Friday, November 9, 2007

Ampere interview




in another one of my random myspace message runs, i came across Massachusetts-based punk band, Ampere's page and asked them for an interview. being nice guys (and girl) and all, they said yes.

here's that interview:

1. what is your name, and what do you do in the band?

stephen: my name is stephen, and i yell about things.

2. everybody on earth probably knows that Massachusetts gave birth to a lot of awesome hardcore/punk bands. how did you get into the scene? what were some of the important events that led you to where you are now?

stephen: it all started for me when i was 11 and a family friend who was a few years older than me made me a tape of screeching weasel and nofx. that somehow lead to bands like conflict & flux of pink indians - two bands which probably shaped my ideology more than anything else up to that point - all that, after a long and winding road, brought me to where i am in life right now. i'm not sure that brendan, the kid who got me into punk, knows just how much he changed my life. i think the first MA bands i got into were the ones that were playing every weekend in the mid-90s.. the trouble, :30 seconds over tokyo, august spies, etc... i was into the proletariat instantly, but it took me until a little later in life to realize how brilliant an album "this is my world" by the jerry's kids is.

3. how and when did you actually start playing together? where did you all come from? and whatever happened to Orchid and Montcalm?

stephen: i have a hard time actually pinpointing the exact moment that ampere was conceived, but andy & i had been playing together prior to ampere in a band called the last forty seconds, and we lived together. we moved from that house in northampton to a house in amherst with will & meghan - i can't really remember if ampere started right before or right after we moved in, but it was definitely around that time. it kind of started as just a fun little fuckaround project, since we were all still involved with other bands at that point - myself with montcalm, andy with wolves, will with orchid & bfot, and meghan with unicoroner.. gradually, those bands reached their ends and ampere gradually became the main band we were all in. and i'm not really sure, myself, what happened with montcalm. it wasn't like orchid, where there were planned "final shows" - i guess you could say it just sort of fizzled out. we weren't the most organized band in the world, but what punk band is?

4. musically, how do you come up with the kind of stuff you write? what stuff do you guys usually listen to?

stephen: will usually comes up with a handful of guitar parts & riffs, brings it to practice, and it gets honed into whatever it ends up as... i usually can't write lyrics while at practice, it helps for me to have a tape that i can rewind and write to.. so, most of my contributions to the band don't occur at the same time as everyone else's. also, i've lived in brooklyn for the past year, so i don't always make the 5 hour bus ride to practice... usually, my lyrics are directly influenced by whatever i happen to be reading at the time. i can't speak for anyone else in the band, but these days i usually find myself listening to bands like jawbreaker, hickey, the replacements (and bands that sound like the replacements), leatherface, crimpshrine... you know, rough-edged melodic punk... current-day bands like dear landlord, monikers, off with their heads, the measure, ringers; and i recently discovered a love for bands like that from japan, mostly the urchin, blotto, i excuse, the miscasts, etc... and a lot of '80s japanese hardcore like death side, gauze, systematic death, lsd, the list goes on. and i think that daniel striped tiger put out one of the best records of the year with capital cities.

5. Ampere always stood to a lot of its fans as a band that would epitomize the DIY ethic, what would you personally want to say about the state of DIY at the moment within MA, and across the United States in general?

stephen: i'm not the most connected with the massachusetts diy community these days, but feel so incredibly positive about the brooklyn punk community. i've been lucky enough to fall into company with some pretty incredible kids at a pretty incredible four-story apartment in bed-stuy where we're able to have shows a few times a month... in a city where most people are off on their own thing and lacking much regard to any sort of community, i consider myself incredibly lucky to have surrounded myself with such productive and inspiring people who are definitely working towards a similar end as i am.

as far as on a national scale, i feel like we who put shows together should focus our energy towards helping bands out as much as possible - particularly those from overseas. having toured internationally a few times, i can say that the most noticeable difference from touring america is that bands are fed before or after every single show. touring isn't always something that bands can recoup money from, so it's nice to not have to dig into pocket to eat. i recognize that the infrastructure for the venues in europe is markedly different than that of those in america, but i think that with a little organization, it shouldn't be difficult to provide similar amenities to touring bands as we have been afforded in other countries.

6. each individual has varying stances on social and political issues, would you care to share some of your personal advocacies with us at Limp Cat?

stephen: i don't think that there is any singular answer for how life should be lived; it's up to the individual of course, and certain things that work for some people wouldn't for others - i'm not too big on pushing my beliefs on anyone, but for what it's worth, one of the small things that i have chosen to do with my life in hopes of making the world a better place is to practice veganism. again, i know it's not for everyone, but it works for me & makes me feel good - both physically, and about affecting some sort of change, however small as it may be, in the world. i guess you could say on a political scale i would fall into the "radical left" pigeonhole. and, further, i believe very strongly that business has absolutely no place in punk rock. i hope that it's evident through how we conduct ourselves as a band that we all subscribe to this belief & hope to lead by example.

7. i read somewhere that you have been described as non-stop touring machines. how does it feel being on the road, and would you happen to have any interesting tour stories to share?

stephen: as much as i often say that i would love to be on tour all the time, the idea of having somewhere to go home to and relax or decompress or whatever is a very nice idea. i am in love with the romanticism of travel and the notion of home being wherever i am at any given moment, but after a while i sometimes find myself ending up homesick or lovesick or simply tired of being around other people 24/7. i think that we, as a band, have it worked out pretty well. we tour often enough that i don't have to wait an eternity before going on the road again, but with enough time off in between tours to not get sick of the routine and of each other... and to keep on viewing tour as something special, rather than the normality of everyday life. a lot of times, i'll also get my fill of travel by going out independently in between tours to visit friends in other places. this is something that i have in the past year or so rediscovered a love for.

all of my favorite tour stories tend to blend together - it's all a convoluted mess in my head of inspiring people i've met, ridiculous nights after shows, unique places... when we were in kobe, japan, a bunch of us went to the public baths when the show ended. it was the most relaxing thing i've ever experienced, i think. afterwards, andy and i slept on the roof of the building in which we played. and that's my favorite recent tour experience.

8. do you have any personal messages you want to leave for anybody who might be reading this interview in the near future?

stephen: everyone should pick up these records: ringers "detention halls" lp, daniel striped tiger "capital cities" lp, the measure (sa) "union pool" 7", new bruises "goodbye, middle class" 7", and trade me the jawbreaker "chesterfield king" 12" and hickey lp. and read more books.

No comments: