Small Brown Bike Let
me get your names and what you do.
I’m Travis and I play rhythm axe.
I’m Mike and I play lead and sing.
I’m Ben and I play bass.
Travis: And there’s our drummer Jeff whose not feeling
good right now. How did Small Brown Bike get started?
Travis: We’ve known each other for 20 years and have been
doing everything together since we were young. We skateboarded,
listed to rock, and then everyone learned how to play instruments.
Where did you guys come up with the name Small Brown Bike?
Mike: When we were in middle school, we used to work on bikes.
We would take parts from other bikes and put them all together.
We had one that was a little Barbie bike that we painted brown
and named it “poop.” When it came time to name the
band that somehow came out as something we all have in common. Where is the original SBB?
Mike: I don’t know where it is now. At one point, it got
painted silver and was renamed “poop 2000.” So it was around recently?
Mike: No, it was a futuristic bike back in 88 or 89. If it was still around and could be put on ebay, how much
do you think it would go for?
Ben: You’re indirectly asking us how cocky we are.
Mike: I think we would set the reserve at a cool million.
Ben: How about a buck plus shipping. Who are your favorite famous Michiganians?
Mike: Bob Seger.
Travis: Ted Nugent
Ben: Madonna.
Mike: Bill Danforth too. Tell me a story about the Nomad.
Mike: When I was in fourth grade, we went to a demo up in Lansing.
They had a nice 7ft mini ramp with a spine. Danforth was there
completely tearing the ramp apart, doing huge layback grinds.
It was amazing because at that point we had only seen it in
videos. I got his autograph and kept it on my wall all the way
through college. Do you know of any SBB tattoos out there?
Mike: None yet, but some kid just e-mailed us and wanted the
original artwork to an old t-shirt, because he wanted to get
a tattoo of it. The funny thing is, it was a sketch that we
threw together in five minutes. You were saying earlier that you were having some van problems,
what would be your dream vehicle to tour?
Mike: This is definitely your question Travis.
Travis: It would be a really big Winnebago with no trailer,
because I hate trailers. It would have all leather interior.
A shitter, shower, and kitchen. In the back would be a C couch
and the room would be wrapped with a 42 TV complete with a DVD
player and Play Station 2. There would be a space to store all
of our equipment and bunks to sleep in. The outside would have
a pull out grill, a canopy with a mosquito net, and the sides
of it would be painted in NASCAR numbers.
Mike: We would have one of those handles on the steering wheel
so we could make power turns.
Travis: It would definitely be a 50 footer. What
song would the air horn play?
Travis: It would have to be Tina Turner’s What’s Love
Got to Do.” How often do you tour?
Mike: Last year we did four months of touring. They were long
tours and that was a little too much. This year we are doing
just as much but making them shorter tours. Do you have jobs back home?
Travis: None of us have other jobs.
Mike: We try to save enough on tour to pay for our rent when
we get home. We don’t make thousands or anything, but it’s
fun and always worth it.
Travis: I’m pretty bad, I still live with my parents and
everyone else has their own place. I still have the same old
Isaiah Thomas posters up.
(An ill drummer Jeff joins us) What’s the best place you guys have played?
Travis: San Francisco. As far as crowd response, it was insane.
Mike: Bloomington, Indiana and Birmingham, Alabama are always
good. We’ve made friends there and had great shows.
Travis: Gainesville, Florida is scary, but we’ve had some
fun times there.
Mike: It’s not that there are thousands of people at the
shows, but everyone is smiling and there are good vibes.
Travis: If we’re talking about vibes, last night in Charlotte,
South Carolina was insane. The treatment and hospitality were
great.
Mike: The little tiny things make a place that much better.
Last night we got there and they had dinner ready for us. If you could have any musician dead or alive make a guest
appearance in the band, who would it be?
Mike: It would have to be Phil Linott from Thin Lizzy. He’s
dead but it would be amazing. What’s the worst trend in punk rock?
Jeff: How about shitty music. Pop punk is the worst trend right
now.
Travis: That’s why Jeff is sick today. What in the future for SBB?
Mike: More van trouble and a bunch of new songs.
Let
me get your names and what you do. 
What
song would the air horn play?