| Something Fierce Session | |
| Violitionist Sessions |
Session Date: February 18, 2012
Posting Date: February 27, 2012
Artist Hometown: Houston, TX
Links: SomethingFierceMusic.com, Facebook, Bandcamp
Recorded by: Michael Briggs
3 QUESTIONS
ONE: Your new record moves your sound from straight power-pop to a funkier, more experimental punk. What’s driving this new direction?
Steven Garcia: I think that we’re just getting better. I think that we were always trying to do different rhythms and different styles, even on the second album There Are No Answers, we were kind of stretching our songwriting out actually beyond our ability, and we tend to do that a lot. Even on this record, we were stretching ourselves thin on what we could actually pull off musically. So, I think we just tend to do that.
MB: Are you happy with the results?
Steven: Oh yeah, very happy.
MB: Do you think that you will progress into more new territory on your next record?
Steven: We’ve already begun to write for something else. We don’t know if it’s going to be the next record or other projects, but the writing has changed. It’s gotten more difficult and more intricate, but I think, in the end, it’s tighter and better.
MB: Are you happy with the results?
Steven: Oh yeah, very happy.
MB: Do you think that you will progress into more new territory on your next record?
Steven: We’ve already begun to write for something else. We don’t know if it’s going to be the next record or other projects, but the writing has changed. It’s gotten more difficult and more intricate, but I think, in the end, it’s tighter and better.
TWO: What is it like for a punk band in Houston, which is known primarily for its vibrant rap and hip hop scene?
Niki Sevven: Hip hop always reigns supreme in Houston, but the rock and punk scene kind of goes in cycles. Definitely the heavier rock is more accepted— the more bar rock, cock rock kind of thing, but the punk scene comes in waves. Right now there’s a lot of really good bands, but ten years from now they’re probably all going to be broken up.
Steven: Well, no band lasts ten years anymore.
Niki: Yeah, in Houston it’s really rare. We’ve been together for like, what, eight years?
Steven: No! Seven. Eight? That’s ridiculous! Seven!
Andrew Keith: Seven.
Niki: Eight is ridiculous! So, seven. And that’s really rare for Houston. Usually, the lifespan of a band is maybe two years, tops.
Steven: I would say bands last about two years.
Niki: They’re ridiculously bad for not touring, not getting out there, and they just expect everything to come to them—
Steven: Although, that has changed in, I would say, the past two years. More bands, like Muhammad Ali…
Niki: Oh yeah, they tour nonstop. White Crime started touring.
Steven: A lot of the other scenes, like even the indie rock bands, which you would think…if someone’s coming from a place where they actually want success in the music industry, and they want to become…at least known, maybe not a star, but they want to be known and respected, and I think that a lot of the indie rock scene is more susceptible to that than the punk rock scene, but even the Houston indie rock bands didn’t do much. When they were coming around and putting out records, they didn’t try to find a label. They didn’t end up on something that could distribute them worldwide, and they certainly didn’t stay on the road for six months out of the year like other cities push their bands to do. Like Denton, for example…like Midlake. You guys spawned Midlake, and they tour all the time, and they’re getting way bigger…I just mean that, if that band were from Houston, they would probably have been torn down a little bit quicker, and maybe wouldn’t have pushed as hard.
Steven: Well, no band lasts ten years anymore.
Niki: Yeah, in Houston it’s really rare. We’ve been together for like, what, eight years?
Steven: No! Seven. Eight? That’s ridiculous! Seven!
Andrew Keith: Seven.
Niki: Eight is ridiculous! So, seven. And that’s really rare for Houston. Usually, the lifespan of a band is maybe two years, tops.
Steven: I would say bands last about two years.
Niki: They’re ridiculously bad for not touring, not getting out there, and they just expect everything to come to them—
Steven: Although, that has changed in, I would say, the past two years. More bands, like Muhammad Ali…
Niki: Oh yeah, they tour nonstop. White Crime started touring.
Steven: A lot of the other scenes, like even the indie rock bands, which you would think…if someone’s coming from a place where they actually want success in the music industry, and they want to become…at least known, maybe not a star, but they want to be known and respected, and I think that a lot of the indie rock scene is more susceptible to that than the punk rock scene, but even the Houston indie rock bands didn’t do much. When they were coming around and putting out records, they didn’t try to find a label. They didn’t end up on something that could distribute them worldwide, and they certainly didn’t stay on the road for six months out of the year like other cities push their bands to do. Like Denton, for example…like Midlake. You guys spawned Midlake, and they tour all the time, and they’re getting way bigger…I just mean that, if that band were from Houston, they would probably have been torn down a little bit quicker, and maybe wouldn’t have pushed as hard.
THREE: How do you picture Something Fierce two years from now?
Steven: I don’t know. Hopefully finishing another record and going on the road. I don’t think that…There’s a lot going on in all of our lives right now. There’s a lot changing, but I don’t think that we’re the type of band that can break up. Even if…It’s kind of like, if you’re familiar with the Red Downs, they’re all living in different countries and moving apart, but they still manage to find time to write songs, record them, and tour, and I can see us, no matter what happens, being a band like that. We’ll always find a way to come back together, because we just work together in a way that we can’t with other people.
– Interview by Michael Briggs/Transcription by Dale Jones