Behold! The mighty !!!. The bringers of rump-shakin’ rhythms and that groovalicious funk that is oh-so-unfakeable. Be prepared to shake your ass and clap your hands and pretend that you aren’t some scumbag indie hipster who’s too cool to do anything but stand, stare, and scoff. For the uninitiated, yes, their name is actually “!!!.” It can be pronounced by repeating any one-word exclamation in triplicate. Unh unh unh, yak yak yak, poo poo poo, arf arf arf, chik chik chik, etc. They hail from our state capital, the lovely city of

Just about anything you’ll read about these guys will at one point or another include some sort of variation of “It doesn’t matter who you are, !!! will make you dance!” And it’s true. I’m living proof. I’m a tall, skinny white guy. When I was conceived, the Lord sayeth: THOU SHALT NOT HAVE COORDINATION. And it was so.

For my own good, and for the well-being of others, I generally avoid dancing at all costs. But when I do uncork the maelstrom, it’s an odd, pathetic, flailing display that lacks any sense of time and rhythm and falls more into the realm of Elaine Benes. But when !!! played the Scene, I danced (although my movements were somewhat restricted due to the close proximity of the people around me). I couldn’t help it. The throbbing, multi-layered percussion (up to four people simultaneously pounding away) and the incredibly infectious guitar and the tweaked-out dancing and audience-freaking of singer Nic and the orgasmic blasts from the horn section that punctuate the grooves and…well, shit. If you don’t dance to !!!, then you’re a lost cause. Go home and listen to some emo and cry.

The interview with vocalist Nic, guitarist Mario, and sax blower/percussionist Allan took place in the band’s van in the parking lot behind the Scene. It was a dirty van, filled with the kind of clutter and filth that only a group of eight people traveling around the country in extremely tight quarters can amass. A dirty bastard like myself felt right at home. And now… Behold! The mighty !!!.

S: So what have you guys been doing in the year and a half since you put out the full-length?
Allan: Um, practicing, moving. Six of us moved to New York from Sacramento. Two of us are still there. Uh, just trying to grapple with the logistics of that, really.
S: How does that work out?
A: Well, we got really lucky. We’re getting some help from Touch And Go right now.
Nic: They fly out once a month.
S: Everyone goes to New York?
“Yeahs” and “Mm hmms” from everyone.
S: How is that over there?
M: No, I mean, it has its ups and downs. I mean, it’s hard traveling—
N: All told, it’s really exciting. But I mean, it’s like while you’re traveling, it kinda starts—
M: And you, just like, practicing as much as you do in that short of a period, concentrating on it, keeping your concentration up. It’s hard. Instead of saying, “Well, we’ll work on this next week” or something like that.

S: Why’d you guys decide to leave GSL?
M: Oh, well…I mean, we wanted…we needed more money. We needed to work with somebody that, you know, didn’t want our records to go out of print, you know what I’m saying? I don’t know. I just think that it was known from the get go that we were pretty much gonna just do one thing with them and then see where it went.
S: So, it’s pretty much that you guys are on good terms with GSL?
M: Um, I talk to Sonny here and there. I mean, we were never like really the best of friends with him, so it’s…but yeah, I would characterize our relationship as um….uh, good.
(Laughter from all)
M: I mean, I talk to him. Nobody else talks to him. So I’m the person that usually talks to him.

S: So is Touch And Go treating you pretty well?
M: I fucking love Touch And Go so far.
A: Tops.
S: They’re doing the verbal contract thing still?
M: Yes. And that was definitely preferred with us, and they just...it was neat meeting with him and saying this is the way they work. It’s pretty simple. They work as hard as they can for you, and they’ve been around for so long that it was really exciting just being in their offices.
S: So you guys aren’t gonna pull a Butthole Surfers on them when you guys get big?
(everyone laughs)
M: (sarcastically) We’ll just have to see what happens with the next record. No, I can’t see…I don’t know. With Touch And Go too, it’s still like, we’ll do a record with them and see what happens. And that’s the freedom that we also like with being with Touch And Go too. It’s kinda like, they’re the best… I think it’s one of the best independent labels out there.

S: How has the tour been going so far?
N: Pretty good. Awesome. It’s been fun.
S: Like, compared to past tours.
M: It’s, everyone of ‘em’s different, but this…we haven’t been out on the west coast a lot. Most of the stuff we’ve done recently has all been east. Some south. So we haven’t been out here in awhile. So it’s nice to play out here. We played the past two nights in L.A., and that was really fun.
S: Where’d you guys play at?
M: We played at Pomona at the Glass House the first night, and then we played at the Knitting Factory last night.

S: I was reading an old interview with you guys, and you were saying how some people, when you guys play, are just like “What the fuck is this?” Are more people getting it now?
M: Yeah, it seemed like last night, it seems like…I was surprised because we hadn’t played out here in awhile. It seemed like, Pomona, there wasn’t that many people just ready to get down, but like last night it seemed like there was a lot of people that wanted to have fun.
S: Less and less staring?
N: No, we still get that. It is less.
M: It is definitely less, but we definitely still get it. It just depends on the town. The first show…well, it’s just a matter of if we’re on it. It just makes things easier for everybody.
N: Now it’s like, whereas people before at shows, they had no idea what they were supposed to do. Now it’s like, they’ve heard they’re supposed to dance. And they come, and they’re like, okay…am I gonna dance?…okay…alright. ‘Cause you really see ‘em ease into it. People used to get mad because I would always yell at people to dance. I don’t feel I have to yell as much anymore. They pretty much figure it out on their own.
M: Well, that, and I think that the just culture in general. It seems like a lot more bands incorporate dance-like tempos in their music.
S: People got bored with just standing around and being sad.
N: Yeah.
A: It’ll come back.
N: Don’t worry.
S: The cycles are always there?
N: People will be saying, they’ll be like “You know, I’m so sick of having to go to a show and dance. Why can’t I just go and stand?” It’ll be a new revolution in music.
S: Yeah. I think it won’t be awhile until emo dies out. Emo’s keeping the dance thing on the down low. I hate emo.
(Slight chuckles)

S: Now, if I had to guess, I’d say that probably the question you guys are most often asked is “How’d you come up with your name?”
M: Then you’re exactly right.
S: Are you sick of answering that question?
M: Oh yeah.
S: Um, I kinda know the background story, but how’d you decide on “chik chik chik” of all the different…
N: We didn’t decide.
A: We didn’t decide.
M: That’s just the way that it happened. I think people have like—
A: People needed to latch on to something easy—
M: Yeah, you know, last night was the first night that I was talking to somebody after the show, and when he was standing next to me and I was explaining the band name to this other person, he said “I thought the name was “chik chik chik.” So he just, as people talk about it…and actually, when I’ve seen it in print, when people do, if they mention us, they’ll always use that one for some reason. So people just latch on to that.
S: That wasn’t…you guys didn’t choose that specifically?
M: No it was not—
A: I mean, it’s one that we’ve used. We also use “pow POW POW” That’s what I say usually.
M: I’ll usually say “POW POW POW” or “bang bang bang” or something like that.
A: Like, our e-mail is yeowyeowyeow@...
M: So it’s just whatever. It’s, I mean it’s anything—
(Mario stops to chatter briefly with his wife, who is also in the van)

S: When is the new record coming out?
N: After it gets recorded.
(Chortles all around)
N: That is my least favorite question.
N: 2003 baby!
M: Yeah, the full-length will probably be 2003. We’re gonna try and do…I would like to get out a 12-inch this year, so we’ll see how…and I think that Touch And Go is ready to get out a 12-inch this year, too. Which would be more like our split with Outhud. Longer tracks and stuff like that.
S: Are you guys gonna change shit up a lot or similar or…
M: I think it’ll be different.
N: Good.
A: It’s gonna be better.
(Laughter)
N: Yeah, it could be a lot better.
S: Really?
N: Yeah. I think.
M: You just learn, you know, from your sound, if you want to start developing.

S: Have the songs evolved since you’ve been playing live?
M: We just…we keep on playing…we’ll play like these…like tonight we’re playing a song that we’re still not really even totally hashed out yet. It’s just like something that we wanna keep on trying. And it helps even—

(Another band member comes to the van and says that they need to go and get a car from the airport. A long discussion ensues amongst everyone concerning whether or not they should get the car before or after they play. They decide to get it after they play, and the interview rages on)

S: Uh, let’s see. Are you guys ever going to have a rapper and maybe a scratch break in one of your songs?
(Uproarious laughter from all)
N: Wow. Um, can I handle this?
(Slight pause, then…)
N: Yes.
(Another unsure pause, and then boisterous rips of laughter from everyone)
M: Over my dead body.
N: No.
M: I think Static-X is coming into town. We’re going to grab theirs.
N: Um, uuuhhh…
A: Well, the thing is, you can never say never.
N: Yeah, you never say never. I think if you look at the majority, pretty much most like…I mean, we’ll do anything. There’s no fucking rules, dude. I mean, we’ll do anything, but it’s like, I think there’s a high output of white people throwing scratch breaks in when they don’t really know what they’re doing, you know? It’s just like [in poseur white boy voice], “Hey, check out this funky break!” You know?" It’s just like, that’s not cool. That’s not what we’re about at all. We’re not about like…that’s not how it works.
A: Appropriating…
N: Yeah, we, it’s not, this isn’t a joke to us, you know? That just wouldn’t really happen. I think, you know, I think like that scratching on that Aphex Twin “Windowlicker” song, I think that’s really well done. But I think that’s, I think in a way he kinda like, he used it with respect and with like doing something with it. Like he was trying to achieve something with the way he was throwing that in there. I feel like a lot of people, they’re using the scratch to make it sound like a hip hop record or something like that. We’re not interested in doing that, you know? If I had an idea about doing something with scratching, then we would do it. That’s not what we’re about.

S: ‘Cause when I think of like good usage of rock and hip hop, I think of Fred Durst. He’s an innovator because he takes shitty metal and mixes it with shitty rap. That’s creative. That’s creative, man.
M: (laughs)
N: No, I think he really does what he does well. I do. But I mean, I think, and maybe you’re being facetious—
S: I’m being very facetious.
N: Well, I mean, I think Fred has taken metal to the next level. And, I think, you know, just like Motley Crue took it to another level. Fred’s just the new Motley Crue. Yeah, he’s a dumbshit, but he has taken like syrupy pop metal to another level. It doesn’t sound like…you know, like Limp Bizkit does not sound like metal did 10…20 years ago. And I think the way all those metal guys started trying to do like hip hop rhythms put the rhythm back into metal. Which is very essential to metal, you know? You need that “chuh-CHONK! chuh-CHONK!” You need that. And I think the new hip hop rhythms kind of like refreshed it. People don’t take me seriously with this, but man, I go to parties and people are playing Poison and stuff like that, and it’s like people love that music because they were like 10 when it came out, and fucking, the people who were my age were laughing at that music, you know? It was silly. It was a fucking joke. But there’s something real to it too, because it gets across to those kids. If it gets across to the kids, there must be something to it.
S: Yeah, in 10 years people will be ironic and wear Limp Bizkit shirts and play them at parties and it’ll be cool again.
N: Exactly! Exactly. Mark my words. I mean, you know, anyone who says it’s not true is…you’re not seeing the big picture.

S: Um….what do you guys think is the worst thing in music right now?
M: Whoa…
N: Jesus…
A: You’ve opened up a can of worms there…
M: Like, a style or…
S: What do you hear and think “That is fucking shit?” [Note to readers: if you’re looking for an example of creative diction, look no further than “That is fucking shit.” I’m a fucking poet. Fucking]
A: Just something, just like new alternative—
M: Yeah!
A: --like alternative music for state workers, kind of stuff. You hear people like this super-produced indie music that’s supposed to sound like it’s raw, but it’s so slick and they’re talking about soy lattes and purple hair and like [can’t make out what he says].
S: They market it as like…like Dashboard Confessional, the tattoos, and he dresses like he’s—
A: Yeah, I don’t know all the names. There’s so many of them.
N: Yeah, like when I watch MTV, I feel like ten percent of the people you see on there are innovators and then like ninety percent are copies of those innovators. They’ll be like, for one Britney Spears, there’ll be like ten other random blonde girls, and for every like Korn there’s like ten other random mini Korns. I can’t believe how…to me it’s like the bad thing in music is the way they find something that works and just try and copy that. Instead of like what’s great about Korn is that they had a fresh original idea in the first place, you know? And so instead of like, people think “Well, that’s what works! This sound!” And in a way, it’s true, and in a way, it’s not. What’s really special about Korn is that they did something different in the first place, you know? And so that to me is what’s bad about music. But I mean, that’s the way it’s always gonna be.

S: That’s what MTV’s there for pretty much. Like I was…I saw the White Stripes play the other night here, and they had flyers for like a casting call for when they’re playing at the Music Awards*. It was like, “You must appear to be between the ages of 18 and 25” to be on stage with the White Stripes. It’s just like, gimme a break.
N: Whaaaaaaaaat?!
M: Wait, they’re playing the—
S: They’re playing the Music Awards*, yeah.
M: Wow! That’s pretty big for them.
A: And they want a crowd to surround them?
S: I guess. They want to surround them with an image ‘cause like, if you’re 18 to 25, it’s going to look cool to like this band.
M: Yeah, that’s creepy.
N: Yeah, that is too bad, ‘cause to me it’s like something…White Stripes is so refreshing you know? ‘Cause I mean, alternative radio really is like they’re grasping at straws right now. That’s why they are signing something weird like the White Stripes or the Strokes. And so it’s great because it’s those weird window periods where you can actually hear something good on radio, like this. When they’re grasping at straws they’ll try anything, you know? And so, that’s too bad to hear that. Meanwhile, I’m glad to hear them on the radio.
S: Yeah, and they have a cool video.
N: So, I’m sure there’s going to be a whole bunch of Pink Stripes and Brown Stripes and whatever like next year.
S: Yeah, other “brother/sister” duos. But they’ll switch it up, like the guy will play drums and the girl will sing. And that’ll be MTV’s version of variety and innovation and stuff like that.
N: Right, right.

S: How important are drugs in the creation of your guys’ music?
A: Um, I think….
M: When we’re not, I mean, I think that…
A: Are you a cop?
S: Yes.
N: (laughs)
M: I mean, we don’t get loaded and practice.
A: Yeah, it's…
N: We’ve only, we’ve only done that—
M: It has more of an effect on you know, like when you’re not practicing.
A: It seems like coffee is a major one.
S: Uh huh. So it’s not like Spacemen3 where you’re like—
A: No, no, we’re not taking drugs to make music to take drugs to.
N: Well, we do make music to take drugs to.
A: Sure, sure. But we’re not—
M: Because, we’ve taken drugs and we like to listen to music.
N: Yeah, I mean—
A: That’s kind of a hard question to gauge because, I mean, we’ve all taken drugs. All of us have experimented with some sort of, with various drugs. Personally, I know that that helped me get into music that I maybe wouldn’t have gotten into. It helps me….help shape what I like and what I don’t like and what I want to make, so…but as for taking drugs, writing songs while under the influence, it seems like we don’t do much of that.
N: I mean, it’s just like, why are hippies literally the stupidest people, you know? There’s something to that. It really is true. I don’t really want to sound like a cliché, but the punk rocker in me is like, I really do have a problem with trying to talk to them sometimes. It’s like, come on man. It’s like, whatever. So, I mean, we all believe in taking drugs. We all take drugs, but I think there’s a balance to things. You really have to not take drugs all the time. Sometimes you have to be together.
S: Exactly. You can’t take too much acid. It’s not good for you.
M: No, it’s not.
A: Although, we’ve kind of skated the line for a number of years.
N: But we’re hanging on. Just barely. As far as I know, we’re still safe, but one more trip might just push us over the edge. You got any?
[Jolly peals of laughter]
A: We’re cops.
[More jolly peals of laughter]

S: One more question. What does “KooKooKa Fuk-U” mean?
A: That was a bad one-line joke that I made…it’s like “Koo koo k’choo.”
M: Sometimes—
A: It’s not even funny now.
M: It’s not funny. It’s not funny.
A: It’s totally not even funny. But it was a joke—
M: It’s just one of those things, you just play on words—
A: It’s one of those things you say and it’s funny, but then you would never think of it again.
M: We’ll have like working titles to songs and then some of the working titles end up being the names of the songs. It wasn’t necessarily like a…that’s not the lyric, like the lyrical content is…wouldn’t be explained in the title.
A: But it kind of does in a way.
N: But it kind of does because Tristan is the walrus.
M: Um, all right.
A: Yeah…
S: (trying to pronounce it correctly) So it’s “Koo koo k’fuk-u” basically?
N: Yeah, kind of. ‘Cause you know the song is kind of a kiss off.

S: Yeah. I see. Okay. Well, I don’t want to take up too much of your guys’ time here, um—
N: Maybe that should be off the record. I don’t know if I can say that on the record.
M: What about Tristan? Say that it’s about an old friend. Say that it’s about an old friend.
S: I’ll change it to “Paul.”
M: Yeah! Yeah.
A: The walrus is Paul.
N: Yeah, just say that. Just say that because Paul is the walrus.
A: The walrus is Paul.
S: Exactly. So I’ll just put it in brackets as if the editor was…or I can put like “for the protection of the actual walrus” and I can put Paul in there.
N: No, just put Paul. Put Paul.

[At this point, the interview ends. However, as we’re standing outside the van saying our byes and thank yous and I love yous, Nic brings out the Troubleman Mix-Tape, which leads to the subject of the Oxes. Awhile back, the Oxes put out a split 7-inch with Arab On Radar. But as Nic informs me, it was a hoax. The purported Arab On Radar songs were actually just the Oxes making songs that sounded like Arab On Radar. As a joke, and without the prior knowledge or consent of Arab On Radar (or just about anyone else, for that matter), the Oxes released them as part of an official Oxes/Arab On Radar split. Nic suggested that this conversation would be good to have in the interview. I agreed]

N: But anyway, so the Oxes did this to Arab On Radar. They covered their songs and they got all mad at them. And they thought that we wouldn’t get mad at them that they put this on the Troubleman Mix-Tape. They recorded both…they did our other band, Outhud, and us. They did songs, and said they were us and like—
A: No way! Are you serious?!
N: Yeah, yeah.
M: Wait, what?
S: No shit! But, like new songs or covers?
N: They just made up some songs, and fucking put ‘em…gave ‘em to Mr. Troubleman and released ‘em.
M: Oohhhhh.
S: Does it sound like you guys?
N: It does. It does. But it’s just like, I just hope people don’t hear it and think that’s what we sound like. It’s slightly embarrassing. So, we haven’t seen them yet, so we’re not sure if we’re mad at ‘em.
A: We should pretend like we’re really mad.
N: I know, we’ll probably…don’t…yeah, don’t say that. I think we are pissed. I mean, it’s just like, I wish they would have made the songs a little better, you know? ‘Cause people hear that and they think that it’s us.
A: You always said that if they did it to us, we would think it was funny.
N: Yeah, I know, but now when it actually happens, then it comes back a little different (laughing)
S: So it’s on that? [pointing to cd]
N: Yeah, it’s on that.
S: They sent you a free copy?
N: Um, I got one.
A: How old is this?
N: Um, like—
M: Last year.
N: Last year.
A: Then maybe this is what everyone was listening to that said it was so horrible. People were saying “Oh my god, have you heard that tape? That song is so awful!”
N: (to me) Do you want a copy?
S: Sure! (pause as I peruse the CD) Is it just you guys?
N: Both us and Outhud. They did it to both of us.
S: There’s like 5,000 bands on this.
M and N in unison: Yeah there is.
S: That’s impressive that he got everyone to—
M: He’d been meaning to pull this together for a long time. He was supposed to release it like fucking five years ago.
S: No one’s going to go like “My label doesn’t like that. You guys can’t do that.”
M: No. None of those bands have really exploded past the point to where that would become a problem.
S: [in reference to the imposter songs] That’s ridiculous. That’s pretty cool, actually.
N: Oh no. Oh no no no.
S: If it wasn’t you…
N: No, I know, I know—
S: I could see being pissed off since it is you guys, but you know, that’s funny.

(And like the ending of any good episode of Full House, the interview ends with everyone laughing like a bunch of stupid hyenas)

http://brainwashed.com/!!!/ (!!! official site)
http://www.tgrec.com/
http://www.goldstandardlabs.com

!!! interview by Scott Batiuk.
!!! picture taken from Goldstandardlabs.com.