Clint Baker & Dustin Stroud of

by Nikki Neil

Clint Baker (vocals/guitar), Dustin Stroud (guitar), Mark Johnson (bass), and Dave Keel (drums) collectively known as The Riddlin’ kids are a vivacious quartet whose high-powered brand of melodic pop punk is fueled by trenchant melodies, driving rhythms, and impudent hooks.

The hard drivin’ unit cultivated a loyal following in and around their hometown of Austin, Texas via their wild and unpredictable live shows. Word of the hot new act quickly spread and it wasn’t long before local radio stations KROX and KLBJ started playing cuts off the band’s demo EP on a regular basis. Soon after, the Riddlin’ Kids inked a deal with Aware, a subsidiary of Columbia Records.

The band’s major label debut Hurry Up And Wait is due out on April 30^th. The album exhibits the Riddlin’ Kid’s energetic and upbeat nature and will appeal to fans of Blink 182, Pennywise, and Less Than Jake.

You mentioned earlier that cigarette smoke bothers you. When you’re in a club filled with smokers does it affect your ability to sing?

C: No it doesn’t seem to bother me. I guess it is because there’s more space. It bothers me when I’m around it in a more concentrated area. If you were smoking right now it might bother me because we are in a small space. Sometimes I’ll get an instant headache if someone smokes in the van. It mostly depends on whether I’m having a bad sinus day. I’ve been this way since I was a kid. It’s weird.

If you’re sick or having a bad sinus day does it affect your performance on stage?

C: If I’m pissed off, or have the flu, or a terrible headache, or anytime that I’m sick at all, after we play a show I feel like I’m healed. I feel better. It’s almost as if I sweated it all out. After a couple of hours it might come back, but for some reason I feel better after a show. When we play it just kind of heals me.

Can you perform with a hangover?

C: Yeah. We don’t drink a lot on the road because we don’t want it to interfere with our live show. If we have a day off we’ll party. However, it’s hard to not drink while we are touring with River City High. Those guys party like crazy. They’re nuts.

You mentioned that you were from McAllen Texas and you moved to Austin. Did you move in order to join Riddlin’ Kids or was it because of Austin’s thriving music scene?

C: It was because of another band that I was in at the time. The same goes for everyone in the band except for Mark. He ended up moving to Austin with his parents and started a band after he moved there. He’s a little younger than we are.

Austin is the Oasis for music in Texas. Everything sucks everywhere else. Dallas has a music scene but it’s kind of weird. Everything else is weak, which is why we all migrated to Austin. I tried to get into recording school but I didn’t qualify for financial aid so I did the back up plan and started a band.

How did you hook up with the rest of the guys in Riddlin’ Kids?
C: I moved to Austin with my band and started working crappy jobs. Eventually I started delivering pizza, and I found that pizza is the key to success in the music business. We started bribing the people that booked clubs with Pizza. I worked at this place called Gumby’s Pizza, which is where I met Dustin. At the time he was playing in a band called the Neimoys, and I was playing in a band called LBH. We got along very well because Dustin is a super nice guy. He wasn’t getting along with his bandmates because he lived with them and was with them all the time. He wanted to get some space from them, so he asked if he could move in with us. We needed a roommate so it was perfect. He moved in and eventually he got pissed at his band and quit and I got in a fight with my best friend and quit my band. So it was only a matter of time before we started playing together, and it’s been great ever since. We started a band called Igmo (Short for Ignorant Mother Fucker), but we could never get a solid line up. We kicked out a bass player, lost a drummer, and finally about three years ago we hooked up with Dave. We met him at a place called Stars Café. Dustin and I would go there after our shift was over at Gumby’s. Dave worked there and eventually we hooked up with him. Then Dustin and I both quit Gumby’s and I went to Papa John’s and he went to Dominos. Mark used to hang out at Dominos, and Dustin met him there. So it all boils down to pizza. Pizza helped us all along the way.

So pizza brought you guys together.

Dustin: Pizza brings the world together.

Why did you change the band’s name from Ritalin Kids to Riddlin’ Kids?

C: Because Ritalin is trademarked. It’s just like saying, “We’re the Excedrin Boys.” So we chose Riddlin’ Kids because we’re talking about Riddles. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

How did the name manifest?

D: Clint’s brother played bass in the band, and he came up with the name Igmo. When he left the band he said we had to change the name. Clint’s brother and I had this idea for a joke band that we called Ritalin Kids. I would play guitar right handed even though I’m left handed and he would play the bass left handed because he was right handed and we would make a bunch of noise and racket until people shut us down. We would be Ritalin kids and just freak out on stage until they shut us down. When Clint’s brother left the band we decided to change the name to Ritalin Kids. It wasn’t really out of spite, but it was almost out of spite. He was cool with it, and he’s still a really good friend of ours. The name sort of stuck. It totally fits us because we jump around and act crazy on stage. The more we started maturing and getting comfortable on stage the more we started running around and getting crazy, so it’s fitting. The name Ritalin Kids, if we were talking about the drug, would fit us because we are so active on stage. Now Riddlin’, like riddles, fits us because we’re a mysterious, obscure band. (He says is a fake, cheap English accent.)

C: Every time we jump in the air or point at the crowd or Dave twirls his sticks were telling a riddle. (Laughs).

You guys definitely exert a lot of energy on stage. Even though there wasn’t a big crowd tonight the band still delivered a lively performance.

D: You should have seen the Anaheim show. It was crazy. Anaheim was sold out.

Hollywood is a tough crowd.

C: Yeah. It is a tough crowd.

Especially at this hour on a Monday night. Did you go on at the same time in Anaheim?

C: Pretty much, but it doesn’t help that Good Charlotte is playing down the street either.

That’s right. Also, Anaheim doesn’t have as many clubs as Hollywood. I was impressed that tonight you guys played as if it was a packed house.

D: We play for three people the way we would play for three hundred or three thousand.

C: We made those two girls in front jump. It was great. All we are trying to do is make kids jump.

You played a 1 a.m. show at SXSW (2001). Did you have a big crowd at that hour?

C: That is normal for Austin, so there was a pretty big crowd there. In Austin all shows start at 10 o’clock at night and end around 2 a.m.

Was the club filled with your fans or mainly convention people?

C: It was more convention people because our fans won’t pay $100 for a wristband just to see a bunch of bands that they don’t really give a crap about. We have a lot of grass roots indie punk fans. When we started getting spins on the radio mainstream kids started to get into our music. So there was a mix of indie punk kids and mainstream radio kids at the show and a lot of industry people. There were also a lot of grass roots kids there because the Alkaline Trio played right before us. There were a lot of people there who didn’t have wristbands but paid the $20 to get in. It was a fun show.

Was that the band’s first SXSW showcase?

C: Yeah. In the past we played other showcases that weren’t SXSW affiliated, but they were downtown. We paid a bunch of money to play to no one and got basically screwed over. This was our first ‘official’ SXSW showcase, and we didn’t have to submit an application. They invited us. In fact, we filled out the application and sent it in two months late and they still gave us a prime time slot. We felt kind of guilty because we knew that other bands were trying to get signed and they paid to play at the conference and ended up playing in a broom closet on the outskirts of town. But it was cool. We had a good time. My birthday was the day before our showcase, and The Austin Music Awards was on the night of my birthday. We ended up winning “Best Alt Rock/Punk Band, ” and at the awards party I got to meet Sandra Bullock. I also a bunch of shots, so I was half drunk by the time I got home. When I got to my house there was a surprise party waiting for me. I ended up twisting my ankle that night because I went over the couch to answer the door. We didn’t get any sleep at all and the next day we had to meet with our label people and then we had to go to a Columbia Records showcase before we played our show.

D: Yeah, we walked there.

C: It was about a mile. After that we walked about three miles to see All play. We thought it was really close, but we ended up walking forever. We also met Nikki Sixx that night, which was awesome.

You live in Austin. How could you not know how far the club was?

D: We were totally delirious. The only reason we walked over there was because we were so poor we couldn’t afford a cab to take us a mile down the street, but we got to see All play, which was incredible. We got to hang out and talk to the guys. Then we walked back to the club and played the show completely delirious. We fucked everything up. We played sloppy. We were on this little bitty stage and Mark tried to swing his bass around and it hit his bass amp and landed on top of his amp. He thought he killed some kid with his bass because it never came back but it was stuck in his amp. It was nuts and there was a bunch of label people there and they still loved it. It was cool. But anyway this is a long, drawn out story. The point is Dustin used to work at KMART.

(We laugh).

What has been the biggest highlight so far. Either from SXSW or just from signing with Columbia Records?

D: Probably the biggest highlight of being signed, and it ties into SXSW, was working at Ardent Studios in Memphis. One of the engineers there is a very famous man by the name of John Hampton, who has worked with the Gin Blossoms and my favorite band of all time All. We got to know him, and he talked a lot about All. It was kind of like a ‘Behind the Music’ with All. So that was my in to talk to the band because I’ve always been a big fan. Then at SXSW I was standing outside the venue where All was playing and Karl Alvarez (bassist/All) walked up to me and said, “Hey Dustin, what’s up?” I realized right then that I could die at that moment and be happy. To be on a first name basis with those guys is as big as I ever wanted to get. That show was one of the best shows I have ever seen.

C: There were about thirty people there. It was so intimate. It was awesome.

D: And we also hung out with Stephen Egerton (guitarist/All) for about a half-hour. He was totally cool. He was telling us about all sorts of personal stuff and his baby that was on the way. It was very cool.

So obviously you’d like to tour with ALL.

(In unison): Or the Descendents.

C: Dustin’s dream is to play a show with the Descendents and run out on stage and sing with them.

D: Or Milo can’t go on…“I blew my voice out. You’re gonna have to do it,” and I’d run out there and sing for him. I’d even wear glasses and a hoodie and pretend to be him. It’s not so much that I want to be in the band. I just love those songs. I love their music so much.

Clint, who would you love to go on tour with?

C: We were just talking about this earlier. I don’t know. It’s tough. I’d really love to tour with the Descendents. I’m also a huge Face to Face fan.

D: That would be a good tour.

C: I would love to tour with NOFX. We’re big clowns and I know they are big clowns. I’d also like to tour with Sinéad O’Connor. Seriously. People laugh and everyone in the band hates it but I love Sinéad O’Connor so much. If someone were trying to shoot her I would jump in front of her to save her.

D: I would like to tour with Blink 182 and Jimmy Eat World.

C: That would be amazing. And not to jump on the bandwagon with everybody else in the universe but I’m totally digging on the new Jimmy Eat World record. It’s amazing.

It is a good album.

C: Every musician I know loves it and every girl I know loves it.

Your album Hurry Up And Wait is due out in April. Are there any guests or surprises on it?

C: No, but we’re throwing in “It’s The End of The World” (R.E.M.). That is the only surprise. We put it on our EP just for the hell of it. The record will have sixteen songs and one hidden track.

D: We’re totally stoked. We’re excited and ready for the record to come out. It’s been awhile since we started it and we’ve finally wrapped it up, so it’s all good.

You’ve had some good touring experiences but what about the bad ones?

D: So far we’ve been really lucky and haven’t had any.

C: The only bad thing that happened is that we played a couple of shows where there was absolutely no one there. But it wasn’t a big deal. We thought it was going to suck because the shows were poorly promoted because the promoter dropped the ball. We ended up playing to about three or four people and after the show those people came up to us and said, “Hey, you guys were great.” We ended up talking to them and they bought our CD. In the end, we were happy that we played those shows because we met some of the nicest people.

Funny you should say that because I saw a couple of kids buy your CD after your set.

C: I’m glad I’m here talking to you, but I wish we could have gone and talked to them. We make it a point to meet our fans and talk to them.

D: And now, every time we go back to a place we’ve been we’ll see familiar faces.

C: They’ll say, “Remember me?” But I can’t remember names. One girl said, “Remember me? I’m the Four Rooms’ girl.” There was this girl her name was Toni. She’s from San Luis Obispo. I saw her last night at the Anaheim show. She looks like the girl in the movie Four Rooms who kept saying slong, wiener…

D: Jennifer Beals?

C: Is that her name? This girl looks like her. She looks a little different now because she changed her hair, which is why I didn’t recognize her until she said she was the Four Rooms girl. It’s cool to see familiar faces when we go back to a place we’ve played before. I remember the first show that girl was at. She ran up with her friend and they were jumping up and down in front of the stage. They knew all the words. It’s awesome to be a young band like us and see people singing along to your songs.

You guys do a fabulous cover of R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I feel fine).” If another band covered one of your songs which do you think it would be?

D: I’ve heard River City High playing a bit of “I Feel Fine”.

C: Local bands in Austin have covered our songs.

D: On Halloween this band in Austin covered our opener “See The Light”. They pretended to be us and jumped around on stage and all that.

Did you happen to walk in while they were playing your song or were you doing a show with them?

C: We heard about it while we were on tour. We have spies who tell us what is going on.

I’m sure that was a big ego boost.

D: Totally. But it’s also like, “Why would they play our songs?”

C: My girlfriend said that all the kids went nuts. It was awesome. They were playing our song and the kids went nuts.

I guess that shows you have a solid fan base in your hometown and that you are influencing new bands. I see that you are wearing Nasty Kids clothing. I heard that they endorse the band?

C: We also wear a lot of Hurley.

D: We are totally down with the Hurley.

So what’s the deal with Nasty Kids?

C: Nasty Kids is a company that is owned by a friend of ours named Zack. He makes the stuff and gives us some shirts. Every time we are home we cruise down and grab some shirts. It’s not an official business thing.

Are the clothes just for guys?

C: It’s unisex like Pornstar. The shirt I usually wear has a bunch of stick figures all in a pile doing sexual things to each other and it says “Boy Bands Suck.”

D: They have regular Tees, baby doll T’s, and spaghetti straps. I think they have shorts now, and they were talking about adding g-strings. I’m all about having g-strings with our band name on them.

You need to add those to your merchandise line.

C: We do. I was thinking about adding a girl’s shirt that said Riddlin Kids, but it would be stretched to the edges so when girls put it on it would accentuate their chest. Every girlfriend I’ve ever had has never liked this idea.

I didn’t see much of your merchandise on display tonight?

C: We are the support act so we’re not allowed to put a lot of stuff out. We do have other merchandise, and we have ideas for additional stuff. But, the opening band is only allowed to put out three or four items in addition to the CD. Some venues even want you to sell your stickers instead of giving them away. As we move up in the ranks we’ll be able to put more merchandise out. We designed all the merchandise that we have now.

What do you miss most about home?

C: I miss hanging out with my girlfriend and sleeping in a comfortable bed that is familiar. The same goes for Mark. Dave loves his room. He is a hermit. Dave would rather hang out by himself in his room than anything else. He misses his room. I guarantee that would be his answer. I miss my girlfriend and some of my friends.

D: I don’t really miss it. I don’t have a girlfriend, and I was never home much to begin with. I have a few friends that I miss, but I could stay out on the road forever. My parents live in Dallas, and lately I’ve been feeling like Dallas is more of a home than Austin. Austin has its charm, but I guess I just miss the city every once in a while.

C: If I had to be trapped with four or five other people with no privacy I would rather be with these guys than anybody else. The one thing that does bother me…every now and then I want to be by myself so I can write new material. When I come up with stuff I have to be by myself, and I have to be able to sing really loud. When I used to deliver pizza I was able to drive around all day and sing at the top of my lungs. When I was stopped at a red light people would look at me like I was crazy. I didn’t care. I am. That’s the main thing I really miss, besides my girlfriend. But, we don’t need to come up with any new stuff right now because we’re going to be touring for about a year and a half in support of this record. We have plenty of time.

Is there anything else you want to add?

C: We’ve been having a lot of fun on this tour. We’ve made a lot of friends, and we’re so excited to be doing this for a living. It’s something we’ve really wanted to do for a long time. It’s such a blessing. It’s a dream come true. It’s awesome.

D: We talk about it every other day. “Dude, we’re guitar players. We don’t deliver pizza anymore.” It’s a different dynamic when we wake up in the morning.

C: We want to send a special message to anybody who has ever been to our shows. “We love you guys, and we’ll see you at the next show the next time we are in your town.”

D: And thank you very much for coming out and checking out our show and for e-mailing us and signing our guest book.

C: We also have some free MP3’s available at www.riddlinkids.net. That’s our website that we run. We have some friend’s back home that maintain the site for us. It’s current and up-to-date. Our label has www.riddlinkids.com. The main, final message is: Thanks to everybody who has been to our shows. We love you guys, and we’ll see you the next time we are in your town.