loi: Who's in the band and who plays what?

a: I'm Araby and I play bass and sing, and I'm the one that usually sings high. The other two guys in the band are Chris and Joe. Chris plays drums and Joe plays guitar and he also sings. And right now they're at work.

loi: What do they do?

a: They play jazz. Chris plays brushed snare and Joe plays piano at this cajun restaurant in downtown San Diego.

loi: So you guys just got off tour?

a: Yep, we just got back from a pretty long tour, actually. Half of it was touring, half of it was recording our new record in Boston. We left San Diego on February 8th and we just got back on March 25th.

loi: Did you play with any bands that just blew you away?

a: Well we did about 10 days with the Blacktop Cadence. They were amazing! I was just excited because me and Heather hit it off right off the bat. We were like, `a girl...a girl, woo-hoo!'

loi: So you're both bassists, and you're both girls. So in your on-the-road bonding sessions did you discuss whether or not there's any discrimination against females in playing music?

a: Every once in awhile, we would talk about it. On a personal level we get a lot of shit. Basically, the whole tour we're the ones getting ragged on and getting teased--pretty much just taking all the shit. By band members, but other than that I don't ever see any kind of discrimination. I guess if you look for it you can find it, but I don't really care. I don't pay attention enough to seek little things out, and plus these guys are my friends. We all became real close real quick, too, because the day after we met up and started heading to our second show we got in this near death van crash and both of our vans spun off the road and spun into ditches. It was pretty traumatic and brought us all together. It made us really tight-knit and from then on for the whole tour we were just one big family.

loi: Can you tell me a little bit about the new album?

a: Well, it's ten songs. It's tentatively titled, "This Afternoon's Malady". It's a lot different than our other stuff--it's a little bit more in the direction of slower and bigger and more epic. It almost makes me tense listening to it because it's so epic. It's like you're going to fall off your chair because it's so epic the whole ride through. It's pretty amazing and we're all real happy with it. It should be out mid-June.

loi: Did you go about writing or recording the songs in a different way this time that affected your `epic' sound?

a: Well, a lot of the writing was kind of last minute, because at the end of last year, `97, I had a lot personal stuff happening that put me not in the song writing. So a lot of the initial writing was basically Joe just taking the ball and running with it. When we got together again and got in the studio and got everything worked out--we were a little bit worried at first that the album wouldn't be entirely Jejune, but it all totally worked out. We came together and came up with songs that we were really happy with. After a couple listens we were like, `yeah we still like this, we're proud of this.'

loi: Is it going to be on Big Wheel Recreation?

a: It sure is. We love Rama, we're never going anywhere else. We're kind of like his little sister band since all his other bands are hardcore. We've got kind of got the hardcore family and then there's Jejune, we joke about that. When we used to live in Boston, Chris worked at Newbury Comics and he met Rama, `cause Rama worked there too. They just started hanging out and became friends and when we started the band, Chris told Rama about it and Rama asked him for a tape and it just kind of took off from there. He set up our first shows ever, and after we played he was like, `we have to do an album for you guys--you're too awesome.'

loi: So, you guys have lived in San Diego for a year?

a: Yep, we moved exactly a year last January. We were all going to school at Berklee in Boston. Chris and Joe decided that they didn't like it as much as they thought they would, so they decided that they wanted to go back home. Joe's from San Diego and he's in another band there called, I Wish I, so he just wanted to go home and play. We didn't know what we were going to do. I only had one semester of school left so I finished up and came out there and Chris lives in San Jose so he just moved to San Diego. As far as going back, I'm the only one who wants to go back right now. They love San Diego and I'm the only one that's like, `yay Boston!' They've expressed an interest one or two times in maybe going back. It's not that I don't like San Diego, it's just not my favorite place.

loi: You're not going to break up are you?

a: No, definitely not. We got close a couple of times on this last tour. But, it all worked out `cause we had our little arguments and everything's 10 times better now.

loi: What kind of music did you guys play at Berklee, `cause that's mostly a jazz school isn't it?

a: Actually, I'm not really a bassist. I went there for vocals, and then a couple of semesters later I changed to sound engineering.

loi: Oh, I was going to say, your bass style isn't exactly like Jaco Pastorius! (laughter)

a: It's funny, when I first met Chris, he was the one who convinced me to join the band and start playing. He was like, `I met this kid from San Diego and we've been jamming, so come down and play.' I was like, `play what, I don't play anything.' Then he was like, `Come on, I know you picked up a bass a long time ago.' And I was all, `exactly, picked it up a long time ago and that was it.' I just kind of picked it up (laughter) and figured it out for myself. When we first got together, Joe was like, `this is the progression, here's the riff' and I just did real easy stuff. As we went along I played so much that I just got the hang of it.

loi: Chris and Joe are jazz musicians?

a: Yeah, actually Joe went for piano and then started doing guitar stuff--he's one of those people that can just pick up anything and play it well.

loi: Do you all cite jazz as a main influence in your music?

a: I don't, even though I listened to a lot of big band when I was younger. Chris and Joe I really don't know, although I don't think so.

loi: This may be a stupid question but, were you all involved in punk scenes when you were younger?

a: I wasn't. I grew up in Hawaii and moved to Boston when I turned 21. I'm 24 now, so I'm the mom of the band. But, I didn't grow up in a punk scene. If I grew up in any scene it was the beach reggae scene. Chris grew up in the metal/hardcore/grindcore scene and Joe was more into the punk scene.

loi: Are there many bands in San Diego that you guys fit in with, other than of course Buck-O-Nine (laughter, damn I'm not funny). I guess there's Boilermaker and No Knife--

a: Yeah, we're really good friends with those guys. We've actually only played with Boilermaker once even though they're really good friends of ours. We've played with No Knife numerous times. We did a short west coast tour with them. They're really good guys. I actually sang on their last record. When I went up to the studio to do guest vocals, they sat me down in the control room and had me listen to one of their songs. I was sitting there listening and I was like, `oh my God! What am I doing here?' But, I sang some stuff and it sounded so amazing. They're the biggest sweethearts.

loi: What is your favorite album or band of all time?

a: Oh God, I don't know...come back to that.

loi: Coke or Pepsi?

a: Pepsi, man! I think I'm the only one in the world! (laughter)

loi: No Araby, we're not the only ones in the world! (laughter) Were there any shows on the last tour that just stand out as being incredible or terrible?

a: We've got both. I think the greatest show was on February 14, Valentines Day we played Worcester, MA. It was a punk prom. The whole place was decorated like a prom--there were streamers and balloons and confetti, and everybody who cam was dressed in a tuxedo or a suit and all the girls were in super nice dresses. There was this place where you could take prom pictures. A bunch of bands played: Atom and his Package, Franklin, us, Piebald. Then there was this band called Drew Barrymore's Hangover which was basically these guys who did covers of hip `80's songs. It was so cool. We got all dressed up too. It was the second time ever that we've played where I've worn a dress. (laughter) It was totally fun and it was a blast.

loi: Did you go to your senior prom, and if so how was it?

a: Yes I did go and it was kind of wierd. I went with a friend of mine, not a date, so we had more fun just `cause we didn't have to worry about whether or not we had to kiss each other at the end of the night. It was fun. In Hawaii all proms are fun `cause afterwards you go to somebody's beach house and have bonfires. At the party, I ended up talking to the football team all night. I think I had like one or two beers and for high school that was a real lot, so I was tipsy. I was telling the football team how I thought we should have hung out more `cause I thought they were real cool. Then I woke up the next morning and I was like, `what was I thinking?' It turned out pretty well.

loi: Let's go back: worst show of the last tour?

a: Well, we were supposed to have a show in Gainesville, and by the way, I think there's something in the water in Gainesville that makes all the bands really good there. Anyway, we were staying at Jason's house from Hot Water Music. Heather from the Blacktop Cadence lives there also. Before the show we were kind of hanging out and I wasn't there, but I guess Joe was drinking gin and tonics. By the time we got to the show, Joe was so drunk he couldn't even play. We started--we got set up and we went into the first couple bars--and he just couldn't do it. He was like falling over, so we had to bow out of that show. Everyone thought it was really funny and they were all clapping and stuff. I was embarrassed, but in retrospect it was pretty funny.

loi: Have you guys ever played Tijuana?

a: No, we've never played Tijuana and I'm pretty scared of that place. I went there once in the daytime and got my switchblades and crack pipes. I don't know, we don't have any desire to play in TJ.

loi: What do you guys listen to in the van?

a: I listen to Stevie Wonder, the Pogues, and Palace. This past tour Chris listened to the new Far record, Jawbreaker. Joe's selections included the Smiths, Slowdive, Radiohead. We had our share of hardcore, `cause our roadie, from Boston, listened to Madball, H2O, and Fastbreak. I just saw Radiohead a few days ago, by the way, and oh my God. Everyone who was at the Universal Ampitheater in LA was hypnotized.

loi: Which is more punk rock: Buck Rogers or Battle Star Galactica?

a: I would have to say Battle Star Galactica. I just remember it better. Buck Rogers was like...not right. Battle Star had the cool aliens, and more action scenes, and funny bad guys.

loi: Are there any bands you see out there on the road and you're just like, damn!?

a: Yes, you already named a couple like Boilermaker and No Knife. My favorite band in the entire world is a band called the Wicked Farleys. The best album of all time, going back to that question, is Zenyatta Mondatta by the Police. I just played the hell out of that album when I was a little kid. Stewart Copeland, the drummer, was the cutest guy in the world when I was little.

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