This interview with The GC5 was done in February of 2001 in Gainesville, Florida. It appeared in issue 5 of Sink Hole.
An interview with The GC5...
The GC5 are a 4-man political street-punk band from Cleveland, Ohio. Lyrically they are very profound in their message. They sing for the Working Class and question the hypocrisy of the government. They also sing tributes to radical legends like Eugene Debs and The Molly McGuires. They have a number of 7 inches out, an EP which will be released soon, and an excellent full-length titled "Kisses From Hanoi" available on Outsider Records.
I met the guys before the show for the first time and spent some time talking to bassist/vocalist Doug. I was pretty surprised to hear that he was a huge Replacements fan (just like me). Thinking about that I laughed even harder when Doug fell off the stage onto the doorman in true Paul Westerberg fashion. Beyond that they put on a great show, whether it was alcoholically motivated or not, they rocked the little club mixing new and old songs and they even dropped in a Cocksparrer cover. After the show was over the band and I headed for the couches to relax, talk shit and do this interview. It should be noted that Dave and Paul weren't completely silent through the interview-they just didn't talk as loud as Pete and Doug...
The GC5 is: Doug-bass and vocals, Pete-guitar and vocals, Dave-drums and Paul-lead guitar
SHZ-What are some of your crazy touring adventures so far?
Pete-Well, we get pulled over cuz Paul looks like a hippie...in our van. The cop says he smells burnt marijuana in our car. They called out the drug dogs and shit-I think they were just bored and needed something to do...Well, Paul likes to be naked in the summertime whenever possible. It gets hot as hell out west and he hates it. So its hot and we're all dressed, but Paul is just wearing a pair of little shorts and nothing else. No undies or anything. The cop made us empty our pockets, and we all did, but when he came to Paul he pulls the waistband on his shorts and the cop gets a full view of his cock...
Everyone around let out a series of whoas, ahs, thats nastys, etc...
Pete-Another thing that was kind of funny-We were playing the alley behind Strip Mine Records in Jacksonville, Florida. We're in the alley, its dusk, we've got a lightbulb and there's about 30 or 40 kids. When we start to play it starts to drizzle a little, by the 4th song it's a torrential downpour and we had to stop playing, but for 2 minutes we were playing in fucking downpour shit-ass rain, we were lucky we didn't get electrocuted. So far that's the crazy shit we've dealt with this tour.
SHZ-What's the best show you played this tour?
Doug-Atlanta and Wilmington both kicked ass. In Wilmington we were supposed to play with Disorderly Conduct-they set it up for us, but couldn't play because lead-singer Eric lost his voice.
SHZ-Did he show up and mime the words to the songs?
Pete-No, actually he was one step away from being on his deathbed...They said he was sick for weeks, but was too fucking stubborn to go see a doctor. Everybody else from Disorderly showed up, the whole crew. It was a fucking really good show.
Doug-Columbia, South Carolina was really great, too, a lot of cool people there.
Pete-Yeah, in Columbia we played with a bunch of fucking college rock bands, second rate Godsmack wannabes. We got thrown on the show at the very last minute. We didn't get on stage until 3 in the morning. It was a whole night of indy rockers-well, not even indy rock. Just shitty alternative and modern rock bands that all played hour long sets. 30 or 40 punk kids showed up, they sat through all the shitty bands, got drunk and caused trouble of course. But come 3 o'clock they were still there, and it was fucking awesome.
SHZ-So is the tour a success?
Pete-I would say so. We got to play to a lot of people we hadn't played to before. I mean all the off days really killed us-I mean give me 10 shows in a row and I'll be thrilled. As soon as we have 2 or 3 off days in a row, you start to crack a little. You spend too much time around each other, you get edgy. There's no place to go...The off days really sucked, but the shows we did play were great.
SHZ-Is this your first time in Florida?
Pete-Yes, it is, but we'll definitely be back. I don't know how you could avoid this area with The Beltones down here, they're fucking awesome.
Pause as Daniel enters the interview zone...
Pete-For the record Daniel looks like Sammy Haggar. He has a big blonde perm and he's buddies with Doug.
(No joke-This could have been Sammy himself, from the hair to the wide open shirt and tight pants...I can’t drive 55!!!)
SHZ-How hard is it to go out on tour all by yourselves?
Pete-It gets easier and easier as people know who you are. The Hudson Falcons took us out on our first world tour and that was super of them, because they already had a fan base and people came out to see them. I don't know what we'd be doing if they didn't do that for us. That last tour people went to see the Falcons, and some saw us and liked us and now they're coming out to see us on our own.
SHZ-So what about Cleveland?
Pete-Cleveland's cool.
Paul-What do you know about Cleveland?
Pete-Yeah, what's the word on the street about Cleveland?
SHZ-You know, I haven't heard a thing about Cleveland on the street, I know it's somewhere in the Midwest, I think you guys have a baseball team...
Pete-Yeah, the fucking Tribe! You know Cleveland is funny, it's like I love it and I hate it at the same time. Coming up in a real city is a special thing, because there is so much going on. All your favorite bands come through town. The scene there is really fashionable and real clique-ey. When we first started playing shows in Cleveland it was really hard getting people to come out. There is a lot of creeper wearing...it's like a fashion show. There's nothing wrong with kids dressing up, but there seems to be a class system based on how fashionable you are. Everybody wants to be a fucking New York Doll. At the same time, though, there's a lot of cool people there, too. As we started touring and getting more national punk press the people in Cleveland started coming around more and giving us more of a chance. Actually, in Cleveland, the streetpunk rockandroll scene is starting to build a little which is cool.
SHZ-So are you guys the kings of Cleveland or what other good bands are up there?
Pete-No, we're not the fuckin kings of Cleveland, but, Yeah, there's a lot of great bands, some bands that have been around for a while. Nine Shocks Terror is a great insane, screamy hardcore band. It's Tony Erba from Face Value's band. He's also in a band called Stepsister. Lets see, who else...The Chargers... Oh, don't forget Doug and Dave's Pogues cover band-The Boys From County Hell. Tell 'em about it Doug
Doug-Me? Okay. We started a Pogues cover band about a year and a half ago. It's Me, Dave and our roommate Ryan (Ryan Foltz of the Dropkick Murphys) who plays the tin whistle, and a few other cats we met around town. We just thought it would be fun to do. We played a huge show last year on St. Patrick's day. Every once and a while we all get together and put on a show and have a good time. Everybody is in other bands, too, so we just do it for fun.
SHZ-Do you just play covers or do you do other stuff in that same style?
Doug-Yes, its just Pogues songs. Oh, actually we are playing a handful of shows soon, and Spider Stacy (original Pogue) is coming to town next week for those shows.
SHZ-Do you have any new releases that people should be looking for?
Pete-We have an EP coming out on Leproc Records. They are a label out of Ireland. They're a pretty big street punk label in Europe-I think even in South America. They have pretty good distribution in a lot of countries. I think soundwise it's different than anything else we've done so far.
Dave-Listening to it, we sound like a different band.
Pete-We cover a Replacements song (Bastards of Young), and theres 4 more originals. It's already recorded and should be out in May and we'll do a US tour to support it.
Doug-We have a 7 inch coming out on Cyclone Records that should be out any day now. Other than that we will probably work on another full-length at the end of the year.(editors note:the 7 inch never came out)
SHZ-So what's gonna be different about the GC5 now compared to your first album?
Pete-Well, we have a new guitar player, Paul. Our old guitar player Chris left after we recorded last time. I think that Paul adds a little to our sound.
Doug-I think that lyrically it will be a little more introspective. I think that musically it will be similar. Obviously we go for that catchy anthemic thing. I don't think it will be radically different than the first one. One thing that will be a little different is that we plan on spending more time in the studio.
Pete-Yeah, we recorded that last record in a fucking whirlwind. We dropped 18 tracks in 2 days. We did all the basic tracks one day, then did the overdubs. We've been in the studio twice since then, and I think everytime we get a little more comfortable.
SHZ-What brought you guys together and what brought you all into the scene?
Dave-It started off with me and Pete fucking around in high school. We were like 15 when we started the band. Then we got Doug to join. At that point we started to get more serious. We added Chris on guitar and just got more focused and serious to the point where we weren't just high school kids fucking around anymore.
Pete-At first, like a lot of bands do, we tried to write songs to sound like our favorite bands. Back then we wrote to sound like Bad Religion or Rancid-not to say that we don't do that anymore...Now, I think that Doug has really found his voice and developed his own writing style which makes it that much better. As far as influences and shit-we all listen to different shit. Anything from older shit like Stiff Little Fingers and The Clash to newer bands like the Utters and The Beltones.
SHZ-Great show tonight by the way, I'm impressed that you play so well drunk.
Pete-It's just Doug, he's been tying one on all night.
SHZ-And your doing a great job Doug, Nice fall, too.
Doug-Yeah, I saw a curtain and figured there was a wall behind it. I still owe the doorman an apology. Sorry...
SHZ-Okay, I think we can end this right here, but lastly I want to ask, how about describing the band in 5 words...
Pete-Doug's the poetic one...
Doug-I don't know...Introvert and three clowns basically.
Pete-Oh wait, I got it...Bushy headed kids from Ohio. That's five-say no more.
Editor’s note: since this was done like 3 years ago, The GC5 have grown into one of my most favorite bands, I’ve seen them live about 6 times and they’ve had a bunch of worthwhile releases including their latest full-length “Never Bet The Devil Your Head”.
For more info on the band, check their website, The GC5 dot com or their record label, Thick Records.
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