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BANDS: Punk
& Ska INTERESTS: Venues ETC... About LOTD
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Roanoke, VA's The K Word (Aaron Parker, vocals/guitar; Mike Satterfield, guitar/vocals; Greg Szchenyi, bass; and Adam Barber, drums) recently brought their uniquely furious rock and roll to the Java Junction in Chesapeake, VA, which was the band's first stop on a month-long summer tour with fellow local band, Born with a Tail. The band's post-hardcore sound recently grabbed the attention of the Charlotte-based label Liquilab, who released their nearly indescribable self-titled EP earlier this year. The K Word graciously agreed to a last-minute interview with LOTD, but hell if I could get two straight answers out of these boys during the whole interview. See for yourself... LOTD: I think I heard you guys say before that you thought your music came across much better during your live shows than in your recordings. Why do you think that is? Adam: I heard we suck live. Aaron: Its too much pressure. LOTD: Recording is more pressure than playing live? Aaron: Yeah. We dont really care about those people. Im just joking. We care about them. Greg: Because we can record naked and no one knows. Adam: Its really true though! He does record naked. Aaron: Only vocals Um, I dont know why were so bad at recording. LOTD: No, that wasnt the question! I meant, why are you so good playing in a live setting? Ive seen you guys play before, and it was a great show, and afterwards you mentioned to me that your music comes across better live. Aaron: Its because we get really confused and forget that theres an audience. Adam: I definitely forget theres an audience. Mike: I just play while on a lot of drugs. (laughter) Aaron: Yeah, like Benadryl, and um, Advil Mike: Is there someone here? I dont need to lie. I do cocaine every morning. Aaron: Just like brushing your teeth? Greg: Are we answering your question at all? LOTD: Hey, you can say whatever you want. Adam: This is probably the worst interview youve ever done. Aaron: But anyway, I think we probably really do forget that therere people. I think that live, you can make a lot of mistakes and people dont notice. But when you listen to it over and over again on a record. I mean, at our live show, we make a lot of mistakes and people forget about it, because no ones ever going to hear it again. But when were recording, we know theyre going to hear it again. So we cry a lot. And have to redo it. And Greg beats us in the studio. Adam: If we dont behave. I mean, if we dont do well. LOTD: Ok. Greg: So we didnt answer your question at all, did we? LOTD: No, its fine. Its your interview! You can say whatever you want. So whats the scene like in Roanoke? Anything interesting going on there? Adam: Its basically crap. Greg: Its basically Born with a Tail. That is the scene. Adam: Born with a Tail is the only other band. Greg: Its not crap. Its just young, and not what anybody considers to be a scene. Aaron: I dont think its a scene, because usually when you think of a scene, you think of the same type of people all coming in, but in Roanoke, theres not really a lot of older people, so its just young kids. Theres not like a lot of scene kids or anything. Greg: Theres no scene kids at all. Theres like Adam: Everyone there is blind. Greg: Everyone there is blonde? LOTD: Blonde? Ok. Adam: Blind! I said blind! Because you guys said theres no seein kids Greg: But no, theres not really a scene in Roanoke Adam: Never mind. LOTD: So how did you guys get together then? Greg: I was in a band with Adam. LOTD: Called? Greg: Falls Version. Adam: And Greg: Punchline and, uh Adam: Winner Takes All. Greg: And Buff. LOTD: So you guys have known each other for awhile then? Greg: Yeah, and then I dated a girl that knew Mike, and she was like, He plays guitar. Aaron: A girl that Mike dated later. [At this point, Adam successfully manages to turn off my tape recorder, which he had been trying to do since the beginning of the interview.] Adam: Is it still going? LOTD: You stopped it! Aaron: A girl we think everyone in Roanoke dated. Greg: And then I found Aaron one day in his music store working. Aaron: Wait, can we clarify that? Because I dont really work there. Greg: Oh, ok. Where he gets paid by. Aaron: Yeah. I just sit there. LOTD: Whats it called? Greg: Reidenouer Music
LOTD: Cool. And then you guys just decided to all get together and see what happens? Greg: Aaron actually picked Mike up and brought him to the first practice. And they didnt actually know each other yet. Mike: I was on the corner. Aaron: And he came. And I had to close late, because this guy kept being like, [in hillbilly accent] I love the Telly-casters. I love em. Adam: And the first time we all hung out, I Greg: No, no, no, we dont need to say that. That doesnt need to be written anywhere. LOTD: Ok, so anyway, being from Roanoke, how did you guys get involved with the Charlotte-based label, Liquilab? Greg: We played with them Wait, we played with the band Baleen Aaron: Who basically runs the label. Greg: Well, the owner of the label is in Baleen. Mike: We played with them in the dark, and he didnt know it was us. Aaron: What are you talking about? LOTD: You played with them where? Greg: We played with a lot of bands up at Hollands College, and he was there. Aaron: And they tried to buy Adam from us. Greg: Yeah, they tried to buy Adam. Aaron: But we didnt sell him. Greg: And then later on, we played with them again in Columbia, SC. And, yeah, thats how we met them. LOTD: And so he just called you guys up to see if you were interested in recording for their label? Greg: We were actually just looking for somebody to help put out the album. LOTD: So you sent them a copy? Adam: [Looks at my tape recorder] Can that mic pic up is it a uni-directional mic? LOTD: Its just a tape recorder. I dont know. So Liquilab has a pretty cool roster with Carolina bands like First Night on Earth and Baleen. Are you guys playing shows with any of those bands anytime soon? Aaron: Were doing a tour with Baleen in August. Greg: And we played with Ashley Robinson at Liberty. Adam: Were they good? I dont remember. LOTD: So whens your full-length due out on Liquilab? Aaron: HA!!! Greg: We dont know. Adam: If we can ever do it. Greg: Yeah, unless we break up. Aaron: We might break up. Because Gregs getting a lot of job offers to be Ashton Kutchers stunt double. LOTD: So no full-length?! Greg: Look for it in a year from right now. LOTD: And whats that going to sound like in comparison to the songs on your two EPs? Adam: Nothing. Its not going to sound like anything. LOTD: Nothing at all, huh? No hints? Mike: The K Word will have a completely different lineup by that point. None of us are going to still be in the band. [laughter] Aaron: Actually, weve been talking to some of the guys in Slipknot about taking over. Adam: [To me] This has probably got to be the most frustrating job in the entire world. Aaron: Well, all shes got to do is edit it and then write what she wants us to say. Aaron: If anyone wants to know what itll sound like, they should come to a show and tell us what to sound like. Greg: Theres no way for us to describe it is what were trying to say. LOTD: Well it seems like your sound is kind of hard to describe in the first place. In most of your reviews, they have trouble pinpointing it. Your review on LOTD likened you to a horse on fire. Adam: Were a mix between Phish and At the Drive In. Thats what we sound like. Greg: You think? Thats kind of it. I dont know. Adam: Yeah, it really is. LOTD: Well, the main thing I can hear in your music is the whole DC/Dischord band sound. Aaron: Yeah, we get that a lot. And we like Tone, who a lot of bands arent really a fan of. Greg: Tonight youre going to hear a couple of new songs that will probably be closer to what the full-length will sound like. LOTD: What other influences? What do you guys listen to lately? Aaron: Ummm drugs. And Born with a Tail. I just basically listen to their CD, steal their guitar riffs and play them backwards. Adam: And then say that we worship Satan inside of that. Mike: Were actually Born with a Tail, just perverse. LOTD: And what kind of stuff do you guys listen to besides Born with a Tail? Adam: Tortoise, Trans Am Aaron: Ive been listening to a lot of film score stuff lately, like Mark Ribot. Greg: And anything else obscure in the world, you know [laughter] Aaron: Gregs just a little angry because I didnt like his new t-shirt. Greg: I am very angry that nobody likes my t-shirt Stop, Adam! [Adam is still throwing sticks at my tape recorder.] Adam: What? Ive gotta focus on something! Ive gotta focus! Please! I need focus! LOTD: [To Adam] If youre going to throw the sticks, Id rather you actually threw them at me than at the tape recorder. [To Aaron] I heard you hand-crafted the guitar that you play. Aaron: I didnt really hand-craft it. I rebuilt it. LOTD: Ok. So tell me about that. Aaron: I dont know. I just couldnt find anything I really liked. So I decided to make something I really liked. Its very trial and error though. Im sure the boys could tell you how many times my guitar has broken.
Greg: Its three years in the making. Aaron: Yeah, but now I know better about it, so I can do it better now. So Im going to start making guitars for everyone else. Like Born with a Tail. Theyre gonna have Signature Aaron guitars. Adam: Whats your signature design going to be like for Telecasters? You gotta have a brand name. Aaron: I have a brand name. Adam: Is it a penis? Aaron: No, Im sorry, its not a penis. Adam: Is it my face? Aaron: No, its not. LOTD: So this show is the beginning of a month long tour for The K Word. Whats the place youre most looking forward to playing? Mike: Virginia Beach. Adam: Yeah, I think were at it right now. Aaron: Its all downhill from here. Greg: Nah, Im looking forward to going to Canada actually, because Ive never been there. Adam: I dont know about playing the shows in Canada though. LOTD: Ok, and after your tour, whats next for the band? Greg: In August, we do a couple of dates with Baleen. And after that, were going to be taking a couple of months off to hopefully write a lot of songs. And then, mid-October through mid-November, were going to be going out to the Midwest again, to a lot of the same places we visited. LOTD: Going to Charlotte? Greg: Yeah, well do Charlotte in August actually. And Columbia, were playing there in August. LOTD: Anything else you guys want to finish off with? Greg: Um, were sorry were awful at this interview. Adam: I do recordings. So if anybody wants to record their band for really cheap, go to The K Word web site and look me up. Greg: Do you have any other questions? Was this the worst interview youve ever done? LOTD: Maybe, but I wont know until Ive listened to it. Greg: Was this the most frustrating? Aaron: We were in New Mexico once doing a radio interview, and they asked us to explain how we got the name of one of our songs, Mystic Cowboy. And Mike went on to explain the true story about how Mike and I used to be in a psychedelic country band called Mystic Cowboy. And someone was hugely offended by this, called the radio station and said, Theres nothing worse than a hippy who talks shit. He called twice and was pissed off. He told the radio station that they shouldnt allow us on there. And when he called back, he said he was going to come to our show that night and throw beer bottles at us. Greg: But he never showed up. Aaron: So Id just like to say that hes a wuss. And I want him to come to our next show and throw beer bottles at us. Greg: Well take him any day Greg: with our hands tied behind our back, and blindfolded. Adam: This is said by the other members. Im not a fighter, Im a lover. LOTD: So what is the K word? Aaron: I mean, its really about family. Its not really what it stands for. Think of K as a window, and the whole world is behind that window. So it just depends on where you are in the house. Thats what its supposed to be. Its what you see behind that glass. Greg: And right now that is what the K word is.
Releases from [the] k word can be purchased at Amazon LEFT OFF THE DIAL's review of The K Word's Self-Titled EP About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
