Punk Rock As Economic Suicide

In the world of music and, more specifically, in the local scene, there are two distinct breeds of bands: those who do and those who don't. By that I mean, there are those bands that do make records, that do create their own shows, that do actually tour, that do promote both themselves and the bands around them. And then there are those lethargic, unmotivated, hopelessly unrealistic bands who think that the world will magically come to them. Fortunately for the latter, there are bands like the P.A.W.N.S., who not only do for themselves, but, both directly and indirectly, do for all the bands around them. Since arriving in Chico by way of Santa Cruz, the P.A.W.N.S. have done more than their share for the local punk / hardcore scene. Their place of residence, an unassuming little house on the westside of Chico, also doubles as the S&M house, the de facto venue of choice for both touring and local punk bands. The P.A.W.N.S. were also, in large part, responsible for the Suburban American Tract Home Project, a compilation of local punk bands. This project, along with the benefit shows that accompanied it, has lent the Chico punk scene an air of unity that rivals, and possibly overshadows that of many of the more metropolitan areas. At the same time, the P.A.W.N.S. have also been working to promote their own music and message. With their latest release …And They Thought Anarchy was Bad out on Bad Monkey Records, and a new record nearly ready to go, the P.A.W.N.S. have been putting in their time in the studio. But where this band really thrives is on the stage and on the road, spreading their message in the way punk was meant to be: in the back yards, underground squats, shitty bars, and rock 'n' roll clubs of North America. As the P.A.W.N.S. prepare for their winter tour, a tour that will take down the California coastline to the Grand Canyon and beyond, they'll be playing a send-off show with the help of Hit By A Semi and The Kansas City Stars this Thursday at Mr. Lucky. In anticipation of this show, the tour, and just for general purposes, The Synthesis recently sat down with band members St. Anne (vocals), Ray Dehated (guitar, vocals), Little Drummer Boy, A.K.A. Brian Clark (drums,vocals), and Sam (bass).

What's the significance of your name, the P.A.W.N.S.?
Sam: The original idea was Power And Wealth Need Slaves. I think Ray can better describe what it means.
Ray: Well, it is an acronym and that's what it stands for, but it also has evolved. Some people call us P.A.W.N.S., some people call us The P.A.W.N.S., a few know us as Power And Wealth Need Slaves, and other names will work. The idea that originally drew me into the name was People Against World Nationalistic Societies.
Brian: I think it's evolved into a more holistic kind of thing to where it's just Pawns.
Ray: (Assuming revolutionary tone) We're all mere Pawns!!
Brian: Exactly, it's kind of a generality of just the fact that we're all working for the man, we're all pawns in the greater scheme, making the rich man richer, because that's how the 1 percent stays rich.
Sam: It's about being the lowest piece on the chessboard.What it's like to be the expendable one, the one that's sent first.
Brian: One of the cattle.

So I take it that you already accept the label that's sort of been bestowed upon you as political-punk?
St. Anne: I think that it's more just social commentary: looking at the world around you and saying "Hey, that's kind of fucked up," or saying "I want to talk about this because no one has really addressed this."
Brian: It's not political in the sense of Republican or Democrat, it's political in the sense of just personal politics around the world.
St. Anne: We have songs ranging from "Seas of Disunity," which is the doctrine of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, to the other side of it with a song like "Conformity Jane," which is about the one girl in high school who jumped from social clique to social clique just to get laid and look pretty. So the lyrics are mainly just about all of our experiences.
Ray: I think the thing that frustrates us as a whole and maybe provides the coal for our engine is more or less noticing how people pass over things that are so blatant in terms of disrespect for others - the focus on competition instead of co-operation. We're upset because a lot of people have to ignore that in order to enjoy their purely materialistic lifestyle, and if anything we want be a thorn in the side of those who refuse to admit that their lifestyle brings as cost on other people. And if they don't acknowledge it, at the very least, we're trying to remind them that, "Hey, your luxury comes at an expense."

You guys are playing Thursday at Mr. Lucky. Is it kind of farewell show before you guys hit the road?
Ray: Yeah, that show's setting us up. Hit By A Semi is donating a set to help us fill our gas tanks, which is really cool. Then our next show out of town is Sacramento, and the Smeat boys set up a show in their hometown, Modesto, so they're gonna tour down with us. After that, we're gonna hit Bakersfield and then Tucson.
St. Anne: Albuquerque.
Brian: We're gonna do a two-day excursion to Carlsbad caverns.
St. Anne: Check out the bats.
Ray: It's the world's second largest subterranean dwelling, and it has subterranean diner.
Sam: I'm so down with the subterranean diner.
Ray: So we're gonna come up from there and hit Amarillo, then Albuquerque, then we have Flagstaff. Then we have a day in the Grand Canyon! (General glee and happiness from the band at the thought of the Grand Canyon.)

How many years have you guys been touring now?
Ray: '96 was our first. This will be our fifth national.
Brian: We've done three that took us up through Canada, and then one that was only in the States and this will be our second one that's only been in the States.
St Anne: We try to make it out once every six months.
Ray: When we moved to Chico, the record label we were on, Bad Monkey records, said " Well, you're kind of moving into the sticks, so you have to tour." And they were kind of right, I mean, if you're living this far out of a major city, you have to tour, otherwise you have to make weekly trips into the city to play. So we compromised by saying that we won't play every weekend, but we'll put in nearly 10,000 miles a year on the road. The last Canadian tour, well the last successful one, was nearly 8,000 miles.

What happened on your last Canadian tour to earn the label of 'unsuccessful?'
Brian: Everything was working real smooth, we got across the border, didn't even have to turn off our engine. We were having some good shows, had some good crowds. We played a backyard show in some suburban neighborhood, kind of a richer-looking neighborhood. It was in Penticten, B.C., and we ended up making $150 in someone's backyard. But the next morning is when Ray woke up and his arm was sore.
Ray: It looked like a sausage, it was swollen and kind of purple. I kind of figured I just slept on it wrong. A day or two later we went to a medical clinic because everyone was saying that I should get it checked out. Finally we went there and they immediately told me that it was blood clot and to go to the hospital right now. So they hospitalized me there and I was there for about five days; they were shooting me in the stomach with this blood-thinner to try to get the blood to circulate. So that was kind of a drag for me.
St. Anne: We were all just ready to come home, but Ray's like, "I've worked too hard on this tour, you guy's have to go."
Ray: I was supposed to meet them in Edmonton. How did that work? Who played guitar?
Brian: We only played two shows without Ray. Our friend Kelly filled in.
Sam: We were touring with a band called Rewind, and their guitarist went ahead and learned a few of our songs. He got up to like seven songs; it was a pretty decent set that the guy learned. It was great until we finally realized that Ray was not coming to meet us.
Brian: I think when we originally found out that he wasn't going to come to meet us is when he called us from home.
Ray: The thing was, the Canadians didn't provide insurance for me and I didn't have any, and it was $1200 bucks a day, so I ended just leaving the hospital after 4 days at $4800 in debt. Then I had to fly on two prop planes home, all the while I almost died from a stroke from the complications. So I got home and they found the one guy in Northern California to do the surgery, a professor at UC Davis, and he had to amputate my rib. So that was kind of a shitty summer for me. That's why this tour is going to be so great because I have the biggest case of fucking blue balls ever developed in the history of punk rock.

How are your feelings on the local scene? What was it like when you first moved up here?
Brian: In the past when we'd have shows in the backyard, or whatnot, if Smeat was playing, the friends of Smeat would show up, but that was it. It was nowhere near as unified as it is now. Now when there's a show here, or anywhere else in town, you'll see the friends of all the different bands. People that were once in different cliques are now sort of intermingled.

Is that sort of how the idea for the Suburban American Tract Home Project got started?
St. Anne: We used to go down to Team Players, and Ray and Mike Peterson would always be saying "It'd be really cool if we could do a comp."
Ray: Ultimately, it's a key way to unify a scene. I've seen it done in other scenes when we're on tour, and our record label would do the same kind of thing. Local compilations go a long way towards unifying a scene and getting a buzz about local bands. Bands will stand out for themselves based on their own merit, and that's really the beauty of punk rock; you can do it yourself and you can stand on your own two feet.

You guys also host a lot of shows at your house.
Ray: Yeah, but the downside to doing shows at the S&M House is they're seasonal; we can't do them in the winter. Ultimately, it'll be nice to have an all ages venue, whether it's a warehouse that we can all collectively put effort into or someone's house. But we've had some pretty good shows; Inverted Nines played and that was awesome, Smogtown came through, and one of my favorite shows was Clan of the Bleeding Eye which was the season ending show. That was amazing.

Any sort of tentative plans for expanding your venue? Have you guys been thinking about putting together some sort of co-op or all ages punk venue?
Ray: There's several people who have been getting together trying to hash that sort of thing out. People like Zeke Rogers, who's been really active in the scene with his Chico list (www.chicolist.com), which has gone a long way, communication wise, in unifying the scene. There's also Mike Peterson, who's been looking for a warehouse for an all-ages venue. The thing is, punk rock is economic suicide basically. You need a low overhead, a warehouse that'll only cost like $500 a month. I know that's pretty idealistic, but that's the facts. What we have to do is organize benefit shows and have a dozen or so of those before we can even pay the lease.

What sort of goals do you guys have as a band? Do you guys still have that adolescent rocker dream of ruling the world or has your outlook become more practical over the years?
Brian: For the most part, we're just in it for ourselves and our personal enjoyment; touring and being able to travel around. Just seeing how people in different towns deal with the problems that we all encounter.
Ray: Being able to participate in different scenes.
Sam: The more people that hear your music, the better. But that doesn't necessarily change the message that you have to say.
Brian: If we could tour for a year straight, I'd be happy. That's be killer.
Ray: You get validation when you get a review from Sweden or Scotland or even the east coast. It says, "Hey you're not the only person freaking out about these issues that you're singing about." In that sense, you don't feel existential loneliness, you kind of just go, at the very least there is pockets throughout every community in the entire world that share the same views. You just know that you have more of a worldwide tribe.

Any last words?
St. Anne: For all you girls out there: Punk rock is not just a male thing. If you've got something to say, and you can say loud, and you can mean it, get the fuck out there and do it.
Brian: And bring your friends. (Laughter)
St. Anne: So you can kick some boy punk-ass after the show!!

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