PLASTIQUE POPPERPETUATING NEO CULTURE ONE NONSENSICAL WHIMSY AFTER THE NEXT

IN THIS ISSUE:

ALSO:

INTERNATIONAL DATE LINESthe chemistry set

the empty facesthe blind eyeS

sam gambinoHUMAN EYETHE GIRLS

HUNXREAL NUMBERS

THE ELEPHANT WALK

Welcome Asshole!

adam weirdeditor-in-thief

Well, here it is! Installment number four in the continuing series that IS plastique pop. And what an issue it is too! I think it would be safe to say that with every issue, the layouts and content are get-ting slicker and slicker, It’s only a matter

of time before you see this thing sitting next to a Newsweek at your favorite newspaper stand. With a giant barcode stamped right in the corner to boot! Okay, so maybe it’s a bit too soon to start hold-ing your breath. Besides, we don’t wanna fuck up anything that ain’t broken. And if it’s something that Plastique Pop isn’t, it’s broke! Hell, it’s as efficient as it’s ever been. Now, I know that with the advance-ments in this technological world, that these primitive print things are going the way of the dinosaurs. But it’s going to take a lot more than a few blogs or modern conveniences to make us go away. Let me tell you a little story that has a little to do with how we run things here at the plastique pop laboratories. I was at Digicopy recently printing off some copies of the last issue when one of the employees came up to me. I was organizing all the pages and stapling the binding. So she says to me, “You know, we can run your pages through a ma-chine that will organize and stable all that for you. It’s only 25 cents a booklet.” “Thanks but no thanks.”, I said as I carried away on my work. Where’s the magic in having some robot do my work? Actually, a robot would be pretty cool. Anyway, what makes plastique pop so special is that it’s whole process is carried from start to finish by these very hands. There no special feeling like when I complete another issue after spending hours upon hours putting it all together. It’s hard work, but the rewards are priceless. I go to art school for graphic de-sign, and I’ve seen the follies of modern convenience. Our culture is so disposable in how it’s conceived, created, and built. This zine, although built using the very industry standard programs, is striving to edge its way out of the norm and into the future of solid gold senti-mental design. But not so much in just a visual way. Think of it as art and culture wrung through a journalistic mind-set. Man, this is getting

too philosophical. Just read the freakin’’ zine already!

www.myspace.com/plastiquepop

plastiquepop@hotmail.com

Shirtless guy understands that the main thing getting in the way of a good show is shirt wearing. Since meeting him, I have based my life on his teachings.

--The Blind Eyes

Salutations, Jerkweed!

Human eye...........3

the blind eyes............7

This issue wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the bands: Human Eye, The Blind Eyes, Trolley, The Chemistry Set, The International Date Lines, The Empty Faces, Sam Gambino, The Girls, The organizers of this year’s UFO Dictators fest in Kalamazoo, the boys and girls of Alt magazine, MIAD for ponying up the free laptops (now I can work on this thing in bed if I wanted to!), that dude at Alterra cafe who hooks me up with free coffee, Megan, Party and Scampi for keeping me company while I work on this stuff, Ryan for jumping my van, Milwaukee for immortalizing the Fonze in statue form (seriously!), Room Zero and The Reckless Hearts for housing Debbie and Stacy for a couple of weeks, my environmental graphics teacher for hooking me up with the “History in 3 Chords” comp, the 2008 horror Christmas society of Peoria IL., and you. Why you? ‘Cause your awesome! Duh!

For back issues, please send $2.00 PPD to the

address below.....or just write to say hi!

PLASTIQUE POP2421A S. Kinnickinnic Ave

Milwaukee WI 53207

IN THIS ISSUE:PLASTIQUE POP

PERPETUATING NEO CULTURE ONE NON SENSICAL WHIMSY AFTER THE NEXT

BOYS CLUBDOUBLE DYNAMITE

THE INSOMNIACSPLEXI 3 TOUR JOURNAL

WEE ROCK RECORDSTHE DANGER

ALSO:THE NICE OUTFITTHE MAKES NICE

JIM DIAMOND

THE EMPTY FACES........29

the girls...........12

the chemistry set............16

listen to this!...........23

sam gambino.......33

INTERNATIONAL DATE LINES...........20

Back issues still available. Find out how it all began!

ISSUE #1Boys Club

Plexi 3 Tour JournalDouble Dynamite

The InsomniacsWee Rock Records

ISSUE #2Midwest Beat

Boom Chick RecordsStumblurfest ‘08

The MansThe Mechanics of

RomanceModchicago

The Gruesomes

ISSUE #3NobunnyThe Pets

Pat Boones FarmColdcock Jones and

The ShithawksDerek Lyn Plastic

The Ugly beatsNeopop Studios

GREETINGS EARTHLINGSThe first time I saw Human Eye was during the spring of 2005. It was at the now defunct Twitch house where The Mistreaters were sharing the bill and what hap�pened to be a simple punk rock BBQ turned out to be a life affirming experience. Human Eye took the floor and simple destroyed. I was completely blown away by not only their noise, but their whole philosophy and showmanship as well. The lead singer Timmy was belting out gut wrenching yelps while tangled in aluminum duct piping. The synthesizers were like heat seeking lazer beams. The energy in the room just bled with radioactive intensity. And Im sure that by the end of their set, some people were actually bleeding! Now, I could sit here and try to analyze their music for you to understand, but your best bet is to just soak it in for yourself. And if you have the chance to actually witness them in live attack? Dont miss it for anything! Im fucking serious!!

PP: Alright Timmy, let’s rock this fucker! Who’s involved in this thing?Timmy V-Guitar/vocals, Johnny Lzr-synths, Hurricane William-drums, B-rad Hales-bass

PP: So, what was the initial spark that started this band? Did the Clone Defects de-mise motivate it, or was this thing already in the process of being built before hand?TV: I was driving in the middle of the night around 10pm and my car stalled, I tried to get it going again but it would not start. Then I saw some bright lights in the sky, it lit up the dark erie high-way. I was blinded. I woke up on the ground about 30 yards from my car. I had an odd smell on my clothes, like a chemical smell me-tallic almost. I looked at my watch it had stopped at about 10:25. I had a pain in the back of my head. I stumbled back to my vehicle and got in. The clock in my car had stopped too...10:30! My car start-ed! I drove back home. When I got home the clock on my microwave was 3am I had been gone for 5 hours! I don’t know what the hell happened? Clone Defects broke up in summer 2003 so I started Human Eye in the fall of 03 with Johnny Lzr.

PP: Whoa! Tell us a little bit about when the band first got go-

ing in the early stages. Do you think that the world was ready for this kind of carnage?! T.V.: Our first show was in Jan.2004 we had about 10 songs we made a limited demo tape on a 4 track to sell. We played a packed show at the garden bowl in De-troit. We played a lot of house par-ties and opened for a lot of “bigger”

bands like.. the Weirdos, Bi-zzarros, Wolf Eyes, Gui-

tar Wolf and the Sub-humans. Subhumans show was pretty funny, we played for about 800 kids. Some liked us some were just confused

and others heckled us but I heckled back.

We made a nice mess for this horrible band called

Leftover Crack that went on af-ter us. I filled this cat nip contain-er with flour beforethe gig and I jumped on it during our show and it exploded in the hecklers hot topic faces hahaha!!

PP: HA, nice! You’ve recent-ly dropped your new LP. How would you compare or contrast it to your first full length? Also, I kind of wondered why In The Red didn’t put this one out. What’s up with that?! T.V.: I like the new record better. I think the songs are little easier to listen too. The first LP is definitely a lil more deranged with a lot of the synth effects and vocal effects. But who wants to make the same record twice? I don’t. I want it to

be just an evolved continuation of the last. The drums are crazier on the new LP. And the production is bigger. In The Red is a busy la-bel putting out a lot at once. They weren’t to hyped about put-ting out our new LP so we shopped around and while we shopped, we put out some singles and Greg Ashley rec-ommended “Hook or Crook records” So we went with them.

PP: Cool. Give us some details regarding your Eu-ropean tour. How was that whole experience? Europe was amazing. We played 12 countries in about 30 days 28 shows! People are real passion-ate about music there. The shows were busy too from a couple hun-dred to about 10 but all just as ful-filling. They treat touring bands really generously. We were fed everywhere we played and had non stop free beer/beverages and al-ways a place to stay.

PP: Along with the last question, how was your recent tour of the US. Especially Budget Rock. T.V.-West coast tour went well! We definitely have a “cult” following everywhere we played, which is cool. Budget rock fest! Tacos,booze,paint,broken guitar amp, octopus tentacles,

slime, glitter, dancing eyeball fans,subteranian celebrities! Best rock n roll fest I ever played! They made us a highlight of the fest! That felt good. I dig Oakland CA. a

lot. Good people there.

PP: Yeah, that whole area has just been exploding lately. How’s Detroit these days? Do you guys play a lot locally?

T.V.: Detroit is awe-some again! Lotta good

bands. We play Detroit about 2 or 3 times a year. I

have another band called “Tim-my’s Organism.” We play out too. Thats my “solo” group, I have some singles coming out with that.

PP: The big thing that I really like about Human Eye is that its very hard to categorize. I mean, its punk, but it’s a million other

things too. What inspirations do you draw from to get

your sound? Are their any notable bands or influences that your especially partial too? T.V.: Thanks! I dig a lot of Kraut Rock,obscure

Psych and Tropicalia or just any raw crazy

shit!

PP: Cool. What about contem-porary bands? Is there anyone right now that strikes your fan-cy? T.V.-Well lets see.. I like this band on sacred bones rec. called Fac-tums. Nobunny is super cool and

this new band from Detroit called Gardens. I really been listening to a lot of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graf-fiti, super cool weird band from L.A. Apache is really good. Some of the dudes from the Piranhas started a new band called Druid Perfume. They’re cool. I like a lot of old music the most though.

PP: Yeah, Nobuny was in the last Plastique Pop issue. He’s awe-some! So, what can expect from you guys in the future? T.V.: Well we just recorded 6 new tunes. Nothin planned to release yet. We did 2 limited tour cdrs with some 4 track experimentals. We are going back on the road in mid-March to tour with Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti.

This may be the most far out band that we've had the pleasure of interviewing for this mag. Somehow it totally fits! Human Eye's principals are something that I think the rest of the scene needs to catch on to.. It's all about taking a variety of angles in art. music, and cul�ture and balling it up into a cohesive package of mind splattering fun. Like I had said before, these guys are absolutely explosive live, so don't miss it for any�thing if they come strolling through your town. Oh, and just as a precaution, bring a rain coat! Your gonna get messy!

Their records are plenty, but may require some dig�ging. Their first record on the In the Red is top notch, but I'd agree with Timmy in that their new one is a great achievement in break�ing sound barriers. Go grab them both!!www.myspace.com/humaneyedetroitwww.hookorcrook.com

PP: First off, who is who and what do you do?MP: I’m Matt. I play drums and don’t do much else. KS: I’m Kevin. I play the bass gui-tar and sing some songs. SP: I’m Seth. I play guitar and sing the songs that Kevin does not sing.

PP: Give us some insight on how you guys got together and the general transition from the Gentleman Callers to what your doing now.MP: After leaving the Gentleman Callers I needed some time off

from playing to get a bunch of things done, like take care of a few classes I was failing, things like that. After that was all over, I want-ed to start playing again, so that’s when we got this together. Kevin and I

had talked about do-ing a new project, and Seth came on board, and that was that, really. I wanted to play music that was catchy and simple and up-tempo,

Despite the fact that The Blind Eyes are relatively new, the mem-bers that make it up have been playing together for quite a few years. I met Kevin, Seth and Matt while ago when my our respec-tive bands kept crossing paths. Back then, they were called The Gentleman Callers and harboured a unique style of british beat pop with an american garage slant. To-day, after many life afirming chang-es, they continue on as The Blind Eyes. Which I think is perfectly fitting. Since you’ll be absolutely blinded by their rock magnitude.

Hailing from America’s 2nd deadliest city, St. Louis Missouri, The Blind Eyes are tak-ing the Midwest by storm with their signa-ture brand of pop and mod garage jams. You might’ve seen these faces before. See, these guys used to make up 3/4th of the fabulous Gentleman Callers, a band that personified the british R&B sound to an ab-solute T. Their one and only full length on Wee Rock Records is con-sidered a modern classic! Now with a whole slew of new tunes and a new name to forge forth with, they’re wasting no time in kicking up some bona fide soul power. And if anyone compares them to Nick Lowe or the Jam again, I swear, someone’s gonna get knocked up-side the head!

st. louisdirect from

kinda power-pop, post-punk, what-ever you want to call it. And have fun doing it in the process. I feel like we’ve accomplished that so far. KS: I never wanted the Gentleman Callers to be some kind of retro-re-vival novelty act and I think that’s how it sometimes came off. After Matt quit we played with a couple other drummers for a while but eventu-ally I think we all just wanted to do something totally different. Seth and I were going to do both bands for a while but then Mike (Gentleman Callers guitarist) stopped wanting to play so the rest of us focused on the Blind Eyes. Also, we were sick of carrying that fucking organ and piano every-where.

PP: Oh yeah, I remember that thing. What influences would you target in shaping your sound?

KS: It’s hard to say. I think the only band we specifically mentioned before we started playing as a three piece was the Jam. Then we wrote some songs and I thought they sounded nothing like the Jam, which is good because we want to have an original sound. But then a few people said “hey you guys re-

mind me a lot of the Jam”.SP: Yeah, musi-cally its hard to pin down. I think spe-cific songs remind me of different in-fluences. Orange Juice, Nick Lowe, the Supremes, the Jam, Interpol, and

Thin Lizzy all have their moments, but I don’t think our band in general sounds too much like any one of them in particu-lar. Lyrically, I really love the Ray Davies character pieces with the Kinks. Even though we don’t re-ally sound anything like the Kinks, I have written a lot of songs about different characters and that is defi-nitely a result of the Kinks influence.

PP: Cool So, how is St. Louis

these days? Any notable worthwhile things going on? Is a city like St. Louis receptive to your guys sound?MP: I feel like we’ve gone over pretty well so far in St. Louis. I mean we’re still rela-tively new but the shows have been good and the overall response to the songs has been really positive. There are definitely some great bands in town right now. In fact I’d say it’s better than it has been in years.KS: As usual, there are a lot of bands worth seeing, but relatively few people to see them. People seem to like us okay.

PP: Yeah, I think that’s the problem in a lot places. SP: I think our sound has a broad enough appeal that we have played on bills with bands of all different stripes and generally people seem to respond positively. The other side of the broad ap-peal coin is that people into a certain scene don’t show up in huge packs like they might for a punk or rockabilly or indie rock show. Blind Eyes fandom is not really a lifestyle decision.

PP: OK, now tell us a bit about the re-cordings you guys had just done. How many songs did you do and was the ex-perience a good one.MP: We did 13 songs, we finished twelve of them. We did it at a great studio in STL called Firebrand. The guys who run it, Brian Scheffer and Nelson Jones, are the world’s biggest chumps because they let us do the recordings for next to nothing. But I for-give them for their chumpi-ness because they’re a pair of sexy beasts.

PP: Are their any plans on releasing a record. If you could work with any label of your choosing, who would it be with?MP: We do plan on releasing a record. Any label is a good label to me right now. KS: Im interested in AOL-Time-Warner. But I’d settle for Interscope, part of the Univer-sal Music Group (UMG)’s Interscope-Gef-fen-A&M group. SP: If we are talking all-time here, let me add Volt to the discussion. The odd white-guy-guitar-pop group in a sea of r&b ala Big Star would be ideal for a soul fanatic like

me. Otherwise, anyone who would like to put it out has our attention.

PP: The song “High Life” is a smash hit. What’s it about? I get the sense that it’s about rich kids. True?SP: Well, its about a particular rich kid. Sort of a fictional piece about a real person. Its about a rich girl who turns from a nice young violinist into a Paris Hilton-type party animal.

PP: What about “Find The Time”? MP: This was actually the first song we completed as a band if I remember right. Who wrote this one? I know it wasn’t me.KS: Seth wrote the music. I wrote much of the lyrics. This was originally going to be a Gentleman Callers

song. It’s about having to do stupid crap like working instead of party-ing. Real deep. I guess it’s really about not accomplishing things you really want to do with your life because you are busy doing things you have to do to survive.

PP: How is the song writing process done. How much of the credit is split among the band? Do you write more than the others? vice versa?MP: Seth is the main songwriter in this band. I mean, we all contribute bits of lyrics and arrangement ideas but I’d say 90% of the stuff comes from Seth.

SP: Yeah, I rule. Sometimes I show up to practice with an entire song, words and all. More often, it is a small-er chunk of music and/or words which we work through. I think lyric writ-ing is the biggest challenge for all of us, so that ends up being where a lot of the collaboration takes place.

PP: Relay your recent trip to Milwaukee and on what happened. I think shirtless guy needs a mentioning in here!MP: Shirtless guy is one of many reasons why the night we played in Milwaukee was fucking awesome. KS: Shirtless Guy is a gentleman who was a patron of the Cactus Club on the night the Blind Eyes performed at said establish-ment. He was not wearing a shirt and was quite vocal in his dismay that all the other patrons of the venue were wearing shirts. It was supposed to be, he lamented, a

punk show. Why would so many patrons be wearing shirts? It was a question he could not answer and nor could I.The following morning we watched a pa-rade of some sort along Kinnickkinncik in Bayview from a second story window. We stood akimbo and agog watching beauty queens, vintage automobiles, the Rhythm Chicken and listening to three different polka versions of “Roll Out The Barrel”. But who should disrupt the parade? The very same shirtless man from the night before - riding his skateboard directly across the pa-rade route. He skated across the street, still shirtless mind you, and retuned moments later hand in hand with an attractive young lady, who walked alongside him as he continued his ride across the parade route a second time. Clearly he is a man who lives by his own rules and does not care what standards or social mores society attempts to impose upon him.SP: Shirtless guy under-stands that the main thing getting in the way of a good show is shirt wearing. Since meeting him, I have based my life on his teachings. Oh, and we all love Milwaukee. St. Louis is a sweat lodge in the summer, so breathing that Bayview air is a real treat. Plus, we have an unhealthy obsession with Mars Cheese Castle, so a trip to Milwaukee always includes a stop there on the way in or out of town.

PP: After your recent weekender jaunt, are there any plans to tour more? Where would you like see Blind Eyes play in the future?MP: Yes, although unfortunately our day jobs and things like that will likely restrict us to short tours and weekends in the Midwest and the south. I’d play every night in a dif-ferent city if I could. I think I can speak for all of us to that end. SP: We are really hoping to play places where we can return on a semi-regular ba-sis. Milwaukee, Chicago, and Kansas City, plus a few others are definitely on the list.

PP: If you guys could claim any three existing songs as your own, what would they be.MP: Should we each contribute one? I’d have to say Safe European Home by the Clash.KS: Theme from the television show “Per-fect Strangers”, theme from the television

show “Full House”, theme from the televi-sion show “Family Matters”.SP: “Care of Cell 44” by the Zombies. You were only supposed to pick one Kevin. This new “shirtless guy” attitude you have been copping is starting to become a problem.

PP: Last words?MP: Brush twice to be sure.KS: “I thought this was supposed to be a punk show! How come everyone is wearing shirts!?!”SP: Thanks Adam!

STEREO

If you ever find yourself needing a little pick-me-up when life takes it’s dreary tolls, then reach for a strong dose of what these guys have to offer. It’s guaranteed to set you straight in no time. With song craft so embedded with soul and snap, these tunes are top notch in not only moving your heart, but your feet as well. We here at Plastique Pop are anxiously waiting for them to get some wax out. To find out everything you’ve ever wanted to know about what these guys are up to, then look no further than myspace. GO!

http://blindeyesstl.blogspot.com/www.myspace.com/theblindeyes

Like post modern

primative humanoids

from the future.

.......and they’re from SEATTLE!

PP: How did The Girls initially get together? Were their any other bands that you guys were in that lead to forming this unit?

V: The “official” Girls was formed in August of 2002. We all played in bands be-fore the girls. thats all I am going to say about that.

PP: OK, so how is the Seattle scene in gen-eral these days. I know a lot of people cham-pion Portland

as the new rock n’ roll mecca, but how does Se-attle compare/contrast?

V: Theres music in Seattle? I thought it was just bars! Portland is hands down way better as far as music scene goes then Seattle.

PP: Hmmm, Speaking of Seattle, are you guys good friends with the Spits? My band played with them twice over the summer and both times were completely off the hook!

V: We have been known to play/drink/work shitty jobs

PP: OK, Let’s get this thing rolling. So, your not really girls, but who are you?

Vas: Brown- vocals, Griff- bass, Elie- drums, Derek- keys, Vas- guitar

There was a time when I was completely infatuated with Dirt-nap Records. I would buy any-thing related to that god-damn label and even if it was shit, I’d still keep it close an dear to my heart. Hell, they could’ve put out an Amy Grant/Michael Bolton split EP and I woulda been all over it! But for some reason, The Girls completely slipped through my fingers. I don’t know what happened. Sure, their name was always there, but I just never dove deep enough. Well, it’s my loss because after really siting down to soak them in, I was really missing out! Shit’s good. Real good! If your familiar with what Dirtnap stands for, then these guys epitomize it to a T. Think herky jerky punk with some new wavey keyboards and a post apocalyptic pop ex-plosion. It’s dancy alright, but you easily find yourself spazz-ing out to it as well. Don’t be a sucker like me, check these guys out today!!

I have nothing to really say about other then I like it.

PP: Obviously you guys are no strang-er to the road. Where is your fa-vorite places to play?

V: Cities? umm I liked playing Port-land, San Francis-co, Chicago, Mem-phis.... We actually played Milwaukee 5 years ago that was a blast.

PP: Any notable interesting wild nights or stories from

the road?

V: you ll have to come hang out next time we are in Milwaukee. Its hard to explain over internet.

PP: When are you coming to back Milwaukee?!

V: When we get a show set up there! We tried to come up there on our last tour but no one could get us a show.

with members of The Spits in the past.

PP: You guys are have just put out your 2nd re-cord for Dirtnap, which is an awe-some label! How has it been work-ing with them?

V: Ken rules. Easi-est and nicest re-cord label dude I’ve ever worked with.

PP: Are their any other Dirtnap bands that your particularly fans of?

V: The Spits that goes without say-ing.... As far as his newer bands, I like The Busy Signals a lot.

PP: Tell us a little bit about the new record. Where was it recorded? Any interested quips about how it came together?

V: it was record at Jupiter Studios in Seattle. I dunno I didn’t play on this record so

these disques

check out.

they’ll mess you up

PP: Fuck man. Should’ve gave me a rang. I woulda hooked it up! Any final words?

V: SANGRIA, SANTA MARIA!

PP: Well alright!

This interview was a real bitch to co-ordinate. These guys tour all the god damn time, so it was kind of hard to get our sched-ules to match up. And with that being said, you may have a good chance in seeing these guys when they roll into your town. Don’t

miss it! For a quick fix, don’t forget to check these guys out on your internet machine, myspace. www.myspace.com/thegirlsseattle

To me, a lot of psyche-delia is painful to get through. Don’t get me wrong, there are a number of great bands within this genre that I hold to great esteem. But man, some of it is complete trite which does noth-ing but give the name a bad rep. The whole Elephant 6 thing was alright, but some of the acts that was born out of that are just dreadful to listen too. Neutral Milk Hotel? Don’t get me started. But when the music is played right, then it’s just about the best thing ever. This leads me to bring-ing London Englands hitmakers of psychedelia into these pages. See, for me it all comes down to the crash of 12 string rickenback-ers and finely tickled farfisa ivo-ries. Baroque style harpsichords dissolving into a splash of irides-cent noise. Catchy melodies strewn about collages of tech-nicolor sound waves. Sure, it’s a

mellow listen, but engaging as all hell. You know what I’m talk-ing about. Coming home from a hard day of work to grab a cold can of Blatz, sinking into your favorite chair, slipping on your headphones, and letting the good vibrations take over. Yeah, now that’s a getaway. Just lis-tening to The Chemistry Set is like a shot of transcendental bliss. Al-right, alright, let’s just get on with it.

PP: First off, who is who and what do you do? OK principally it is me, Dave Mclean: Drums, Ricky 12 string, Bass, Key-boards, Vocals Paul Lake, Lead Guitar, A c o u s t i c s , Bass, Key-boards, Vocals We are then augmented by: Ashley Wood, Gui-tar, Keyboards, Vocals, Trumpet Conrad Stephenson, Backing Vocals

PP: How’d this whole thing come together. What other bands were you guys in before the chemistry set? Oh man you would need about 20 pages for this. OK let’s try and keep it short (Mmmmm) We first started in 1987 through to about 1993 and then took a 15 year break!! During our first “go at it” our highlights were played by John Peel, appearing on Tony Wilson’s (Factory record boss) TV show, Indie top 20 UK, Indie Top 10 Europe, Released a bucketload of records, toured Europe & USA.

PP: Whoa! Now, can you tell us about your admiration for the psychedelic scene? What elements of that style are you drawn to most?Ah great question well it has to be (not all these are Psychedelic mind!) Love, Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, John Coltrane, Van Dyke Parks, Da-vid Axelrod, The Byrds, The Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, Jack Nitzsche,

Moby Grape, The Misunderstood, “The Further Adventures of Charles Westover” by Del Shannon, “CQ” by The Outsiders, “Agemos Trip” by Groep 1850, Robyn Hitchcock.

When me and Paul got back to-gether this year we talked about setting parameters of a sound we wanted to achieve and our reference points were Strawberry

Fields Forever, Revolver, Buffalo Springfield Again, Electric Prunes

(particularly the Mass in F Minor re-cord, we love David Axelrod), Moby Grape, the above Del Shannon LP, man that LP really moves us, it was recorded in 1968 with a load of cool session musicians in L.A. and sounds like Del’s interpretation of Forever Changes, it is really eerie, A quick one & sell out era The Who, Pink Floyd first LP.

PP: How’s the UK scene seen these days? Any notable good bands or events taking place? There are some fantastic bands com-ing out of Scotland. I love The Fast Camels and all the “Neon tetra” label (Glasgow) bands plus U.N.P.O.C and The Poems. Other than that I don’t really care for the UK, our best recep-tion has always been outside the UK. In the UK we have a class system and that in a way extends to music. There is too much elitism, cliques and mu-sical snobbery within every musical genre, NO THANKS! Spain is our favourite country because they are to-tally receptive to hearing new things and slants and do not have that snob-bery (well not to me at least)

PP: As an outsider, how do you view the american garage/rock n’ roll scene? Are their any bands from here that your par-tial to?I must confess I am not too up on the current scene but there is heaps of great contemporary music com-ing out of America. I love all the neo psychedelic bands like The Go, The December Sound, The Other Side, Sunsplit, Ideal Free Distribution etc. I also love the good old fashioned garage rock of The Redwalls and The Bishops.

PP: Oh yeah, The Go are phenomenal!

Australia has some stunning bands, The Dolly Rocker Movement, Even, Grand Atlantic. They are at all spec-trums of Psychedelia.

My latest fave is a guy from Norway called Frode Skjold, he plays all the instruments himself and records on a 4 track, brilliant!

Spain also has some great bands, Cuchillo play beautiful acoustic psych plus Les Tres Bien Ensemble and Tai-lors and loads more.

There is so much great contemporary music out there and I love listening to it.

PP: Tell us a little about playing live. How many shows do you think you have played? Wow in the past we played hundreds, maybe thousands, my favourite gigs were playing at the Rough Trade re-cord shop in London, playing at the Brixton Academy in front of 4000

people (for a festival) and playing the CMJ in New York.

PP: Damn, I’ve al-ways wanted to

keep track of all the shows I’ve played just to see the actual numbers. Seems

like you guys got quite the track

record. Any word on taking it to the road in the

future?Spain, Spain, Spain (Barcelona, Ma-drid, Valencia, Bilbao, Cadiz, Grana-da, A Coruna, basically ANY city in Spain that will have us!) and er....... America (Las Vegas please)

PP: What lies ahead for some releasable material. Any new records possibly coming out? We are just finishing a brand new 5 track EP (October 2008) It is being mixed and produced by a great guy in Barcelona (Manel Ibanez). We want to do one or two 5 track EP’s each year. With 5 tracks you get quality control that you do not get on an LP. Let’s be honest most LP’s don’t have 100% great tracks. Our discipline with the EP is to ensure they are all great. For each EP we are going to include an ob-scure cover. On the this one it had to be....... a cover of a song from the Del Shannon 68’ LP I was talking about but we have a twist at the ending. It goes into “Sanctus” from The Electric

Prunes/David Axelrod Mass in F Mi-nor LP. We like twists, like our ver-sion of See Emily Play.

The EP sounds like Revolver meets Pink Floyd meets The Who (66 of course) meets 2009!

PP:Oh yeah, I really dig that tune “See Em-ily Play”. What’s the story behind that? Ha ha, good timing. Well we like twists. When you do a cover you have to give it a twist. We love Syd & Bry-an and the 2 went together well. Just like what we are doing with the Del Shannon/Electric Prunes but that is a bit more obscure. We had planned for a bit of “Fire” from Smile to go into one of our new songs but that is too obvious and we have done that before.

PP: Along with the last question, what in-spires you to write what you write? Like, what issues do you confront in your lyric writing?I must confess that the music is far more important than the lyrics. Ev-ery Chemistry Set song must have Harmony & Melody. That comes first then the lyrics. Me, well I like reading Borges, that inspires me.

PP: Alright, now for the zany questions... What is the prime beer staple in the UK?

What have you guys been digging on lately? I take it they don’t have an endless stream of Blatz?Mmmm Beer. Well first of all beer

goes hand in hand with Curry. So when we talk about Beer I must talk about Curry. In London we are spoilt with having some fantastic Indian restaurants. I love the hotter the better. Gimme a Vindaloo! and then

gimme a decent German or Scandinavian lager. I used to love

“Elephant” beer from Denmark but I think they have stopped making it. In the UK the lager is terrible but the bitter is great. My favourite is “Fullers ESB”.

PP: If Paul McCartney and Ringo got back together and had you guys backing them up, what would be your dream bea-tles set list you’d play?Rain, Paperback Writer, And Your Bird, She Said, Dr Robert,

PP: Any final words? Good Vibrations! You’d be a gall darn grade A idiot not to track these guys down and check out any number of their mind blowing records. Like everyone else in this futuristic world, they got a myspace page. I suggest you drop everything your doing right now to go and grab a quick listen. When it comes to solid gold song writing with an in-depth 1-2 psychedelic punch, no one does it better than The Chem-istry Set. I’m dead serious. Go out and discover this gold mine today!!

www.myspace.com/thechemistrysetuk

THE INTERNATIONAL

DATE LINES

FILE #27502875

considered armed and dangerous

It's very rare

in this day a

nd age for ban

ds to come up

from

the woodwork

and spark th

e kind of reac

tion met only

by

those with 100

% true spirit.

And in this ca

se, I wonder, "W

here

in the hell d

id the interna

tional Date L

ines come fro

m?"

Another Planet

? Some underg

round dwelling

community? A

sci�

ence lab? No.

They come from

right here in

Milwaukee! We

're

mega stoked he

re at the plas

tique pop offi

ce to be doing

this

interview. The

ir myspace tun

es have been g

etting pumped

out

pretty regular

ly here.

FILE #27502875

sound prevalent, but what about oth-er stuff? Anything particular that you gals/guys agree on?

IDL: We’ve been billed as a “girl group” but that isn’t really the direc-tion we ended up going in. We take a lot influence from Sonic Chicken 4, The Reigning Sound, and a mash up

of different 60’s sounds.

PP: What about locally? Milwaukee especially is booming with hot new bands and talents. Who here musically strikes your fancy?

IDL: We all have different taste in music, but there are some local shows you’ll most likely catch all seven of us at, like the Goodnight Loving or The Midwest Beat. But we all like to go out to shows pretty regularly to support our friends.

PP: Tell us about playing live. How many shows have you done already or about to play? How would you describe your show

someone whose never seen you.

IDL: We are playing our first show in Stevens Point on December 5th, then on December 7th we’re playing our first Milwaukee show at the Dip-ping Station, and we’re playing a New Years eve show in Milwaukee too. But I really think this band is aiming at more of a stage show that just playing music. We’re trying to give

PP: First off, who is who and what do they do?

IDL: Well, let me take a deep breath here: there’s Mary on drums, Cole and Kyle on guitar, Karen on bass, Lindsay is doing lead vocals, Lisa does back ups, and Melissa is on keys. Did I for-get anyone? It’s like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves around here.

PP: Damn! So, how did this come about? What other bands were the members in and how did that play into the formation of the International Date Lines.

IDL: This was all kind of Lindsay’s brain child, but it all came together down in Bamalama over the sum-mer. As for band mem-ber’s influences I guess Kyle being in the Elephant Walk is closest to what we’re trying to do for this band, up beat music you want to dance to.

PP: Oh yeah, Bamalama was awesome! My band plexi 3 played that. Is it hard getting that many people to dedicate their time to the band?

IDL: It isn’t as hard as you might think. We’re all pretty into getting together and we have a really good time mak-ing music, but just don’t try to get a hold of any of us on Tuesday nights between 7 and 9.

PP: I dig. What about influences? Ob-viously, there is a strong girl group pop

FILE #27502875

people something to watch while they’re listening to us.

PP: Good call. I like bands that tend to be visual conscious. What about some recordings. Any chance on putting out any wax anytime soon?IDL: I think we’re going to try and record some tracks in early January before we lose Kyle for a month while he’s in India. We’d love to put some stuff out as soon as we can. Lindsay is a song-writing machine so we should probably record some stuff be-fore we forget the songs and move on!

PP: If the date lines were given the oppor-tunity to tour with any three bands (dead or alive), who would they be and why. What would the tour be called?

IDL: We couldn’t come to a consensus on this one. You try getting 7 people to decide on one thing.

PP: If the date lines came in pizza form, what would it be like? Toppings, thick or thin, etc…..? ( I would think it would rival the ‘Wis-consin’s largest pizza’ thing at pizza shuttle due to your large band member status. Thoughts?)

IDL: I guess we’d be the “Wisconsin’s Largest Pizza” that’s half Pizza Shuttle half Classic Slice since half live in Bay View half live in Riverwest.

PP: OK and finally, if the date lines found themselves in a Full House Re-make, which members’s personalities would best suit it’s characters. Like,

who would be the uncle Jessie or who would be the Michelle?

IDL: Obviously we’d be the best reoccurring character on Full House ever, we’d be the Beach Boys.

PP: Actually you know what? I think you’d fit better in Step By Step now that I think about it.

By the time you read this, these gals (and couple of guys) have already blown up into a gall darn pop riot! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for when they start hitting the road, ‘cause this is some-thing that will make you lose your mind at the crack of a guitar lick. Live, they take no prisoners and you’ll be sing-ing their sweet praises in no time. Don’t forget to check out their myspace page. It’s chock full of all the things that you’ve come to expect with that whole internet fad. After all, this is the future!

What are you waiting for?!

www.myspace.com/theinternationaldatelines

LISTEN TO THIS!RECORDS TESTED BY THE PLASTIQUE POP Laboratories

TO ENSURE SUBSTANTIAL LISTENING pleasure.

] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

]

OK, first off, we need to distin-guish the differences between REAL numbers and FAKE numbers. See, fake numbers are digits com-pletely made up. Instead of saying give me four quarters for a dollar, you’d say, give me gluckobobler quarters for a dollar. See, com-pletely made up! And if you don’t get that, then maybe you’ll get this. The Real Numbers aren’t just a mathematical system. They’re a band. And a pretty good one to boot. If you’ve read through plastique pop before, then you might know a thing or two about what these guys are about. I’ve raved about ‘em numerous (no pun intended) times throughout the past, so you know we here at Plastique Pop are tickled to finally be able to hold this record in our mitts. It’s Grade A good! Eli and his cohorts in crime have dropped this behemoth of

garage-y power pop onto an already exploding scene, but there is a little something setting it apart. First off, I’d have comment that the overall sound is especial-ly inviting. It’s lo-fi in every sense of the word, but it’s gotta a kind of warmth that is easy on the ears. It’s really kind of like listening to a Ramones record from the 70’s. You know, it’s primitive, but done right. Even if the guitar and bass is a bit muddled together, it’s still a pretty good mix. The drums are remarkably recorded well. I hate always not being able to hear the kick drum, but this record is punchy as all fuck! Radio World starts off with a palmed quiet feel and soon builds up to a genuine slap in the nuts. I can almost hear a little new wave tinge to it, but it’s not over-whelming. The tempo is perfect. It’s fast and upbeat, but tight too. Kind of like how the Marked Men

real numbersradio world EP

three dimensional records/2008

do their thing. Anyway, the mon-ey maker part of this song is the chorus. It’s damn catchy with it’s high energy melodic spark. An-other cool thing that I noticed is that the guitar solo is dubbed in. Rather than combine two guitars throughout the whole song, they simply punched in when the solo busts in. At least, that what I think. I know the Subsonics are the mas-ter at this and my ear just may be more in tune with it. Side B is another burst of exploding punk rock with “Hang Around With me”. I think this is my favorite track out of the two and it demonstrates a strong vibrant punk rock punch. I love the way the beginning starts off with a sin-gle guitar riff and then blows up into a frenzy of frantically paced rhythms. By the time the chorus kicks in, you’ve already carved out your own dancing spot in your living room. This thing will simply make you lose your mind and cut a rug. I think this is their only re-lease to date so I’m not sure if they have anymore in the works or not. I know Eli especially has his hands full with about 14 other bands. I’ve seen these guys play on three separate occasions and each time was a gall darn party. My favorite set of theirs was in Mil-waukee over last summer during Stumblurfest when they opened for Live Fast Die and The Spits. You better believe me when I say that that night was a monumental mo-ment in punk rock history. Ok, so

maybe it wasn’t, but if you were there, then you’d understand the magic that took place. Get this record today! If your a fan of good late 70’s primitive punk rock on a pop slant, then this may be your new favorite band.

] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

hunxgood kisser EP

bachelor records/2008

The head honcho behind bach-elor Records got in touch with us here at Plastique Pop and in-quired on how we might be able to review some of his newest re-leases. I was actually pretty blown away that someone would want to send us anything. I ain’t gonna ever turn down free records. Es-pecially if they’re coming from a record label that I respect. Well, one day I came home to find a package in my mailbox and I was a giddy as Japanese Wallaby on Hanukkah. Huh?! Nevermind. Boy did I hit the jackpot! Not only were these given to me free of charge, but they freakin’ rule! For this issue, I’m gonna concentrate on the Hunx and his Punx EP. Actually, I’m a bit con-fused. When I myspaced Hunx, I got HUNX AND HIS PUNX. It was obviously the same band, but this record is simply HUNX. Where’s the punx?! Well, after further inspec-tion, I realized that this is primar-ily a one man unit very much in

the same vein as Nobunny. And like Nobunny, he’s a whirlwind of awesomeness! Downright party music for a degenerate breed. Now, I think that’s something I can get down with! Anyway, the record can only be described as a stripped down garage punk party vibe played in sort of a bublegummy realm. It’s poppy and sweet, but holds some de-vious undertones as well. This is the kind of shit that the kids have been really digging on lately and I’m no different. Turn it up! ‘Good Kisser’ gets things underway with it’s bubblegum slime punk attitude and quickly diminishes itself into a void of catchiness. The chorus especially is screaming with gooey-gooey harmonies. which buries them-selves deep within the recess’ of your vortex. I can’t begin to de-scribe to you how hard this song is to get out of your head. The best thing to do is just overdose your ears on this. The overall record-ing is a bit on the lo-fi side, but it’s a million times more polished than you average basement recording.

] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

The overall sound is just really natu-ral. Sparkly warm guitar, pounding floor tom drums, and well execut-ed vocals. The hand claps are a nice touch as well. What more do you need?! My favorite line in this is, “When I go to Del-Taco, and order something macho.” Side B starts off with a ma-jor bang. I can’t tell if the opening guitar riff is played on an acoustic guitar or not. It’s really clean and clear. The song quickly explodes into a barrage of beach-boys in-fluenced pop and dirty punk rock energy. There’s even a bit of organ on this too which fits very nicely. Ba-sically if you take the rawness and poppiness of The Ramones and match it up with some girl group sensibilities, then you’ve got this song pretty tagged. Sure, there’s bits and pieces of other things floating about, but the bottom line reads that this is a great lo-fi pop wonder. As I had stated earlier, this scene has really exploded with the kids within just the last couple of years. The San Fran/ Oakland area has seen a strong surge in this type of music and Hunx plays an integral part in bringing that scene to the rest of us. Someone needs to just get it over with and book a Hunx/Nobunny tour. Personal and The Pizzas could play too! Are your listening guys?! Get it going! Another thing that I might wanna add is that from just looking at pictures at a Hunx show, it looks like a freakin’ deranged disney land

ride. He’s got costumes, props, and all kinds of other zany things going on. It looks like he might have some dancers as well. You can bet your two dollar whore that I’ll be front line and center when this hunk comes to town.

] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

the elephant walkswim the sea EP

dusty medical records/2008

When I plopped this thing down on my turntable, I was trying to come to grips on how I was feeling as the music played. I had seen these guys play out a few times, so I was pretty familiar with what was to be expected in this chunk o’ wax. I probably listened to it about ten times through before I was even able to jot down any notes about it. And even when I put the pen to paper, I was start-ed to draw a blank. Simply put; this record just rocks. There is noth-ing to really think about. I could try and put some clever connotation in describing this thing, but the bottom line remains. This just sim-ply rocks. It holds a lot of the same principals demonstrated by local illuminairies The Midwest beat and Goodnight Loving. Chris, the drummer in Midwest Beat is also in this band as well, so maybe that’s where I’m getting that from. Here, you can expect a healthy dose of party-time fun punk played with a rootsy slant. The overall sound is

pretty minimalist. Just drums, gui-tar, and vocals. Oh, and some tambourine for good measure. The vocals are what gives it it’s charm. In lot of cases their shared between the two front men and are often layered. This is great in extruding that “feel good high energy party” vibe. ‘Swim the Sea’ gets this thing off to a good start. It’s rol-licking folk-punk spark is carried through a downward spiral of drunken campfire sing-a-longs. It’s upbeat, catchy, and hard hitting. You know, like as soon as the song kicks into high gear, it blasts right into your cortex like a sonic boom. I think after one listen, it’d be safe to say that anyone who has a pulse will cut a rug on this track. The 2nd side gets underway with, ‘Siem Reap Blues’. Although, I wouldn’t call it so much of a blues song. At least not in the traditional sense. This may be my favorite of the lot so far. It’s got the kind of energy that bursts from the soul. If your planning on heading out for Sat

urday night and you need a little bit of motivation, play this track on your way out of your house. It’ll set the mood just right. The last track, ‘Nadine’ is a bit slower but if you think they’ve gone soft, then your wrong. This is probably their folki-est of the bunch. The vocals are mega catchy and the rhythm fol-lows a sort of beat stomp thing. Almost kind of carnival-esque in a way. Here’s what I’ll say for this record. Milwaukee winters are no-torious for being completely miser-able. Hell, it’s a freaking ice box here from October to April. It can really drive you absolutely crazy. When cabin fever starts to set in, your really in for it. My advice is to pick up this record and have it on stand-by for when you really start feeling the winter doldrums. Just spinning this piece of wax will undoubtedly chase whatever negative winter feelings you have away. Turn up the heat, crack open a Blatz, turn up the stereo and dream of summers gone by. The word on the streets is they’re done playing. Adam, their singer has packed his bags for the sun-shiney west, so the Elephant Walk are no more. At least Dusty Medical had the brains to get this thing out before they completely imploded. No worries though, Chris is still hard at work manhan-dling the Midwest Beat as well as Gut Reactions, and Kyle can be found in the fabulous Internation-al Date Lines (interviewed in this issue.) You know, that’s the thing ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]

I’ve noticed with a lot of Milwau-kee bands. Everyone seems to be in, like, 13 bands. So, even though we may never get to see The El-ephant Walk again, rest assured, we’ll see plenty of the other mem-bers musical incarnations. Good luck with all that fellas!

PP: First off, who is who and what do they do?

B: I’m Bob, I play guitar and sing.

J: I’m Josh, I shag the bass guitar.

Br: Bryce, I’m the drummer.

PP: What lead to the empty faces getting togeth-

er and how did Bob Burns and Breakups play

into that?

B: Empty Faces doesn’t really have anything to

do with Bob Burns and the Breakups. I’m a fan

of Josh and Bryce’s other bands Stormstrike

and Sega Genocide, so I asked if they wanted

to start a new project with me. It all went from

there.

What is with Wisconsin these days? It seems like every time I turn around, there is some new band popping up out of nowhere that is completely off the hook. Milwaukee especially has had a strong resurgence in underground punk rock for the last few years, but even the smaller satellite towns are starting to pick up the vibe. Some notable men-tions would be Title Town’s answer to gritty power pop, Beach Patrol. Mad-sion has spawned the birth of the fabu-lous Midwest Beat. And now, Steven’s Point is riding the punk rock wave into the future with The Empty Faces. This trio of rip-roaring good time punk rock popsters are dedicated in bringing you the finest is revved up late night jams. Grab an ice cold can of Sparks Plus, turn up your stereo, and get ready to be bombarded by the smoothest in modern punk rock your ears could ever stand.

J: Like Bob said, this didn’t really have anything

to do with the Breakups. They’d been broke-up

quite a bit before that (I can never resist mak-

ing terrible jokes about

the Breakups being

broke-up). Bryce

just told me

one day that

Bob wanted

me to go to

his house in

the middle

of nowhere

(Almond) and

work on some

tunes, and it went

from there.

Br: Bob and I started working on a new project

with another local drummer, but things didn’t

work out. Drummers are hard to come by so I

hopped in on drums and we got Josh, whom is

in “Stormstrike” with me.

PP: How’d you come up with the name? What’s

an empty face?

Br: You’d have to ask Bob.

B: An Empty Face is nothing at all, just a name

I had been tossing around for some time! Bril-

liant, eh?!

PP: HA, yeah! What would you say are the

strongest influences that inhibit your writing or

sound?

B: Definitely the Grease movie soundtrack.

Also, a healthy dose of Sweet Baby, The Beat,

and The Jam.

J: I guess the band sounds a lot like Paul Col-

lins’ Beat, we cover one of their songs when

we perform live actually. We also sound like if

Grease started touring as a three-piece, and I

think I’m alright with that. Just good pop-punk

I suppose, I don’t listen to enough of it to

really make good references. I guess from

a bass-playing standpoint that Mike Watt

from Minutemen had a huge influence

on my sound, and also Flea from Red Hot

Chili Peppers. Say what you want about

them, but Flea’s got the most killer

fuckin’ tone in the world.

Br: Yeah... definitely Grease.

PP: Wisconsin is no stranger to the

realm of rock n’ roll. Can you give

us your fondest Wisconsin punk

rock moments?

B: I think my fondest punk rock moment

was probably my entire senior year of high

school. Too many great shows to specify.

J: The first garage show I ever saw was

in Bob’s old basement, otherwise known

as The Junk yard. I’d never really listened

to garage rock before that, I’d heard

maybe one Guitar Wolf song ever and

the hardest punk I was into was The Clash.

The show absolutely blew my fuckin’

mind, it was The Mudgetts, Junk yard, The

Breakups, RKTSN, all at the peak of their

form. That was the most definitive for me.

My favorite Wisconsin band is Tenement

from Appleton though, I’m ultra-excited

whenever I see them. We might be doing

a show with them in November.

Br: I used to play bass in a band called,

“Rockstar Keith and the Thou Shalt Nots,”

RKTSN for short. It was pretty short lived,

but it was good times.

PP: What about the empty faces personal-

ly? How has playing out been going? Any

good notable shows worth mentioning?

B: We’re a brand new band, so we’ve

only played a few shows so far. One was

a really wild basement show in Stevens

Point with the Smith Westerns from Chicago.

That band was crazy. Chugging beers and

throwing confetti during their set. A water

pipe broke during their last song spraying

the whole crowd: it was EPIC.

J: I’m really glad about how tight this

band is and how quickly we got off

the ground. We got 8 songs down

in three weeks to play our first

show in The Doll house, this new

basement venue on Main St. The

show itself was pretty awesome,

this really great band that sounds

like if Guitar Wolf started tripping

acid from Chicago called Smithwest-

erns came up. Our show with the Plexi-3

went well too, those dudes were great.

I wish there’d been a few more people

though, compared to a lot of Mission shows

it was pretty tame.

Br: Our first show was memorable. It was at

a house full of drunk, under-aged teenag-

ers. We played with the “Smith-westerns”

from Chicago. During their set one of the

pipes in the basement broke open and al-

most flooded the place. I don’t think they

do shows there anymore.

PP: Damn, now that’s a party! Now tell us a

bit about your recent recording session?

B: We recorded in my spare bedroom, it was

great! We recorded 7 songs and it only took

about 2 hours. This session will basically be

our demo.

J: We recorded our set minus our Beat cover

in Bob’s house in the middle of nowhere,

and Bob’s gettin’ that worked on so we can

make a 7-inch for our next shows. Should be

good.

Br: The recording session went really well, we

got everything done in about 2 hours.

PP: When can we expect some releases out of

you guys?

B: Hopefully soon! We’re

hoping to press a 7”

or two out of our re-

cording session.

J: I don’t know if

Bob’s sent out our

demos to be made

into a 7-inch yet, but

that should be coming

out sometime soon.

PP: Steven’s Point is the home of Point Beer. Do

they have a brewery tour and if so, have you

been on it?

B: I get asked this question a lot! Point does

have a brewery tour, but I’ve never been on it.

I don’t know why I’ve never been on it, though.

Too busy drinking the stuff, I guess!

J: I think we have a brewery tour, but I haven’t

personally been on it. I don’t keep track as

much as other guys do I suppose.

Br: Point’s great! But I’ve never taken the tour. I

think that’s a tourist thing.

PP: Speaking of beer, what is the band’s col-

lectively top 3 favorite brews?

B: I’m way into New Glarus Spotted Cow, but

it’s usually Old Style when I’m barging parties.

J: I wouldn’t know, I don’t drink (haha). I’m

more of a smoking guy myself, I prefer a good

cigar if I ever wanna relax.

Br: Pabst

PP: New Glarus Spotted Cow is awesome!

OK, if the Empty Faces found themselves

with a time traveling phone booth ala

Bill and Ted, and you could go

and grab any musician in

time to ensemble an

all star rock n’ roll

act. Who would

it be?

B: I would

travel back to

1998 and grab

Wesley Willis in

his prime.

J: I guess I’d go back

and form a band with

Guitar Wolf. That band is my

fucking hero. I can’t think of anybody on

earth that can rock as hard as they can.

Not even Greg Cartwright. I guess if Gui-

tar Wolf wasn’t available then I’d go for

Greg Cartwright.

Br: Bass Wolf.

PP: What do you think will be the next big

wave for underground rock n’ roll? You

know, like garage kind of had their thing

a few years ago... What do the empty

faces think will be next? I’m banking on

another ska revival myself!

B: It’s hard to say what the next big trend

will be. There seems to be a lot of psych/

garage bands going right now, and a

lot of “dumb” punk bands. On the other

side of the coin pop-punk seems to get-

ting stronger, as well. Personally, I’d like

to see less genre-specific bands and

more straight up rock and roll bands.

The less bands worry about achieving a

certain sound, the more they can worry

about writing good songs!

J: I can definitely see pop-punk coming

back. The Jetty Boys are getting pretty big, The

Figgs, Beach Patrol, and Tenement are moving

around a lot, I think pop-punk is definitely going

somewhere. I’d personally love to see a classic

hardcore-revival again, but I think it’s starting

to fade out. We did have this really great

hardcore band from Germany called

Civil Victim play here though, and

they’re doing a U.S. tour right now.

But I’d bank on pop-punk for sure.

PP: So what’s next for the empty

faces?

J: Bob’s been pretty busy over the

last weeks so we haven’t been able

to plan a whole lot, but I’ve been trying

to get a few shows set up over the next few

months, so we’ll see what happens. Hopefully

we’ll start getting a lot of shows soon, and our

7-inch should come out pretty soon.

B: I don’t know! More shows, more songs, more

recordings, more fun!

Br: Keep writing music, hopefully a tour, and

more rock n roll!

Yesiree, the 2nd best thing to come out of Steven’s Point behind Point beer. Actually, I think they might be the first. Anyway, You’ll more than likely hear much more from these guys in the months to come. They’ve been hard at work bringing the rock so it’ll only be a matter of time before everyone catches on to their sonic assault of punk noise. I’ve wit-nessed it first hand, so I can contest that it’s pretty damn awesome. Do yourself a favor and go check them out. If your into blazing punk rock played with unrelenting furor, then the Empty faces just may be your bag.

www.myspace.com/theemptyfaces

PP: First off, can you tell us little about yourself.

Well, I was born in Detroit. My father is Sam Gambino who began pinstriping in 1956. He’s the real deal. Even though I went to college, I make my living solely with my art, which is a God-given ability. I pinstripe hot rods, do portrait-style kitsch art on canvas using Sign-painter’s 1-Shot enamel (the standard paint brand used by sign painters for decades), throw around a little pen and ink sometimes and create vector art for CD covers, T-shirts, ad campaigns, etc.

PP: What was the initial spark that lead you to being an artist. Like, what were some of your early influences?

My dad was a big part of that, and my uncle (Joe Gambino) is a schooled artist as well who also gave me many pointers when I was a kid. As for my dad, he was never one of those fa-thers who insisted that I go to college and be-come an accountant or anything like that. He

Do you dig the brooding vibes of subversive culture? Can you get down to the mutated noise of 60’s cool? Well, then you sir, are in luck! We are excited as all hell to have the one and only Sam Gambino spare a few moments of his time to give us the low down on what he’s doing and how he’s doing it. Listen, if your looking to blow your mind on hip retro themed art slanted on quirky good times, then this guy may just be your kind of scene. He’s successfully welded together a barrage of wild characters to come up with an exhausting amount of illustra-tions, paintings, and out of this world graphic design. Let’s get it on!

was always painting on hot rods, race cars and drag cars when I was growing up. He painted semi trucks back when they were hand-lettered, pinstriped and dressed up in scores of colors. You just don’t see that now. Those things were works of art going down the road! He would apply gold leaf or that shiny adhe-sive film that changed col-ors when the light hit it at night. Now I do what he did, only I’ve also included com-puter-generated art into my bag of tricks, having to evolve in order to keep up with how almost all occu-pations change over time. However, my favorite form of art is when I’m working with good old enamel and brush. As a kid, I was always interested in things that were odd - you know, like the Vincent Price Shrunken Head kits from back in the 70’s. I remember liking politi-cal caricatures. I had a collection of Richard Nixon caricature images which I snipped from the newspapers. There were lots of them at that time because Watergate was happening. I really enjoyed the Munsters, Batman and the great campy shows of the ‘60’s. I’m sure that all of that stuff influ-enced the art that I create today.

PP: What were some of the struggles you faced in trying to realize your dreamsas an artist?

I started out as a signmak-er and pinstriper. Then of course, the computer-cut vinyl came out and took away the artistic quality that one would usually see in a hand-lettered sign or vehicle. I still hate to see the sterile, cookie-cutter stick-ers and clip art that now adorn shop windows, ve-hicles, hot rods and boats. The computer-generated vinyl lettering really cut into my early work as a signmaker. Therefore, in order to survive, I moved into the art form I do now. I do create artwork on the

computer in the form of logos and other designs like that, but when I do, I like to cre-ate my own letters whenever possible - and I never use vinyl stick-on letters on any art pieces or projects. Also, in regards to work-

ing as an artist, there are ups and downs that fluctuate along with the cycles of the economy. Commissions and art projects are piled to the ceiling when the economy is riding high, and there are lean times when the econo-my is bad. In my career, there have been times when I’ve asked myself if I should be using my degree by working a 9 to 5 job. I consult God by praying about these sorts of issues, and He’s never steered me wrong - I’m still

an artist today, and I’m blessed. It’s the only occupation that I’ve genuinely felt comfort-able with, and has always been a constant in my life.

PP: Did you go to school for art or were you self taught?

I never attended a formal art class. I learned pinstriping and lettering from my dad, learned about drawing techniques from my uncle, and logged some time watching Bob Ross on PBS. I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, an associate de-gree in Liberal Arts and an associate degree

in Math/Science, because af-ter high school, was going to go into engineering. I chose art instead.....

PP: HA! Awesome! Also, your work is grounded in a lot of retro type vibes. What about this genre appeals to you? (by the way, the “got boots” painting rules!

Thank you! Everything about the placement of lettering with graphic images appeals

to me. The way that text and lettering intermingles with a face or figure

is art in itself to me. The old artist, illustrators and designers were masters at that - from the old magic posters of the early 1900’s to the pulp fiction illustrators of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. I just don’t see that same magic in the “Photo-shopped” ad designs in maga-zines today. My art subject matter really consists of things I feel are under-represented in the art world. Weird stuff of my own fancy. I love the pig doc-tor characters, weird masks and aliens in the old Twilight Zone episodes - sometimes I like to paint them in vintage Vegas settings or even play-ing the theremin; swamis with turbans on their heads like you might see in old ‘40’s and ‘50’s movies late at night; suave-looking werewolves directing a choir, sipping whiskey or modelling perfect hair; characters from old, low budget campy B-movies, such as Criswell or Vampira; beatniks playing bongo drums. Retro pop culture has a wealth of subject matter to choose from.

PP: Tell us about some of the work that you’ve produced for other people/clients. Would you say that you operate as a fine artist in a com-mercial art world?

Well, I guess I do incorporate some fine art into my work, but I consider myself to be more of a commercial artist who injects a little portrait art into my work. I definitely don’t consider myself a fine artist alone though. I’ve never had any portrait training or anything like that. I blend my paints on the canvas like Bob Ross said to do, and my color palette comes directly from the Sign Painter’s 1-Shot brand color chart. I never use those acrylic or oil paints in the tubes. I wouldn’t know where to start with them. Besides, I have an eye for kitsch colors, but I feel I’d have a rough time trying to refine my colors for a formal portrait or something like that. Furthermore, I absolutely try to always inject some humor

into my work - even if it’s very subtle. That normally isn’t found in a lot of fine art. I love tacky!

PP: Yeah, tacky rules! What about some of the recent work or design that you’ve been involved with. For instance, how’d that Phantom Jets cover come about?

The Phantom Jets found me on MySpace. I was holding out on creating a MySpace page until Spring of ‘08. I had my websiteand didn’t think I needed a MySpace page. However, once I joined, I began to get quite a few commissions. The Phan-tom Jets were great to work

with. They left the concept to me, pretty much. I asked them for the title of the LP I was designing (The Phantom Jets Play the “Jet Set”), and since I love old illustra-tion artwork and Frank Sinatra, I presented them with the idea of doing a spoof of Sina-tra’s “Come Fly With Me” cover. It consists of a well-dressed 1960’s style zombie dressed in a Sinatra hat and boarding a plane. Over his left shoulder is a jet flying through the air spewing black smoke in a blood red sky. They were up for it, they gave me a few de-tails that they wanted included in the art-work, and I went to town on it. I am proud

of that painting, by the way! It’s right up my alley artwise - the subject matter and humor in it just made it a pet project for me.

PP: Yeah, it’s crazy how rel-evant myspace is these days. Now, what about some of the showings that you’ve been apart of?

I’m pleased to be included in any and all of them really. I’m proud to be in any show by a gallery that makes room

on their wall for my creations. I don’t usually take part in any shows that are politically oriented though. Even though I have strong political views, I like to use hu-mor in my art instead of opinion. That’s not

to say I’d never do a painting that conveys a po-litical message, but it’s not what I’m in the busi-ness to do. Laughter is good, and I feel that we all need more of it.

PP: Tell us a little about your re-cent showing at the “brushes, needles, and burnouts show.

That show was at Kustom Kul-ture Gallery in Baldwin, NY. They’re a great bunch there, and I have a lot of respect for Keith Ciaramello, the gallery owner. I’ve been a part of that annual show since the begin-ning. I absolutely dig the respect and admiration they have for old school kustom kulture art. The painting I did for that show was a kind of tribute piece for Keith, and would really only appeal to him. I wanted to do the subject matter for some time, but never settled on a character for the painting. It was based on the old poster art for Kellar the Magician, who performed the illusion of “Self Decapitation” - it was an illusion where the performer’s head ap-peared to levitate up and away from his body. Anyhow, I asked Keith to dress as he would on any given business day, and sit in a chair angled to the right - just like Kellar is in the poster art. Now Keith is immortalized in the same way with a floating head, and he bought the painting, so we’re all happy!

PP: Are their any contemporary artists or de-signers that have caught you eye asof lately?

I like Travis Louie and his early monster-ori-ented 1800’s style portraits. They have a real, unique campy quality to them, but are execut-ed with the utmost skill. I also love Judy Raga-gli’s work. She creates large paintings of Barbie dolls, vintage and modern using excellent color combinations. I also enjoy Lou Brooks who does comic-oriented artwork which is loaded with humor - a real scream!

PP: What can we expect for you in the future?

“More fun, more thrills, with everything left in and nothing left out.” Wait...... that’s the catch

line for the low-budget 1970’s film “Blaz-ing Stewardesses”. As for me, I just finished an ad campaign design which is based on those sorts of low budget films from the

‘60’s and ‘70’s for the Coffin Case Co. They manufacture guitar cases and supplies, and there are more projects like this in the works. I just want to paint more stuff that might bring a laugh. I’m really enjoy-ing the CD covers, no matter how famous or well-known the groups or musicians may be. I will work with anyone, and proud to do it.

The examples shown within these pages are only a fraction

of the work that Sam has available. The man is truly a non stop art machine. Be sure to check him out on the web. You know the drill....

www.myspace.com/artofsamgambinoWWW.SAMGAMBINO.COM

1.The Bad MotherEnamel on stretched canvas12 in. x 16 in.

2.The PotentateEnamel and gold leaf on stretched canvas14 in. x 18 in.

3.Nancy and the Girl BombsEnamel on stretched canvas14 in. x 18 in.

4.A Penny for Your Thoughts Enamel and objects on board12 in. x 16in.

5.Live in OrbitEnamel on stretched canvas14 in. x 18 in.

6.The Eye for StyleEnamel on stretched canvas12 in. x 16 in.(used for the intro spread)

ROCK N’ROLL

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