Name, Age & Role in The PB Army?
Infernal Keith Bergman, the drummer and singer, and I'm the decrepit old man of the band at the ripe age of 30. I also write the songs, along with my bandmates (Mahlon Orrin - bass, Micah Shimborske - guitar) and I do the website and most band biz stuff.
How long has The PB Army been around?
We formed a little over a year ago, and Mahlon joined just before Christmas of 2001 (and stepped in on three days' notice to play a show when our previous bassist flaked out). Micah and I used to be in a band called Chicken Dog, which ran from 1993-1997 and would take a whole 'nother interview to even explain...
Who came up with the name "The PB Army" and whats the meaning behind it?
I think I did, but who can remember in those drunken "brainstorming" sessions... It's a play on the old Pabst Blue Ribbon beer slogan. If you say "P.B.R. Me, A.S.A.P." out loud, it all makes sense.
What's new with the band? Any touring plans?
We're putting the finishing touches on our debut CD, "Inebriates, Equivocators, and Mockers of the Devil Himself" for an October 1 release on the Sin Klub label. We're doing some DIY roadtrips - we've got some shows down south booked for October, and we're working on a trip out to Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin for November. We'll just keep doing the "weekend warrior" thing until one of us lucks into being some lonely old rich lady's "cabana boy," and then we'll buy a shiny new RV and tour till we die of alcohol poisoning.
Can you tell us about the debut cd?
We're still amazed at how much it doesn't suck - we recorded with a guy named Randy Wilson, in Chicago, this past January. Mahlon had only been in the band a month, I'd been out of town so we didn't have nearly enough rehearsal time, and we'd only been a band for six months at the time -- we were hoping to get a good demo of the songs, at best. But Randy's amazing, and the vibe of the studio was so fun, that we blasted through all ten of the songs we had at the time, and when we heard how good it was turning out, we realized it should be our debut CD. We're pretty proud of it, and so far the response from people who've heard it (we've been burning 2-song samplers to give away) has been awesome.
Where are you guys from and how is the scene there?
We hail from Toledo, Ohio, which is kinda the ass end of the universe when it comes to being a band. It's a great city to be FROM, because you're a day's drive from playing anywhere east of the Mississippi, and it's cheap to live here. But as for local support of bands, or a "scene" of any kind, it's definitely lacking -- not that there aren't cool people, or clubs. We've got some really good friends among a few other bands and club owners, but we're all like this little family that the rest of the city couldn't give half a rat's ass about. Touring bands come through and the same 20 people go see them - we booked Spirit Caravan to come play here in April, and the turnout was embarrassing. We had to pay half their guarantee out of our pocket - there goes the t-shirt money... Our friends here are terrific people, though, we have all bonded through everyone else's indifference, and as long as we got them, we don't care about the rest of the apathetic zombies. Let 'em stay home and watch "Charles In Charge" till they die.
How would you describe The PB Army's music to someone who's never heard it?
I always have a hard time with this one - I've been calling it "stoner-pop-metal" lately, for lack of a better term. We started out wanting to write stuff in the realm of bands like Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, and Clutch, and some of our stuff has that groove to it, but we all listen to so much music that other influences seep in. Our main goal is to write hooky, memorable songs that are still heavy (not in a death metal way, just big, weighty riffs and beats). There's influence from Devo, The Obsessed, Sabbath, Budgie, The Misfits, Voivod... It's eclectic rock and roll with an emphasis on good songwriting - I'll wait till we get a publicist and let them come up with a better "catch phrase" for it...
What was the best show you've played? how about the worst?
Best show was probably opening for Clutch back in February... 400 or so people, all ages show, kids mashed up against a barricade before we even started. The energy level at that show was insane. Actually, our shows overall just seem to get better and more intense, the longer we play together - we're putting more into it, sometimes I can barely stand up after a 40 minute set! The worst show, hmm... probably this weird gig in Chicago the night before we started recording. We got to the club, the owner was nowhere to be seen, and none of the staff knew a band was playing. There was no sound system, two mikes, and about four people in this ratty neighborhood dive. Randy, the producer, came to see us live to make production notes and ended up having to cobble together sound for us, and the pre-World-War-II wiring in this place ended up shocking our guitarist hard enough to make him black out. When we got done, the bartender told us "if you wanted to charge cover tonight, you were supposed to bring your own doorman." I'm still waiting for a show where there's a crowd and they out-and-out hate us, those kind of shows are entertaining -- I'm sure once we hit the road there'll be some great stories of thrown beer bottles and slashed van tires.
What was the craziest thing you've seen at a show?
Nothing too off-the-wall in this band, at least compared to our days in Chicken Dog... in that band we had a guy at a show who decided to breakdance in the middle of the floor, then without warning he dropped his pants, SAT DOWN on his beer bottle, wedging it up his ass, and duck-walked around the room with it sticking out of his nether regions... that may also have been the show where our singer got some drunk girl to flash her tits repeatedly, until her "man" came up and started wagging his finger in our faces, so -- in mid-song -- the singer and bass player chased the dude downstairs and out of the bar, while we kept playing (let's hear it for cordless bass rigs). I bashed myself above my left eye with my drumstick that night and was so drunk I didn't realize I'd done it, and woke up the next day trying to remember why the front of my t-shirt was soaked in blood. Ah, good times....
Top 5 bands?
Yikes, this changes on a daily basis, if not hourly. My favorite metal band of all time is Coroner, that never changes -- Voivod, Black Sabbath, The Obsessed, Anacrusis, Devo, Maiden, Blue Oyster Cult, Queens of the Stone Age, Skyclad, Death... limiting myself to 5 (or 50) would be impossible, music is the driving force in my life.
Top 5 cds?
Again, impossible, so I'll just say what's in my CD changer at this exact moment: Flapjack - demo (awesome band from Michigan), Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind, Sinister - Diabolical Summoning/Cross the Styx, Local H - Here Comes the Zoo, and our rough mixes.
Favorite movie?
Anything Christopher Guest has done (Spinal Tap, Waiting For Guffman, Best In Show), any Monty Python flick.
Favorite TV show?
Mr. Show, the Simpsons, Monty Python. Most TV is retarded. However, I am ashamed to admit that I can watch the Game Show channel for weeks on end, forgetting to even attend to my personal hygiene. It's like an off switch for my brain. Plus, in those old 1950's panel quiz shows, Betty White is really hot, if you can believe that.
Anything you'd like to add or close with?
Thanks DJ for the interview, and if anyone's interested, please check out our site at pbarmy.com - there's some MP3's to listen to, you can read our torrid Road Stories, and find out if we're coming to drink in your town. Any other broke-ass bands who wanna swap shows, get in touch!
pbarmy.com
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