Dead Boy Productions

 

11/04/06
Dan-Zig

Dead Boy Productions with Freddie of The Mad Ramblers

 

The Mad Ramblers are a rock n roll band that has its beginnings in Asuza, California.  Since 2002 when they played their first official show they have become a steady part of the Southern California psychobilly and rockabilly scene even being included on Split 7’s psychobilly comp Psycho Ward.  Freddie, the rhythm guitarist and vocalist for the Mad Ramblers, answered a few questions for us at Deadboy.

How long have the Mad Ramblers been around and how did the band start? Who are the current members?

Well the Ramblers have been together since 2000. Israel and I met at Citrus College in Glendora and within a couple of weeks we started jamming out in his garage. That led to talks about starting a band. We recruited my brother Danny on bass and he brought along with him Edgar Garcia, who was in high school with him, to play drums. We went through several bass players and even had a singer, but because of different points of view of what the direction of the band should go, either they were let go or they moved on their own way. So after 6 years with everything said and done three out of four original members are still in the band. Edgar Garcia (Drums), Israel "Slick" Villaruel (Lead Guitar), and myself. Earlier This year we recruited Art Hernandez on upright bass and he has been a "Mad Rambler" ever since.

Your first official gig was at the Showcase in Corona with Calavera. How did your first show actually go? You opened for a band that is well respected in the local scene was that a hard thing to do or did it feel natural for you?

Opening for Calavera was a privilege for us because The Mad Ramblers as friends are Rock N' Roll fans before we are a band and Calavera was one of our favorite L.A. bands. We knew that the place was going to be packed and that we had to play our asses off and make a good first impression. I personally was a bit nervous because I had just taken over on vocals and I'm a bit shy, but once we got on stage and got through the first song it felt like I was a different person and what fear I had went away. The show went very well and we got the pit going so we fed off of that. The only problem that we had was that my amp blew a tube and we finished the show with two guitars hooked up to one amp. It was a very exciting night for us though.

What other bands have you shared the stage with?

We've been lucky because we have shared the stage with some great bands, The Meteors, Demented Are Go, Guana Batz, Phantom Rockers, Calavera, The Slanderin, Hellbillys, Hellbound Hayride, Riot Gun...etc. We can't complain, we've had our kicks.

Give us an example of what Mad Ramblers music would typically be about?

One thing that people can't expect is to hear cheesy sci-fi horror lyrics that seem to be the standard if you are in the Psychobilly scene. We like to write about real things. Things that people can relate to and see themselves doing or going through. One thing is for sure that just about all of our songs are from experiences that we've gone through. We write about cars, heartbreak, checks, fist fights, and just kicking ass. You'll never find any bullshit in our lyrics.

You come from Southern California, Azusa specifically, what do you think about the scene in Southern California?

Yeah we are from Azusa, though some live in other cities, but Azusa is associated with the band because we met in Azusa and our early days of the band we raised a lot of hell there. The scene in So Cal is pretty big from what other bands have to say that come and play here from other states. the scene is strong though and nowadays it seems that every week a handful of new bands come out unlike a few years ago when you could count the bands that were from So Cal.

You say you don’t actually consider yourselves a psychobilly band but more of a rock and roll band. Who are some of your influences?

Mad Ramblers have never claimed to be Psychobilly or even Rockabilly. We are too fast and hard to be Rockabilly, but we don't sing or dress the Psychobilly way, so to save an argument with a fuckin purist we just say that we play Rock N' Roll. It's funny though because in all the years we have played, people have called us Rockabilly or Psychobilly and I have only had one person come up to me and tell me that we weren't Psychobilly, but I think it pissed him off because I told him that he was right and thanked him for noticing. I think that person had in mind to piss me off or ignite a spark with me, but I guess the joke was on him.

A big influence of The Mad Ramblers is the legendary punk band Social Distortion. Learning their songs in the early days of the band is what I think led us to start writing our own music. We have a lot of influences that we all share, O.G. Rockabilly music, Johnny Cash, Motorhead, The Doors, Robert Johnson, Nirvana, Chuck Berry, and Black Sabbath, and what I say to be the back bone of our style. We all can agree old rock music.

You have a song, “Who Needs Guns?” on the Psycho Ward compilation from Split 7 Records. How were you able to get a song on such a well-known compilation?

The Psycho Ward comp has helped us some because I have had people come up to me and ask me to play "Who Needs Guns" because they heard it on the Psycho Ward comp. We got on this comp by Phil from Split 7 sending us an e-mail asking if we were interested in submitting a couple of songs and that Split Seven would pick one of the out to release. I must say that the Slanderin helped us out by telling Phil about us, we due give credit where it's due. It's pretty cool being on a comp like this because I'm sure rock n' rollers all over the world have heard it and have seen our name and heard our song.

Where are some of your favorite places to play?

We like playing just about everywhere because we just love to play, but if we had to pick one place we would all agree on Showcase Theatre (Corona, CA). They've got great sound and Joe, the man in charge is real cool and actually remembers our names unlike bigger venues where they act like they are doing you a favor for letting you play.

What other bands do you think people should check out?

People should check out Nutrinos, they've got a different sound than all the bands out, other than them we really don't keep track of new bands- Too many out there that won't be heard of in a matter of weeks.

One of the most prominent things about the band has to be Art’s Dodgers sticker on his bass. Are all the members Dodgers fans of just Art?

I can say that Art, Israel, and I are Dodger fans. I'm not sure about Edgar though I don't think we've ever talked sports. Israel and me chat a bit about the Dodgers or other sports before we tune and practice.