The Real Deal - Interview with Ants

"Nothing is more fun that playing live"

July 10, 2008, 09:05 PM

With the release of their 2nd full length album Hungover, But Dead Sober, we caught up with the Real Deal’s “Ants” for a quick Q&A to ask him about his band and the release.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this interview. Please state your name and what your role is in the Real Deal.

Thanks for soliciting me! My name is Ants, reporting for duty. I try to play guitar and sing as best as I can.

What made you want to play your instrument?

My mother forced me to pick up an instrument when I was 11 years old, and now she bugs me for being in a touring band haha. That’s the definition of irony mother!

How did the band begin? Why did you pick the name that you did?

Just a little over 5 years now, myself, Nico (our drummer) and Davy (our other guitar player) started up TRD as a side band. We started by playing lot of covers and playing a lot of shows. Then we started writing our own songs and continued playing a lot of shows. Our bass player at the time was Nicky but he left the band after about a year. Franki, our then merch bitch, has since become our bass bitch. The Real Deal, it’s pretty literal. We came together to play the music we loved and continue to. It also stems from that catchy News Radio jingle… “The Real Deal with Bill McNeal”…RIP Phil Hartman.

Are there aspects of playing live that you like better than in the studio, or vise versa?

Um…everything. I started to enjoy studio time during the making of Hungover, But Dead Sober. But, nothing is more fun that playing live, come on! The party, the energy, things you can’t always translate onto a recording…

What bands have inspired you, and how has that list changed over time, if at all?

We all grew up listening to Fat Wreck and Epitaph bands, who didn’t? So it’s inevitable that that brand of punk influences our writing. We listen to all different kinds of music though and while it may all not be evident in our music, I’m sure it influences us in other aspects of our life that in turn influence what we write or don’t write about. I’ve always been an admirer of DIY bands, whether they be punk, ska, rock n roll, hip hop, whatever…sometimes the ethics behind a band are more inspirational than the music…

Five years ago when the Real Deal was born, what were the original intentions/plans for the band? What are they today, how have they changed?

Well like I said, it started as a side band. The more songs we wrote and the more shows we played, the more potential we all saw in the band and where it could take us. Ultimately, now, we just want to be able to make a living with our music and play to as many people in as many places as possible.

What is the story behind the name of the CD and the artwork?

The title of the new record is Hungover, But Dead Sober. On our last east coast tour before recording the record, we had started brainstorming ideas and concepts for the record. We came up with a list of titles we thought were cool and took polls from our friends throughout the tour. We took the poll to myspace too. We were leaning towards Hungover, But Dead Sober and so did the polls! The name was actually thought up by our pal Mark Desloges. We woke up in Halifax the morning after a kick ass party at the Attic and the first words he spoke when waking up were ”…man I’m so hungover, but I’m dead sober...” it stuck as a cool name for the record describing what most mornings feel like on the road. The place we crashed at that night was actually the artist’s place who worked our record. Her name is Lindsay. She had these really wicked paintings up on the wall very similar to the monsters we have on the record and everything just seemed to fall into place. It was wicked!

If you had to pick three of the most memorable things over the course of the band’s history, what would they be?

Our first national tour was awesome. We met a lot of bands with whom we’ve since toured with, making some of the best friends I have.
Playing Warped Tour in 2005 was a pretty sweet milestone for the band. We got to travel with the tour for 3 Canadian dates. We learned a lot and met a lot of cool people!
Seeing our mugs on TV last year was also pretty cool. Rej at Musique Plus’ 123 punk show ran a 30-minute special on the band.

What are your thoughts concerning the music industry today, from cds to mp3s and everything in between?

I try not to think of the music industry too much. It gives me migraines and sucks the fun right out of what we do. We’ll just try to continue writing music we enjoy, playing for people who enjoy it and try to meet as many people who dig who we are as people and as a band. I still like CDs though…

What do you do when you aren’t touring?

I run a silk screening/printing business here in Montreal. If any bands, small business, or event coordinators out there would like a quote, you can e-mail ai.merch@hotmail.com.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this interview. Do you have any closing remarks you would like to share with the rest of the world?

Thank you for spell checking my answers!
Check out our website MySpace.com - The Real Deal - Montreal, CA - Punk / Ska / Reggae - www.myspace.com/therealdeal and The Real Deal!!!.

Now that you have fallen in love with our band, go to the nearest record store. Buy our record. Memorize the lyrics. Come to a show. Buy another record. I have spoken!