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| Interview with The Stivs Pt. I |
Interview with Simon Young of The Stivs www.thestivs.com www.myspace.com/thestivs Pretty Vacant: So you've described your sound as early punk influenced. What points exactly did you guys take from what you've learned from those bands? Simon Young: Well, I'd say that alot of our influence comes from The Stooges...especially our live show. Iggy Pop was all about putting on shows that stunned people eveyrtime they saw him. A lot of people also say that we kind of have a groove too, like the MC5. But for our newer stuff, we take from all sorts of influences...everything from AC/DC to the Notorious B.I.G Pretty Vacant: Really? That's awesome. Do you see a punk movement coming back? Such as a result of the war and everything going on right now in the country? Simon Young : Music usually comes and goes in cycles. But I think lately, people have been more open to different kinds of music. As far as what punk used to be, it's tough to say. There was just a raw energy that comes the last 70s and early 80s that you don't see much anymore. But I guess thats why you have The STIVs, haha. As far as bands resulting from whats going on, I don't see too much of it as a genuine punk movement like when you had a much more oppressive culture. I think things are so open and views on whats going on (like the war) are so widespread, that the general stereotypes of what punks are/were (anarchsits, progressives, etc) don't apply as much.And it seems to me, that alot of the "anger" in the punk is almost like a selling point (i.e, Hate Bush so we're popular, etc). Most of us in the band don't really xare for music with messages anyway. Pretty Vacant : That's pretty true. And sad as well. Being an underground punk band yourself, I'm sure you've heard a few good ones. What are some other bands we probably havent heard of yet? Simon Young : Some of our favorite bands...Well, as a band, its probably hard to agree because all of us like so many different things, but I'll try and mention a little bit on behalf of each person: Pleasure Forever, Coach Whips, Goblin, The Chinese Stars, The Hookers. As far as bands we play with, I'd say The Born Losers--who pretty much just sound like the Murder City Devils--are one of our favorite locals to share the stage with. I guess most of the bands we really love are the "classic" ones like the Stooges, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, Ramones, etc. Pretty Vacant : Yeah, that's awesome. Have you guys ever had a show that went like totally out of control? Simon Young : Every STIVS show is out of control, haha. As far as specifics, usually every show, at least one of us ends up bleeding. One of my favorite shows that we ever played was a house show in Seattle. We had about 40 people crammed into a living room and most of us were sliding because it has hardwood floors. Pretty Vacant : Really? How come? Dude, that's funny. Simon Young : We were running into the crowd, people were getting elbowed in the face and I broke my bass that night. Pretty Vacant : Oh man that's insane. Simon Young : At another of our shows, Rockwell fell over when he was trying to climb a stage monitor. I fell off the stage on top of him and the monitor came crashing down on both of us. It ended up smashing my hand and covered in blood. Pretty Vacant : Daaaaamn lol. You guys must put on some killer shows! Simon Young : We try. Pretty Vacant : I take it you don't do 18 and under shows, huh? Simon Young : Actually, our favorite shows are all ages. We do a pretty good mix of both. Lately, the Portland scene is pretty much just bars though, so alot of our all age shows are out of town. Pretty Vacant : Oh sweet! How would you say they differ from 18+ shows? Simon Young : Well, at most bar shows people are just sitting and drinking. But if they've been drinking alot, then they usually get into it, really into it, like getting on stage with us and stuff. I guess alot of all ages shows are just filled with kids in high school and middle school. They usually appreciate the music more becuase they're there to watch a show, not just meet people and drink (or maybe they are?), but they tend to spend more money on our merch and we like that. |
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