The Cause

Joel: Today is May 12th and I’m here with Chris and Jeremy of The Cause, and why don’t you two say hello or something.
Chris- Hello, or something
Jeremy- Hi

Joel: I know you guys have had some line up changes over the past few months, so what’s the official Cause line up right now.
C- The official Cause line up is me (Chris) singing, Jeremy playing drums, John from American Tragedy playing guitar, and Josh, one of our best friends of all most five years playing bass now. And that’s the official line up as of now, but it changes every four months or something, so hopefully it will stay this way.

Joel: You guys are putting out a split with American Tragedy, right?
J- Yeah
Joel: You wanna tell me a little about that?
C- What it is basically, is three songs from us and three songs from American Tragedy, and then we did a split song.
J- Split song with members me (Jeremy), and Chris, and Jon from American Tragedy. And Chris is playing bass, Andrew is singing, Andrew from American Tragedy-
C- And double vocals-
J- Yeah, double vocals. John’s playing guitar and I’m (Jeremy) playing drums. It’s a split, a little more melodic stuff.
C- And two of our songs I wrote, and one of them Kory and Ryan helped us write, they toured with us and stuff. And basically the first song is about taking steps to pry yourself from male chauvinism, and someone who was in my life for a long time who helped me realize I was just as much of a male pig as everyone else that I thought was. And then the second song that Ryan and Kory helped us write; that’s about my little sister, and how I realized that I’m a role model to her, and everybody else in this world is a role model for everybody. And so no matter what we do we have to make sure that we would want other people to do the same. And the third song is basically what I wrote when it feels like the band’s always falling apart, and it feels like my dreams aren’t coming through, and every time we play it helps me get that feeling that this is possible and we can really do it.

Joel: Alright, I think you just hit on my next question, so was “Innocent Eyes” written for your sister?
C- Yeah

Joel: And you guys did a music video for that, can you tell me what that experience was like?
J- It was mostly tour footage. We shot the bridge of it in the studio, which was kinda weird with the strobe light and stuff. It was pretty cool though.
C- It looks like a rock star thing, it’s funny, I laugh at it.
J- There was some footage of him (Chris) and his sister.
C- Yeah. Basically it’s a lot of our friends from tour and stuff. And its on our friends, I guess its like a video label, its In Your Face Productions. And I think its 5-7 dollars, and Swindle’s on it, and Against The Wall-
J- And Gob.
C- And Gob, and One Hit Wonder. It’s fun to make a video to your music, because you get to portray more meaning of the song than just being limited to the time or the lyrics. You get to give visual also, so it gives you a lot of creative freedom to do whatever you want.

Joel: Moving on, most of your lyrics have politics woven into them… So what drives you, what do you feel, that makes you want to express yourself so greatly?
J- Everyday life, pretty much.
C- It’s not so much about being a political band, its just about raising issues for discussion. It’s not about saying we know the truth and this is how it should be, its about saying we’ve been doing this and we realize that we’ve lived our lives, not wrongly, but differently than we wish we could live them. And so I just want to raise awareness and get people to express themselves, and feel like they do have a say, and that their voice is important. Because, I think one of the hardest parts about growing up, and being where I’m at, and everyone else in the band is at right now, is being able to express yourself freely, and say how you really feel about issues. And not just live your life everyday like apathetic, coming home, watching TV, eating McDonalds, doing drugs-
J- Live up to your mistakes too, it’s a big problem. Everyone puts them behind them, in the closet. You just gotta realize that just about everybody’s a hypocrite, yet you can do your best. Through our music we can at least portray the way we see things in life.
C- It’s just about self-expression. What keeps me doing it, is seeing that everyday I realize that there’s something better that I can do, there’s something more I can do, and it gets really hard sometimes, because you wanna do something like make flyers for a show, but at the same time I’m cutting down forests for my own personal belief’s. So it’s really a hard thing to manage, but it’s something I feel I have to do otherwise I don’t know why I would be here.

Joel: So when somebody sits down and listens to your CD and reads the lyrics, what do you want them to be thinking?
C- I just want them to be thinking. Basically I don’t want to take the position of a know-it-all. I just want people to think about the way they lived their lives, and think if there is anything they could do, or if they could inspire someone else to do something. I just want to inspire people. I’ve had a lot of inspiration from a lot of different people, and I don’t know what I would do without that. Even (inspiration) from each other, just being in a band.
J- Everything grows, you just gotta learn from it.
C- And plus with the CD, a lot of the songs we were just starting out-
J- We’ve grown a lot since we’ve done that CD, like with everything that we’re doing, we’ve grown a lot.
C- It’s more than just music too.
J- Oh yeah, the music is just a portrait of what’s inside. It’s not even just the music, you can see it in the music, the intensity of it’s a lot higher because things have been changing a lot, things have been getting harder. And its harder to express those things, so that’s why our music is getting a little harder. It’s just all about expression. At least if someone were to sit down and listen that’s just enough, to listen with an open-mind, and not judge what we’re saying just listen. That’s good enough right there. C- Just think about it, just to think, in general.
J- Yeah, just read the lyrics.
C- Talk to us, open discussion. Our songs are always open for discussion, always. It just helps us grow. My main dream about this band is to have a forum where everybody; I don’t care who you are, I don’t care if you’re the owner of a club, or some kid who pays to go into a show or buys lots of records. As long as it’s an open forum for everyone to discuss ideas that are relevant that can make this sh*t-hole world better. As long as there’s open discussion and open thinking, that’s all I really care about.

Joel: Moving on to some lighter topics, talk to me about your musical influences.
J- Musically, I don’t know. I’ve been listening… our music, I don’t know. Our influences-
Joel: It doesn’t have to be a band, it can just be people that have given you inspiration too.
J- I find myself actually getting a lot of beats listening to weird stuff, like hip-hop, not rap, but hip-hop, the Roots and stuff like that. I’m starting to get into that stuff more, but influences, I don’t know. Ani Difranco, just like super emotional stuff-
C- Anything that’s sincere, anything that’s real. Anything that’s 100% emotional outpouring, you can’t deny that that’s real, I don’t for me… Ani Difranco definitely, the Roots definitely-
J- Boy Sets Fire.
C- Boy Sets Fire, the Refused is a big influence in my life. Everything, everything I listen to, Built to Spill lately, At The Drive In, Modest Mouse, American Tragedy even, Against The Wall, Ryan O’Nan has had a huge impact on my life. We’ve become really close friends and hopefully it will stay that way, he’s been a great inspiration to me. Um, By The Grace of God has been a great inspiration, that’s one of the reasons I got into political music, and realized I need to do that, same with Snapcase I think-
J- Yeah, we (Jeremy and Chris) pretty much all listen to the same stuff, that’s why we work so good together. That’s why we’re the only (original) members. We came into the band and did pretty much everything, wrote the songs, everything, and have stayed together.
C- And our new members are what? The 11th and 12th members of the Cause.
J- And it doesn’t even matter because it will keep going, as long as-
C- As long as our (referring to himself and Jeremy I believe) heart’s are in it.
J- Definitely, and mine is always going to be.

Joel: Alright, um…
C- Sorry these answers are so long-
Joel: No that’s good, that’s good, it will give me something to do when I’m bored at home.
C- It’s just like we haven’t gotten a lot of room to talk lately, and a lot of in a lot of bands get to say a lot. And we don’t think they have anything good to say a lot of the time. So when we get the chance I figure we should just take our shot at it, you know?
J- Definitely
Joel: Feel free to rant, I don’t care.
C- Yeah, I just want bands to be honest. I get to see a lot of bands, especially here in San Diego, and its really hard for me to watch, because I want to believe their sincerity- I think this is true with all people. You wanna believe people’s sincerity, but its just like you wanna believe their sincerity, but at the same time they’re gonna push their new record, which is understandable. And their gonna talk about the hardcore scene’s my life blah, blah, blah, I’m gonna live and die for this, and its not even about that, I don’t think. It’s not about living and dying for hardcore, its about living and dying to express yourself, and to be heard. So I have a lot of trouble with trusting people I guess, when it comes to music. That’s one of the problems why we’ve had so many member changes. I wanna say things, I want the band to allow me to say things, but I don’t wanna step on their toes too much. And a lot of times I realize people don’t give a f#ck about what we’re saying, they don’t care, band members have not cared. And its just like the minute their hearts not in it I feel obligated, even though it’s not obligated to do anything, I feel obligated inside to say, ‘Hey, I don’t want you being a part of this anymore, I don’t feel right sharing this with you. This is something that always should be emotional and heartfelt.
J- We’ve had to do it like nine or ten times now.
C- It’s really hard finding people-
J- Nobody’s been able to stick it out, at all.
C- (laughing) And maybe its just that we suck and nobody wants to play music with us, and that’s probably a very viable reason, but I don’t know. It’s frustrating when band members say they’re in it for the long haul and they cut out after tour or whatever.
J- Yeah
C- They say their vegan/straightedge and then they’re drinking beers halfway on the road, and smoking pot when we’re driving. And three of us are sober, completely, two of us are straightedge, and it’s really hard to deal with some of that stuff.
J- It’s fine as long as you don’t claim-
C- Yeah as long as you’re honest.
J- We’re fine with anybody that does anything as long as they’re responsible. It’s just like people have been in our band and claim it just to be cool. Because it’s such a social up-bringing-
C- ‘Yeah I’m straightedge.’ Automatically I’m cool.
J- Yeah, and then all of a sudden they expect you to be their best friends because they’re just like you, but then they’re not really like that, and it’s just a big let down I guess.
Joel: Just doing it for the image.
C- Yeah, it’s just really hard because you grow attachments to these people that you play music with, and you think they’re so great. It’s like ‘Wow, this person’s amazing, I’m so glad to have them be a part of this,’ like I wanna share this with them. And then you realize they’re just complete fakes, it’s like your girlfriend or boyfriend dumping you.
J- Yeah, it’s like catching them with another person even. It’s like that same feeling.
C- You feel like you’re cheated on completely, you’ve been cheated.
J- Someone like broke into your car and stole your stereo that you bought yesterday. It’s that same stupid sh*t.
C- It just hurts, and it’s really hard to keep things going, when that always gets in the way. I think that comes out in the music too.
J- Yeah, of course.

(Pause)

Joel: Alright, what if you could change one thing, maybe not in the world, but at least in this community, just to make a difference. What would you want to change?
J- I think one thing needs to change it would definitely be racism and sexism.
C- And homophobia.
J- Yeah, that’s what I meant be sexism.
C- There’s so much stuff to change that it’s hard to narrow it down to just one thing. I think if we could change one thing it would be like, open everybody’s mind. And tear down every barrier that people set up, even in this hardcore community, in the punk community. I can’t handle it sometimes, I mean how many times do you hear of a homosexual straightedge kid? It’s unheard of because it’s so hard, it’s just so male run, I don’t even know how I could express that. I just wish everyone would open up, and it sounds like a hippie, but just love each other you know?
J- I guess just be accepting to everybody, to their mind, to their views, to their lifestyles. Just like, I don’t know, it does sound like a hippie, but everybody get along. It’s what needs to happen.
C- Even if you don’t agree, like I don’t agree with nazis, and I don’t agree with a lot of those people that have the foster views; people that are extremely homophobic, anyone that voted yes on (California State Proposition) 22 (Same-Sex Marriage), things like that-
J- Yeah, exactly-
Joel (In a disgusted voice): How could that past?
C- Well I’ll tell how it passed. It passed because the voting population in this state is 47%, that’s how many people vote, and of that 47%, 65% voted for it. So if you think of how small a portion of this state that really is, it’s really easy to see why it passes; because there are people out there that do have morals, who are gonna vote, and they’re of age. And the thing with the younger generation; this is where homosexuality is becoming more accepted, not only in our community, but in the media-
J- It’s like the community we’re in right now is pretty much, mostly a gay community. We’re in like North Park/Hillcrest. We’re lucky to be here, and people come through and do the stupidest sh*t, I don’t know… They just need to open up completely and accept others.
C- That’s the one thing we would change is open acceptance of everybody: I don’t care what you look like, I don’t care what scene you’re in, I don’t care what color you are, what sex you are, what you like, what you don’t like. I just care that you would respect my life and my expression, just as much as I respect someone else’s. I don’t know if this means anything to you, (Jeremy) but a lot of people bag on Christian bands. And a lot of people bag on religious people in general and I used to do it. It’s taken me close to a year to realize that, that I do it, I used to do it all the time. And it’s just ridiculous, it’s ridiculous to bag on anybody for being Christian, and I know a lot of bad things have come from individuals who claim to be Christian, but you can’t hold an entire group of people who have moral beliefs responsible for a few as*holes. And I think that’s true with Straightedge, I think it’s true in hard-line veganism, I think it’s true in nazi’s, I think it’s true all over the place.
J- Definitely
C- I don’t think because you’re Christian or whatever, that it should dictate necessarily that you’re an automatic ignorant, homophobic, racist, bast*rd, because I’ve met a lot of really nice people and those are their choices. They choose to believe in those things, and I would want the same freedom. Joel: I would think with Christian bands they’re just trying to express their beliefs like any other band, they just have strong beliefs in their religion.
C- Definitely, and just because I don’t believe that I’m gonna condemn them, you know? And I think a lot of the Christian bands do go a little overboard with some of the stuff they do, I think.
J- Same with straightedge bands too, just like any group.
C- Exactly, everybody-
J- Even the Satan worshipping bands.
C- Yeah, definitely, even the Satan worshipping bands. And it’s like, I don’t know, people really need to open up, that’s the main problem.

Joel: Okay, and finally what are the future plans for the Cause?
J- Tour, a new CD. We’re recording in June for an EP-
C- July
J- July
C- End of July
J- It will be a little creation, and hopefully tour in September. Hopefully doing some of the US, if not the west coast again.
C- Yeah, east coast is where we wanna go big time, we really want to get out there, badly.
J- Try for that, just get our stuff out there. We have a split coming out with American Tragedy.
C- Who (American Tragedy) everyone should check out.
J- A comp. that’s coming out too.
C- Yeah, not to be a sales pitch, but I am putting out a gay rights benefit comp. Basically it’s just like my favorite bands. And I’m giving basically over $10,000 after the sale to the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and stuff like that. People have to do something: start a band, start a zine, but don’t do it because it’s cool, do it because you want to express yourself and you have something you believe in. And this is something I believe, so I definitely want people to do the same as me, you know?

(Pause)
J- That’s our future
C- So that’s our future as of now, hopefully keep our line-up for a little while so we can play more shows. We have a Boy Sets Fire show coming up, at the Che Café, June 16th. And then we may be doing a couple shows in Orange County with Bane and Adamantium; they’re trying to help us out. I’ll probably be hosting a Mumia (Abu Jamal) benefit show some time in August, and hopefully tour, if we can buy a van. We need a van, I think someone should send us a van.
J- Yeah, someone give us a really good deal on a van so we can tour.

Joel: Alright well thank you very much!
J- Your Welcome.
C- Wrap.