Dead Boy Productions

 

02/22/07
Dan-Zig
Photo by Kamilla Vanilla

Dead Boy Productions with Viva Hate

So let's get started by introducing yourselves.

Geoff: I'm Geoff Kresge. I play bass in Viva Hate.

Wedge: My name's Matt Wedgley. I sing. 
 
So how were the shows you played in May and Mid October?

Geoff: All of the shows we've done so far have been a lot of fun. We've been getting on some cool mixed bills, with punk bands, rockabilly bands, psychobilly... we've had a couple of offers to tour with two different hardcore bands, but we couldn't do them for various reasons. Hopefully those kind of opportunities will present themselves again.

Wedge: Yeah the shows have been really fun. It's great to be able to mix it up and play with as many different types of bands as we can. I just wanna get out and play more shows!  
 
How do you think the crowds like it?

Wedge: Yeah you never really know what people are thinking. It seems like it's all been pretty good so far… people usually say positive things to me after a show so that's nice. I always appreciate it.

Geoff: It seems like the crowds are into what we're doing. I wasn't so much worried about whether or not we'd be accepted within certain scenes, but I was curious about what kind of reaction we'd receive,  y'know? It's been a pleasant surprise, I guess. 
 
You guys are pretty new to the fans I mean not individually but as Viva Hate. Did you feel any pressure to what Viva Hate should sound like or was the sound just natural?

Wedge: It's all pretty natural for me. I'm just having fun and going for it! (Laughs)

Geoff: I've had ideas for what I wanted to try to accomplish musically outside of my earlier bands for quite a while. I mean, one of the songs  that we play now is a song that I actually had the musical idea for while I was still in AFI. Basically what I'm doing from the musical side is writing music that I want to listen to and enjoy playing. I don't think that we can be easily categorized as any one style, and that's been intentional. None of us in the band want to be put into a category, despite having the backgrounds that we have... You know, like having a guy from this type of band or that type of band, or whatever. We just do what we do. If people like hearing it as much as we like playing it, that's just a bonus. 
 
Have you started recording?

Geoff: We recorded really rough versions of about half a dozen songs about a year ago, mostly just to get an idea of what we sounded like as a band, y'know? That, and we needed to have some sort of music for our  
MySpace page, so people could check out what we were all about. Aside from that, I doubt it will ever be released, because all of the songs have been changed in some way since then. It was really just a way of  
documenting the songs for ourselves. 
 
When is the Viva Hate full length record due?

Geoff: I guess that all depends on when we get signed. We haven't signed a record contract with anyone, so until that happens, we won't be doing a full-length album. It's weird how many people just assume that because we're out playing shows, that we've got an album ready to drop. I guess that's how some bands do things these days, but that's not how it works in the real world.

Wedge: Yeah. We're getting really anxious to record again though! 
 
When are the next shows planned?

Geoff: We're about to head out with AFI on March 1st. That'll be a West Coast thing. Then we have a few more shows in March. Corona, Hollywood, a festival in Modesto. We're working on some other shows, but nothing's confirmed yet, so I can't really say what it is... I don't wanna jinx anything.  
 
Tell us about the gathering of Viva Hate?

Geoff: It's kind of a long story, but I'll try to give you the condensed version... Basically I left Tiger Army in late Summer 2004 so I could spend time doing other things. I mean, we had been on tour so long that I really didn't have time to do things that weren't directly related to the band and I felt like I needed some time off the road to get myself together. Within a very short period of time, I had all of these songs coming out when I would pick up a guitar, which was something that hadn't really happened for a long time. That gave me the idea of doing a band with Wedge. I mean, we'd been talking about wanting to do a band together for a really long time, but the attempts we made at it never really panned out. So anyway, I told him I was starting a new band and that I was only gonna do it if he wanted to be the singer. I had some other guys in mind to join the band too, but things didn't work out the way I thought they would and we had to look for other guys to play with. I had seen Eric's band, The Henchmen, a couple of times so I knew that he was a good guitarist, and luckily he had similar influences... The kind of stuff that I'm into as a guitar player and the kind of stuff that both Wedge and I are into as far as his listening taste, y'know? So I asked Eric to play on the demo and if he was into the band, would he like to join, etc. That's pretty much the short version. (Laughs)

Wedge: Yeah. That about sums it up. Haha! I was just stoked when Geoff came to me with an idea for a new band. We've been wanting to do something together for so long and now we're finally doing it and it's a blast!  
 
Geoff, it's good seeing you with an upright bass again… How much did you miss being on stage playing one?

Geoff: To be honest, I didn't miss it that much. I mean, part of why I needed to leave Tiger Army and get off the road was also because I was in physical pain every day from playing the show the night before. At one point, my hands hurt so much that I couldn't even make a fist. My wrists and hands were just wasted. I also later found out that I had this gnarly scar tissue in my back and tendonitis in my neck form playing in TA. I basically caused a lot of damage to my body due to the way I played on stage. I had some concerns about all of that when I started Viva Hate, but I wanted to keep it as a four-piece band, so I kinda had to stick with the bass. I know a lot of fans have been wanting to see me back on the upright bass, so for now, they'll have their chance. 
 
Geoff, I know you've done art for bands in the past. Are the Viva Hate t-shirts designed by you and if not who?

Geoff: Yeah, I've done a lot of artwork for other bands over the years. I've done all of the designs for Viva Hate merchandise so far, but I'm entertaining the idea of having some other people do some designs too, just to see what other artists see us as, in visual terms. 
 
Are you guys a drinking band?

Geoff: We're not a "party band", if that's what you mean, but we're not a straight-edge band either. We like to have a good time off-stage, but the priority is the music that we play.

Wedge: Not for me. It's all about the party.  
 
Any music videos in the works?

Geoff: I guess that will happen sooner or later. Wedge has done a couple of film things and he directed a video for a friend's band, so he'll most likely be doing that stuff. Personally I can't stand making videos, but hopefully it'll be more fun with Wedge directing.

Wedge: Yeah... Uh, we'll see…(Laughs) 
 
This goes to all.  How is being in Viva Hate different than your other bands?

Wedge: I don't really know. For me it's all just music so I kinda approach it all the same. I grew up playing super fast hardcore punk so that's where my roots are I guess. The sound of Viva Hate is different than what I'm used to… but it's still just aggressive music, so I don't know... It's all rock n roll. I just do what I feel is right for the song.

Geoff: For me it's different in the respect that I write 100% of the music and therefore pretty much do whatever I want to do. I've brought in a couple of songs and wondered if they would be right for Viva Hate or not, and they've turned out to be super cool, because they're different than what other bands are doing, I think. Other bands that I've been in have had a different process with the writing, to various extremes, so this is quite different for me. 
 
Is Viva Hate a full time thing or a side project?

Geoff: I don't consider any project I'm involved in a "side-project". I will dedicate as much time and energy as I possibly can to any project I'm involved in. I'm not into all these bands that are so-called side-projects for the simple reason that there are too many people out there doing them. I mean, if it's for fun and not for the sake of turning a profit, that's one thing, but all these "supergroup" things and side-projects just bum me out, because the motivation for some of them is so transparent and fake.

Wedge: Yeah, I'm all about going for it 100%.  
 
So tell us how the writing process of the songs is with you guys?

Geoff: I write the music at home and record the songs in rough arrangements - sometimes more fleshed out than others, but basically it's just a template for what the song structure will be. I give CDs of the ideas  
to Wedge to write lyrics and to the other guys to learn the parts and the changes, then we get together and play them. I'm not into forcing a song idea to be any given way before the whole band has played it together and we can figure out what needs to be added or changed. Simple as that.

Wedge: Yep. Simple. Haha! 
 
Do all of you get along, do you ever bump heads?

Geoff: We're all friends. I mean especially with Wedge. He and I have been friends for something like 12 years, and like I was saying, we've been wanting to do a band together for a long time, because we have a lot of similar ideas about what kind of music we want to ideally play.

Wedge: Yeah I'm stoked to be in a band with Geoff. I didn't even know the other guys when Viva Hate first started but I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out. They're great guys.  
 
What kind of music influences you?

Geoff: Anything from old Country music to early Punk Rock to Metal to whatever. Pretty much everything from AC/DC to ZZ Top and everything in between! 
 
Any last words or things I left out?

Wedge: Hey, thanks.

Geoff: I'd just like to say that we'd like to welcome our new drummer, Greg Utter to the band! Wedge and I have been on tour with Greg in the past and we're really excited to have him in the band now!  
Thanks for the interview. Don't forget to check out www.vivahate.net and www.myspace.com/vivavivahate