Folks, here
you are Angel City Outcasts, a band that has shaken
The Rock Explosion's headquarter with its bursting debut
album "Let It Ride". A letal mix among country,
punk, hardcore e metal. Our Margherita Realmonte interviewed
Tak, the lead guitar player of A.C.O.. Read and take
your dose of pleasure!
Hi Tak and welcome on The Rock
Explosion! Let's introduce Angel City Outcast to our
Exploders (explaining why someone of you decided to
abandon their old bands Youth Rebellion and Broke 'Til
Thursday. Are those bands still in activity?
Hi, my name is Tak, I play lead guitar in A.C.O.. Broke
'Til Thursday is currently playing with a new line-up.
Make sure to check 'em out as well on www.broketilthursday.com.
Youth Rebellion has not been a band for about 3 years
now. Both Broke 'Til Thursday and Youth Rebellion were
on shaky ground at the time we left the bands. My brother
Alex Z. (bass) and I were close friends with Alex B.
(lead vocals) and Bob (rhythm guitar). Ryan "Scotchy"
(drums) with whom we clicked right away, we met around
the same time. So, the transition into Angel City Outcasts
was smooth and without much delay. With the new band
we sought to broaden our sound and brake new ground
in modern punk/rock n' roll and not just limit ourselves
to a certain style of punk.
Let's say now something about
the songwriting approach of your powerful album "Let
It Ride"? In which way an A.C.O. song takes form?
I gotta admit and I think the rest of the guys will
agree with me that making an A.C.O. song official is
a big pain in the ass for the most part. That's a good
thing tho. We are all extremely critical and picky about
which song will see the light of day on stage or on
a record. From the beginning we had agreed that every
song from this band will be thoroughly thought out and
chiselled before it is presented to our fans. I think
there's too many shitty bands out there that in my opinion
short change their fans with mediocre and half-assed
music. If a kid is gonna buy an Angel City Outcasts
CD we're gonna make sure they get their money's worth.
The "Let it Ride" opener
song is titled "I'm an A.C.O.". So, tell to
our readers about an A.C.O. lifestyle in L.A.?
I don't think the life of an Angel City Outcast differs
significantly from a Milan City Outcast or a Rome City
Outcast. We're all pretty much the same around the world.
That's the main idea behind this band. We want to erase
sub-genre factions and elitism and just have one big
army of kids.
I know you love Johnny Cash so
much that you dedicated him this album: do you wanna
spend some words to remember this great artist?
Johnny Cash is one of my personal heroes, not just as
an artist but as a human being as well. For me, he was
a true symbol of integrity, perseverance and virtue
aside from being an incredibly talented singer/song
writer and performer. I love the Man in Black and the
same goes for the rest of the guys in the band. May
God rest his soul.
Which have been the sources of
inspiration of this work? Which are your main musical
influences? Except Johnny Cash!
Man, I couldn't even begin to list everybody who have
inspired this band and this album. We're all over the
place on the influence spectrum. Some of the most important
bands and people include Guns'n'Roses, AC/DC, Rancid,
Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams Sr., Jr., and III, Slash's
Snake Pit, Brian Setzer, Bonecrusher, Hudson Falcons,
Reverend Horton Heat, GC 5, Megadeth, Blood For Blood,Toy
Dolls. The list goes on and on.
I've been really impressed by
the song "Popeye In Afghanistan": explain
us why did you choose to talk about that war in this
way. What's your point of view about that? Popeye is
for you the prototype of the American hero?
We have the outmost respect and admiration for veterans
from all wars and I personally have always been a fan
of war songs, humorous or melancholic songs that are
either created on the battle field or popularised by
soldiers during war time. "Popeye In Afghanistan"
was meant to be that style of song. It is a modern American
soldier's song so to speak.
You wrote as introduction of
the same track: This song is aimed against those who
attacked us on 9/11/01. Nothing more, nothing less.
Who attacked New York in your opinion? Did you see Michael
Moore "Fahrenheit 9/11"? If so what do you
think about it?
The reason we wrote that disclaimer is because we got
some flack from very few misguided individuals who thought
the song had some kind of political agenda behind it.
We, intentionally leave our personal political views
out of the band's content and wanted to make sure it
stays that way. We do not back any political party,
movement or cause with our band. And if you think we're
nationalistic or racist because of the Popeye song,
you're out of your mind. I'd say 99.9% of our fans understand
and love the song. To answer your question I'm not a
big conspiracy guy so I'm going to agree with the rest
of the world that Al Qaeda attacked New York. I didn't
see Fahrenheit 911. Personally speaking, I have trouble
trusting political extremists from either side, so the
film was not something I was interested in seeing.
Why did you choose to cover "Detroit
Rock City" of Kiss fame changing it in "L.A.
Rock City"? Are you sure that L.A. is the greatest
rock city of U.S.A or of the world?
(Laughs) Damn sure! Just kidding. Had we lived in Detroit
the song title would have remained the same. Kiss is
one of our favourite bands.
Why did you choose to end the
album with an unusual instrumental track like "The
New Breed Of Rock'n'Roll"?
So that I would get to shred on guitar baby! (laughs)
Why did you choose as front and
back cover of your Cd two images referring to the years
in which mafia gangs troubled America? It makes me think
of some ancient Saint Valentine shooting in the early
20th Century.
Most of us in the band are big fans of gangster movies.
Everything from "The Untouchables" to "The
Godfather", "Goodfellas" and "Scarface".
And some of our songs have a classic 50's rock'n'roll
vibe to them. So there you go.
Which kind of outfit do you show
on stage? Are you all dressed like Al Capone?
(Smiles) Nah, I think SKA bands have that market cornered.
We just dress however we dress on the street. *see photos
section on www.angelcityoutcasts.com.
Now a funny question. If you
could choose to become a popular comics super hero,
who would you be? Popey not included!
Batman has always been my favourite, but I'm not sure
if I'd wanna be him. I'm not a big fan of psychotic
clowns trying to kill me every other day. Know what
I mean
The best live performance of
your whole career: when did it happen, how many people
were there... Viceversa, tell us also something about
the worst
concert you have done: what did the audience throw to
you...
I'd say most of the time the kids are very receptive
towards us. The last show was pretty awesome. There
was a huge crowd on stage singing "I'm An Angel
City Outcast". The worst two shows was our 2nd
show ever when we played out of shitty amps at light
speed and the show shortly after that, when we played
with half a drum set and without Bob. Or was that with
half a Bob and without a drumset. I can't remember
I tend to block that show out of my memory. Good thing
nobody except for the bartender saw us play that night.
Which are the most boring aspects
in the life of a musician:
Waiting for the shows.
Have you got particular passions
or hobbies outside the music scene?
My brother and I draw. He also tattoos and I
also write. Bob is a big World War II and electronics
buff. Alex B.'s hobby is muscling people around and
Ryan well, I probably shouldn't say
(laughs)
Choose one between the following
options:
Billy The Kid or Buffalo Bill:
The Kid of course.
Gen. Caster or Sitting Bull:
Sitting Bull.
Popeye or Bluto: Take a
wild guess
Olivia or Jessica Rabbit:
Oh man, definitely Jessica Rabbit!
Al Pacino or Marlon Brando:
Al Pacino.
Bush or Kerry: Oh no you
don't!
Lemmy or Dee Snider: Uhmmm
that's a tough one. Ummm I would have go. I can't decide
that's like saying whiskey or beer?
Now try to describe us in your
own words some of the most outrageous rock'n'roll songs
ever written according your opinion:
Turbonegro has like 3 or 4 albums of those. My favourite
outrageous rock 'n'roll song is probably "One In
A Million" by Guns'n'Roses. The song oozes media
controversy and is catchy.
The craziest thing ever done
in your life:
Diving from an Airplane at 30,000 with a parachute and
joining a rock'n'roll band.
The interview is over now, thanx
so much and use this little room to say whatever you
like!
A big grazzi to The Rock Explosion and to all the Italian
kids that support or will support us. See ya in your
neck of the woods soon. Ciao!
Intervista realizzata e tradotta da Margherita
Realmonte
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