1. How would you say Weekend Nachos has progressed as a band since the days of the torture ep? Would you say your current sound is markedly different than in the early days of the band?
We've definitely progressed on our recordings...but it's very hard to say that our current sound is any different than it was in 2004 because we still play tons and tons of older stuff live, and we still go off hard and play everything as fast and furious as we ever did. On our later records, there's definitely a maturity in sound, but there's also plenty of elements from our earlier material that are still present. i wouldn't say that we have a current sound because it's always changing on the records, but really it's all about the live show for me, and aside from being better and tighter, we are the same live band that we were when the Torture E.P. came out.
2.Explain "Suburban Powerviolence" to me. How did you come up with that descriptive term for your band?
Haha, i certainly did not come up with that term, some queen on the B9 board did. i considered ourselves a powerviolence band for about 2 seconds in the very beginning cuz i wanted to accurately describe what we sounded like. once the entire rest of the scene started claiming that label, i stopped. we don't associate ourselves with anybody, let alone a bunch of trendy retards.
3. Is Weekend Nachos an overtly straight edge band, or do you guys keep it seperate from it?
Weekend Nachos is not, and never has been, a straight edge band. If you or anybody else must know, i adhere to the straight edge lifestyle but do not care about it one way or another. i don't associate myself with the label because it's not something i take pride in anymore, i just do not care. the whole thing is a crutch just like any other drug or religion. No one wants to realize that, but it's the harsh truth. i needed it when i was 17, figuring myself out and desperate to identify with something...10 years later i just don't need it anymore. i am who i am. no label can or ever will change that.
4. Do you feel that straight edge is on the decline in the Chicago/Midwest scene? I understand that some of our scene's elder statesmen have lost interest or moved on lately, does that bum you out or affect you in any way?
Well considering i am sorta one of those people...no, it doesn't bum me out or affect me at all, if anything i've grown to understand it better. People fucking change. I personally do not participate in using drugs or drinking, it's not something i'm into, but who am i to judge anybody for feeling differently or deciding that they feel differently at any point in their life? if you really think any of your friends are "in it til the end" with you, you've got a big shit-storm of reality coming your way later in life. People change, people feel differently, and that's their right as human beings. Straight edge is not on the decline in the Midwest, though....on the contrary, it's still alive and well. There will always be younger kids keeping that shit going in Chicago, i think, for better or worse. I'm not into it, the only thing kids at shows ever want to talk about these days is "straight edge" and they're all in packs now. Hitler youth? Christian mindset? you decide.
5. On Al Quint's blog, he described Weekend Nachos as sounding like "Murdercore" do you like that term/think it's accurate?
i don't really have a problem with that term, although it does sound pretty cheesy. i think it is accurate though...most of our songs are about wanting to kill people. it's tough though cuz some bands actually DO kill people. we're not a bunch of hardasses or gang bangers or anything, we're just trying to spit some rage and express some hate. i guess as long as you don't take it too literally, "murdercore" is backed.
13. I saw an ad for the tour overseas on a riotfest.com buletin website, what's your opinion of Riotfest/Rose Red Productions, i understand they're kind of a controversial topic in the chicago punk scene.
I don't know anything about Rose Red Productions, but i don't dig Riot Fest just like i don't dig any other big show or fest that caters to mall punks. I don't want to go into it too deeply cuz i really don't care much either way. I wouldn't go to that show just like i wouldn't go see Anti-flag or go to a Warped Tour at the United Center. If that's what someone else is into, then that's awesome. I'm sure they think i'm wasting my time watching The Repos play 8 minutes once every 2 years in a basement to 50 people. To me, that's an experience that i can't describe with words. To them, it's nothing. I can understand why they feel that way. Everybody have fun.
6. How did the whole European tour come about? Did someone ask you to do it? Did you set up the dates yourself? etc.
We have been invited many times over the last 6 years, i think we got invited out there within our first year as a band...but we knew it was a good idea to wait until we got ourselves established. 6 years later, it finally happened after a few failures along the way, shit just wasn't coming together until recently. Stephan from German grind band Wojczech is the person who booked the whole thing for me, minus a date or two that i set up myself. basically, he and i were introduced by our mutual friend, Sandro of RSR, and we corresponded via email and set the whole thing up together. very DIY. it ended up being incredible.
7. What was your favorite country/show out of all the European dates and why?
That's very tough to say, but i think our best shows were in Holland and the UK. we played a grindcore fest in Eindhoven, NL and that was probably the most people we played to on the whole tour, probably about 200 or so, maybe more actually! then in London and Leeds, both of those UK shows were fucking packed and kids went ape shit. singing along, moshing, etc. it was very shocking and incredible to see. as far as what country i liked the best aside from the touring aspect, those memories belong to me and if any of you want to know what it's like, save up some money and experience it yourself. it was great.
8. What kind of venues were you playing in? When I think of shows overseas I think of lots of shows held in squats and shit like that....is that accurate to any degree?
It's accurate to some degree...however, we played quite a handful of shows that were in very nice, reasonably clean places. a lot of them were bars actually, but not like shitty dive bars in the U.S., in fact i didn't see a single one of those while we were in Europe. if we weren't playing a squat or an abandoned school building, we were playing in a community center or an old fashioned pub.
9. There's been videos circulating of some of the euro dates and lots of people have commented on the Euros being horrible moshers.....can you confirm or deny this?
Not in the UK or Scandinavia, actually. at most of those shows, the moshing and crowd reactions were very similar to those here in the States. however, in the mainland people don't really mosh poorly, but they just don't mosh, period. it's a lot more common in those areas for people to just stand and watch the band, even if they are into it. we played a lot of shows where people were definitely stoked and into us but just not punching any of their friends. no complaints though.
10. Worst date on the Euro tour and why?
Every show was great in its own way. the PA wasn't working very well in Malmo, Sweden but there was still a great turnout and we met a lot of great people there, so i can't even consider that to be a bad show. i would be a foolish prick to say one negative thing about any of the shows. we were either very lucky or we got what we deserved for our hard work...but regardless, all of the shows were wonderful.
11. What kind of an audience came out for your shows, did it vary from country to country?
Mostly grindcore enthusiasts and crust punks...but every now and then you'd see your typical B9 hardcore kid. I felt like it was very similar to how it was in the U.S. when we play shows. A lot of different types of punks are into Weekend Nachos, it's pretty sweet. In Scandinavia and the UK, there were a lot more clean cut looking hardcore kids at the shows, i will say. Basically a good mix all around.
12. Any fights at the shows over there, or did everyone get along? How rowdy were the shows?
Not a single fight anywhere, which was cool. Some of the shows got pretty rowdy...which is always nice to see, cuz W.N. always brings that out in people. However, there really was not a lot of ignorance or hostility going around like you see at a lot of U.S. hardcore shows. Now, depending on my mood, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Sometimes i like for their to be a hostile vibe at our shows. But i'm always glad when there isn't a fight. You pay 8 dollars or euros to see a show, the last thing you want to do is spend your night feeling shittier than you did when you left the house.
14. How was the food in Europe? Any highlights? Lowlights?
Food in Europe was plentiful but i personally did not really like it. Everybody was so nice and generous and when i'm hungry, i will quietly eat what i'm given and i will say please and thank you and act like a gentleman when i'm being taken care. I have so much respect for everybody that fed us while we were there. The food was okay...but i have my own specific tastes and from this experience, i personally prefer food in the United States. From my understanding, the rest of my band loved everything we ate and couldn't get enough of it, so that's awesome. Fact of the matter is, you rarely get fed at shows in the U.S. and in Europe, you get fed at EVERY show. Therefore, no complaints. It was righteous.
15. Were the bands you played with any good?
Aside from the two bands that we made everlasting friendships with and received the honor of watching every single night of tour, WOJCZECH and CYNESS, both from Germany....we played with a lot of generic grindcore bands that i personally did not care for. Occasionally, we played with a band that fucking blew me away. There are a few i could name but just so no one feels too left out, i will only discuss one of them at this time. THE AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN from Leeds were one of the most fun live bands i've ever seen in my life. They were untouchable and some of the nicest dudes i've ever met in my life. Definitely check them out if you ever can. They rage so hard and we got to see them 4 times on our tour, which was such a pleasure. Okay, i'm gonna namedrop Xharold shitmanX from Scotland, too. those dudes were fucking awesome too. I was so stoked to play with them and they did not disappoint. great dudes, too.
16. Any trends over there in the HC scene that are different from over here?
Not really any that i noticed, no...unless being nice is a trend over there. if there was one thing i noticed there, the social aspect of the scenes there were a lot less cliquey and people didn't seem to be staring you down or sticking up their noses as much. Obviously, this is a reason the European hardcore scenes are far superior to those in the U.S. People were just way nicer and way more real, seemingly. Maybe it's because of the culture barriers, and i just couldn't notice it the same way that i do when i'm home. i'm open to that possibility, not trying to make any generalizations here.
17. Were you generally well received over there?
Yes, absolutely. At every show we played, the general vibe was that everybody there was pretty excited to be watching us. When i think about the fact that i was all the way across an entire ocean and people still cared about my band...it blows my mind.
18. What foreign scene had the hottest girls? Any Weekend Nachos groupies?
For me, i saw more babes in the UK than anywhere else. they were just everywhere. i think the other guys (and most people in general) will disagree with me and they'll say Scandinavia was where they saw the most attractive women. but i didn't notice anybody too spectacular there, it was sort of a let down (straight edge). i like thicker women though...and everybody says that women are bigger in England cuz they eat as shitty as we do here in the U.S. Why anybody would ever complain about that is beyond me. Pussies! I'll take an English speaking fattie over an anorexic Fraulein any day.
19. Did most everyone speak english? Was it hard to communicate with people?
Almost everybody spoke english, which was great!!! it was very very easy to communicate with people in Europe, basically the entire time. Hungary seemed to have a few people that had some trouble though, i noticed.
Weekend Nachos Euro Tour 2010
Oct 1 2010 6:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Potsdam, ., GERMANY
Oct 2 2010 6:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Eindhoven, ., NETHERLANDS
Oct 3 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Gent, ., BELGIUM
Oct 4 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Mulheim, ., GERMANY
Oct 5 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Leipzig, ., GERMANY
Oct 6 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Budapest, ., HUNGARY
Oct 7 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Ziar Nad Hronom, ., SLOVAKIA (Slovak Republic)
Oct 8 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Ziar Nad Zazavou, ., CZECH REPUBLIC
Oct 9 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Prague, ., CZECH REPUBLIC
Oct 10 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Hamburg, ., GERMANY
Oct 11 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Aalborg, ., DENMARK
Oct 12 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Oslo, ., NORWAY
Oct 13 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Gothenburg, ., SWEDEN
Oct 14 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Stockholm, ., SWEDEN
Oct 15 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Malmo, ., SWEDEN
Oct 16 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Copenhagen, ., DENMARK
Oct 17 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH Berlin, ., GERMANY
Oct 18 2010 8:00P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH t.b.a., ., BELGIUM
Oct 19 2010 8:30P U.K. TOUR W/ AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN and CYNESS London, ., UNITED KINGDOM
Oct 20 2010 8:30P U.K. TOUR W/ AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN and CYNESS Nottingham, ., UNITED KINGDOM
Oct 21 2010 8:30P U.K. TOUR W/ AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN and CYNESS Edinburgh, ., UNITED KINGDOM
Oct 22 2010 8:30P U.K. TOUR W/ AFTERNOON GENTLEMEN and CYNESS Leeds, ., UNITED KINGDOM
Oct 23 2010 8:30P EUROPEAN TOUR W/ WOJCZECH t.b.a., ., BELGIUM
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