1)Just a typical opening : Who exactly is Thought Riot, how were you all formed, and why should anyone care about the band? Were any of Thought Riot’s members in other bands, regardless of size or notoriety?
Thought Riot is Marc (vocals), Mike (bass), Kelley (guitar), Adam (drums), and Bryan (guitar). I (Marc) started the band in 1997 with 2 other good friends. Since that time there have been various line-up changes – the most recent being May 2002 when we added Adam and Bryan. There is no good reason to care about us more than any other band. Give a chance and see if we’re something you’d enjoy. I’ve been in various other bands, none ever as committed as Thought Riot.
2)What would you say is a short, terse statement that Thought Riot tries to live by, and even more than that, how does it fit specifically into the bands life?
“To thy own self be true”. We try to make sure we’re comfortable with the actions we take as a band. We do have our disagreements, but we always try to reach compromise so the band isn’t doing something one of us is absolutely totally against.
3)Now, “Sketches of Undying Will” is your new album, coming out November 11th. I have my own opinions about the album, but what makes this album preferable or an improvement over your first album on A-F records, “Shattered Mirror Syndrome?” While “Save the Humans” seems to be the one track that everyone can sing along with off of “Shattered Mirror Syndrome”, is there that one track on “Sketches of Undying Will” that will be the one single?
For starters, we have Adam and Bryan for the writing of this new album. They’ve added a lot. But for Kel, Mike, and I, we’re more comfortable with our writing and now have a base to evolve from. I didn’t want the albumto be a rehash of “Shattered…” so I tried to steer clear of riffs and lyrics that appeared on “Shattered…”. I think we achieved an album with some semblance of diversity that various fans of music can enjoy, but more importantly we enjoy having different favors as well. As for ‘singles’,I don’t much think of albums in terms of singles. I like solid albums.I’m sure there will be those songs that are crowd favorites, but I can’t really say oh this is a hit, or a ‘single’.
4)To promote “Sketches of Undying Will”, Thought Riot went out on tour with Anti-Flag, Rise Against, Against Me! and None More Black. Obviously, all of these bands are legends in their respective genres and scenes, but who did Thought Riot have the most fun watching or hanging out with during the tour? On those same lines, are there any current bands, irrespective of genre, that you would like to go out on tour with?
You know with a tour line-up like that, there really wasn’t a favorite. Though I must say I love Jason’s voice, so NMB was quite a delight each night. I would like to tour with quite a hand full of fellow local bands more. I think a tour with Death By Stereo would be a blast. Of course dream tour would have to be a tour with Bad Religion.
5)For the next couple of months, Thought Riot is going to be on tour, playing with a number of what seems to be local bands. What makes a band one that Thought Riot wants to play with? Is it political leanings, the ability to have fun, or what? On a related tangent, could you go into detail on what type of venue the Anywhere Café is, and why exactly there is a boycott against the venue at this date?
If we’re on tour alone, then the promoters of the shows pick the bands unless there happen to be bands we know and like there that we want to play with. Kind of music really doesn’t matter. We’re looking for people to tour with that we can call friends. Some friends of our had a run in at a small small place called the Anywhere Café. We were set to do a show there, but the promoter wanted nothing to do with the place and so the show has been put on hold.
6)What type of changes do you all see when you as Thought Riot headline a set of shows as opposed to when Anti-Flag and Against Me! share a bill? It would seem like there would be a hit to the number of people that would attend the shows, but is there a greater sense of familiarity with the band with those brave souls who come out to a Thought Riot-led show?
If it’s a TR headlining show then yes there are going to be quite a few people there that know our songs, which means more singing along and energy. They are great experiences. When we open for bigger bands, there are obviously more people there that have never even heard of you, so you get more just standing around. That’s just the way it goes. I’d be standing around watching us too. Both are incredible shows.
7)Which authors, musicians, movies, or political dogma has influenced Thought Riot’s formation and later creation of songs. Being on A-F records might seem to many to be a red flag for holding certain leftist views. Could you go more into detail on what you feel are the problems surrounding humanity at the beginning of the 21st century, and maybe sketch out an idea of what we need to do to fix these problems?
Obviously political punk and hardcore influenced me heavily. It’s what I fell in love with early on. Friedrich Nietzsche had, and still has, a huge impact on my life. Probably bigger than any other writer or musician, etc. A strong theme in his writings is the freedom of the individual, especially when it comes to personal expression. I think the some the biggest challenges to face human societies in the future will be the destruction of the individual into mindless assembly line workers. The root of this of course being the Corporation – an entity created by men that takes on an almost organic life of it’s own. A life that reduces human life into merely means for profit. It will take massive human reflection, a seismic universal STOP! on the part of the world’s population to halt this beast. But I think it will happen. The amount of protesting taking place around the world these past 10 years will more than likely increase, and much of it is protesting for things that Corporations fight tooth and nail against. We need to demand better life’s for the working population… living wages, better worker’s comp, comprehensive health care, day cares in the workplace, more paid vacation days. CEO’s in Great Britain make 24 times more than the average worker. In good ol’ USA the average CEO makes 411 times more than the average worker.
8)The video for “All for God, and a Gun for All” was just uploaded to your website, http://www.thoughtriot.com , and while I might just be ignorant, did any video music stations or public access shows play the video? Also, in the video, what do each of your shirts say [in the video]?
Adam: [front] Most families that own guns store them loaded, unlocked, or both. [back] Require safety devices on all guns sold.
Bryan: [front] One quarter of adults in the U.S. own a gun & one in six owns a handgun. [back] Encourage state laws providing for safe storage.
Marc: [front] In 1998, firearms killed 0 children in Japan, 19 in Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, 153 in Canada, & 5,285 in the U.S. [back] License all gun owners.
Mike: [front] 10 American children die every day from gun violence & 3 of those deaths are suicide victims. [back] Apply consumer safety standards to the gun industry.
Kelley: [front] For every child killed with a gun, four are wounded. [back] Limit gun purchases in order to reduce trafficking.
9)In what could be called the bush leagues of punk rock, or even more accurately, the bush leagues of independent music, what bands should we be on the lookout for? Are there any scenes in the United States, or even the world, that you might know about that may have a bevy of good music. Everyone talks about the Long Island scene, but when will the New York/NJ/Williamsport regency of ascendant bands end?
I have no idea when it comes to scenes putting out good music. I really like Life In Pictures out of Prescott, AZ and Scattered Fall out of Stockton, CA. Those are two of my favorite smaller bands.
10)What do you have to say to the readership of InterStitial and http://www.neufutur.com ?
If you’ve read this because you already know about us, thank you for your support. If you’ve never heard of us except for this interview, you can find out much more about us and many other things at http://www.thoughtriot.com. Thank you for reading.