Candy Town

Imagine a group of clowns leading you away, to some far, far away place that everyone has been to but has never gone back to. They’re a traveling show, and you’re not so much their audience as you are their subject. They sweetly swoon you into fantasies of running away with them. Their band is called Candy Town.

After sitting down to an interview with Sean Guinan, front man of Candy Town, I attempted to explore the mastermind behind the group and see what makes it tick. The interview was deep, meandering, and incredibly all-comprehensive, so for purposes of not flooding the entire page, I’m going to paraphrase and condense this information.

First, some history: Candy Town began not so much as a musical project, but as an aesthetic in Guinan’s films. The central matter in them is the dichotomy between fantasy and reality. Guinan represented elements of his inner-person and imagination as clown figures. By whitening their faces, clowns remove specific details that make them an individual, and thus, make themselves a representation of some sort of aspect of the human condition and everything they do, a metaphor. They are humans abstracted and placed into a heightened reality where things can become incredibly unpredictable and exciting.

Guinan always wanted to create a band called Candy Town and in fact, began a TV series with the same name. This show played upon the idea of a place called Candy Town, where we all grew up with characters from fairy tales and elements of fantasy, but it is also a place left behind by adults who have moved on past such things. It is a place where we’d like to indulge in, yet are constantly pulled back by the forces of adulthood.

As time went on, prospects of starting such a band with this theme became more and more realized. Musically, Guinan was raised on a somewhat less than typical musical background. He grew up listening to 20’s and 30’s Jazz. At the time, Guinan wasn’t really conscious of rock and roll and what was popular on the radio. As time went on, he did become more familiar with and enjoyed rock groups such as the Rolling Stones and The Velvet Underground, yet his pop culture continued to revolve around figures such as Louie Armstrong and Charlie Chaplin. Ultimately, Guinan wasn’t interested in mimicking music from this period, as much as he was interested in borrowing elements and aesthetics.

What really influenced Guinan the most was a group he simply ran into one day at a festival called Maestro Subgum & The Whole. He was just in high school at the time and never saw the likes of them before. The band was dressed very eclectically, with a raspy front man and operatic female backup singers. There were no guitars, just an electric bass, keyboard, and horn section. They seemed to have this infectious air of intrigue about them. It was as if they were a traveling band of Gypsies and Guinan, dazed by a romantic sense of escapism, wanted to travel away with them. This is what he wanted to capture, that enticing feeling of leaving everything behind to follow a circus that has offered a passage into a world once inhabited only by your juvenile mind.

And so, Guinan took the bull by the horns and with a strong will, made Candy Town his project. He long admired the brilliant works of artists such as Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin, and David Lynch, who completely controlled their projects, no matter how many were involved, in order to ensure that their vision was realized. Powerful works of art never came from committees, but of the solitary artist, like a philosopher, who delves deep into the self, trying to understand what makes them tick. Made up entirely of complete strangers on a new page without previous baggage, Guinan made sure everyone knew he would be directing Candy Town.

While not a band mimicking music from the 20’s and 30’s, Guinan wanted to utilize the iconography from this era. While first impressions may give way to this era being sweet and nostalgic, the truth was it was downright bold, sexy, and musically, very daring and edgy. This was not some dreamy marking strategy, as much as a spirited platform for what would become in itself, a bold musical project.

And so, the band dons vintage-style clothing from this era, yet wears face paint like mimes. Two female backup singers are scantily clad and the band as a whole use elements to further suggest something more motley, much like their music, borrowing from many directions, from rock to ragtime. Guinan’s aim was to wed the visuals with the sound into something more daring; learning from his disappointment from groups like Marilyn Manson, Kiss, and The Dresden Dolls, who all struck up something new and exciting with their imagery, but failed to deliver the same through their music.

The band tosses away common preconceptions of reality and norms, delving into the surreal through their performance; they truly take the audience for a ride. Rather than spare the lines that divide childish from mature, Candy Town pulls your wits from the stasis of a comfortable routine life into a challenge to live a life of an unknown tomorrow. To manifest your childhood’s greatest expectations of your own self, making a bold effort to become the person you thought you would. It’s the exciting prospect that anything really is possible, so long as you’re not afraid.

In the end, what is reality? What makes the surreal anything unreal? We’re all just dreams and vapor. Humanity often feels the test of truth is time, but time doesn’t bear anything when reality is really our conception. As Orson Welles said in F Is For Fake, “Our songs will all be silenced, but what of it? Go on singing.” No matter how we reconcile our outer-lives with our inner-lives, Candy Town wants to take you to a place you probably haven’t been to in a long time. You can’t run away with them, but you can always run away with your own wildest dreams.

"If Lady Gaga is meant to be the new punk then I don’t think very much of it"

Forming during the peak of punk in the late 1970’s, Crass brought a new concept  to punk, one that did not just speak of shaking up society, but in fact acted in a subversive manner and in doing so Crass became the pioneers of anarcho-punk.  I was fortunate enough to sit down with Crass singer, Steve Ignorant ahead of his first Australian show on the Last Supper tour. 

By: Angie Hurlock

You're about to embark on an Australian tour where you will be playing Crass songs for the last time, what is the significance of this?

Because there’s been so many bands before like Jimmy Pursey and all this kind of thing, they say it’s the last tour and they come back and do it again or they say it’s the last tour and it goes on for 10 years.  And I just wanted people to know that I really mean it that this will be the last time I will be playing crass songs live on stage.  It doesn’t mean I’m going to stop performing.  I’m just not going to do Crass songs live and I just wanted everyone to know and I’ve made this promise and I’m going to stick to it.  The last ever time I play Crass songs will be on November 19^th this year.  That’s going to be weird, but I know that the week after that I’m going to get a bloody invite to do a fucking festival that’s going to pay me thousands of dollars or something and I won’t be able to do it, but that’s the commitment I’ve made.

What are you hoping Australian audiences takes away from these shows?

I’m really hoping that it’s a celebration of those great songs.  My dream would be that some young punk is in the audience and they get inspired to start their own band and it becomes as good and does as good as Crass did.  That would be the perfect thing.

Obviously lyrically Crass were influenced by current affairs and politics, but what were your musical influences?

That was all different.  I mean, people ask me why the sound of Crass was so different and first you had me and I came up through ska music, Motown, David Bowie and all this kind of stuff and they’re my influences and of course punk.  Then you have Penny Rimbaud and his influences were Elvis Presley, classical and avant garde jazz.  Then you had people like Pete the bass payer, he came up through Frank Zappa and folk music and stuff.  So, you had all these different influences and none of us were musicians and so that’s why it was such a cranky sound.  And that’s why (at this point Steve is distracted by laughter coming from drummer Spike T Smith) and that’s why it’s so hard for him (pointing at Spike) to do the drumming. (Spike comes over to introduce himself, “I always love that story… not musicians).  We weren’t musicians and the way we used to do a song would be I would write something and I’d say to Pete it goes like this (mimics music).  We’d try to make the music more of an atmosphere than something you could sing along too

Crass are considered the pioneers of the anarcho-punk movement.  When you started out did you ever imagine that you would have such impact on an entire genre of music?

No, because we were just doing it.  We didn’t have any idea.  We knew the Sex Pistols didn’t mean it when they said, ‘I am an anarchist’.  And we thought, ‘well right, we’ll try to people what anarchism could be and should be. And then we got into hot water because the proper anarchists didn’t like us you know.  I’ve never read any anarchist literature, I started to read a book by Malatesta I got four pages into it, I got so bored that I put the bloody thing down and read the paper instead.  No, we didn’t have any idea, I think what we did was to make ideas like anarchism and pacifism and self sufficiency, I think what we did really was not influence people, but inspired them to start thinking for themselves and then they’d go out and start bands for themselves, I think that’s where it’s successful.

Do see music as a perfect vehicle for expressing political ideas and creating social awareness?

I don’t know if it’s the perfect way, I think it’s a way of doing it.  I’ve seen black and white films from the sixties that wouldn’t make sense to maybe an 18 year old person now.  But really moved me and made me think.  I’m very much a book person, so I think that’s the perfect way to sort of do it, because I’ve been moved by words.

Which bands/artists, if any do you admire for their mix of political awareness and music?

No, because I don’t know any.  I’m doing a typical middle aged thing where, because I was in punk and all that sort of stuff and it was the type of music I liked and then when I hit about the age of 45 or something and I stopped listening to new music and I started going back.  Like now, I’m listening to bands like The Who again and the small face and sixties stuff and getting back into listening to ska.  It’s really odd, I’m sort of going backwards rather than, but no, now I'm appreciating how good that music was and how it moved me.  If Lady Gaga is meant to be the new punk then I don’t think very much of it.  And you know, someone like Justin Bieber, I mean, if that’s all there is then I feel sorry for the young people and they really should be out there starting their own bands and having riots.

What are you looking forward to most during the upcoming Australian tour?

A bit of sleep and get this first gig out of the way because we’re all a bit jet lagged and nervous.  But once we get this first show out of the way, we’ll be a lot better.  We got in yesterday morning and we haven’t stopped really. The flight was 24 hours or something stupid like that, but we’ll be alright, we’ll get through it.

After this Last Supper tour wraps up, what are your plans for the future?

I’m going to take a year and a half to two years off and knuckle down on some new material.  I’ve already got it in my head, what I want to do is a spoken word thing, but its  not going to be like Henry Rollins standing up on stage.  I want it to be almost like you’re going to watch a play or something, so there would be very simple stage props, some visuals, keyboards and bass, just background music.  And I’d just talk about me and what I've done, if anyone’s interested.  I’ll be talking about crass and then in the second half I will open up to a question and answer sort of thing.  Because I know there are thousands of people out there that want to talk to me about crass.  Part of the reason why I’ve called it the last supper and what I want people to know that this is the last time I will be playing Crass songs live, so people don’t come to my new thing expecting to hear crass songs, because I’m not doing it.

As Tall As Lions

As Tall As Lions are an indie rock band from Long Island, New York. Forming in 2001, they worked together for 10 years with three record releases and a number of tours on their belt. This interview took place on their last ever Australian tour with the lead singer, Dan Nigro.

By Hayleigh Sipek

As Tall As Lions were formed in late 2001, how does it feel like to be at the end of a decade of music together?

It feels good for me, it’s different for each of us so I speak for myself and myself only on this I’m just at a different point in my life right now and I wasn’t enjoying being on the road constantly and I didn’t feel like I was actually becoming the creative person that I wanted to be. I felt really stagnant, stale and confused with my creative process – I never wanted to be somebody who kept on doing something when they weren’t sure of what they were doing.

 

Would you say it’s a moving-on point as well?

Yes, it’s a different time in my life. I will admit that there are a lot of regrets that I have, everything is a learning experience and there are times when I think that everything’s meant to happen for a reason.

What would you suggest for other musician, would you say, “go ahead and do 10 years as a band”?

When you’re young and you start touring and doing the band… like for us we got signed when we were 20, we were still in college and we didn’t really listen to anybody which I think is the ethic when you’re a couple of young dudes in a band and you’re like “we don’t give a fuck what anybody says and we’re just gonna do whatever we feel” and you get advice from people who actually know what they’re talking about but you almost want to do the exact opposite because you don’t want to do what someone is telling you to do and you want to be defiant of it and there’s definitely been a few times, looking back where we should have just listened to some people who were telling us what the right things to do were. I definitely would say if bands are looking to try and make it that to find people that you trust ie a manager, a record label who have a good head on their shoulders and have your best interest and to be able to take their advice… not all of the time but not to be so guarded by their mind and their ideas for what a band should be.

I guess managers aren’t meant to be the producers the band as well?
There’s definitely a tough line in what a manager is supposed to do and what they’re not and what a record label is supposed to do and not supposed to do. You need to be able to work in that harmony, it’s a really big thing in the making of a band that can have longevity.

 ‘You Can’t Take it With You’, the last album- what was the creative space for that?

The creative space was weird for that record because we had come off of three years straight of writing and touring off of the self-titled. We spent the better part of a year writing and recording the record and then as soon as we were done recording it we went on tour for all of 2006, 2007, just non-stop touring and it was a really weird time for all of us because we were starting to see the first taste of success and people really genuinely caring about the band and people coming out to shows for us and being really passionate about what we were doing and so that kind of was feeding our confidence and egos but also draining us of a lot of energy and we came off of two years of being on the road. For me personally the last thing that I wanted to do, and I remember getting really anxious and not feeling like I wanted to go back into the studio, but feeling the pressure of getting back in the studio and that created a really negative tone. I think everyone was feeling really jaded and tired and wanted to take a break because even though we needed to go back into the studio and make another record we had just spent years and years doing one thing. We just went into the studio and started arguing and didn’t have a clear vision and I think the end product, ‘You Can’t Take it With You’ has a few good songs on it but overall it wasn’t a very cohesive record, there were more weak points than strong.

Alternative Press rated it pretty highly, what is your relationship with them?
Yeah they were nice to us, they’re good people over there. We built a really good relationship with them and I think they really wanted to see us succeed and they tried and did all they could to help us out in that sense which was nice of them.

You came twice to the annual Soundwave Festival in Australia, how did you find that experience?

Nothing would beat our first experience of coming to Australia, we came in 2007 and for us we were obviously all pretty young, this was four years ago, just the fact that you come from a small town and all of a sudden you’re in a different continent getting paid really good money to play shows. That was definitely one of the highlights of being in a band, was being in Australia and playing on a massive stage to thousands of people. The first day we were in Brisbane I remember we took the city cat and we went to the Kangaroo Hotel and we took the city cat to North Quay and we walked up and down the little strip. We went to a little restaurant and we didn’t realize that you’re not supposed to tip and we were trying to tip the waiter, and he wouldn’t accept the tip and we were like ‘nah take the money’ and he was weirded out that we were trying to give him ten bucks. I have a lot of good memories of Australia, which is nice.

Do you have a favourite place in Australia?
I’ve had a lot of really great experiences, we had a few days off in Sydney that first time and we spent a day just going to the aquarium and we went to the botanical gardens and they have those crazy bats there. The second time Julio and I came together and we had three days off in Melbourne and found this really great Chinese restaurant and we ate there like every night. We had some good times for sure.

Do you have any plans in particular for this time?
 I’m still trying to figure it out, because we’ve been here twice and I still haven’t been to New Zealand and I kind of fell like if I’m over on this side of the world and it might be the last time I’m over here, you never know, I think that probably I’m going to take a few days and go to New Zealand.

So you played last night at The Hive, how was that?
It was definitely a weird transition because we just did the American farewell tour and we were playing these gorgeous venues all throughout the states to go to playing a teen centre to 45 kids in Brisbane. You never feel like you’re above it because you’re not and it was fun but there’s definitely a weird way that it transpires in your head to go from playing massive shows to a tiny show were maybe 25 people really care.

Are you used to an all ages crowd?
It’s different in America because it’s either all ages or 21 and over so it’s a little bit different because obviously the main demographic of people that go to shows are probably between the ages of 18 and 25 so when that’s split in half by the drinking age most shows for bands unless they’re an older crowd band specifically are going to be playing all ages shows because a lot of their fans are teenagers or in their 20’s and wouldn’t be able to get a show.

What do you think of Elliot the Bull?
They’re great, it was honestly the first time I saw them play (last night). They’re amazing people and they’re really tight, it was cool.

After the tour do you have any projects are you just going to chill out?

I’m in the middle of working on a solo record right now so I’m doing that and I’ve got a couple of other things going, I started getting into writing songs for other artists and that’s what I spend a lot of my time doing now. I just signed with a publishing company a few months ago so I’m just building up a catalogue of songs for other artists.

Anything you have to say to the fans?

Check out the solo record, the project is called ‘Blocks’ check it out!

Bamboozle Day One

Two weeks ago, I made the journey up to the Meadowlands outside New York City for the annual Bamboozle Festival. My second year in attendance, I knew that the only thing you can expect from the 'Boozle is a non-sensical, yet brilliant band lineup, teenage boys who still think 'Free Hugs' signs are clever, and over-priced food. This year the festival area was expanded with extra rides and two new stages, making for even more difficult time management decisions. The above photo was taken at the top of the ferris wheel before doors opened, aka the calm before the storm.

The first band to play on Saturday were pop-punkers We Are the In Crowd, who I will admit to knowing nothing about, but enjoyed regardless. They've just been revealed as one of the acts for the new Soundwave Revolution Festival, which come to think of it, is basically the Australian equivalent of Bamboozle.

The best stumbled upon band of the day was Brooklyn via Israel married duo Hank & Cupcakes. It's hard not to stop when you walk by a woman standing on drums in a Lady Gaga-esque outfit throwing lipstick into the crowd. Judging from the audience size at the end of their set compared to the beginning, others were clearly drawn in as I had been. Making unique, upbeat indie dance music is difficult enough, but for only two members to do the work of four and pull off a great live show is even more impressive.

Forever the Sickest Kids singer Jonathan Cook climbing the stage scaffolding during their hit, 'She's a Lady.' Several seconds after this was taken, he accidentally dropped the microphone into the sea of people below. Fortunately, the two teenage fans who caught the mic returned it to the stage and were personally given free merch by the band as a thank you. Aw!

"I take it this is the first time many of you have seen us," laughs Tokyo Police Club singer Dave Monks after instructing the crowd to sing along and receiving a quieter than expected response. One of the hazards of playing a festival like Bamboozle is that you honestly don't know what percentage of an audience are there for another band and Tokyo Police Club handled the waiting Thrice fans with grace. Actually my first time seeing them (after years of failed attempts), I was glad the indie pop Canucks lived up to their recorded work and filled their short but sweet set with hand claps, bright clear vocals, and happy keyboard dances.

Just a man and his guitar, the always amazing Frank Turner took the stage sans band for Bamboozle. He enlisted the help of the audience to be the harmonica (he forgot his) in 'Dan's Song' and when some were hesitant, he went for his usual banter, "If you're the type of person who's too cool to do air harmonica at a fucking festival in the middle of the afternoon, you're too cool to be here anyway, you hipster motherfuckers!" Doing a perfect mix of old and new tunes (including my personal favourite 'Photosynthesis'), Frank promised a major US tour in the future to support his upcoming release England Keeps My Bones.

Due to a HUGE crowd at a tiny stage, I surpassed a much buzzed about The Movielife reunion show and instead wandered over to the area usually reserved for comedians. There I watched the legendary Marky Ramone do a 'cooking show' to promote his new line of pasta sauce. Yes, I'm serious. It smelled delicious and 80% of the people present were waiting for comedian Bo Burnham and had no idea who Marky Ramone is. As you can see, Marky also chugged an entire jar of the pasta sauce. This is not even in the top ten weirdest things I saw at Bamboozle, if that gives you an idea what that weekend was like.

It was especially exciting to see Pennsylvania locals Tigers Jaw (who I once saw at a gig in my friend's garage with five other people, a dog, and someones Mom) play to a large crowd. Even the band themselves didn't believe it, "Why are you guys watching us? Don't you know New Found Glory and Das Racist are on now?!" The die-hard crowd screamed along with every word, some yelling at pauses that they came from the Midwest just to see this band. If by any chance we have any Midwest or Southern US readers, I suggest you check out Krazy Fest in Kentucky, which has a fantastic lineup consisting mostly of all the good PA/NJ bands us East Coasters tend to selfishly hog.

As the day goes on, the names get bigger and it becomes more difficult to get photos. Sorry Dashboard Confessional, Gaslight Anthem, and Taking Back Sunday fans, I assure you their sets were fantastic, but I have no photos or notes because by this point I just wanted to sit and listen to them play from far away. You would too if you'd been standing in the sun for ten hours straight. Here's a photo of a midget wrestler dressed as a chicken in the new Bamboozle Luchador Ring to make you feel better. The only thing that made this sight even more ridiculous is that Miley Cyrus' brother and the chick from Gossip Girl were standing next to me cheering them on. Yes, that's in the top ten weird moments.

Oh Bamboozle, you so crazy! More on Day Two coming soon!

New Single from Prayers for Atheists!

The second album from Prayers for Atheists, "New Hymns for an old War" has just been released. Check out the single 'Guns Up'!

The Beginning, The Struggle and The Reward - Steve Towson

 

There is something about songs of protest and revolution that I just can not go past.  Whether it is the political point which is being conveyed, the traditional aspect which speaks of an infamous historical event or just the pure romanticism of it all, I love protest songs. 

The latest release from Queensland’s own, Steve Towson, “The Beginning, The Struggle and The Reward” is a five tracks of hardship, struggle and workers rights.  All except for one of the songs are covers selected from a wide range of artists including Joe Hill and John Lennon.  This release differs greatly from what we’re used to with Towson, it’s incredibly stripped back and raw which highlights the intense passion in his voice.  “The Beginning, The Struggle, The Reward” does not sound like an album of covers, the strength and passion in Towson’s voice makes each song his own and indicative of his desire for change.  This short but soulful release is well worth a listen.  I was fortunate enough to catch Steve playing tracks of his new album at the May Day Workers Concert recently held in Toowoomba on the first day of his tour to launch “The Beginning, The Struggle, The Reward”.  Accompanied by his guitar, a cello and a flute, the songs truly came to life and a raw, emotive energy was inescapable for everyone in the audience.

-Words and Photography: Angie Hurlock

The tour to launch “The Beginning, The Struggle, The Reward” has just kicked off, so go and catch Steve at one of the following dates.

Steve Towson "The Beginning, The Struggle, and The Reward" tour

6 May:  Mt Morgan, House Concert (41 Byrnes Parade)

13 May:  Townsville, at The Cot.

14 May:  Cairns, at Mofo (70 McLeod St), with Babylon 420 and Meat Bikini.

27 May:  Brisbane, at the Jubilee Hotel, with Wheat Paste, The Great Shame and Paddy McHugh & The Goldminers.

4 June:  Brisbane, at Fat Louies, with The Young Liberals and Fever Pitch.

29 June:  Toowoomba, at Smells Like Zines store (Shop 4/203 Margaret St).

The Amity Affliction in Philadelphia

I trudge through a mixture of snow and rain towards First Unitarian Church. Entering the basement, I notice a teacher chasing an escaped preschooler from down the hall amongst confused looking musicians trying to load in their equipment. “When we got here there was a wrestling meet finishing up, now it’s a kid on the loose. Is this place always so weird or am I part of an April Fools Day joke?” mutters a nearby merch guy. Unnatural weather aside, it’s just the wonder of playing a show at Philly’s favourite all-ages, no barrier venue. An hour before doors open, there’s already a line of over one hundred young fans snaking around the block. A sign reading “Tonight’s show is totally sold out…Sorry folks. Totes Magotes!” sends away even more disheartened teens. I ask the first girl in line if she knows anything about The Amity Affliction. “Ooh, that’s a horror movie, right?”

While it’s clear few audience members have heard of The Amity Affliction before tonight, the crowd quickly began to jump around during ‘I Hate Hartley’ and sing along with the chorus of 'Youngbloods.’ A cheer went up when lead vocalist Joel Birch declared his love of the US and more importantly, the Phillies. Throughout the unfortunately short twenty minute set, keyboardist Trad Nathan vaulted off his Nord Wave synth, Joel matched his growls with bass player Ahren Stringer’s clean vocals, drummer Ryan Burt smashed cymbals, and Clint Splattering (also of The Getaway Plan) swung his guitar around nearly hitting me in the face several times. Joel dedicated ‘Stairway to Hell’ to the church with a sly grin and by 'Anchors,' the audience was converted. “I can’t believe that was the first opening band! They just set the bar crazy high for everyone else!” squealed a girl behind me.

Outside by their van, Trad happily eats a well deserved post-set vegan cheesesteak. “I’ve wanted to try one of these since I saw it on ‘Man v. Food,” he says in between bites. We discuss a number of Philadelphia area music greats such as Ink & Dagger, Thursday, Balance & Composure, and of course, Will Smith. “Philly’s a really cool town. Especially coming from a place like Baltimore last night!” he laughs. We both glance at Ahren, who is wearing a Baltimore Orioles hat. “Hey, I just like cheering on the underdogs!” Ahren defends. I inquire whether anyone on their travels so far has treated them differently because of their nationality. “These dudes came up to me a few nights ago asking if I had a pet dingo and if Australia is a third world country!...There’s obviously a lot of uneducated fucks in this world,” stated Trad. Ahren disagrees, “Everyone seems to treat me like I’m American, we aren’t much different anyway… Although, we see a squirrel and lose our shit, while you guys shoot them with BB guns!” “My main problem,” explains Clint, “is that people hear I have an accent, see my red hair, and automatically assume I’m Irish.”

Several minutes later, as if on cue, resident homeless man Jimmy walks up to Clint and asks him if he’s Irish. Once corrected, Jimmy rambles on about the Outback and koalas. Trad watches amused, “this guy is a full on legend!” Jimmy has been around for at least the ten years I’ve attended shows at FU Church, always talking to everyone from fans in line to the biggest names in rock music. “You should interview this guy instead!” jokes Helmet, a friend of the band serving as photographer/crew/merch on tour. I shift the topic back to the current tour and what it’s like being an opener again when you draw a crowd of thousands at home. “It works both ways,” says Ahren, “[headliners Of Mice & Men] are giving us big crowds to play to and we’re doing the same for them in Australia. You get what you give!...We’re pretty stoked with the responses we’ve gotten so far.” Joel has now been roped into Jimmy’s monologue as well, exchanging uncomfortable glances with Clint. “So the mama kangaroo punches ya in the face, then the baby pops out and throws ya an uppercut!” Jimmy wheezes. Jimmy leaves for a minute, then returns with a coffin shaped cigarette case, handing the gift to Clint. As he shuffles away, I’m struck by the irony of such an object.

“We will be [working on a new album], after the Australian tour in May we’ve got a whole bunch of time off to write. We don’t know where we’ll record though,” Ahren reveals. He also mentions they’re wrapping up the video for ‘Youngbloods,’ which should be out in a few weeks. From videos to merch, The Amity Affliction are heavily involved in every aspect of their band. Ahren designs their products himself because “we kept getting shitty merch design, so I took matters into my own hands and drew what we wanted… Some of the t-shirts bands put out these days are disgusting.” There’s a commotion outside the van and we exit to investigate. Several members of various other bands on tour are yelling at a drunken dudebro whose friend keeps insisting “He’s had a bad day, guys!” Woe, is Me bassist Cory Ferris informs me this man spat at their singer, then went on to cause more damage including punching a girl next to him in the face for no reason. I remark to Ryan how this situation is reminiscent of the SXSW incident involving Ben Weasel. The members of Woe, is Me aren’t looking for a fight, but they want an apology and clearly aren’t going to get one from this long gone fellow. Two of the men managing the door come out to handle the situation. “Whoa! Those guys are from Paint It Black!” exclaims Trad at the sight of punk rock icons kicking the drunk hooligan and his friend off church grounds.

With the amount of touring they do, members of The Amity Affliction have met many other musicians, but admit to still feeling star-shocked when it occurs. “Soundwave was insane, walking around backstage you got to see all your childhood heroes,” Ahren said excitedly, “I met Toby Morse from H2O!” Helmet laughs and eggs Joel on to tell me about his hero encounter. “I blew it. I met Chad Gilbert. He was cool and I wasn’t,” he states quietly. The mention of Warped Tour brings Joel’s spirits back up. “I would fucking love to play Warped Tour!” “Hopefully we will,” adds Ahren, “but we have to wait until we get a chance. It would be a dream come true.” Any possibility of seeing a tour from Lovecats, Ahren and Trad’s electro collaboration or Joel’s other band The Author? “Oh God, our side projects aren’t going anywhere. We’re too busy. They’re done!” declares Joel.

The show ends and the crowd swarms out, several boys stopping to tell Trad and Joel how much they enjoyed their set. Someone mentions we should go to a bar, perhaps Paddy’s Pub (from ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,’ which is sadly not a real place). The band eventually come to a consensus that they’re too broke and low on energy to venture around Philly. I decide to leave them to their rest for the next day’s big show in New York City, where they spent two months recording ‘Youngbloods.’ We exchange goodbyes and I walk past Jimmy cocooned in his sleeping bag. “Go Phillies! And kangaroos! Unbeatable team!” he yells at me. I quite agree, Jimmy.