Well, well, well, what can I say about Guttermouth? Born in 1989 and with 6 full length albums under their belt, Guttermouth are no strangers to the live stage. The band has just confirmed two Queensland dates for their visit to Australia in October including Brisbane's Livid Festival, and I'm afraid 2 shows is all they'll be playing. Matt from Punk Downunder recently got the chance to do a short interview with Erik Davis (gutarist, a.k.a. Derek). Enjoy.
DONE ON SEPTEMBER 13, 2000

MATT: We've been getting a lot of questions from people who visit the site asking 'why you guys aren't doing many shows while your here in Australia.' Are you going to come back soon for a full Australian tour

ERIK: We would love to do more OZ but it takes us a couple months just to get rid of the hangover and then we need to tour the other spots like the U.S., Japan, Canada, Europe. We'll be back on the new Epitaph record for sure, hopefully early next year.

MATT: You'll be visiting Queensland for 2 days, mainly for the Livid Festival in Brisbane on October 21, where I'll be seeing you guys strut your stuff. I saw you play at Livid two years back, I think it was 2 years back. Did you enjoy playing there?

ERIK: 32 hours of travel for two days??? You better fuckin' believe we had a good time and this will be no different.

MATT: There's probably going to be more punkers present this year bacause you guys are lined up with Millencolin, Green Day, No Fun At All, The Hippos, Unwritten Law plus strong Aussie punk rock bands 28 Days and Bodyjar. So expect to be playing to a huge, huge audience.

ERIK: Just remember to find us in the mix, we want to see some mayhem out front...

MATT: It didn't take too long for you guys to come back after that Livid 98 appearence with a full tour in 1999 with Mach Pelican and then again shortly after that, supporting the Offspring, what do you guys like about Australia so much?

ERIK: There's a lot of untapped energy left there and I think we do well with the people in OZ as far as relating. People in OZ are generally less inhibited and it shows at the gigs.

MATT: Are Australian crowds easy to please?

ERIK: I would'nt say your easy, they just know how to enjoy a good time and that's all we like to do at the show.

MATT: Any crowds that you've had trouble with pleasing?

ERIK: We don't worry about those people to much. We always seem to just step up and do our thing, if you don't like it, then bail.

MATT: Also I gotta ask you guys about your relationship with Mach Pelican? I see you guys have a split EP out with them them no here in Australia called Chicken & Champaigne, which includes some quickly written material from you guys.

ERIK: We had an opportunity to put out or own deal after we left Nitro records so we did those tracks to keep you guys hungry over there.

MATT: Any other Australian punk bands you like......or have even heard of?

ERIK: All of the bands that we've met over there have been really cool to us and that's another good thing about OZ, not too much animosity built up yet.

MATT: Alright, you recently joined the Epitaph label alongside bands like Pennywise, NOFX and All. What made you all make the decision to switch from Nitro?

ERIK: We were finished with our Nitro contract and ready to re-sign but they did'nt seem to have it all together over there. They were all depressed and bummed out on each other and it showed in their work,some people there did't' really even like Guttermouth and they were running the circus. Brian(Dexter) seemed too busy doing his stuff and did not seem to be into the lablel much. We appreciated all they had done but tides were changing at Nitro and our phone was ringing from a few other labels. We never shopped for a new label, we just answered the phone. Epitaph is the label we all knew and liked, especially being a Los Angeles indie lable, so we felt comfortable talking to them. Epitaph had great ideas and hopes for us, where at Nitro we felt like they were just trying to get through another day at the office. Bla, Bla, Bla, Bla.....

MATT: Has the song Secure Horizon got anything to do with your move? (Securing your financial future, livin' large on the westside).

ERIK: We just saw some of those numbers flashing across the bottom of some news channel on TV. Maybe we should start to consider retiring???????
(I'm just told that Secure Horizon(s) is a retirment plan advertised in the U.S or some shit like that, how stupid...)

MATT: Give us Aussies some info about your forthcoming debut album on the Epitaph label. When's it coming out? What's it like musically? What's it going to be titled? Has it been fully recorded? Give us something cause we don't know much about it down here.

ERIK: This will be our 7th album, 1st one on Epitaph. Right now we are half way done with the new one... I like it, it has something for everyone...we've been having a lot of fun doing this record. You'll just have to wait.

MATT: On the Gorgeous album, the song I Have A Dream, in the lyrics it says, "I wish the Canadian government said that we could play, and you wish that this was more than just a dream." You've actually just finished a tour in Canada. Tell us Aussies about the Guttermouth/Canada story and how the tour went.

ERIK: That's a long story....... Mark Naked-COPS-Jail-Immigration- Escort out of Country-Long Drive Home-Banned from Canada for one and a half years-Pay lots of money to lawyers-Play Canada again.

MATT: I'm pretty new at this interview question type thing. What questions are asked by people that you get really tired of?

ERIK: That question is getting old, it's hard to be original...people want the facts.

MATT: Fair enough...Well thanks for taking the time to answer my questions and all. Any chance of you boys playing a song for me for Livid? Hit Machine, I can't get enough of that song. Even better say it's for Boo Boo (that's my nickname) from Punk Downunder. Cheers Erik.