Suburban Horror: So I know you guys got new members?

Justin Pierre:Well that was 5, no 4 years ago.

SH: Sorry, my press is really late.

JP:We kind of started in 1997. Josh and I were the only two, whatever, original members. That doesn’t really make sense because, honestly this band didn’t really get going until Matt, Tony, and Jesse joined. So the old story was 1997 to 2002, and 2002 is where we really really really began. So what do I have to say about the new members? They are okay, you know. They aren’t my favorite people in the world, but what can you do? You got to live with them. I’m being sarcastic!

SH:What is it like being on Warped Tour?

JP: Awesome. I love it. Other than the heat in places like Pheonix and the south in general. The heat I’m not used to it being from Minnesota. It’s hot there but not anywhere near like that. I love the fact that there are so many different bands and different types of stuff. Everyone gets along for the most part.

SH: For the most part? Everyone says that!

JP: Well there are a few things that are funny. NoFX gives Underoath a hard time for being a religious band. But they are NoFX - they are against a lot of things. To me it’s funny.

SH: Is it really weird for you guys that you blew up from nowhere? You’re becoming household names - what has it been like for you?

JP: I guess the only way I recognize it is that I’m recognized every once in a while on the street. It’s funny to me. We were in L.A. yesterday when I was walking down the street and some kid stopped me and said,”Can I take a picture with you?” I was like, “Sure do you know who I am?” And he was like, “YEAH!” and I was like, “Oh SHIT! That’s funny!” And he said, “Yeah I’m from some other place and I came to L.A. and you are my first celebrity sighting in L.A.” I laughed really hard and said, “I’m so sorry! “ How embarrassing that I’m the celebrity! As far as that stuff goes, the only things I’ve seen is that more kids want to take pictures with me. For me, it’s been a gradual slow climb and luckily it’s been going up. I didn’t see it being like a BAM thing.

SH:You have a unique sound. It’s unclassifiable. Well, how would you say you classify it?

JP:I don’t know. We all listen to different music, but most of the stuff that we are into is stuff from the early 90’s. Jawbox, the Pixies, Superchunk, Guided by Voices. There’s so many bands. I think that the kids who are 15 years old, they might have been 5 years old when that music was popular. Had they been around at this time they would have seen where we derive our music from. THE RENTALS! The Rentals are why we have a keyboard in our band. Honestly, I don’t know how much of us is that we are original or how much of it is that people aren’t familiar with the bands that influenced us. I like to think we are original, but I think everyone likes to think that.

SH: Well most of the bands here have the pop-punk, punk, ska sound and you guys aren’t.

JP: Well as far as this band goes then yeah, well I don’t know, maybe not. I don’t want to sound like a dickhead, but I am. I’m a dickhead.

SH:Anyway do you have any interesting tour stories?

JP: No I’m not ever really mobbed. I just say that to make myself feel better. Well there is one. The Buzzcocks crashed and interview we were doing. They came in, and then they said really nice things about us and how they thought we were a good band and that was beyond cool. So that’s a happy tour story. I spend most of my time in the bus reading or watching movies

SH: Top five favorite movies?

JP: Stranger than Paradise by Jim Jarmusch, Barfly, Raising Arizona, Night of the Iguana, and Five Easy Pieces. I definitely think that Stranger than Paradise is my favorite movie of all time. Have you seen any of the Jim Jarmusch films? He’s very independent - he writes it his own way; it’s independent money from overseas because no one is going to give him money to make movies here. I tend to like directors who do things their own way. Like John Cassavettes. Actually, A Woman Under the Influence has to be in my top five. So let me do the top five again: Stranger than Paradise by Jim Varmush, Barfly, Rasing Arizona, Night of the Iguana, and A Woman Under the Influence. That’s it.

SH:You said you read a lot of books. Favorite authors?

JP: Russell Banks, I like a lot. Jerry Stahl. Elmore Leonard, kind of detective fiction stuff. I love detective stuff like James Elroy, Raymond Chandler, Dashel Hammond, Patricia Heiser.

SH:So what else do you do in your free time?

JP:We’re actually writing for the next record on our bus. We have one and _ a buses, but _ of the bus is rented out. Our bus has six bunks and the whole back area is a recording studio.

SH:What’s the creative process for you guys?

JP: We just sit around. Usually someone has an idea and we work off of that. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t we kind of ditch it. It’s just random. It’s either gotta happen or not.

SH:If you could go on tour with anyone, dead or alive?

JP: I think Jawbox and Superchunk and Pixies and Rentals.

SH:Well the Pixies are still around so it could happen.

JP: So is Superchunk. They just released a new album. So!

- Magic Stick Mish