Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: We are from Montgomery, Alabama. It’s a pretty boring city , though rich in history. There is a pretty cool music scene here though! I (Stephen/ PxUKE/ whatever someone wants to call me) have always been interested in music. I wouldn’t say it’s a career personally, music has always been my life. I first heard the Ramones when I was about 5 and I always loved the sound of them. (Granted the only two songs I had heard were Blitzkreig Bop and their cover of the Spider-Man theme) When I was 11 or 12 I was shown the video for Basket Case by Green Day by my dad. It started my whole deep dive into punk. I then started learning to “play” guitar. Slowly I was told about bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and the Ramones were reintroduced to me. This all led me to dig deeper and I found bands that resonated with me more. The more music I found the more I turned up the distortion and picked up the pace of my songs.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: I’m totally self taught, the most lesson I ever had was my dad showing me how to play a G chord. Everything else I just taught myself. I’m pretty sure everyone else that has come through the revolving door of members has been self taught as well.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Grasping At Pieces’?
A: When I started this project, it was never intended to be an actual band, I played in a few other bands but they all fell apart before we even had a show. It was gonna be solely a recording project. At the time I was heavily influenced by the old Alabama punk scene. There were bands like The Knockabouts, GNP, Random Conflict, The Slackers(not the ska band), and Joey Tampon and the Toxic Shocks. The first song I ever wrote for GAP was “What Happened To Joey Tampon?” as he totally flipped his life around and left the punk scene to become some minister. One band that didn’t influence our sound but I heavily listen to was a Birmingham, Alabama hardcore band by the name of A Common Thread. They had a song called “Grasping At Pieces” and it stuck out to me , so when it came time to upload demos of these recordings I decided to go with that name. We our now heavily influenced by JFA, Circle Jerks, Germs, OFF! , DFL , and the whole California punk scene through the years. We still have those Alabama influences though!
Q: You have just released your new album ‘We Are GAP Not JFA’. Is there a story behind it?
A: There is no real deep story to it, we did record it in a storage unit / practice space with our good friend Anson who plays in a few bands around here( V8 Death Car, Haploid, and his solo stuff)
We recorded it in just a few hours spread over three days. It was just a collection of songs, mostly new ones at the time with a few from our Death Zone demo re-recorded! The name did come from our JFA influence and so many people telling us we reminded them of JFA , so I came up with We Are GAP not JFA as a result of it!
Q: What is the message of your music?
A: Some of our songs have serious messages. For instance, our song “No Room For…” on our Death Zone Demo outright says there is no room for racism, bigotry , homophobia, or really anything hateful in our lives.“Bible Belt” talks about how religion was always shoved down my throat and made me feel so small and like I was doing everything wrong. “Johnny’s Gone Rotten” talks about Johnny Rotten turning into this right wing conservative who turned his back on the very people that made him a huge personality. We also have lots of fun/ funny songs. “Don’t Touch My Vans” is a song about, well, not touching my vans because I skate in them! “Puke!” is a song about me constantly throwing up. The list goes on. We just want people to be able to slam around and have a good time, while also getting some important messages out there!
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: I feel like the key elements are the pounding and chaotic drums we have, the totally distorted guitars, and the words I yell! I personally would describe our sound as “Loud, Fast, skatepunk perfect for people with low stamina to mosh to!, in the vein of Circle Jerks, JFA, OFF!, and the Germs.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: Definitely, we’re only in it to spread some message,hang around as many people as possible, and have some fun along the way. I couldn’t care less about success but it’s cool to have people that listen to us! Though we would like to travel more, but that’s just about finding the right people to play in a touring line up.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do you usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: Most of the time, a song idea randomly comes to me, it could be me messing around on guitar and creating a riff, or an idea of a riff popping into my head. It could also start with lyrics popping into my head. Our song “Dead Baby” was almost entirely written while I was in the shower one day. The lyrics and guitar parts just popped into my head. If I try to write about something, I can’t. I have to let it naturally flow out. Usually the original idea becomes the full song, with a few tweaks or lyric changes along the way ( I swapped verses around on Bible Belt and such, and I’ve changed words here and there) so it’s normally a stream of conscious thing. Though recently I’ve been writing longer stuff around the two minute mark.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: The most difficult thing for the band so far has been the lineup changes. It’s not a fun or easy process but it’s gotten easier with the more people we have come through ( We are actually trying to beat Black Flag for their record of most lineup changes)
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: There’s a few high points I’d like to touch on, our first show was really rad. Another is while we were already in the recording process of what became “We Are GAP not JFA” when John from OBS hit us up about putting out a record. It was super cool to have nicely made cds for once , unlike our DIY Death Zone Demo. We also just got test pressings for the 7” which includes every song on “ We Are GAP not JFA.” It’s really rad to be on vinyl! Maximum Rocknroll also reviewed “We Are GAP not JFA” and they didn’t say we sucked! We got the “ It’s exactly what punk should sound like” quote sticker from that. It’s also been cool to hear about various radio stations playing us across the world. Anyway enough of me “gloating” about shit!
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