| Skating totally rules - everything else totally sucks. Despite what that acronym suggests, Vancouver's S.T.R.E.E.T.S. realize there is more to life than skateboarding. However, the free spirit of the lifestyle shines through in everything they do. One of the hottest local acts of the past couple of years, James (guitar, vocals), Johnny (guitar, vocals), Mike (bass, vocals) and Cory (drums) have made every show a party with their friends, whether they're playing clubs or basements. Heavy on crowd interaction, their sets have also been known to include a skate session in the pit. The band sat down with us after their Festival of Guns performance at Pat's Pub, and while we talked about more than curb grinds and kick-flips, you could tell they still had skate in the heart.Nerve: How long has ST.R.E.E.TS. been around?
James: S.T.R.E.E.T.S. has been around... in the form that it is right now... since February of this year.
N. The band is about skating and punk rock. What else is there?
J: In life?
Cory: You've got to eat sometimes, which is unfortunate because that's expensive.
J: And you have to try and live freely and try to take advantage of everything you can in life.
C: Punk rock and skateboarding are just factions of a lifestyle. Basically, if you're into either one of those things, there is a culture behind it and it definitely forms a mindset and a way of thinking.
J: ... which is all about freedom.
C: It's just about doing what you want and not being conventional. Those two things on their own aren't really anything, but it's what those two things do to a person.
N: Of the two, skating and punk rock, which came first for you?
C: For me, skateboarding. I started skateboarding, and that's what introduced me to punk rock, when I was in junior high school. I'd probably be working in the suburbs in a warehouse had it not been for skateboarding. It pretty much saved my life.
N: Back in the day, the two were very, intertwined, but are punk rock and skateboarding still as important to each other today?
J: For us they are, but not for a lot of people. I think a lot of people think of skateboarding as a sport, like football or downhill skiing.
C: it depends on what kind of a skateboarder you are. There's skateboarders that are little kids that just got into it within the last couple .ears from watching television and playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater, and there's people -that have been around forever. Even if they're not super into punk rock now, it's definitely been there. because it's always been a part of skate-Boarding Like, in the ear 80s skating and punk rock went hand in hand.
Mike: Even the Bad Boy Club revolution sparked it all. Cory was sponsored by BBC.
J: It's a matter of whether you want to be_pro or if you just want to fuckin' flow.
C: I didn't think that skateboarders were into punk rock anymore, but we've got so many friends that are wicked skateboarders and they listen to all kinds of music, but at the same time, though, punk rock still grabs them.
J: And it's the intensity, the anti-authority and `do your own thing element which is in skateboarding, too.
C: I don't even listen to much "punk rock" anymore, but it's always going to be part of my personality.
J: What was the name of that band we listened to tonight?
C: Captain Beyond.
J: Captain Beyond! They're a great skate rock band.
N: Does it ever seem confining to have to
always write about skating?
J: No, because you can relate that to everything. Skateboarding can be about everything.
C: Not all of our songs are about skateboarding, though.M: I agree with Greg, though. It's kind of the thing where our name is S.T.R.E.E.T.S., we can never live it down that we're a skate rock band. I feel confined in that aspect.
C: At the same time, we all skateboard and all of our friends are skateboarders. It's part of our lifestyle. Not every song is about skateboarding, but with everything we do, skateboarding fits in somehow. Everyone we hang out with has that in common, so even if it's just a song about a party where everyone is drinking, everyone still has their skateboard with them and we have a stupid curb session while we're really wasted at three in the morning.
M: However, I always feel that there's going to be people out there that think we're a joke band and ridiculously die-hard into skateboarding. I mean, we do love skate culture, but the lyrical content is more towards life nowadays.
J: It's growing. It all comes together. If it's a part of y our life, then it seeps into other parts of your life.
C: Even if we start writing songs that have nothing to do with skateboarding there's always going to be skate in the heart ~laughs].
M: Skate in the heart, for sure.
N: Your next record is going to be put out by Global Symphonic. Have you guys written or recorded that yet?
.T: ft's been recorded and is ready to go.
M:. We're just waiting for our artist to finish. he's been working on it....
J: For f ft een years and it's of mammoth proportions. lt will be done within hours. in thirtvsix hours our album will be ready to be sent off to the album-making machine, wherever that is.
there anything in particular we need toknow about the album?
M: There's kind of a theme.
Johnny: The album [came from] three really wasted and really stoned nights that we don t even really remember.
J: It's a lot different than the last album.
C: There's two guitar players on this record, which is different than the first record, so there's wankier guitar stuff.
M: Lyrically, it's based on the Georgia Street house, which you're very well aware of.
N: For those who don't know, what was the Georgia Street house?
M: Basically I'm sure everyone has had one of these in their hometown: a punk house with a half pipe in the backyard, a jam space in the basement, a print shop. We. put on shows all the time. Eventually we got evicted and we Just had a crazy party with all of our friends. We had launch ramps m the living room. And then the cops came and basically beat up 200 people. It's kind of an anti-authority album.
C: Not only that, but Georgia Street was a house where we all hung out. It's where S.T.R.E.E.T.S. formed. We all live in different houses now and we don't really have a hangout space like that anymore.. So, it's always going to be legendary in our minds in a way, because of what it was to us at the time. It's always going to be this punk house that will be romanticized by us forever.
M: I think that just by us not having this spaceanymore - we're paying for a jam space now - and I think that's had an effect on us, because we're taking things a little more seriously. Not that it's necessarily a good thing or a bad thing.
C: Even though it was just a year ago... those were our salad days [laughs].
Jo: But S.T.R.E.E.T.S. is eternally a `party and basement' show. That's everything that S.T.R.E.E.T.S. represents right there: all of our friends in our basement at Georgia Street.
Random drunk guy: Can I say something? S.T.R.E.E.T.S.! That's what's happening. You don't even know, son. S.T.R.E.E.T.S. have been waitin' mad long and the shit is comin' off backside boneless, whatever. Who cares? S.T.R.E.E.T.S. is like "talk to your face!" Fuck that shit... you know what I'm sayin
J: I agree with him. That's all that really has to go to print.
N: You guys haven't played much outside of Vancouver Are there any plans to take this further?
C: Once this record comes out, we're going to get our shit together and get a good vehicle.
Jo: S.T.R.E.E.T.S. exists in San Francisco. There are bands there that are like our super bros.
C: They're like our doppelgangers.
J: There's going to be a tour in the spring.
M: Ok, can you print this in bold? Who's driv
ing the van tonight?
Gregory Adams
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