Mutinyzine.com Interview with Richard Minino aka HORSEBITES

MUTINYZINE ARTICLE
DRUMMER DIARIES #1
by Martin Elf | May 7th, 2008

I can feel it in the air, something's comin' down... Oh yeah. Down And Away will hit the road again. This time it will be a little different. This year we celebrate our ten year anniversary. We will celebrate it with a short visit in Germany, since we are busy makin' new songs, moving all across the country, working our asses off and the sun is coming to town. What's gonna be a little different from before is that I'm gonna handle the drums for two bands.
As support on this little trip we will bring Subwaste (great upcoming punk rock band). I joined that band about 6 months ago. They had some trouble finding a guy for the drums so I helped them out on a couple of shows since Kalle who had been playing the drums before me, quit the band. And now, 6 months later, I am still helping them out on gigs and at the rehearsals, so I guess I'm stuck with the band.

Down And Away's first tour took place back in 2001. That means we have been on the road for seven years now. I always get the same feeling a couple of days before we hit the road. Something I always look forward to. Between the tours I work my ass off at the factory, nothing wrong with that, but I really need something to look forward to, to make it through the day. Something that takes me outside those brick walls. I am a restless soul, so for me vacation without doing anything would not be a vacation. Only Isolation. For example. For the last seven years all my vacations have been on the road with Down And Away or Sofia (my lovely wife). I can't really imagine a vacation where I wake up at home without somewhere to go. That would kill me I guess. I've got my vacation booked up for the rest of the year. First this small tour with Down And Away, then in august I will hit the road with Subwaste for two weeks. Then we have some weekend shows around europe with Down And Away again. And in December I will go on holiday with Sofia. We will discover Thailand for two weeks. Then comes new-years, and my life starts all over again; record, tour, work, roadtrips.....seems nice.

I think one of the main reasons that Down And Away has been around for ten years is that we're always looking forward to go on tour and make records (rehearsasl aren't as fun anymore though). It's not a job for us and that's what makes it exciting. Of course, I would say yes to make punk rock music for a living, but Down And Away is still a small band, and not many bands our size sticks around for ten years. If nothing really big happens, bands tend to drop off after half that time. We do move forward everytime we release a record, but with very small steps. So if we wanted to make money out of all this, we're at a very, very, very unholy place.

So, my advice to you who think that life just passes by without any further notice.... Activate yourselves. Get a car, and drive until the fuel runs out. Buy a guitar and play until your fingers bleed. Start to walk and don't stop until you find that you lost your directions... Then try to get back home again...

Best Regards/ Martin Elf