El Matador online mag.

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El Matador- 30 day warranty, alright, so when did you guys start out, about three years ago right?

30DW- Yeah a little under three years.

EM- So, how’d your music start out, like, what determined your style?

30DW- Well, the soul purpose was to play some green day songs.

Dave-No, we played some Fun Size and Avail that day too,

BJ- Yeah.

Brad- Yeah well, we started playing green day songs and then we discovered like, all the other stuff that was in the record collection, cause like, we all had the same cd’s and what not. And then, one day we just started playing some tunes, and we were like, “Hey, this could be a song,”

Bj- We totally blasphemed Hang.

EM- So just out of curiosity, you guys straight edge?

All- Not really

Brad- well, I don’t do anything, but like, I don’t care.

All- Yeah we don’t care, that much. David- Yeah brad’s weird, he doesn’t think of himself as straight edge, but he doesn’t really do anything. He doesn’t go around with like, his arms crossed and x’s on his hand or any shit like that.

EM- Well that’s cool. So you guys went on tour last summer, right?

All- Yup.

Dave-Naked fun.

Brad- Yeah that was in Georgia: David- Yeah,

EM- Dude, you swam naked?,by yoursel, o.k, but other people in that's nasty

Bj- Yeah Dave got drunk, took his clothes off and jumped in a pool. (laughs).

Dave- Yeah that was a fun time,

Brad- No it wasn’t. 'Cause I was in the pool, so were you Bj. We’re like, “oh shit, out of the pool.” (chuckles)

EM- So, On tour how’d you guys get into the line up, like who set up like, the venues and stuff?

Brad- We did. Well it’s a big do it yourself thing, and it’s all a matter of calling people up and like, going to the post office, and sending stuff in. Then getting the gear, and… getting screwed over a lot. Hehe. Yeah but it’s all in the name of rock and roll, so.. I didn’t mind.

EM-So before all this, did you get a record deal, how’d that happen? You guys played a lot of shows right?

30DW- Yeah a lot.

Brad- Yeah. The total was like 100 or something like that.

Brad- Yeah it was really, really high.

Bj- Yeah, one day we totaled up all the shows, and it was like,100. Or something like that.

Dave- Wait, what? What, was the actual question, like something, records, deals. Something deal something records.

Brad -If you were talking about our record deal, we have no record deal.

EM- You don’t?

Brad- Nope. Were independent, all the money comes out of our pockets.

EM- So then like, how’d you guys get recorded.

Brad- Working an ass load.

EM- What do you mean, someone just came out and was like “hey you want to get recorded?”

Brad- Hell no. We had to go out last summer, not summer 2001, summer 2000, and like me and Bj just started like, going around and shopping around for someone that would look at us. I found Jonathan Maio, and I was impressed because he was the only one who took us seriously, and wasn’t all unsure of us. He wasn’t like, “Oh when you got some money, come talk to me.” Seriously we were like, “Whoa we can afford this place!” and then we called him and it ended up being a really tight studio.

EM- so how much did it cost?

Brad-25 an hour.

EM- What?

30DW-25 dollars an hour yeah, not 2500, if it cost that much there’d be an ass kicking. Everything else was like 75.

EM- So how long did it take to record?

Brad-2days,

Dave- For the songs before?

EM- Yeah. Well, we were recording two days and then we mixed for two days.

Bj- Na we were there three days so.

Brad- Oh yeah, no you were there the first day and then me and Dave we there for the last two days.

EM- So how’d you record. What’s the process? You just hooked up to a sound board and started playing ?

Dave- Na, just set up and smacked stuff .

Brad- They put you in separate rooms. Well we could have been in the same room, but your amplifiers have to be in a separate rooms.

EM- So you can’t hear the strings and stuff right.

30DW-Yeah.

EM- So when did you record the acoustic album?

Bj- on the 8 track that I have.

EM- Really?

Bj- Yeah I got it for free from my uncle as a gift.

EM- Cool.

EM- So when you guys went on tour, how many shows did you play?

30DW- twelve?

David- Na I think it was 15

Bj- It was more than ten and less than twenty, let’s leave it at that.

Brad- Totally.

EM- So was it the whole east coast?

Brad- It was Florida to Pennsylvania.

EM- So where’d you guys go in Pennsylvania?

30DW- Newville.

EM- So you guys started out playing green day and shit like that.

Bj- Well I really liked punk before I actually new what punk was. Like, I listened to green day and sublime, like the punkish sublime songs. Yeah I liked nirvana and Foo Fighters too. Yeah I still like all those bands now, and then like, Brad Introduced me to inquisition, which is like the giantest kick ass shit on the face of Virginia, probably the best Richmond will ever see.

All- Hehe.

EM- Yeah there weren’t that many bands around three years ago.

Bj- Three years ago.

Brad- That was like 99

EM- yeah 98, 99.

Brad and Bj- yeah it was dying out,

Dave- Yeah that was gay.

Brad-Yeah it was dying.

Brad- Yeah, I was reading the magazine and like, James Murphy was talking about the Richmond scene from 91 to 97, and he was telling like, dude Richmond is the shit, it was like totally rocking between 91 and 96. And he was like, “dude Richmond could be the next Berkeley.” Personally I thought it was.

Bj- Yeah and then the shit hit the fan.

Brad- Yeah it really did.

Bj- yeah and then inquisition broke up and formed like, seven different bands.

Dave- yeah like separate different bands.

EM- Yeah that’s kind of like fun size did though right?

Dave- Yeah pretty much.

Brad- yeah I was thinking about that the other day actually.

EM- Yeah cause like I moved here when I was getting into the seventh grade and like I was totally in to metal, and some stuff. But of course I really didn’t know exactly what punk was, because everyone was like, yeah, “three eleven’s punk” and “punk is the same as ska.”

Dave- so what metal bands did you like?

EM- Metallica, Creed, when they used to kick ass…

Brad- Dave you were into metal church weren’t you?

Dave- Yeah but I don’t know…

Brad- We went ahead and put that one tom part into opaque.

David- Brad dude, that was my idea

Brad- Yeah but that was pretty tight,

Bj- Yeah I liked Dag Nasty.

David and Brad- Diagnostic’s pretty tight. EM-So like when you ask someone, “oh well how about thirty day warranty, what do you think about them?” and they’re like, “man 30 day warranty?, they suck!” what do say to them?

Dave- Well most of that‘s really Brad’s fault, cause brad really sucks. Hehe.

Brad- Well I just think everybody likes what they like. I mean, we never started this to be like any certain kind of music. Like Dave, you said the other day, like I can’t remember how we got on this but you were like, “this records an compilation of like, all the music we’ve heard within the last year. Like all the influences we’ve had

Bj- Well on this full length, we’re gonna have more strike anywhere kind stuff , and more poppy,

Brad- More of everything

Bj- Na I’m just saying there’s like two groups. Emo rock, and poppy stuff on it.

EM- Well I’ve heard the new record, and I think the it kicks ass. I started listening to punk ,probably to you guys about a year ago. I thought you guys were, alright, but then I started listening to you more, and all of the sudden I was like, man this shit kicks major ass! I guess it was like one of those 3dimensional pictures, and you see all these dots, and when you look closer you can see a full picture. In my opinion, I think your music isn't like everyone else's. It's not the same old poppy punk I lost my girlfriend shit all the time. It's a better, unique kind of infrastructure.

Brad- Yeah I know what you mean definitely. I’ve done that with a lot of records, like they didn’t exactly hit me, and then I was like, well maybe I should listen to this more. Like I started listening to pop and rock a little more, and I was like it’s not so bad.

Bj- yeah I started listening to warning more.

David- Yeah I’ll probably like it when I’m old and crotchety

Brad- Old and crotchy?

David- No I said old and crotchety… nutsack

Brad- crotchety ? Yeah sounds like it has something to do with your nustsack... Well I think people should like what they like, what I hate most is stereo typing. And shit like putting labels on something, like if you like a certain kind of punk rock, like, “Oh well you can only listen to Saves the day, New Found Glory, and Fenix tx.” I like all those bands, but I also like a shitload of other bands too.

Bj- yeah we all like Four Walls Falling, and it’s kind of hard to put a label on that.

EM- Well I got into Cephid first, and then I started listening to blink 182, and I was like man, that sucks total shit. Cause it’s like the same redundant horse shit three chords over and over again.

Brad- Have you heard the new record?

EM- No, not yet.

Brad- It’s pretty good.

Dave and Bj-I think so too.

EM- I think everything after dude ranch sucked.

Brad- I really didn’t like enema of the state, but, Cheshire cat, that was the shit.

EM- So when did you start out listening to “punk”.

30 Day Warranty-98,99, yeah that was the shit. Dookie, we were 1,

David- Oh, and at this point in the interview, we should mention they lived next door.

Brad- For the longest time we would play the acoustic shit that wouldn’t tune. But then I started getting into nirvana and shit like that, really mostly because a lot of the people in my math class listened to punk, and the teacher didn’t care if we played cd’s, and like, I was like, “yo what’s that,” “oh that’s algebra 1.” “ that’s pretty tight.” And then someone played an Inquisition cd, and I was like, “what’s that man, that’s the shit!” and they were like “Oh that’s Inquisition.”

Dave- You never told me about that.

Brad- So.

Bj- Yeah I stayed with nirvana.

EM- Yeah that’s basically what I stayed with for a while, and then this kid got me around this stuff for a long time and then I was like man this is shit music. Brad- Yeah I think everybody goes through the shit metal stage. EM- Yeah well it started out being white zombie, and then I was like, man what the fuck is this shit!? I hate this shit! But I really have liked this music since I was five, like music without words, Metallica. Yeah, I wasn’t able to sing while I played, but now I can, and guess that’s because I’m part of the music, I guess that’s what they call talent.

Brad- yeah I agree totally.

David- I have no idea. That’s his department,

Brad- I just book the shows,

Dave- I just suck ass.

Brad- Yes you do, and you work at a&w hot dogs too.

EM- You work at a&w?

<>Yeah

<>How much you get paid?

<> Six.

Brad-and you sit on a stool.

David-No I don’t.

<>Yeah you do. You make little arm chairs with the crates you got in the back.

EM-hehehe, hey doesn’t Ryan Nutzo work next you?

David-In the store next to me?

EM-No. At Sbarrro.

David-I don’t know. I know Mike Chan, and he works at Sbarrro. I used to work at Sbarrro.

Brad-No you didn’t, Dave-Yeah I did

Brad-No, you just ate all the pizza there.

<>Shut up. I didn’t get any hours there.

Brad-You didn’t get any hours there cause you didn’t do any work. You don’t do any work at a&w either.

David-Yeah I do , I just eat all the corndog nuggets while nobody’s looking.

Brad-Dude that was pretty cool last night I ran two jobs, one in milk and one in produce.

EM-You guys stock?

Brad-Doug said the shit’s gonna hit the fan on Sunday. Dave-Na, they work in produce.

Brad-Doug said the shit’s gonna hit the fan on Sunday.

So you guys get half priced food?

Brd-no

Bj-No but we get half priced wages.

EM- Hehehe. So what kind of set up you guys have. You have a stage custom right Dave?

Dave- Yeah.

EM- How much did you get it for?

-‘bout 700.

-Wow that’s cool.

David- Yeah, and the really cool thing was, up at southern music the manager or owner or whatever, the guy that sold me the set, knew I couldn’t get it home in my car, cause’ I have a dodge viper, and it’s too small. So he brought it to my house in his truck. That was cool.

Brad- I remember that.

David- Well I had this ghetto set from sams, called rox, like r-o-x-x, so me and brad just fixed it up, actually made playable, like covering holes and stuff. and I asked the guy if he wanted to buy them and he gave me 125 for ‘em. That was tight. And that shit holds up really fucking good. Like I tuned them when we were recording last summer, summer of 2000, yeah and we went on tour with them too, and we had them in our trailer in Florida and stuff, and they’re still tuned, and that was like a year and a half ago.

El Matador- So when and where’d you go on tour to.

Bj and Brad- Last summer, summer of 2001. June and July. We came back August10th. From Pennsylvania and Florida. We went down and then came back up.

Brad- And we started out originally with a bunch of shows in North Carolina and South Carolina and they got cancelled one by one, so we were like, “aw this sucks” but we went anyway, I wouldn’t do it again unless we had to.

Dave- Yeah cause it was like, “if were gonna drive through town, we might as well try to play there.

EM- So did you do anything big there.

David- Well I think I hit on at least one chick per state. In Florida, I believe her name was Chelsea, from the Dantes bar.

Brad- Oh yeah and you were all about the skirt David. And you were like, “I’d make her wear the skirt.

Bj- Yeah and Brad left the trailer unlocked, and we lost some stuff, but when we got back, we left, and we got on the highway and one of Dave’s toms and Brad’s bass fell out onto the highway, and it was on the way to the show too, so we had to play with some of the other guys’ guitars. And the guy who’s father owns the place played the piano with us one time. His name was something weird I can‘t remember, and someone turned Brad’s bass in.

David- Oh yeah we almost got arrested, how are we leaving this out?

All- Yeah.

Bj- Alright, o.k let’s see. wait a minute, alright. We were going to stay at my girlfriend’s grandma’s house in a retirement community…

Dave- she touched my ass by the way.

EM- What? Who.

Brad- That’s sick.

EM- What, was it a mistake?

David- No! She just, I was walking into the shower with a towel on and she ran by and goosed me on the ass. (all chuckle)

Brad- Alright back to the story.

Bj- We got there. So me and her got out of the car, and we walked around the gate and went to the house, so Crystal opened the house, so the house has been unlocked and opened with a key. So they had this system where we had to call the house on the cell phone and press a button and it unlocked the gate. So we were trying to find the house, and so Brad went down the road the long way, and we like couldn’t find the house.

EM- So wait, you had two cars?

Bj- no just the van

EM- Right. So there was this guy following them and um, finally they were close enough to the house where we walked out, and when they stopped, the guy just gets out and,

Dave- Road blocks us

Bj- No not yet,

Dave- Oh yeah that’s right.

Bj- Alright.

EM- Wait, so you guys walked through.. And brad and Dave drove

Brad- Basically we had every right to be there and these people were out road blocking us and shit.

Bj- Yeah and we let them come in, and they were driving around and around in the community trying to find the place,

EM- So where were you?

Dave and Brad in unison- With his girlfriend. At the house.

EM- Got cha.

Bj- Yeah it’s complex. So they were driving around and around, so they stopped and we found them. And the guy got out of his car and came over to me and was like, “why didn’t you stop? I was flashing my lights at you.” and all this stuff and like this other guy comes up in a jeep, and road blocks us. And like all of the sudden all these old people are coming out of their houses with flashlights and shit.

Dave- GUNS

EM- really?

Dave- Yeah cause this was at midnight, and then they started yelling and shit and we were like, “Yo the person we’re with works at Disney, and like, doesn’t get home until 2:00 in the morning.” and so we got a key and we’re allowed to be here and like these people were like, “we’re citizen arresting you and all this other shit. And some lady with a mullet and her husband came out of there house and were like..

And they had these nascar shirts and shit, (brad laughs) and so he told her to go get, “The Bag” and she was like, “what bag?” and he said “THE bag”

EM- He was probably bullshitting you

And we were like, “what’s in, “the bag”?” and so like she went inside, and they were like give us some ID. And all this stuff. And we were like what are you talking about we’re allowed to be here and we showed them that we opened the house with the key and stuff like that. And then they were like, you’re going to jail. And then the cops pull up, and we showed them the house and the card

David- Didn’t we get a picture of us with the cop and the pistol.

Bj- And he was like “alright”

Brad- And then we showed them the note and Crystal’s ID. And the note that says, “Crystal and the boys” and “hope you had a nice drive.”

Dave- And there was this really big asshole guy who thought he was a cop and shit and he was like, “I’ll arrest every one of you.” and he was the one who road blocked us. And he took on the role of being “the asshole in charge.”

EM- Did he start any shit with you?

Dave- Yeah almost. We were giving each other some shit back and forth.

EM- Dirty looks

Dave- more than that.

Bj- He was giving us all dirty looks.

Brad- Well we hadn’t taken a bath in three weeks so..

EM- You guys must have smelled like shit!

Brad- Oh yeah. The van still smells. And now, every once in a while I’ll be driving around in the van, and I’ll get this giant waft of shit, and I’ll be like.. DAMN. And roll the windows down. So you guys got in the house and you took a picture with the cop?

All- Yeah

EM- So what happened to the asshole guy? Was he still there giving you shit?

Brad- Na man, he took off.

Bj- Yeah he kind of tucked his tail and ran. El Matador-So was touring fun?

yeah.

Bj- Best time of my life

Dave- Hell yeah.

Brad- Yeah it was a blast.

Brad- I think the only un fun time was…I don’t know I lost my bass that sucked.

EM- When it fell out of the trailer?

Brad- Yeah.

EM- Were you doing 65?

Bj- Not 65, maybe 35 or 45. It was a road like Midlothian turnpike or hull street. It was east colonial avenue.

Brad- We walked all up and down the road and I stepped on a snake.

EM- Did you get bit?

Brad- No, I kicked it really fast. As soon as I stepped on it, I felt it squish, so I was like, “aw shit!” I’m not taking any chances man.

EM- Yeah if there’s anything that scares the shit outta me it’s snakes or spiders (brad laughs)

David- Thanks dude, thank you,

Brad- (to Dave) You ran into that giant ass spider web in South Carolina.

Bj- I don’t like spiders.

Dave- When?

Brad- When we were at Gary’s house, when we stayed at Gary’s house and there was that giant ass spider web stretched across the street, and you were carrying your sleeping bag, and you walked through it, and you were like, “AW SHIT FUCK SON OF A FUCK SHIT!!!!!! GET IT OFF!!!!!” and you were screaming and I was in the van and he was outside, and we poked our head out, and we were like, “what the fuck are you doing?” And Gary said was like, “what the hell’s going on out here?”

Bj-(to Brad) And you remember when we stopped at the gas station in Georgia to get air, there was that giant spider.

Brad- No that was in Roanoke. Cause we wore our tires down to the steel belt.

EM- Were they firestones?

<>I don’t know what they were. (Dave laughs)

Dave- Aw we should have wrote that on them, then taken a picture.

Brad- Yeah then we got a flat on I-40.

EM- Yeah, did you ever have to stop in Georgia or South Carolina?

Dave- You mean get pulled over?

EM- No I mean like, did you ever have to pull over there or anything for food, cause those states are scary as shit for some reason.

All- No. Not really.

David- One thing I learned on tour is that, like, all of Georgia is a construction zone, and all of North Carolina is Fayettville. It’s not that big on the map, but like every exit from the second you get into North Carolina, is Fayetteville.

EM- Did you stop at south of the border?

Brad- Na, we got to south of the border at like 3:30 in the morning.

Dave- We were driving a long time.

Brad- Yeah we had been driving nine or ten hours that day, so we were just anxious to get to the hotel.

El Matador- So when was your last show?

Brad- Well we played a lot of out of town shows, when we got back from touring September and October, and then we played a show on November 3rd. Then we took off November.

Well, I heard the new record.

It kicks ass.

All- Thanks.

EM- Those weren’t the best songs, were they?

All- No. Some of the best songs, but not the best by far. You might like some other song more than any of those.

EM- So what do you think about the new record?

All- It’ll be the first full length. Dave- Hey, if you buy a cymbal form mars and it cracks, do they give you a new one?

EM- No.Go to Boykin’s, they’re the shit. That’s where I’m getting my set from.

Dave- You’re getting a set? EM- Yeah, but for now I play a drum pad. And that’s where I got my cabinet 700 brand new.

David- Nobody should under estimate that stuff dude. I suck at that kind of stuff. My rolls blow shit. That shit’s hard.

EM- The kind of shit Vince mango does. Yeah totally… What about Vince mango?

Bj- Why does Vince mango do that shit?

EM- You know him?

Bj- Uh, I know of him.

EM- Yeah they used to be my favorite band.

<30DW> Who.

EM- Hundred kilometer Winter. Yeah but they stopped being my favorite band when they started being giant assholes toward me. What the hell. I mean , “that’s a nice way to treat your fans. Assholes!

Dave- You’re not the only one he’s an asshole to.

EM- Yeah like, he was in my guitar class, and I like, just asked him if they ever played a show with avail or river city high, and he was like, “get away from me.” Either that or he doesn’t even answer back and pretends he can’t hear me. Or he just gives a real brief answer like, “yeah.” and then turns around again. Most of the time he doesn’t even turn around. What an asshole.

Brad- Yeah, like, “We’re too good to go first, we have to go last. We must go last. But I guess Colby jack is still pretty cool.

Brad- I took my first shower in four days and shaved.

EM- So. One time last year I didn’t take a shower for a week, and I wore the same clothes too. And then like, there was this girl in my history class who sat next to me and she was like, “didn’t you ware those pants two days in a row?” And I was like, “that was two ODD days in a row, so your forgetting two other days, and today.”

Brad- Yeah and when I took that shower for the first time in two weeks I left a black ring in the tub. And that wasn’t when my hair was dyed black either.

EM- Yeah, I think at least if you wash your ass you’re alright for the time being.

Dave- Na dude,

Brad- Hahaha, David you could write a book about this.

Yeah dude you don’t even know how bad your nutsack can smell man.

EM- Yeah I kinda do. (Brad laughing) You mean like when you go to take a piss?

David- Yeah man. (Brad still laughing) yeah and it’s all boxed up, and then you go to take a piss and it punches you in the face. It’s like wam! (everybody’s Laughing their asses off)What were you going to say about Vince Bj?

Oh, nothing, I can’t remember.

Brad- Actually, I’d like to say that, the name of our upcoming album has nothing to do with the September 11th terrorist acts.

EM- Oh, really? I thought that was the reason.

Brad- No you see that’s what everybody thinks. Yeah, well, I can see why everybody would think that but, I don’t want come off as a bunch of political fourteen year olds.

EM- Dude, all that shit was set up and let happened to make the economy go up. But I’m not going to get into that shit.

Brad- I heard that someone who graduated from Midlothian went up there to get a job and now he’s dead.

Dave- That’s fucked up.

EM- What was it? Your grandma lives down the street from my grandma Dave?

Dave- no, it was my grandma, no wait, not my grandma. Are you talking about in Staten Island?

<>Yeah.

Dave- Oh, well it’s my dad’s aunt lives down the street from your uncle?

EM- No it’s my grandma. My second cousin Ralph (uncle) owns the restaurant, and my grandma lives down the street from it.

Dave- Oh.

Brad- Yeah dude. I remember when I showed you that e-mail, and you were like , “no way dude, cause if you haven’t been to Ralph’s, or at least staten island ,you have no idea how weird this is.”

EM- I just had a perfect idea, dude you could throw a show in the banquet room in the back. That’d be awesome!

yeah my friend got in a fight there.

EM- inside?

/No outside. I don’t think there’s an inside.

EM- Yeah there is. It’s like hungry howie’s.

Dave- Yeah I was gonna buy a bunch of Italian ices and bring them in a cooler down here and sell them for like three times the price. El Matador- So what about the new cd?

Brad- It’s called together we stand.< because, a lot of bands go through a lot of line-up changes, and we’re still the only original band members. Not to be confused with sept.11th bullshit. Oh yeah and I heard on the news that as many people died in those attacks as in Vietnam.

Dave- Na dude.

EM- No way. Because like sixty thousand people died in Vietnam.

Dave- Yeah.

Brad- Hey I’m just saying what I saw on the news.

EM- Yeah, the same news that spells weather wheather. Anyways, the new records out, go buy it.

THE END

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