
FSS: How is the tour going so far?
Brandon: Good.
FSS: Is there anything different now that you are on Fat Wreck Chords?
Brandon: Yes, well yes and no. It’s not different in terms of us writing music or performing. But it’s different in terms of more advertisement, more distribution, more notoriety. And the fact that we always wanted to be on the label.
FSS: Who are some of your favorite FAT bands.
Brandon: Descendents, of course NOFX, Swingin’ Utters, The Lawrence Arms, tough question because there is so many of ‘em…
FSS: Are you guys big horror movie buffs? There a lot of horror themes in your songs.
FSS: Yeah, I’d say so, more so Miguel than anybody else. We just went and saw Zombieland, it was great. Bill Murray stole the show. Old school Bill Murray too, not like the more serious roles he’s been playing. Full on Dr. Peter Venkman. We saw Paranormal Activity. Yeah it was scary. We were all kinda creeped out.
FSS: How is New Jersey treating you guys so far?
Brandon: I don’t know. I just woke up.
FSS: Any New Jersey bands you guys are fans of?
Brandon: Yeah I love The Stun Gunz, they’re one of my favorite bands. I was in the van asleep and I heard them and I thought “Man, they sound like Zero Boys or something.” They have a great old-school sound. I went inside and they were just tearing it up. I dunno, felt great. It’s been awhile since a band did that. Of course Gaslight Anthem. Of course, Bouncing Souls… Misfits.
FSS: Who were some of your heroes growing up?
Brandon: Ohh man.Nothing’s really stuck from my childhood except for maybe Craig Biggio from the Houston Astros. The real magic happened in terms of heroes was when I got introduced to punk rock. Billy Joe right off the bat. Fat Mike… I always admired him, wanted to meet him. When I finally did it was quite spectacular… a little scary.
FSS: So it wasn’t anti-climactic?
Brandon: Quite the opposite. Every time I meet him something crazy happens. Last time I met him he was wearing a full clown suit. Then I went to shake his hand and he had a flower in his jacket that exploded powder all over me, head to toe. It’s never a normal conversation when I meet him. It’s always something bad happens, or it gets awkward. Anticlimactic, no. More like awkward. But fun.
FSS: How important is it that TBR’s records don’t just sound good but look good too? The vinyl for the new one looks awesome.
Brandon: Yeah I like the way it turned out too. We wanted it to be green. Then we asked the label if we could have a gatefold and they said sure, and they we asked if we could have a full color printed sleeve for the album and they said no problem and we were like Wow, really? Is there anything else we could come up with?
FSS: Are you guys big vinyl collectors?
Brandon: I’d say so.
FSS: What were some of your first ones?
Brandon: Umm. The Queers “My Old Man’s a Fatso” 7 inch, I picked that up back in ’94 when I saw them at a show. The Riverdales. The Bollweevils.
FSS: What are some of your favorites?
Brandon: I’m pretty proud of having all the Alkaline Trios. All the Screeching Weasels, all the Ramones. I have the very first Green Day 7 inch on vinyl. It’s just a folded paper sleeve.
FSS: Do you have a favorite record store?
Brandon: I like that Extreme Noise place in Minneapolis. They have all the Crust punk patches and LPs
FSS: And buttflaps?
Brandon: That I don’t know. I would never wear one. But I can dig some of the Crust stuff. We went to the Interpunk, the actual store in Virginia, it was fuckin’ incredible. The ceiling is 200 feet high, the place is full. They have a massive break room covered in posters; the guy said it took 6 days to put them all up. As far as record stores, that place takes it.
FSS: What’s next for you guys after the tour?
Brandon: We have to get back to our jobs, back to our day-to-day things. Then plan to go out again.
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