Riverdales
Storm the Streets (Honest Don’s)
An interview with Ben Foster-Weasel
by Scott Hefflon
This being the first time I’ve ever interviewed you (I shoulda after Screeching Weasel’s Bark Like A Dog “suddenly” appeared on Fat instead of Lookout!), can you kinda encapsulate the early days of Screeching Weasel?
One important detail I think is often overlooked is that we always headlined our own shows. With the exception of opening for All once in 1989. We wanted a show in Quad City, and they were playing. But that’s it. Other than that, we’ve never opened for a popular band. Even if only 25 people showed up, who cares? We were playing with other local bands, so who was headlining was kind of a joke. The people who’d come see us usually liked both bands, so it didn’t matter who played first. So that’s something I’m pretty proud of – we never sucked ass to all the big-time local promoters. We hated them and were very outspoken about that. We never tried to get on the bills with all the big bands of the time: Seven Seconds, Circle Jerks, and all that fuckin’ shit. We never played that game. And because of that, we suffered in the beginning, but we came out ahead in the long run. There are bands, believe me, who opened for every fucking major punk band you can think of, and I can guarantee that you’ve never even heard of them. They never did anything and they never went anywhere. They spent all their time sucking other people’s asses. We spent our time setting up our own shows. It’s funny because a couple of these deadbeat losers are still kickin’ around. One in particular, I won’t mention their name, started out as a hardcore band, went metal when that was big, then they, well, they sounded like Bad Company for a record, and now they’re playing pop punk, because it’s popular, and they’re screaming, “Screeching Weasel ripped us off!”
You must run into that a lot; people who rewrite their pasts so they can say they’ve been “into it” since the beginning.
All the time. In 1988 or whatever, I promoted a show with Toxic Reasons, Zero Boys, a bunch of other bands, and Operation Ivy. We had about 100 people there. That same night, that deadbeat I was talking about before opened for Agnostic Front. They had about 1200 people there. But it’s amazing how many people claim they were at that Operation Ivy show. I was practically related to everyone there. Operation Ivy wasn’t popular around here yet, but they went on to become legendary. Screeching Weasel didn’t play that show, but when we went out to Berkeley, we played with them, and they took really good care of us. They drew most of the people, I mean, I guess there were a few kids there to see us, but they were huge out there. They gave us $400. We didn’t deserve $400! We were able to get home and pay off the expenses of going out there. And I wonder what Agnostic Front ever did for this guy’s band. At the time, I wished things were different, but looking back, I think we did things right.
What were some of the troubles you had that turned out for the best in the end?
Our first record was released by a local label, and the guy who ran it was extremely jealous about how well it did. He refused to repress it. Finally, he owed us like $200 in royalties, so I asked him to just sign the rights to the tapes back over to me, and that’s what he did. That was ten years ago, and it’s finally going to be re-released in a couple months.
The first record ever, Screeching Weasel?
Yeah, the 27-song album. We threw 12 bonus tracks on there, it’s CD-only, and it’s coming out on VML Records, a local label. Our second record came out on Roadkill Records, a label run by John (Jughead) and me, but funded by another guy. We had to learn how to run a record label, and there was nobody to help us out. Within about a year, we quit because the guy who owned it wanted to put out all these crappy records by bands we didn’t like. We were the only band who got paid, and that’s only because we knew where he lived. By the time we went to Lookout! in ’91, we’d already had a lot of experience. We’d been together for five years, granted we did break up at the end of ’89 and got back together in the beginning of ’91, but we were active in the punk scene and had learned a lot of our lessons.
Like what?
Wait. I tell bands that all the time, but they never listen. You don’t have to put out a record in the first six months of being together. You think you do, but you don’t. Number two: put it out on your own goddamn label. If you’re just starting out, put it out yourself. If you don’t have the money, see lesson #1. Everyone wants to immediately sign to a label, then they get screwed and they wonder why. Here’s when you sign to a label, when they come to you. Don’t ever go to a label. The only reason you ever go to a label is if they don’t know you’re available and you’re pretty fucking popular. You make them come to you. That way, you get what you want. If you’re going to them… I mean, there are good labels out there that aren’t going to take advantage of you, but there are a lot that will. In the long run, you’ll be happier owning your own stuff. Believe me, I speak from experience.
Now, from what I can tell, you only work with labels you’re friends with, or “friendly with.”
VML is a small label and they’re going to have trouble keeping our CD in print, but I like the label and they know the record from when it first came out. They think more highly of the record than I do. I’m never giving anything to anyone who’s not head-over-heels in love with it. And I don’t mean kissing my ass, I mean just into it. Are they excited about the financial possibilities, or are they excited about the record?
One question I’ve always wanted to ask: Why did you record a second version of “Hey Suburbia” yet never release it until Kill the Musicians when it’s so much better?
We recorded the second version about five months after we did the first one, roughly about the time the record was coming out. People were just starting to hear the tune, and that’s when Vapid joined the band and we started playing that (the second) version. And it’s just better.
Is it one of your most popular songs? Or which one is?
I have no fuckin’ idea. The guy who does the website, the unofficial Screeching Weasel website, set up this survey asking what people’s favorite ten tunes are. I think “Hey Suburbia” is usually in there. Most of the tunes that are up there usually surprise me. I’m obviously totally not in touch with what’s popular with the kids and what they want to hear.
But you don’t want your show to be the equivalent of a greatest hits album.
To a certain extent, you’ve got to play what people want to hear. That’s why we don’t really play shows all that much. It’s become like a rock concert. We used to go out, even when we were drawing a lot of people, and play like eight new tunes. The crowd would just be standing there. Two minutes before, there’d be a thousand people jumping up and down like mad, but then they’d just stand there and look at us like we’re fuckin’ nuts. But it didn’t matter ’cause we were charging five or six bucks to get in, and fuck ’em if they didn’t like it. I never really felt the pressure to play only the songs people came to hear. But this is the MTV Generation and people want their hits.
I know you’ve had to tell this story a million times, but can you give the highlights of recording the first studio Screeching Weasel record in years after breaking up (again) for the “final” time, after forming a new band (Riverdales) still signed to Lookout!, but then releasing the SW album on Fat and the follow-up Riverdales record on Honest Don’s?
January ’96, we were ready to record the second Riverdales album, but Lookout! was once again all like, “Well, if you do Screeching Weasel…” blah, blah, blah, money, money, money… So we did it. That process took the better part of a year with all sorts of ugliness with Lookout!. When you’re on the outside, it may look normal, but for us, it took us most of the year to put out the record. We were in and out of the studio, so it’s not like we went in, did a session, then bailed the way we normally do. This thing came out November 5th, then two months later we finally got to record the Riverdales record. We were ready to record the Screeching Weasel record in March or April, but it kept getting put off. It was supposed to be released in May on Lookout!, but we didn’t even start to record until June. We didn’t have a contract signed, so we didn’t have the money to go in the studio. I kept booking and canceling time, and it became a real mess. Even talking about it is a waste of time. The idea was to record the Screeching Weasel record, then the Riverdales – we thought it’d be a few months in between, but it turned out to be a year.
The original plan was to have both bands on Lookout!, right?
That was the plan all along. Once Screeching Weasel wasn’t on Lookout!, after all the shit I’d been through, I sure as fuck wasn’t going to give them another Riverdales record. We left the label on what I thought were relatively good terms, but by the time we started rehearsing for the Riverdales, things had blown up and they were suing us and everything. But we’ve worked out a deal now where they’re funding the label started by John and me in order to repay me for all the bands I brought them that made them a ton of money. They never paid me for any of that. So it’ll be Panic Button/Lookout! Records, and they’ll get their name on some good records for a change. I shouldn’t totally slam them ’cause they have put out some good records, but they’ve put out a lot of stinkers too.
It’s not what it once was.
Everyone agrees that, so I don’t think that’s a mean shot at them. They just aren’t the same label they were. I think you really can’t be after you’ve been around for a long time. Be that as it may, there’s going to be a 12″ coming out on Panic Button/Lookout! Records, so in a way it’s a victory in a way. Not over us, but over the former owner, who’s 98% of the reason why all this bullshit erupted in the first place. I’m cautiously optimistic, having been burned by them so many times over the past year and a half, but so far they’re being OK. We’re doing our thing here in Chicago, seeking out bands and all that crap, and if they hold up their end of the deal, I think everyone’s going to be really happy.
How’s Fat Mike feel about the potential of your next record coming out on your own label in conjuncture with Lookout!?
The original intention of the deal with Fat was to put out a Screeching Weasel record. Period. We weren’t out to make Screeching Weasel a Fat Wreck Chords band or anything like that. Mike liked the band, knew the record would sell, so what the hell? I’m working with them on one-record deals. If they totally fuck us or something, sure, they own the record, but that’s it. We’re not tied into anything. I talked to Mike about the next Screeching Weasel record, because I didn’t want to freak him out about it coming out on our own record company. I also don’t want bands to get the impression that pushing our own band is all the label will be doing. If we do a 12″ to get us off to a good start, that’s one thing. That’s what Fat Mike did. But I’d rather gave a record label put out the album. He said “whatever,” he was happy. Even if it turns out that’s the only record they get, he likes it. It’s nice to be on a label where the guy who runs it likes your band.
