5 Questions
with...
1. If I knew absolutely nothing about Victims of Circumstance,
how would you describe the group’s music to me?
-- I always like to describe our sound as a "Suicide
Machines light" we try feed most of our songs a heavy mixture of punk
and ska, but unlike the Suicide Machines, our punk is a little more Pop
than Hardcore. People sometimes say we sound a bit like the Mighty Mighty
Bosstones because of the horns we mix in. We take that as a huge compliment.
2. If I were to buy your new album Do It Yourself
what songs should I pay particular attention to and why?
-- "Me and Alex P. Keaton". First of all it's
a good representation of the way VOC mixes Punk and Ska. Secondly,
it shows off a bit of our witty, yet sometimes sarcastic song writing.
"Legacy." This song is a good representation of a great ska tune,
lots of horns
and catchy lyrics.
"The Distance." This is just a great song!! Punk, Ska, Horns, Lyrics, what
else
could you ask for?
"Just Fine." - Straight forward Pop/Punk. This should be on the radio right now!!
3. When and where did the band form, and where did the
name come from? -- The band formed
in October 2005 in Clearwater Florida. Originally the band was just three
guys that worked together getting together to goof around. Who would have
guessed we had a little bit of talent?!? Of course the band now has Mike
Smyth (lead guitar and lead Vocals), Glenn Stewart (Drums), Alan Garcia (Bass
- replaced original Bass Player), Aaron Zylman (Trombone) and "J" (Saxophone).
The name came from a song that we all really loved.
The band was Whole Wheat Bread. They have a song called "Loud and Clear". It is the epitome
of a great minute and a half punk song. Twice during the song they say the
line "we're all Victims of Circumstance". We just liked the way
they sang it, so we starting using it as our name. We were lucky enough to
open for them last fall at a show in Tampa.
4.
What was your worst on stage experience? What was your
best?
-- Our worst on stage experience was probably the
first Big show that we promoted ourselves. It was the biginning of January
2006 at the State Theatre in St. Pete Florida, which is one of the premier
locations for national punk acts to play. We had promoted the hell out
of it. At the time we were used to playing for 20 - 50 people and we
pulled in about 250 for this show. We were totally stoked when we took
the stage but ended up playing the worst set we had ever played due to
continued house sound issues. When the show was over, we learned that
the regular sound guys were on vacation and they had just brought in
a couple of novices to try and run sound. We still cringe at the thought
of that show.
Our best experience was probably opening for the final night of The Mighty
Mighty Bosstones reunion of the Hometown Throwdown in Boston at the end
of December 2007. Not only did we open for the Bosstones who are legends
in the Punk/Ska arena, but we also got to play with Punk and Ska greats
- Big D and the Kids Table and the Pietasters. It was Awesome playing
in front of 500 kids that love the kind of music you are playing!!!
5. Do you think that the Internet (whether it be Internet
radio, legal downloading, MySpace, streaming audio, etc.) is a good tool
for musicians or is it a bad thing because it hinders profits?
-- Ahhh, the Internet. I will try to keep this short.
The Internet is the greatest modern tool to spread the word of your music.
I can think of no other method that will allow as many people from all over
the world to check out your band. Having said that, I don't think anyone
could honestly say that it hasn't hindered the profits of artists. Hell,
I've downloaded music in the past by artists that I liked. When Napster was
originally around I downloaded all kinds of music. In fact, it was how I
found a lot of bands that I became huge fans of. Unfortunately, no matter
how many legal sites are out there for downloads now, their are still just
as many if not more to do it illegally. It's great to be able to listen to
your favorite bands for free, but aren't you just slowly putting them out
of business?!?
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