Interview: Dear Landlord

After Dear Landlord played Sheffield on their tour, we all went back to Chunky's house for a booze. In true Fritzl style we managed to drag Brad and Adam (Brett later) to the basement for a good time. The mp3 of this interview is hilarious and I looked ridiculous sitting on the train laughing to myself staring into nothingness. So yeah, this is what happened when James, Adam and Me (Kieran) interviewed Brad (drums) and Adam (bass/vocals) from Dear Landlord.

PS. A = Adam, K= Kieran and J= James

A: Who are we talking to!

Adam: You’re talking to Adam

Brad: and Brad!

K: You’re on your UK tour, I hear you had some trouble getting to your first show?

Adam: Shit, there’s no good way to do that story. It took us a while, but we made it to the show.

Brad: We move slow, it took us a while. We’re from American and we’re fat, it takes time.

J: I heard you guys were illegal aliens?

Adam: We are.

K: Are you not allowed to be here now?

Adam: Well, we’re here illegally

Brad: Hey, I’ve been working every day!

K: Since the fashionable late appearance, how has the tour been?

Adam: It’s been real good actually, every show has been great. People have been there every night and people know who we are in the weirdest places. Like some of the stuff in Scotland we never thought anyone would know who we are.

K: Did you try Buckfast?

Adam: I did.

K: How was it?

Adam: It worked.

Brad: It made me go to sleep, that’s what it’s supposed to do right?

Adam: You got some liquid speed there man, we like Scotland. Brett got his Braveheart shirt there.

K: What about deep fried pizzas, try them?

Brad: We did!

K: How was that for you!

Adam: Greasy

Brad: Bullshit. Like a Totino's party pizza but with grease all over it. It is a fucked thing to eat. I did it as like a tourist thing, but if you’re waking up every day and that’s what you’re eating, you’re dead. Not even like a cool “I’m fucked up on drugs and gonna die” way. Just a y’know “I ate deep fried pizza for 10 years and now I’m gonna die” way.

*Conversation develops into various theories of how Kurt Cobain died, Kieran went for Dave Grohl, Adam went for shotgun, James went for deep fried pizza. Brad explained how grunge started in Dundee and the people on the boats said that she’d been fixing to kill him for quite a long time.*

A: Out of the shows in the UK, what’s been best? What’re you looking forward to?

Brad: I’m gonna say it, Manchester was probably best so far.

Adam: Didn’t dig loading out in 10 minutes though.

K: That’s actually because Courtney Love’s band was having an afterparty there!

Adam: See! Courtney Love!

K: Out of the bands you’ve been playing with, any bands stood out?

Brad: Crocodile God were fucking great. I love that band.

Adam: Last night the bands were awesome, Glass Avalanche, Fashanu and Pure Graft.

K: Because you’re in other bands, when you come up with a song, how do you know which band it’s gonna go to?

Adam: Zack writes a lot of music and Brad writes the lyrics, or sometimes Brett writes a song. I don’t write anything to do with the band. I just wanna hang out and get pissed.

Brad: Some songs seem to make sense with a certain band. A lot of times Zack will have music and all I gotta do is write some lyrics to it.

J: Where are you guys from individually?

Brad: I live in Minneapolis.

Adam: I live in Chicago, Brett lives in a small town 6 hours south called Carbondale. (points to his trailer park Carbondale t-shirt) Zack is always on tour with Off With Their Heads so…

K: How does living in different places affect you guys?

Adam: We have to work at a slower pace. We never get together to practice usually unless we’re doing something.

J: Is Dear Landlord more of a side project then?

Adam: I guess so, but we still do it enough to be an active, main band.

K: Are you both full-time in bands then?

Adam: Not really, but pretty active.

Brad: Zack is on tour full time and the rest of us, half the year we’re on tour and the other half we just work.

J: You’re in Gateway District too Brad, didn’t you have trouble getting into the UK aswell?

Brad: Getting into your country is fucked. I don’t know why you guys hate music here but its fucking bullshit you don’t let bands in. Unless they have a shit ton of money or are organized enough to have papers, that’s never gonna happen.

K: When you got denied with The Copyrights, didn’t they write in your passports?

Adam: Yeah, we were worried about me and Brett, they did ask us about it, but we just gave them some bullshit.

Brad: The fucking chumps let us in. Idiots. Biggest mistake they ever made, I’ve been counterfeiting those 500pound notes, boom boom boom! I put them in a cereal box and send them to Panama. That’s how we do this shit.

K: You’ve done two splits, 1 LP and a 7”. What’s next?

Adam: We just recorded two new songs for a split 7” with Toys That Kills, that’s next but we don’t know when or what. That’s the next plan.

A: Any plans for another LP?

Adam: I’m sure we will sometime but not right now. It’s hard when we’re all busy. We work at a slower place, we take it easy.

Brad: It’s gonna be a dub record though. All instrumental dub.

K: When you’re not in bands touring the world, what’s real life?

Brad: I paint houses and apartments, that’s what I do to stay alive and everything. *Explaining his drinking choice…* This is fucking Pinot Grigio from Italy. I flew to Italy after the show to find this! Helicoptered back in and dropped off here, totally worth it. Only 3.50.

Adam: I work at a music store and luckily I have a girlfriend I can live off for a while. Zack is full time Off With Their Heads, and Brett lives in a trailer in the woods.

J: How do things differ between the UK and America?

Adam: The difference is people come to shows, and people feed you and take care of you and pay you in the UK.

Brad: Over here, even really small bands people take more serious. It sounds dumb but even giving them beer or money is amazing. Where as like in the US if you’re a band no-ones heard of, it’s like ‘fuck off’. When you get into the smaller house show scene and you’re friends with everyone obviously it’s different. Seems like venues are a lot more generous here and stuff, all the people who set up shows here have their shit together. Whereas in the US you’ll show up at five and the show will start at two in the morning.

Adam: “ermm I think there’s a PA”

Brad: No PA is so fucking common with basement shows. “How many microphones do you need? I think I might know someone who has just one”

*James offers everyone Babybells*

Brad: The biggest difference in shows between UK and US is the lack of mini-Babybells.

Adam: This is a really good interview, some really good facts going on.

K: Lets get some substance, anyone you hate?

Brad: I hate cops in every country in the world. I hate the fucking pigs everywhere.

K: Bands in your local scene, any ones people should check out?

Adam: Chicago is real awesome, there’s a lot of bands that are cool. There’s a band called “The Broke Downs” that The Copyrights did a split with. “The Arrivals” another fucking great band and “Vacation Bible School” are awesome. There’s a lot of good bands that are all friends in Chicago.

Brad: “The Manics” and “Banner Pilot” but everyone knows them! “Slow Death” are a new band and are really fucking good.

K: What’s been your greatest discovery on tour?

Brad: PINOT GRIGIO! You’re doing good, this is a fun interview. We never do fun interviews.

Adam: You can edit the bullshit. Or just upload the mp3 on Facebook.

*Conversation turns to old/new Nothington line ups!*

K: Let’s talk about something we all like, Gainesville. How did you get signed to No Idea?

Brad: OK so, Var asked us if we wanted to do a reckon on his label, actually he asked Zack. Zack was like “I don’t know, we’re not even a band” and Var was like “Seriously, I wanna do a record”. Six months later we sent him some songs and did a record. Now we have millions of dollars.

Adam: He put out our split with Off With Their Heads and a label called It’s Alive Records put out our split with Chinese Telephones.

J: What’s your least favourite Dear Landlord song to play?

Adam: Oh man.

K: Zack was pretty against “A World That We Never Made” tonight?

Adam: Yeah that ones really hard, it’s long and got a lot of parts.

Brad: We never played it before, but we added it for this tour cause everyone here freaks out if you don’t play way too long! So we started playing it, but places where you can’t hear anything, it’s where we fuck up, that’s why we don’t play it.

A: What about your favourite songs to play?

Adam: Uhhh, I kinda like to play “Lose Cause”

Brad: I always like to play “I Live In Hell”

K: What’s better, the English Office or the American version?

Adam: Oh the American Office.

Brad: I actually think the British one is better. Prison Break sucks, Lost is awesome.

*Brett (Guitar/Vocals) and Chunky join the crew*

K: Brett, what’s your favourite Rancid album?

Brett: Fuck off.

Chunky: If you could have 5 cocks of 5 hands, what would you have?

Adam: Why would I want 5 cocks?

*vague explanations as to why you would want 5 cocks on your hands instead of fingers ensue..*

K: Brett, any questions for your band?

Brett: You’ve really fucked me up here, it’s a lot of pressure. Hmm. What are your names and what do you play, what are your influences!

Brad: Ask Hooter (Brett) about Shithawk! You’re asking about our other bands?

K: Shithawk?

Brett: Alright, I’m in a band called Shithawk. It’s great. No it’s with a couple guys from Carbondale. They’re both fucked, complete idiots. The drummer spends more time dressing up than he does anything else. And the guitar player is just a drunk piece of shit, just a mess of a human that can’t even handle himself. Basically I’m the glue that holds it all together.

A: What’s the myspace address?

Brett: It’s erm myspace.com/ fuck Bilboa in the ass. No it’s myspace.com/paintthetownbrown

K: Do you prefer Dre or Eminem?

Brett: Dr Dre.

K: 2001 or The Chronic?

Brett: I kinda can’t stand to listen to The Chronic ever at all.

Adam: Yeah?

Brad: Hey have fun walking.

Brett: The Chronic kinda makes me want to kill myself. But seeing a room full of English fucks singing along to 2001 is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.

K: Any CDs you bring in the van all the time?

Adam: The Nelsons and The Creedence Clear Water Revival tape we stole from the gas station.

Brad: Just happens to be the most choice nugs. (What?!)

K: If Dear Landlord had a full on fight to the death, who would win?

Brett: Me and Brad are destined to have a fight to the death.

Brad: We have this thing that we talk about where me and Brett handcuff ourselves, crawl into the wood and beat the fucking living shit out of each other and see who ends up dead.

Brett: Yeah that’s how the band is gonna break up.

K: One of you will die?

Brad: One of us is gonna die for sure! If not a couple of us. For sure it’s gonna be Brett!

Brett: Fuck you, where’s the nearest forest.