The Alternative Star.com

Fat Tour 2009

The guys from No Use For a Name

Fat Wreck Chords rarely disappoints and this was proven when the 2009 Fat Tour rolled through Winnipeg on May 23. Packing the Royal Albert Arms, Pour Habit was given the opening duties. The band recently signed to the label but has a lot of hard work to show for it with their own blend of melodic punk mixed with just a bit of metal. Plus, while the neon trend may be rolling over the scene, this is one new band that surely will never participate. Punk rock super group Only Crime are in the same boat. Fronted by Good Riddance front man Russ Rankin, the band please by playing music with a message, getting the crowd ready for Fat veterans No Use For a Name. The guys sounded great and put on a killer show with singles like “Biggest Lie” and “Dumb Reminders” but also slightly lesser known tunes like “International You Day” and old classics like “Not Your Saviour.” Also, the cover of “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden was nothing short of amazing, proving in particular that Dave Nassie can really shred.

Before the show, I had the chance to meet up with NUFAN front man Tony Sly and bassist Matt Riddle. The scene today is a big topic in our discussion but plans for the future and reflecting on their career thus far also play a big part. Big thanks to Melanie and Fuzzy for making this possible!

So, how has the Fat Tour been so far?

Matt: It’s been good! It feels like we just started though, even though we are 5 or 6 shows in.

You guys have done Fat tours before right, just with a different line up?

Tony: Yeah, we did I guess. This is like the recession line-up!

Matt: You know, it’s funny because we’re always looking for bands to tour with and whenever we’re asked to do the Fat thing, we’re always in because we like the bands.

Tony: We always take bands on tour because we like them! It’s like a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.

Makes sense. I’ve heard you say in the past that Fat is like a family.

Tony: Yeah!

Matt: A very dysfunctional family! But it’s cool because at least it’s bands that we like.

Tony: Like Pour Habit who we took out on this tour. They’re awesome! I think people are really, really going to like them a year from now.

They just signed to Fat right?

Tony: Yeah. Fat Mike just called me up and was like ‘Hey, can you do me a favour and take them out on tour?’ I think we’re like up to here when it comes to favours and he’s down here. (Laughs) But it’s all cool.

You had a last minute venue change from the Garrick to the Albert. Hopefully the others shows weren’t like that.

Matt: They were OK, it just seems like it’s not a great time to tour.

Tony: It’s kind of like it is what it is you know? I don’t expect people to go to two shows in one week.

 Matt: We played there before but it wasn’t to too many people so in that sense, downsizing is kind of a good thing in that way.

Tony: I think it has a lot to do with the timing and stuff too. I don’t think putting out a record just to tour is valid anymore, I think touring to support a record is. It never works the other way around these days because a lot of people don’t even buy records so why the hell would they even know if we had one? The record labels are putting less effort into advertising and things like that because they can’t afford it. It’s like arguing with a wall and that creates more bands touring which means you have more traffic. For bands that sucks, because that means you’ll get 2-3 good shows in a week or even 4-5 good shows in a month. And with the way things are economically, people have to decide ‘Well, do I want to spend my money on this band or this band?’

What about demographics, are young people still coming out to your shows or is it mostly people who are closer to your age?

 Matt: It depends on what country.

Tony:  I don’t expect to get anyone under 18 really, that would be weird. I mean, if we get people who are under 18, it would have to be a hand me down at this point. There is no way someone under 18 is going to go ‘Did you hear about this new band No Use For a Name? Oh my God, I got their new record, I can’t believe this new sound!’ you know what I mean? There’s no way. So you kind of just have to go with the fact that it’s just kind of nostalgia for some people, that’s why we play a lot of old songs in the set. I think past 18 that is where we draw the line anyhow. And if I’m going to come to a show, I want to have a drink and stand in the back. I don’t want to be the guy in the front and that’s how I imagine some of our fans feel and the older they get, the more that will happen.

Matt: They’ll run up to the front to try and get their youth back but they’ll just run back to the bar! (Laughs)

Tony: But there are hand me downs and they’re cool too. They’ll be like ‘I heard about your band from my older brother!’ Kind of like that Lagwagon title, of that record. It’s true!

Moving on, what do you like most about Canada?

Matt: (Laughs) Alright, I’m going to be lame and say the scenery. Some of the drives that we’ve been on have been amazing, like Vancouver to Calgary. I just wanted to stop the van and walk around for awhile, it was so beautiful.

Tony: Yeah, it ranges anywhere from the scenery to the over the counter codeine, you know what I mean. (Laughs)

What about Winnipeg?  You guys make a point of coming here while a lot of bands don’t.

Matt: Really?

Depends on the band but generally, no.

Tony: Yeah. It’s kind of like a small big town. There’s nothing around here, it’s in the middle of nowhere. It’s the capital of Manitoba but in the past it’s always been a good place for us to come.

Matt: What’s the scene like here?

Not as good as it could be.

Matt: As shown by the downsizing question! (Laughs)

Tony: Yeah. We also have to go with the times and roll with the punches, we’re a band but also a business so it’s just like anything else, you do what you can. We don’t have a bus for example because it’s just astronomical, ridiculous. 

You guys have had the chance to go to some fairly exotic places though, like Israel and South America. It kind of reminded me of that NOFX Backstage Passport DVD, just because you went there so I’m wondering, do you have any crazy stories like they had?

Matt: (Laughs) We didn’t put it on DVD like they did but we have a lot of shit to put in it. We could put it out on a DVD, we just don’t.

So you did some filming?

Tony: We filmed a lot of stuff but we haven’t been lately. We always have this plan to put out a DVD but I don’t know. It just never seems to fall together. Those places were great but as for stories about those places, we don’t really have any. We’re not the type of band that goes out and looks for adventure or dangerous things. Like if someone wants to party after the show, we just stay at the place we played at. We don’t allow anything crazy to happen, well not allow but make way for it.

Did you do anything touristy at least?

Matt: I do all the time; I do as much as I can. Christ the Redeemer in Rio, the Wailing Wall, the Parthenon in Greece.  We don’t usually have a lot of time though.

That makes senses with the shows.

Matt: Yeah. As for the crazy stories, at the age that we are now, we like to have fun but we’re adults. Fights do happen, I got beaten up by a girl last year, but we’re older now. There’s no reason to go out and start problems with kids.

Going back a little bit, despite everything that seems to be going on, what do you like most about the scene today?

Tony: You know, I think with the way things are bands are starting to get used to getting back to their roots.  For a good 5 years there, there were a lot of bands coming out of the scene and labels were just signing band after band after band. A lot of would be punk bands I guess were singing to major labels and calling themselves emo bands. That was a lot of crap to wade through and I’m glad that that’s over. You know, those are the bands that expect their first tour to be on a bus. Now I see bands like Pour Habit who are hard working, not making any money, out here in a van, sleeping in the van probably, just wanted to play shows. Just wanting to reach an audience and sell stickers or CDs or whatever they can do so it’s a little bit of a turn around. I’m seeing younger bands come back from where we started. A few years ago, we used to get these arrogant bands that would open for you and they’d be on a bus. We’d be like ‘What the fuck, who do you think you are?’ you know? With just one record out and it’s not so much that way anymore you know? It’s different. Humble, people are humble and I think it has a lot to do with the current economic state.

What younger bands are you a fan of, aside from Pour Habit obviously?

Tony: Well last year we toured with, and it’s always the bands that we toured with too, I never look into younger bands unless we tour with them and can meet the guys ourselves. Personality wise the Flatliners were great to tour with last year. American Steel, I know they’re not new but just another great band.

Matt: A lot of times we tour with younger bands and when we get to know them and meet them, we kind of rub off on them in a way. Like ‘Hey man, we’re all sitting in this shitty backstage together. You’re not that rad.’ It’s kind of fun to straighten them out!

Did you expect No Use For a Name to last through all this time?

Tony: No, it was just like a joke. We were just playing parties when this band started. Then one day we got a record and our first real tour was in Europe, which was weird. Then there were some people who like us in Europe, hardly anyone, probably about 10 people but they heard of us and we were like ‘How is that possible?’ We just kind of went with that.

Matt: Back in the day, when you started a punk band you never thought it was something that you’d do forever, just something that you’d do for fun when you are young.

Tony: The timing was really lucky, being around in the mid 90’s and the late 90’s, just being a part of that scene, we were so lucky. We were putting out a record every two years and touring. And bands these days, like a band like Pour Habit, who knows but they could have sold like 100 000 records 10 or 12 years ago but now it’s just like forget it. They’ve got to go out on the road, they’ve got to prove themselves, it awful. Now it’s like they’re pulling out the filter and letting the shit come through. There used to be a filter back then and it was that the Internet wasn’t such a huge thing. That seems to be the sewage line. 

Matt: With the Internet nowadays, you can just have a cell phone and a lap top and then all of a sudden you’re in a band. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of in my life! My step son was in a band and he never played an instrument in his life but that’s how it works now. He literally did, he had a little band.

So he used some sort of a drum machine?

Matt: I don’t know! I have no idea what he’s thinking.

Tony: You should just sit him down and say ‘What do you mean?’

Matt: Yeah. What do you mean? He had a MySpace account and everything! It was him and a girl and some dudes and I’m just like ‘What are you talking about?’ We bought him a drum set, he had it for about 6 months and he couldn’t play them at all.

Tony: Why don’t you get him to play bass?

Matt: He has no interest! He has interest in being in a band but not an interest in playing an instrument. Pretty typical.

Despite all the negativity going on, what makes you continue to do what you do? I’m assuming you feel it’s more important than it was before.

Matt: Yeah, the fact that the shows are still fun!

Tony: Yeah, there’s always room for more positive things. New songs, new records and new ideas. I don’t believe that everybody’s out of ideas and stuff. Once you believe that, then you’re just putting out records just to tour and I don’t really want to do that. I want to be excited about our next album. When I hear the new recordings, I want the hairs to stand up on the back of my neck. We just want to keep trying to make the best records we can.

This is probably a hard question but what would a cornerstone moment of your career?

Matt: Yeah, that is hard to answer. I think I’d say that our whole career has been sort of a cornerstone, since a lot of bands haven’t been around as long as we have. For sure, our career has been up and down like a roller coaster. Every now and then we’ve had a line up change but we’ve pulled through. Look at the song writing, it’s always going to sound like us so yeah, I think I’m going to take the cop out answer and say the whole thing.

What are your interests outside of music?

Tony: Music!

What would you be doing if this didn’t work out then?

Tony: I don’t know, just something creative. Something where I don’t have to work with my hands but I could be creative and sit down with a pen and paper.

Matt: Something creative, not constructive but not destructive.

You seem pretty focused then, what spoke to you about punk rock or music in general?

Tony: I think it’s just the sound. The sound that came out of my amp and the sound of live drums and bass. It sounded so neat at first, like the second you got a song together and you were playing it in the practice room, it was like ‘Wow!’ There are four guys and all of a sudden there’s this sound coming out.

Matt: For me, I grew up on metal. When I got my first girlfriend, she introduced me to punk and it was so new and weird I grasped onto it immediately. I was just like ‘This is amazing!’ It’s weird, it was like a breath of fresh air from what I was listening to and that was when I decided to get involved.

I know The Feel Good Record of the Year came out last April so looking back, what is your favourite thing about it?

Tony: Songs! No actually, now I think my favourite thing is the recording.

Working with Bill Stevenson?

Tony: Yeah, yeah! That in itself is amazing!

Matt: Yeah, the recording is my favourite thing about it; it just was a good time!

Tony: I say songs at first but I’m already getting ready to think about the next record so you want to leave that behind.

When can we expect a new record from you?

Tony: I have no idea; I just know we need to make a new record! I’m just shaping it as a whole in my head right now and thinking about it then start writing sounds like how you think they sound in your head.

I read that you were planning on releasing a solo record in 2009. What is the status on that?

Tony: I don’t know about 2009 anymore. You know, I just need to get in the studio for like a week but I’m having trouble doing that. I might be able to do that in August, I don’t know. It won’t take long to make, it’s just acoustic guitar and vocals. If I can record it in August, it will be out in January.

What’s your main inspiration for having a solo project?

Tony: Just having songs that don’t sound like punk rock songs. I was at home and I was like ‘What am I going to do with all this time here?’ I had a few songs and ideas and I wasn’t thinking about touring because I wasn’t in that mode. I was thinking ‘Should I just get a job now and work at Starbucks?’ And it’s not like once you start writing songs money starts floating through the ceiling but it’s just what I wanted to do and it was something to do while I wasn’t doing anything else.

And lastly for you Matt, Face to Face have apparently gotten back together and you used to play for them many, many years ago. Would you ever hit the stage with them again?

Matt:  Yeah, this is like the third or fourth time they’ve gotten back together but no. No, I’m friends with their bass player but I’m not interested. Their best albums were written when I was in the band! (Laughs) I don’t hate them but I don’t care.

Interview conducted by: Deborah Remus