illustration by themegoman

L.A. RECORD PRESENTS NOBUNNY’S 10TH ANNUAL EASTER SUNDAY BASH WITH NOBUNNY, AUDACITY,  CLOROX GIRLS, WOUNDED LION, KING TUFF ON SUNDAY APR. 24TH AT THE ECHO, 1822 WEST SUNSET BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES. 5:00PM/ $10/ ALL AGES

Download: Hunx and His Punx “Lovers Lane”

(from Too Young To Be In Love out now on Hardly Art)

Hunx blew out of the desert right into the hearts of millions of teenagers everywhere, hyphenating years of admirably trashy Rip Off-style rock ‘n’ roll with his world-famous stint as one of the four heads of Gravy Train!!!! His new record on Hardly Art is all Kim Fowley-cum-Phil Spector teenage tragedy rock and it sounds like Kenneth Anger’s Kustom Kar Kommandos looks. He speaks now while naked on Valentine’s Day. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

Where did you get the world’s tiniest leather-daddy jacket?
There’s this store down the street from my store called the Antique Center—it’s owned by this crazy man whose father owned the junk store and he died, and he grew up there and it’s his life. I go there sometimes on break or when I’m bored, and I just saw it like, ‘Oh my God, I need that.’ His mom just gave it to me! I priced it at $50 because I feel anyone who wants to spend $50 on that is a really cool person and deserves it more than I do. But it wouldn’t even fit on a dick. Maybe a baby dick. Like a small … man’s penis.
Like midget size?
Midgets could have a big one. You never know.
What animal print best shows off your manhood?
Leopard print! I’m over zebra. I’ve done all the animal prints. I think I’m one of the only men who wears animal print. It’s a girl thing. I like getting it at thrift stores. I wore my Frederick’s of Hollywood one-piece underwear set all the time until someone stole it in Paris, and I just bought this silky men’s underwear at a thrift store the other day and I was wondering—is it gross to buy underwear from a thrift store? But I always do it. I usually wash ’em. I don’t wanna have scabies again. If you wash stuff, it’s OK. I had scabies for six months but I don’t know where it came from. I had to do this toxic treatment like nine times. It can cause brain damage.
What’s the most pleasurable way you ever damaged your brain?
Probably huffing Lysol. I think I wanted something else, but that’s all I had. That was just like … being a crazy teen. I’ve just done spray paint, Lysol, whippits and that spray cleaner stuff—that’s the best! The lens cleaner’s what got me started. I don’t do it anymore, but every time I see a duster I kinda wanna huff it. It’s probably how an alcoholic feels when they see a bottle of whiskey.
What’s your best broken addiction?
Shopping? That’s up there. Doing pills and shopping at the same time. I’d take a bunch of painkillers and go to the drug store and walk around for hours and spend like $100 on stuff I didn’t need.
What’s the best present your high self ever got your sober self?
A tiger statue. I was like, ‘What the fuck is this?’ If you have money to spend, it’s better to go shopping when you’re high, but if you’re poor it’s not a good idea.
Are you at your sexual peak now?
I’m on my third sexual peak.
What’s a sexual valley like?
That’s me being a weird celibate person for months on end. Then I think sex is disgusting. I had it in December and was like, ‘I’m never gonna have sex again!’ and I was totally grossed out by it. Then in January I had sex with like eight people.
Who broke the sex ban?
This footslave guy. He rubbed my feet for like an hour. He’s my only footslave but I think they usually go for a long time. It was a dream situation. The first time was in my bedroom but then I started going to his house because he had a flat screen TV. I’d make him do my laundry and stuff and watch something really stupid like ‘Desperate Housewives’ or ‘American Idol.’
Mozart had a song called ‘Lick My Ass.’ Are you as dirty as Mozart?
No, he didn’t! It’s called ‘Lick My Ass’? He wanted his ass to get licked?
He also was into people shitting in his bed.
Wow—that’s cool. I’m not into shitting. I wrote this song called ‘I Vant to Suck Your Cock’ and the other side is gonna be called ‘Monster Mouth.’ So take that, Mozart!
What is the fastest way to your heart?
Candy. A lot.
How much would it take to purchase you?
They gotta look cute, too. But I like sour candy.
If you had to die at the climax of a party you had organized, how and when would you want to go?
I always thought it’d be cool if my best friend kinda … killed me out of nowhere. Like I didn’t even know there was drama and they reached over and stabbed me. To death. It just seems like a surprise.
You’re so cheerful—you like candy and surprises!
I just think it sounds cool. I don’t wanna think about dying a slow painful death or killing myself, so it’d be cool if my friend just reached over and killed me.
Where if anywhere would you be uncomfortable showing your dick?
Anywhere my mom is, even though she’s already seen it—internet lurker! She was like, ‘Are you a porn star?’ I just told her it was for art. And that I couldn’t control it being on the internet and she got over it. I didn’t think she’d actually really care, but she kind of did. I had to like really keep my Facebook on lockdown cuz I have 2,000 friends and most of ’em are people I don’t know, so once in a while someone would tag a naked photo of me and I’d have to rush to a computer to untag it in hopes that my mom wouldn’t see it. But I just saw her and she told me she’s over Facebook, so I’m relieved.
Can we expect an explosion of naked photos now?
Now it’s on—tag away, people. I actually used to have this strange obsession of taking naked pictures of myself. This is before cell phones. I had this camera with this really shitty remote and I would set up scenes of me with like giant stuffed animals, and I’d get a boner and take a million photos and I made this little binder of them.
You and Shannon wrote the new album, but do you miss just having songs delivered to you by people who are all begging to write for you?
I really do like it in a way. It’s a cool thing people don’t do anymore unless they’re huge stars. Like teen stars or pop stars. I’m really into it, actually. I’m still kind of doing that here and there—with Fred Schneider. I didn’t even get a lot of grief for it. I just recorded another album alone and played all the instruments, and I feel like people are like, ‘Whoa—you can play guitar? And drums?’ I feel like they don’t realize that about me. I think it’s slightly like a gay guy thing. As in how guys kind of back in the day … I don’t know if it’s like that anymore, but you know how people were like, ‘Oh, girls can’t do things.’ Like, ‘He can’t play! He just dresses crazy and acts nuts.’ But I can do it!
What else are you great at?
Being funny. I like comedy but I feel like everyone I know who’s a stand-up comedian can’t carry a normal conversation. They’re just always practicing. Like trying out their routine while I’m trying to tell them something important, and they’re like on stage. I don’t wanna be like that. Sometimes on stage I can’t stop talking.
I heard you were rolling on the ground begging people to piss on you.
That is most likely a true story. The worst is if I get really high before a show, cuz then I was like lying on the ground begging my band to slow down. My friend was like, ‘I went to your show and I couldn’t see you the whole time cuz you were lying on the ground.’
Why don’t you travel with like a nice lawn chair to lounge on?
Good idea alert!
Or a piano you could roll around on?
Oh my god—that’d be like when I’m older.
How will you re-invent yourself after rock ‘n’ roll?
I don’t really think about when I’m older. I’m just gonna stay young.
Can we take a moment to acknowledge Michelle Santamaria who is now playing in your band? Michelle, who L.A. loved in the Pinkz and Bitchschool and Loli & the Chones?
Isn’t Michelle so great? Her guitar playing kills me. It made me cry. When we were recording, some of the songs were really sad. I don’t know what happened. I just got really into singing about sad stuff. I’m not trying to make people cry, but I don’t know. After so long, you wanna sing about something kind of serious.
‘Blow Me Away’ is about your father’s suicide, isn’t it?
Yeah, that’s about my dad. I feel like if you love someone and they die, the nicest thing you can do is write a song for them. Just to help me get over something—or I don’t know. It just feels really respectful.
Is it true you wake up in the middle of the night and do demos of sad songs you don’t remember in the morning?
Yes—that’s what I recorded an album of. One’s called ‘Say Goodbye Before You Leave.’ It’s about Jay Reatard. I was so bummed. Another is ‘When You’re Gone.’ They’re just stuff like that. Well, just a couple are really sad. A lot are just really pop. This solo thing might be all sad songs.
Did you ever think of doing like the plaster-caster thing and selling collectible Hunx dildos?
I really wanted to sell whips! When we were on tour with Jay and Nobunny, Nobunny had this little whip and I stole it and I’d whip everybody. I woke up one day with a whip in my handbag like, ‘What happened last night?’ Actually, I’m really tame in my life now unless I’m on tour.
What’s the scariest state?
I almost got murdered for being gay at a Dairy Queen in the middle of Texas. Somewhere between Denton and Austin. We just got in the van and sped away and then Brontes got a blow-job at the next truck stop. But me and Heather wouldn’t even get out of the van! That definitely put everyone’s spirits back in check. We were on tour with our friends V.I.P.—an all-gay rap group, and our roadie would wear like onesies, and everywhere we went V.I.P. would put on a show and start singing and dancing. … It was actually two fathers and two sons, the people who wanted to beat us up.
A father-son attack team?
A double father-son attack team!
Two generations of assholes!
It was crazy! And Brontes and Bear from V.I.P. are all Southern and they want to fight back, so they start talking all this shit to them. I high-tailed it out of there! I’m not into violence at all. It freaks me out. You don’t know if they have guns.
What’s the opposite of this? The most romantic experience in Texas?
What happened at the next truck stop. I don’t know if it’s really that romantic. Walking through the soda aisle and some trucker grabs your butt—it’s kind of sexy.
Have you ever picked someone up that quickly and confidently?
It probably didn’t work out for me. I kind of wait to be preyed on. I like to lure ’em in.
Do you have Hunx groupies? Now that you were in Italian Vogue?
I don’t know if I’d call them groupies. Sometimes there’s a couple gay guys like lingering around. But not always. I’ve seen two give each other the eye—like, ‘Back off!’ I love it. ‘Guys, please! There’s only one of me!’ Actually I like to leave and give them nothing. Believe it or not, I’m kind of picky.

L.A. RECORD PRESENTS HUNX AND HIS PUNX WITH BLEACHED PLUS LIVE MEXICAN WRESTLING ON SAT., JUNE 18, AT NOMAD GALLERY, 1993 BLAKE AVE., FROGTOWN. 7 PM / $10 / 18+. GET TICKETS HERE! (NOTE: SHOW HAS BEEN MOVED FROM SHOW CAVE!) HUNX AND HIS PUNX’ TOO YOUNG TO BE IN LOVE IS OUT NOW ON HARDLY ART. VISIT HUNX AND HIS PUNX AT MYSPACE.COM/HUNXSOLO.

Illustration by themegoman

Little bitty Nobunny came into the world in love with love and celebrates his 10th birthday this Easter by performing at the Playboy Mansion with some old-school bunnies this spring. He is playing L.A. RECORD’s NOBUNNY LOVES YOU! show and if you need love L-U-V you better get to it on Feb. 11 at 6th St.! This interview by Drew Denny.

I haven’t gotten to hear First Blood, but I like the title.

I don’t know if you know but I am a fan of the book First Blood, which came out before the movie. Not that I don’t like the movie—the idea of first blood on multiple levels including the idea of the attack and the girls’ blossom in sexuality and the fact that I thought a lot of people were gonna hate it—

Why did you think people would hate it?

Cuz people gotta hate. It’s my time to get a mouthful of shit. You just have to watch for these things—it’s not rocket science. Some people like it I guess. I’m thankful for that.

Do you get antsy when you’re sitting still?

I’m not too into it, actually—I’m pretty anxious to get back on the road. I’m sitting on a floor chopping up pieces of paper and burning pieces of paper and mailing them to friends and strangers.

Are those your Christmas cards? Valentines you’re sending out?

Oh no, it’s hoodoo—it’s nonsense.

Voodoo?

Hoodoo.

Which you do.

It’s nothing. Although it is true. It’s a whole ’nother—it’s un-Nobunny related. It’s a whole ’nother son of a bitch. Like difference between ice cream and frozen yogurt, you know. Apples and oranges. Jay Reatard died a year ago tomorrow. Thinking about that.

Were y’all buddies?

Yeah for sure. Buds enough. Trying to think what else is going on … real talk besides burning paper. We went on tour together a couple months before he died. We went on the Shattered tour—he took us which was really nice. We were supposed to work together—he was gonna put out the next album. That was the plan, I suppose, but whatever … that doesn’t really matter, I guess. It doesn’t matter to me if it doesn’t matter to you—

It all matters.

Nothing really matters.

If it’s all equally inconsequential, let’s talk about fights. I always liked to see Jay Reatard play cuz you never knew what could happen. Like at your shows—sometimes people are jumping up and down together and sometimes they’re beating each other up.

We had a pretty crazy fight at our last show in L.A. between three of our super fans, I guess you could say. Two against one kind of claiming the title of who was the bigger super fan. It got pretty ugly. I don’t know if you saw it. I’m not sure exactly how it started. We were just terrible. Our guitar broke—on the very first song we were outta guitar. So then I did an a capella tribute to Captain Beefheart who had died that day, but no one really seemed to care or notice. Then these three girls who are all really well known hardcore Nobunny fans— some of the nuttiest Nobunny nuts we got out there—I guess they weren’t getting along. I still don’t really know how it happened but there was bloodshed and brutality. It was really violent. Technical meltdown show ended in violence. There was hair pulling but actually the part where I even like stopped—just a little roughhousing, I just play through it but it was pretty insane. One girl was hanging off the stage on her head backwards and this other girl was grabbing her by the hair and kneeing her in the face. Another girl was onstage just kicking blindly into the audience with boots on. It was just too much. Too much drugs and alcohol, I think. Not enough peace ‘n’ love.

Did you know that you would inspire such feistiness?

No, it’s a bummer. I’m not encouraging violence at our shows. I’m encouraging more costumes, more kisses, more craziness. More ears. I’m really into the people wearing the ears.

What’s the best costume you’ve seen?

I can’t lie—we just played with Big Freedia on New Year’s Eve in Chicago. I’ll tell ya, Nobunny nuts got some catching up to do with Big Freedia’s freaky fans. Just a blur of people trying to out glam-costume each other. Super fun.

When did you start wearing your costume?

Well you know… costume? I don’t know what you mean by that! I’ll tell ya this band’s been going on ten years—it’ll be ten years on Easter. I don’t know when Easter is this year but I think April 21st we started in 2001. Ten year anniversary coming up on Easter. We’re playing the Playboy Mansion which I am very stoked about. Dreams coming true! We’re going on tour right after that, but I kinda think why bother? Just retire after that. It’s like going to the moon and eating an egg on it—like starting a rock ‘n’ roll band then playing the Playboy Mansion. What are you supposed to do after that? I guess I’ll have to figure that out after Easter. It’s still not clear how many people we’re gonna be able to get in or how public or how Nobunny fan based-ish it’s gonna be, but I’ll be there. There’ll be some bunnies there. Bringin’ the bunny to the Mansion for Easter—you know, ten years. And we’re gonna try and pull off five shows in five cities. That’s real talk. We haven’t figured out the logistics of it yet but that’s the plan—five shows, five cities, one day. Easter 2011. Nobunny’s tenth birthday. Be in one of those five cities. If I were you I’d be at the Playboy Mansion. Party central. Jam zone.

Do you have a favorite bunny? You watch ‘The Girls Next Door’?

I’m down with Bugs Bunny. I’ve never seen that show. I had a subscription to Playboy when I was a kid cuz the kid who lived downstairs from me was tormented and picked on and kind of a nerd. Someone pranked him by sending a Playboy subscription to his house but I knew about it and since I was his neighbor I was able to not only save his embarrassment by having Playboy not show up at his door but I was able to steal them so I had a lot of Playboys growing up as a kid. I don’t remember any of my favorite Playboy bunnies’ names but I like Bugs Bunny. Bunny Carlos from Cheap Trick.

A whole other kind of bunny.

No funny bunnies.

That’s very kind of you to intervene in that Playboy prank—

Gotta do what I gotta do. Good deeds. Like two birds.

Is that how you learned about sex? Playboy?

I don’t know if I should say the real … well, not even the real … well, this is a real story. Well … no. But I’ll tell you what I did learn it from is Doctor D’s Birds and Bees video show volume one—‘Izzy and Miranda Cross Adolescence Bridge.’ Which you can find on YouTube, and I highly recommend seeking it out. That’s how I learned about sex.

Were you in a sex education video?

I was not in a sex education video.

Do you know about that rumor?

I don’t know about that rumor but that’s awesome. I know the truth. I don’t know about rumors. But check out that video. That’s how I learned about sex.

When does Raw Romance come out?

Tuesday, February 1. We have Dan from Thee Makeout Party playing drums with us nowadays so that’s Burger alum. I hope Thee Makeout Party starts playing again. We’ve been playing some secret house parties in Oakland where I still reside. But new places and new faces are always the best. I still like playing straight crowds and weird crowds and not the right crowds and turn them into the wrong crowds—

It’s gonna be hard to get better than a crowd full of bunnies at the Playboy Mansion.

I know! I can’t really go wrong with that. I’m just following the white rabbit—see what he does. Go down the rabbit hole, you know? Why not? I see smoke. Maybe Madison Square Gardens but we need bigger amps. We need a hi-hat cymbal—yeah, if you can print that— that we need a hi-hat cymbal and a ride stand from someone—that would be very helpful.

When did you start playing music?

Right when I was born. That’s the official story. This is the year of the rabbit. This is my year. But then again I always think that and it always falls apart so I shouldn’t get too cocky. Take it one day at a time. But you know, China did call it. It’s not just me. It’s a whole nation. I think I should maybe get going. It’s my birthday.

Happy birthday! I’m so glad you were born!

Thanks. Why not? Why not?

L.A. RECORD PRESENTS NOBUNNY LOVES YOU WITH NOBUNNY, THE RED ONIONS, CEREBRAL BALLZY, DREAMDATE AND RETOX ON FRI., FEB. 11, AT 1269 SIXTH ST., LOS ANGELES. 9 PM / $10 / 21+. YOU MUST RSVP TO RSVP@LARECORD.COM TO ATTEND! NOBUNNY’S FIRST BLOOD IS OUT NOW ON GONER. VISIT NOBUNNY AT MYSPACE.COM/ NOBUNNYLOVESYOU.

NOTE: Yes, this show is FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11. We accidentally had Saturday on the first flyer! (We were blinded by love.) You MUST RSVP to go to this show—email us at rsvp@larecord.com! Easy! We will have all kinds of Valentine’s surprises for everybunny to enjoy!

DISTRO HAS BEGUN!

SIDE A

LACO$TE by Daiana Feuer
HANNI EL KHATIB by Lainna Fader
DEATH by Kristina Benson
GANG OF FOUR by Lainna Fader
TEEBS by Kristina Benson
OFF! by Chris Ziegler
TOM TOM CLUB by Daiana Feuer
FORT KING by Dan Collins
LUIS & THE WILDFIRES by Lainna Fader
MY DRY WET MESS by Lainna Fader
BEST COAST by Dan Collins
WANDA JACKSON by Daiana Feuer
WHITE FENCE by Daniel Clodfelter
THE MELVINS by Chris Ziegler
WINO by Chris Ziegler
NOBUNNY by Drew Denny
HANDSOME FAMILY by Daiana Feuer
THE TRASHMEN by Dan Collins

SIDE B

ALBUM REVIEWS  edited by Dan Collins
THE INTERPRETER: CHAD BROWN by Lainna Fader
THE INTERPRETER: JULIA HOLTER by Drew Denny

COMICS edited by Tom Child

ART edited by Drew Denny
ALL THIS AND NOTHING by Drew Denny

BOOKS edited by Nikki Bazar
JON SAVAGE by Ron Garmon
BOOK AND ZINE REVIEWS

FILM edited by Lainna Fader
THE INTERPRETER: STRANGELOOP by Lainna Fader
ALLISON ANDERS + KURT VOSS by Lainna Fader

L.A. WISDOM w/ Kim Fowley and Ruthann Friedman edited by Daiana Feuer

POSTER:
Photography by Ramon Felix
Design by Jun Ohnuki
Letting by Champoyhate

SPECIAL THANKS to Annette Badalian and Shane Carpenter for helping us so much!

OFF!, THEE OH SEES, NOBUNNY, AND WHITE SHIT ON FRIDAY DEC. 17TH AT THE SEX, 816 SOUTH SANTA FE AVENUE, LOS ANGELES. 8:00PM/ FREE/ ALL AGES.

(from 200 Million Thousand out now on Vice)

Black Lips have been to or narrowly avoided jail in more countries than many schoolchildren can even locate on a map and they do a ripping cover of Jacques Dutronc. They meet here between time and space to knock out this abridged print interview. Complete interview coming soon—both by Vanessa Gonzalez.

What are you talking about in the song ‘Short Fuse’ when you say, ‘Hey Humpty Dumpty, I guess you learned your lesson / You got made into breakfast by some fat old Texan’?
Joe Bradley (drums, vocals): It’s supposed to be a metaphor for a head of state or someone in power that goes against the grain too much and then they get taken out. The song is supposed to be somewhat about predicting the future—every line in it, to some extent. But like most prophets in their writings, it’s real vague. It can be applicable when it needs to be.
The whole new album seems to have a vaguely religious zeal to it.
JB: Religion sells.
Is that a conscious direction?
JB: No, it’s not a direction. It’s just something to dabble in.
Jared, I know your dad is a prominent religious figure in Atlanta. Does the Black Lips’ irreverence towards religion cause conflict between you and your dad?
Jared Swilley (bass, vocals): Not at all—my father comes to all of my shows. And we channel the same energies as they do. We sing about bullshit, and they sing about God. They don’t even drink at their shows and they go crazier than any punk show I’ve ever been to and pass out and fall down. So trying to recreate that passion is something I’ve always tried to do through my music.
What makes you think there’s a ‘Black Baby Jesus’ on the way?’
Cole Alexander (guitar, vocals): [That song’s] like an ode to a really bad-ass black person—Obama, Jack Johnson, people that become more than a politician or an artist. They become almost superhuman. They’re almost like a messiah-like person. But it’s kind of like a fantasy I have—black Jesus coming to Earth and just being like the most bad-ass person ever.
Who is this Baby Gusty that wrote the essay in your new album?
JB: That’s Jack Hines, our second guitarist.
He says the Black Lips ‘have carried to fruition the plan that’s been hatched, and will continue to be hatched, in the minds of dizzy, dumb and desperate youths the world over.’ How have the Black Lips made that happen?
JB: Luck.
You think it’s just luck?
JB: It’s definitely some luck. You gotta have the right attitude, too.
How would you describe the Black Lips’ attitude?
JB: The best. El mejor.
JS: What brought it to fruition is just doing what you want to do. Unlike other people, we sacrificed everything, like family relationships and personal relationships. We just did it—for years and years and years. We spent a lot of time as homeless people, spent a lot of time sleeping in the van. We just never gave up. Other people coward out really soon. We just wouldn’t take no.
Is there anything that stands out as the most memorable show amongst the thousands you’ve played?
JB: Playing in Palestine was really cool—something different than we had ever seen before. We rented acoustic guitars and we crossed the wall into the West Bank into Bethlehem—just found a courtyard and set up and started playing.
Ian Saint Pe (guitar): I’ll never forget a show we played in Brussels back in 2007. I had a broken bottle go into my hand. I lost mucho blood and was carried off stage after I blacked out. I have a big scar on the top of my right hand. Jared rode with me to the hospital and as he brought me into the emergency room he made me promise to hang in there because the doctor was gonna be hot, and it turned out she was smokin’.
Where have you experienced the most severe culture shock?
JS: America. I’ve never experienced culture shock, except maybe a little bit in India. But everywhere else in the world people think rationally, and I come back to America and . . . I know it’s not all Americans, but it’s like, the ones that are insane are the loudest. I’ve never heard such inane banter as I’ve heard here. Especially since Obama’s been elected. Yeah, America bums me out really bad. I spend most of my time in Europe and when I get back, that’s culture shock. Affluent white people are insane. I don’t know. I love America but I just can’t believe it. It’s so hard to swallow.
JB: India. They have a built-in classist system where you’re just born into something that just sucks or rules. It’s not fair and it’s not equal.
What’s the most mystical experience you’ve ever had on acid?
CA: One time I became an invertebrate. I lost all my organs and my skeletal system just turned to mush on the ground. I don’t know if it was mystical, but I was really mushroomed out. It was really brief, it was like—bbbbbblllllllllaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, turned into a blob, and then I was back up again. That was intense. I’ve taken acid a bunch and I’ve never had anything like that.
Do you feel everyone should try psychedelics?
CA: Well, I don’t think people should abuse them, but if you take it once a season, I feel like it helps clarify all my thoughts. Some people take ecstasy and say, ‘Oh, I had an epiphany’ or ‘Oh, I saw God.’ But with psychedelics it’s somewhat legitimate because it makes you think outside the box so much. Everything you know is so distorted. It just makes you think in different ways. The scientist that created LSD—Albert Hofmann—he took it until he was like 90 years old, and he did it responsibly, so that makes me feel like it’s not just some recreational tool.
Is there anything you miss about being a DIY band?
JS: There was . . . but not anymore. There was a big set of bands that were like all the people we knew in the beginning. They’d stay with us, we’d stay with them. We’d book tours for each other. Now they all hate us and talk shit because apparently we’re like . . . I don’t know. I don’t really miss it, but that’s the one thing that’s missing. A lot of the kids that supported us at the beginning hate us now. Even though we didn’t do anything to them. I think it’s that Maximumrocknroll mentality. That doesn’t really mean anything now, but people stay with that—like if you do anything beyond sleeping on people’s floors then you’re a sell-out. But that’s retarded. I have a lot of friends in awesome bands right now that are really successful and I love that. Like the [Fuck Yeah] Festival even. There were a ton of really good bands that played for tons of people and it was awesome. But some people get really bitter about that. I don’t know why. It’s a really negative mentality. And I don’t like that.

THE BLACK LIPS WITH NOBUNNY, JEMIMA PEARL AND DJ SIMON BENNETT ON SAT., JAN. 23, AT THE EL REY THEATER, 6126 WILSHIRE BLVD., LOS ANGELES. 8 PM / $17 / ALL AGES. GOLDENVOICE.COM. THE BLACK LIPS’ 200 MILLION THOUSAND IS OUT NOW ON VICE. VISIT THE BLACK LIPS AT BLACK-LIPS.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/THEBLACKLIPS.

We are pleased to announce that our new online shop has soft launched this week! We are also proud to bring you the first installment of our weekly Shop Update email that will be going out every Friday. To directly access our our new store please visit shop.larecord.com.

Also make sure to follow our shop twitter which updates every time we have a new arrival. To follow please visit: twitter.com/shoplarecord. Make sure to check back often as we start to upload new music, apparel and more plus an amazing selection of used vinyl on a daily basis!!

Madvillain – Madvillainy (2xLP)
click for more info

Nobunny – Love Visions (CS)
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White Shit – Sculpted Beef (LP)
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Primal Scream – I Want You / RTX – Nature’s Way split (12″)
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Guilty Simpson – Get Bitches (12”)
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Mayer Hawthorne – A Strange Arrangement (CD)
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Dam Funk – Let’s Take Off (12″)
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Guilty Simpson – Coroners Music (12″)
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Wavves – To The Dregs / To The Dregs ‘Version 2′ (7″)
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Vibes – Psychic (7″)
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Download: Box Elders “Hole In My Head”

(from Alice And Friends out now on Goner)

Box Elders just left their home in Nebraska on the heels of their absolutely winning Alice and Friends album on Goner, which is ferociously adorable bubblegumistic rock ‘n’ roll recorded perfectly through a stack of furry comforters. They play tonight with Nobunny, Hunx and his Punx and Pearl Harbour. This interview by John Henry.

What made you move out of Omaha?
Jeremiah McIntyre (guitar): A girl I’m seeing, she got a job in San Francisco. I like it there. It’s nice. It’s like fall all the time. One thing that’s nice about winter, though—the first day of spring. You almost feel like you’re high because you’ve been suffering through winter and then the first day it’s really really nice and you don’t have to work is really exciting. I think I might miss that if the weather’s the same all the time.
How does Omaha manage to produce bands like Box Elders?
Jeremiah McIntyre: Omaha has always been kind of a weird countercultural town. There are a ton of hippies that some how ended up in Nebraska so there have always been record stores and bookstores and before the Internet you could always find off-the-wall stuff. You were never isolated in that way. If you really wanted to step out from what everyone else was doing and look around for something else, it was always there. I still think Omaha has the best record stores because the prices are great and if you dig you find things you never would expect. I came out to San Francisco and record shopping is almost no fun. You can find whatever record you want and the prices are dumb.
What kind of records did you find there that helped inspire the band today?
Jeremiah McIntyre: People get so hung up on their ‘sound,’ thinking it’s something they thought up. To me it’s just folk music. Ideas bounce around between people’s heads, sometimes getting smashed into something that seems new. Anytime you have any idea, there’s a thousand people that are having similar ideas. Yeah, sure—I grew up listening to ‘60s stuff because my parents listened to it. Then I got really into punk—all the L.A. stuff, Posh Boy and whatever. Then I got obsessed with John Peel and started buying all the Peel Session records I could find. Then noise, some industrial stuff, New Zealand and Scottish pop, too. In Omaha you could find that stuff for cheap because you didn’t have to compete with collectors. The whole record collector thing—those guys weird me out. I’ve always felt that they didn’t care so much about what was on the record as much as the record itself. I guess I can understand an obsession with something being rare or esoteric, but some people take it too far. I just want to go out and find stuff to listen to—hear what people have to say. I always get excited about new bands.
I think it’s great that Goner put out your album—I always thought they had that same idea of just putting out what you liked and not worrying about a genre.
Jeremiah McIntyre: Eric Oblivian has some of the broadest music tastes of anyone I know—stuff that you never would suspect. It’s thought of as being a garage label, even though they do stuff that you wouldn’t call that. No one gives a fuck about commercial radio. It’s so bland and so middle of the road that no one even notices it. The stuff Goner does, people are passionate about it. Garage rock or whatever—they hung on to a D.I.Y. mentality. The noise folks did, too. The people that talk about it and write about it are involved in the whole process. When you go to whatever city they live in, they’re at the show. They probably booked it. You’re going to meet that person. When it comes to whatever indie rock has become, it’s so removed from the people doing it and the people buying it. Someone on Terminal Boredom might shit talk on my band but I’ve met them and I know who they are. That’s cool—at least you’re a person, not filler between ads. People will argue about this and argue about that but I have to step back and be like, ‘Oh, at least they’re moved in some way.’ Even if they hate my band at least there’s excitement. The way I see it is the people that hate it are just as important as the people that like it. Especially with rock ‘n roll—it’s the feeling of being under siege.
Last time you were in town, your brother Clayton said he was going to start a thrash metal band—has he done it?
Jeremiah McIntyre: Yeah—he’s way into metal. Metal is kind of like that, too. It seems to be under siege from the whole world. That’s what was always cool about metal. It was always like an ‘us or them’ mentality. Underground music is always accused of being elitist but it makes people feel like they’ve got friends—like they belong to something. There’s huge social aspects of music and if you try to say, ‘No, it’s just about the music! Blah-blah-blah!’ then you’re missing a lot of the point. Music has always been social—it’s dudes sitting round the fire making flute noises. It’s always about people. Another thing I like about metal is—we had this show that got cancelled because the promoter wanted to do a Slayer concert, so we got to go see Slayer at this venue that was ridiculously small for Slayer to be playing at. The kids were moshing to the music that was playing over the P.A. before Slayer even came out on stage. There was a pit to the house music. I was just really blown away how excited metal kids are about music.
What was it like when the whole band lived in the same house?
Jeremiah McIntyre: It was hard. It’s hard having roommates and it’s hard being in a band. Dave who is the drummer of our band is easily the most patient person on earth. My brother and I have really annoying fights. I know the fights are dumb even while we are having them. If I was involved in the fight and had to listen to them, I would lose my mind.
Did you guys practice in the house? Was anyone ever late?
Jeremiah McIntyre: Yeah—it was economical but we had to wake Clayton up physically—drag him to wake up. Practice is fun. It never seems like a drudge. It is weird all living in a house. It can get tense when you’re in a mini-van for a month and then you come home and you’re like, ‘Oh, you again.’
Where did you get the name ‘Alice and Friends’ for the album?
Jeremiah McIntyre: It’s named after this restaurant in Chicago. It’s this Korean vegan BBQ that’s run by this Korean church that seems to really want you to join it. If it is a cult, they might be the most pleasant cult I’ve ever had an interaction with. The restaurant is really good. I’m usually pretty critical and I usually don’t like vegan fake meat, but it works. There’s a lot of sermons going on when you’re there and the menus have a lot of lessons from the teacher—whoever the leader of the organization is.
I really like the art on the cover—who did that?
Jeremiah McIntyre: It’s this guy Michael Gruber from Omaha. The record store that put out our 45—he’s the brother-in-law of the guy who owns it. He does really off-the-wall fantasy art and he was bringing the stuff into the shop and showing it to us and the one drawing we were really into. When you go over to his house and hang out with him, he collects swords and he tells you about every time he’s seen Alice Cooper, which is a lot. It’s Dungeons and Dragons rock ‘n’ roll fantasy kind of stuff.

BOX ELDERS WITH NOBUNNY, HUNX AND HIS PUNX AND PEARL HARBOUR ON TUE., OCT. 20, AT THE MOUNTAIN BAR, 473 GIN LING WAY, CHINATOWN. 9 PM / $7 / 21+. MYSPACE.COM/BURGERRECORDS. THE BOX ELDERS’ ALICE AND FRIENDS IS OUT NOW ON GONER. VISIT THE BOX ELDERS AT BOXELDERS.BLOGSPOT.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/BOXELDERS.

Read: NOBUNNY: OH YEAH, I MADE LOVE!