"We have proof that our fans want us to continue what we do, because we had donations to fund the entire recording process of “Sandwich”"
August 5, 2009, 01:19 PM
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Beer is good (and stuff), but Psychostick returns with a much bigger appetite on their new album, “Sandwich.” Having spent the last two and a half years touring throughout the U.S., the band built a solid audience while promoting their 2006 release, “We Couldn’t Think Of A Title.” Song titles from “Sandwich”include “#1 Radio $ingle,” “Girl Directions,” “Do You Want a Taco,” and “Caffeine.”
Altsounds chatted to the drummer for the band about beer, silly songs and Humor Core ... ______________________________ ___________
[altsounds] SO HOW IS YOUR NAME PRONOUNCED. PSYKO-STICK OR PSY-KOSTICK? LIKE CARA-VAN OR CA-RAVAN IF YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN
[Alex] We pronounce it just like it is spelled.
[sahy-koh-stik]
Although, when we first started the band in 2000, we tried to be clever and pronounce it [sahy-kaw-stik]. That didn’t last long at all! We thought it was funny for a while, but quickly realized that no one can spell the name, even when you pronounce it properly! So until we sell millions of albums and have a name like Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park, we can’t be fancy like they are and spell it all crazy.
[altsounds] BEER, SANDWICH AND THEN GIRL DIRECTIONS. IS THIS HOW THE MALE MINDS WORKS IN THAT ORDER?
[Alex] Almost, but we don’t like drinking on an empty stomach. That’s why we wrote Sandwich. Our careers wouldn’t be complete with a big gaping hole in our catalog before we wrote Sandwich. But now that we have that under our belt, we are ready to focus on the true wrongs of the world, like allowing girls to give us terrible directions without consequence. It just wasn’t right! Soon, we will be in the rock and roll hall of fame next to Bono, and start stealing his credit. He did of lot of great things for society, but he never called out the girls for their bad directions.
[altsounds] THIS SILLY TITLES FOR SONGS THING IS VERY BRIT FOR AN ARIZONA BAND. WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FROM?
[Alex] The thing is, we could very easily name the songs by whatever we say in the chorus. Most bands do. For “You’ve Got Mail Enhancement”, the tentative title was simply, “Spam”. But really, we thought that was lame. But some titles are appropriate when they are simple like that. For example, “Don’t Eat My Food”… to the point, simple, and perfect. Others like “Minimum Rage” needed a title that described it, but was more badass and clever. Well, we think it’s clever at least…
[altsounds] THE CONTEST FOR THE IPOD DOCKING THING. IS THERE AN APPLE BEHIND THIS OR DO YOU BUY THEM AT LIST PRICE?
[Alex] Honestly, I don’t know the details behind this one! Our label, Rock Ridge Music, put that whole thing together. So, thanks guys! Although, I have some friends that work at Best Buy who tell me that all the Ipod products are at a locked price, so I’m pretty sure there were no discounts when they got a hold of the thing. But who knows, maybe Rock Ridge has more power than I realize… dun dun dun.
[altsounds] ALL THE PROMO MATERIAL. WHERE WILL IT END AND WHERE DID IT START?
[Alex] Again, a lot of the promo ideas come from the Rock Ridge camp. When we released “We Couldn’t Think Of A Title” in 2006, they came up with the idea for the “Beer” sticker of the front of the record. That’s pretty tame compared to what they have come up with for “Sandwich”! They got us scratch and sniff pickle stickers for goodness sake. I don’t know how they pulled that off, but when they offered it to us, we could not refuse, obviously. Then we got the “Sandwich” cover jar openers! I’m into it, as long as no one tries to make us whoopee cushions like Victory did to Thursday.
[altsounds] PSYCHO DE MAYO THE DATE YOUR RELEASED SANDWICH. DO YOUR SPANISH FANS GET THE JOKE?
[Alex] I like to think they do. We all grew up in very culturally diverse areas, so we have a lot of Spanish and Mexican friends. Cinco-de-mayo was huge where I grew up, so it’s a pretty prominent holiday in my mind. So those guys definitely get it, I just hope everyone else in places like Minneapolis and Boston get the joke!
[altsounds] WHAT IS HUMOR-CORE?
[Alex] Humor-core is a two part concept! First and foremost, it is our way of making fun of the guys who label everything with a “core” at the end of it. Hardcore, grindcore, metalcore, post-hardcore, come on, really? I understand the desire to want to describe a band for your friends, but why not just let the music speak for itself? All these guys are doing is creating a rift between each other in an attempt to try to stand out. Secondly, it’s a lot easier than trying to explain to someone what comedy metal is. I would love to be able to just give cds away to people and not have to explain what we are. You’ll figure it out when you listen to it! That’s why I love file sharing; if you hear of a band, you can listen to it first to preview it, then you can buy it and support the band if you end up liking it.
[altsounds] IF BEER IS GOOD WHAT IS THE STUFF?
[Alex] The “stuff” is the grandiose concept of everything in the world, minus the beer. It could also be considered the meaning of life. Because if stuff is everything, and you add beer to it, what more could you want out of life?
[altsounds] LIKE THE MAYO QUESTION IS THERE A LOT OF THIS TEXMEX ARIZONAN HUMOR IN THE BAND AS WITH THE NAME JIMMYCHANGA?
[Alex] Absolutely! We’re desert boys, no doubt about it. We all grew up where the summers are 115+ degrees, and it probably cooked our brains a little. Even in the song “Girl Directions”, check out a map of the greater Phoenix area, you will recognize those roads! And yes, we always want tacos.
[altsounds] WHAT WAS SO EVIL ABOUT FORMER BAND MEMBER MIKE KOCIAN?
[Alex] Well, when you are 4’9” you inevitably end up being a little evil.
[altsounds] IS THERE A SECRET DEPRESSION BEHIND ALL THIS COMEDY-CORE?
[Alex] Think of it this way, you can’t listen to Meshuggah every day. I absolutely love that band, but I just can’t do it every day. Same thing with movies; I can’t watch Fight Club every day, as great as it is. So with Psychostick, that is strictly comical. But we do have our darker sides as well. Josh, Rob, and I have a side band called Evacuate Chicago. I wrote most of the album, so it is largely my project, but Josh has a few he wrote on their as well. And it is very serious content, and pretty much just a pissed off record. So if you ever want to hear what we’re capable of in that sense, check that band out too!
[altsounds] YOU TAKE THE MUSIC SERIOUSLY BUT DOES IT CAUSE FANS AND CRITICS A PROBLEM THIS INCLUDING THE COMEDY MID-SONG?
[Alex] Almost everyone gets it. We have proof that our fans want us to continue what we do, because we had donations to fund the entire recording process of “Sandwich”. So with our fans, no, there has never been a problem with the comedy/music. Critics are a whole other story though. Right now on Itunes, we have an average rating of five stars! Now, check out the reviews we got for Sandwich… they were horrendous. In particular, Revolver magazine gave us one singular star. I know we’re not for everybody, but I know we are at least good enough for 3 or 4. But hey, no publicity is bad publicity! One star probably got more people talking about us than 2 or 3 would have! Thanks Revolver!
[altsounds] WHAT IS THE WORST SHIRT YOU HAVE EVER SEEN IN AN AUDIENCE?
[Alex] You have no idea. We went on the “Terrible Shirt Tour” with Look What I Did and Powerglove last year. We saw some BAD shirts. There was one I saw that scarred me more than the rest though. It was a dark green shirt with a huge wizard shooting lightning out of this staff, with storm clouds taking up the entire background. That would be hard to beat.
[altsounds] WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING THIS XMAS? AND SHOULD SANTA BE SPONSORED?
[Alex] We’re all going home! And no, no one should ever support Santa. He is an evil concept based on deceit and manipulation. It is one of those perfect lies that you are socially allowed to tell your kids, so they embrace it until they are old enough to see through the deception. Then they never trust you again! It’s like paying it forward, except it is entirely destructive.
[altsounds] WHAT IS THE DUMBEST ALBUM YOU HAVE EVER HEARD?
[Alex] The Dumb Album, written by my guitarist Josh, and our friend Murph. It’s not quite finished yet, but it really is the dumbest thing I have ever heard, but in such a glorious way!
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