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| I got the chance to sit down
with several members of the band Damnation at a practice studio in Santa
Ana. With me was Al G - bass player, Shaun - vocalist, and Robert - the
drummer. Missing in action was Todd, their guitar player who conveniently
lives in Las Vegas. Inside the small studio they offered me lots of
information and were quite nice. No rock stars attitudes here.
Dead:
So have any of you been in previous bands before Damnation? Dead: So then you’re all original members to Damnation? Al: Yes. Shaun: Yeah, it was a strange situation after The Living End broke up, you know. Robert: It was a purgatory. There were a few in and outs. A few fallen stars. Shaun: For the first year of Damnation, Robert and I were just kinda chillin, working on whatever, and then finally Al, he joined in about half a year later. After The Living End kinda thing. Robert: To rake in all the glory and cash we were making by then! Al: Yeah, I was promised my own dressing room. Robert: That’s right. Dead: So, are you all Orange County locals, or no? Robert: No! Shaun: No, we all kinda came from different places. Robert: I was born and raised in Huntington Beach. Dead: Shaun, where are you from? Shaun: Orange County basically. Robert: Hawaii really, when he was just a glimmer in someone's eye. Shaun: I was born in Germany, I had military parents. Then I moved to New York, and then Huntington Beach. Dead: You live in L.A. now right? Shaun: Yeah. Actually. Dead: North Hollywood? Shaun: Right. Dead: I grew up there, in the valley. Shaun: It’s like totally....cool. I like it there a lot. Al: It was pretty fucking hot today. It’s pretty stagnant. Shaun: Yeah, you gotta have a.c. man. Dead: (to Al) You’re from here right? Al: I live in Fullerton. I don’t like to say Orange County, I live in Fullerton. No Orange curtain. (laughter) Dead: What are some of your influences for your music? Robert: Dead Boys, Black Sabbath.... Al: Stones.... Robert: FEAR Al: Clash Shaun: Ramones Al: Bad Religion Shaun: Johnny Cash Robert: With some Milli Vanilli thrown in. Shaun: We all have common interests. And that’s kinda what makes it cool due to the fact that everybody has their own trip. Robert: We are all from different images. Like the heavier side of rock and roll, the heavier side of country music, the heavier side of punk. The Slayer and shit like that. I bought some New York Dolls vinyl cuz all of mine’s scratched to shit, but the other one I got was some really good Brindel harpsichord which I play a lot. I like classic shit like that. Dead: Depends on the mood you’re in. Robert: Oh yeah. Dead: Where have you had your best shows at? Robert: In front of a lot of people. Shaun: Yeah All: All ages!!! Al: As long as people are paying attention and are into it. The Troubadours a great place, people there are really cool. Dead: Do you have to pay to play there? Al: No. Shaun: Never had. Robert: I like to play in Germany, but I love America. (in a silly voice) Al: Bands that pay to play kinda fucked it all up. Shaun: You don’t have too, it’s just kinda dumb. Robert: In ways you do, like the couple bucks in gas, the blow out that you didn’t expect. Broken shit, always. Shaun: We’ve had really good luck with our promoters and stuff, and we always have. You have a circuit of places that you play and tour. Depending on the capacity of places and how big the show is. Places are the same all over the country, and all over the fucking world. Dead: Your past shows with the U.S. Bombs, were they better here or up in L.A.? Al: In L.A., they just have a better sound. Shaun: The 21 and over show down here was full. Al: You couldn’t really see. Robert: 21 and WAY over. Shaun: All age shows are always better. I mean it’s nice to play a bar show, and we like it because you can kinda fuck off. But all ages, their longevity is great. Al: People our age don’t have the energy that we used to have. Dead: And they are usually too fucked up by the time they get there. Shaun: Yeah! They’re all heavy on you, ahhhh. They want to lean on you and sweat their big armpit sweat all over you. Dead: What are some of your favorite bands you have played with? Shaun: Ohhh, fuck, we just missed out on a FEAR show last weekend. It got jacked up. I would have like to have played with them. We got a chance to play with a lot of cool bands that we all admire. The Bombs, Pushers.... Robert: Suicidal, that would be a stand out show. Al: The Humpers, rest in peace. Dead: Who does your web site? Shaun: We have these two people. A guy named Brandon and this girl Alicia. Brandon lives somewhere around here, Whittier I think. Al: Santa Fe Springs Shaun: And Alicia lives in Wisconsin. No, Virginia, I think. Al: Somewhere in the Midwest. Robert: No, Alabama. Al: Really, Alabama? Shaun: Okay Alabama. Anyway, they put together this really cool stuff. We send them information, tell them what the band is doing. We e-mail them. They’re trying to help us out. Robert: I don't even own a fucking computer! Shaun: Yeah, I cant access it either. Robert: Let alone work one. I don't even have a fucking calculator. Shaun: It’s awesome that they’re doing this. It’s cool they spend a lot of time on it. You know what I mean, they’re ridiculous. Dead: Are they friends of yours? Shaun: No, well yeah, they are now. Al: It’s really flattering. Shaun: Never met the girl that’s on the east coast, but we communicate through e-mail and the mail. Dead: So where have you guys toured? Al: New York, Florida Robert: Most of America Al: North and South Shaun: West Coast, Germany, Italy, Switzerland. We spent a month in Germany. Robert: Sweden Dead: Do you guys have day jobs? Shaun: Tattoo. I own a shop in the valley called Halloween Tattoo. Everyday, that’s what I do full time. Robert: He loves it. Shaun: I try to do art in general.... Robert: We fart art. Shaun: Illustrate, in fact there’s this coffee table book coming out that I did the illustrations for. Its a new project. Anyway to do art and not have to do something else. Al: He used to do tattoos out on the road for gas money and food. There's a lot of unfinished tattoos out there. Shaun: When we get stranded, hey you, want a tattoo?! Dead: Are you going out on tour anytime soon? Shaun: We’re kinda staying busy this summer. We have this guy getting us shows. We have some dates with Against All Authority (AAA) coming up. And in June we’re doing a Bombs, Union13 tour for 10 days. And that’s just the pacific north west. So AAA is for 4 days, the Bombs for 10. Dead: So you manage and book yourselves? Shaun: Well this guy John has been booking us and he's doing a good job. Al: He’s not our manager but... Shaun: He advises us a little bit I guess. He's certainly not a manager. As far as the rest of the shit, everybody takes care of their own part. Robert: AKA Shaun. Shaun: No, everybody helps, Rob takes care of a lot of shit, Al takes care of a lot of shit. The only one its hard on is Todd cuz he's in Vegas. But what he does, we can rely on him. That's a job in itself. Dead: Can Todd just show up spur of the moment? Al: Well, we know when our shows are in advance, you just plan ahead. Shaun: We three have a little acoustic thing that we do that's kinda fun, and a change of pace. It keeps us jamming and working on songs. We don’t get a chance to practice much, only when we have a project going. Or shows coming up. Robert: The day before. Al: Practice and play at the same time. Dead: Where do you see yourselves in the next couple of years? Robert: Dead, older. Shaun: I'm 30 now. Al: I'm 21. All: (Laughter) Robert: I want to play Farm Aid in the next couple of years. Dead: Is that still going on? Al: It goes on every year. Farmers ain’t out of the hole yet! Shaun: I want to play with Johnny Cash some day. Robert: More shows. Hopefully bigger and better. More kids coming to see Damnation. Dead: So who put out your last album? Shaun: The last one was put out by Burning Tree, no I take that back , by.... All: R.A.F.R. Robert: AKA my Mom. Shaun: That's big Marty who hangs out in Los Angeles, he has a lot of cool other bands so it came out on that. The earliest before that was out on Burning Tree, and Anti Records. And in Berlin we have a compilation of a bunch of stuff on one album for European release. That’s like kinda semi available at shows. The new album, either one of those labels is more than willing to put it out, only they don't have the money to pay for the recording. They can pay for everything else but that, so we’re kinda funding it ourselves. Then we will see who will put it out. We have the basic tracks now and they kick ass. Dead: When will that be coming out? Shaun: I suspect by the middle of September, but its never a good time to put something out close to Christmas so I'm thinking the first of the year. It will be out 2001 release. Although there will be copies floating around beforehand. Who know’s what will happen. Dead: What does Damnation fear? Shaun: Wasps, they come at you and they’re all random. Robert: Repetition, you cant have none of that. You always need to be be regenerating. Regeneration X. Al: I’m afraid of bees. I’m also afraid of DUI’s. Shaun: I’m afraid of “last call”. All: (laughter) Be sure to read DeadOnTheWeb.com's Show Review of Damnation by clicking here! You can see Damnation at these web
sites: Damnation upcoming shows: Interview by Aimee Schwartz
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