I am totally doing two posts in one day, I don't care. Here's another interview from my zine that never got published, this time with Tim and Al from Dangers. My good friend Danny White let me use this interview he did with Dangers for a zine that he never finished (oh the comedy behind it all). Dangers rules, this interview is sweet. A little dated, but who cares. Enjoy. (Thanks again Danny!)
1. We'll get this out of the way, who are you, what band are you in, and what do you do in said band? What other bands have you and your bandmates been involved with and lastly, why did you form this band?We are Dangers, from Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Redding, CA. The band is Adam on drums, Curt plays guitar, Al provides the high pitched yelps, and myself on bass (Tim). Al and I were in The Miracle Mile before forming this band, which was a band that kind of wore on everyone in it. By the time it was over, most everyone in the band couldn't stand it or each other. I swore I wouldn't be in a band with any of them again, but Al recorded a demo when he was on a break from school (basically written and recorded on his own) and brought it to my dorm room when we were back at Princeton and I dug it (remember that scene in High Fidelity where Jack Black puts his head in his hands and admits that the "Skate Fuckers" demo is really fucking good? That was me when I listened to Al's demo... really, really wanted to hate it because, most of the time, I hate him). I decided I would play bass in a band again if we were a bit more concerned about content, really taking care with each and every lyric, really pushing the bill lyrically and musically, and taking our time rounding up members that really were a good fit for the band. Rollie, who recorded the demo, had the music grow on him, and we welcomed him as our first drummer and later, when he got bored there, as guitarist. The dude is pretty much a musical prodigy (listen to Nuns With Guns and tell me he's not), so we were thrilled to have him and he has been a HUGE part of writing all of our stuff thus far. We worked through a bunch of lineup changes but now we're more settled. Adam joined us (also from Nuns) and Curt (Set It Straight fame) took over guitars when Rollie got his black belt in guitar and decided we weren't worth his time. Rollie set the bar pretty high and we were worried about finding someone who could actually fill his spot, but Curt's a perfect fit and we seem to finally have a stable core. Tim Bevins is our honorary fifth and tours with us as our Drum Tech. Currently accepting applications for a roadie.
2. This might seem like a strange question, but I've never seen any sort or review of your records or interviews with you in zines and I've never seen any of your songs on compilations. Most people seem to know about Dangers through word of mouth, both positive and negative. Do you intentionally keep a low profile? If so, is there a specific reason?We've done a few interviews here and there and we've got two compilations that are in the works. For the most part though, we have a certain stigma attached to our name for a variety of reasons, so it's alright if we sometimes seem under the radar. It seems that if you don't just sing strictly about straightedge, veganism, or friendship (not talking shit, Al and Curt are edge, I'm vegan, and Adam's got friends) people get confused and punchy so we kinda shy away from band, label, or scene affiliation. Since we put out our own records and tour with a diverse bunch of bands, people hopefully realize that the four of us and only the four of us are accountable for our words and music. We've been in bands long enough to know that, in hardcore, drama and rumors are like a contagion and we'd rather keep things simple. Also, we've all got more important things that we're doing, all four of us find our education (not necessarily scholastic) and what we can do with it more important than just being in this band. For that reason, you'll never see us releasing three records in a year or touring for more than a month or two. It's a slow paced thing, but we like it this way. Plus, it makes the shows a bit more special.
3. People feel VERY strongly about Dangers, both positively and negatively. I don't think I've come across anyone who has said "oh, their OK". Why do you think this is?Well, we're happy if that's the case. I mean, it's not always great to be a polarizing band, but we'd rather elicit a strong reaction from people, even if it's negative, than a ho-hum sort of thing where our shows or our records aren't memorable. I think a lot of why we get such extreme reactions is that we tend to talk about "controversial" issues. And we don't shy away from expressing an opinion on said "controversial" issues. A lot of people think we are pushing buttons or trying to get the sorts of reactions that we get, but that's really not our goal at all. We just figure there are important things to talk about and so we do, in as honest a fashion as we can. From the release of our first EP and our first show we've been pretty loathed by a bunch of people. After that, most people who gave us a listen or went to a show had heard something about us before they had heard us. For that reason, there's probably a bunch people who like or hate us more than they would naturally. It makes shows a blast though. Most of the time, if it's not our first time through town, the kids are there because they really want to be there, because they are similarly as passionate about the stuff our band is interested in, not because we're the band that it's cool to like. The downside, of course, is that there may be 20 people there (or outside) who want to set your van on fire.
4. The First thing that drew me to Dangers was that the lyrics leave no room for interpretation and the music is a truly unique take on punk/hardcore. It actually bummed me out a little but because it shouldn't be so rare to come across well spoken/furious/yet simple to understand lyrics set to interesting music within the punk/hardcore community. Why do you feel most bands aren't willing to put themselves out there musically and lyrically?To be candid? Because putting-yourself-out-there doesn't sell records and might make you unpopular. And, as we see it, most bands involved with punk and hardcore music these days would rather enjoy the resigned support of a whole lot of kids than the very passionate support of just a few. Write familiar music with lyrics about how your friends are cool, how Bush is Satan, or how much you hate popular kids and there's no end to the amount of kids who'll be moshing and piling-up; when you sing about something that every kid might not be behind, you risk losing a fan-base. You risk not getting on a well-distributed label. You risk not being able to tour Europe and Japan and Australia. You risk having shows where there's only eight people there. And there's a lot of bands that don't want to deal with that, which is totally understandable. And there are definitely moments when our approach can be frustrating. From the outset, though, we have never been concerned with how popular or unpopular our band was. That just didn't seem like a productive criteria to judge our success. The point is to create music that's as honest as possible, songs that we really believe in. So the music is what it is because that's the music that we are interested in hearing. And the lyrics are what they are because those are the words that we're interested in singing. The closer you get to being satisfied with your own music, the more successful you are. It doesn't matter how crazy your shows are or how many kids have gone onto Oink looking for your songs. You know whether you've written something worthwhile even before anyone else hears it. You've got to look at popularity as an added bonus. And sometimes it can even signal that you've played things too safe, that you've made something so accessible that maybe you're not really pushing any boundaries. So we just keep trying to impress and surprise ourselves. We're getting closer these days.
5. The first version of the 7" I owned was on black vinyl and had a clear silk screened sleeve. It looked cool but didn't come with any lyrics. I eventually re purchased the 7" and gave that first copy away. It didn't make sense to me because you strike me as a band that would put an emphasis on lyrics. So, what's the deal with that press of the 7"?Interesting. The first version you owned without lyrics was, hopefully, the only version that came without lyrics. As far as we know, every record we have ever sold has come with lyrics. Since we do a lot of the album construction (stuffing lyric sheets, silkscreening, stamping) ourselves, we sometimes mess up. There's also a pretty huge lag when it comes to ordering our stuff and receiving it in the mail. All of this has to do with the fact that we are trying to do a lot of things at once and we are hardly ever in one place for a long enough time to make the band a routine ordeal. So, simple answer is: we fucked up if you didn't get a lyric sheet. We apologize! Lyrics are very important to us. Especially when it's all yell-y type stuff and it's not so easy to hear what the fuck we're saying. It's important to yell because that best fits the emotion of a lot of our songs. But it's just as important to actually know what we're yelling.
6. This is something that has been bothering me since I saw you guys play. How do you feel about a bunch of white kids screaming along to the words "Behind my back you probably call me a nigger"? Personally I would feel very uncomfortable saying that and thus haven't sung along to that part of the song either time I've seen you. I've thought about that, too. And I can imagine the lyric itself can be confusing to people. I think a lot of people might hear that lyric and think that I wrote it in a sort of tongue-in-cheek sort of way, sort of invoking the spirit of a black man or something. It's hard for most people to believe that one of my parents is black, African-American, or whatever you want to call it. But that's the truth of the matter. My dad is black. And that song, while being a criticism of the disjunction between the idea and reality of policing in today's society, is also very personal. My half-brother is a cop with the Los Angeles Police Department and I know that he had a really tough time accepting my father into the family when he was younger. So the lyric is a projection of what I think is the truth, that he has called me a nigger behind my back. So, for me, it's difficult when I see people singing that part of the song not because they are using the word "nigger," but because it's just a really personal moment in the song for me, not an ideological one. As far as what words are acceptable to say and what words are offensive and what words are okay to say at our shows, that's not for me to decide. Words have the power to effect people in very profound ways. I myself have a tough time with some words. Like, I always cringe at the word "Jew" for some reason. Not "Jewish," like not when someone says, "Bill's this Jewish kid I know." But when someone says the word "Jew," like, "Oh yeah, Bill's a Jew," it really gets to me. It sounds so violent to my ears and accusatory. Anyway, what I'm saying is that I understand the hurtful and discomforting effect of certain words. But I also don't think it's my job to police anyone. I don't make the rules on what people and should say. I'd love for people to be more conscious of the effect that words can have and be less cavalier when it comes to throwing slang around. But I myself am rarely scarred by language. So I don't have an ethical problem with people saying "nigger" at that point of the song. I guess I spend a lot of time on both sides of the politically correct issue.
7. What are the worst problems facing society today? Are they being dealt with within the Punk/Hardcore community or are they being mirrored by it? The line between the punk community and normal society seems to be getting thinner by the day, why do you feel that is?A hefty question. I mean, we could say global warming is the most important issue today because it absolutely affects everyone regardless of country, color, or creed. The horribly unbalanced distribution of wealth in the world is highly intolerable. The lack of adequate health care. The millions of people still dying of preventable or curable diseases. The continued genocides raging in Africa and Asia and any number of page seven countries. I mean, the world is fucked, yeah? Has been for quite some time. Trying to point at one and say, "This, this here is what we need to fix first," seems ludicrous. However, I do think there is a general sense of greed and selfishness that is billowing out of the United States and slowly affecting and engulfing every person in the world. It's sad to me that we are such "highly evolved" creatures and yet can't grasp that a simple change in our attitudes toward one another would yield a lot of lives being saved and lived in a much more gratifying manner. So I guess that's the greatest challenge we face today as humans. Trying to overcome thousands of years of animal instinct where we put such a high value on our own life and getting rid of the survival of the fittest, winner take all mentality that the world seems to be entertaining. And as far as the punk/hardcore community is concerned, I'm not convinced that any large-scale good is going to emanate from loud screaming in tiny basements. But what I do believe is that the kids in the punk community do seem like some of the most likely candidates having an actual effect on the world. Some of the brightest minds I've known I've met in little smelly rooms with crazy bands playing. And the thing is, before those kids are members of the punk community they are members of the human community. And the hope, at least for Dangers, is that we'll have an influence on one of these minds. That maybe we won't change the world, but we'll affect one or two kids that actually will do that. A lot of what we do is just what you said: holding up a mirror. We have arguments all the time about whether or not our time would be better spent actually helping people. Making sandwiches for homeless people or joining an awareness group or actually going to some war-torn area and lending time and effort. For now, at least, we hope we're doing our little bit of good, that maybe we're helping one or two kids, and that idea sort of frees us of any guilt that could come along with spending so much time having fun and being "entertainers."
8. On a more positive note, what do you feel are the best things currently going on in both normal society and the Punk/Hardcore community?Well, when you go on tour, doors are opened all the time to you. People you have never met let you come into their house and stay the night. They cook you food. They let you wash your dirty feet in their tubs. They give you towels and pillows and let you get on the internet. And what do they know about you? I mean, maybe they like your band or whatever and they think they know you, but they don't really have a clue. It's widely celebrated in punk songs from all years that we take care of each other, carte blanche. And it's one of the few aspects that keeps me so excited about punk year in and year out. I only talk about it here because I guess it's the sort of thing that can happen from time to time in "normal" society, but less and less. Like, you can't hitchhike anymore. And you can't go into some rural town and just knock on a door and get a hot meal and a warm bed. And maybe those are romantic, nostalgic notions of the past, but the fact that those sorts of practices have died out is, to me, a symptom of a much sicker society that is perennially more and more afraid of the "other," of the unknown. It seems humans keep building larger and larger fences between the familiar and the unknown. I think it's an attitude that has lead us into war and threatens to do a lot more damage to everyone if we keep that sort of xenophobic mentality up. So, the hope is that maybe the punk rock carte blanche sense of hospitality could infect the normal world and we'd all start taking care of each other a bit more. Pretty hippy of me, I know, but I think the older punk gets and the older punk kids get, there might be a chance of it coming to pass.
9. How important would you say vinyl is to punk culture? How would things change, if at all, if we just pressed everything onto CD like most other musical scenes?These days it seems vinyl is making a hefty comeback in light of the popularity of mp3's and digital downloads. Like Radiohead's new record and they options they have for purchasing the download and the vinyl. And I know the last Against Me! record came as a pre-packaged LP/CD combo. Point being that even mainstream companies are realizing the existence and difference between the casual music listener that wants his tracks downloaded to the PC as quick as possible, and the true music fan that appreciates the entire package and maybe even collects different versions of the same record like someone else might collect lithographs or books. I think vinyl culture is important to punk mostly because of the way it makes punk musicians approach writing. Still today punk kids think primarily in terms of records, not in terms of individual tracks or "singles." And that's a very important distinction between punk and other types of music. Maybe, too, it's because songs are usually quite short and a punk "single" wouldn't really be worth the download fee or whatever. Anyway, I think what Deathwish Inc., Rivalry, Equal Vision, and a whole host of other "punk" labels are doing by introducing their records to the iTunes store is a very slippery slope. Writing one or two good songs can work for a pop singer, but who wants that out of a punk band? Maybe I'm old fashioned and nostalgic. Either way, I like that vinyl is still very important. It means we write records. We think in terms of twenty minutes of music. Maybe more. We value having lyric sheets. We search thank you sections to learn about other bands. And while I'm not very into collecting vinyl, I really hope that young kids take to having the actual record in their hands with pride. It's how bands manage to break even on tour and, if you look at bands like Graf Orlock or Converge, taking care with the actual artifact of the record can allow you to express the ideas of the band even further.
10. What were your expectations when it came to touring western Canada? How did your experience compare to those expectations? Our first trip through any Canadian cities that weren't Vancouver or Victoria was this past summer. We came into the tour with a sense of adventure, I guess, hoping that there'd be one or two kids at the shows that really wanted to be there, that had heard us and were waiting for us to come through. It's always nice to make someone else happy just by doing something that you love to do. So we were excited and hopeful, but we definitely didn't expect what we got. We traveled all day from Vancouver to Calgary and our van was leaking differential fluid the whole day and half the band wanted to just call it quits and skip the show. But when we showed up, somewhere near midnight, and there were still all these kids waiting for us to play, we were all happy we had pushed on. And then, we play our first two songs and kids are all singing along - well, I said before that we don't really care too much about our popularity, but there's no denying that there's a natural human reaction to having something you've worked very hard on be so enthusiastically accepted by kids so far away from home. Calgary and Edmonton were a dream as far as touring is concerned. Both because we had so much fun and met so many awesome people, but also because it seemed there were people there for whom the jury was still out regarding Dangers. And I hope we affected them. Maybe caused them to think a little bit more about what a band can and should be about. The other shows we played in Canada were in Regina and Winnipeg, and both of those were less people but still exciting shows. The hard part is trying to figure out where people heard us before we got up there because I send out most of the record orders and there definitely weren't THAT many for Canada. So I guess people have downloaded our stuff somewhere, which is fine with us, it was just unexpected. We hope to get back as soon as we have something new to offer.
11. What were your best and worst experiences on that tour (summer '07)?Well, as I sort of mentioned, our rear differential got all messed up about 1/3 into tour and so we had to deal with that the entire tour, getting under the van and putting in more oil every few hundred miles. So that sucked, but mostly for Tim the roadie and Adam, because that was their major duty during tour. We didn't have air conditioning, which wasn't a problem until the south, but then everyone got cranky. We had gas stolen from us in Mississippi while we were in buying snacks. But, as crappy as all these moments were, and you add to that the handful of shows where you are tired and worn out and you get to Austin and five kids have driven six hours to see you from Oklahoma but they are the only kids there and the situation is just awkward, these moments still somehow make it into the "best" category. Because they are the things that you will remember. Just like the crazy shows, or like going innertubing in the Boise River. Tour is always the highlight of the year because it is so markedly different than your daily life. Every day you don't know where you are going or what to expect, and then every day ends with getting to play music, which is the best feeling on earth. The most memorable show for me was in Provo, Utah because of the conversations we had with the kids after the show and coming to realize that choosing to listen to punk music for a lot of them wasn't just a scene, but a complete change of life. Some of them had to move out and suffered horrible relationships with their parents because they decided that punk music made more sense than God. There were only a handful of kids there, but it was a really moving show and a totally strange place.
12. How do you feel about Hardcore's obbsession with nostalgia? good, bad or a little bit of both?I've mentioned my nostalgic attitude a few times already. As a point of reference, I still use a manual typewriter when I'm writing stories. And I love sending letters. And I don't own a television. And I'm trying to convince myself to get rid of my cell phone. Which isn't to say I abhor technology or the future or looking ahead or anything, but I definitely have a strong attachment to the past. In punk and hardcore, I think a lot of times we hold the historic bands of the past on a pedestal. Like Black Flag and Descendents and Minor Threat. But, you know, for me, I think those bands deserve the sort of veneration they receive. I've read interviews with a lot of the people involved with the monumental bands of the past and they always warn against over romanticizing what went on. They tend to suggest that there was a bunch of nonsense that went on there, and they point to the fact that society is still fucked, that music is, for the most part, still shitty, that they didn't really revolutionize as much as one might think. But I still tend to say to myself that SST or Dischord really mean something important. They did everything themselves, they proved that large big-business machines are not necessary to become popular in the music scene. And they also proved, and continue to prove, that there is something called musical integrity and it's not something to giggle about. I'm really offended when there's a new band that sucks. I feel like they lower the bar of all music everywhere. So, as much as it is important to keep moving forward and to redefine words like "punk" and "hardcore," I think it's very important to know what came before. Not only so that we don't fall victim to the same shortcomings, but also so that we know exactly what's possible. You can put your own records out. You can book your own shows. Ticketmaster is not necessary. Recording contracts are not to be lusted after.
13. What have you been listening to as of late and what books have you read recently that you'd recommend?It's important to note that we all four have huge musical and literary differences. Pretty much all we agree on is Propagandhi. We all listen to and really enjoy that band. Curt loves Hot Water Music and fantasy novels with elves and zombies about as much as anyone could. Adam listens to anything with 6/8 time structures and reads manuals relating to strange mechanics. Tim likes all the heavy, D-beat type stuff and The Observers and reads a lot of philosophy books and Umberto Eco. As for me, I rarely listen to loud music. I love Neko Case a lot. And I listen to the Edward Scissorhands soundtrack by Danny Elfman all the damn time. But all this just sounds like "we're so different because we listen to music other than punk" type material, and that's not the point. I'd suggest all the bands we are close with: Comadre, Graf Orlock, Ghostlimb, Acts Of Sedition, Rail Spike. All of them sound nothing like one another, but they are all honest and that's the only real criteria I have these days. We all love the bands from Bremerton like HIV, Sunset Riders, President Kennedy Is Assassinated, The Flex. They are all really talented and really young and will do great things. And I recently started listening to the old band The Jesus Lizard. I skipped out on that band when I was teenager because I was way too punk, but the were amazing. Listen to "Goat," how the drums just punish, it's such a great record. And as for books, I read all the time, mainly fiction, mainly short fiction collections. In that realm of the literary world, I'd recommend "The Nimrod Flipout" by Etgar Keret, the newish "The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel," and the book "Dear Mr. President" by Gabe Hudson. All are absolutely top form. I recently read "A Fan's Notes" by Frederick Exley and was glad I finally read it. Moving. Anyway, whatever it is you have in your hands, read it! Reading is good. So good.
14. Aaaaaaand lastly, Is there anything you'd like to add?This is the part where we say what we are up to, right? Well, we are doing a short winter tour with Graf Orlock and Ghostlimb. Then we are taking a few months to write and record a new record. Hopefully that comes out in the summer and we'll go on another tour. Also, be on the lookout for the return of Sink With California Festival. Maybe. Also, how's the snow?
-xCHADx
This is one of those records that I find I enjoy the most when I am just alone, laying in bed, zoning out..or on long drives when the car is quiet. It's the kind of record that hits you way harder when you have the time to give it a listen with your complete, undivided attention.
If you're a fan of the band, but haven't taken the time to jam this, DO IT. You won't be dissapointed. The recordings of this demo totally show you the transition the band made from All Out War to Firestorm/Destroy The Machines. You're moshing. I'm moshing. Mosh the world.
After much deliberation (with myself, of course) while photocopying at work about what my favourite Revelation release was, I narrowed my choices down to ten records (no real order): Burn - S/T EP, Inside Out - No Spiritual Surrender EP, Youth Of Today - We're Not In This Alone LP (yes, I know Caroline did the original press, I don't care.), Chain Of Strength - The One Thing That Still Holds True LP (yes, I know the 7"s were originally released on different labels, but again..don't care.), Kiss It Goodbye - She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not LP, Judge - Bringin' It Down LP, Texas Is The Reason - Do You Know Who You Are LP, Morning Again - As Tradition Dies Slowly LP, Quicksand - S/T EP, and Gorilla Biscuits - Start Today LP. Note: There are probably some records on this list that are subject to change when my mood varies, but I feel this is quite consistant with my tastes in hardcore. Don't agree? Get at me, we will discuss the other great releases by this label. 
ANYWAYS, enough talk about how much of a nerd I am, and more talk about this record (which will just, in itself, reiterate how much of a nerd I am).
