URCHIN Interviews Page

urchin interviews, always pretty retarded

contents:
4/2/01 - THE CAL TIMES INTERVIEW WITH TOMATO
11/1/00 - "Pointless Questions", Tomato interviews with Splendid E-zine
8/00 - Tomato interviews with Vivian Lives.com

4/2/01 - THE CAL TIMES INTERVIEW WITH TOMATO - GO HERE TO SEE THE ACTUAL WEB SITE

IN this age of Napster, five songs for five bucks might not seem like much of a deal, but Sound of Urchin's self-titled EP (RCA) is a bargain at any rate. Especially since the band is obscure enough that a prime-time online search only turns up one track, and it's not from the CD. They deserve your money, anyway; as their press kit says: They're number two-- they work harder. Take www.soundofurchin.com, for example, a frequently-updated, content-filled wesbite offering well over an album worth of material in the form of live and demo MP3s, in addition to single videos, entire shows, and two 24-hour streaming internet radio stations that only broadcast Urchin material.

If the post-Beastie Boys jammin'-hip- hop fusion sound called go-go were not an evolutionary dead end, it might sound like Urchin. Live, they look like Phish and play like Black Sabbath ("Fairies Wear Boots," not "Paranoid"), except for drummer/ vocalist/ lyricist Tomato11, who looks like he could be Ben Stiller's hardened younger brother, and sounds like Anthrax's Scott Ian. After recording four solo albums between 1994 and 1998-- Steven Records describes them as a "Sex Pistols-Pink Floyd-Morrissey mixture"-- Tomato11 finally found the right lineup to do something truly different.

Over the EP's five tracks, the band teamed up with producer Dean Ween for a tour-de-force through everything that New York City has to offer. Only in NYC could the once-unimaginable fusion of hardcore and metal be topped by the unthinkable crossover of rap and metal. Only in New York do bands write theatrical songs about food. Only in NYC can a band stomp back and forth on a thin line between whimsical and scary.

During shows, Tomato sits at the drums, sings, screams, then sits back down to pound away more, and after the show works the crowd to make sure that nobody-the band or the audience- just wasted his time. The EP fills in the rough edges and provides most of the keys necessary to appreciate all the sampler fare on the band's website, but it's a short, incomplete representation of the manic musical performances that have helped the band win over crowds on tours with SR-71, the North Mississippi All Stars, and 2 Skinnee J's. A standout performance at last year's CMJ festival caught the eye of representatives from Rolling Rock, and the band will soon star in a national television commercial for the beer.

Live and on disc, Urchin invoke diverse influences, tearing from one style to the next as their distinct sound emerges. Their lyrics are a pleasure to follow, easy to understand if difficult to fathom. "Space Station on the 4, 5 &6" starts off with a Fun-Lovin' Criminals vibe, then staples together episodes about Aerosmith working office day jobs, a Tomato11 childhood confrontation with a Wicks & Sticks manager, and a high-school party that grew out of hand and ended with a couch breaking- though not irreparably- and climaxes in a jam that sounds like an excerpt of the next System of a Down album. "Fearless Vampire Killers" plays like an oldies power ballad a la "Last Kiss," and the track will have you checking the liner notes to make sure it's not a cover. "Cherry Mountain" features hardcore & hip- hop-style chants simple and raw enough to make most arena sing alongs seem overblown, then explodes in a cascading guitar solo that would be at home on Ritual de Lo Habitual. If the band sounds fun, they are. InSide talked to Tomato11 to figure out where they're coming from and where they're going.

- D.X. Ferris

How did the band put together the sound for the live show?
Basically, we want to take the audience on a ride, and I think that that's what's missing from a lot of the music today. And we like so many different kinds of music that we don't want to be pigeonholed. The EP's great, but the thing is: It was recorded a year ago. We've become a much stronger band since then. And also, it's only got five songs. So it only gives sort of one side of us. It's complete, but it's only one side of us. When we do our full-length album, which we're going to be doing for RCA in the next couple of months, then the goal of the record label and the goal of us is the same: to make the album a ride like our live shows are, where it's like you've got so many different moods. When I'm in the mood to hear something mellow, I'll put on something mellow. When I'm ready to hear something hard, then I'm ready to hear something hard. I think that you like a band more if they show you different sides of them.

So we'll see more of the heavy material and jamming that makes the live show different than the EP?
Oh, yeah, definitely. Without a doubt. Without a doubt. First of all, we're at the stage where we're an opening band, which is the greatest stage to be at, because you're going to places where people don't know you. And we want to entertain. We want people to leave with some kind of feeling about us. Because that's what we're there to do. We drove eight hours that day to play Pittsburgh. We drive eight hours when we're on tour to get up there for 35 minutes, and to not leave the people feeling something is a waste of time, I think. Why even do it?

If it works out, you get applause-not the finger?
Hey, if that happens, that's great. Because they will not forget us. At least it's something. I think a lot of bands go out there and do their show and they go unnoticed and you'll never remember them. Obviously, we want people to remember us. We just go up there and attack.

People tend to resist the opening act. I missed the opening of your set because I didn't feeling like sitting through a band I didn't know, but after the set, I bought the CD.
It's so much fun, too. I love it. It's amazing. That's what rock and roll is. I mean, rock and roll, that's what it was from the beginning. It should be something that just sort of blows you away, a total assault. It should be. Whether it's a rock band that's mellow or a rock band that's hard. In some ways, it should be somehow an assault. You look at a band like the Doors, who were not a hardcore band. But they assaulted everyone somehow. And then you get a band like Black Sabbath that's on a hard level, and that's what rock and roll is...

The ripe musical crop doesn't look real promising right now. I think this year's going to be the time for me to catch up on Cream albums.
Exactly, I mean, it's all about being a package. I'm sure MTV has a lot to do with that. I'm sure the record labels have a lot to do with that. But the ultimate responsibility lies with the bands, because you don't have to package yourself- well, we package ourself in a certain way, but in the way that these bands go out there, you know what you're going to get: Every song's going to be this style. Every song's going to sound the same. You know what you're going to get. Rock and roll's supposed to be spontaneous, and it's supposed to be something that's like, "Where are these guys coming from? What planet are these guys from?"

DJ, guitar, ra, repeat.
Now that shit's happening- I mean, there were some innovators in that scene, in the beginning of it. At least, Korn, I think, is an innovator. Deftones, are somewhat innovators in that scene.... They cop the way that the Korn guy plays bass, they cop the way that the Korn guy sings. Why cop Fred Durst's moves, you know what I mean? Just go up there and be yourself. That's what we do-- we don't know any different that going up there and being ourselves.

You're about two years old?
We're 2 & 1/2 years old as a band.

Is the whole band from New York?
I live in Brooklyn, and the rest of the guys live in south Jersey, and one of the guys lives right across from New York City, so the New York City area. It's pretty amazing. We were all in different bands in the past, and were pretty unsatisfied with the way that our bands were going, like playing the game, trying to make it....I was basically just playing drums in bands for a while, and just totally unsatisfied because I didn't like the way the lead singer was doing his thing. And I didn't know really what to do. What was I going to do, be a drummer and sing at the same time? How was that ever going to work? And the answer was right in front of me pretty much: Do it. That's what's unique about it. I'd always be a pretty crazy drummer, but always in the background. I was just the drummer, and never really in good enoughbands where they'd give me the support that I needed. So we all sort of came together for that reason: We all want to make a band that we want to see, that we enjoy making. And that's how the whole thing sort of started.

What kinds of bands were you in? How do you get all the elements from rap to jam band to metal?
I guess a lot of that comes from what we do. It's just the whole soup that we make. I'm a fan of heavier music, mostly. I shouldn't say mostly, because I like all kinds of music, but I gravitate towards bands like Pantera and Metallica and hard-driving bands, even though I like a lot of things like reggae, and a lot of mellow things as well, and a lot of classic rock, like the Grateful Dead. But one thing that we all sort of agree on is-well, we agree on a lot of things, but one thing that we really want to do and enjoy doing is that we really like bands like Kiss. And I don't think that we're that much like Kiss, but in terms of being bigger than life, and doing that, and being something that's just a spectacle, and trying to bring that to the people. I mean, that's what's behind it, and also having some of that classic rock ethic, where there's guitar solos, which I don't think any band does these days, anymore. I mean, Reverend B. Ill, the guitar play, is definitely the best guitarist I've ever played with, and could possibly be the best guitarist of our generation that's living right now.

The "Cherry Mountain" solo sounds like Dave Navarro.
He is just a great guitar player, and I think today there are just two great guitar players out there, and one is Bill, and the other is Dean Ween. And we're all friends, but they're the only guys that can really play guitar these days. And I remember growing up: It was like you had to be a good musician, like "Who's your favorite guitar player?" These days, it's all about the scene. Can these guys really play? Can these guys really feel and make the audience feel something from their playing? Where's the spontaneity? These guys- like B. Ill practice every day. Just because he wants to. Not because he has to, but because he loves playing, and he's always trying to get better. But these days, it's like you tune your guitars down and you make some metal or you make some this or that. You don't feel anything from it other than the one-dimensional feeling from it.

What else are we going to see, what directions are you going beyond the EP's songs?
We have about, before this new batch of tunes that we're making right now, we have something like 29 songs that are eligible for the new album, 29 songs we've already been playing for the past couple of years. And RCA wanted us to see where we're at and spend some time writing some new tunes, and we came up with another 19. So there's so much to choose from that we don't even know how to make an album out of it. We want to satisfy a little bit from the old, a little bit from the middle, a little bit from the new, so that every direction is accounted for. I mean, there's some more songs on the "Fearless Vampire Killers" tip. There's a silly side to us. There's a serious side to us. There's a melodic side to us. There's a jam side to us. There's a laid-back side to us. There's a thrash side to us. We want to get all of that. And the new stuff goes in all of those directions and more. We say "Why can't we be that band?" There's no one else doing it. If we want to make a song that's mellow- we're working on this new tune now that's more Radiohead than it is Black Sabbath. It's not Radiohead, it's our own. But just the fact that a song is a song. A good song is a good song. Can "Vampire Killers" stand next to "Cherry Mountain"? Conventionally, it wouldn't really work. But with us, it does.

Humor's a good litmus test: You don't see a lot of bands that are funny who suck.
That's true. The humor is something a lot of the great bands have. Even if you go back to the Beatles or some of the biggest bands that were out there. Ween are like that too. They know when to be funny and they know when to be serious, and they're serious about their funniness and they're funny about their seriousness. And the humor is totally missing from music today. But they other side of it is that you don't want to be labeled as primarily a silly band. I think what's good is a band like the Chili Peppers, who've been able to stay on top for a long time. And they've managed to really change up their thing. You wouldn't have pictured them releasing some serious songs like they are now ten years ago. And they still keep churning them out. They can go up there with socks on their dicks and they can go up there with ridiculous haircuts and this and that and have fun and they can also write some serious music too. I like that.

Is the Rolling Rock commerical going to be regional or national?
National. It's going to be totally national, They spent a day with us on the road. They filmed us in our van. They filmed us in our hotel. They filmed us in a diner, just asking us a bunch of questions, documentary style. We had so much footage. And basically, the commercial is a documentary on us. Rolling Rock wanted to find a non-sellout band, because they don't want to be a sellout beer. So they came and saw us really out of the blue. We were playing the CMJ festival in New York, and they just were scouting bands there. And they came to another couple of shows, and they signed us up for it. And I think they saw, nationally, 100 bands or something. And they want to market themselves as a non-sellout beer, so never in the commercial do we go "We drink Rolling Rock." But we're hanging out, and there's Rolling Rocks in the picture. So that's pretty much like free advertising for us.

That's the local beer here.
Where are you at?

California University, about a half hour south of Pittsburgh.
So that's where you go to see shows?

Yeah, Club Laga, where you played, is about the only good place to go see a show like that.
That was a fun show. It was awesome. The place wasn't packed, but the thing was, we sold something like 40 CDs that night. It might have been more than that, because we sold some kind of crazy ratio like one out of two people went away with a Sound of Urchin CD that night, which is a really cool thing, to take over a crowd like that and make them know the opening band.

That's the best time to see a band, when they're right on the cusp of making it big, or before you know who they are. You just drove in for that show, you weren't really touring with them?
That was just a one-off. We've done shows with them in New York before. We haven't really been on the road with them. We've been on the road with a bunch of different bands. We spent December on the road with SR-71, which was a crazy, crazy tour, especially because they're such a different band from us. They were fun. They really enjoyed our music and stuff. Our label hypes us up in this way: We're the band that can open for anybody. We went on the road with the North Mississippi All Stars, which is like a cult really hard blues band from down South. We went on the road with them down South, played for their fans. And that's a totally different thing than opening up for 2 Skinnee J's, we were so different than them, but they appreciated our rock and our music, and that was really cool to see. Then we went on tour with the Urge in the Midwest, and the Urge is a lot like 2 Skinnee J's, and that was a perfect fit. And it made a lot more sense, at least as far as the humor and the fun goes. And then the SR-71 tour was like a huge pop tour. And here we are in front of a huge number of pop fans. And I'm not a pop fan really. I don't listen to the pop stations or commercial radio really. I don't seek it out. And going on the road with them was really interesting, because their fans really liked us a hell of a lot. In fact, it was our most successful tour. In Cincinnati, we sold 50 CDs in one show. And that's nuts. That's taking all of Cincinnati and selling out all their record stores. We like the fact that we can play with anyone.

Why an EP instead of a full-length release?
That was basically our choice. We had a choice when we signed the deal with RCA- RCA has been really, really great to us. The guy that signed us, his name is Steve Ralbovski, he signed the Chili Peppers back in the 80s, he signed the Beastie Boys in the 80s, he signed Soundgarden before anyone had heard of the grunge scene. He signed Ween. He signed the Breeders. He signed Anthrax. He's all over the map, and when he signed us, we saw eye to eye. He has the same vision as us, which is really hard to find in a music business guy. We had the choice- he proposed the choice to us, like "You can either put out a full-length album first, and have to go through the whole machine, which is like a huge promotion machine, and if you don't get a hit single, then you're basically dead, pretty much, unless they want to keep you on, and they didn't put too much money into you... It was totally experimental on RCA's part, because they didn't really know if it would work or not, and we knew it would work. But they've seen that it's worked, and they're just loving it. And it's the ultimate, because it's like being on an independent label. Because you're going out there grassroots. There's no hype. There's no "Well, these guys are the next this" or "These guys are the next that." We just go, come-as-you-are, we meet our fans, we grab our fans, I run my website. We have artistic control. And we get support by a major label. It's been a great year. A lot of people ask us that question, ask us "Why'd you guys do an EP"? And of course, we want to release all of our songs, but we understand that we're working with a machine, and we want to make it work. We've got time. We're patient about that.

You do the website?
As a fan, that's what I want to see, the updates, the interviews, something to read, and there's more than an album worth of material to download. That's the kind of fans we are, and that's what we want our fans to be. Man, I would love to be able to go to some of my favorite band's sights- I haven't been keeping up with the mp3s of the week, because I've been so busy. And I'm kind of upset about it. I've got to post some more, but just having like demo versions of songs or finding out where that song came from, unreleased stuff. We have enough tunes, and our label's behind it. And we go on Napster, and we see all those tunes up on Napster, and we're like "All right. People are digging it. They're getting us and they're digging the other facets of the music.

Tomato11's raves 'n 'faves 'n 'nat

Soulfly:
The guy from Sepultura. Really, really heavy. Real tribal shit.

Slipknot:
They are really good. They have the music to back it up. That's a ferocious album- it's hard to listen to all the way through. It's a lot. And these guys work their asses off.

Self:
They're awesome. It's basically one guy. And he just made this new album where he uses all toy instruments. It's really unbelievable.

Wesley Wills:
He's another one of our favorites. He's this schizophrenic guy from Chicago. He's nuts. He's got like 20 albums, and all the songs sort of sound the same, but we love him. He's really pure.

Long Beach Dub All Stars:
Just like Sublime, without Bradley. I think Sublime was one of the best bands of the 90s, and it's really a shame that he died. He really, really had some good things happening.

Diffuser:
They're like heavy rock, but dissonant sounding, but pretty melodic. They're not like the Foo Fighters. They're heavier than the Foo Fighters, but they're sort of in that vein. They're a really, really good band. They were a really good band to see on the road and hang out with as well.

11/00 - "Pointless Questions", Tomato interviews with Splendid E-zine

What's the worst "day job" you've ever had?
making origami animals, caligrapher for old documents on parchment paper like the declaration of independence

How much time do you spend on the internet each week? What do you do when you're on?
probably 2 hrs a day - do searches on my name to see how many people have the same last name as me

Most people, whether they're willing to admit it or not, have a uniform -- clothing they'll default to when left to their own devices. What's your uniform?
i only wear goth clothes because i am always sad and wish i was in the cure, that makes me happy then sad again

PC or Mac (or Linux/etc.)? Why?
PC laptop, i-mac - PC for general stuff (e-mail, surfing), mac for video making

What is your definition of a "good person"?
someone who is solid, lives by their set of rules and treats people the way they would like to be treated, and doesn't try to take all my money from me when i am
not looking

What is the dumbest fashion trend of the last hundred years?
every fashion trend!!! fashion is for losers. but if i had to narrow it down, i would say the whole 80's thing!! please spread the word to not go back to
relive the 80's. I mean, it's bound to happen, when people start to get reminiscent about the past, but just this one decade, please let's try out hardest to
move forward for once and not to try to bring back all of that 80's stuff, please. every 20 years, like clockwork, we try to relive our pasts as a society -
but for once, let's make a promise to just start new trends in dress and music and not go back to the 80's. the 80's were no fun, not cool, and really
disturbing.

What book (or books) that you read as a child has most influenced your life as an adult?
i'm far from an adult, so i'll let you know when i get there

What is the most important trend/cultural paradigm shift of the year 2000?
paradigm?

Given the choice, would you rather stake your life on your ability to quickly solve a complex mathematical equation, or attempt to
fight/escape from a large grizzly bear? Why?
i would probably have a better chance at the math problem

What's your favorite video/computer game? Don't have one? How about board games?
South Park go-cart Rally for play station, it's funny, exciting, there is a skill to it, it's just hard enough to keep you a little frustrated, but easy
enough to keep you playing, lots of perks w/ memory card

If you could elect to never, ever, ever have to kiss one particular person now living, who would that person be?
Helen Hunt

What's your position on gun control?
no one has any reason whatsoever to own a gun unless they are fully willing to get shot dead themselves

What album or albums in your music collection would you have to replace immediately if they wore out, were stolen, etc.?
Pantera's vulgar display of power

Do you use Napster (or any of its variants)? How often? For what? If not, why not?
i love napster - even though i have never downloaded anything from it. i think it is a great way to spread music around and increase fan bases of deserving
bands. music is meant to be shared. i also like to go and see how many people have put up mp3s of my band
of obscure songs and live shit - that's cool that they are documenting some choice performances. but hey, check in with me in a couple of years and see if i
still like napster, you know, when i am actually suffering because people aren't paying for my songs.

You are able to get away with murder once, and only once. Who, if anyone, do you kill?
i would never ever want to kill anyone, but i would like to get the opportunity to severely annoy a couple of choice people instead, it's more fun to have them alive

Paper or plastic? Why?
plastic, because i'm all for cool human creations like plastic - now that is cool, it has so many uses, paper is for losers and it kills real old trees

You're stuck at my house. It's your turn to cook. What meal do you cook me?
dominos thin crust

If you could make a rock 'n' roll porn movie, who would be your two co-stars?
hall & oates

What's the most evil thing in the world?
hippies

You have the power to bring one famous dead person back to life. Who's it gonna be?
my puppy, "cheeks"

What was the last pet name used by you to refer to your someone special? What was the last pet name your
someone special used to refer to you?
she calls me pea, i call her my lors

Was Betsy Ross hot for George Washington?
i don't know

What "official version" of a historical event do you most suspect to be a load of crap?
when are these questions gonna stop

What is the "most wanted" item on your holiday wish list?
one world, son

thanks!
your very welcome

8/29/00 - Tomato interviews with Vivian Lives.com
Read this cool interview below with Tomato, singer/drummer for URCHIN, from Vivian Lives.com, which is this girl Vivian's site where she has her diary and all of her musical tastes, or go to this link http://www.vivianlives.com/musicsection/urchin.html and see it at the site and listen to snippets of the ep.

After hearing these guys wail at Wetlands in NYC, it was obvious why RCA just recently scooped them up. URCHIN's sound is like a cross between The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Limp Bizkit, and Jim Carrey - they're hardcore rockers but with a twisted humor that makes their music very entertaining. I got a chance to Speak with Chris, the drummer and lead vocalist, about what its like to finally be a Rock Star!!!!

1. Did you ever think you would be a rock star?
Yeah, in fact, I've actually been a rock star since the age of five - it's just that now since there is all this press about me and the band, and all these wild stories about us and the dogs we used to have in the band, that people are starting to recognize and validate my status. And, for the record, I do aim to keep my office day job all throughout The Sound of URCHIN's rise - real rock stars work for a living, don't believe the hype - only fools are starving artists, they go nowhere. Real Rock n' Rollers go hand in hand with stocks, faxing, and file cabinets.

2. Is it everything you thought it would be?
Yes, definitely, it's actually even better than I thought, it's much more fun than "they" make it out to be. You eat well and expensively, all the time - I don't get why most rock stars are so thin - at this rate, we're on our way to being the fattest band EVER!! Also, it's fun to go to parties, they also have the good food there. People don't realize that rock stars go to parties in the afternoon, like on weekdays - it is like prime party time - I guess that is because normal people are working usually during those hours, and rock stars are NOT normal people, most are above normal or maybe a little above and to the left of normal. One more inside scoop to note is don't believe anything you see in "Behind The Music", they edit out all the footage of the rock stars trading stocks, sending faxes, going through their filing cabinets, eating well, and going to the usual Monday afternoon party.

3. How long has The Sound of URCHIN band been together?
Exactly 2 years this August 2000, we rock!!!

4. How do you feel your music style has changed from the early years?
When we started out, we were described as more of a party band, which was fine because we like to make people happy, but we knew there was more we wanted to accomplish and give to our audiences, and now we have really begun to come into our own - and that only happens with time and hard work. Now we still make people happy, and make some a little mad (which those usually deserve) but we rock 'em all silly!!! Not to disrespect our early years at all, but we are getting better, tighter, and further developing as a unit with every gig we play. And going through the process of being signed to a major label like RCA has really helped us define who we are, musically and professionally - they have been fully behind our creative goals, and have totally helped us make sense of and put the whole Sound of URCHIN vibe into perspective - I think that is what you really get by being signed to a major label that you cannot achieve without the proper label and team behind you. It's a great thing to watch the band grow and see it all happen in front of us, and to reach all the goals we've set out for - and only hard work and support can make this happen. It almost happens sort of without you knowing, one day you look back and you see how much the idea has grown.

5. Has it been rough with the duality of being a normal working guy by day and rock star by night?
At times it gets rough, like when there just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I need to do. That can get pretty hairy. But, then again, learning the ways and politics of the business I work for has been priceless info that carries on to everything I do with the band. Between business decisions, proper ways of handling situations, working with others, and just seeing the other side of the coin - it's all the same, life is life when it comes down to it. There is no easy way around life, everything takes work, business, socially, creatively, personally. I mean, the creative aspect is only one part of being in a band, there are many other parts - and that is a good thing, unlike the way most "artists" complain about the business - it bothers me when I see dudes in bands sitting back and being lazy and complaining - thinking that success will just fall from the sky, acting like spoiled artists. I don't even like calling myself an artist - you gotta have a big ego problem to call yourself an artist. Never trust an artist.

6. What's the best part about being in a band? What sucks?
The best part of being in a band is definitely playing live and helping people to have a good time, making them feel good from your music. And also enjoying the camaraderie between band members that comes with being in a band - we are like brothers, and there is strength in that - we have a blast together and we go through the ups and downs together. The worst part about being in a band is the breakdown of the equipment after the show, hands down - the last thing you want to do after a show is take apart a drumset, you want to chill with your friends and meet people in the audience. I can't wait until we have real roadies, but then again, I might not want to make my roadie go through that horrible nightly ritual either!

7. Now that you've been signed by RCA, have you had to change your music style at all?
No, not at all, it's kind of like my answer to that other question, #4. The music has grown from the early days, but really on its own without calculation. RCA does not really tell us anything but "we got your backs". It's the kind of situation where trust is at the forefront, so we listen to each other and trust each other, within the band, between us and the label. You have to realize that there are a lot of people that join the band's team when you sign to a major, and that is a good thing. And the team basically starts with a unified band idea, then you keep adding people and make sure that everyone you add "gets it" - and once you have the core team, the people that gravitate towards the team are usually on the right track, and then you just trust each other. It's the only way to have something work, trust is most important in anything you do. The music has really morphed gradually into what we have wanted it to become. Where all of our personalities and likes are being represented more and more, and that is what will make us unique at the end of the day, the personality. Most bands these days don't go with their own personalities, they try to fit into someone elses or fit into a trend. It's ironic, because it's so much easier to just be yourself - for one it comes easy, and two, things start to fall into place better and smoother and feel like they are done the right way. But most people find it harder to be themselves, everyone's gotta be cool and fit into a mold or something.

8. Where does the inspiration come for your music/lyrics?
From good love and good food.

9. If you could collaborate with any famous musician who would it be?
Well, we have already collaborated with him, Dean Ween from Ween, he produced our cd, and working with him was strange, he was real mean to us and all he cares about is doing real strange things - he is real strange, and that's all he cares about. We don't understand him. He's a scary man. Other than Deaner, probably Wayne Coyne from The Flaming Lips, Bob Pollard from GBV, Aerosmith.

10. Are you working on a second album now and how will it differ from the first?
We will start working on it in early 2001, our first cd is still brand new and current. I don't have any idea what the second one will be like even though we do have a bunch of songs already that could end up on it. It will depend who produces it (hopefully not that weirdo Dean Ween) and how the concept develops getting closer to recording time.

11. What is your ultimate life goal?
To play drums in a reggae band in Jamaica when I am not busy with The Sound of URCHIN (my earlier life goal I am already achieving right now as we speak)

12. Any advice to aspiring rock stars?
1) Be yourself 2) If you call yourself an artist, don't like my band 3) Go for the gusto 4) Rock the fuck ON 5) Be happy 5) take care of yourself 6) love 7) stay away from Dean Ween if you can

13. What was your craziest band story?
We used to have these dogs in the band in the early days. Seriously. We called em "Danny Maniels and the Angies", and they were real weird, they used to be on stage while we played. They would never ever bark. We tried to get them to, that was the goal, but they never did. They would just walk around the stage, sniff at things, whatever. Well, one day, the Irish Setter "Selly DelRey" was chilling on stage while we were playing in upstate NY, and all of a sudden she books across the club, through the audience, grabs a piece of bun off the floor in the back of the club, runs back on stage and puts the bun at the foot of our bassist, Doo Doo Brown. Selly then goes back to her perch (a mini-platform with these x-mas lights around it) and does her normal thing. She didn't even bark once!! A kid in the audience got kinda grossed and started flailing his arms like a psycho, we were scared, the bouncer comes up to him and kicks him out. After the gig this dude was nowhere to be found. We heard the next day when we were mellowing out in a cappuccino bar that it was his bun. It was complete insanity!!!