wax

Wax

This interview was done via phone in June 1995.

Joe: Where am I calling right now?

Krusty: Minnesota.

J: You… I'm doing… we're doing… we're at a pay phone at the rock club.

K: OK.

J: I'm going to put Soda on the phone right now.

K: OK.

Soda: Hello, Christine.

K: Hi.

S: This is Soda.

K: So, who do I get to talk to first?

S: Um, you could go with me first.

K: OK. Let's see… what do I want to start with? I want to know what, how you guys were able to hook up and get your videos done.

S: Because our first video for our fist record on Caroline... Um, on our first record, 'What Else Can We Do?' which is on Caroline. Our first video was called 'Hush' and that was Spike Jonze's first video too.

K: OK.

S: He's a buddy of ours from military school.

K: Military School?

S: Yes.

K: You're not serious?

S: With Loomis. I don't know what school it was though. Our drummer.

K: Military school?

S: They were bad kids.

K: And you guys turned out like this?

S: That's what you get for them trying to control us. It's rebellion.

K: Now this second video off this new album. I was told that that one was also done with like a sixteen year old kid helped direct that one.

S: Well, pretty much, well actually he directed the whole thing. But the thing was is that because he's sixteen, he's not of legal age. He'd be a minor, so MTV can't put him as the producer because he is a minor and they won't put the full name of a kid.

K: Why?

S: I don't know. It's really weird.

K: He deserves credit for it.

S: He deserves credit for it cuz he has his own how on Comedy Central, and also he has like the biggest cable show in New York. Something like 20 or 30 thousand people watch him once a week. Public Access.

K: Right.

S: Squirt TV. It's the biggest show; it's really weird isn't it?

K: That seems really stupid.

S: And he just got an MTV gig now too, where he has like an hour show every day.

K: But they still can't put his name as credit on the…?

S: No. Cuz they won't print the name of a minor. I don't know too much about it, you'd have to ask Jake, he knows the scoop. But he pretty much did the whole thing. It was his concept and he directed the whole thing.

K: I actually thought it looked kind of fun.

S: Oh it was so... we were really playing. We had generators on the roof running you know with those huge speakers, and we were going so fast. People were so pissed at us when we were done, we like... did you see the part with the cop? There's a clip in there with a cop when we almost got arrested about the whole thing. Because Jake was with us...

He was like sixteen and he was from New York and he was… so we were like his legal guardians, the band was. So it was us and Jake and it was such a bust. Jake didn't have permission; we didn't have permission. They called his parents and stuff and he was already busted cause he didn't do all his homework. He's always like getting in trouble. We had to help him do his homework and I never even made it past freshman year. Poor kid. I think he got an F by the time we left. He goes to school with Macaulay Culkin, and he kicks the shit out of him all the time.

K: Now I was also told that you guys did like a scene for a movie?

S: Oh yeah! Do you know who Joey Adams is?

K: No.

S: From Dazed and Confused?

K: No.

S: In Dazed and Confused and she has a new movie called Mall Rats she invited us to do it. She likes the band and we like her so we did the movie with her.

K: So what was that like?

S: Uh, it was weird. But it was kinda funny, cuz we were just doing lines from other movies anyways, you know? But it was pretty cool. We'll see what happens when it comes out. It was totally funny though I don't even know the name of it really.

K: Do they ever?

S: Yeah, I have no clue. It was totally fun though.

K: Jeez, I mean you guys have been actually a band for a long time right?

S: Yeah this is our second record and recorded this one actually two years ago. We've been together like four years.

K: Okay now what's it like to all of a sudden have all this popularity?

S: Um, the same.

K: It's the same for you?

S: I don't know it's not really all that different. I don't know, I'm slurring. Um, it's the same thing. I mean we had this out by ourselves before that.

K: Right.

S: I was never popular in school so I can't tell when we're popular. People don't like me.

K: Well okay let's, let's put it this way. I mean, I'm sure four years ago you were lucky if you had what maybe 100 or 200 people going to see you?

S: Yeah.

K: Versus now there's thousands?

S: Yeah.

K: I would say that would be a jump in popularity.

S: Yeah, I guess so. People still don't talk to me though.

K: Well, why not?

S: If you met me you'd know why. I have huge nose hairs protruding out of my nose. Girls won't kiss me because I tickle their lip.

K: I mean I don't know, I guess like I was always the unpopular one too so, I guess it…

S: Yeah, I used to rip off everybody's spikes and shit. They hated it.

K: Well, now that wasn't very nice.

S: I was a troubled youth. That's why we went to military school.

K: And you came out even more troubled than when you went in.

S: Yeah… No… Better.

K: Better?

S: Yeah.

K: It worked?

S: I used to rip off bikes and trade them for guitars constantly.

K: Sounds like a good idea to me.

S: It worked out.

K: Look where you are now.

S: I love it.

K: Look where you are now, everybody loves you.

S: (laughs)

K: Well okay everybody likes the band.

S: Yeah.

K: Is that a better way to put it?

S: No, they like me.

K: Okay.

S: I'll break 'em sooner or later. Okie dokie?

K: I'm trying to think.

S: Okay do you want to talk to Joe now?

K: Sure.

S: I'll miss you Christine.

K: Bye.

S: Okay, bye. Hold on, here's Joe.

J: Hey.

K: Hey.

J: How ya doin'?

K: I'm fine. How are you?

J: I'm doing great.

K: That's good. I take it you guys are playing tonight?

J: Yeah, we're playing here tonight in um…

K: Where's here?

J: St. Louis.

K: Okay.

J: They're loading in all the gear right now for Sponge. So, how's everything going for you?

K: Absolutely wonderful.

J: So did you have any questions that you want to ask me or did Soda give you everything?

K: Oh god no, I could go on for hours if I wanted to.

J: I'd talk for hours but like, it's like this phone I swear is located in the worst area, it's like…

K: Well aren't they always?

J: People are moving things by and 'hey move this over here'. Ask me the big, ask me the biggest question you got and I'll give you the greatest answer.

K: The biggest question I got, huh?

J: Skip over all the bullshit questions. How long have you been together?

K: I don't believe in them. I'm going to ask you, oh, what's my favorite question? I want to know if you ever built like a tree house or a fort?

J: Yeah.

K: When you were a kid.

J: Totally.

K: Where was it and what kind of things did you do in there?

J: Okay, the best forts that I ever used to build was I'd go to my grandma's house on like, sometimes like when I was a kid growing up, um like Mondays, I'd we go to my grandma's house on Sunday and then like, we're an Italian family and we'd eat so much and everyone would just get so burnt that like I'd fall asleep at my grandma's house and they wouldn't want to wake me, so I'd spend the night on Sunday nights at my grandma's house, you know. So then everyone goes home right? And then the next day you know they're like yeah you don't have to go to school today just stay at grandma's. I'm like alright, cool. But my grandma ruled and she'd go alright you can just do whatever you want to do. So she had this big house and like we had this dining room table in there, and we just like my sister and I would make these crazy forts with blankets. We'd take like these, cause she'd crochet, you know. She'd crochet. And um, hold on. She'd crochet you know and uh it was nuts. I mean she had these huge, huge, huge blankets. So we'd put them over all like the tables and stuff in the living room, and make like this whole like living room of here house. And she was totally old like 65 and instead of just sitting in the other room while we did this, she'd go underneath there with us and fully hang out. And we'd make it so that the TV was up in part of the fort too and she would just kick back there in the fort and like just hang out like the whole day. And then when my parents come to pick me up they'd be like, 'what'd you do at grandma's house?' and it would just be fully just a sea of blankets and like chairs that were like part of the fort. And it would be the raddest. Like she was totally into it. We used to hang out there all day. That's what we would do. We wouldn't do anything underneath there except just eat food, and I think she'd like make cookies or something. And we just would eat all day and sit in the fort.

K: Oh jeez that sounds like fun.

J: It would rule. Just my sister and I, that's what we did.

K: Okay, do you prefer recording?

J: No, live.

K: Live?

J: But I'm starling to like to record.

K: Okay, starting to?

J: Like the whole thing is that like the whole time with like recording and stuff. Like recording's cool and all but for me like the live show is so much more like what I'm into just because it's like make it or break it at that moment. Like when you're doing it live it doesn't matter you, it's like, I mean it does matter because in the long run it does matter because it's gonna be around forever. But it's like you get a second, a third, a fourth try, where when you're doing it live you don't get any tries, it's just like boom! Here's the song.

K: Right.

J: If it happens and the vibe connects then you're there. If not you know you fucked up and you're by yourself.

K: Right.

J: So like live to me is more is more challenging. And I like just being completely focused on that show. You know like just doin' that. And when you're doing a recording you have to be focused on the whole context of the album.

K: Right, now what have you noticed as a difference in going from audiences of like very small numbers of thousands now?

J: Well, I mean, I don't know, I mean to be honest with you like we haven't really done, I mean like when we were on the tour with Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Face to Face I mean those were big shows. We're playing like a thousand seaters and stuff like that. And sure on a lot of these shows that we're doing now. Like a perfect example the show we're doing tonight. You know it's like, it's pretty, it's not a huge show. There'll probably be like a thousand kids here maybe eight hundred or something. But then like, you know like the show like we're doing like where you're gonna be at that's gonna be a big one and then like there's these other ones where we're playing in front of like 15 thousand people or something like that. Or what was it like you know six thousand or five thousand? I mean those are cool and all but it doesn't really change that much for me because you still have to try to get that whole you know. So it's like if you can nail it down you know then you're there. If you can't then you know you're kinda, it's just gonna suck. You know?

K: Right.

J: It's like I dunno my whole thing is I just, I just like to um, just basically try to like get the same vibe that we get at our small shows across to larger crowds. Does that make sense?

K: Yeah it does.

J: You know.

K: Oh, yeah.

J: I mean I don't really like, I mean I'm not sounding cocky like I don't care if we play in front of 20 thousand people. I mean I still get nervous and everything.

K: Oh yeah.

J: But like I don't know like when there's 20 thousand people you can't really, can't really see everyone. You know what I'm saying? But when 50 people and they're pissed, you can see that.

K: Oh yeah.

J: You know if there's 50 people that are spitting at you and telling you to get the fuck off the stage, you'll hear that and feel it. Where if there's like 20 thousand people and a fuckin' thousand of them hate you, you don't feel it.

K: Right.

J: Ya know! I mean it gets kinda like outta. It gets like the dimension of those crowds is like, kinda like when it's that big you kinda like if you're not careful like you'll lose like the focus of the whole point of why you're playing cuz you know you can basically do anything you want in front of those crowds. You know, they kinda go along with it. I love playing, I mean the whole vibe like, I hope after you see the band and stuff, like I mean like I could talk about how much I love to play but I just like, I mean that's like my biggest thing that when people leave the shows that they know like the 40 or 30 minutes that we're up there as a band is I mean it's, it's not something that like is just coming from our you know our back pocket. I mean it's like it's coming from inside. And, I mean it sounds really cliché and even cheesy like oh you know we're up there and we're sweatin' it cuz we feel it. But I mean, I mean that's the only reason we've gotten as far as we have. I mean, I mean we've been together for 4 years. We're not some band that just put out our first record this year, I mean.

K: Right.

J: We've put records on our own; we've done a record on Caroline. You know, we've done a lot of stuff to make us a unit and to make us you know, close to one another. And to believe in everything we're doing. I mean there isn't anything we've ever done that we're not a 100% on. And that's pretty rare when you're in a band. You know, sometimes you record stuff you're not you know 100% on. But there isn't anything we do that we're not a 100% on.

K: You know, I mean I don't know about other people, but I can tell when I watch a band.

J: That's cool.

K: I can tell if they're you know if they really mean it or not.

J: Yeah, well you gotta mean it cause kids see right through that. Everyone sees through it. That's just know going show. That's just you know going through the motions. Cause if you're going through the motions then you've got no place out on the road. You should just go home and get your energy and your vibe back. If you're just getting on stage just to do it then, then you don't have any place out on the road. Just go home and go to bed. You know, cause it's not fair to the people that come to your gig.

K: Yeah. Now what about bands that you actually just listen to for fun? Not necessarily influences but…

J: That I listen to for fun? Um, god, I mean, I can tell ya like I mean I listen to; we listen to everything from Johnny Cash like right now I don't know why I'm listening to a lot of Johnny Cash. Um as far as other bands I listen to for fun, I mean, god, I listen to everything like right now I'm listening to Iggy Pop, 'Lust For Life'. That's like probably like my favorite record right now. That was like one of my all-time favorite records when I was you know growing up. And you know all of a sudden I'm like man this record rules, I gotta hear it again. You know? I like Rancid. I always I am listening to Rancid. They're like one of my all. Like I'm a huge Clash fan so that's probably why I love Rancid.

K: Right.

J: I like, um, I like this new band that I just heard the other day at one of these radio shows called Rusty. They fuckin' rock. They're from up in Canada. They're great. I really like them. And as far as like a fun record I think I've been listening to Iggy Pop a lot. But as far as new music goes. Like, Rancid and Rusty. That Rusty record just came out. Um, who else? Um, I like a lot of the um… I like a lot of the Pixies and stuff like that.

K: OK, um…

J: I listen to everything.

K: I need one more fun question.

J: Go for it.

K: Um… what is your least favorite month of the year?

J: Least favorite month of the year? I can tell you this. Least favorite month of the year? OK, um, I think January. Yeah, I don't like January. January sucks. Like, cuz it always like I mean January is, it's like a double… it's like a double-edged sword. Like either January can be really great because you're starting over, and like you're oh, ok it's a new year and I'm gonna kick ass and I'm gonna do that. Or I just get pissed because I hear all these losers and all these people telling me how much they're gonna change this year and I realize that they just said that last year. And they're still the same asshole they were a year ago, like I hate hearing everyone tell me how much they're gonna do this. Where as like they should just shut up and get it done type thing. The weather sucks in January. Cuz, like I'm fully into like summertime and stuff. Like my favorite month of the year is anything from like June on. Like, I love October, September, that's like the best times. September rules. Cuz I'm from the West Coast. The whole band's from the Midwest, so they're like... you know, they'd probably be like I like winter cuz, or you know how everybody's...

K: Hey, wait a minute. Not every midwestern person likes the winter.

J: No, they hate it. That's why they moved to California. Did I answer everything for you?

K: I think so unless there's anything else you think people should know about the band, other than the fact that you're not new.

J: Yeah. That's cool that you know that, Christine, cuz I mean it bums us out when people say that, I mean, if I can say anything about Wax is that we just want to try to gain the respect of people through our music, and not the way we look. And we don't want to be pigeonholed into anything. It's like our first record and our second record, they sound totally different. We're the same band but the thing is, that our whole goal I think as being a band is gaining the respect of people for our music and nothing more and nothing less. Like we want people to, I want everyone to listen to our music and listen to what we're saying and what our whole vibe is and not, 'oh I like Wax because the singer wears black shirts and black hair', It's like I want people to be like, man I don't even know what. Kinda like our first video, we're not in it because we don't want people to be into our band because of what we look like. I mean, I'm not saying that we look cool and that we're cool guys and that people are gonna... But, we want our music to stand more than anything. If you have only one chance to hear Wax, it's like I don't want anything to interrupt that whole communication process. And I want it to be, you know, not visual as much as you know...

K: When you really get down to it, I think the Ramones have it figured out.

J: Oh totally.

K: They have looked the same for 21 years.

J: Totally. You didn't hear the, see the thing with the Ramones is that if you're a Ramones fan, you are a Ramones fan for life.

K: Oh, yeah.

J: I mean you're not a Ramones fan, like, well I like them on this record, but I don't like them on this next record. It's like if you're a Ramones fan, you're a Ramones fan for life. And I mean I'd love to have that, you know I'd love to have that type of crowd. Same with the Bosstones. If you're a Bosstones crowd, you're gonna be there for life.

K: And that's what I like, I like that, I mean the Ramones are great. I mean most of their stuff does sound the same, or very similar…

J: Yeah.

K: And it works for them. But I also like the bands that can get away with sounding completely different on every album.

J: Yeah.

K: And pull it off.

J: Totally.

K: I mean, I like to see bands try something different. If it doesn't work, you can always go back.

J: Oh yeah.

K: But it just to me, I need to see the variety.

J: Yeah, I mean... and that's what music is all about. That's the beautiful thing about music is that you should do whatever you want and not try to dig a ditch and follow that pattern the whole time.

K: Right. I'm even seeing it with audiences. They are following this one straight little path.

J: Yeah, I mean, I don't know there, that's, you're getting a whole different thing then because, I don't, I mean that's like a whole social thing. I mean I look out in the crowd a lot of times and I'm so surprised that the people that are coming to our shows come because… I don't, maybe I'm just guilty stereotyping probably as much as they are about a guy being in a band. It's like I trip out on like, 'God that guy likes our music? I would never think he would'. But I love that though. I love diversity. You know, that's what makes everything so… I love it. That's what makes America what it is, diversity. That's why when you, I mean we keep using the Ramones as an example, you and I. But, it's like it's so true. You go to a Ramones show, you're gonna have age wise, you're gonna have a complete mixture. You know, just nationalities, you'll have a mixture. And then just people that are into music. I mean, you'll have a punker standing next to a metal head and they're both there to see one thing - Joey Ramone sing 'Blitzkrieg Bop'.

K: You got it.

J: You know, but look I really gotta go do sound check right now. They're yelling.