Featured Artist

WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/thepeabodys or www.incessantdrip.com

MEMBERS: Eric Peabody, Conor Ferguson & Aaron McDonald

LATEST RELEASE:  Awkward Age 7" on Infringement Records

INTERVIEW:

Conor - Sounds like one for you, Eric.

Eric - I'd been doing this band called Talladega that was a more Dickies sounding thing, but the bass player quit to play more mature music or something. Since the drummer, Stearnsy, and I both were totally into Mutant Pop-style pop punk at the time, we figured we'd just go all out and do a three chord pop band. We tried out a bunch of bass players, but finally I just taught my friend Andy to play bass because he listened to the same stuff as we did. It's really sad how completely not musically proficient we were when we started. We recorded some songs a few weeks after we'd been together, and, for some reason or other, Timbo from Mutant Pop really liked the recording and released it as an E.P. The rest is history.

Eric - Like I said, I had that band, Talladega, and before that I'd played guitar briefly in a Fat Wreck-type band called 427. The lead guitar/singer dude in that band pretty much taught me how to play guitar. I'd had a "band" before that called Cold Slither, but since none of us really knew how to play our intruments, our music wasn't what you call, um, good. We got Cold Slither back together years later, and it was really admirable how much we hadn't improved.

Conor -Yeah, but I doubt anyone's ever heard of them. So I'll save you the name-dropping.

Eric - Since the original line-up parted ways, the "band" has been pretty much me and whoever I can con into playing pop punk - a much harder task than it might seem. Conor has been a real trooper, playing with me for the past... I dunno, two or three years. Although, I've noticed he's become a really good bass player. I expect him to be quitting to pursue free form jazz any day now.

Eric - Well, pop punk as a general theme, obviously. I listen to a lot of stuff - very little pop punk actually - and other influences creep in sometimes to the Peabody sound. Sadly, my lack of actual musical talent makes most of those attempts turn out like crap. As far as what I'd like to sound like (and totally lack the ability to pull off) would be a fast Japanese Motown garage pop band - like totally crazy and distorted guitar and voice, and catchy with happy, downbeat drumming and bass parts that are all over the place. But, yeah, planning to get a sound like that is pretty much impossible. You just have to do it by accident. Wow, I ramble...

Conor - In town, I really like The Tonic Lounge because it's usually got a really good built-in crowd and the staff is always super-cool. The Ash Street Saloon is always good to us, and The Jolly Inn is a small, intimate place where people just get wasted and rock out. So even if there are only 20 people there the place seems packed. Out of Town, my favorite place to play/hang out is The Funhouse. Brian takes good care of the bands and makes sure everyone has a great time. I encourage everyone to avoid The Hawthorne Theatre and Rock n' Roll Pizza here in Portland. Pay to Play is a giant scam that runs rampant at those venues.

Eric - In Portland, the Ash Street Saloon, because the booker is so easy to deal with. Total overall, probably anywhere in NYC, because we get to play with a lot of our friends and there's usually a good crowd. CBGBs has always been very good to us. I guess they really are gone for good i New York though now, which is weird.

Eric - Back in Warren, PA (where the band was founded) have this sort of stalker dude who comes to shows. He used to have this weird, boney volcano looking thing growing out of the side of his face, and he rush on stage with a guitar to play with us. Actually, his presence at shows was really more disconcerting than funny. Um... there's always Bernie's in Columbus, OH, where there's this dude called the Batman that always shows up and demands that we (and every other band) play either the Batman tv theme or Louie Louie while he sings. I've seen much more weird shit as shows than funny.

Conor -Damn me and my short-term memory loss...I can't pick out a specific moment, but touring with the Popsters was entertaining on a daily basis. Oh, and there was the time when Eric forgot to sing a verse because, as he explained to everyone later, he was thinking about what he was going to eat for dinner instead. One time Sam (second guitarist) spun around and nailed the headstock of my bass mid-song.
-Craziest place you've played?

Eric - We played this one show in Akron, OH at this rundown art gallery palce called The Mantis. The other bands were mostly riot grrl and crust kind of stuff, definitely not our crowd. We saw kids cutting each other with Exacto knives and drinking each other's blood. I introduced our set with "We're The Peabodys. We play cute music for cute girls" and someone threw a bottle at me. I ducked and it hit Stearns in the head. After the show, the dude that we were staying with threw a forty bottle at a cop car, and we had to follow a high speed police chase to his house. He somehow evaded the cops, but not The Peabodys.

Conor -Ever? OK, the craziest place I ever played was in Bend, Oregon at a place called Player's in 2002. It was a sports bar that gave bands as many pitchers of beer as they could drink. We were playing last, so of course I got loaded, blacked out, and came to during the very last song...and found myself laying down in front of the kick drum. I also quit the band that night. This is the only show my dad has seen me play.

Conor-Mutant Pop, Infringement, Incessant Drip, Insubordination, etc., etc.
-Does playing in a band get you laid?

Eric - Yes. It is, as far as I can tell, the only reason.

Conor - Ha! Well, definitely more than being a roadie does...
-Who's your favorite bands right now?

Conor -Here is what's been pumping on my stereo lately: The King Khan & BBQ Show, The Monsters, The Kent 3, Love, The 13th Floor Elevators, Lopez, M.O.T.O., The Sonics, Pavement/Stephen Malkmus, Leonard Cohen, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Ape City R&B, The Jolts, Radio Birdman, Supergrass, Scissor Sisters, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Snakebites, etc. I like to think my taste is somewhat eclectic.

Eric - Pernice Brothers, The Ergs, M.O.T.O., Steinways, Bent Outta Shape, Toys That Kill, The Popsters, Lemuria, The Zatopeks, on and on…

Conor-Eric does.

Eric - When we started the band, it was very cathartic because I was going through this big break-up and pretty much just spilled my guts into the songs. Now, I kind of just draw on either current things that annoy me or past experiences. I gripe a lot. Hen I try to sound positive, it generally sounds pretty corny. I usually get a phrase that I like, and try to write lyrics around it that make sense.
-When you play at a show are you all serious or do you just fuck around??

Eric - Basically, it depends on what version of the Peabodys I'm playing with, and what the show is like.

Conor-I don't think you necessarily have to do one or the other. I think we take what we do a little bit seriously, but not ourselves. Also, I have really bad carpal tunnel syndrome in my hands, which makes it painful to play bass. In order to deaden it, I try and drink as much as I can without becoming too shit-hammered. It's a delicate balance. Sometimes it leads to my jackassery. But yeah, it's all about what kind of music you're playing too. If I were playing with Leonard Cohen, for example, I'm sure I would be a lot more serious and subdued.
-Any pre-show rituals?

Conor -The thing about the booze mentioned above.

Eric - Nope.

Conor-Yes. This is also causes more drinking.

Eric - I'm a ham.
-What's your favorite song that you play right now and why?

Eric - A new one called "Tony Randell". It's bouncy and fun, musically, and has probably some of the best lyrics I've written... at least I think so. Tortoise & Hare from our new 7" is fun to play too.

Conor-I've always liked "Note From The Underground." It's catchy and fun. "It Only Hurts When I Think" has a pretty sweet bass part that gets me all the ladies.

Eric - A few years ago, I thought that it could almost sorta be a livelihood, but unless pop punk suddenly becomes enormously popular again, and third tier bands like us can ride the coattails of success, I guess I’ll pretty much just see it as a fun way to waste time and money. And that’s not a complaint. I've met so many awesome people and made so many great friends through this stupid band, I'll never regret a thing.

Conor-It means I get to tour, record fairly frequently, and basically live the life I dreamed of in high school. Seven years after high school...

Conor - I own a record store in Northeast Portland, Oregon by the name of Infringement Records. Which means I get to hang out with friends and listen to records all day. It's also located right next to a guitar shop, so I goof around with instruments occasionally too. Not bad work if you can get it.
Eric - Watch a lot of movies. And Dog The Bounty Hunter.

Conor -I'm not a musician. I just happen to play in a band. I don't think my parents could care less, really. They think it's a phase I'm going to get over before I grow up to be a teacher or lawyer or something.

Eric - Does the phrase "could give a shit less" mean anything to you?

Conor-That sounds more like a thesis topic than a question I could answer in a few sentences.

Eric - Punk rock hasn't influenced the mainstream since Nirvana and the first Green Day boom, and even then the effect was just to open the eyes of marketing hacks to this bloated underbelly of untapped resources. Since the early nineties, it's been the mainstream influencing punk rock, either to cater to it or in rejection of it. Either it's every dumbass band of visor wearing psedo jocks with Mesa amps and a cookie cutter Pro-Tools, AutoTuned recording, jumping around like asses on stage, trying to be the next big thing or it's some surburban dickwad with a trust fund, recording his band with a tape player to sound "authentic" and excommunicating anyone who doesn't fit to a precise vision of DIY. Things would be a lot better if people could just get over that making money from your band is okay, but if that you go about it expecting to make money, you're a douche.
-What is your evaluation of the current punk scene?

Eric - Depends on what scene you're talking about. To most people, punk rock is deader than dead. But as far as the new underground punk scene, there is so so so much great stuff going on. It seems really exciting again, like it was when I first got into punk rock in the early days of Lookout.

Conor-It's pretty dismal in my opinion. Unless you like screaming young boys who shop at Guitar Center. There are a few bands who do it with some notion of originality, but overall I think it's become fairly homogenized and commodified. I think it's seen as more of a way to become successful now, instead of kids just fucking around in their basement seeing what kind of noise comes out.
-Who are your musical influences?

Eric - A hell of a lot. Lots of old country and Motown. Lots of 70s and 80s punk and early hardcore. I'd say that my songwriting , though, is pretty much a direct rip-off of equal parts Neil Diamond, Hank Williams, Dr. Frank, Paul Westerburg, Blake Schwarzenbach, Ben Weasel and Joe Pernice.

Conor - I wouldn't want to place the blame on any bands by listing them here.

Conor - Nah. I'd much rather watch other bands play without having to worry about loading gear, etc.

Eric - M.O.T.O. I bet it would be a fucking blast.

Conor - No People! Those Japanese kids are insane!

Eric - No People. Definitely.
-Describe the stage presence of The Peabody's -

Conor-The guy holding the guitar and singing does all the work. He's the one to watch. The bass player amuses himself by wandering around the stage aimlessly, and there's a different drummer every show.
Eric - You will probably wish you were watching some other band.

Eric - Yes. Sometimes I'm sad. Sometimes I'm mad. I dunno. If your musical style doesn't change, you're definitely trying too hard to hold on to something about yourself or bend over backwards to market your music to an established niche. Either way, it's kind of pathetic. I've had a lot of misfires with my music over the years, but I can definitely say that each release honestly reflected who I was at the time it was written.

Conor-Just one? The Clash!

Eric - Probably Jawbreaker.

Eric - Don't get me started. Guh. People are so fucking retarded. Instead of trying to solve problems with something that would actually work, people just react with the complete opposite action to whatever the problem is. Everything in today's social climate is so polarized and reactionary and has it's own stupid, bullheaded niche solution. It's like reality has become one ongoing marketing campaign with a different version for every demographic. A lot of people seem to actually believe not only that there are black and white answers to every problem, but that they are in sole possession of the right answers. Oi vey. The world needs a kick in the fucking nuts.

Conor-Ramma Lamma Fa Fa Fa
-What's your favorite part of being in a band?

Conor-Meeting people on the road. Free drinks.
Eric - Girls thinking I'm somehow cool.
-What are personal thoughts on the mentality of today's America?

Eric - Retarded, lazy and short of attention.

Conor-The terrorists hate our freedom!

Eric - That too. And we’re letting them win because we're fighting them here instead of other there or something...

Eric - I'm so detached from that brand of punk, I really don't even have an opinion.

Conor - Yeah. I dunno. I haven't seen it since I was about 16.
-When you look into the crowd, what would you say are the kind of people at the shows?

Conor - What the fuck is a crowd?

Eric - Heh. Diverse. Cute girls, dopey boys. As far as the people that actually get what I intend with the band? Dorks. Lonely, maladjusted dorks. They smell their own.
-How did you come up with the name The Peabodys?

Eric - Mr. Peabody. The time-travelling dog. He's funny and smart and an asshole. Sort of my role-model.
-What makes The Peabody's different from other bands?

Conor-Our infallible ability to charm absolutely no one at any given time.

Eric - On one hand, I think I put a lot more effort into writing my songs than most bands. On the other, I put so little into actually performing them that it totally balances out. So, I dunno, I guess we're pretty much average. I'd like to think we're a little more literate and more plaintive than your run of the mill punk band.
-Anything you want to add or say?

Eric - Well, we do have a bunch of new stuff coming out, so all of you should look into buying something or other. That'd be nice.

Conor-I did this entire thing at work while watching The Beatles Cartoons from way back when. Which, in retrospect, may not have been the best idea, since I think half my brain just became useless.
-Anyone you want to thank?

Eric - Too many. Thank you for giving us this space to ramble for one thing.

Conor-Yeah, lots of people. That reminds me, I've gotta call them...

Next - Word association, Type the first thing that comes to your mind when you read the following words.

ERIC -

Punk - Drublic

Drink - Drunk

Eat - Drink

Girls - Hot

Money - Guh

Work - Guh

Sleep - Sleepy

Leather - Lethargy

Police - Squad

Movie - Art School Confidential (I just got this movie today)

TV - Scrubs (It’s on right now)

Life - Mikey

Death - Darth Vader

Punk - Is dead, but the punks don't know it. I think Mykel Board said that. The punkest motherfucker I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Drink - Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Eat - Burrito

Girls - Frustrating

Money - Freedom

Work - Too much

Sleep - Never enough

Leather - jacket

Police - Authority

Movie - "Melvin Goes To Dinner" (...where the fuck did I put my copy of this movie?)

TV - worthless - I haven't had any reception or cable in my house since 2003, and I'm never going back. I only have one for my DVD viewing pleasure.)

Life - Ate two bowls of it this morning. The box and bowl are still by my feet though it is now almost 6 pm.

Death - Curious

Website: www.incessantdrip.com
My Space: www.myspace.com/thepeabodys, www.myspace.com/ericpeabody, www.myspace.com/yellowplanes, www.myspace.com/wornoutrecords
Retail/Distro: www.interpunk.com, www.infringementrecords.com, www.hificds.com