Holy shit guys. Me and Idle have set up about 48398 interviews so far that we really mean to do, but we never actually get around to it... But this time we did. A good friend of mine and fellow musician, Jake Mcaulay was so much fun to interview. He spends part of his musical career writing cheesy acoustic punk with me (Bear), and the other part in a punk band called the Half-Wits. They're really fun, and so is Jake.
Note: The spacing in this interview is all fucked to hell, but for some reason our cute little layout is saying screw you to all of my attempts to fix it. Sorry.
Bear: Alright, Jake. Who are the Half-Wits? When/how did you get together?
Jake: We are a punk band from the south east coast of England - not usually known for its punk scene but hey, we're there. We got together in December 2010 because in our old hardcore punk band, nothing went down. Three of the originals members from NTP are in the band with a new bassist and the old bassist on vocals. We play, like, a mix of Oi, Hardcore Punk, Garage Punk And Ska depending on the song. Our members are Tadhg Leahy - Vocals, Jake Mcaulay - Guitar,
Konrad Harris - Bass, Dubhan Leahy - Drums. Think about it- most great bands have brothers ;)
Bear: What's it like having brothers in the band? Do they fight a lot, or get along?
Jake: They get along for the purposes of the band, but we all rag on each other a lot anyway so... it's like a band of drunk, punk brothers. Winning, basically.
Bear: Badass. How far are you guys in the writing process? Are you just practicing and playing local shows for shits and giggles, or have you talked about a record or a tour?
Jake: We don't like to think that far ahead. We just take it as it comes, We play when and where we can, usually getting paid in beer. We play with bands that are completely different to us with
mixed results. We have about 11-12 songs (one of which is a cover) and we're hoping to go
into the studio in the summer to record an EP.
Bear: Any fun stories? Embarrassing experiences at shows, or with each other?
Jake: We played a gig on St. Patrick's Day, and we had to do a audition for it. We did acoustically and they were like, "I love it! You're on." And we were very clear that it would be loud and not acoustic. We said we might do some Irish songs, too. Came on and started- we were about 7 songs into the set and the crowd looked scared so the bar manager told us to stop. Apparently, we lied and said we were an Irish band and we were saying "fuck" way too much and the police were gonna be called if we didn't stop. So, we loaded out while getting stared at. Got a gig with a metal band out of it, though, but a week later, they rang me and accused us of stealing their mics. Cheeky bastards. Great night; I'll always remember the looks on their faces =]
Bear: That sounds hilarious. I have to ask though.. I know the answer to this question, but I really think everyone else needs to hear this strategy too... Let's say you have a girlfriend that's into bad music. How do you change her mind?
Jake: Well, the best way to brain wash them is... When you're making love, put your music on cause she probably won't notice it as much. She'll start linking your music to that good feeling and thinking it's good. It helps to be drunk- thats the Charlie Sheen method ;)
Bear: That is why all the girls love Jake, you guys. Alright, back to the point... If you had to list the bands that influenced you and your music the most, who would they be?
Jake: There are elements of different punk bands in our sound. We are heavily influenced by our fellow local punk bands, like Crimewave and The Warriors. They give us a lot of our breaks. There are also bits of garage punk, like Richard Hell, and the faster punk of Guttermouth. Also, some ska bits like The Skints. Sort of all that in a blender.
Bear: If you were trying to compare the Half-Wits to another group, who would you say?
Jake: I'd have trouble, to be honest. We're mashing a lot of stuff together. It's like Stza of Leftover Crack shouting over some sort of 70's punk mixed with some ska songs every now and again. Anything I tend to be a part of seems to be a massive mix.
Jake plays guitar in the Half-Wits, plays guitar and sings in our cutesy little acoustic duo, and also does some pretty badass rapping under the name Pixel Doom.
HALFWITS, for upcoming shows, discussion, sexual favors, whatever.
-Bear.
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