How come you guys love skateboarding so much?
Because its just too much fun! What else is there to do on a hot summer day when you're sitting at a gas station waiting for directions to a show and there just happens to be a ditch right next to it? It's something that you can do and don't even have to be very good at to have a damn good time. It's just awesome!
What's better: ripping at a pool or at a show?
That's hard to say. They're two pretty different feelings. I always get a bit more satisfaction out of playing drums for 30 minutes than I do out of skating around for however long. There's just nothing better than throwing all of my energy into some drums and raging.
Tell me about the ANS boards you made.
The boards were definitely awesome. Every time. We've had 3 different runs of the boards with 3 semi-different shapes, and my favorite was definitely the 3rd, which actually had a nose unlike the other ones. The first run which was made back in 2005, I think, had a big nose and a big tail, and didn't have as much concave as the later ones. It also had an image screened on the bottom that wasn't really done too well, but it looked pretty cool. The second run was a little more simple, no nose, a lot of concave, and no image on the bottom. Those ones we sprayed and stenciled a bunch and they came out pretty damn cool. The third run had a smaller nose than the first one and all the concave of the second, and still no image on the bottom. those ones also had two sizes, there was a 10.5 model and an 8.5 one, and they were both pretty badass. They were made by Factory 13 custom skateboards out of Ohio, same dudes that make all the JFA boards...that makes them waaaaaaay bad ass.
Tell me a bit about surf music.
I just love surf music in general, instrumental and vocal. While instrumental stuff is definitely my jam more than vocal stuff, I still like 'em both a lot. Surf music just has a super positive happy feel to it while still being mellow and relaxing. There's nothing like driving with the windows down and the sun blazing with the old tremelo-y tone of some old fender amp coming out of your stereo. It calms everything and just makes everything OK.
Who's the best?
Probably my favorite surf band will always be the Ventures, simply because they covered so much ground. they have a version of almost every surf song out there, most better than the bands who originally wrote 'em.
How long have you been playing drums for?
I've been playing for almost 12 years now.
Favourite drummer?
I've never really paid that much attention to other drummers outside of the punk community, and mostly i only pay attention to my friends. Probably the only drummer that stands out to me other than my friends would be Zach Hill from Hella. That dude is absolutely insane.
Aside from ANS, what other stuff have you got going on?
Other than ANS I drive bands on tour all the time, and it keeps me on tour almost 9 months out of the year, which doesn't really leave too much time for other bands and whatnot unfortunately. But at least it keeps me on the road, which is definitely awesome. As for other people in the band, Andrew also plays and sings in a band called Stymie (who have an LP coming out real soon, and should be doing an east coast tour this July!), Mark plays guitar in Seasick from New Jersey (who's going to Europe in June, then a full US tour in July/August, and they have a new 7" coming out soon), and Chris just graduated college in Texas and is working for a school there now.
What's the next ANS release going to be?
The next ANS record is probably going to be the split that we're doing with Agoraphobic Nosebleed, which is going to be on 5" vinyl on Tankcrimes Records, and 3" mini-CD on Relapse Records. After that we're doing a new full length LP that's going to be out on Tankcrimes over the summer.
Closing Words?Don't get lame!
Thanks Joe.
