VICE INTERVIEW – ABE VIGODA

Everyone in New York is walking around talking about how the world is ending because we had one 60 degree day in January, but the real harbinger of doom is the fact that it seems like some cool shit is coming out of L.A. I know… we were as freaked out as you. But look at bands like Abe Vigoda, a group of kids so ahead of you that they already figured out no-wave is boring and have moved on to tropical punk. Seriously. We chatted with guitarist and vocalist Juan Velazquez to figure out what kind of black magic they are working out there.

VICE: Were you all buds before the band?

Juan Velazquez: Actually we used to have a different drummer, Zach, but that did not end up working out. So we asked Reggie [Guerrero] to play drums for us, which changed the sound a lot. He had never played drums before and did not have a drum set. It was donated in pieces by some friends—so basically he learned how to play drums by being in the band.

Seriously? I know it’s just banging some stuff around, but didn’t he suck for a while?

We started to write songs that weren’t too demanding, and that was actually something that had to do with a major change in sound… but, yeah, he kinda did suck for a little.

OK so let’s figure this out. First off, is there an audience at shitty L.A. punk bars for “tropical pop/punk”? Who the fuck else do you play with?

I hope there is an audience, and it seems to be working out. We totally don’t play with any other “tropical-pop” bands. We usually just play with our friends’ bands, which include west coast touring bands: No Age, Mika Miko, Silver Daggers, etc… the basic “Smell” bands.

Shows at the Smell are definitely not homogeneous, like there is not just specific punk shows or anything like that. So I think even if there was an onslaught of tropical pop punk bands, we probably wouldn’t play with them all the time. That would be boring.

I doubt it’ll be a problem. So what’s the deal with this Smell scene then? Tell me the truth. Are you kids all hopped up on some crazy space drugs? Why are there so many good, young bands forming around that place?

I think that lots of young bands stem from the Smell and also new venues like Il Corral because they are all ages venues and cheap and fairly easy to get shows at. Almost every night there is something going on at both places involving young musicians. Also, more established bands tend to ask the new young bands to play with them. More than anything though, I think it is the welcoming audience and the ease of playing at said venues.

And what about getting away from that little comfy zone: Can you tour when you are all in school or whatever it is you do?

Well, all four of us go to school: David studies engineering, Reggie does photography, I study English lit, and Michael art.  David, Michael, and I work… Last summer it was really easy to get the time off to tour. We just have to organize a tour when we are off school. We really want to do a US tour this summer. We are going to record some new stuff and see who wants to put it out. We are also going to have two videos on a DVD put out by Post Present Medium (the label that released our 12″). But, no matter what, we also want to tour. It’s probably the best part about being in a band.

So based on the enthusiasm, I take it last summer’s tour went well?

We went up the West Coast to Seattle and down through Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. All the shows were pretty rad except for Albuquerque. Jock bars? Oh, and Juan adventured through the gay underground of Denver.

Really? How is that gay underground in Denver I’ve heard so much about? 

We were staying at Monkey Mania (a venue in Denver), which is down the street from a bathHAUS. Our friends who we were staying with opted to go with me. Basically it was the weirdest shit of my life, the creepiest part being the gloryhole maze!

Please tell me there are pictures and please, please tell me you gave it a go.

No pictures, just memories. I did not give it a shot: Hep C sucks! But it was basically an intricate network of pleasure that I gazed upon.

RYAN DUFFY

Check out some Abe Vigoda tunes at their MySpace page.