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Musicpix caught up with The Bronx for a show at The Metro in Chicago and later spoke to James Tweedy (bass) in LA just before they head to Europe with Ladyfinger for a string of dates before the end of the year. The Bronx has amassed a worldwide fan base by touring non-stop for the past few years. This time out, they’re supporting their latest release, “The Bronx-Guide to Eastern Mysticism.”

It’s 10 pm eastern/7 pacific on the eve of a LA performance and James takes a time-out from sound check to talk with Musicpix about doing what he loves 24/7, creating a ‘fifth-mind,’ and why touring IS a piece of cake…
Read on…

MusicPix: The industry has been all over you and to borrow lyrics from “Small Stone,” “Let’s take our time, let’s do this right” which really sums up your band’s attitude. In your opinion, have you NOW taken enough time to do it right?

James: That’s an interesting question. When we made the last record, we took the time to accomplish our goal which was to be true to the songs…we finally wrote the record that we needed to write. As far as a band, we’re trying to do things right… but I’m not really a good judge of that. We just really try to stay true to what we believe and do things the best way we know how.

MusicPix: Many bands are comfortable with a club tours and some shoot for arenas. Where do you want to be playing?

James: It’s a little more figurative or a little more ambiguous goal, instead of something specific…instead of wanting to sell out the Palladium or something like that. We just want to keep doing what we’re doing. Being in a band has allowed us to travel the world multiple times and play for people all over the world and do what we love 24/7 and that’s to make music. That may sound a bit like a hippie answer but if we can keep doing this, and feeding ourselves, and live in relative comfort…we just want to be the best band we can be… Why not be the best rock band in the world?

MusicPix: You’ve toured in Europe and Australia and have developed a worldwide fan base. You’re headed back to the UK in a couple of weeks… How do European fans differ from fans in the US?

James: I think that European fans are a little less caught up in genres…in stereotypes. Labels are not as prominent overseas. People aren’t so eager to group you into ‘indie’ rock band’ or ‘trash punk band’...they’re not so quick to label and they’re more genuine regarding their love of live music…especially in a place like Australia. They love live rock music. Australia is one of my favorite places and we love going back there. Since the inception of the band, we’ve been well received there. Without sounding pretentious, there’s a certain kind of truth that we carry in our music. We’re not trying to fool anybody or be something that we’re not. We’re just trying to do something we love and believe in and they (Aussies) seem to respond to that.

MusicPix: I’ve experienced Aussies in their homeland too…they certainly have a zest for life…

Bronx Concert Photo Gallery

MusicPix: Your band seems to have the best of both worlds. You’re signed to Island/Def Jam and have kept your indie label White Drugs. Why is it so important to you to have both?

James: They both serve a different purpose. The way the industry is right now…where bands and labels are, I think that everything is kind of shifting. But it definitely helps to be on a label like Island because they work really hard to get our record everywhere possible. With our first record, we got it out cheaper and we were able to reach out to all of our fans. With this record though, we haven’t gotten a lot of emails from people saying they can’t find our record in their town…so it’s pretty widely available. Island backs up some of our insane ideas and that’s good.

MusicPix: You’re really humble about your early success and I’ve read that you don’t consider yourselves “that-good.” What do you think still needs improvement?

James: [Laughing] You think you’re pretty good and then you improve some more. I think it’s just a matter of pushing ourselves. The recording process makes us just push ourselves farther than we were and we take it further. We had about twenty songs written and we felt that we could do more, so we wrote another six or seven songs in the studio of which three or four of those ended up on the record. It’s just a matter of constantly improving. I know I can always improve playing bass guitar.

MusicPix: I guess we’re all a work in progress huh?

James: Yeah, that would be a good bumper sticker for us…a work in progress.

MusicPix: Some bands strive to get signed their entire career and you guys were signed right out of the gates. In your opinion, what was so appealing about The Bronx?

James: Yeah, to be honest, I don’t really know. We were really fortunate in the way things happened. I was just talking to another person about the same phenomenon. As individuals, we’re not a bunch of 20 year old kids. We’ve all been playing in bands for quite some time now. It seems like we got signed right off the bat, but if you add up our collective years…it was a pretty slow process. We’ve all been playing music since the early 90’s in various forms. It’s just something about this incarnation as a band that people seem to be drawn to. It’s exciting to be doing what we’re doing for people who actually care.

MusicPix: Your records are raw to reflect a live experience vs. an over-produced studio sound which captures the essence of your band. Why are imperfections so perfect for your band?

James: A lot of it is looking back to records that you really admire. The records that shaped us when we were growing up. If you listen to a couple of Black Flag records…Iggy & The Stooges…their early stuff. Even Led Zeppelin records…they’re awesome live. It’s more like trying to capture the spontaneity…that intangible element when a band plays live. It’s almost a like a creation of a fifth mind. There are four individuals playing music but there is a collective thing going on and there’s magic in that. If you can actually capture that live…and that’s what our goal is…then we’ve succeeding in transcending the medium. Transcending the record format and creating excitement for the listener.

MusicPix: Your band is playing the role of Black Flag in the upcoming film What We Do Is Secret, a film about punk-rock legends, The Germs. We understand that Black Flag had influence on your band so talk about the experience and the impact of Black Flag on your music.

James: [Laughing] Yeah, we’re movie stars now. Some of us are more shaped by Black Flag than others. I personally came to Black Flag a little later than our singer did…( Matt Caughthran) he grew up going to Black Flag shows…the early LA punk shows. He was a 13 year old kid going to shows and in love with the music. It was his schooling in his formative years… I think it’s reflective in the way he approaches it and also the way we collective approach it as a band. All that music…there’s no pretence about it. It’s just honest. It’s a bunch of dudes wearing t-shirts that are regular Joes…just playing something that they’re really excited about. I’m sure musically, it probably comes through but there’s a myriad of influences so who can really take it down to one.

MusicPix: You recorded in a concerted methadone clinic just off Venice Beach at Michael Beinhorn’s studio. I know the area well and certainly know why it inspired you creatively. Will you return for more or seek out different creative surroundings for the next one?

James: I don’t know… we want to record in a castle… [laughing] That’s been thrown around. We’ve been writing for the new record. We have a couple of songs done but I think a lot of it will be shaped by the song’s we write…depending on where we’re at and where we feel we need to do them. There’s no real formula for us. We don’t want to make it formulaic. But if we feel like working with Michael or working down in Venice again and it’s right for the songs, we’ll do it. It will all be dictated by the music that comes out of us this time. When it’s time…when we get around to record #3…

MusicPix: I read a quote from Joby … ‘touring is easy…and it’s a piece of cake’… which is unusual because we usually hear quite the contrary. Is everybody else just whining or what?

James: Yeah, I think there are just a lot of young kids out there and touring is the only form of real work that they’ve ever done. In our band, everybody has held an honest job. I used to work with bands and I heard somebody say, ‘ah, I’ve got to go over to Japan again….we’ve got to be there for a week and I don’t want to go…” And I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?” Hey, you get to go to Japan! People just don’t wake up and go to Japan.” It’s just our approach to touring. We try to do it a way that’s comfortable-but nothing excessive. We definitely aren’t touring in luxury. In the states, we haven’t had the benefit of touring on bus or anything like that. It’s not where we’re at as a band. We don’t want to outgrow our means so to speak. “It IS a piece of cake!”

MusicPix: It’s a lot better than making cakes…

James: Exactly….a bakery life…that’s an early morning wake up call. I don’t think I’d be cut out for making cakes.

MusicPix: The “History’s Stranglers” video is unique to say the least…especially considering the lyrics paired with a children’s birthday party…whose idea and why?

James: We trust a friend of ours, Michael Piscitelli, who has directed all of our videos so far. He actually had the idea for the video. Originally, we were going to try to do a more literal interpretation of the song like recreating murders but we just talked about it as a band and taking the usual approach is not the way we usually go. Everybody who has seen the video says it’s kind of creepy…what’s going on there? Mike came up with the idea and knew about the technology to change out the heads and do all that. It’s just kind of fun to go the polar opposite of the song. To see kids running around while the lyrics are talking about ‘mothe*** I want your blood.’

MusicPix: I’ve got to ask about the tongue in cheek-ness of “S***y Future” lyrics… “oh yeah I love those neon lights…here comes our **** future!” You do so you do see it… “The Bronx” in neon lights and it’s really not all that **** is it?

James: It’s funny. The whole concept came out of a show where Matt went into a rant on stage. He was cursing the likes of Steven Spielberg and all our expectations of what our future would be like. When I was growing up, there was going to be water slides from my house to my friend’s house. We’d be able to take a transporter. There was going to be flying cars and transporters…all this cool stuff. Hover boards to the cures of illnesses… where’s all that? I don’t have a hover board and I’m kind of pissed about it!

MusicPix: It’s like the Jetson’s meet Jimmy Neutron.

James: Yeah, exactly. The Jetson’s! We’re in the year 2006. Where are the advances? I was really looking forward to jet packs. So the song I guess is about us as children having expectations…

MusicPix: You’ve toured with the likes of Social Distortion and Hot Hot Heat. How difficult is it to warm-up for such notable acts?

James: We’ve played with Social D a handful of times and we’ve played with Hot Hot Heat a couple of times here in LA. There’s definitely an air of intimidation when you get out there…I personally love playing with bands who are bigger or better than us because it’s more of a challenge. More of a sports mentality.

MusicPix: So you rise to the occasion?

James: Exactly…like being on the tour that we’re on now with Mastodon and Converge-two amazing bands. They play really great music and if you don’t bring it…yeah, people are going to recognize that.

MusicPix: You’ve recently done some US dates in Bronx-0-Vision, a 3D experience w/ 3D glasses. What kind of feedback are you getting?

James: It’s funny because we’re kind of rolling it out kind of slowly. The shows have been presented in 3D but it’s not really our crowd so we’re not really pushing it too hard. The people that show up with 3D glasses, they love it. We’ve got it up tonight in LA. It’s cool. You just got to experience it. Just one more thing to mess with people as they are watching music.

MusicPix: What is the first musical instrument you played and at what age?

James: Violin…probably around 7 years old. I wouldn’t call myself classically trained. I played in band when I was in middle school and junior high and stuff. I played clarinet- a little bit here a little bit there. But once I started playing the guitar that was it. I’m sure it influences my playing somehow when I play. I gave up violin after a year and a half. I didn’t have the patience.

MusicPix: What artist/performer influenced you the most?

James: There are so many bands that have shaped me as an individual and have shaped us as a band. I don’t know if I can narrow it down to one. One of the first concerts I went to was Johnny Cash. My parent’s took me to the Cloverdale Rodeo where Johnny and June were doing a show together. It’s funny. Earlier on, country wasn’t cool 15-20 years ago. You listened to Led Zeppelin, Sonic Youth… Country was there but it was something that your parents listened to. But now, there’ a rebirth of country with bands like Whisky Town and Sun Volt that have become a little bit more socially acceptable. I remember listening to 8 tracks in my dad’s truck... Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash. My mom had a bunch of Abba records too so that’s where the pop influence came from I guess.

MusicPix: If you weren’t in your current band, what band would you like to play in?

James: If I didn’t have to limit to a time period, I’d like to be in one of the first Shoegazer bands in the early 80’s…Jesus and Mary Chain or Ride or something like that…or My Bloody Valentine… to just pummel people with obnoxiously loud guitar. I would like to play in a band like Led Zeppelin to see what that was like first hand…to be a part of the spontaneous musical experience.

MusicPix: What are your 3 ‘desert island’ albums?

James: Neil Young- “Harvest”… Led Zeppelin- “Three” and Pink Floyd’s-“Wish You Were Here.”

MusicPix: Who do you think is the most over-rated in the music industry?

James: Oh gosh….I kind of feel like it’s throwing rocks at retarded kids. I don’t like to make fun of the bands that are out there now. I think that everybody in music is getting something out of it and there are bands that are out there that are obviously not fooling anybody and they realize that. There are a lot of new bands and a lot of fast success and they forgot the fact that they really don’t know how to play their instruments. I can’t name names though…. The whole world is screamo. 10-15 years ago? I saw Jimmy Eat World and it was awesome but that was 10 years ago. I don’t want to see all those new bands try to rip it off. It’s not good, they’re bad at it. Just stop.

MusicPix: What’s your ‘perfect world?’

James: Oh, it’s too hard to imagine. If the world was perfect it would be boring. There would be nothing to do….You know what? I don’t think there could be a perfect world. It’s an impossible utopian idea. I think world peace would be a good thing but people like John Lennon have been working on that for a long time and it hasn’t happened. I’ll take the world I’ve got. That’s my utopian dream.

The Band

Matt Caughthran-Vocals
Joby Ford-Guitar
James Tweedy-Bass
Jorma Vik-Drums

Discography

2002- Sure Death EP
2003-Bats (Single)
2003-La Muerte Viva EP
2003-The Bronx
2004-They Will Kill Us All (Single)
2006-The Bronx

The Tour

10/13/06 London, UK Barfly
10/14/06 Oxford, UK Zodiac
10/15/06 Cardiff, UK Barfly
10/16/06 York, UK Barfly
10/17/06 Leeds, UK The Cockpit
10/18/06 Manchester, UK The Roadhouse
10/19/06 Liverpool, UK Barfly
10/20/06 Nottingham, UK Rock City
10/21/06 Glasgow, UK Barfly
10/22/06 Sheffield, UK Corporation
10/23/06 Birmingham, UK Barfly
10/25/06 Cologne, GER Prime Club
10/26/06 Hamburg, GER Logo
10/27/06 Berlin, GER Knaack Klub
10/28/06 Munich, GER Backstage
10/29/06 Vienna, AUT Arena
10/31/06 Antwerp, BEL Trix
11/01/06 London, UK Carling Academy Islington

By
Gwyn Tyme