Post by Kari on Jun 10, 2007 23:48:50 GMT -5
This interview is also posted at:
www.martycasey.org/News.html
Interview with Marty Casey of Lovehammers
Written by Steve Angell
Jun 10, 2007 at 01:28 AM
Article Index
Interview with Marty Casey of Lovehammers
Page 1 of 3
Most people probably recognize Marty Casey as the runner-up from the hit show Rock Star: INXS, but if you haven't taken the opportunity to check out his band Lovehammers then you're really missing out. While Marty may not have won the singing gig for INXS, he and his band mates have garnered tons of support from their loyal fans along the way. His band, Lovehammers, has been rocking out for the better part of two decades and will be touring later this year in support of their new album which should be hitting store shelves this Fall.
For updated information on Marty Casey and Lovehammers make sure to visit the band's website at Lovehammers.com or MartyCasey.org. In the meantime, enjoy our extended interview with the lead singer of the Lovehammers, Marty Casey.
Q: What is something that most fans would be surprised to learn about you?
MC: I think that people don't understand that I'm an extremely quiet and reserved person off the stage. I think that from the stage persona that is put out there that they assume that I'm a crazy party dude all the time, but it's kind of exactly the opposite. I'm really reserved off the stage and I pretty much save all the drama for the stage.
Q: Kind of like comedians when you expect them to be funny off the stage, huh?
MC: Kind of exactly like that, yeah.
Q: How do you feel about the current state of rock music?
MC: I actually think that there's a resurgence. The type of rock that I like is Buckcherry, Velvet Revolver, and there just aren't that many bands that are breaking and doing that style of music. That gritty, sexy rock n' roll. So I'm kind of happy to see that there's some of that coming back and kind of putting the energy back in rock n' roll and not pre-formulated, crafted tunes made in some magical formula of a laboratory. It's the real deal rock n' roll that's gritty and kind of tough.
Q: Have you had a chance to see Velvet Revolver?
MC: I've seen them a number of times and I've got to meet a couple of the guys and I'm a big fan of theirs.
Q: Were you a fan of INXS before appearing on Rock Star: INXS?
MC: You know, I was a little too young for the heyday of INXS, but I remember probably in 2001 or 2002 I actually bought their greatest hits. I was just starting to come into my own, really just trying to write my own songs and kind of learning. And I bought the INXS greatest hits because I loved their style of song writing. I was kind of more a fan of their musicianship actually and their songwriting skills. And when it came around time for the show I really dug in and got into the records and not just the hits.
Q: Was there anything interesting that happened behind the scenes that didn't make the show?
MC: A large part of the story of the show wasn't on film, you know, we only got filmed three days a week. We got filmed three days a week and then there were two performance days, so there was a lot of time that wasn't captured. I think when the cameras are rolling you're only going to get so much reality. So I think a lot of those true heart-felt relationships that evolved from the show and the friendships that happened; that was all off camera.
Q: And they can make their own reality with the editing room floor anyway.
MC: The shining moment of when I realized how much they can twist stuff was the one day we had the photo shoot for Levi's. And everybody just went in there and you did a photo shoot with Levi's, with some famous photographer whose name I can't recall. So you just stand in front of the camera and you have a good time and they take some photos for half an hour. And I remember when Jordis did hers, she did it just like everybody else, but then when she walked away they showed her walking away in slow motion with some sad music playing like she didn't do a good job. But that wasn't the case at all and that's when I was kind of like "Oh man, they can twist anything they want to twist."
Q: Did you feel that you had to be a little bit more careful then, as far as your persona so that it didn't get twisted with their editing room?
MC: You know what, I really was careful. Every interview I did, they'd ask a question and I'd take five to ten seconds before I'd answer. They didn't necessarily like that, but I knew that you make one stupid statement and it could define you for a long time. Beyond anything I was just really cautious about what I said.
Q: Go ahead and take a moment to inform our readers about the other members of Lovehammers.
MC: We've got Bob Kourelis on drums and he and I started playing in 1988. He was a drummer, I was a guitarist, and we started jamming in 1988! So we'd play some tunes, we'd play Sabbath, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple. So we were playing these tunes and his brother said, "Ah man, that looks like a good time," so he bought a bass and started to learn how to play the bass. Then somewhere along the way we picked up Billy Sawilchik who we kind of stole from another band. His band was called Nine Arms because it was five dudes and their drummer only had one arm.
Q: That is interesting though that you guys have been together for so long.
MC: I mean, yeah, we learned together you know. We were just a bunch of kids that didn't know what we were doing and it just really slowly evolved into actually being something that people could even make any semblance of. I mean, we were terrible for years, but it finally came on.
Q: You mentioned that you played a lot of Sabbath and Zeppelin. Who was your greatest musical influence growing up?
MC: I'd really have to say, if we really boiled it down, more than anything in my life I've listened to more Zeppelin than anything. My older brothers were huge Zeppelin fans and I was really blown away because their songs were like stories. It was the only time where I've ever met somebody and done a handshake and felt like "I'm never gonna wash this hand again," was when I met John Paul Jones. Something about that band is so beyond even the mysticism of rock and they were such an amazing group. I'm just pissed that I never got to see them live.
Page 2 of 3
Q: You guys have a pretty dedicated fan base yourselves. You guys are always being voted for on these different polls online, for like MyRockinProfile.com for MySpace and stuff. How do you explain the rabid support you receive from your fans?
MC: I think the really strong support comes from the fact that after the shows we'll take two hours and hang out with everybody and just talk to everybody. You can't get to know all your fans, but we try to get to know personally as many as possible. And I think just from spending a lot of time with them, real time. We get done with the shows and we just don't jump in the bus and take off. We dedicate the time to hanging out and getting to hear their stories and what's going on in their lives and that really translates into a really dedicated fan base online.
Q: You know like you said, it's a little bit different nowadays where a lot of bands get off the stage and they're gone, and you don't see them again. That is a great thing that you guys are still doing that. There are a few bands that still do, but it's a rare thing nowadays.
MC: You look at some huge bands and they're still doing it, look at Linkin Park. They're still hanging around for two hours signing every autograph in the house. If they can do it with their hundred million CDs they've sold, then a kind of new band, which I consider ourselves, you really need to dig in and do that for your fans.
Q: You do see it a little bit more, I think, with rock bands than you do with your typical pop star.
MC: I think rock bands are a lot more organic so they're not afraid to show you who they are. Whereas I think a lot of pop acts are kind of pre-fabricated so they don't necessarily want you to see the wizard behind the curtain.
Q: Right. So if you weren't a musician, what do you think you'd be doing as a career? I think I read that you got a degree in financing?
MC: Yeah, and pre-finance I was formerly a commercial real estate appraiser. If I wasn't doing music, I don't know what the hell I'd be doing. It'd be scary. At this point there is no backup plan.
Q: Luckily so far you're doing pretty well with it though.
MC: Yeah, it's been going well thank God.
Q: You mentioned some of the older bands that you of course like, and of course Velvet Revolver and everything, but are there any other new bands that you enjoy listening to?
MC: I'm a really big fan of the Silversun Pickups. If you're not into them yet you've got to check out their record. To me it sounds like a cross between early Pumpkins and Sonic Youth. They've got great hooks, the guy's an amazing songwriter and amazing guitarist. They're kind of blowing up right now. I'm a big fan of TV On The Radio, a band from Brooklyn. They do some really straight up rock tunes, and then they'll do some barber shop quartet harmonies behind some really aggressive music. I don't want to call it art rock. It is out there, but it is really effective stuff. It's really cool; you should check that out too.
Q: The first one is Silversun Pickups? Do they only have one CD out, or do they have a couple out?
MC: They have an EP, and they have their first full-length out now and it's on an indie, but I think they just got picked up by a major label and they're going to be all over the place.
Q: What are your three favorite Lovehammers songs?
MC: Well, I'm a huge fan of the song Clouds. The recorded version and playing it live. There's something about the mood of that song that just fits my personality perfectly. I really like the aggressiveness of Eyes Can't See and the way that one turned out in the studio. Sometimes you bring a song into the studio and it exceeds your expectations and sometimes you bring a song into the studio and it never quite lives up to the song that you have in your head, but Eyes Can't See definitely hit it. And then I have to give props to Trees, just because it kind of defined the first part of my career. It's what got me the record deal and I think more people know me by "the Trees dude" than they actually remember my name.
Q: Really, they actually say that on the street, "Hey Trees dude"?
MC: "Hey, you're that Trees dude," you know.
Q: I've been listening to your CDs quite a bit the last few days and the one song that I like quite a bit is Low Life Insurance.
MC: Oh yeah, "Let's Get Wasted." We always played that song live but we never wanted to put it on a record. We just thought that it was too party rock you know, and a friend of ours from was like "You have to put that song on your record." And then I kept saying "I should change it, it shouldn't be Let's Get Wasted, it should be Let's Get Crazy or something." We just kind of threw it out there, just kind of tongue in cheek and said "f**k it."
Q: Yeah, that's kind of what rock's all about, right?
MC: Exactly.
Q: So when can we expect the next release by Lovehammers?
MC: You'll probably see the next release by the end of the year. It'll be a fourth quarter release. I've just been running around writing songs and recording tunes, and really starting to put it together. I'm meeting with producers next week to see who we're going to get to cut this thing.
Q: How did your band mates react to you trying out for INXS?
MC: At first they were very confused and angry. We had been together a long time and we had made some headway. At the time I was auditioning we were on the tour with Cake, and Gomez, and they just didn't understand it. They were really confused and as it got closer and they understood how driven I was to make this happen, to get on that show, they eventually came around and really wholeheartedly supported me. To a point, but they definitely didn't want me to win.
Page 3 of 3
Q: They were probably fine with you getting second, huh?
MC: Yeah, exactly. It was the best case scenario for them.
Q: I guess it helps that you guys were friends for such a long time as well.
MC: Yeah.
Q: Do you have any vocal techniques that you practice before a show?
MC: Try to warm up. Our tour manager was Bon Jovi's tour manager for a long time. A guy named Ted, tour manager Ted. He had gotten to know Jon so well and his performance style and what he did. The big thing was not only warming up for an hour before you go on, and I'm a pretty energetic performer so not only stretching and working your vocals and getting your voice ready, but believe it or not it's also warming down after the show for a half an hour. When you get off the stage you need to sing in kind of a lower register and warm yourself down. You really need to warm yourself up and warm yourself down for a long tour.
Q: I take it you guys will be touring later this year, too?
MC: Yeah, I think we'll start touring in the early Fall.
Q: Are you going to hit the entire United States?
MC: Yeah, we'll be all over the U.S. and all over Canada. And then next year I think we'll make it to Australia, New Zealand, and hopefully Asia. We'll see.
Q: How's your fan support overseas? Do you get a lot of e-mails from fans over there?
MC: The INXS show was a phenomenon in select places. It was on in India, but I don't think we can go tour India. New Zealand and Australia, being that INXS was from there, we get a lot of support there. In Europe, it's not like it was here and in Canada. In Canada it was one of the biggest shows of all time. So it's kind of hit or miss, some markets you're going to do really well out there and then some markets you're not going to be so well-known.
Q: I've read that the band's name was originally the Swinging Lovehammers, what was the reason for shortening it to just Lovehammers?
MC: We had been together so long that we went through the whole swing craze, if you remember in the late ‘90's there were all those swing bands coming out. Every one kind of assumed that we were a swing band number one, and then it was just too damn long and nobody ever got it right on the marquee. We were Swinging Lovehammers but you'd have Bulging Lovehandles, and they just never got it right. Around that time we lost a member of the band who went to focus more on his professional career and really wasn't into the music anymore. So when he left we kind of felt there needed to be a change in the name because the band slightly changed so we just went with Lovehammers plain and simple.
Q: I also read that being from Chicago that you're a big White Sox fan. Do you have a favorite all-time White Sox player?
MC: You know, I'm not a big White Sox fan. The big White Sox fans in the band are Bob and Dino. I'm not really a sports fanatic, but one thing I will say about the Sox is that they've really supported the Lovehammers. We got to play the ring ceremony last year, we got to play during the playoffs, and they give us tickets to the games. For some reason they're huge supporters and I think it's because the bass player and the drummer in Lovehammers are the biggest White Sox fans that you've ever seen. It's more of their trip than mine.
Q: What was the inspiration behind your song Clinic?
MC: Clinic I wrote with my brother-in-law, and actually my sister threw in some lyrics to it as well. We were just sitting around and we kind of had that opening riff that he was messing around with. At the time I was stuck in a job and the band was doing very well, but we just couldn't seem to break through to the next chapter in the career. We couldn't get on a major label and were just kind of stuck. I just kind of felt like I was in a rubber room, like I was starting to go crazy and losing my mind. That's kind of where it stemmed from, just feeling trapped and feeling isolated. I just started writing from that perspective and it turned out to be Clinic. A really kind of weird, angular tune.
Q: We end all of our interviews with word association, so I say "wombat" and you say...
MC: Pacemaker.
Q: Do you have anything you'd like to say to your fans?
MC: I'd just like to say thanks for the continued support and I appreciate everybody sending us all these e-mails and wanting us to come back to their town for another tour. That's all we're looking to do, to deliver another kick ass new album and then follow it up with a kick ass tour. Thank you so much.
www.martycasey.org/News.html
Interview with Marty Casey of Lovehammers
Written by Steve Angell
Jun 10, 2007 at 01:28 AM
Article Index
Interview with Marty Casey of Lovehammers
Page 1 of 3
Most people probably recognize Marty Casey as the runner-up from the hit show Rock Star: INXS, but if you haven't taken the opportunity to check out his band Lovehammers then you're really missing out. While Marty may not have won the singing gig for INXS, he and his band mates have garnered tons of support from their loyal fans along the way. His band, Lovehammers, has been rocking out for the better part of two decades and will be touring later this year in support of their new album which should be hitting store shelves this Fall.
For updated information on Marty Casey and Lovehammers make sure to visit the band's website at Lovehammers.com or MartyCasey.org. In the meantime, enjoy our extended interview with the lead singer of the Lovehammers, Marty Casey.
Q: What is something that most fans would be surprised to learn about you?
MC: I think that people don't understand that I'm an extremely quiet and reserved person off the stage. I think that from the stage persona that is put out there that they assume that I'm a crazy party dude all the time, but it's kind of exactly the opposite. I'm really reserved off the stage and I pretty much save all the drama for the stage.
Q: Kind of like comedians when you expect them to be funny off the stage, huh?
MC: Kind of exactly like that, yeah.
Q: How do you feel about the current state of rock music?
MC: I actually think that there's a resurgence. The type of rock that I like is Buckcherry, Velvet Revolver, and there just aren't that many bands that are breaking and doing that style of music. That gritty, sexy rock n' roll. So I'm kind of happy to see that there's some of that coming back and kind of putting the energy back in rock n' roll and not pre-formulated, crafted tunes made in some magical formula of a laboratory. It's the real deal rock n' roll that's gritty and kind of tough.
Q: Have you had a chance to see Velvet Revolver?
MC: I've seen them a number of times and I've got to meet a couple of the guys and I'm a big fan of theirs.
Q: Were you a fan of INXS before appearing on Rock Star: INXS?
MC: You know, I was a little too young for the heyday of INXS, but I remember probably in 2001 or 2002 I actually bought their greatest hits. I was just starting to come into my own, really just trying to write my own songs and kind of learning. And I bought the INXS greatest hits because I loved their style of song writing. I was kind of more a fan of their musicianship actually and their songwriting skills. And when it came around time for the show I really dug in and got into the records and not just the hits.
Q: Was there anything interesting that happened behind the scenes that didn't make the show?
MC: A large part of the story of the show wasn't on film, you know, we only got filmed three days a week. We got filmed three days a week and then there were two performance days, so there was a lot of time that wasn't captured. I think when the cameras are rolling you're only going to get so much reality. So I think a lot of those true heart-felt relationships that evolved from the show and the friendships that happened; that was all off camera.
Q: And they can make their own reality with the editing room floor anyway.
MC: The shining moment of when I realized how much they can twist stuff was the one day we had the photo shoot for Levi's. And everybody just went in there and you did a photo shoot with Levi's, with some famous photographer whose name I can't recall. So you just stand in front of the camera and you have a good time and they take some photos for half an hour. And I remember when Jordis did hers, she did it just like everybody else, but then when she walked away they showed her walking away in slow motion with some sad music playing like she didn't do a good job. But that wasn't the case at all and that's when I was kind of like "Oh man, they can twist anything they want to twist."
Q: Did you feel that you had to be a little bit more careful then, as far as your persona so that it didn't get twisted with their editing room?
MC: You know what, I really was careful. Every interview I did, they'd ask a question and I'd take five to ten seconds before I'd answer. They didn't necessarily like that, but I knew that you make one stupid statement and it could define you for a long time. Beyond anything I was just really cautious about what I said.
Q: Go ahead and take a moment to inform our readers about the other members of Lovehammers.
MC: We've got Bob Kourelis on drums and he and I started playing in 1988. He was a drummer, I was a guitarist, and we started jamming in 1988! So we'd play some tunes, we'd play Sabbath, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple. So we were playing these tunes and his brother said, "Ah man, that looks like a good time," so he bought a bass and started to learn how to play the bass. Then somewhere along the way we picked up Billy Sawilchik who we kind of stole from another band. His band was called Nine Arms because it was five dudes and their drummer only had one arm.
Q: That is interesting though that you guys have been together for so long.
MC: I mean, yeah, we learned together you know. We were just a bunch of kids that didn't know what we were doing and it just really slowly evolved into actually being something that people could even make any semblance of. I mean, we were terrible for years, but it finally came on.
Q: You mentioned that you played a lot of Sabbath and Zeppelin. Who was your greatest musical influence growing up?
MC: I'd really have to say, if we really boiled it down, more than anything in my life I've listened to more Zeppelin than anything. My older brothers were huge Zeppelin fans and I was really blown away because their songs were like stories. It was the only time where I've ever met somebody and done a handshake and felt like "I'm never gonna wash this hand again," was when I met John Paul Jones. Something about that band is so beyond even the mysticism of rock and they were such an amazing group. I'm just pissed that I never got to see them live.
Page 2 of 3
Q: You guys have a pretty dedicated fan base yourselves. You guys are always being voted for on these different polls online, for like MyRockinProfile.com for MySpace and stuff. How do you explain the rabid support you receive from your fans?
MC: I think the really strong support comes from the fact that after the shows we'll take two hours and hang out with everybody and just talk to everybody. You can't get to know all your fans, but we try to get to know personally as many as possible. And I think just from spending a lot of time with them, real time. We get done with the shows and we just don't jump in the bus and take off. We dedicate the time to hanging out and getting to hear their stories and what's going on in their lives and that really translates into a really dedicated fan base online.
Q: You know like you said, it's a little bit different nowadays where a lot of bands get off the stage and they're gone, and you don't see them again. That is a great thing that you guys are still doing that. There are a few bands that still do, but it's a rare thing nowadays.
MC: You look at some huge bands and they're still doing it, look at Linkin Park. They're still hanging around for two hours signing every autograph in the house. If they can do it with their hundred million CDs they've sold, then a kind of new band, which I consider ourselves, you really need to dig in and do that for your fans.
Q: You do see it a little bit more, I think, with rock bands than you do with your typical pop star.
MC: I think rock bands are a lot more organic so they're not afraid to show you who they are. Whereas I think a lot of pop acts are kind of pre-fabricated so they don't necessarily want you to see the wizard behind the curtain.
Q: Right. So if you weren't a musician, what do you think you'd be doing as a career? I think I read that you got a degree in financing?
MC: Yeah, and pre-finance I was formerly a commercial real estate appraiser. If I wasn't doing music, I don't know what the hell I'd be doing. It'd be scary. At this point there is no backup plan.
Q: Luckily so far you're doing pretty well with it though.
MC: Yeah, it's been going well thank God.
Q: You mentioned some of the older bands that you of course like, and of course Velvet Revolver and everything, but are there any other new bands that you enjoy listening to?
MC: I'm a really big fan of the Silversun Pickups. If you're not into them yet you've got to check out their record. To me it sounds like a cross between early Pumpkins and Sonic Youth. They've got great hooks, the guy's an amazing songwriter and amazing guitarist. They're kind of blowing up right now. I'm a big fan of TV On The Radio, a band from Brooklyn. They do some really straight up rock tunes, and then they'll do some barber shop quartet harmonies behind some really aggressive music. I don't want to call it art rock. It is out there, but it is really effective stuff. It's really cool; you should check that out too.
Q: The first one is Silversun Pickups? Do they only have one CD out, or do they have a couple out?
MC: They have an EP, and they have their first full-length out now and it's on an indie, but I think they just got picked up by a major label and they're going to be all over the place.
Q: What are your three favorite Lovehammers songs?
MC: Well, I'm a huge fan of the song Clouds. The recorded version and playing it live. There's something about the mood of that song that just fits my personality perfectly. I really like the aggressiveness of Eyes Can't See and the way that one turned out in the studio. Sometimes you bring a song into the studio and it exceeds your expectations and sometimes you bring a song into the studio and it never quite lives up to the song that you have in your head, but Eyes Can't See definitely hit it. And then I have to give props to Trees, just because it kind of defined the first part of my career. It's what got me the record deal and I think more people know me by "the Trees dude" than they actually remember my name.
Q: Really, they actually say that on the street, "Hey Trees dude"?
MC: "Hey, you're that Trees dude," you know.
Q: I've been listening to your CDs quite a bit the last few days and the one song that I like quite a bit is Low Life Insurance.
MC: Oh yeah, "Let's Get Wasted." We always played that song live but we never wanted to put it on a record. We just thought that it was too party rock you know, and a friend of ours from was like "You have to put that song on your record." And then I kept saying "I should change it, it shouldn't be Let's Get Wasted, it should be Let's Get Crazy or something." We just kind of threw it out there, just kind of tongue in cheek and said "f**k it."
Q: Yeah, that's kind of what rock's all about, right?
MC: Exactly.
Q: So when can we expect the next release by Lovehammers?
MC: You'll probably see the next release by the end of the year. It'll be a fourth quarter release. I've just been running around writing songs and recording tunes, and really starting to put it together. I'm meeting with producers next week to see who we're going to get to cut this thing.
Q: How did your band mates react to you trying out for INXS?
MC: At first they were very confused and angry. We had been together a long time and we had made some headway. At the time I was auditioning we were on the tour with Cake, and Gomez, and they just didn't understand it. They were really confused and as it got closer and they understood how driven I was to make this happen, to get on that show, they eventually came around and really wholeheartedly supported me. To a point, but they definitely didn't want me to win.
Page 3 of 3
Q: They were probably fine with you getting second, huh?
MC: Yeah, exactly. It was the best case scenario for them.
Q: I guess it helps that you guys were friends for such a long time as well.
MC: Yeah.
Q: Do you have any vocal techniques that you practice before a show?
MC: Try to warm up. Our tour manager was Bon Jovi's tour manager for a long time. A guy named Ted, tour manager Ted. He had gotten to know Jon so well and his performance style and what he did. The big thing was not only warming up for an hour before you go on, and I'm a pretty energetic performer so not only stretching and working your vocals and getting your voice ready, but believe it or not it's also warming down after the show for a half an hour. When you get off the stage you need to sing in kind of a lower register and warm yourself down. You really need to warm yourself up and warm yourself down for a long tour.
Q: I take it you guys will be touring later this year, too?
MC: Yeah, I think we'll start touring in the early Fall.
Q: Are you going to hit the entire United States?
MC: Yeah, we'll be all over the U.S. and all over Canada. And then next year I think we'll make it to Australia, New Zealand, and hopefully Asia. We'll see.
Q: How's your fan support overseas? Do you get a lot of e-mails from fans over there?
MC: The INXS show was a phenomenon in select places. It was on in India, but I don't think we can go tour India. New Zealand and Australia, being that INXS was from there, we get a lot of support there. In Europe, it's not like it was here and in Canada. In Canada it was one of the biggest shows of all time. So it's kind of hit or miss, some markets you're going to do really well out there and then some markets you're not going to be so well-known.
Q: I've read that the band's name was originally the Swinging Lovehammers, what was the reason for shortening it to just Lovehammers?
MC: We had been together so long that we went through the whole swing craze, if you remember in the late ‘90's there were all those swing bands coming out. Every one kind of assumed that we were a swing band number one, and then it was just too damn long and nobody ever got it right on the marquee. We were Swinging Lovehammers but you'd have Bulging Lovehandles, and they just never got it right. Around that time we lost a member of the band who went to focus more on his professional career and really wasn't into the music anymore. So when he left we kind of felt there needed to be a change in the name because the band slightly changed so we just went with Lovehammers plain and simple.
Q: I also read that being from Chicago that you're a big White Sox fan. Do you have a favorite all-time White Sox player?
MC: You know, I'm not a big White Sox fan. The big White Sox fans in the band are Bob and Dino. I'm not really a sports fanatic, but one thing I will say about the Sox is that they've really supported the Lovehammers. We got to play the ring ceremony last year, we got to play during the playoffs, and they give us tickets to the games. For some reason they're huge supporters and I think it's because the bass player and the drummer in Lovehammers are the biggest White Sox fans that you've ever seen. It's more of their trip than mine.
Q: What was the inspiration behind your song Clinic?
MC: Clinic I wrote with my brother-in-law, and actually my sister threw in some lyrics to it as well. We were just sitting around and we kind of had that opening riff that he was messing around with. At the time I was stuck in a job and the band was doing very well, but we just couldn't seem to break through to the next chapter in the career. We couldn't get on a major label and were just kind of stuck. I just kind of felt like I was in a rubber room, like I was starting to go crazy and losing my mind. That's kind of where it stemmed from, just feeling trapped and feeling isolated. I just started writing from that perspective and it turned out to be Clinic. A really kind of weird, angular tune.
Q: We end all of our interviews with word association, so I say "wombat" and you say...
MC: Pacemaker.
Q: Do you have anything you'd like to say to your fans?
MC: I'd just like to say thanks for the continued support and I appreciate everybody sending us all these e-mails and wanting us to come back to their town for another tour. That's all we're looking to do, to deliver another kick ass new album and then follow it up with a kick ass tour. Thank you so much.
excited. I so hope they make it. I am already planning ahead!!!! 
