Interview with Greg of The Boils
Interview with Greg from The Boils
When and how did The Boils come about? It was actually over 10 years ago. I’m the only remaining member since then. I looked around at the local scene and thought I couldn’t do any worse than a lot of the crap bands around here, other than Violent Society. Looking back on it, we were just another crap band ourselves. Years later and many members later, we signed to TKO records, and I wanted to actually change the name of the band to give it a fresh start. But Mark from TKO got very irritated at the prospect of that idea.How would you describe The Boils to someone who has never heard you before?
It’s like a football game that comes to your town. We like getting pumped up for shit, we like tailgating before a game or a show. We’re great guys who like short skirts and bocce ball on the beach.
Tell us something about yourself that might shock people. I teach art history and art production as my job.
What's the craziest thing you've ever done in your life? I can’t share that in a public forum! Every weekend is a new thing…lemme think of like, the 2nd or 3rd craziest…Hmm..well, thank god I’m not dead. I don’t know…I lost my mind in a previous relationship and sliced myself up with a butcher’s knife in my ex-gf’s bathroom, showed up at my present day guitar player/best friend’s house bloody and cut up, and scared the shit out of my family and friends. Thank god I didn’t die. There have been a lot of great football games since then. And a lot of good Boils shows. And lots of good sexy time. And lots of sexy girls on the beach. And my 88 year old Pop-Pop rules and we watch football together every weekend with Bert and bitch about the Eagles. Shit. Don’t do dumb shit, kids. See a doctor.
What’s your favorite The Boils Song ? Oh WOW Buddy..Great question! Shit man…lemme go get a CD. Well, When the Sun Goes Down irritates me, our first CD. It touches me that people still like us to play stuff from World Poison, but the songs on that irritate me too. Pride and Persecution we started to kinda figure it out here and there. On From the Bleachers, there’s a few favs. Bullies is close to my heart because it opened the door for us to get invited by the Philadelphia Flyers to write The Orange and the Black for the hockey stadium. I like All I Ever Need because it is a love song and no one expected that from us. And I really meant what I said in it. On the other end, I will go with The Orange and The Black, because it was a dream for me to have a song I wrote be featured as a part of a major sports team.
If you could travel through time, when would you go back to and why? I guess I’d say the golden age of piracy, late 1700’s. The sex was probably dirty and fucked up. I think I’d like that. People didn’t bathe that well back then, so the girls in places like Port Royal were probably ripe with B.O., which I think is very sexy.
If you were a porn star what would your name be? Shit, man! I’m doing this solo at 2 am with a bottle of vodka…but if I may be so bold, I can answer for the other guys. Eric (bass) would be Eric Everhard. Bert (guitar) would be Bertzerker. Chris (drums) would have some fucked up German name. He speaks fluent German. Expect an Oktoberfest styled song in german on our next release. Myself (Greg, singer) would have to go with T.T. BoiL.
Where is your favorite place to play shows ? Anywhere with sexy girls and great guys who like to drink and talk sports. If Atlantic City had steady punk shows we’d love it. There are hookers everywhere and bars that comp your drinks in the casinos. My favorite places are Atlanta, when Mark from the Anti Heros used to run the Beer Olympics. I like Boston because we have a lot of close peeps there, like DKM, FFF and Tommy and the Terrors. Sacto is rad as fuck with the Whiskey Rebels and Pressure Point. Of course Philly is our home base, our friends and family are there. I dunno. I don’t like playing New York. The beer is expensive and the bands suck.
What's the worst think about Punk Rock today? It’s just become really gay. Not gay meaning gay but gay meaning lame. It’s not cool anymore to have a punk band. I don’t even want us to be considered a punk band. We’re influenced by bands like Cocksparrer and old hardcore like Negative Approach. We’re influenced by old reggae like Toots and Jimmy Cliff. We like latino music like old Grupo Niche. We love bands like the Reducers, The Bodies, Scurvy Bastards, AntiSeen and DKM. Don’t try and peg us as one of those bands that only likes old shit. My favorite bands are contemporary bands like Patriot, Showcase Showdown, Alleged Bricks, Anti Heros and the bands I mentioned above. But the rest is just crap. I like the Turnpike Wrecks. Those guys are fun. But from the My Chemical Romance stuff to AFI to just the same old crap you see at local shows. It’s all crap, man. I went to see DKM at a warped show in NJ. I was burning to a crisp in the sun. I asked Matt (Kelly, drummer from DKM) when they were going on and it wasn’t for HOURS. In the background, I heard awful music. I asked him what it was. He said My Chemical Romance. I was very irritated by it. At the time I was going out with a VERY sexy girlfriend. We were going to the beach after warped. I apologized to Matt and thanked him for getting us in, but said I had to get the fuck out of there. It was awful. I was sun burnt, I looked like a lobster and I was listening to god awful music. There is so much wrong with punk today. All the hair and tight pants and crap. From wanna be UK82 shit bands to girl pants emo bands. It’s all just bad.
Do you have any funny tour stories ? If a funny story is wanting to get sexy time and not getting it, than I have many. It is very irritating. Otherwise, we were touring with Oxymoron in Colorado, and I climbed a mountain, I didn’t notice a sign that said watch out for mountain lions and the guys in Oxy were very nervous because I had disappeared. They came to get me. I also ran off one night on that tour with a Harley chick. We had sexy time, and then I had to go to the bathroom. When I walked down the hall, there was a naked Harley dude on the couch. He was jerking off to a porno film. This was very stressful because I felt that if he noticed me he would have been very angry that I was walking by as he was jerking off. I had to tip toe to the bathroom. He was grunting as he jerked off. Hmmphh! Hmmphh! Hmmphh! I got to the bathroom and locked myself in there and looked in the mirror. I asked myself a question. “What’re you doing???”
What are two social issues facing the country that are the most important to you? It’s most important to me that we get the republicans out of power. I would love for Obama or Hillary to get into office. A black president or a woman president might restore some sense of dignity to the world’s view of the USA. I can’t blame them for hating us. Second I would say is healthcare. I pay 300.00 a month for healthcare. I am broke.
What is your evaluation of the current punk scene? It sucks. The people attending the shows are GREAT. But the bands are terrible. Many of them are trying to be something that has already been done. I saw the Casualties play to NO ONE in the mid 90’s. They worked hard for what they got. But all these wanna be Casualties bands are just the fast food of punk rock. It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s cheap. And it’ll give you diarrhea. There’s just so much shit out there. Violent Society is playing in Philly again. Thank God.
What music/bands do you currently listen to? Alleged Bricks from DC. Callaghan from Chicago. Knucklehead from Canada. The Hawks from Osaka, Japan. Scurvy Bastards from Reno., NV. I haven’t listened to much else in Punk rock lately.
What other kind of music do you like to listen to besides punk rock? Lots of Latino Music, Like Perez Prado. Lots of other music that people would get irritated by us for listening to.
How do you think the genre of street punk has evolved over the years? It evolved because the bands were wiser and more creative than their predecessors. Look at late releases from Patriot, or from the Templars. Compare that to old shit like Blitz or Combat 84. Sure we love those old bands for the roles they played in our intro to punk/ Oi! 101 courses. But compared to newer quality bands like Patriot or The Templars, they are crap. The second tier bands of today are worse then the first tier bands of the first wave, but the first wave bands of today are better than the first wave bands of yesterday.
Who are your musical influences? Anything I spend time listening to influences me in some way. Slayer, Manowar, The Uprise..the list goes on. And will irritate you if I name names.
What do you think of George W? I hate him. He epitomizes the dumb cowboy American perception that the world has. Bill Clinton was almost impeached for a blowjob. Meanwhile, “W” has sent many friends of mine off to die in a bullshit war.
What would your idea of a punk fantasy be? Having sexy time with my friend Lauren from Providence, Rhode Island.
What other things have you all been working on recently? I’ve been working on not killing myself. I’ve tried to take my medication regularly. I’ve also been trying to break into new worlds. I almost had sexy time with a very, very sexy black girl I’ve known for awhile. Unfortunately, I drank too many skrewdrivers and passed out. She was naked and on my lap. Its irritating, ya know? But in Philadelphia, there are very few black people into punk rock. So we have to break in to new worlds. Tyree is one of the few. He is a great guy. But for sexy black girls, we must go other places.
What are some bands that stand out in today's music scene? I think the Browns are looking GREAT this season. As are the Lions. I am hoping this is Kitna’s break out season and that he can revive a traditional doormat team and bring them into a contending position. And I LOVE the Cardinals. I would love to see Kurt Warner lead them into play off contention. Oh. You asked for restaurants. I would suggest Dahlak, an Ethiopian restaurant in west philly. Or New Delhi. A great Indian restaurant also in west philly. Oh. You ASKED FOR BANDS. Shit, man. All the bands I have already mentioned. Plus the traditionals from Pittsburgh.
You guys have a ton of songs, how do you guys go about writing new songs? We are just beginning. I feel like I have just found myself. We love writing about day to day life. Football, and drinking. Come join the party. We are having A GREAT time over here. The new album is a great time. Songs about Atlantic City. Songs about making fun of people smoking.
Since you’re punk, you must do tons of drugs. What’s your drug of choice and why? I DID coke once and embarrassed myself in front of Mike from pressure point and Mark from the anti heros. Both have been friends for YEARS. It was an embarrassing situation. No more. We go to the gym. While you are getting weak…we are getting harder! No drugs here. And no smoking! Oh god NO! No, we don’t smoke. No. we drink. We don’t do drugs. No I don’t do drugs. God.
The term "Punk" is thrown around in many ways. What makes punk, "Punk" to you? It is something that breaks new ground…it fits within a certain sound and attitude but does something newer. I know what it isn’t though. It isn’t the same crap I see all the time. The term has gotten very loosely thrown around. Given the bands that are considered to be punk these days, I don’t even want to be categorized as punk. It’s lame.
Anything that you’re excited about coming down the pike? Yes! We are writing our new record, and it is fucking AWESOME. It really is going to be the ebst thing we have done, I know that is cliché to say. But you must believe me!
What do you do when you’re not playing music? Play with my pudding. Research stuff for school. And go to the gym. A lot.
Closing comments? You gotta do that man! Check out our myspace man! Shit! www.myspace.com/theboils
