Interviews

Interviews: WhyIOughtAs

Check out the WhyIOughtAs.

Smother - So, you guys are the WhyIOughta's. Tell me a little about your members, you know, how many are you, what do you play, what foreign languages do you speak, etc, etc.

WhyIOughtas – Ok, easy enough... Chad, guitar, vocals, and is pretty much mono-linguistic. Mark, also plays the guitar and does some vocals. He should be able to speak Yiddish, but isn't quite as adept at it as he should be... XjonathanX, responsible for vocals and bass duties and is down with the Ebonics yo. Rob, pretty much just plays drums, but sometimes mutters the occasional word or tow on recordings and speaks fluent "Jersey" which is pretty much English with every other word being fuck or a derivative of...

Smother – I'm sure you guys are excited about your CD that just came out. What was that like, the whole recording process? Where did you do the recording, all that fun stuff?

WhyIOughtas - We're definitely excited about it. The recording process wasn't as hard as it usually is since half the songs were previously released. The major issue with this project was the time we spent mixing. It took forever trying to match levels and sounds on 3 different recordings to make it sound somewhat together, but I think we did ok. We recorded and mixed at this little studio we practice in Lakeland. It's kinda nice to record there cause we're so familiar with it, but we're looking forward to trying something new in the future...

Smother - I'm curious, who is the most popular band you guys have had the chance to play with so far?

WhyIOughtas - Ummm, it's kinda a toss up. Probably the show we did with Diesel Boy, but I dunno, The Donnas are big movie stars now so maybe it's them...

Smother - Do you guys "stand" for anything? Animal rights? Religion in schools? The pledge of allegiance? Is there a WhyIOughtas credo?

WhyIOughtas - I wouldn't say we stand for anything as a band, other than what we feel is right at the time, but we're down with the whole "anti oppression" routine... Definitely anti-racist, but we're also kinda big into feminist issues and homophobia issues as well. We take the whole anti-ignorance stance I guess...

Smother - How happy are you with the finished CD?

WhyIOughtas - We are a lot happier than we thought we would be when we first decided to put it out. It was kind of a rush job at first but we all are very pleased with the way it came out. Sure there are a few things that maybe could have been a little different, but all in all I think it's pretty solid for a self-release...

Smother - Do you fellas have any weird habits?

WhyIOughtas - Hehe you don't even wanna know... I think Rob and Chad have about the weirdest, although Mark isn't too far behind. They are just really weird about germs I suppose. They won't share drinks; they won't turn off sinks or open doors with their hands, especially after they just washed them. I dunno, it's kinda funny. I guess I'm just the opposite. I just don't care. I'll share with anyone, stuff like that doesn't bother me...

Smother - You have some damn funny merchandise. I particularly love the Wu-Tang style WhyIOughtas Shirt, and the upside down McDonald's WhyIOughtas button. Who is the marketing genius behind all of this?

WhyIOughtas - Thanks man, we try... I dunno, we're all in agreement on everything we do but the Wu Tang logo and the McDonald's thing I pretty much came up with. I don't know if I'm a marketing genius or not, but if anyone's hiring...

Smother - What do you think you would do upon meeting a guy named Carbomb?

WhyIOughtas - Ummm, it's kinda funny cause I've met a guy named Carbomb, well Carbomb Dave actually and he's a really nice guy. I wouldn't like him hanging around the van though....

Smother - Okay, however many WhyIOughtas you can rustle up to answer this one, what are each of your biggest influences, musically?

WhyIOughtas - That is such a rough question to field, we all come from a lot of diverse musical backgrounds too broad to even begin to list... Besides, I wouldn't want to let everyone know who we steal stuff from...

Smother - What is the greatest aspiration for the WhyIOughtas?

WhyIOughtas - To actually be able to do this for the rest of our lives, well maybe not be the 'stones, but to be happy doing what we love, playing music, making records, and being on the road...

Smother - How much touring have you guys done?

WhyIOughtas - We've done a few mini's here and there, nothing too extensive so far but we have a lot in the works for Summer 99. A lot of East Coast touring. Maybe some dates in Canada and the Mid-west as well. We're doing a few dates on the Warped Tour this summer in Texas that we are really excited about and I think Avi from SpringMan Records is wanting us to come out to California and do a few weeks out there so we're pretty excited about potential touring opportunities so far. If you're in a band and want someone to play with, let me know, and if not, look for us in your town soon yo...

Smother - How has the reaction been to your CD?

WhyIOughtas - Fairly positive so far. It's been out for a little over a month and we've already come close to paying back the pressing of it so we must be doing something right. Everyone we've talked to seems to like it, then again people that hate it may just not talk to us anymore, you can never be too sure...

Smother - Do you have anything to say to the readers?

WhyIOughtas - Umm, thanks for reading this and putting up with me for this long. If you like crazy insane metal core, go buy some Coalesce, but if you like zany punk rock, go check out the WhyIOughtas, buy our records, come see our shows, and bring us food...