PUNKtuation -What's the name of your band?
Ken: THE UNKNOWN
P-How long have you been together?
Ken: The Unknown was formed sometime in 1989.
P-Where do you reside, and do you like it there? And what place would you recommend to visit? I'm just wondering because summer holiday is coming up for university kiddies and i'm thinking of traveling.
Ken: We all live in Cleveland, Ohio or right outside in a suburb called Lakewood. Cleveland itself is mostly made up of the burbs, so we basically live in Cleveland. Our city is really a pretty cool place. But like everyone's hometown, it sucks to live here. We do have an amazing art museum and history museum, along with cool shopping districts like Madison Village and Coventry. Plus we got that Rock N Roll Hall of Fame thing, but that's all really.
P-Who plays what in the band? And if for example you play drums, what other instrument would you like to learn to play, if any. ie. didjurydoo (totally spelt that wrong), keyboards etc.
Ken: I am the singer in the band, and I play guitar as well on the side. Chris, our guitarist is good enough to be a one man show, so we leave it that way. He also plays keyboards, but not for the band. Wayne is our drummer, and well you know what they say about drummers, those are the guys who are always hanging around musicians. Lastly, Brian, is our bass player and backup singer extrodinaire. He played viola when he was a kid i think.
P-What other projects have you been in, and are they different in any way from this one?
Ken: The Unknown is my first band. Wayne and Chris have been a few bands before this that ranged from metal to punk to industrial. Brian has been around for a while and has been in bands like the Reactions, the Rainy Day Saints and the Beatnik Termites.
P-How would you describe your style of music to someone who's never heard of your band?
Wayne: I often say that we are a more poppy and more intelligent sounding Green Day....or I say the Beatles on speed cause of my haircut.
Ken: The Unknown is what you get when you throw ALL, Big Drill Car and The Cars in a blender.
P-If you could have one song on any movie soundtrak, what movie would that be, and what song would you pick and why?
Wayne:I'd like for us to write a new song for a cool Jackie Chan movie.
Ken: I would have loved for us to be on the soundtrack to the movie Heathers.
P-Also, from the movie you picked, what scene would you like your song to be in?
Wayne: The song would have to be fast and energetic playing behind a spectacular kung-fu scene.
P-You've done some touring in the past; does touring effect your personal lives? For example, is it hard to keep a permanent job, or does it effect relationships. Or maybe it doesn't have any negative effects? I haven't toured, so i wouldn't know.
Ken: Touring is the greatest thing and the absolute worst thing about being in a band. We have been on numerous tours and they have all been great times and we have had so much fun that we keep going back out whenever we can. On the other hand, all they really accomplish for us is losing alot of money. We don't tour for months at at time because at this point we all have lives and some have wives and after 10 years no tour has ever garnered us international fame and fortune. So we go out for a couple weeks at a time or for a weekend and do it for the pure excitement and fun. And even that is still hard on the girls....but we won't get into that!
Wayne: Our personal likve have a big effect on our touring. Holding full time jobs and permanent relationships prevents us from being out there more.
P-What positive things have happened while touring? I think of my traveling as touring, and I've gotten many good memories to cherish. i.e. the time Marc and I were on vacation and we told every restaurant we went to it was one of our birthdays JUST so we could get our free dessert! I think I turned 18 three times while on that vacation, and it worked almost every time too! Try it!
Wayne: The best things to come out of touring are the friendships you make with the people you meet.
Ken: Exactly.
P-Is the scene different in each place you play? Do some places have more kids attending then others, or is it generally the same?
Ken: Actually it is amazing that some unknown band can hook together a bunch of shows in places you have never been to before, or have even heard of, and run into cool people everywhere you go. That's what's good about the scene. You can almost always rely on the fact that you will meet somebody that is cool and who you can talk to all night long. Of course the attendance is always different at each place. It all depends on who you are playing with that night and how well that certain town knows you.
Wayne: We even wrote a song called At 705 about how cool people can be out on tour. Its on one of our early albums, Rocket Pop.
P-What is the best feeling to you while playing a show?
Ken: The best thing for me is to see people in front of us having a good time and singing along.
Wayne: The best feeling for me is havig enough energy to make it through the whole set!
P-What is the worst feeling while playing a show?
Ken: The worst feeling is when you are an opener for a bigger band and you know that all of the people in attendance are there to see some one else, and they aren't even giving you a chance. You can see it in their faces. It sucks.
Wayne: Not having enough energy to finish the set!
P-Now, some bands have things that they do to prep themselves up for a gig. Do you do anything like that?
Ken: We're getting a little bit older now so we stretch out. But you know, we really don't do anything else. We get up and rock out. That's it.
Wayne: We hang out together before we play and try to pump ourselves up.
P-Once you're on the stage and ready to rock, and then roll, what goes through you're mind when you're playing live? ie. "@!#%, I think my flys down!" or "I hope I get this drum roll!" OR "Damn, that girls CUTE!"
Ken: Haha, well definitly "that girl's cute" does go through your head when it is applicable. Hell we have all screwed up before because of someone in the audience. That's what makes playing live so fun. It's completely live and anything can happen. But recently we were talking about this. We have been together as this particular 4 piece for over 5 years and at this point we are like in a zone and the music is totally something that flows out of us.
Wayne: It's like us going to the show to see us play. Cause we envision the CDs playing as we play and its like the same thing except we are playing the songs live.
P-Of all the oh so many bands out there, who are your influences?
Ken: All, BDC, Descendents, Elvis Costello, Agent Orange, Kid With Man Head, theres a bunch...
Wayne: Everything Ken said plus the Pavers and some cool Japanese stuff such as the Bells.
P-Who is your favorite canadian band? It can be anyone, you name it! Bryan Adams, Chixdiggit!, Bif Naked, Grade etc.
Ken: Oh man I loved Bryan Adams when I was A kid! Summer of 69 baby! woo hoo! But really, there is this kick ass band in Montreal called Hi Lo Fi that is on the same label as us, Boss Tuneage, that is good.
Wayne: I don't know any bands from Canada.
P-What band would you like to tour with most?
Ken: ALL. Our UK mates, Scarper were great tough and any tour with them would be fine with me!
Wayne: All.
P-What Canadian band would you like to tour with most?
Ken: Bryan Adams!
Wayne: ALL!
P-Ken, what was it like to travel overseas for the first time? And was the UK tour 2000 worth it?
Ken: What can I say. It was probably the most fun I have ever had in my life, Was it worth it? Of course! First of all, the people over in the UK are some of the nicest people on the face of the earth. And the attitudes toward music that they have are way better that anyone over here. They are open to all things new and it really makes for an amazing time.
P-Chris, tell us what it was like to travel to Japan! I imagine that would be an excellent experience!
Ken: Well I tried to get Chris to write and answer this, and well i got tired of waiting for his response. So maybe next time he'll get off his lazy ass and answer one question.
P-Ya Chris...geez! JJ..so have any of you been to Canada?
Ken: Well we just retuned from a weekend of shows in Toronto and Hamilton in January. You Canadians are OK in our book eh! Aside from that we have all been to Niagra Falls before I think.
Wayne: We just went there and I loved it. It was my first time. Why does Canada have cool potato chips, gum and snacks that we don't have in the US? It's only 4 hours away! We get ripped off!
P-LOL! Ok, what do you think of us Canadian folk?
Wayne: You are very kind. But you just mention Hockey and you guys get all flaked out!
Ken: Yeah what is it with hockey eh! But really, Canada is more like Europe than the US, that's cool.
P-Do you want to play shows for Canadian folk? If yes, when can we expect your arrival!
Ken: Well hell yeah, we had a great time already. We are always ready for more. Too bad it's such a pain to get over the borders.
Wayne: I'd love to play more in Canada.
P-What SHOW would you like to play most? ie. CMJ festival in NYC, the Vans Wwarped Tour etc.
Ken: I think that one of those Warped Tours would be fun for a week or so, but then the corporate BS would be too much to handle. I'd just like to play with some of my favorite bands and have a good time.
Wayne: Second stage for the Warped Tour. I'd look at it as a chance to play using a state of the art sound system. That would be hrilling to have that huge awesome mix. I saw our friends Sidecar play second stage at the Warped tour in Cleveland and they sounded great. Better than ever before. It was that pro mix.
P-Who do you feel revolutionalized music? ie. The Rolling Stones, The Beastie Boys
Ken: The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Minor Threat, The Beatles and The Ramones.
Wayne: Pistols, Elvis Costello, Beatles, New York Dolls.
P-What do your songs mainly focus on and who writes them?
Ken: We all write songs these days and the subject matters come from all kinds of things.
Wayne: Teamwork.
P-Do any of the songs on your new cd stick out as having personal significance or a favorite?
Ken: Personally, the song Disappear is my favorite. I wrote the lyrics during a point in my life when I needed some answers to some personal things. Songs like that help, and this one helped a lot.
Wayne: All four of us in the band are such good friends that anything that comes out of us is significant.
P-How does your band feel about Napster and MP3's? Are they a good or band thing? Yay or nay!
Ken: I think the internet as a whole is a perfect place for underground music. I support it all.
Wayne: Metallica got compensation, where's our cut??!
P-What is something that you do not want your band to become? By that I mean, for example, being referred to as something you're not (ie. "boy band") etc.
Wayne: I don't want us to be called simple pop-punk because that turn off a lot of people nowadays. Immediatley they think of bands like the Ramones, Green Day and FYP, etc. and we don't sound like them, we just want to be known for what we sound like.
Ken: I don't want us to become stale. I think we still have a lot of good music in us, and I hope that people recognize that. As for labels, they are never accurate anyways. We have been called everything from cow-punk to glam to indie rock.
P-If you could name one person/band to be in the punk hall-o-fame (if there was one...or maybe there is and i just don't know it) who would that be and why?
Ken: All. They are the best at what they do, and no one has influenced punk rock as much as Bill Stevenson. Maybe Ian MacKaye as well.
Wayne: I think Dave Smalley. Dag Nasty was so influencial and he was in ALL.
P-Aside from being in the band, and touring, and practicing, what do you boys do in your spare time? ie. skateboard, knit toques, bake cookies...
Wayne: I'm starting to work on a comic book in my spare time. Video game playing.
P-Wicked a comic book?? Right on Wayne!
Ken: I like to skateboard, but i never get around to it. I roller blade alot now...I am always online doing something on my websites.
P-Ya, I'm on the net quite a bit too. But I want to learn how to knit scarves and eventually toques and mittens! Now have any of you played Tony Hawk's Pro-Skater? If you haven't played it, you should! It's great fun and so addicting!
Ken: Oh man! don't even get me started on this! I am totally hooked on Tony Hawk 1 and 2! It took me forever to finally get all the skaters on 2, and I still havent found all of the damn gaps yet! Skate heaven, more like skate hell! I can't wait for 3 and 4 and 5 and hell I'm sure I'll be playing these games for the rest of my life!
P-Wow, you're addicted too!! Ha, I knew it wasn't just me...
Wayne: I've played it with Ken over a few Molsens.
P-Where does The Unknown see themselves a year from now?
Wayne: Getting ready to embark on a European tour to support a new CD!
Ken: March 2002. Hmm. Yeah what Wayne said. I imagine we'll be doin the same thing we have always done.
P-Do you have any thing that'd you'd like to say or ask?
Ken: I'd like for everyone reading this that has never heard of us before to take a look at our website at www.poppunk.com/theunknown, and take the time to read about us and check out the MP3s or Real Audio clips and you just might like what you hear.
Wayne: We hope we reach many more people in the next year and get back to Canada.
P-Sounds good! Is that your final answer?
Ken: Uh, yeah.
Wayne: No wait, can I use my lifelines?
P-Finally somebody got the humor in that question! Now I'd like to say something. Thanks for taking the time to do the interview, and hopefully you'll come by these parts some time!
Ken: No thank you!
Wayne: No, ALL!