The Hotseat: Mark Adkins of Guttermouth
on January 15th, 2012This Wednesday night, Guttermouth kick off their Australian tour in Victoria. The three week run of dates will have the band make their way up the East Coast winding up in Cairns on February 4th. We recently caught up with their frontman Mark Adkins who answered our Hotseat questions. Expand this post to check out his answers and re-cap their tour dates.
THE BASICS
Name: Mark Aaron Adkins
Band: Guttermouth
Job In Band: I sing, I dance, Write lyrics, book shows, design and produce merch, Organize tours, Just started playing around on Facebook, Still not sure why? Balance budgets, Change the battery in our van, Try to figure out what direction the industry as a whole is heading, Enjoy days off in far away places like Australia and Japan, Wonder how I am still in one piece after 22 years of this band. (There were bands before this one) Enjoy breakfast at Ric’s in the Valley, Find and stay at the cheapest hotels or hostels possible, and my favorite thing about this band…Talking to fans and learning about their culture. My Other Band Job: Striking down a really bad song request. I get great pleasure from that.
Website Address: Facebook or Guttermouth.net. I’d go to Facebook If I was you, but I’m not you.
HOME
Hometown: A small town in North Orange County, CA. “La Habra”
Hometown is best known for: Poor freeway access, Rival Latino, or “Cholo” Gangs who fight, (complete with knives, guns, baseball bats, or Cricket Clubs or Sticks or whatever you call them). For some reason the West Side and East Side of the same city just didn’t get along… and they still don’t. These battles could be quite a nuisance to one’s health. For example: Our friend Suba was shot twice in the abdominal region, but he was so drunk he didn’t even know for about 25 minutes and kept drinking beers. Well, till he started to bleed out. That night was ruined… Thanks Suba. Imperial Burger, The Liquor Store my dad would buy us booze at while my friends and I were still in high school. Oh, President Nixon had an office on the main drag of our town, but who really cares.
Best venue in your hometown: Backyard parties were the only places to play. Once in a while a record store called Music Box had parking lot gigs, but that was it. We had three good bands from La Habra, Youth Gone Mad, Born Against and Raw Sewage. My friend Ron and I had a band, but we were bloody terrible. This was around 1982 we couldn’t even drive yet.
THE BAND
How long has the band been going? We started Guttermouth in 1988 with crappy instruments and a thirst for a gig anywhere. The original guitar player Barry only played with three strings. Back then we could only afford to buy one string at a time if one broke. We practiced upstairs at the only music store within 40 miles, La Habra Music. The place still stands in the same place to this day. It was also quite easy to rip off guitars from the store. It was during the hair metal band days, so Charvell’s and BC Rich Guitars were very popular and expensive. Personally, I never took one, but others did. The odd part was, about 10 years later; some of these guitars were still around. Barry returned them. What a guy!
Many lineup changes along the way? Yea a few for sure. The one thing to remember when asking this question is: relationships are not really conducive to a musician who travels several months out of the year. Then, enter the breeders… it’s like telling the person who unloads the kid that it will be semi fatherless. Sorry kid, daddy is out getting drunk and playing guitar. If we were rich like Kiss or Midnight Oil, we could bring the family, but we are not really a family friendly show.
How would you describe your sound to the average person on the street? 5′-11″ 164 lbs. enjoys long walks on the beach. Oh wait, you said sound. My shoes squeak when my feet are sweaty, I am always humming something out loud. It let’s people know you are happy. I hate other humans who make choking, coughing type noises on a regular basis. You know the type who always seem to have a giant hairball lodged in their larynx.
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… We did a spilt CD with this band from Florida called, “The New Threat”. We each did three new songs and only sell them at shows. Well, at this point only at shows. We are going to have them on this next tour with an additional song or two. This sounds bloody rude, but people are saying this is the best stuff in years. We did one semi pop tune, but the other two are very aggressive. The reason I feel they work so well is because Justin, “The Bass Player” let me write, like stories or poems. I would sing them to him and that dude can write music around anything. Just a different method from yesteryear, we might release it on a 7″ with a download. I don’t know yet.
Got a favorite track that you have released so far? I don’t know.
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? Good question, I didn’t like the rock stuff the kids at school were into. Led Zep, Styx, The Beatles. You know all that crap. It was the early to mid 1970″s and my father, the electronic wizard that he was. Well, he purchased a Jukebox that held 144 7″ singles. He then wired speakers inside, outside basically in every square meter of our home. My folks were way into disco music at that point and would have crazy parties till the wee hours of the morning. Let’s just say the good Christian people next door thought our family must have been spawned from the devil himself. I am actually a walking disco encyclopedia because of said raging events. That music did not make me want to play music, but our hatred for the neighbors described above did. I don’t recall the year, I think it was 1976 or 77′ but a massive backlash against disco music took hold. Suddenly at sporting events like Football or Baseball the fans had heard enough. The new haters of disco now loved fucking country and in protest held up signs reading, “Disco Sucks” and “Death To Disco”. One man was to blame for both genres… John Travolta. That bastard ushered in both styles creating a fervor of dance moves directed at both kinds of music, or crap. Some of you will remember the movie, “Urban Cowboy.” Well, it was right about that time my friends Paul and Bobby Gomez introduced me to this music they called “Punk”. I was hooked right away. The bands were a bit different than today’s “Punk”. The year was 1979 and bands like the Talking Heads, Joe Jackson, The Fabulous Poodles, F-Word, The Clash, The Damned and naturally, the most over raited band…The Sex Pistols, were the bands I heard early on. There were also some interesting bands with names like, DEVO and The B52′s who did not fit the “Punk” mold, but had unique sounds. My friend Wayne had a guitar and an amp. We had no drums, but improvised by hitting the bottom of our skateboards with plastic rails to act as a snare drum. The entire Christian family next door had red hair, so topics were easy to come up with adding screams and profanities at our God fearing neighbors. So, I guess I could have just said, my red haired, good Christian neighbors got me into playing, but you got the long version.
What was your first band name, and what style did you play? The next door people struck a chord, but it was a year or two later when we really began playing. Names, it was either D.D.H. or Lave Las Manos. I don’t recall. Style wise, we played 4 chords as fast as we could, (which was not very fast) and stole vocal patterns from bands like Flipper and The Exploited. We just changed the words and poof, we had some songs.
Most prized music related item you own? My guitar from Italy. The Italia of cause.
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… Forgetting the real world exists. I don’t bring a computer, (I did bring a phone last year), but not this year!!! I like being disconnected from the world I know far to well. I am going on two and a half years without a TV in my house. Some say I’m crazy, but it has been the best move I have made in ages.
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… The long flight and jetlag.
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? Thinking about band stuff. Going places I know I should not go. Doing some skating and I was going to run the LA Marathon this year, but I will be on the road for almost four months straight. Trust me, you can’t prep for a marathon while on the road.
ON THE STAGE / ROAD
Best rider item you’ve ever received without requesting it? I can’t address that.
Favorite place you’ve toured… and why? Nice, France was quite nice. So is Quebec City, Canada, not to mention Brisbane. Why? All are so different… the people, food, vibe of show, wine list and most of all the bands you play with! Some groups are such wankers!!! I could name a few, but why.
Most memorable show you’ve played? and why? I would say The Falls Festival. It was the year that Iggy played, so that alone made it quite special. Plus, we were good friends with Lagwagon at the time and those cats know how to make some fun!
Worst guilty pleasure artist / song you’ve come across on a bandmates iPod? Oh God, probably…
Who in your group has the worst bad habit on tour, and what is it? No, no, no we don’t have issues like that. I’m not joking. We all get along very well. I think this is the most fun party line to date!
RIGHT NOW
Where are you? San Juan Capistrano, CA. In my living room, no in my messy living room.
What’s the last song you listened to? One of the new songs. The song is called, The Towel.
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? Joe Jackson, Look Sharp.
Tell us a band we should all go and listen to right now? I would say Cream, but that is ridiculous. It’s 1:10 am so something mellow, like Kiss.
IF ONLY…
If you could pick any one album to cover from start to finish, what would it be and why? I would do “Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing”, by Discharge. Why, because it would be easy and I still like it after all these years.
If you could pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums from start to finish, what would it be, and why? Sammy Davis JR. I really don’t know why.
If you could pick one band to re-unite so you could play a one-off show with, who would it be, and why? Bands should never re-unite. Once it’s done its done. Leave well enough alone. I would like to see The Discords again, but…
One big tour, you can take two currently active bands to support you, who would you choose, and why? The big tour, I would bring any two bands that suck, so we would look good. In that case I would bring The Donnas and Kitty, why, because they both suck.
Major Label Ent. and Australian Hysteria Magazine present..
GUTTERMOUTH
JANUARY
18th – The National Hotel, Geelong [18+] w/ 28 Days, Mervin Gribbs, The Half Pints.
19th – The Westernport Hotel, San Remo [18+] w/ 28 Days, Take Your Own, And Burn.
20th – The Corner Hotel, Melbourne [18+] w/ 28 Days, The Go Set, Take Your Own.
21st – Gaelic Club, Sydney [18+] w/ The Rumjacks, Epics, Alls Fallow.
22nd – Beachcomber Hotel, Toukley [18+] w/ Drivers Side Airbag, Pants Optional, Floggin The Goods.
23rd – Marlin Hotel, Ulladulla [18+] w/ Topnovil, Averice.
24th – The Patch, Wollongong [18+] w/ Topnovil, Lower Coast Skies, On Empty.
25th – Bizzo’s, Caringbah [18+] w/ Easy Company, Averice.
26th – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle [18+] w/ Liberation Front, The Worst, Local Resident Failure.
27th – Woodlands, Brisbane [18+] w/ Stolen Bikes Ride Faster, The Scam.
28th – Billy’s Beach House, Gold Coast [18+] w/ The Scam, Friends With The Enemy, Crooked Face.
29th – Kings Beach Tavern, Caloundra [18+] w/ Dementia 13, Drawcard, The Scam.
FEBRUARY
2nd – Magnums, Airlie Beach [18+] w/ Jobstoppers, Fire Away.
3rd – The Venue, Townsville [18+] w/ Jobstoppers, Fire Away, Wolfpack.
4th – Cape York Hotel, Cairns [18+] w/ Jobstoppers, Wolfpack.
—> Tickets on sale now.
