Although they come from the sunny shores of Southern California,
Secret Hate is not a Ska band! What? No horn section? No turntables?
Nope! And although they love surfing, they don’t play surf
music either. What Secret Hate does play, however, is a unique
brand of Rock n’ Roll with generous helpings of punk mixed
in, which would make sense since they started out as a punk
band. You will quickly find this group to be highly skilled
musicians who at heart are still just kids. And the energy of
their live shows has earned them one of the most devoted audiences
of any band in the Southland music scene. Now, with the release
of their first full length album Pop Cult Vomit, they are well
on their way to being more than just hometown favorites. When
I recently caught up with the band, they were on their third
straight day of driving, partying, and playing. Some of them
had been up almost the whole night before gambling and living
it up. Needless to say, they were looking a little road weary.
But where most people would be feeling as grouchy as a rattlesnake
with a toothache around this point, I found the band to be just
as nice and accommodating as you could imagine. Spotting their
R.V. by the Sacramento club they were playing at that night,
I walked over and knocked on the door.
Heckler:
Hey, what’s up guys?
Secret Hate: Who are you?
H: Uhhh, I’m with Heckler magazine.. I was supposed
to interview you guys?
SH: Heckler? Oh yeah! Heckler! That’s right. Cool. Come
in! You want a beer?
(The interior of the R.V. is dark and smoky and packed with
people.)
H: Okay, here we go. You guys chose an interesting name for
the band. What’s the significance behind it?
SH: Everyone tries to pawn off the question.
Mike Davis, Vocals: It’s being uncomfortable in your own
skin.
Kevin Roach, Bass: Vocals: Cynicism, distrust.
Rick Selga, Drums and Vocals: Some people think it’s something
different.
Blake Davilia, Guitar and Vocals: Yeah, I met one guy who though
the S.H. in our logo stood for Skin Head! Which couldn’t
be further from what were about.
Bob Schaeffer, Guitar and Vocals: It has a lot of different
meanings I guess.
H: I know this is your first full length, but you guys have
been around for quite a while. Can you give me some history
on the band?
Mike: We started in a garage in Long Beach.
Blake: When we started, our original guitar player was this
sixteen-year old girl who lived in our complex. We didn’t
know anyone who played guitar. And we couldn’t play then
either. But Kim could, so we got her in the band.
Mike: We would take her to early punk shows when we played.
Just like now, there’s a little bit of violence that goes
on. And she was like the most timid girl! She was Dorothy Hammil!
Blake: Who could play any Kiss song!
Kevin: She would just stand up there on stage looking terrified,
and all these people were flying around everywhere!
H: Too funny. Okay, if someone has never heard you, how would
you describe your sound?
Rick: Well, I’d say, “Skate Ska!”
(Everyone busts up!)
Kevin: Well Bob. What did that one magazine call us? Oddcore?
Bob: Yeah. Psych - Oddcore! I like that. You know it’s
ridiculous to say, “Okay, we’re this!” That’s
been a big problem for us because we don’t want to fall
into any certain category.
Blake: Yeah, so that way nobody comes! Haha.
Bob: That’s what bums me out more than anything about bands,
all bands, are like “We gotta classify ourselves”
Blake: Yeah, like you would even think about throwing out a
song, because it wasn’t “your sound”!
Mike: Dude! That’s not death metal! We can’t play
that! Or, that’s not grunge!
Blake: So yeah, I’d call it, Freestyle - Psych – Oddcore
- Skate Ska!
Rick: Trip Core was another one!
Kevin; It’s not like we decided, the type of crowd we want
to attract.
H: Alright, I see how hard it is to get a straight answer
out of you..What do you guys like to do other than play music?
Kevin: We like to surf!
Everyone: Yeah! Surf. On ocean waves!
H: Cool, So do you guys do the whole nine to five thing?
Kevin: We all have our
day jobs.
Blake: Yeah, we have to support our band!
H: What are some of your musical influences that helped shape
your sound?
Rick: Well, as a drummer, I can tell you...I think of Stewart
Copeland (The Police), Bonham (Zeppelin)..And sometimes I just
think of speed, playing fast, you know?
Blake: I like a lot of the old time R&B drummers, you know?
Cause they have this “In the slot, soul ass groove thing
“ happening. And that’s kinda what I strive for. I
think our sound right now, pulls from everywhere. We all listen
to so many types of music. Musical influences? There’s
a lot. But were into. “Free Form Head Foam’! That’s
something you may not have heard of yet, but were big on it!
Mike: Swing Metal!
Blake: But seriously, I’d say for sure, were are really
into Punk.
Mike: I like stuff like Bad Brains, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed..
Bob: Some of my favorite musical performers, and allergic reactions
would be. Oak dust, Sid Barrett,
Kevin: How about corn? Does that affect you?
Bob: Well, I like corn on the cob lot. But it always gets stuck
right here in my teeth (points). But, yeah – I like Radiohead
a lot.. I think those guys are some of the best songwriters
around these days. They are just really good at it. And I like
Capt. Beefheart a lot.
Kevin: I grew up listening to stuff like Aerosmith, and Ted
Nugent. Then I got into punk, and that was all I listened to.
Not so much because I wanted to, but I sort of felt like I had
to? And then, later on, I just started listening to the radio
all the time. And I pretty much stopped caring about music for
a while.
Mike, That’s what the radio does to you!
H: O.K. good answer, Cause now you can tell me about your
song “Radio Kills ”?
Mike: A lot of people ask us that
Bob: For me, it just seems like a lot of songs on the radio
don’t have any message, they don’t have anything to
say.
Mike: But a lot of times it’s not even music! You’re
flipping around, and it’s just noise and bullshit coming
out! I just had this picture in my head, of everyone’s
radio, throwing up on them! That’s what it means to me.
H: Allright. If you could play or headline with any two bands,
in history, who would you pick?
Kevin: Ohh, shit, let’s see. We were headlining? I don’t
know! I’d really love to play with Frank Black!
Mike: I’d like to play with Shaq! One on one baby!
Blake: I’d like to play with Nirvana
Mike: Eminem?
Bob: (Looks at the Who video, playing in the R.V.). The Who!
Um, The Stooges, Velvet Underground. Yeah! Secret Hate! The
Stooges, and the Velvet Underground!
Mike: I’d like to play with RAS and Corn Dog, from Long
Beach Dub All Stars! (Spoken word though!)
H: Cool, tell me about the local music scene down there.
Do you guys have a good fan base?
Blake: Yeah, I’ve never seen people care more about bands
than they do down there. Our fans are awesome!
H: Alright, given that you guys are in a band, and would
probably like to sell records, how do feel about the whole Napster,
Mp3 thing?
Blake: Well, with that, what can you do? The genie is already
out of the bottle!
Mike: Yeah, the way I see it, It’s just another club owner,
not paying
the band!
H: I hear you. So, are there any causes or issues you guys
feel strongly about?
Kevin: Well, I think for a specific focused thing we could.
Like raising money for Surfriders or something.
Mike: Yeah, Surfriders, definitely. But I think as far as some
broad, over sweeping cause, I don’t have the wisdom. And,
I think, when people do get in the position to make a difference,
and they have money and power, and they get “the view “
(From the top”), you just automatically turn in to a fuckhead
anyway!
Bob: well, if I had to say one thing I support, it would be
people sticking up for themselves. Like at work. Because we
all have to put up with “The Man.”
H: Is there anyone you want to thank, before we go, like
your label?
Kevin: Yes! Thanks to our label, Cornerstone RAS. Zach, Casey,
Miquel, K.T., Chris, all the guys at Skunk. They work their
asses off for us!
Mike: Yeah, we’ll go in there, and there’s like ‘No
ass”! Cause they worked it off!
Heckler:
Hey, what’s up guys?