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| PC: Tell us a little bit about Cheap
Sex's current status in terms of shows, your lineup, what you are up to right
now, and where you are headed. |  |
PC: Any shows coming up?
MV: Yeah, on my birthday on January 8 we are playing Las Vegas with the Lower Class Brats. We're holding off on booking more shows until we have the new bass player.
PC: Before we get into specifics about the new album, was there a driving theme or message you wanted to get across when you put out Headed for a Breakdown?
MV: As far as the message goes, we're a political band but we wanted to delve into issues that a lot of the other political bands maybe don't pay attention to. I think that the FCC issues were really important to me; the FCC is controlling too much of the media right now, and someone needed to sing about it, to address it. I think that a lot of the kids that go to the shows aren't aware of those kinds of issues, and I thought that singing a song about it might open their eyes.
PC: Since its beginnings, punk has been an anti-mainstream movement. How do you reconcile the differences between a movement that tries so hard to stay out of the mainstream with problems that need to be addressed by the mainstream?
MV: I think that there are so many kids getting into the scene now that weren't into the scene when I was getting into it - a lot of younger kids. The impression that I get from them is that they are not really watching the news like they probably should be. And because there are so many kids getting into it now who are just being exposed to songs about beer cans and Oi! chants, we are reaching an element that's not being exposed. So as far as reaching the mainstream, I think we are reaching people that are from the mainstream who just got exposed to this a couple years ago and may be back in the mainstream in a year or two. The scene is very different now than it used to be. I'll leave it at that for now.
PC: Is that a trademark of Cheap Sex, being a more traditional punk band? How have things changed?
MV: Yeah. A lot of the people I grew up with are either dead or in jail, or are married and have three kids. I've seen a lot of people come and go over the years, and I think that because of the internet and because when you want to check a band out all you have to do is click a mouse, you don't have the attitude that people used to have. They used to search out the music and be really dedicated, and put time in to find bands and give back to the scene. You had to go through all kinds of hoops to find out about bands before. It's very different now, though there is good and bad that comes along with it.
PC: So is punk rock still relevant today?
MV: I think it absolutely is, because I think that punk was the last true music movement. What new has come out since punk? Grunge is just a spin-off of punk, rave music is just disco, speed metal is a mix of punk and metal, et cetera. So until there is something new that comes along, and I don't know what you can really do that is new, punk is still relevant as stripped-down rock and roll. It's something where people can start up a band relatively quickly, and as long as they have something to say and the drive to say it, it's always going to be there. There is always going to be a market for energetic, stripped-down rock and roll with a message.
PC: How did Cheap Sex and punk on the whole come to symbolize the politics that they have?
MV: Even if you go back to the time around the Sex Pistols, there were bands like Crass that were one-hundred percent political. Not all punk bands are political, but I think that's the way it should be. Punk is pretty much open to whatever you want it to mean. If you talk to a kid at a Linkin' Park show, he may tell you that he's punk, and I can argue with him all day about why he's not, but punk is different things to different people. But the political side to punk has always been there with certain bands. I think that in the 80s, when hardcore punk really developed, particularly in England, the politics took over. Bands like Discharge, Exploited, or The English Dogs really started adding more political messages to their music, and it's really built on that.
PC: To get more specific to Headed for a Breakdown, the song "Desperation" talks about the media, which I feel is a very important topic to cover. One of the biggest problems that exists is the fact that news sources are tied into corporations. In a Capitalist society, how do you prevent contributors from controlling the media?
MV: Well think about Clear Channel's deal with Fox: I mean, talk about being tied into a corporation. Clear Channel is a big donator to the Bush administration. That's some pretty dangerous stuff there. I don't think that there is anything that will control this problem on a large scale. What you have to hope for is that people who aren't lazy are going to turn to other viewpoints to see what's going on in the world, whether that's turning to the internet or alternative news sources. The one nice thing about the internet is that it does makes it relatively easy - if you want to - to get other points of view or find out what's going on in other parts of the world. And instead of turning on Fox, turn on the BBC news channel. So it's out there, people just need to have an interest in it. Are you going to get the best news during the intermission of a football game? Probably not.
PC: So could a problem be in the way the FCC is approaching the media? You have pointed out how people can selectively expose themselves to certain media, whereas the FCC seems to think that the media has the power to control us.
MV: In this country, you used to get relatively unbiased journalism. If you go to school for journalism, they try to teach you that to be a good journalist you should not show your own opinion. That doesn't happen too much anymore.
PC: In terms of the FCC, where do you believe this recent drive for political correctness, parental advisory labels, and the like is coming from?
MV: It's an interesting phenomenon, because first of all you have Colin Powell's son in charge of the FCC, and of course Colin Powell is pretty high up in the Bush administration, so that is your first problem. These officials have their careers riding on their message getting out. Americans have absolutely stopped caring about what this means for our country; they don't care about where their news is coming from, they don't care about who is leading the country, they don't care about the lies that are fed to them on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the only way these things are going to change is if things get so bad that people are forced to make a change. It's not just going to happen - I think it has to be awful; something really bad has to happen. It's a scary thought, but if we keep pissing off ninety percent of the planet and our foreign policy consists of a middle finger, you know, like "Fuck you, we're America," eventually something like that is bound to happen.
PC: You talk a little bit on the album about today's youth and a "voice of desperation." The problem that seems to jump out, though, is that today's youth has no unified voice like it did in say, the Vietnam era. So how do you get out a message if today's youth is so fragmented and non-motivated?
MV: Yeah, you would think that people would be taking to the streets during this war, or at least much more than they have been. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they are not finding out about the issues due to the news, they are lazier now, there are better video games now - I mean, I don't know what the exact reason is, but I do think that there should be a unified voice. In the song, I'm saying that no one listens to today's youth, but I also think that we have to take responsibility for ourselves. I think that the kids these days need to take a more active role in the world that will eventually be theirs. When you have a multi-trillion dollar deficit, who do you think is going to pay for it? The people who are raking up these debts are going to be long gone before we have to pay that back.
PC: So is the best way to make the change that you are aiming for to take a strong left-wing approach? Or would it be more productive to attempt to appeal to a broader spectrum of the population?
MV: I think that [a strong left-wing push] is the right way, because if you want to hear the right wing side of things, on pretty much every news channel you are going to get that viewpoint. With Rush Limbaugh and all these guys on the radio, you are surrounded these days with the right-wing way of thinking. I don't want to hear anyone tell me that we have a liberal media, because that's complete bullshit. There is no liberal media. So if bands like us, or Anti-Flag, or even mainstream groups like the Dixie Chicks who spoke out against the president, and Bruce Springsteen who went on a huge tour to speak out against Bush - well, without these people there would be no voice for the left. I think we have a responsibility to present that viewpoint to people. Now, as far as Cheap Sex goes, it's going to be on a scale that's going to be a lot smaller than a Bruce Springsteen, but I have all the respect in the world for those guys for doing that tour because it was an unpopular viewpoint in this country. No one wants to hear that they are wrong. But if we were right, I don't think that the whole rest of the world would be telling us that we are wrong. It's like going to a party and being an asshole, and not being able to figure out why no one likes you.
PC: Again, relating to your message, it seems that it can be perceived as an angry one. Is that a good way to go about it?
MV: Absolutely. I have no problem saying that we're an angry band. There are a lot of things that I'm pissed off about. I'm not out there to make friends. I'm out there to say what I have to say and have as much fun as I possibly can.
PC: How long can anger last as a driving force for punk rock?
MV: Well I am going to be thirty-one in a week and I've been going to shows and all that since I was twelve or thirteen. I just don't see myself not being angry about these things five years from now. It's very real for me.
PC: On "Lucky to be Alive," the album takes a big turn to talk about something personal. Talk about that experience and how it has changed the way you see life, your band, and the music.
MV: Basically what happened was that the band was going to do a tour with the Lower Class Brats, and they were driving out from San Diego to New York and CBGB's for the first show. Because of my work schedule the other guys were going to drive out and I was going to fly out there so I didn't have to spend half my vacation in a van. They got as far as Pennsylvania, then a trailer sideswiped them, and there was a truck full of loose bricks in the road. The truck took the doors off the van and all these bricks flew in. John got hit with one of these bricks hard enough that it tore his aorta, so he was flown by helicopter to the hospital on life support. The doctors all said that he should have been dead, and that had a profound impact on the band. John had to leave the band, and if you look on Headed for a Breakdown, you won't see John on there. He did recover, and he's now back with the band. It was a really scary time and it made you look at things a little bit different.
PC: So that definitely changed the way you see things?
MV: Yeah, I think that when you're on tour you think you're a little bit invincible. You think nothing's going to happen; you'll just party and play shows, meet people, if you're lucky you'll get laid or something. But you don't think that your friend is going to almost die. Yeah, it definitely changed the way we see things.
PC: With all that we've talked about, how do you get those messages across in lyrics that are very limited? I mean, you can't say probably everything you want to say within the space of a song. You can't have a discussion like this at a show.
MV: In a three minute punk rock song, you probably can't get across everything you want to say. So I think that things like the internet, like my personal website with columns and things, like magazines where I've written several articles I can try to get the message across in other ways. Interviews are another really good way. If people email us, I'm really good about getting back to them if they have questions about lyrics or what I think about something. So unless it's a question like "How do you do your hair?," which I ignore, I generally respond to meaningful questions.
PC: So has punk rock in the current age taken a more multimedia approach?
MV: There are so many more options to get your message out. The internet made all the difference in the world. One downside is that in some ways it has caused the death of the fanzine, which is depressing. I really think there is something to the guy selling 'zines at a show, I really liked that. But the internet has made information a lot more accessible, and that's a good thing. Plus, it's really helped the band, since it's a lot easier to get your band name out there with the internet.
PC: Before we wrap up, talk a little bit about the punk scene as you see it today. It seems you got into it before it was cool and the Good Charlotte's of the world made it trendy to be a punk fashion star.
MV: That stuff never would have lasted back then. There was a different element of person that was getting into the music back then. I think that there was no fucking way you could be a popular kid in high school if you were a punk. When I went to high school, no one wanted to know me - nobody. In my old neighborhood, if I was walking home from school I'd have to look over my shoulder, because people didn't like me. The only real friends I had were some of the older punk rock kids who lived on the other side of the city, and there were very few of them. So the ones that were there were very tight, and we stuck together. It was an alienated, anti-social, angry person who would be into that type of music. Nowadays it's cute to be punk, you can go to the mall and see it. You can get the most popular girl to be punk, and people think it's cute, like "she's so alternative." None of that shit was going on. Now the good side of it is that you are exposing more people to something, and you still do find the rare people who stick around and who you'll see for years to come. But I don't think it's any shock to anyone that those people I just described are out there, and they'll be gone in a couple years, that don't match what it used to be.
PC: Do you think Cheap Sex could be a part of some kind of resurgence where you could find a balance between reaching more people but also keeping the music and the scene authentic?
MV: Well unfortunately the fact of the matter is that the Good Charlotte's are on heavy rotation on the radio and television, and they go out there with similar hairdo's to what we wear, to what punks have worn for twenty years. So when people see that they can't really tell a difference. Are we going to be able to differentiate between the two? I think we are going to be able to with people who are into punk music. I don't know if the average guy on the street is ever going to be able to tell the difference, but all I can do is stay true to who I am and what our band is.
PC: To sum things up, what do you want Cheap Sex to embody or stand for? Anything from the energy onstage to the message you hope to get across to the type of people you hope to attract…
MV: I want everything, the whole nine yards. I want to reach people with a message that makes them think. I want to put on the best, most energetic show we possibly can. I want to meet as many people as I can. I want to share ideas with people. I want to bring back the "do-it-yourself" ethic, I want to see the local scene putting on shows the way it used to be. I am a product of the eighties punk scene and I never grew up. I spend a lot of my day thinking about old times with old friends, and I want to see a lot of that stuff happen again.
PC: Do you see a light at the end of the tunnel?
MV: I do. When we tour, when we play shows, when we come out onstage and see six hundred kids seeing our songs or going over to England and see kids there who know the songs, you realize that the music is getting out somehow, and we must be doing something right. People really seem to enjoy what we're doing and we have a great time doing it. I see a light at the end of the tunnel every time we play.
Pictures
courtesy of cheapsexpunks.com.
http://www.cheapsexpunks.com
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