INTERVIEW
GUTTERMOUTH
by Taron Cochrane, January 2007

Hey, how are ya doing?

Ryan: I have been better to be honest. Took eighteen Sudafed last nigt in an effort to kill myself/relive my cold symptoms. I apologize if I sound sniffly…or hoarse. I’m gonna run to the drug store to garner some more cold medicine…could we finish this later?
(much…much…much fucking later)
Ok…I’m back, Fire away

Tell us a little about your band, Guttermouth.

We like to have fun and play loud music...as of now. But all that could change tomorrow, we may throw a curveball to everyone and stiffen up and become a Mexican Mariachi outfit, just because we feel like it. Unfortunately I’m dead serious on that one, we have no idea what the fuck we’re doing so we sort of go with the flow sometimes

Your new album, "Shave The Planet " is hands-down one of your best. What can the people who haven't heard it yet expect from this album?

If you like Guttermouth, you may like this record, if you don’t like us…you won’t like it. Recent reviews have called it everything from a “solid straight up punk record” to “crap” but I think the crap review came from AP…so I could really give two shits about that one.

For my part I had fun with it and am glad to be a part of it, other than that…Give it a listen and make up your own mind.

If anybody wants to find out the meaning behind the songs they can check out your site (www.xxx-guttermouth-xxx.com). What triggers the inspiration to write a song?

UH…gosh, I haven’t the slightest idea, maybe I watched too many cartoons as a kid.
Hold on my laundry is ready, gimme a second.

Ok…what were we talking about?

Oh yeah inspiration…I think it comes from all different sorts of places for each songwriter. I just sort of get a tune in my head and run with it, and then we all get together and add stuff and work on it until it becomes a song… punk music is usually a team effort, otherwise it lacks that certain energy that makes it punk.

How do you plan to support the release of the new album...is a tour in the works?

Actually yes we are going on a little tour, Right now we have some dates in Florida for the middle of January, and we’ll be going on a mountain tour of Colorado in February. As of now that’s all but we will be traveling for this record for sure. Anybody who wants to find out more can go on our website.

Browsing through your extensive catalogue, any songs you wish you never wrote? Any favorites? Why?

Mark and Scott are responsible for all of that stuff, I don’t think they regret writing any songs…but we definitely ignore some records outright when we play live, like Gusto and most of Gorgeous and Teri Yakimoto. I’ll play any one of them, it’s all fun for me…I don’t really have any favorites.

Is being in Guttermouth a full-time job? If not, what do you guys do for a living...or for that matter, what do you do to keep your sanity during the down times?

No it’s not a full time gig. We all get time off to do other things and I think that keeps us sane. Being in a band full time and traveling year round takes your feet completely off the ground and you lose touch with reality. I think it’s much more important to just have fun with it and play because you want to and not because you have to.

Who inspired you to join a band?

My Dad is an old blues man, his group used to open for Van Morrison and the Doors before they were huge, so he sat me down behind a drum kit as soon as I was big enough to touch the peddles and I jammed with him. While other kids dads were teaching them to ride bikes I was learning to play Born in Chicago and busy playing gigs with him and his buddies…I think I lucked out there.

Most important question, what are your thoughts on the following statement: "Microeconomics examines the economic behaviour of individual units such as businesses and households in face of scarcity and government interactions, as well as the economic consequences of these decisions on other actors".

You asked me that thinking I’d have some smart ass remark or say something stupid, either that or you are mocking me…which is always funny, so cheers.

Well my friend, I’ve got no dickhead response here and it may surprise you to know that I fully comprehend this statement, it is a textbook definition of Microeconomics…and there is nothing more boring in this world than Microeconomics.

By the way, who said that? Was that something you cut and pasted from “the Economist” or something? I don’t do economics; I’m a Political Science major. But I will say this: politics and political theory, depending on which model you use and which system you are talking about (i.e. communism, capitalism, socialism) are always causally connected and interdependent on some form of exchange (i.e. money and commerce)

So, let’s just say that my thoughts on this definition of microeconomics are that it is not really a question at all, it is just a definition. And who am I to re-define something I know very little about? There are already too many musical morons out there in punk rock bands who think that they are as fluent as Henry Kissinger when it comes to speaking  politics, why add another one to that dysfunctional mix?

Hats off for the great interview! Any parting words?

No, Everything has been said by now so I won’t add anything new or lame. Let me just say that everyone out there who likes punk these days can be pretty damned confident that they aren’t going to find any really cool music that calls itself “punk”. I heard that new Fallout Boy song on the radio today and it hit me that all these guys are really just doing the “boy band” thing and calling it punk. Oh well, at least they play there own instruments. Cheers!


Links:

http://www.xxx-guttermouth-xxx.com