I just had the pleasure of chatting on the phone with Jack Grisham, the awesome singer and lyricist for the Joykiller, one of my very favorite bands. i apologize if this seems a little jumbled, i'm typing this from memory... let just say before starting that jack is one of the nicest human beings i've ever met, he's really friendly and every time i talk to him he's nice; he treats you like a human being and seems to actually care and pay attention to you when you talk to him.
Me: umm, thanks for the interview, just let me collect my notes and all here, they're a little hard to read... i wrote some of these questions on lunch break at work...
Jack: no problem. how you doing aside from working? hey, what's the weather like out there?
Me: well, it's kinda cold and really rainy! how about you?
Jack: oh it's really warm! we just went for a walk on the beach, the water's like seventy, it's like bath water! it's almost too warm!
Me: i wish i had such problems... not the weather sucks here most of the time... but i love chicago so it's okay. all right, i got my questions together... here goes. i know you have a daughter, i was wondering, how old is she and what does she think of your music?
Jack: (laughs) she's nine! she doesn't like it, but i guess kids at her school do, they're like "get your dad to give us shirts!" and stuff.
Me: that's cool... [incidentally, my brothers are nine and six, and they like MY band! ha! =)] okay, here's another question... it seems like TSOL was more political and the Joykiller seems more personal, i was wondering, have your political beliefs changed or is this just something different?
Jack: actually only the first TSOL record was a real political record, my beliefs are the same, but i've said 'em once, i don't want to keep repeating myself...
Me: if you don't mind my asking then, who did you vote for?
Jack: oh i don't vote. i don't want anything to do with the government. i don't pay any taxes either.
Me: that's cool! i'm jealous! they took 85 dollars out of my last paycheck...
Jack: yeah, that's not right. i don't pay taxes.
Me: hmm. well, here's another question... what do you think of straightedgers and the whole straightedge thing?
Jack: well, i don't do anything, and i'm married. i don't drink or whatever so i guess you could call me straightedge, but i don't believe in making others do anything, i don't feel it's right to make someone else conform to a code. but i'm all for being straight and all, hell i lose friends each year to overdoses, i wish more of my friends were straight.
Me: i think that's really cool. i wish more people were too, i wish there was more of a, well not a pressure, but that it was more accepted to NOT do drugs and all. Simon, my friend who has the web-page, is straight-edge, so am i and a lot of other people on their are too... but for me and my friends it's really just a personal choice
Jack: and that's cool. i haven't gotten high in eight years. i really don't think there's anything wrong with getting high, unless you have a problem, and i do so i don't do it anymore.
Me: that's cool, yeah, that's why i quit drinking... okay, well, next question... what bands have you played in other than Joykiller?
Jack: TSOL, i played in a band called Cathedral of Tears after TSOL that was like a lounge band, that was a lot of fun. TSOL had gotten to be such a huge punk band that i really just wanted to get away so that's what i did, i was in this lounge band, dressed up like a woman and sang these lounge songs, as like a fuck you to people, like i'm gonna do what i want to do. i also played in Tender Fury, and now the Joykiller. oh, and a band called Vicious Circle, before TSOL.
Me: i'm gonna guess Vicious Circle was a hardcore band...
Jack: oh yeah, we were really hardcore, it got crazy... there's a book out called... California Hardcore, i think, it's about hardcore in california and all and it says that a typical Vicious Circle show had 12 ambulances and 24 stretchers. it got pretty out of hand.
Me: wow. i've never been to a show like that. i hope i never do! all right, well, here's one... what's your favorite place to play or best show played or favorite band to play with?
Jack: actually i really like to play in people's back yards. back yards or shows at houses, you know? but we've played a lot of cool places and good shows. Bologna, while were in Italy, that was a cool place to play. Philadelphia's always good to us. the show we played in Evanston was really cool, when the power went out [note: Evanston's near Chicago]
Me: Yeah! with SNFU and 88 Fingers Louie! that was a rad show!
Jack: yeah, it was, we had a lot of fun at that show, but since then in that area we haven't really had a very good show, i don't know what's wrong.
Me: i know what you mean, people really have a bad attitude at some of the shows around here, it's like they go to see bands they know or their friends' bands and don't care about any of the rest.
Jack: i think it's a lot of fucks, people who just aren't there for the music. i hate that! like all these bands that sound the same, back when i was first getting into this no bands sounded alike, if you sounded like someone else you'd get shit for it, people'd be like "you're trying to be like so-and-so." it's cool to borrow bits from other bands, but you don't just totally copy another band's sound. i get really irritated by all these NOFX bands, just ripping off NOFX. there already is a NOFX, just quit it already!
[then we talked about some old bands for a while, i don't remember the specifics, i'm sorry. i do remember being jealous because he got to see the go-go's and black flag together, and he got to see the germs. i was being born around this time, i think.]
Jack: these people [who come to shows just to see friends' bands and bands who sound the same] are really killing the scenes, they don't realize it. they don't support the bands that sound different and try new things, back when i was younger the bands really didn't sound alike.
Me: that's what i really like about you guys, and SNFU, you're both really good and you have your own sound.
Jack: those guys in SNFU are great, they're such nice, fun guys.
Me: here's a question i can't really answer, so if you can't i understand. why do you think punk still matters so much to people? i know it's had a big impact on me.
Jack: oh man. i don't know... people tend to try to put social movements on things, "here's why the kids did what they did," i don't know, i got into it because it was a lot of fun, i just did what i did and didn't give a fuck.
Me: i remember my first punk records, the first Rancid album and a Pennywise album, and i was just blown away, i thought "this is so good! this is totally for me." my first show was a lot like that too.
Jack: that's so fucking cool, yeah. i know what you mean.
Me: this question's kind of related... i know a lot of people like to bag on Epitaph and all, and call bands on their "sell-outs" and all, how would you respond to this?
Jack: oh, i don't even have a fucking car! what is that, who fucking made up that term? i hate that. the Angelic Upstarts were on warner brothers, the Sex Pistols were on EMI, please. i've met these supposedly great punk bands where they turn out to be the biggest assholes, and bands that so-called sell-outs who are just the nicest people. well, if a band were to totally change its sound in order to get a record deal or to get popular that'd be one thing, like if when punk started to get more popular if Soundgarden had cut their hair and started to sound like the Sex Pistols that's be kind of selling out, but other than that... hell, i go on tour and i get twenty bucks a day for food money, and if we sell enough shirts and stuff to meet our expenses maybe we make a little money or if i don't eat as much and save some of my food money i can come home from a tour with a little money in my pocket. i've been on tour for a month and made 500 dollars. for a month. how much money did you make working last week?
Me: $324, after taxes.
Jack: see what i mean? these Epitaph bands really don't have money, we're not getting rich here. not that there's anything wrong with money or having money. money's not bad, it's what you do with it.
Me: like conscious consumerism?
Jack: right.
Me: yeah, i think i know what you mean, if i can raise the cash this summer i'd like to start a 'zine distribution and maybe a seven inch and record distribution, because where i go to school's really isolated and all.
Jack: and that'd be totally cool, it'd be really good if you could do that, but you need money to start it up, and if you got big at all people would hate you, god forbid you ever be successful at it or anything.
Me: it's like the only okay things are those that lose money.
Jack: exactly,it's like Green Day. back before they got huge my friends would always tell me, "you gotta see these guys, check them out, they're fucking great." and they were good, people liked them, and more and more people liked them so they got popular, and now it's like they suck because they're popular? how's that work?
Me: i know what you mean. okay, almost done here... what's the best and worst parts of being in a band?
Jack: playing shows, the best part is playing shows and making records. the worst is being in a car for 24 hours a day, driving forever and then you get there and people are assholes and they don't care and they treat you badly, that gets old. but i love it, playing shows is the best.
Me: cool. umm, i've noticed that the first record sounds more, like, abrasive, where the second's a little more catchy and accessible. i really like both of them, but why the difference?
Jack: boy, wait till you hear this third record! [the Joykiller recently finished recording their third album. in my opinion it's sure to be great.] well, i think it's good to fuck around with different sounds, you know? it's not like a conscious plan. plus it wasn't our money so we're more free to do that. also, every record i've ever made sounds a little different, i don't want then to all sound the same, but pretty much it's just "here's the songs" and they turn out how they turn out.
Me: that's cool. here's my last question, and i wanna know because it's big on my mind a lot, what's your favorite food?
Jack: oh man, that's a bad question! i have problems with food... all of it! i like all food, bad foods... cake, cookies...
Me: got a sweet tooth huh? i decided to become vegan this year, and sweets were the hardest thing to cut.
Jack: oh definitely, i love sweets. i did the whole vegan thing till we went to Europe, but all they ever had for breakfast was bread and cheese, bread and cheese, let's have more bread and cheese. i pretty much had to eat it or i'd have starved. but i really like all food. thai food's really good.
Me: i'm big into stir-fried vegetables and stuff a lot, and i've recently come to love fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches... they'e not very good for you though.
Jack: i've heard that's good, that's an Elvis thing! that is pretty bad for you, it's more or less all fat... i eat a lot of rice and beans and bread... fruit and vegetables too. i really like milk a lot though, i still drink milk.
Me: that's cool. that sounds like a very healthy diet! well, that's it for my questions, i'm really looking forward to this new record! it was really nice talking to you. i really like to interview people, i just like to talk to people and be friendly. it's fun! but i should go, this phone bill's gonna be pretty high.
Jack: oh shit, yeah you better go, if you ever want to get ahold of me you know the webpage [joykiller.com], it's nice hearing from you. i like that too. take care!
Me: you too, bye!
Jack: good bye!
and that's it... i just want to re-iterate how nice of a human being jack grisham is... he's really friendly and very funny. after a show in Rockford my friend Pat talked to him and said "man, people here just don't seem to get into your music, they're totally missing out," and Jack replied "it's all good. it's fun!" he's also been really patient with me calling him and bugging him unexpectedly about the interview and trying to get ahold of a friend of mine that he knows. the new record's sure to be great, buy it when it comes out, and buy the first two records, they're excellent. The Joykiller are one of the best bands today.
