Five malcontents by the name of the Swingin' Utters rolled into town recently and pretty much restored my faith in rock and roll. They're a bunch of swell guys and granted me this interview after a especially rollicking set at the Lake Union Pub. They are Darius Koski- guitar and vocals, Greg Mcentee - drums, Johnny Peebucks - vocals, Max Huber - guitar, and Kevin Wickersham - plays bass as well as doing most of the talking.

10: So how's Seattle treatin' ya?

SU: We played four shows, the best being in Katrina and Michelle's basement with Naked Aggression and Whorehouse of Representatives, plus the Lake Union Pub show with Bristle and Zeke. That's the kind of thing we like doing, going out of town and playing shows - touring. We toured last summer with Chaos UK across the whole country and that was great! We've done a couple of out of town gigs with Rancid in L.A., Las Vegas, Sacto ... We're gonna do three shows with Citizen Fish which is pretty exciting.

10: Any releases in the works?

SU: We've got a bunch of stuff coming out next month, the biggest being our CD/LP "The Streets of San Francisco" on New Red Archives. It's going to have real good distribution so I figure anyone who wants one should be able to pick it up pretty easily. It's nineteen songs and produced by Lars, the guitarist of Rancid. We also have a split single coming out with the UK Subs. Another single recently came out on a great new label from L.A. called Side One. They're just getting started, but they really have their shit together and are the coolest. That one's called "Nothing to Rely On". We're doing another split with a band called Slip from San Jose. We're on a couple of compilations out soon, one with mostly Santa Cruz bands, the other on Blackout Records from New York where we cover a Cock Sparrer song. In the past we've done a 10 inch "Scared", and a 7 inch "No Eager Men" on Quality Of Life Records in San Francisco. Our first record was on Farce Majeure Records out of Detroit, "Gives You Strength" is what it's called.

10: Wow.

SU: Yeah, locally for Seattle we're gonna be recording a five song CD in January for IFA Records that has put out Zeke and Texass. There's also talk of a split 7 inch with Portland's Defiance and the Fuck Emo's from Austin Texas. That's not to mention all the comp tapes we've been on. Damn, that's more than I thought! Also, we're on a comp put out by Seattle's Outcast Records. We just keep putting out more and more stuff to make our interviews more and more boring! Ha!

10: Where did you come up with the name "The Swingin' Utters"?

SU: I guess the classic funny story about our band is how we got our name. Our old name, which was "Johnny Peebucks and the Swingin' Utters", we shortened because people's attention spans are too short. I guess everyone kept forgetting it. Anyways, our singer got very drunk with some friends up in the mountains and pissed his pants and puked all over himself. Later he was very hungry and they drove to Taco Bell where he paid the lady with a soaked dollar bill. She asked if he'd been swimming and John replied, "No, I pissed my pants". Hence "peebucks". Swingin' Utters is from our friend's cat with big 'uns.

10: What do you like about Seattle?

SU: My favorite feature of Seattle is the Toe Truck by the Pub. I guess I climbed up there after we played the Pub and I was wasted. It was fun. (the Toe Truck is is a pink tow truck with a giant foot on the front).

10: What bands do you guys like?

SU: We like lots of old punk like the Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Buzzcocks, Damned, Sham 69, Undertones, Business, and Cocksparrer. I guess those influences carry over into our music. Of newer bands we like Rancid, Avail, Leather Face (R.I.P.), and I like Pegboy and old Naked Raygun. Motorhead is great! I like Bristle because they are good, but also do some M'head tunes. Also the Spoiled Brats.

10: How's the scene in San Francisco?

SU: It's pretty cool, in S.F. there's a little less going on than in the East Bay. Kommotion is about the only all ages club that does punk, but Berkeley has Gilman St. and a few other places and is a more grass-roots, supportive scene in general. We play in Berkeley about twice as much as we do S.F. Gilman is probably our favorite place to play as it's the most comfortable and the coolest. There's alot of bands that rule over there like Screw 32, A.F.I., Dead and Gone, Spitboy ... It's basically a thriving scene that produces great bands all the time. Oh yeah, Multi-Facet is another cool Berkeley band. In San Francisco the Ripp- Offs and the Trashwomen are my faves. It's more of a garage scene with the Purple Onion and other stylin' clubs. Watch out for the Low Downs too, they rule!

10: Well that's it folks, check these hard working lads out sometime, you won't regret it!

Write the Swinging Utters at:
304 Steiner #B
San Francisco CA 94117