The five piece Georgia punk outfit Whippersnapper has returned
with their second effort The Long Walk. While the band hasn’t
made a total break from the sound of American punk, The Long
Walk hints at a group set on growth and change, a combination
that can grow into one of the defining sounds of post millennium
punk.
s: Spencer – interviwer/DJ for KJEE (Santa Barbara)
a: Andy – Whippersnapper
j: Jason – Whippersnapper
s: This is your second album, it’s called The Long Walk.
Where did you get that title?
a: It came from a Stephen King story. There was a ring to it.
The whole struggle aspect, we’ve had a hard last year and
a half. Members quit, things changed, it wasn’t the best
year of our lives. It was a real growing time.
s: Your first album America’s Favorite Pastime versus The
Long Walk, what’s the major difference?
a: Dynamically different, The Long Walk is a lot more rhythmic...a
lot more stuff going on.
j: More vocals, more time spent thinking things through.
s: A little more of a soul?
a/j: Oh, yeah.
a: We took more time writing. The first record was more of an
opportunity, the label wanted new songs, we had to spit one
out and it really reflected what we were doing at the time.
This album we went off to Kansas and really worked on it for
a good six weeks, just music.
It really reflected that we put more thought into it. We just
had a lot to talk about this time.
s: This album comes across with knowledgeable lyrics but it’s
still fun to listen to.
a: I’ve always been into the more serious as far as lyrics
go.
j: You definitely want to hear a band and take something from
that, but we’re not so serious as to where you don’t
get too involved in it.
s: Whippersnapper puts on a really good live show.
a/j: Thanks.
s: Tour plans?
j: We’re going around the South-East in December, Europe
in February maybe. A full US tour with Mock Orange in March
or April, it’d be cool cause those guys are really good.
We’re working on some other plans for the summer.
s: What’s the Whippersnapper response across the country?
a: We get kind of a varied response, we get a weird thing, a
lot of people who don’t really like our style of music,
really like our show and buy a record. The Mid-West has been
kind of hard, we’ve had some brutal shows, like some emo
shows where the kids want something slow and we’re a little
too fast for them. They just want something a little more slow
and depressing.
j:We haven’t had a tour with this album out yet.
a: This time around it could be that the people who were staring
at us in Illinois are into it. You never know. From what people
tell me this album has more of an emo feel in some places. I
don’t know if that’s what we were going for but we’ll
see.
s: On this album you seem to have a bridge between “serious
emo” and “fun punk”.
j: We don’t want to fall into one certain category.
a: I like a lot of Braid and Jets To Brazil and some other bands
that are considered emo like Hot Water Music. I think people
have brought that stuff into the pool of records they listen
to. At the same time when we’re out there touring, it has
taken over so much, the whole second wave of emo. We were influenced
by it but hopefully we tempered it out with the whole punk rock
thing.
s: It’s cool that you can say there’s some influence
in there.
a: I don’t think anyone who listens to that music today
as a musician can say that they are not being influenced by
it unless they just totally hate it, because bands right now
like The Promise Ring they’re getting huge, and I like
The Promise Ring a lot actually. I think it also comes from
liking Samiam and Jawbreaker, those bands are the father of
that style to some extent on the rock side. Mock Orange is a
problem, they’re emo and want to be considered more indie
rock.
s: Like a punk slur.
j: It’s nothing really. Take the difference between Hot
Water Music and The Promise Ring and they’re both called
emo and these are two totally different bands with two different
sounds.
s: Jason Livermore who also produced Good Riddance, All and
The Descendents found a sound on this album that seems like
where punk needs to be now.
j: Cool. It was good to work with those guys who had been into
music for so long, they definitely know how to get a good sound
on a record that has kind of a rock deal, they produce a good
quality recording.
a: He was not necessarily about what sound he wanted for the
record, he was more about what sound we wanted. Our bass player
had a really clear idea of the sound he was looking for and
Pat on the drums has gotten way better at deciding his sounds.
Jason had the knowledge to say that if you want a certain sound
you need to use a certain kind of amp or speaker or instrument.
Stefan Eggerton was great, especially on vocals, he has a perfect
ear, really easy going and with him being in The Descendents
I’ve listened to him my whole life.
s: Are you guys able to listen to The Long Walk?
j: Our bass player listens to the record, I do too. A lot of
hard work is in there.
a: When we were writing it, we listened on our four track so
much because we were listening with a critical ear, spent a
lot of time wondering what people’s reactions would be,
especially people who liked the last album because this one
goes off into some different realms. We’ve never been the
kind of band who just records something and then says I’ll
never listen to it again.
s: If it’s not fun then why be in a punk band?
a: If you don’t like your own music, I don’t understand
how you can continue to play it.
j: You never know how long you’re going to be doing it
so you might as well enjoy it.
s: Do you have cheesy punk rock side jobs?
a: I work at this production company in Atlanta that sets up
stages for Brittney Spears, Lilith Faire and The Like.
j: I work at a car wash so I don’t get to hang out with
Brittney Spears.
s: This is your second album, it’s called The Long Walk.
Where did you get that title?