Bite Me! Authority Zero Interview

Authority Zero by Nikki Neil

The first thing you’ll be impressed with is the diverse nature of their music; the second - their skill as musicians, and the third - is their charming go-lucky personalities. Mesa’s Authority Zero—Jason DeVore (vocals), Bill Marcks (guitar), Jim Wilcox (drums), Jeremy Wood (bass)—have built a following the old fashioned way – one fan at a time. Since their debit release hit in 2002, Authority Zero have been making waves across the U.S. And now, with the release of their eclectic follow-up, Andiamó, the band’s following is about to get bigger. Thrilling and vast, this lively offering is stylistically more worldly than its predecessor. In a nutshell, Andiamó is a musical melting pot of sounds and styles that accentuates Authority Zero’s multi-cultural background.

Well it is definitely nice to speak to you again.

Bill: Thank you very much we appreciate it.

You have a new album out, Andiamó, which in Italian means, “we go”. However, you found that when the word is phonetically broken down it stands for something else. Was this intentional or coincidence?

B: It was a coincidental. It wasn’t a stream consciousness. At first Jason said we should call it “Vamos”. Then I thought that maybe we should visit some Italian influences that are around us because Jeremy is Italian and he sometimes says, “Andiamó,” because he acts as the road manager sometimes, so we replaced ‘Vamos’ with ‘Andiamó’. He actually looked at the title himself and realized that if you broke it down it becomes “And I am 0 (zero),” and it just kind of fit. We all dug it.

Jason: Yeah, we all kind of freaked out when we figured it out. We said, “We have to use this.” We couldn’t have come up with anything better than that.

For the most part, people really don’t break down words to see if there is an underlying message in the word.

B: Yeah, it’s really different.

Who came up with the cover art?

J: Brent Ashe, he’s the guy that did our last album cover for A Passage In Time. He is a friend of ours, so we wanted to give him another go around with this album. We think he just nailed it. He sent us the image of what he had put together, and we were just blown away. He did a great job.

It’s very thought provoking and sends a strong message.

B: That is true.

What was the inspiration for this album?

J: Mainly touring because that is all that we were doing up until the point that we started writing the album. So we drew from all our experiences on the road, our experiences from all the stuff that is going on in the world right now, and just everyday life situations.

B: A lot of it came from things that were happening while we were on tour - things that we were bombarded with…like the situation in Iraq. “Painted Windows,” the first track, is Jason’s rendition of looking out the window and seeing it in a dream state – almost like a canvas.

J: Yeah, all the different images that come into play.

B: And, how we are reaching our dreams by being out there and touring and supporting our music. It’s kind of surreal in a way. Sometimes we kind of kick back and say ”Wow! Where did we come from? 10 years ago we were there and now we are out here doing this.”

So how does it feel?

J: Hangovers aside, it’s awesome.

B: Oh yeah.

So what did you guys do differently with Andiamó that you didn’t get to do with A Passage In Time?

B: We weren’t as overzealous with effects because we actually had a chance to listen to the other album a lot more, and we were a little more experienced from being together for two years on a national level. So, instead of going into the studio and freaking out – “Wow, we have all this time and all these effects” – we kept it raw so that it would reflect our live show more precisely. We’re definitely more of a raw band with a lot of energy, and that is what we were trying to go for with this album.

So what made you decide to cover Wall Of Voodoo’s “Mexican Radio”?

J: We were hanging out at Miguel’s (Mike Happoldt) house. He is one of the producers on the album, and he had mentioned the idea of “Mexican Radio” to us. We were drinking some beers and said, “That would be cool.”

B: He has everything on vinyl and that was just one of the songs. We were just tripping out and listening to everything. Not ‘tripping’ out, but you know…chilling and listening to everything.

I’m sure you were saying, “Vinyl, what is that?”

B: Yup. And, he had everything…old school punk…anything you could imagine…all on vinyl. That was just one of the songs that we were listening to and he said, “This would be cool for you guys to cover,” because it definitely had a lot of that Latin influence. He helped us in giving the song a more contemporary feel.

The little personal touches that were added really make the song stand out.

B: Thanks a lot.

Do you play any other cover songs just for fun?

J: Oh yeah, we play a bunch - anything from “Linoleum” by NOFX to “Badfish” by Sublime.

B: “La Bamba”.

J: We were going to put that one on the album, but we didn’t want to have two cover songs.

B: We play Minor Threat sometimes.

J: Yeah, Minor Threat. When we first started out we played a lot of covers. Sometimes we’d play for about an hour and a half and we would play whatever we could in whatever time we had available.

B: Yeah, but it was mostly at parties and stuff because people would want to hear our music in addition to stuff they already knew.

Tell me about some of the high and low points that you’ve experienced since the release of A Passage In Time?’

B: We’ve been through a plethora of different vehicles, which is one of the lows. They keep breaking down and stuff, so we have to keep dealing with that. And, promoters don’t like it when you are late and the bands you are on tour with start thinking that you are a pain in the ass when you don’t show up on time. So, that has definitely been one of the lower events since that album was released. One of the high aspects is that any market we go back to, even if we see five or ten more people in the audience, we feel like we’ve doing something. We’re out there supporting our album and then we actually get to see the fruits of our labor. Our audience attendance in Boise, Idaho, keeps increasing, and New York has been getting bigger…Chicago, Texas…. The more we are out on the road, the more we see the little pockets expanding.

So what is like when you look out in the crowd and you see other people singing your lyrics?

J: It’s insane. It’s awesome. It’s a real rush knowing that those kids probably have something similar going on in their lives as well. So, for them to feel the same kind of feeling about something is really cool, especially when they shout it back.

What has been the most valuable lesson you guys have learned so far?

J: Hard work ethics pay off.

Definitely, for you guys.

B: We regrettably didn’t finish a tour with Everclear once because we were having vehicle problems and other things were going on. We kind of wish that we would have stayed on that tour because the fans start to get a little fed up with you when they have their hearts set on seeing you and you don’t make it. We also had to cancel a show because we had to film a video. Different things like that kept coming up and that is something that we don’t want to do. We don’t want to alienate our fans.

J: The guys from Guttermouth once told us—and it is the one thing that is most important—to always show up. The most important thing is to always show up, so that is something that we really focus on.

Do you enjoy making videos?

B: Yeah, they are pretty cool. They’re fun, and a little weird because it is a different kind of thing.

Weird because the camera is focused on you all the time?

J: Yeah, for those of us who are camera shy.

B: And you always have to stand up straight and suck in your gut a little bit.

Be sure to show your best side.

B: Yeah.

Did you find that things were a bit different at home after your first major stint on the road?

B: Yeah, some things were a bit different. The scene had changed, some bands weren’t around, some bands added people, and some of our friends forgot that they were our friends and just asked about the road constantly, so we ended up telling the same story 30 times.

How was your first ‘return to home’ show?

J: Any home show is always awesome.

I heard that you played a string of shows under different names.

J: Little pseudonyms.

I liked the Ho-bags and Pop Bitches name or whatever it was.

B: Hurley bro-dogs and the pop bitches.

That’s a catchy name. I like it.

B: We used that name because someone was talking trash on the net, and we think we know who it was. He was saying that all our fans were Hurley bro-dogs and pop bitches, so just to rile him up we called ourselves that name because we were like, “Yeah, that doesn’t affect us. We think it is funny.” We were just trying to get his goat.

Is there a lot of interaction between the band and the fans on your website?

B: Yeah. We’re always on the message board, and there’s a little section where we talk about the tour – a little journal. We’re also on easypunk.com a lot too. It’s like a local Arizona punk zine. We try to stay in touch with our fans. There’s a chat room on there too, and our bassist is usually on there a lot.

Besides interviews and your show at The Troubadour what are you going to do while you are in L.A.?

B: Eat at Toi.

I love Toi! It’s the best late night spot to chow down.

J: I love it too. It has all that spicy food. Every time we are in town we always hit that up. Roscoes is cool too, but the food is pretty rich.

B: It’s great when you want to go out and have a few beers.

J: And we’ll probably catch a few shows up at The Whiskey.

How is the tour with Pennywise going?

J: Amazing.

B: Phenomenal.

J: It’s a dream come true, and we’ve had a really good response, which is surprising because a lot of people just want to see Pennywise. But, we’ve been getting really good reactions from the crowds.

Has Fletcher been behaving himself?

B: Yeah, he has been.

J: We’ve heard all the horror stories, and I’m sure they may be true but we haven’t seen anything. But, we have one night left….

I heard they save everything for the last night.

J: Oh, shit.

B: I think we’re going to get the cleansing. I hope not, but…

J: They’re all really cool guys. They’ve been really nice on this tour.

Which tours have been the most fun?

B: The Punk-o-Rama Tour with Sum 41, No Use For A Name, and The Starting Line was fun. There were lots of practical jokes on that one. We tied No Use For A Name’s furniture to the ceiling.

No way.

B: Yeah, they said that was the gnarliest prank that ever happened to them, so we got one chalked up for us.

J: Another fun one was with this band called Living in Question, from Hawaii, we went on a solo tour with them. We didn’t play any really big shows, but it was a lot of fun because it was two indie bands out in the road. There were a lot of practical jokes on that tour too, which is why it stands out.

B: We might be back out there this summer again with them, and we might even get a chance to go hit up the Island.

That would be good. What are three main requirements for your tour vehicle? I won’t say bus because I am not sure what it is.

J: Naw, we don’t have it that good.

B: We have to have air conditioning, and a tape adopter for our iPod because it keeps us awake.

J: I have to throw this one out…the spray…that is mandatory.

B: Oh yeah. We call it “The Gas” because it is punishment for anyone that has flatulation problems. So when that happens we douse them with Lysol, which is not much better because then we choke on the chemicals.

J: The spray is definitely a mandatory requirement.

What is the craziest thing a fan has ever done to get your attention?

B: We get flashed a lot, but that is pretty cliché. Didn’t someone throw panties at you one time? Big girl panties?

J: Oh yeah. Well, I don’t know if it was to get our attention, but the coolest thing I have seen any body do is to get a tattoo of our band’s name. That is amazing.

B: One time a guy showed up with a sign that said “I stalk Bill”.

That’s a little creepy.

B: Jason used to wear a trucker hat. He had a blue flame hat that he wore forever, and then all the little kids in Mesa started wearing something similar.

That’s cute. What is one common mistake that most new bands seem make that you can offer advice on?

B: A lot of bands underestimate the value of a good website. Even a crappy one is useful because you can get your information out there and let people know who you are. It’s a way to let people around the world know who you are and what you are about. I think bands that don’t have a website have turned a lot of fans away who could have found them easier.

What is the story behind the four-leaf clover tattoo? Do you all have them?

B: Jason and I got them last October when the fires were happening in Los Angeles. The fires delayed us during pre-production with Miguel, so we got these to ensure good luck on the new album.

Well, the album sounds great so I think your lucky charms are working.

B: Thank you.

So what are you currently listening to?

J: Everything.

B: I’ve been listening to a lot of Arabic music lately. There’s a website called spinner.com, and I’ve been listening to a lot of World music lately on it. Indian music, Arabic music, Armenian …. We’ve also been listening to Barry (Barrington) Levy – old reggae stuff. It really just depends. We’ve also been listening to Rise Against a lot. I‘ve been listening to The Streets. They’re pretty cool. For the most part, we’ve been listening to everything lately.

Which is good since the band’s sound is so eclectic. I’m sure that subliminally these influences sink in. Authority Zero has such a diverse sound. I think your fans would be disappointed if you delivered a straightforward album.

B: Yeah, that is not our thing.

Exactly, which is why I was so excited to hear this new album because I wanted to hear the new progression. Authority Zero is definitely not a boring band. You’re songs are fun, and you are all very interesting people.

J & B: Thank you.

J: We definitely like to keep that melting pot alive. It keeps things fresh.

Absolutely. The least time I spoke to you, you had told me about an Authority Zero cover band.

B: Yeah, we still haven’t seen them either because we’ve been out supporting our album.

J: Yeah, we’ve been touring so much. I honestly don’t know if they are still together.

B: I hope they are because it would be fun to see them.

You could have them open up for you the next time you play a home show.

J: We could come out and play their show. Switch off on the instruments.

B: Actually, we had someone play drums for us yesterday. We were really tired. We have been on a pretty grueling run with Pennywise and Jim had a couple of cocktails… so he was kind of slacking.

(We all laugh).

B: So anyway, a fan of ours got up on stage and played a faster beat on “One More Minute”. We called it the dancehall version and played it real quick. It wasn’t as groovy, but the kid was pretty good on drums.

J: There is actually a remix of that song that a buddy of ours had done, and last night’s versions reminded me a lot of that because it was more upbeat. It was almost exact.

I noticed your involvement with getting younger people to vote.

B: We did the Rock Against Bush tour, which is sponsored by PunkVoter.com. Basically, if you throw your vote away you are still playing a part in politics.

Is there anything else that you want to add?

J: keep an eye out for the album. Its got a bright orange cover, and it’s a reinvention of a Norman Rockwell painting so it really stands out.

B: Also, there’s a compilation coming out. It’s a Volcom compilation, and there is a B-side track on there that we didn’t use on the album. It’s very different. The song is called “Broken Dreams,” and it goes back to our old school roots.

For more on Authority Zero visit www.authorityzero.com