Interview with PJ Sykes of Hoax Hunters

I was lucky enough to be able to go down to Raleigh, NC to not only catch Hopscotch Music Festival, but also help sponsor and play at a day party with Cherub Records and Negative Fun Records called Let Feedback Ring. I was playing as Architeuthis pretty much out of dumb luck since one of the bands had dropped out and so I went on-stage first. We had thirteen bands play a whirlwind of dynamite rock n' roll from the beerbuzz madness of Dripping Slits to the sludge-driven Hog. The band that played after me, however, really blew my mind. They were called Hoax Hunters, a band led by PJ Sykes who is most widely known for his photography.

To coin a cliche and make a really awful pun, Hoax Hunters truly let feedback ring. I mean, there was enough feedback to make all my 90s indie-rock dreams come true. I was grinning ear to ear throughout their set, a really fun mix of anthemic hooks with a recognition of several rock n' roll subgenres.

Afterwards, PJ and I talked a bunch throughout the other eleven sets before splitting. I asked if he'd be hip to an interview and he was kind enough to accept. Generally, at this point of when I write an interview, I'll talk about links and where to hear records, but PJ included these in the interview, so I don't really have to do that.

If you haven't gotten the point yet, though, Hoax Hunters totally rock. This is what PJ had to say when he was explaining them to me.

Jordan: Who all is in Hoax Hunters? Where did you guys start? How did you guys start? Did you know each other for a while?

PJ: Hoax Hunters got started after I took a three year break from playing live music. I was burned out and my photography started to take off so I focused my energy on that endeavor. After a few false starts I mentioned to my friend Tim Falen I needed a new rhythm section. He joined on bass and played the drums on our demo ep. Mutual friends kept telling me to try out James O'Neill on drums. Tim and I had never met so we set up a few "blind date" sessions and things went really well. Over the last year we have all gotten to be friends through playing music. 

J: What is a Hoax Hunter?

PJ: Someone who plays in the band Hoax Hunters. Also, Hoax Hunter(s) is when I play solo without Tim and James. 

J: How would you describe the music that you guys make? Do you have any particular influences that come to mind in terms of bands or sounds?

PJ: I usually just say we are rock band. I love so many different types of music. As I'm answering your questions I'm listening to live Johnny Cash bootlegs from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. For this project I would say, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Fugazi, Husker Du, Bob Mould, Superchunk, Foo Fighters, Bluetip, Dinosaur Jr, and The Minutemen. 

J: How does a song get written for you guys? How long does it take to make a song?

PJ: I write most of the songs at home on my acoustic guitar. We then rehearse them and the band puts the on final touches. We also like to try out stuff live before they are really complete. Sometimes I'll just have a really rough idea with some riffs and we will jam on it until something happens. Most songs come together pretty quickly. However one of the songs has been around in pretty much the same form since the late 90s. It never seemed to work until Hoax Hunters. 

J: What all have you guys released so far, both physically and digitally?

PJ: Hoax Hunters - s/t demo EP (digital / download card with buttons) 

http://cherubrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ch021-hoax-hunters-ep

PJ: Hoax Hunters / The Snowy Owls - Record Store Day split 7" (square lathe cut 7" limited to 40 copies / digital)

http://cherubrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ch023-hoax-hunters-snowy-owls-split-2

J: How often do you all play? Do you have any places that you play regularly?

PJ: We play live at least once a month mostly in Richmond, VA. We have played DC, Fredericksburg, VA and Raleigh, NC. Soon we will start playing regionally more often. 

J: Do you guys get to tour ever?

PJ: We plan to do some short 2 or 3 day "tours" but nothing extensive is planned. 

J: When you play a set do you try to get as close to a studio-recorded sound as you play or do you get to let loose a bit more?

PJ: To me they are two different things. I like to play loose live and record more true to the songs. 

J: What all is in the future for Hoax Hunters?

PJ: We are working on a full length album this fall. We plan on releasing a new digital single this year and drop the album early 2014.

J: Do you have any favorite bands or records that have really stuck out to you guys this year?

PJ: As a band we all really dig the band METZ. http://www.subpop.com/artists/metz

J: Do you guys have any other projects that you're working on?

PJ: James plays in The Snowy Owls http://thesnowyowls.com/ now. Tim plays in The Diamond Center http://www.diamondcentermusic.com/ and Hot Dolphin. http://hotdolphin.bandcamp.com/ I photograph bands http://www.pjsykes.com and help run the series Live At Ipanema. http://ipanemaveg.com/lai/

J: Anything else you'd like to say?

PJ: Thanks for the interview! 

Editor's Note: Face it, bad puns are the only puns worth making. Think about it.

Premiere of Alpha Cop's "Low Flags" Music Video

Within the last six months, Negative Fun Records, a joint project between two friends living in New Hampshire and North Carolina respectively, has become more than a little exciting. The label's first releases, the Red Hex "Shoulda Known" single and the Dripping Slits/She Rides split single, are as excellent as they are different. Both have some sort of punk infusion going on; that being said, the split has a clear hard rock or metal influence rather than being straight punk records.

Needless to say, I was not prepared for one of the label's upcoming releases. When I first heard the Alpha Cop/Carton split, I was shocked. The two songs on the record are another example of juxtaposition at its finest. I'm not going to give too much away, but it should appeal to fans of most genres to say the least.

I will talk about Alpha Cop though. Alpha Cop is a band that has its roots wound through the Western United States before it ended up in Raleigh, at least for the time being. Their song "Low Flags" is a blast of virtuosity bolstered by a mastery of sonic progression. It begins with angular guitar strokes tickled by finger picking, a syncopated drum pattern, and a yearning voice before descending into a heavier attack of guitar chords. The song is a suite of sorts composed of four movements. The final movement draws out a crying violin that trails into silence. It's a complete song, but it leaves the listener with an air of questioning. This paired with the lyrics about the fall of a Native American village paint a starkly beautiful picture.

You can check out the new single on the Negative Fun Bandcamp! HERE

The band also created an excellent and equally mysterious music video, which I am more than honored to premiere on my blog. Check it out!

Interview with Chris DeFusco of Negative Fun Records

It's surprising to me that I never ran into Chris DeFusco while I was still in Durham. I "met" him basically as I started my blog and got a twitter account. I guess he liked the stuff that I was doing, which was really flattering and we shared a fairly similar taste in music and humor. So between seeing that Chris was in touch with a bunch of really awesome bands, a cool dude, and starting a record label, it was pretty easy to stay in contact.

I preordered the Red Hex 7" that he released pretty much because I trusted his taste in music. If you read my earlier interview with the gang at Red Hex, you can see that I was a huge fan and ended up picking up their debut single.Then I also picked up the other Negative Fun record at the time, which was the split 7-inch between She Rides and Dripping Slits, which is a really cool blast of punk, and a revery for what I see as theatrically huge vocals on the side dedicated to She Rides. Dripping Slits has a bit more thrash into it and some serious guitar playing. The vocals are spitfire delivered and reminiscent of an earlier iteration of Damian Abrahamson. It rocks, to say the least.

So yeah, I've been impressed with Negative Fun Records from the get-go. These two first records comes across as confident and engaging. To put it simply, they don't come across as the first releases from a label and it's really cool to see a rocket-launch start from something that has been a dream for a long while.


You can check out the label's website HERE, listen to the records on BANDCAMP, and check them out on FACEBOOK

Jordan: So you've been involved in music for a while? When did you first start? In what capacity did you start taking an active role in music?

Chris: I spent most of my high school and college years going to hardcore shows in the Boston and Providence area. I went to Providence College in RI, which was a pretty conservative school. Here I was, a vegan straight edge kid. I ended up becoming really involved in the local hardcore scene mostly because it gave me something to do other than sitting in my dorm room eating cheeseless pizza.  I published a fanzine and did a radio show, then I started booking shows at clubs, vfw halls and basements. I always liked doing more than watching.

J: Have you ever played in a band or made music yourself?

C: Yeah, I played in a hardcore punk band called Paindriver. Before I joined the band they were a three piece, but the bass player wanted to sing full time. I wrote something about the singers old band in my fanzine and he approached me at a show and asked if I could play bass. I lied and said yes, bought a bass and was practicing with them a few weeks later. They already had a single on Sound Pollution Records before I joined the band and not too long after I learned the songs we recorded a 12” with Kurt Ballou from Converge at the first incarnation of God City Studio. The guitar player and I decided to put it out ourselves. We basically sold all of our belongings to raise the money to put it out. We called the label Takeover Records, but when the band dissolved so did the label.

J: Aside from the new label what all have you done in terms of other music oriented stuff

C: I spent the better part of ten years working at a record store chain in New England called Newbury Comics. My label partner Jon and I worked together for years at a store in New Hampshire. I was his boss, then he was my boss. Then we started travelling all over the place together to see shows and festivals. When I decided to start the label he contacted me and asked how he could help almost immediately.

J: What bands or shows made you think that you wanted to start a record label?

C: I don’t know if it was any particular band or show, but I was definitely finding influence from a lot of small record labels. I’ve always been drawn to those labels with a distinctive look and feel to them. Trouble In Mind and Sacred Bones come to mind, as do old Sub Pop records, even Fucked Up records. That was the idea from the start, but we haven’t really figured out how to look distinctive without being a rip-off. I think its one of those things that just evolves. There was a while when I wasn’t really paying all that much attention to music, which was weird because I was working at a record store at the time, and some friends from Memphis turned me on to Mr. Airplane Man. That got me obsessed with Sympathy For The Record Industry.

C: Lots of local NC labels have been really inspirational and supportive, like Sorry State, Churchkey, To Live A Lie, and Three Lobed Records. Cory from Three Lobed has been super helpful while we’ve been getting our legs under us.

J: How did you start the label itself?

C: I had been trying to get a music and sports blog off the ground, but that frustrated me. I like to write, but I hate my writing, so it felt like work, and I wanted an escape from work. One day I just decided that I would take some of the stock options that I had from my day job and cash them in and put it towards this label idea. I figured I usually just used that money to pay bills or buy household items, why not do something productive with it? Then Jon came into the picture and we became 50/50 partners, so it gave us a little more to work with, financially.

J: Where did you get the name Negative Fun from? I love it!

C: I have a reputation of being pretty negative, especially on facebook and twitter, so I was playing with that idea. It basically just popped into my head one day. I did a google search to see if the name was taken and didn’t find anything. It sounded like it should be the name of something. I did a little more digging and then realized that it was a Simpsons reference from the episode when Lisa becomes a vegetarian. “Hi, I’m Troy McClure. You might remember me from such educational films such as 2-3 equals negative fun”. I mean...right?

J: How has it been starting a label when you have a kid and a wife? Seems like there's not a whole lot of time!

C: That gave me some pause at first. I thought my wife would think I was crazy, but she has been super supportive. I may have sold her by naming the label after a Simpsons quote.

C: One of the things I least expected from fatherhood was the creative rush it gave me. Its a lot of work, and I wish I had more time some days, but I’m a busy body by nature. I have a hard time sitting still. It helps that I have a partner too, if I was doing everything myself and working and being a husband and father it would be a lot tougher.

C: I guess this ties in with your question about my influences. A few months after my wife and I found out that we were having a kid I went on a road trip with Jon to Memphis for Gonerfest 6. Bill and Lisa Roe from Trouble In Mind Records were playing that year with CocoComas. They had brought their baby (and I assume their kid’s grandmother) with them and were hanging out at the Goner store and some of the day parties with their whole family. I couldn’t stop thinking about how awesome that was. I was still in “holy crap I’m going to be a dad” panic mode and it made me realize that I wouldn’t have to give up all my interests if I wanted to be a good parent. In fact, I think it makes you a bad parent if you give up everything for your kids. The last thing I want is to be resentful of my child if I look back and feel like I left something on the table, so to speak. Hopefully one day my kid will think its cool that her daddy runs a record label, instead of not knowing what I do when I go to work every day.

J: What have you released since the beginning of Negative Fun records?

C: The first thing I put up on our Bandcamp page was a digital version of the Paindriver record. It was out of print and I found it up on Mediafire, so I figured someone might want it. I pretty much put it up so I could start figuring out how Bandcamp worked.

C: In December we released our first record. The She Rides/Dripping Slits split 7”, then we followed that up with the Red Hex 7”.

J: What has the process behind getting bands to put out records been like? Has it been similar for the stuff that you've released?

C: When I started up the label I made a facebook page for it and posted an announcement. George from She Rides replied almost immediately that they were looking for someone to put out a split 7”. I had seen them play a poorly promoted Monday night show in Raleigh a month prior and they still played their asses off. It was impressive and I knew that they were the type of band that I wanted to work with. She Rides had played with Dripping Slits while they were on tour, so that pairing came together pretty naturally.

C: My friend Ashley from Tacoma, who I had known while we both lived in Portland, Ore., tipped me off to Red Hex. He sent me a link to a bandcamp compilation with their song Weird Bruises. I couldn’t get enough of that song, so I contacted Sam about buying their self released single and asked if they were looking to put anything else out. They were interested and took a chance on working with a brand new label. I’m really proud of that release. I’ve had rough versions of those songs since last September and they still sound fresh every time I listen to them.

C: The next release was going to be a Record Store Day exclusive, but there was an accident at the pressing plant that we use, so we’ve decided to take the foot off the gas with that one. Though we hope to make it a regular series of releases. Jon, the other half of the label, manages a Newbury Comics store in the Dartmouth College area of NH. There is a collective of musicians up there from NH and Vermont called What Doth Life. We’ve developed a nice relationship with those folks and decided that one way we could work together with them was to issue a series of split singles featuring bands from up north and bands from here in North Carolina. The label has two homes, so why not feature them?  One of Jon’s regular customers at his store is Ryan Hebert, who is a really talented multi instrumentalist. He’s had a pretty prolific recording career. People may know him from the psych/drone band Heavy Winged who have a bunch of records out. Well, Ryan was playing drums in a band which was breaking up and started a new band called Carton with some of the guys from this really great rock and roll band, Pilgrims It turns out that they are freaking incredible so we asked them if they wanted to be a part of this idea. With Alpha Cop, I had gotten to know Corbie Hill, their singer/guitar player through twitter and really liked what I had heard from the band, so I approached him with the idea. The funny thing is this could have been disastrous because we didn’t know what Carton was going to sound like when the idea hatched, and Alpha Cop was in the midst of evolving their sound, and adding members to the band. It came together beautifully. There is a really distinct mid-90’s Dischord/Quarterstick/Touch and Go Records vibe coming through the record, without sounding too nostalgic. I think people will really dig it.

C: Finally, we’ve got a seven inch planned with our friend Chris Pupecki from Doomriders new doom/psych project called Wormwood. Chris started this duo with the original Doomriders drummer, and it sounds massive. Hopefully they’ll put a live incarnation of the band together and play some shows. They’ve gotten some serious buzz in Boston already, and have a 12” coming out on Magic Bullet Records soon. Chris approached me about working together when I posted that first facebook update about the label. Jon and I have known him and his wife for years from working at Newbury Comics together, so it was a natural fit.

J: What do you find the significance of physical media to be?

C: I just love the entire package. I love that it sounds different through different record players and speakers. I like that artwork can have nuances. Its a thing, rather than a series of data. I like that its an old technology often made by one person operating a machine with care.

J: What else do you have in the future for Negative Fun?

C: We’re co-sponsoring a SXSW day party on March 16th at a tattoo parlor called Triple Crown Tattoo. That should be a lot of fun. Our friends from New Orleans play in a great rock and roll band called DiNola who will be on the bill, and The High Tension Wires are playing as well as a few other bands. She Rides was supposed to play but they had to scrap their tour at the last minute, unfortunately.

C: We want to try and sponsor or co-sponsor a day party during Hopscotch Fest in Raleigh this September, so we’re looking into what it takes to put that together.

C: We’ve got enough funding for the first four releases, so after that we just have to wait and see. The goal was to always roll our money back into future releases and not stretch ourselves beyond our means. We’ve got some feelers out there on a few future releases, but we’ll be concentrating on promoting the label and our releases for the near term.

J: What would your dream record to put out be? You can even do a top 5 if you'd like just so you can make it unrealistic.

C: We’d love to put out a Spider Bags 7”. It would be cool to do something a little outside the ordinary like a comedy single. Putting out an unreleased Mr Airplane Man single would be incredible. I’d kill to put out a Super Wild Horses single, or really anything from an Australian garage band would be killer.

J: Anything else you'd like to say?

C: Thanks for the interview and all of the support you’ve given the label. Buy records from record stores and support indie labels. Come say hi at South By Southwest.

Interview with Red Hex

I heard of Red Hex through Chris DeFusco who runs Negative Fun records, an awesome new record label out of Raleigh, NC. Red Hex was something that I preordered basically because I trusted his music taste. I didn't know anything about the band, but figured that he wouldn't steer me wrong. And boy was I right. I got a monster of a 7" record out of the deal. I remember getting it in the mail and popping it on my turntable and being completely unprepared for what was going to happen to my face. The face, you say? Oh, yes. Because my face was TOTALLY MELTED from the aural power that came from the impressive vocals, barking guitars, bullet-riddled drum part and an ability to tie it all together to make something presentable that didn't lose any spitfire from the many factors.

The word that came to my mind was that the 7" record was "special." In that way where a band completely takes you by surprise, rolls you over, and commands you to keep listening. I ended up flipping the record from one side to the other and so forth for over an hour. Non stop listening. I was so shocked that I hadn't listened to them before. So I bought their other 7" and that one was great too. A little less fidelity, but whatever. You don't listen to punk rock for the fidelity. You listen to punk rock for the realness and grittiness you might get walking down an avenue, stepping under an unused train station and seeing graffiti that tells you "8 million homeless in the U.S." - a painted body holding a painted Jack Daniels fifth of whiskey collapsed onto an imagined plane.

So yeah, I liked the record. 

This is what they said.

Jordan: Tell me a little bit about your band. Where are you guys from? Who all is in the band 

and what are your different roles in terms of writing, recording and playing?

Sam: "So we're sittin' around eatin' dinner and I say 'hey man, we should call the band Corn!, with a K!' and then Munky says 'Yeah!, and we'll flip the K around!". Red Hex, however was formed in Tacoma Washington, a small logging/gang city nestled in the shadow of  the Asarco smelter. For years the poisons flowed freely, gently raining upon three young boys. The boys grew and grew until fate finally united them. In the basement played. In the basement they stayed. In the bath-tub they also played.. Isaiah: The drummer who played the drums like they were a guitar, Sam: The guitarist who played a guitar like it was a drum and Spencer ate the sauce.. 

J: What releases do you guys have?

Sam: The Two 7"s, the "Black Hole" one we did on our own, and the Shoulda Known/Down in The Dirt one that just came out on Negative Fun Records. We also still sell/give away a 6 song CD that has some of our older stuff on it. That's it.

J: I love both of your 7"s that you have released. It seems like there's just consistent adrenaline in the new 7" as opposed to the slower b-side on your first one. Is this just more comfortable for you guys? Or just the kind of songs you have been writing?

Isaiah: I didn't even want that song on the first record..

Sam: haha yeah, I did what I thought I had to do to sell the records. The fans love Weird Bruises. We were gonna have Rat Boy on there too but it didn't fit on the record.

Spencer: We actually don't think about anything before doing it, and we have alot of slower songs at the moment too.

Sam: Yeah, Shoulda known is a really old song and we'd never recorded it, so we decided to put it the Negative Fun 7" since it would be out of place the album that we're recording/writing. Down in the Dirt was a new song we were stoked on so we decided to throw that on there too. Our new stuff is getting pretty weird..

Spencer: Yes, the album will be interesting...

J: How long does it take for a song to get written and finished? How do you record the songs?

Spencer: Oh god...

Isaiah: Anywhere from literally playing the whole song first try off the top of our heads, to years..

Sam: Yeah we've written songs where it seems like we didn't even write them, and we also have songs that we've been working on the entire time we've been a band. As for recording, I've recorded everything we've done, pretty much live, just pressing record and picking up my guitar. We've never recorded with anyone else around.

J: What's that sample at the end of the "shoulda known" 7" on the third song? I know I've heard it before but it's been bothering me.

Sam: It's from "Dead Beat at Dawn" the 70's new york gang movie. 

Spencer: I guess some metal band called Impetigo already used it, but who cares. 

J: It seems like you guys might be big into horror movies from what I've heard in your songs? Any particular movies or directors in particular you like? I'm a big fan.

Sam: We're all fans of film in general, but Zay is the real horror buff!

Isaiah: we like to watch everything. favorite horror directors off the top of the head would be murnau, lang, whale, hitchcock, early argento, romero, cronenberg, fulci, bava, carpenter, soavi, hooper, etc. tons of shit from silent films to the shittiest shot on video shitfilms. Film is probably my biggest influence when making music. Riefenstahl, kurosawa and herzog errday 

Sam: My brother is actually film maker, and Isaiah and I recently did the score for his new "German" Expressionist Horror/Comedy "Ich Hunger", check it out!

J: What do you guys like to talk about in your lyrics? Are there certain themes or influences that you guys take when you're writing lyrics?

Sam: I just scream jibberish at practice and try to form it in to words later. It usually ends up being about psychedelia, death and jealousy. 

Isaiah: Treacheris Succubinis

Spencer: Roman Holiday/Nautical Studies

Sam: Yes, pure-bred crystal falcon. 

J: How has it been working with Negative Fun records as opposed to just self-releasing the seven inch record you guys have done? What's the difference?

Sam: The difference is I didn't pay for anything and people are actually hearing our record this time. haha. I'm terrible at self managing the band and don't really work it as hard as I should to sell records and whatnot. Chris at Negative Fun is doing us a huge favor by dealing with our weird asses and we are extremely grateful.

J: How often do you guys play live? Where do you like to play? What bands in particular do you like playing with?

Spencer: We play often, at least a few times a month. We prefer house shows, since the crowd actually goes nuts.. We like playing with bands who aren't dicks and don't suck..

Isaiah: I prefer to play in the bath-tub truthfully... 

Sam:  We actually throw shows in our basement which we call "The Haunted Haus" because the scene in Tacoma is so dead. We've brought alot of great bands through like our pals the Night Beats & Criminal Code as well as Mr. Elevator and the Brain Hotel, Cosmonauts, Youthbitch, Guantanamo Baywatch, Big Eyes, Japanther (who sucked) and many more..

J: Do you guys have any more plans for shows or releases in 2013?

Spencer: MmmFasho!

Sam: We're planning a tour down to the Bay Area this April. This will be our first tour since we've never had any money or a van or anything until recently, and we're all 21 now. If all goes well we'll do a bigger one in the summer.

Spencer: Not to mention our upcoming split with Mumford & Sons.. No, but seriously, we're working on a full length record and some other stuff.

Sam: Yeah, someone put out our full length!!

J: Anything Else you'd like to say?

Red Hex: Shout outs to all the Friends, Girl Trouble, Ed, The Fams & The Fans! 

It's a helluva show..