Interviews

Interviews: Rancid

Straight from the July 31st segment of the Vans Warped Tour in Washington D.C., we talk to Rancid about blowing up cars, laundry, and other tour fun stuff.

Smother: To start, why don't you give us a formal introduction, who you are, what you do?

Brett: I'm Brett Reed, I play drums in Rancid.

Smother: Let's see here, first question; on a few songs, it sounds like the guitar was trying to sound like a steel drum, it sounded really authentic.

Brett: There is steel drumming on "Coppers" The little lead, I remember when Tim did that, he kinda wanted to get that metal steel sound, y'know the lap steel sound and uh, I dunno, he just did it, he just kinda tweaked whatever little amp he was doing it and he made this little lead.

Smother: Yeah, cause that sounds really cool.

Brett: Yeah, I love that song.

Smother: On "Hooligans", what's the line in the chorus after, "All the hooligans and rudeboys know one thing for sure…"?

Brett: I'm not sure. I don't know what that one thing for sure is, man. Uh, something scars on their face or something.

Smother: Yeah, why, with all these guests artists coming on the new album, was that kinda weird playing with all these new people, like deviating from how you guys have been playing?

Brett: No, it was actually the funnest recording we'd ever done, yeah and it wasn't like, we'd been having people play Hammond organ on our stuff for a while, y'know, so, on Out Come the Wolves there was some Hammond organ and whatnot, and Vic, the kid who is with us now who played on the record with the Slackers, he's been a good friend of ours ever since we toured with Stubborn All-Stars and he's a fuckin genius. He can just bust out a riff and y'know, he's a real cool guy to just hang out with, so no, it was fun man, people just came down and it wasn't like we planned it, to have people there, y'know? They're just like, we're in one town and people show up, "Hey! What's goin' on? We're recording a record, why don't you come down?" Then they'd show up, it was cool.

Smother: So you're saying it was a little bit more fun to make this one than all your other ones you've made?

Brett: Well, yeah, y'know, we had fun making records, but it was like, totally kicked back and we took our time, y'know we were gonna take some time off, after we finished the Out Come the Wolves tour, and it was just kicked back, we were in no hurry. Smother: It seems like every person that we come across is in love with Tim Armstrong, do you have any idea why?

Brett: He's married, he's a good looking kid, y'know, he's taken now, so many hearts are breaking across the nation.

Smother: What's the deal with the pictures and stuff inside the album now instead of lyrics?

Brett: It's nothing significant, we just, actually, the deadline for doing the artwork kind of snuck up on us, we were trying to mix all these different songs, we got a call, like, "Yeah, if you want your record to come out, on the 3rd pushback date, you might want to think about getting the artwork done today", so Jesse Fischer and Tim got together and just fucking nocked the artwork out in a couple of days, we didn't spend any time on the artwork really. And that has something to do with the whole lyric sheet copy in there and whatnot, because it takes a long time to sit there, we had done so many songs and to find all the lyrics, this record is a little slower and more decipherable and you can hear what people are saying, so we didn't think it was as necessary. It's kinda cool as to what you think the song says, whatever it means to you too.

Smother: So do you know, what's happened to make the current progression, like how you're coming along musically? From the first time, to all the way you are now, it's different.

Brett: I don't know, y'know, it's just the way it is, it's just us growing.

Smother: So you find yourselves maturing?

Brett: Yeah, us getting better musicians, and wanting to try different stuff and not giving a fuck about what people think about what we do, it's like still what we want to do.

Smother: How do you feel about Tim Yo, from MRR's death? Did you know him, or what?

Brett: Tim and Matt were really close friends with him. Even though MRR wasn't down with what Rancid did as a band, that didn't get in between their friendship, they miss him a lot, he's died recently cause of cancer and that's real sad. That magazine is a cool thing for those kids that are into that whole real political punk rock scene, but I think the magazine is going to go on for a bit, I don't know if it's going to change or whatnot, but yeah, it's sad that he's gone.

Smother: Ok, geez, I have all these OpIvy questions…

Brett: I could probably answer them

Smother: Were you asked to be on the OpIvy tribute album at all?

Brett: How would we do that?

Smother: I dunno, it seems like

Brett: Why would we do that? You don't ask the band members that used to be in the band to be on a tribute for the band.

Smother: Well, it's not all you guys, but y'know.

Brett: No, there's no way.

Smother: I guess the guys have heard the album, do you know what they think of it?

Brett: I didn't know, I haven't even heard about it, I didn't know that there was one out there. I mean, kids cover fucking OpIvy songs every day, it's hard to keep track of them all.

Smother: Ok, we've got a friend named Carbomb, and we were wondering if you ever met a guy named Carbomb, what would you end up thinking?

Brett: Carbomb? (laughter) Does he blow up cars? That's kinda neat name there, I'd like to meet your friend Carbomb.

Smother: Well, he's here today.

Brett: If you ever want to blow up a car, he's around.

Smother: What's your guys' deal with laundry and stuff on the tour?

Brett: Y'know, I gave up laundry for K-Mart. Sometimes, we'll get runners that run to the grocery store or whatever, drive people to the hotel and back, and we send out laundry, but it's such a matter of getting all your shit together and labeling it so it doesn't all get mixed up, you just buy real disposable clothes, I buy t-shirts and socks and boxers and when I get them dirty, I just throw them away, go to K-Mart, buy them again, twenty bucks worth of new shit, it's about the same price as laundry.

Smother: So what are you guys doing, listening to on the tour?

Brett: The new Rocket From the Crypt record, we're really good friends with those guys and they just hooked us up with all their cds and a bunch of b-side cds and stuff, I love those guys, so I've been listening to them a lot.

Smother: What's the favorite band of yours that you guys have played with?

Brett: Um, there's been a lot y'know, we toured with Rocket (from the Crypt) and that was one of my all time favorite bands that I've been touring with. That tour was a real honor, we played with the Slackers on this tour, they're another favorite of mine.

Smother: What's your favorite show that you've done?

Brett: Uh, there's been a lot of cool shows, y'know, a show we played in Toronto was really good, a lot of kids there are into it up there, we haven't been out in a couple of years, so it'll be interesting to see, the bill changes at every place and you never know when you're playing until you get to the show.

Smother: Yeah, I heard that you guys all trade spots, so a different band headlines every night.

Brett: Well, not really headlining, but sometimes Bad Religion will play at fucking 3 or at 7 and we'll play at 3 or at 8, but really, whoever is last is fucked because everybody is tired and wants to leave, whoever plays early, it's usually too hot, but it's nice out here today, it's usually 100 degrees.

Smother: So, what's the weirdest thing you've ever seen on tour? Brett: The weirdest thing I've ever seen?

Smother: Yeah.

Brett: I think your friend Carbomb was in Detroit when we did our first tour, because we got off the freeway and there was a flaming car on the side street in some neighborhood and that was pretty funny. I saw a truck today that said, like, "Quality You can Cunt On" instead of Count on, somebody had erased the big O and it was on this fucking trailer and I was gonna take a picture of it. Everyday man, there's just some fucking new hilarity.

Smother: So how do your families and stuff feel about you guys being on tour?

Brett: It's cool, everybody knows the deal, that we're a band, that's what we do, all of our friends, the people we have relationships with understand and accept that…we all miss each other, but that's just what we gotta do, y'know?

Smother: What kind of stuff have you been hearing about the new record, like have a lot of people been coming up saying, "Man, this sucks!"

Brett: Um, no, I've been hearing a lot of really good, y'know, nothing but good stuff. A lot of people aren't going to come up to a band a say, "I hate your fucking record" so, I'm sure there are kids out there that don't like it, but it's the kind of record that grows on people, it grew on me, as much as that's funny, it's a little bit of a departure, but I think this record is like a, it's something you can listen to for a long time, it takes a while to know all the different stuff that's going on. I think it's better than a record that's like, 12 songs long that's all fucking, amazing songs…Bam! You get sick of it after 2 weeks and you never want to listen to it again, so I think it's cool that it's different.

Smother: Out of all your stuff, what's your favorite one to play?

Brett: On the new stuff?

Smother: On anything.

Brett: Everybody always asks that, I don't think of it as songs, (as a big insect lands on Jimmy's head) whoa, there's a big thing on the back of your head, it's hanging around, it's gone now. It's more of like, if we have a good set list or a show goes well, that sticks in my head more than a favorite song, I like playing "Brothels" a lot, that's a good one, I like that one. That guy was in Swingers, did you guys ever see that movie? He's from Hepcat.

Smother: Really? I've been meaning to see that, that's cool.

Brett: He's an actor too. You should see that movie, it's the funniest fucking movie ever made.

Smother: Who's the band in that?

Brett: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, but he's an actor in it, he's the singer for Hepcat, he's got some funny lines.

Smother: Who are your favorite bands?

Brett: I've pretty much named them already, but I like the Swingin' Udders, the H20, uh I like the Pixies a lot, A Tribe Called Quest, I like Ice Cube, fuck, I'll listen to anything, you know?

Smother: How has the tour been so far for you guys?

Brett: The tour is really fun. It's like punk rock summer camp. It's getting towards the end, so everybody is kind of tired and burned, but uh, yeah, we're trying to sleep a little longer, but it's fun, you get to check out the other bands. A lot of our friends are on this tour, we've played with all these bands before, so it's really cool to hang out. We have barbecues every night in the parking lot, set off fireworks.

Smother: That's cool, maybe we'll be around for the barbecue later.

Brett: Oh yeah.

Smother: What kind of future plans do you guys have?

Brett: We're doing some opening dates for the Beastie Boys so we're doing a week with them, we're gonna do a little bit in Europe for a couple of weeks and then we're going to hitch a ride back over to the U.S. for our U.S. tour in the fall with Hepcat.

Smother: So you guys are going to be coming back through here (D.C.) again?

Brett: Oh yeah, definitely.

Smother: So the tour has been pretty good so far and everything?

Brett: Yeah. It's been good, we've been to Europe for a couple of weeks and, oh shit, I know that girl, I used to go out with her…(calls to girl and they talk)

Smother: Yeah, I guess, since you're basically dealing with the rhythm and everything, a question I've always had is, with Matt playing bass and going crazy, do you try to keep up or do you develop your own rhythm with him going all over the place?

Brett: Um, it's weird, we don't really think about it.

Smother: It's just natural, you'd say?

Brett: If uh, we write the rhythms pretty much together, cause the guitar riff, Matt'll do a bassline and I'll pretty much play along and there's basic standard kick drum patterns to basslines and there is only so many ways you can change it up. You just pretty much try and get the kick and the bass, when he's changing notes, it just kind of blends together, I don't know…we just kinda read each other's mind while we're playing…sometimes he'll just follow my kick drums, but usually it's just subliminal, y'know.

Smother: That's cool, well she's telling us to wrap it up so thanks for doing this interview, man.

Brett: Any time.

- Jesse and Jimmy