America
Later on whilst doing our Heckler book tour from Sacramento
to Seattle, less than a week after September 11, 2001, flags
and bold statements (both positive and negative) were inscribed,
painted and erected everywhere - from freeway overpasses and
small business storefronts to jacked up primered trucks and
bright yellow school buses in a rare form of patriotism. read on>>
Ethan
Fowler
By this time John Botch had asked me to capture the elusive
Fowler in an interview, as he was notoriously shy of publicity.
I managed to track Ethan down a few weeks later on the phone.
He now lives in San Diego where he's trying to put a little
more time into skating, but don't worry, I know he's really
a drummer at heart. read on>>
Frontline
Fast forward 10 or 11 years. Jed discovers skateboarding and
his journey begins. Again, let’s skip more details and
several more years. It’s late ’94 or ’95 when
I met Jed. We were both finishing high school down in St. Pete,
Florida. We started hanging out, and he killed everything we
skated. read on>>
Urban
Realpolitik in America
"Get out of here ya punk! You are destroying the property!
I'm calling the cops if you don't leave right now!" Since
age fifteen I've willingly submitted myself to this kind of
verbal, sometimes physical abuse not because I'm masochistic,
but because I'm dedicated to something I love, skateboarding.
Skateboarding has taught me many things. Not only through the
challenges within the sport itself, but also through society's
clear message of disapproval as evidenced by the ever-present
"No Skateboarding" signs in every parking lot in suburbia.
read on>>
Music
Articles
The
Perpetual Motion with Alien Ant Farm
Tonight, by chance, they were doing a radio show in town. And
at this point the band was pretty big: they've had a #1 hit
and high rotation video and airplay with their version of Michael
Jackson's Smooth Criminal. Just maybe they might not be into
doing a Heckler interview. Things like this have happened before.
So I chose to just wait it out, with hopes to see a good set,
and get a good interview with good photos a little later. It
was 6:15 as we left the hectic entrance of the venue after attaining
our patches from Varga who stressed, "AAF is totally into
the interview and photos after the show, you'll have plenty
of time, no problem." read
on>>
The
Anniversary
They had so much fun taking their layered rock ruckus with a
hint of new wave to the kids, night after night, that they gave
college the finger and pledged allegiance to the rock ‘n
roll almighty. Europe and sold out American tours with The Get
Up Kids followed. Scattered about the room are three fifths
of the Anniversary, their dedicated roadie, all of Mates of
State, and myself. You know what it’s like when you have
a house party in a one bedroom party? read
on>>
The
Faint Drop Dead
On the way upstairs to the main stage area, the sweet sound
of synthesized madness ebbs its way into my brain. Death-Metal
riffs and Pop-Punk basslines are being delivered with just the
right distortion. The vocals are making their way through filters,
electronic boxes, and pedals before they come out wailing at
the audience.
The audience is an amalgamation of ex-raver goth kids, punkish
skaters, indie-rock supremacists, would-be fratboys and the
occasional mega-celebrities -- tonight being Kid Rock and Pam
Anderson who have stopped in to make out for ten minutes while
pretending to have interest in the music. read
on>>
Fairweather
They have had to put up with broken vans, switching up three
out of the five band members in the middle of the tour, broken
equipment, almost stolen equipment, losing track of what day
it is, and the constant search for a decent shower. These guys
just shrug it off, and respond with, “fuck it, we are doing
what we love.” read on>>
Finch
Finch is five kids from Southern California who play a unique
brand of pop punk with slight hardcore influences. This could
be any of the hundreds of bands that come from the punk rock
assembly line known only as So Cal. One small aspect helps separate
Finch from the rest: the small amount of time it took them to
gain the same amount of success it takes most bands years to
achieve. While music may be something that these guys have down,
interviews, on the other hand, are a different story. read
on>>
The
Lawrence Arms
I found Chris playing Ms. Pac-man towards the back of UCLA’s
Cooperage Co-op about an hour before their free show with Rise
Against and the Ghost. “It’s my favorite game,”
he said, his score a testament to a lifetime of practice. Chris
makes up one third of Lawrence Arms, whose new album, Apathy
and Exhaustion, came out this February on Fat Wreck Chords (after
2 full-lengths and 2 split CD’s on Asian Man Records).
read on>>
Other
Articles
Dear
Heckler
Sonny- you know what? I fuckin love “Valium.” All
of the best music seems to be comin’ from Sacto, and here
I am in Connecticut. Seriously- Phallucy has a great sound-
thanks for signing the back too! I’m trying to figure out
whose signature is who’s. I can read Dave’s and at
the bottom someone wrote, “Barney Loves You.” I emailed
you before asking about payment for the daycare merch-, when
I get some money (6 bucks is so little, but I just spend my
money too fast) I’ll be buying it. read
on>>
Exhibit
The two things you need to know about Steve Roche, are that
he gets things done and he does bizarre gnarly and difficult
tricks on a skateboard. You know how you waited until the last
moment to do your schoolwork? Maybe you didn’t do it at
all. Not Steve, he would walk in the door, put his bag on the
desk, open it up, and go to work. And wouldn't stop until he
was finished. He skates the same way. He gets to the spot, opens
up his bag of tricks and gets to work. He doesn’t stop
until he's completely wrecked himself. read
on>>
