Hagfish
(Honest Don’s)
An interview with George Stroud Reagan III
by Scott Hefflon
This is your third album (first for Honest Don’s) –Rocks Your Lame Ass on London, and what was the other one?
Buick Man, it came out in ’93, I think.
I don’t know it, was it a well-known record?
Oh, no, it only sold 15,000 copies, in L.A., Dallas, and Chicago, then they stopped printing it.
I take it it was on a small label…
Yeah, it was on a little tiny Dallas label, Dragon Street. As soon as we signed to London, they bought the rights and then held it. It has six songs that are on Rocks Your Lame Ass, so it doesn’t really matter.
Do you still like the record?
Yeah, it was recorded really shitty, but it’s got a lot of character. I like the vibe on it a lot. I was really pissed off, plus I was a lot younger.
Your last two records’ve been produced by Bill (Stevenson) and Stephen (Egarton)…
Yeah, we’re proud of that one, man. We were the first major label band, but we’re not a major label band anymore.
They have such a distinct production sound…
Yeah, that’s why we picked them. It’s the old Descendents sound, just refined. We really like the Descendents, so we didn’t really care if they made us sound just like them. But they didn’t. They chose to do some things… Like they really like The Beach Boys, and so do we, so we did all the cool Beach Boys harmonies. That was a mutual, “We’re going to have a lot of fun on this” thing.
So it doesn’t bother you that they make you sound, roughly, like everything else they produce?
No. It’s like Fat Wreck Chords; there are a few bands that sound different, but most of ’em are produced the same, and you can tell they’re a Fat Wreck Chords band. You could say the same thing about Bill and Stephen, well, except Zeke. Not the new Zeke, but they messed around and experimented a bit, and it sounds really kick ass.
All has their own label now, and just released Wretch Like Me…
Yeah, they kick ass live. I saw Jello Biafra 10 years ago, and seeing Wretch Like Me brought it all back. Their singer is probably one of the coolest performers I’ve seen in a long time.
Is that a baby I hear?
Yeah, loud kids, sorry. Can you hold on? I have to give my kid a cracker. I have two kids – a really little one, and a kinda little one. What was your question?
This is your third record, why is it self-titled?
We didn’t feel like naming it. We spent so much time on the songs and the music, by the time they wanted us to name it, all the titles we had we like “Songs for Fuckers and Fighters,” “Drink, Fuck, and Rock Out,” things we knew no one was really going to want to put in the store. Between that and the naked chick on the cover… We couldn’t come up with anything, so we said fuck it.
So now you’re on an independent label where you can do this kinda stuff…
I really like Fat Mike, and I really like Marc at Honest Don’s, and I couldn’t find a label I’d be happier going with. They don’t fuck with us.
Do you feel you made a mistake, going with London your first time out?
It wasn’t bad at first, and this is the saddest part, because of the big Green Day kick-off and Offspring doing so well, we didn’t realize the only reason the label liked us so much was they thought they could make millions of bucks off of us. They worked so hard for us, man, they did things for us labels just don’t do for bands. We thought they were being kick-ass because they liked us, but no, it’s because they wanted a million bucks. When it came time to make this new record, that’s when we started having problems. They were saying, “Hey, do these cover songs you’ve never heard of. And hey, use this producer that did, like, Ratt.” And we said no. And that was it. So we did one record with them when they were cool with us, and then we didn’t do anymore when they weren’t cool with us. I’m just happy they gave us the support when they did.
What London did for your career would’ve taken you years the indie way.
Definitely. We spent three or four years in Texas trying to get out of Texas. So we spend about as much time struggling as any other band, it just all kicked in at the last minute.
So no regrets?
No, not at all. I like all of our records, and I think that’s a really good record that wouldn’t’ve been the same without them. They let us do anything we wanted, so that record is 100% us.
How’d you hook up with Bill and Stephen?
My first show with Hagfish was with All, in Dallas. They remembered us when Twist Management called them for us ’cause we were kinda afraid to call them. Actually, Twist manages Descendents and All now, and since they met through us, we’re pretty happy with that.
What 7″s have you done? I know you have one on BYO…
And we have a new one on Go-Kart.
Were you on the Before You Were Punk comp?
Oh God, yeah. Tony, our drummer, made us do Missing Person’s “Walkin’ in L.A.” When I was a kid, I knew the song, but when they said they really wanted to do it, and they were recording the next day, I got the CD and was like, “How the fuck am I going to sing this?” It’s a girl, she has a really high voice, and she has a very specific way of singing.
What did you end up doing?
I just sang and tried not to sound like an idiot. I read the words off the lyric sheet while I sang. We also did a Dallas comp called Come on Feel the Metal, it’s a double CD, and we did AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap).” That was another, “How the fuck am I going to sing this?”
How’d you pull it off?
Well, I didn’t know it, but I can actually pull off a Bon Scott. I’d never tried, didn’t know I could, but we did an exact replica.
Did you practice in the shower for days in advance?
No, I walked in and they were recording the song. They were like, “Ready, sing!”
The band sorta keeps you out of the loop until they last minute, don’t they?
Yeah. I don’t leave the house anymore.
Speaking of covers, on your brand spankin’ new self-titled record, you have a They Might Be Giants song.
Yeah, ya know, I don’t know too many people that like They Might Be Giants, but then they play two shows – an all-age during the day and a regular show at night – and both shows will be sold out. And everyone knows every song. But I personally don’t know anyone who likes ’em, except for the guys in the band. I did that as a tribute, so maybe I could turn some people onto the band.
And “Twisting” works well with your style, as well as with your attitude. Not enough bands use humor, especially clever word play.
That’s what got me into the band, every song has really fuckin’ great words. We’ve been playing the song for years. Actually, I was just on the band’s website and saw that they’d mentioned us. I still have the problem that when I meet bands I like, I get stupid. They were one of the bands that I tried to meet once, but I was too shy. Maybe this was my way of trying to get their attention. This way, they’ll know I think they’re great without ever having to actually, like, meet them. I want to cover a Frank Black song on the next record. I just got the new Frank Black demo today, and oh, God, I just love him so much. They recorded it with two microphones in a room, and it sounds great.
By the way, speaking of great lyrics, how come you didn’t put lyric sheets on your new album?
No, none of our records have ’em. The reason for that is, some of our lyrics are really bad, when you read them. Lyrics go a lot better with music. I don’t want people to sit and read the lyrics without listening to the music.
But how are people supposed to sing along?
That’s the funny thing; we have a song called “Happiness” on Rock Your Lame Ass, and no one knows the words. They always sing, “Pull over, pull over…” as the first few words, and it’s actually, “Roll over, roll over…” which is really cool. I can hear people singing the wrong words over me, and I like that. People are always coming up to me and saying, “In the song, do you say this-and-this-and-this?” And I’m like, “No, but that’s cooler than the words I wrote.” It’s fun to me. We’re thinkin’ about putting what other people think our lyrics are on our website (www.hagfish.com). I sing a lot clearer on this record, so hopefully you’ll be able to pick out what the words are.
What about “Band?”
That’s a weird one, ’cause that’s the first real sentimental song I’ve written. When I showed it to the band, they were like, “Hey man, that’s pretty fuckin’ sappy.” The song’s about when you’re a kid and you’re playing air guitar in your underwear, and that’s been my deal my whole life. I’ve always wanted to be in a band. I forget how cool my band is, and how fun it is being in a band, ’cause they beat the shit out of us by making us play all year round. “Band” was the last song I wrote for the record, and, by the way, the reference isn’t to Elvis Presley, it’s to Elvis Costello. There are also some references to the punk rock wave that happened. I remember covering Descendents songs when I was barely old enough to sing ’cause my voice was changing, and the kids on my street were playing to Billy Squire. Now they’re trying to whip out the new Green Day, and all of the sudden they’re signed, just like Green day, and the whole thing was really disappointing to me. People forgot what music was all about.
But all the bands you listed in your special thanks have all been around a while.
Everyone on there totally rocks. There are some new school guys of there, and some local bands. Do you know Triple Fast Action from Chicago?
Yeah, I think Scott Lucas from Local H just joined as their guitarist, and I think he’s the man.
They are so fuckin’ rock. I like the singer. We did a bunch of shows together, and I have a videotape of him streaking across the stage, butt-ass naked, when Everclear was on stage. His little dingy is all bouncing around… Totally embarrassed the whole band, ’cause Everclear, ya know, they get pretty embarrassed about stuff like that. To me, the singer from Triple Fast Action is full rock force from 1979, but in a younger body.
Also, speaking of special thanks, “Rikki Rachtman?”
Hell yeah! Somehow, our manager got us hooked up to do Loveline. This was before it was some stupid show on MTV. On the radio, it was really awesome. You couldn’t see the people, so you imagined. On TV, you see the people, so you don’t have to… So Loveline would have, like, groundbreaking things on the show that you just couldn’t believe you were hearing. I’ve listened to talk radio so much, and I’ve heard plenty of crap, but what they would really do things I couldn’t believe they were doing on the radio – way beyond Howard Stern or any of those guys. So we got on the show, and we’d never met Rikki, we’d only seen him on Headbanger’s Ball, so we thought it was going to be a big joke. We became good friends, had the best time with him, and we were only supposed to be on the show for an hour, but we ended up staying on for about three hours. We hang out with him every time we go to L.A.. I mean, I put my balls on his face on the radio, I had to thank him on the record.
