Interview with Sean Fitzgerald of Kid Menace ( Sept.2nd, 2002)
Band Name : Kid Menace (independent Punk band)
Home Town : Mississauga, Ontario
Formed :1997

INDIERAGE : What is your home town music scene like right now?
SEAN / KID MENACE : There are a lot of bands in Mississauga in different genres. I think right now the city needs a few bands to step up and lead the way and give the city a good name. There’s awesome bands popping out of our neighbouring towns and cities, and the scene in Mississauga seems to be a little behind these places. There are a lot of supportive people around here and a few good places to throw shows, so I suspect that the talent in Mississauga is only going to grow.

INDIERAGE : How often do you rehearse ?
KM : It really depends…we try to practice at least once a week.

INDIERAGE : Do you guys work day jobs or is this your main focus right now ?
KM : During the summer we all had day jobs as well as focusing on the band. Starting September we’re all going to juggle the band with school. I wish the band was our ONLY focus.

INDIERAGE : Has anything come about from out side Canada ?
KM : Well, we’ve received emails from the States, Italy, Britain, and Brazil. I don’t think we’re “big” anywhere outside of Canada (and even in Canada we’re not big), but it’s still amazing that the Internet has given us the opportunity to reach people everywhere in the world.

INDIERAGE : If there is 1 thing you want your fans to know about you, what is it?
KIDMENACE : We love it when fans join in on the performance. If you’re into it, grab a mic or come up with us and dance beside us, whatever. I really love it when the audience gets involved.

INDIERAGE : What seems to be the bands biggest disagreement & Agreement ?
KM : Disagreement = Perhaps what CD we listen to in the car on the way to a show. Actually, it often centres around what songs go in the setlist.
Agreement = The fact that we need more shows and that we’ll perform any chance we can.

INDIERAGE : We know the radio & TV dictates what the average Joe listens to, but what are your personal favourite listens ? Please be honest.
KM : ell, my person favorite listens these days are the bands Something Corporate, Finch, and a band called Boys Night Out. I still consider Weezer my favorite band, even though I’m not a big fan of their recent material. Haig listens to Pink Floyd and Metallica. Jon is really into The Clash and At The Drive-In. Oscar listens to many obscure things, but his favorite band is d.b.s. I think we blend all these influences…and out comes Kid Menace.

INDIERAGE : Is there any strange or interesting hobby you guys do in your spare time to keep you sane...?
KID MENACE : Many times after we have a band practice we go out and moon innocent pedestrians to let out any frustration and anxiety we might have. Our drive-by mooning crew is called the Crack Pack. Honestly though, this is what we do and it helps to keep us sane.

INDIERAGE : What is the biggest sham you ever recieved by the music industry ? Anything that can help warn other bands.
KM : The biggest sham that we’ve experienced to date must be the whole Punkfest scenario. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It happened fairly recently and we’re still awaiting what is going to happen to the promoters.
Basically, a guy who called himself Ryan Kore organized a false festival in Collingwood and contacted many local bands. He said that his company, Epic Events, was affiliated with Epic Records and Sony. We later found this out to be false. He claimed that such headlining bands as gob were supposed to play, but this was just a ploy to generate ticket sales. The festival was cancelled last minute and the promoters have been unable to be reached about refunds.
The reason that we were angry was that we sent Epic Events $320 from ticket sales, and our friends/fans were never able to see their money again. I mean, I was frustrated that we couldn’t play, but the fact that our friends trusted us and they lost their money…that pisses me off. We’re somehow going to pay our friends back, but I’m not exactly sure how yet.
NEVER trust someone named Ryan Kore or Epic Events. This has taught us to look into shows and promoters more before we play. Live and learn. If you want updates on the situation, Shane at www.Ontariopunk.com is doing a good job informing people. Editors Note : Over 50 ontario indie bands were affected by this labour day weekend scenerio .

INDIERAGE : If there was one question you could ask your favourite Rock Star, what would you ask him/her ?
KM : I always like to know the story of how a musician wrote their songs. Like, where they were, what they were going through, etc. I think I’d ask Rivers Cuomo where he was when he wrote Say It Ain’t So.

INDIERAGE : Any final words you want to say that could be usefull to that aspiring kid who wants to be in a band ?
KID MENACE / SEAN : Oh, totally go for it man. Never stop pushing…there’s a lot of bullshit to get through at the beginning, but keep staring straight ahead and write and write and write. Eventually you’ll write something someone will like (it took us a long time to write decent songs).

Visit our Canadian Band Links to find the Kid Menace.