Keith: She’s gonna do you next. I mean she’s not gonna do you next...

**There’s a nice bathroom downstairs...** (laughter)

Keith: No basically, she asked me a bunch of questions relating to how it all started, what influenced you, if there’s some kind of damn voodoo between you and I. Do we have any?

*Todd: Plenty of voodoo.Our drummer’s got voodoo dolls of all of us at home.

**1. How did you first start the Grinders?**
*Todd: Should I go from the very very beginning? Um, this is how it all started. I was in a band called Shaved Ham, now it’s called Gramma’s House. And the bass player quit one day, left me and the drummer. I had a bunch of songs written that we weren’t playing at all. The drummer was like, “What do you wanna do?” I go, “I’ve got some songs I wrote,” so we started playing them. I knew this other guitar player- his name was Chet Harper. The original drummer was Tommy Schippers and the bass player was Rick Cona. Used to be in the Chesterfield Kings a long time ago. And the four of us jammed, started playing out, but down the road things didn’t work out. We got a couple of other guys and ended up getting Keith, who was the easiest to get along with. . Then the drummer bailed on us so we got Ed- the drummer we’ve got now. We were playing for another year and a half or so when Cona bailed. Then we got Mike- he was in the Veins and with us, but he’s got four daughters, so he just couldn’t do both. We got Mike Crider; he’s been with us a little over a year now. Now it’s me, Mike Crider, Keith and Ed. Everyone we’ve been with has been really cool and everything, but this is the most fun line-up we’ve had. Everybody breaks balls and everything else, really totally fun right now.

**2. How did you really get started in music in general?**
*Todd: Air band. Actually, I used to play piano when I was a little kid, I took lessons for like three-and-a-half years. I was always into music. I used to listen to my parents’ albums; James Brown, Three Dog Night, Beatles, whatever they had laying around. Then uh, Kiss. When I was in second grade, I got into Kiss. I begged my mom to take me to Woolworth’s, and bought Kiss Alive. I was buying albums when I was a little kid in grammar school. I took drums for a year, then I started doing air band contests in school and in my room. I really liked it but my parents would never let me play guitar. It was messed up. Finally, I was roadie-ing for some band and I made the kid teach me how to play guitar. And that’s how I learned. At that point, I didn’t play guitar till I was in college. If I wanted to take lessons, I had to pay for them, so I learned on my own. This one kid taught me how to play a little bit of stuff, and then I started listening to albums, just learning. And a lot of it had to do with piano. I could have an ear for it a little bit.

**3.Much of the whole Garage Pop scene has been deemed by one local critic as ‘retro’. What’s your response to that?**

*Todd: By who?

**One local critic. Jeff Spevak.**

Keith: Jeff Spevak referred to the Garage Pop scene as “retro”. **The whole thing that jut pissed me off about the article, and I actually analyzed it for English, was that he was basing the retro thing on clothing, nothing else really.**

*Todd: This is better journalism right here. By a girl in high school that doing it. Way better. Have her do and article in the paper instead. That’d be cool, we should try it. Have her write the article.

Keith: Gotta pay her.

*Todd: Huh? (laughs)

**No you don’t. The fact that he’s drawing on the whole retro thing because bands take stuff and influences from groups of the 60’s. And to me, they're twisting and doing something original that they want to do. If you didn’t do that, that whole era would be lost.**

*Todd: Yup. I know, yeah. He never writes, gives us anything written except the name of our band. “...and the Grinders.” You know, it’s all he’s ever done. And I have sent him a CD before, our last one, and whatever. It doesn’t even bother us anymore. It’s been like that in every band I’ve been in. Sooner or later! It’ll all pay off. We’ll see. We’ve got another CD coming out- we’re doing a CD release party, and I’ll try to get him to do an article on us and see what happens.

**4. Uh, do you feel there’s- I still don’t know how to phrase it, (to Keith): you phrase it better- a familiarity between you two-**

Keith: An instinctive communication that does on between you and I, playing and just doing whatever.

*Todd: Yeah. I’ll tell you what. There’s a communication not ever with just me and him, but with all four of us. We can just give each other looks. Seriously. Even Mike, and he’s only been with us a year. He knows exactly what I’m thinking. And Ed... It’s just looks we have. And if I’m breaking his balls and stuff, Mike gives me a look; I can tell when I’m pushing. There’s that with us definitely for the whole band.

**It work really good in a live setting?**

*Todd: Yeah. Well, kinda. I usually don’t look or pay attention- in practice it works better. Live, I’m in my own little world up there.

Keith: When it’s live, it’s more about me anticipating what he’s about to do

**5. Who or what has really influenced you musically over the years?**
*Todd: Oh, there’s a ton of bands. Awesome. It’s in my blood. I suck, but I love it. If I’m not listening to it, I’ve gotta be playing it. Like I said, when I was in 2nd grade, I had a stack of albums already. Kiss, Aerosmith- everything. As it was coming out, I was buying them. I was like the only kid in school that knew that stuff. They said when I was a baby; James Brown. I’d be on my rocking horse. I’d wake up in the middle of the nite and turn the music on when I was like three. Turn on the stereo and get on my rocking horse, throw baloney and eggs around the house... I was real bad. Talk to my parents about that. I’d just go crazy; thump the pots... so yeah. I’ve always been into it. I love going to shows. Another thing is like- if you notice when we play, we open up. If it’s a band I like, I’d rather watch them than be up there playing. What was the question again?

Keith: Does it burn when you piss?

*Todd: For a while, a couple months ago, I had a little problem...

**6. What for you has been the most important of valuable thing you’ve learned from your music?**
*Todd: I’m not that good, and honestly, all the guys in out band- we’re good, but we’re not that good. I’ll see other guys just blow me away, and I know I’ll never be able to play like that. Other drummers will blow Ed away... other bass players. All four of us, we’re okay, we get along great, we’ve got two CD’s and this new one’s really good and I don’t think I could ever do any better than this, seriously. It’s just really cool. I’m proud just to get this far cause I never worked with someone playing guitar. The dude that taught me how to play has not done what I’ve done, and he blows me away. I wanna do it so bad, whether it’s not as good as it can be, at least I did it. I think it’s kinda cool. It’s not the best- it’s not Led Zeppelin- but it’s the Grinders, Punk Rock man, yes yes! And I was fucked up when I did it!

**7. Who would you consider to be the greatest band or musician of all time?**

Keith: What’s the single band that just does it for you?

*Todd: There’s been periods in my life where I’d be able to say it. My favourite all time person, I can’t even say anymore cause I don’t know if he is- Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. I just think he’s the coolest guy of all time. But as far as bands go, I love the Beatles, the Stones, love Aerosmith, Kiss, Cheap Trick, old AC/DC. When I was in grammar school, my favourite band was Cheap Trick. I still listen to it, but I can’t say right not they’re my favourite band. They are awesome. The Beatles, Queen... I like so much stuff, I like too much stuff. But my one god that I’ve always though has been cool, it still cool, and looks coo l is Steven Tyler. He doesn’t play anything. **8. So, what role does each member play in the band?** (question courtsey of Keith)
*Todd: I don’t know.

Keith: Well Todd writes the songs, decides what songs are gonna be played, and how they go. That’s worked out best. And I take care of the website, the logistical stuff. Setting up shows-

*Todd: We’re playing out, he makes sure everything’s organized and I just make sure we’ve got product out there and put up posters. Ed and Mike smoke a lot of pot together. Okay, next question. Wanna know who my favourite porn star is?

**Sure!**

*Todd: Traci Lords!

**Really?**

*Todd: Yes. Of all time.

Keith: Isn't she dead?

*Todd: No, she's still alive. Can't be, she's great.

Keith: Add that to your list of questions.

Keith and CL: 'Who's you're favourite porn star?'

*Todd: Pete North. (laughter). Traci Lords.

**Ever seen “Good Will Humping”?**

*Todd: What’s that?

Keith: You don't have to be soft-spoken on the porno stuff.

** “Good Will Humping.”**

*Todd: “Good Will Humping”? (Laughter). I saw a funny one the other day. It was an old one. New Wave Hookers either 3 or 4. There's these 5 guys-

Keith: There's a big difference between 3 and 4! There's no doubt.

*Todd: It was one of the two. Someone who reads the article might say I'm wrong, but it was either 3 or 4. And I was watching it, and I forgot about the scene- there's these 4 or 5 guys and this one girl, and they're dressed up like like ducks. The whole time they're on her, they're going, "quack quack quack..."All of 'em! Then towards the climax, they're picking it up... oh it's funny. It's real funny.

**9. Is there any particular album or artist that you’ve heard and went, ‘this is the shit I want to do?’**
*Todd: Stuff that we’re doing- I don’t know if there’s any album that inspires me to do the stuff we’re doing now- this is kinda the easiest stuff to play and that’s why we’re doing it. But there’s tons of albums, it goes back to that last question. There’s tons. Aerosmith Get Your Wings, Kiss Alive, Rolling Stones Let it Bleed. Pretenders first album is great. I like it all.