Cheerleadr
The Rock Album
An interview with Will Claflin , John Fortin, and Phil Matthews
by Scott Hefflon
An interview with Will Claflin (vocals/rhythm guitar), John Fortin (bass), and Phil Matthews (drums). Missing was Chad Appleby (lead guitar). Additional direction provided by Greg, their manager at the time, who was buying drinks and trying to keep some semblance of order
The setting: The Sligo (Davis Square dive bar, Somerville, MA)
The beverage of choice: Yes
The bands on the jukebox: Bad
Our interview opens with our illustrious interviewer, Scott Hefflon, sauntering in 30 minutes late, entirely too sober to converse coherently. Ordering a shot and a mixed drink (called a chaser to the true professional), he finds the band in the back (spotting them because they’re not watching the sporting event on TV, arguing with fellow patrons with more facial hair than teeth, and, well, they look like guys that’d be in a band) with a table half full of empties. He vows to help them fill it.
Introductions go around even though they’ve all met before and don’t remember, the mini-reorder is placed precariously amidst empty glasses and bottles, and “Record” is pressed while “warming up” to talk of what constitutes a good porno video.
[This part edited for relevance and to avoid potential lawsuits.]
I guess my first question is about the incident at the Maxie Awards…
Will: The Noise [local Boston ‘zine covering exclusively local bands. One of surprisingly few for a city the size of Boston] has an award ceremony where they give out awards for best band, best singer, best songwriter, that kinda thing. We got nominated for best live act. We showed up for the ceremony, and it was kind of a crazy night of mayhem. It was like a Who’s Who, ya know? Everyone was there and drinking pretty heavily. There were, like 50 awards, and between every award, people would talk and tell jokes and stuff for about 10 minutes. So wouldn’t you know, our award – Best Live Act – was the last one of the night. It was about 2:30 in the morning…
John: [mumbles something to Will…]
Will: Well it felt like 2:30 in the morning… So they’re about to give the award away, and we wanted it really, really bad, ya know? They announce the nominees – us, The Shods, and Count Zero – and then that Count Zero won [by 2%, I hear]. I’m all smashed and get up on stage, grab the award and start making an acceptance speech. When I grabbed the award, the guy holding it was kinda hesitant, and we got in a tug-of-war sorta thing over it. Before I knew it, I saw Johnny come over to the stage with “the look” in his eyes, and he picked up the podium over his head and spiked it. He created enough of a diversion that I grabbed the award and made a beeline for the door. I found out later that the guy who, well, “handed” me the award was the guy who’d actually won it. So I’m pulling the award away from the guy who rightfully won it. So let’s just say that while we didn’t win it, we own a Maxie Award.
Right on. Anything to add, John?
John: Nope, that’s it. Except that I’m told I’m not allowed through the doors of the Kirkland [Cafe, in Cambridge, just outside of Harvard Square] again.
Do they still have that clunky-ass piano in there?
Will: No, I don’t think so. Or Johnny woulda smashed that too.
Next question…
Will: Next question is who keeps fuckin’ playing Dave Matthews on the jukebox? Why? Why?!?
What’d you put on?
Will: The Pixies, REM, and either The Beach Boys or U2, I don’t remember.
Are they influences, or just the least bad thing you could find?
Will: The Pixies are definitely an influence. I think they were way ahead of their time. They hit me at a really impressionable time – 15, 16, 17 – and when Doolittle came out, I was blown away.
Did you guys grow up here?
John: I’ve lived in Somerville all my life.
Will: Boston, pretty much. I moved to Allston about a year ago. A little more suburban, which is nice. I used to live on South Street, right across from the copy shop where Matt from Godboy works. Used to get all the bands graphics done there. No place to fuckin’ park…
Give me your take on the Boston scene; what you like, what you hate?
John: At least there seems to be some rock’n’roll again after a little lapse… I like Cherry 2000…
Will: Creative hooks, and a good blend of pop and edgy noise. I hear Sonic Youth in them, which I’m sure they get a lot, but not like that’s a bad thing…
John: And Quintaine Americana…
Will: There’s some good harder stuff, but there’re also some good, mellower songwriters around, not that I can think of any names at this exact moment…
Gravel Pit are a band I have no idea why they haven’t been scooped and gotten out of here yet.
John: And Jack Drag. Jon lives in Somerville, too.
Will: Funny thing is, I went to their website, and it says they’re from Cyprus. Not many people know about the place, but I went there, and it looks like Bedrock from The Flintstones. It’s this leveled place in the middle of the Mediterranean. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to grow up there. I guess it’s inspiring cuz their music is filled with great hooks and cool chords.
Greg: Why don’t you ask them about their new album?
Tell me about your new album.
Will: We did five songs last October at Fort Apache, and we’re going back in to finish it off later. We don’t have a name for it yet. [Time travel to current day: It’s called Rock Album and there’re 11 songs on it.] If you listen to Cream of Cheerleadr and then Batten Down the Hatches, you hear an obvious progression – Oh god, someone put in “Free Bird” – and then you take the next step and that’s where we’re at now. Things are stronger and more cohesive. The harder songs are harder and the softer songs are softer… Kinda like the McDLT: the hot side’s hot and the cool side’s cool. We’re really excited about the new album because it’s got Phil, our new drummer, on it.
What happened to the old drummer and where’d you get your new one?
John: The old drummer went to work with children down south somewhere… And Phil used to practice a couple floors away from us.
Will: We had an ad in the Phoenix, and we were really looking, and we were getting scared…
John: I had this Post-It note that said “Drummer Needed, room 411,” and Will was like, “Don’t hang that thing up.” But that’s how we got Phil.
Will: 45 minutes after he hung it up, I went home and Phil called. I said, “Don’t move. I’ll be right there.” So I drove back to the rehearsal space, met him, and the funny thing was I knew him from high school. Our circles were, like, 2% apart, and he was one of those people that you’re always like, “Yeah, I should really hang out with them.” We tried him out and he was phenomenal.
John: And even though Chad’s picture and credits are on Batten Down the Hatches, he was new to the band and only played on a few songs. So this new one will have Chad on all the songs.
Do the new guys help write the songs?
Will: The way I put it is that I write the skeleton to the songs, then these guys put in the tissue, the organs, the skin…
John: The prick…
Will: And if she’s a pretty song, the tits.
Who has Cheerleadr been compared to, or who would you like to be compared to?
John: I just want to be called rock’n’roll. But today’s version of rock is so…
Neutered?
Will: We put the balls back in rock.
John: So much music sounds like going into a keyboard store and pressing Demo.
Will: We work really, really hard, not just on the songs, but on making sure our live show is the best it can be. We practice six out of seven nights a week! And that’s another thing I think is missing in rock…
And then there’re bands like Speedealer and the Dropkick Murphys that’re on the road almost constantly… Rock’n’roll and smashing things has been overlooked… Working stiffs need to know someone’s out there smashing hotel rooms.
John: Phil terrorized a hotel with a fire extinguisher…
Will: That was at the Philadelphia Music Conference. We realized we hadn’t seen Phil in a few hours, so we’re lookin’ around for him cuz naturally he’s up to no good, so Chad and I went down to the lobby, and while we were there, we played a game of seeing who could slide further across the floor in our socks, and then realized another 40 minutes or so had passed and still no Phil… So we pressed the elevator button, and the doors open and there’s Phil with four other guys in bathrobes all holding fire extinguishers… They all start squirting us as the doors close, so we race them up in another elevator cuz we know if he gets to the room before we do, it’s all over. So we’re pounding on the door, “Let us in, for the love of God!” We don’t know if they’d passed out from an overdose or the fumes or if they’d just fallen asleep, but no one was opening the door… Then we hear the elevator door open and Phil comes running down the hall with a fire extinguisher in either hand, like a gunslinger in the movies…
John: And what’s really funny is that he didn’t just terrorize the hotel, but also a neighboring Denny’s…
Will: And luckily they caught the brunt of the damage.
No police action, huh?
Will: We’ve been fortunate enough not to have any police intervention.
Who’d you like to tour with?
John: Tool.
Will: Fugazi. I would say Jane’s Addition and Led Zeppelin, but neither exist anymore… Let’s see, who’re bastards? … There’re no bastards anymore! I think the question is, who wants to tour with us?
What’s your background?
John: The Pixies, The Clash…
Will: Chad’s all metal.
John: Chad actually enjoys the first Mötley Crüe record.
Hey, don’t go bagging on Too Fast for Love! That was L.A. sleaze when there was such a thing.
Will: Yeah, well… We’re trying to breath life back into rock’n’roll.
What is rock’n’roll, either past or present?
Will: Led Zeppelin was pretty goddamn rock’n’roll.
John: They were about as rock’n’roll as it gets. And The Clash.
Will: But no one’s really doing that anymore. It seems like Nirvana and all those guys would trash a stage but then go home to their wife and kids and say, “Well, now wasn’t that a nice performance.” I wanna go home to my bottle of whiskey in my cardboard box…
To me it’s just not a rock show unless you hang out, talk shit you’ll never remember to people you don’t even know, hang out somewhere you don’t remember being, fall down a flight of stairs, throw up in the back of a cab you don’t know how you got in or how you’re going to pay for, then spend the night on the kitchen floor because you couldn’t find the bathroom. That’s a good fuckin’ night.
Will: But despite all the rampant destruction, just to tone down a little [hey, Will was the one that mentioned his goal was to be thrown out of Sligo], it’s really important to us to write good songs without all the bullshit, songs without all the stupid, cheesy shit you hear all the time…
John: The Offspring could trash hotel rooms every night and I’d still hate them.
If the songs aren’t memorable and stand the test of time, what fuckin’ good is any of this?
Will: Exactly.
Like Appetite for Destruction or, dare I say, Too Fast for Love…
John: The main reason I bag on Mötley Crüe is as an excuse to bag on Chad…
They had the lifestyle AND they had tunes that stuck with you. They hit me at an impressionable age…
Will: And what do kids at the impressionable age have now? Nothing. The market is aimed at singles, and that’s turned the quality of full-length CDs to shit. It used to be that you bought a cassette and you had to listen to it in its entirety, so it had to be good. Now you can just skip to the next track or hit repeat on the one good song. Bands now are made from singles, but they’re horrible bands. When you listen to the other songs on the record, you’re like, “Are you fuckin’ kidding?”
Greg: Ask them about the new album and what’s coming up for the band.
Tell me about the new album and what’s coming up for the band.
Will: Matt Ellard’s producing the record. He’s done a lot of cool stuff like Cherry 2000’s record, the Wilco/Billy Bragg album, and he’s also worked with Coolio and George Michael…
What made you pick him?
Will: He did Weezer and Morphine, too. He’s a great goddamn guy. And I remember thinking he did a great job on the drums for both those two bands. He’s also worked with Radiohead, and that’s another band I’d love to play with. I think some of our rises and falls are kinda similar to them… The balance between intense and mellowing out, if anyone ever compared us to Radiohead, that’d be the biggest compliment I could think of.
John: Radiohead says one of their favorite bands is the Pixies, and that’s one of our favorites too.
Will: We just wanna be Radiohead, but I don’t think they trash hotel rooms like we do.
So aside from smashing things, what’s on your “To Do” list?
Will: We’re looking forward to NEMO and the WBCN Rumble. [Yeah, so this interview was done in, like, March of ’99 and I’m transcribing it in October… Sue me.] We played Arlene’s Grocery in New York and had a bunch of label people come and see us. People from Arista, Elektra, Roadrunner, Velvel (R.I.P.), Maverick, Atlantic… So we’re hoping someone’ll check us out in our hometown and see what we can do. We just want people to hear us or hear about us. That’s one of our biggest problems: As much publicity as we try to do, a lot of people have heard of us, but just don’t make the connection with the music. They don’t put the names with the faces with the music, and that’s really important.
What’s on your wish list?
John: I’d like to be on the soundtrack for any movie Sean Penn is in.
Will [in a gruff voice]: Anything Micky Rooney does, we want in. And we’re in a student film for a guy in Providence.
Phil: It’s a post-grad student, I think, who put together a film, I can’t remember the name, but it’s about a local musician who falls in love with another local musician. It’s a rock’n’roll love story, basically. The guy saw us, really dug us, and asked if he could use one of our songs in the movie.
Will: And that’s the coolest thing: someone who sees us, really likes us, buys a CD, then contacts us on doing something with them. A lot of people have told us that the first time they heard us, they thought we were OK, but by about the third time, that’s when they really got hooked. I’m that way with Sonic Youth, so I think that’s not such a bad place to be. Greg’s getting that look like he’s shopping with Mom.
[Will goes to wizz and I figure this is a good time to get someone else to talk…]
Seeing as you’re the fucker that smashed the podium, what’s your take on all this?
John: I dunno… I just wanna have fun with this stuff. It’s all spur of the moment, ya know? It’s not like we plan to be destructive rock icons, we’re just out having fun and shit happens…
So where’s the destruction come from?
John: You said it: growing up on Appetite for Destruction… Rock is as much the visual as it is the audio, so I think the energy is really important. I think we’re fooling people into thinking we have a great live show. Actually, we all just like to jump around a lot, and I think that kinda covers up the fact that we’re all sub-par musicians. A little movement on stage and people think you’re the shit.
