Dead Boy Productions

 

08/24/08
Rev Dan

Dead Boy Productions Interviews Apathetic Youth

 

Intro please.

What's up everyone? I’m Sinner, the bass player for Apathetic Youth. 
I'm Pechis on lead VoKILLS! 
 
You recently underwent some lineup changes, can you explain what happened?

Pechis: (Laughs) It just came down to musical differences. We still talk to those guys. They got a new band going on.  We were gonna retire Apathetic Youth, but Sinner and I decided to keep it alive. It was kinda like unfinished business for us. So we pretty much decided to host some auditions and create a stronger line up and decided to shoot Apathetic Youth sky high for 2008. 
 
Sinner: Yeah, so keep an eye out for us in a town near you, 'cuz we're gonna rock 2008! 
 
Where did you find your new members?

Pechis: Sinner found them. haha. We auditioned plenty of people and these guys suited Apathetic Youth best. 
 
Sinner: Well I worked with Big Rob a couple years back, and we played in Corona, CA. this one time and he so happened to be there. We started talking, exchanged numbers and hung out a couple of times and when the other guys left I contacted Rob about the open positions. Rob knew Brian. They both jammed out together a lot and stuff so he introduced us to him and finally Greg (Kid). Well he played in another band, and had some issues, so we picked him up. Both of our bands had played together before. 
 
Other than that, how as this year been treating Apathetic Youth?

Pechis: The split happened right in the beginning of the year, but we have been turning heads with our new line up. We have been traveling a bit more. We have Vegas and Nor*Cal scheduled in June, and everything is running pretty smooth. 
 
Sinner: We have been talking to a couple of independent labels, so we'll see what happens with that. We have been traveling more like Pechis mentioned and have been playing with some great bands. We are also releasing the EP that was recorded by the old line-up. We will be recording sometime towards the end of the summer or early winter, so this year has been treating us very good so far. 
 
Staying on the subject of Apathetic Youth, where did the name come from?

Pechis: Apathetic Youth started when we were in H.S.a round 2001, before Psychobilly was "COOL". haha. Sinner played with a high school buddy named Ferny and they already had a name for the band and that's what it was. I hate it! hahaha 
 
Sinner: I was the one that chose the name. I got the word apathetic from my math teacher. She was talking about the youth of today, and how our generation was gonna amount to nothing. I put Apathetic and Youth together and well that's what I got. 
 
When did you guys (originally) start playing?

Pechis: Like I mentioned before, it was in 2001. We originally got together for our H.S.'s battle of the bands and decided to keep it rolling from there. 
 
Sinner: Yeah. It was around like winter of 2001 with our first drummer Armando. 
 
You guys say on your MySpace page that you first started playing in backyard parties, how did that help you prepare for playing venues?

Pechis: Let’s just say we paid our dues. Haha. We would get beer thrown at us, we would get shut off. Damn, people were tough back in the day! So when we played venues, it was no biggie. I wouldn't communicate to well with the crowd at parties and after a while I learned how to become more of a Jello Biafra on stage. 
 
Sinner: We learned how to entertain, and interact with our crowd. So at venues we eventually got accepted. 
 
Did your fans follow from the backyards to the venues?

Pechis: It was all about networking, emailing, inviting friends. Passing out hand written flyers before MySpace was around, with its cool internet flyers. It just came down to word of mouth, but the party scene pretty much followed us because we learned how to communicate with them regardless of their musical style. 
 
How did you guys get into psychobilly?

Pechis: I started off with the Reverend Horton Heat. I was looking for something different from what the kids around our town were listening to. Everyone wanted to be punk, or play in a punk band. I wanted to be different in H.S. 
 
Sinner: The first band I ever heard was Calavera. Pechis and I found it in an old school Punk Compilation from 1997. It was a cassette that my older brother had lying around at home. That cassette introduced us to the world of Psychobilly. After listening to that, we got interested on the slap bass and the wacky sound it added to the music and style. 
 
If there is anything that you can change about your band, what would it be?

Pechis: Nothing really, but I wouldn't mind adding a fiddle or trying out or advancing to a big band sound. 

Sinner:The lead singer. haha. Kidding. Absoultely nothing. I love my music. Apathetic Youth por Vida! 
 
Stand up bass does not seem like an easy thing to learn, how did you learn to play stand up bass?

Sinner: I learned how to first slap with my electric bass. I would practice in my room with my electric bass at an upright position. One of my older cousins had a T.J. bass and he would let me borrow it. Pechis would come over and we would watch videos and try to copy the styles. I also learned more complicated techniques when SkunX came into the band in '06. He was originally a bass player and he was and still is a sick player. I always wanted to out play him. haha. I personally think you're never down with the upright bass. It’s a never ending learning instrument. There's so much you can do with it.  
 
What is to become of Apathetic Youth this year?

Pechis: Well with this EP that's about to get released, we will be following it up with a new recording towards the end of the summer hopefully a full length album through a label. We got a couple out of state shows we are working on. We have our "Apathetic Youth's Half Ass'd Tour" in June and new material is always in the works.  
 
Sinner: As for me, I believe we'll be going overseas. I don't know, uhhh, recording, touring, new material. There are a lot of things that will get done, and we finally have the perfect line up to back that up. 
 
Last words?

Pechis: Make sure you check us out on myspace @ www. myspace. com/aypsychos and show us some SICK LOVE! Catch us at a show sometime. You'll have a HELL of a time! Shout out to The Rocketz, Faraway Boys and Uptown Psychos. "HI MOM". =) 
 
Sinner: I just wanna thank everyone that has helped Apathetic Youth throughout the years: Fans, Family, Friends, S.A.M., SULLEN Clothing Company, the musicians that have been a part of Apathetic Youth. My fiancé that supports all the things I do and puts up with my and the guys at our apartment. haha. And yeah check us out online and get ready '08, because AYx's gonna rock you! 
 
Thank you!