INTERVIEWS

The Fad | 6.28.06 Interview with singer Jimmy Doyle by Sallad

THE FAD are one of a handful of promising up and comers that are starting to hit the road and get noticed by skapunk fans across the nation. Sallad got a chance to talk to the Long Island based 5 piece in June of 2006. Here is what´s up:

My name is Jimmy Doyle & I sing for a band called THE FAD.

Q: So how, when, where did the fad come from?

THE FAD started in 2000 under the name "Death: 101"  It was myself, Jay Beiner, Matt McGregor (THE FAD's original bassist & drummer) & Dave Solomon of High School Football Heroes.  We were all in high school together and wanted to start a band that played ska, but wasn't a ska band.  At that time, Moon Ska USA was closing its doors, Edna's Goldfish & Spring Heeled Jack were breaking up & all the interest I had in music revolved around ska.  Emo was making its dramatic entrance to the "indie music scene" and I guess I felt left out ´cause I had no interest in it.  We broke up when I left for college, and when I was later kicked out I needed to get this group back together or I'd have nothing.  So Matt, Jay & myself started our band & called it "THE FAD"

Q: When was it you became the modern incarnation of THE FAD?

Tom Malonowski (guitar) joined our band in 2001.  We recorded our 8 song debut "Number 5" and by the time it was pressed, Jay & Matt had left the band to go to college.  We went through a number of lineup changes, but I had a determination to get our band on the road and stay there for as long as possible.  We snuck onto Warped tour in 2004, and when we got back I was introduced to Adam Foster, a drummer who wasn’t in a band.  Danny Dangerous is a long-time friend of Tom & myself, and was also not playing bass in a band.  When we started playing together, something just clicked & everything seemed right.  We recorded "Quit Your Band & Join THE FAD" with Rob Guariglia, a great producer & friend of the band.  Once these songs went public, we received a great amount of positive feedback & requests to get on the road.  So we started touring, thanks to help from The Flaming Tsunamis, and started making contacts with bands in different areas. On one of these tours, we brought Cody Klien to play 2nd guitar, and it just clicked again.  It was a positive addition to our band that we didn’t want to have pass us by.  So now we're a 5 piece group with 6 more weeks of tour ahead of us, ready to take on the monster that is Los Angeles.

Q: So i just saw you guys on tour with Stuck Lucky, tell me about that tour.

We played in Richmond with Patent Pending & Murphy's Kids, which was a great show.  Then we had a night off to go see Catch-22 & The Pietasters w/ The Flatliners & Patent Pending.  I got extremely drunk & bowed out gracefully into our van early. The next day we met Stuck Lucky in Wilmington, NC.  They were playing on the street acoustic, outside the club when we drove up.  Those guys have a similar backstory to ours.  They had a few lineup changes, but have been working hard for a number of years to get on the road and stay there.  We went down to Florida, hit New Orleans on our way to Texas, and then blew through middle-America to get to Ann Arbor.  We had a lot of fun and made a great deal of new friends... your self included.  (By the way that was the best meal I had on that tour by far)

Q: What would you say was the best show of the tour?

We played in Boca Raton, FL on Cinco de Mayo with Pitch Black Radio.  Justin from PBR used to be in Bum Ruckus & High School Football Heroes & we hadn't seen him since he left HSFH.  There was a shitload of kids there who have seen us before, and they loved Stuck Lucky as well.  Personally, I think that was the best show of the tour, but there were others that were real good too.

Q: Bitchin, so with no agent or anything who did the booking on this?

Will from Stuck Lucky & I booked the whole tour through Myspace.  Indie artists have never had it easier to book their own tours.  You can find promoters, bands, and sometimes even the clubs themselves if you look hard enough.  Anyone that uses Myspace for promotion is usually open to helping out touring bands, which the promoters from that tour were, and it worked out for us.

Q: Right on, so tell me about the upcoming tour.

We're going to L.A. and back with Bomb The Music Industry!  We're spending about 2 weeks getting to California, and only about a week to get back to NYC.  We'll be hauling ass, but we'll be making a legitimate return to California.  You see, when we were on Warped tour, we weren't supposed to be there, so we were working to make ourselves stand out from everyone who was supposed to be there.  Plus there's no truer song than L.A.X. by Big D & The Kid's Table so it's a headache just trying to put up with some of these people.  On this tour, we're playing ska shows with ska bands so we've got a better chance of making an impression on the kids out there.

Q: So to people who haven't heard you, how would you describe your music, and don't give me any of that "experimental, ambient, indie, rock" shit that bands use on Myspace.

RUDE International was an old ska zine and there's an interview with Jay from The Suicide Machines (RIP) in one issue where they ask him the same question.  He answered "We're just a punk band" now, to someone who has never heard that band, it's a broad generalization.  But it also gives the reader an opportunity to make their own decisions about his band.  I usually tell people we're a punk band that sometimes plays reggae & hardcore.  I don't like to refer to THE FAD as a ska band because we're really not.  Most of us really love ska music but the ska music we like is more like Toots & The Maytals & The Specials rather than Reel Big Fish & Less Than Jake.  So to answer your question we're a punk band for fans of Operation Ivy & Bad Brains.  If you don't listen to either of those bands, then we might be the most original group you've ever seen. haha

Q: I came up with: if a Chicago pop punk band had sex with Big D and Common Rider. How is that?

That sounds about dead on... but don't forget what Alkaline Trio did to The Suicide Machines & Slapstick... unforgivable

Q: haha, ah Derek and Dan

*one of those awkward silences*

Q: so when can we expect a new EP coming out?

Well, we've got a new albums-worth of material either demo-ed or that we perform.  We're really anxious to record and get something new out there, but we want it to be released the right way.  It's hard to explain to those that aren't so involved in the politics of the music industry, especially because we're going on tour with a band who gives away their music on the internet out of principle.  We really want to get a new album out, but we want it pressed & distributed the right way.  We want to go on tour to promote an album, but we want the kids in each region to already have those songs stuck in their head.  So I really don't have a straight answer for you, but what I can say is that we WILL be recording two brand new songs when we're in Los Angeles, and they should be streaming on our Myspace page by August the latest.

Q: So what unsigned bands do you see as coming on the upswing in the ska scene now?

The Flatliners and The Delegates are two great Canadian bands that most of our fans are baffled that we haven't toured together, but they’re also signed.

Q: Yeah, and I hear the Flatliners Merch guy is totally sweet and sexy too, but who you think is the shit back home in USA?

Theres a band from CT called Skaliosis that plays really well, but don't seem to have their shit together as far as going on tour and trying to make more fans.  I'd like to see them go on tour with someone like Stealing From Peter (Asbestos Records).  There's also a band from Albany called The Menace Society.. they have been my favorite unsigned band since the first time I saw them play and I would also like to see then do some real touring.

Q: So is there any advice you'd give to smaller bands that dream of touring, but haven't gotten to it yet?

When I was younger, going on tour seemed like something you could only do if you were on a record label.  Now, I realize you can only get signed to a record label if you go on tour.  First off, make sure that your band doesn't suck.  If your band is called "Skankin' Frank & The Bari-Tones" you probably suck, or at least your name leads anyone and everyone to believe that you do.  Try and add something to your music that hasn't been done before, or at least in a while.  No reference is too obscure for our community, and chances are if you try and add influence from a random 80's hardcore band, someone will get it and LOVE your band for doing so.  DON'T try and be The Aquabats, don't try and be Less Than Jake.  There are more than enough knockoff versions of both those bands.  Most of all, you need to start your own scene somehow.  When an out of state band needs help on their tour, give them a hand and book a show in your area.  It will give your band an opportunity to start a fanbase, and it will also convince the touring band to help your band when you plan on going to their area.

Q: Question Courtesy of "Tomaggedon, Baby!"… So how come you sing about how cool vinyl is, but you guys don't have any vinyl... wtf mate?

The lyrics to the song go "I'll record this song upon a compact disc, because putting it on a record is too much of a risk"  basically pressing vinyl is extremely expensive, and we can't afford to do it because we're not on a record label and are doing EVERYTHING ourselves right now.  Booking, promotion, recording, production of CD's & merchandise is a lot to do without having to pay a ridiculous amount of money for vinyl that probably won't sell very well, "eventually we'll have our stuff on vinyl"

Q: Alright, we were looking for either "because we're douches" or "fuck you dude!, why don't you have vinyl"... but I suppose your logical answer will do.

haha... well yeah, we are douches... we clean vaginas for a living.

Q: Alright, as long as that's settled. So Dave Kirchgessner runs Ska Is Dead: anything you'd like to say to him? or do you have anything to say about him?

Ska is Dead 2007 w/ THE FAD bitches!!!!...or you know, "HI" works too.

Q: Alright, anything you'd like to close with?

Listen to The Minutemen, Assorted Jelly Beans, & Knowledge... if you don't, then the terrorists really HAVE won.  Please visit http://www.myspace.com/thefad & come see us when we go on tour!  Oh yeah, and legalize it.

Q: I have ironically been listening to Assorted Jellybeans during this interview, have a good one, catch you later.

The Fad website