ONE ON ONE: AN INTERVIEW WITH TEEN MORTGAGE!

FIRST OF ALL, HOW ARE WE DOING? HOW DID THE SET GO EARLIER?

James: Great, yeah it was sick. So much fun.

WHAT WAS THE CROWD RECEPTION LIKE?

James: It was better than expected, because like, the first time here and the pit was awesome. They knew the words so can’t ask for more.

THAT’S THE BEST FEELING ISN’T IT

James: Yeah!

SPEAKING OF THAT, CAN YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME WHERE YOU LOOKED INTO THE CROWD AND SAW SOMEONE SCREAMING THE LYRICS BACK AT YOU?

James: The first time ever? Aww man I can’t, it’s been going for a while now so I don’t remember [laughs].

Ed: Yeah I feel like when we’re on stage, we always have a million things going through your head, so it’s like once it happens just going “oh no, there’s a lot of people singing.” You know, it’s not like you notice the first one, it’s like when you go “we have to understand this is happening.”

DO YOU HAVE A STANDOUT SHOW FOR YOUR CAREER THAT COMES TO MIND?

James: I mean they’re all so fun. We love our headlines because it’s our crowd. I think collectively, the time we opened for Weezer and The Smashing Pumpkins last year, that was probably the most memorable just because it was surreal to play with those guys.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TOURING WITH THOSE GUYS? HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?

James: We just got emailed one day.. You know what, we got a text off the manager and she said “you got Weezer and The Smashing Pumpkins” and I was like “what do you mean? You got me a vinyl?”, like that doesn’t seem real. And yeah, it just didn’t seem like it was happening until we were there. And they were like arenas, so it was just very like “oh wow.” We show up in our little van and there are all these tour buses and like.. Just a little cog in the machine.

SO I CAN’T HELP BUT MENTION THE CBGB EVENT

Ed: We’re gonna play with this band [points out his shirt] – throwing out flags

CROMAGS, JONNY MARR, IGGY POP, SCOWL, IT’S ENDLESS. IT’S BROOKLYN RIGHT? HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THAT?

Ed: As far as the stages go it’s probably the hottest line-up we’re going to be on in the near future, as far as festivals go it’s on the docket, yeah.

IT’S ONE OF THE BEST LINE-UPS I’VE SEEN, IT’S INCREDIBLE

James: The dream! The dream team!

CAN YOU THINK OF ANY EXAMPLES OF WHERE YOU GREW UP, WHETHER THEY BE RECORD STORES, MUSIC VENUES, ANY COMMUNITY MUSIC SPACES THAT ENABLED YOU TO FEEL SUPPORTED IN THE EARLY DAYS?

James: Totally, I used to live in a town called Gainesville, Florida, and there was a venue there called 1982. It was an all ages venue, punk venue, Jen Vito ran it.. She’s in a band called War on Women. Amazing band. And they had like SNES games at the bar and you could smoke ciggies inside and stuff. Great times.

Ed: We used to go to like, just pure DIY shows. I feel like there’s a lot of DIY shows that would pop up in old churches or coffee houses. There’s a pizza spot in Annapolis I used to go to and like, I saw Norma Jean play there back when they were doing DIY shows. So that was when there was really a scene where people would just show up just to see every single band. And that’s what I consider a scene, is where people are hungry for music. They want to see the openers.

EXACTLY, THEY’RE NOT ROCKING IN JUST FOR THE HEADLINERS AND THEN GOING HOME

Ed: Exactly. If we’re on tour with the band, you know, we brought them out. We endorsed them. That’s a good band, you know? We wouldn’t go out with them if we didn’t like them.

GOING ON TO YOUR LIVE SHOWS, YOU BLEED ENERGY. LIKE FIRE ROCKETS JUST ZOOMING ACROSS. DO YOU HAVE ANY KIND OF PRE-SHOW RITUALS?

James: Uh.. Hella Monsters, that’s it.

IT’S LIKE EVERY TIME I’VE SEEN YOU GUYS PLAY, OR WATCH VIDEO FOOTAGE OF YOU ONLINE, YOU JUST KEEP IT UP AND UP. HOW DO YOU DO IT?

James: Yeah, it’s just adrenaline and like, you know, I think when you’re two guys that’s what we’ve got, it’s not a lot of notes and instruments going on so it’s all straight energy and you have to make sure it’s there, right?

YOUR BODY BECOMES THE INSTRUMENT

James: Totally, yeah man!

WITH YOUR SOUND, GENERALLY SPEAKING YOU GUYS EMBODIED PUNK WHILST BRINGING IN DIFFERENT KINDS OF INFLUENCES AS WELL – I’VE HEARD KIND OF SURF PUNK IN THERE, SOME GRUNGE. DID THAT HAPPEN NATURALLY OR DID IT COME THROUGH DIFFERENT INFLUENCES?

James: Nah yeah, that’s what I write. It’s like, that’s the music I like. And it’s not even a question of “I’m gonna sit down and write this type of song,” it always just comes out. And you wont think of it like that, but then someone will tell you like, “that sounds like Dead Kennedys” or so and so, and you’re like “yeah, yeah it does.”

SO THAT KIND OF SUBCONSCIOUS INFLUENCE

James: Yeah I think we always like, bonded over stoner metal and desert rock, like Queens of the Stone Age and Kaios and Melvins obviously, and those bands so. Yeah, that was definitely the glue.

I CAN HEAR THAT. DO YOU HAVE ANY DREAM COLLABORATIONS?

James: Oh man, all of them. I don’t know, that’s such a broad question. I love the Circle Jerks. Keith Morris is the goat.

Ed: I mean we’ve talked about a couple, like, I’m even just looking forward to maybe touring with N8NOFACE or something like that at some point in time. He’s a really sick artist, but you know Scowl is another sick band we’d love to do something with. As far as collaboration on songs, the cards just gonna have to fall in line. We’ll just see what happens, you know?

FINAL QUESTION, WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU GUYS?

James: We’re doing some headlines in Bristol tomorrow, London the day after and then some more festival dates. And then we go home for a bit, hoping for The Descendants, or just The Descendants in the US, and then September run with CBGB’s Fest at the beginning.

HAVE YOU GOT ANY UPCOMING BANDS THAT YOU WANT TO SHOUT OUT?

James: Good question. Spiritual Cramp, the homies. Shout out Bad Nerves. Shout out Nub. Shout out Meth Rats. Uh.. End It. All the bands. What about you, man?

Ed: I just fed off you, End It for sure. I met Kittie at these festivals, they’re sick. It’s really surreal to meet them. But yeah, all the ones that he said, definitely homies.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME, BEEN LOVELY MEETING YOU BOTH!

You May Also Like:

Featured