Lickity Split
Volume Won! (Torque/Double Deuce)
An interview with Brien Stewart (vocals), Chuck Roberts (drums), Chris Condayan (bass), and Brian Baker (guitar)
by Chris Best
DC’s Lickity Split is not a big name. It might be because they mostly play in their hometown with one cross-country tour under their belts. Or it could be because they don’t capitalize on their own names more than they do. Put Lickity Split on a flyer around Boston and a smattering of a crowd at best would show up. But on the other hand, if one were to put “Lickity Split featuring Chris Suspect of the Suspects, Brien (ex-Avail), Chuck (ex-Pietasters) and Brian Baker (ex-Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Meatmen, Junkyard and currently Bad Religion),” suddenly people outside of their hometown give a damn. Still, this band is not out to ride on their own good names. They are Lickity Split, and they rely on their powerful and joyously anthemic brand of punk rock to seal the band’s reputation. Lickity Split is: Brien – Vocals, Chuck – Drums, Chris – Bass, Brian – Guitar.
This interview was done at the Black Cat in Washington, DC on July 5th.
When you released the album (Volume Won), the reviews were either totally positive or totally negative. The negative reviews seemed to concentrate on how “unpunk” all of you looked, thus tossing it aside as fake. This is obviously because the reviewers didn’t know who was in the band. Was it a group decision to not send out bios with the discs?
Chris: We sent it out with no info.
Brien: Actually it was the guys at Double Deuce (LS’s label) that flew the ex-this and ex-that flag…
Chris: They did it in their ads.
Brien: I want to thank Punk Planet for their review, actually (laughter). We were in California that day and my spirits were already low, and that just sunk my ship all the way (more laughter).
[To paraphrase PP’s review of Lickity Split’s CD: “Take your big choruses, and go away.”]
But you aren’t all just ex-members. Chris, you’re still in the Suspects?
Chris: Yes.
And Chuck, do you still play drums for the Pietasters?
Chuck: No. I couldn’t tour with them because our schedules weren’t compatible. I would have loved to have toured but couldn’t so they moved on. I still talk to those guys and see them. We’re all still friends.
You used to be in Avail, and this is your only band right now, correct?
Brien: Yeah. We’re goin’ steady.
And Brian, you’re still in Bad Religion?
Brien: Yeah.
And you used to be in Junkyard [laughter].
Brian: I don’t have a problem with Junkyard at all. People can’t believe I’m not like “fuck you, shut up!” about it. Junkyard was cool.
Brien: I loved them.
Chris: Junkyard was a band before their time.
Brien (to Brian): There’s never going to be a video of the videos, is there?
Brian: No, but maybe I can whup something up special.
Brien: Cool.
Still, back to my point, is this a part-time band?
Brian: It’s part-time in the sense that unless Chris and I have shows we have to play, we play. Bad Religion has to come first with me and Chris has been in the Suspects longer. But it’s not that hard. I was away for a month, got back two days ago, and now we’re playing.
Chris, since you write most of the songs, how do you decide which tunes go to the Suspects and which go to Lickity Split? Or did you start the band because you had a bunch of songs that didn’t fit in with the Suspects?
Chris: When you think of the Suspects, you’ve got to think English and 0i.
Lickity Split is a lot poppier than the Suspects.
Brien: We’re more radio friendly.
Chris: When I write a song, I can tell what band it’s going to. But I write all types of songs. I write country tunes but I don’t have a country band yet.
How did Brian join the band?
Brien: We had another guitar player [he plays on Volume Won] and he quit. Brian had moved back to DC from California so we asked him, and be thought it would be fun to try out with us.
Why did you move back to DC?
Brian: Actually, I moved here two years ago. [I moved back] because I lived in LA for ten years and LA is a terrible, evil place where Satan rules and I have family here and stuff. I’m on tour with Bad Religion at least half the year, so it was a good place to keep my stuff. I thought I’d rather keep my stuff near my mom instead of in LA.
So now that you’re a real band, what do you have planned?
Chris: Our main plan is to play shows and record an EP soon so people can hear what we sound like with Brian playing guitar. Maybe put some live tracks on it as well.
When you do interviews, and you all have done a lot of interviews, what are the worst questions you hate to answer?
Brian: How did you get together? Where did you get your name? Do you still talk to Ian MacKaye? But I guess that last one is just me.
So how did you get the name?
Brian: I personally hate the name. But it’s not about what Brian likes, it’s a group effort.
Chris: I don’t like it much anymore myself.
Brien: I do! I think it’s cool! [laughter]
Chris: … And I’m the one that vouched for it the hardest.
Brien: Actually, Kent Stax from the Suspects thought up the name.
Going back to the songs, the lyrics definitely are important to the songs, they aren’t just filler. How come you didn’t print them out in the album?
Brien: Like Nikki Sixx says, “Sometimes you don’t want to give it all away. You want to let the rockers think about it.” No, but really, there wasn’t enough room in the artwork. But every band I’ve been in made it a point to print out every lyric, and I thought “wouldn’t it be nice to not do that?” We liked the collage idea so we went with that. Anyone who wants a copy of our lyrics can write us at the address in the CD.
Were you there the night of the 26th to get the new Mötley Crüe album?
Brien: I have it in my bag right now. It’s not very good. It actually came out on the 24th.
OOHH!
Brian: It’s cool, it’s cool.
