INTERVIEW
SAKES ALIVE!!
by Christer Davidsson, January 2008
Posted on January 21st, 2008

Hi there! How are you guys doing?

Chris: - We’ve been doing well Christer! Working on booking shows, doing some more recordings, and found a new drummer. So things have definitely been awesome.

I found out about you guys just the other day and I'm totally amazed by your demo. Who's in the band and for how long have you been doing Sakes Alive!!?

Thanks for saying so, man. Sakes Alive!! is Tim Williams, Thom Bulman, B.C. Mostyn and myself, Chris Vandeviver.

Tim and Thom have been in the band since the beginning of December (though Tim and I have rocked together much earlier than December), and B.C. just joined literally the other day. Sakes Alive!! is kind of my ‘baby’ of sorts, so I’ve been involved with it over its entire life-span thus far.

You're pretty much a brand new band. How did you start to play with each other in the first place.

The idea of Sakes Alive!! started about two years ago right after the implosion of a previous band I had been in. After doing some ‘soul-searching’ and getting my head straight, I simply realized that I absolutely love punk rock, and that I should put my efforts into a punk rock band that I could be proud of. Prior to this I had never written any songs for a band, nor sung/yelled any type of vocals, nor wrote lyrics. Despite this though, I was determined.

So for two years I wrote songs; realized the songs weren’t very good; tossed out said songs to write more material; realized those weren’t much better; and so on and so forth till I got to a point that I was satisfied with (the"Presents" demo). There have actually been 9 people who have played in Sakes Alive!! altogether, and the first version of it had played one single show about a year and half ago, which I immediately knew at that point that I still had a lot more ground to cover with learning how to write decent songs.

Tim’s parents and mine had been friends ever since we were kids. Mainly due to the fact that my mom and both his parents are deaf, and Rochester has a strong Deaf community. Though we never actually talked throughout all the years, we came across each other at the shows here in Rochester. A while after the first line-up for Sakes Alive!!, I started to think that I could move forward again with it, and I found Tim and his buddy Mike, and we started practicing in Tim’s garage.

Thom and I had been in bands in the past, and he expressed interest to play in Sakes Alive!! after I started spreading the word that I was looking for bassists. And B.C. got in touch when I had posted some bulletins online looking for drummers.

You guys are from Rochester, NY. What can you tell me about that place. I can't say I've heard much about it in the past.

Rochester is a relatively small scene with some very unique dynamics. I have sort have a love/hate thing with this city, which I don’t really feel like I have come to terms enough to have the right to express.

However, we’ve had/have a great deal of awesome bands in the area, which is definitely something that Rochester should be proud of. From Marathon to Polar Bear Club, Heavy Hearted to Borrowed Times, it’s been pretty eclectic and tasteful. The punk/hardcore/indie scene has experienced a wonderful maturity here in Rochester, and I think it’s definitely been noticed by people over here in the States.

Your first demo "Presents" was just released and according to the promo info it's for free. What have people’s reactions been towards it?

So far the response has been overwhelming positive, and that has just blown us away. This past weekend Punknews.org had posted a review and ‘Editor’s Pick’ in favor of Sakes Alive!!, and the floodgates opened a huge swell of people who were stoked for us and really wanted to acquire a copy of the demo.

The goals for Sakes Alive!! are extremely modest, with no goals of trying to “make it big” or expose ourselves to people at the arena rock level or anything ridiculous. Our take on it is simply that every single person who likes us is one more accomplishment that should be celebrated. And with that in mind it’s been extremely successful.

Even though there's only three songs on it I think it's one of the most interesting records from 2007 I've heard. Too bad I found out about it too late to put it on my Top 10 of 2007 list... How do you feel about the demo?

I think the demo is certainly a wonderful starting point. There’s a lot of performance and recording aspects that I wish I could change, but hindsight is always 20/20. But in the respect of song-crafting, urgency and fervor, I think people are able to get an accurate idea of what we’re all about.

All the songs feel really sincere, there's no fucking around on "Presents", if you know what I mean? Where do you get inspiration, what bands have made an impact on you as a musician?

Thanks man, I’d definitely like to think there’s the utmost sincerity with Sakes Alive!!. The record labels that I really love and focus on are Jade Tree, Red Leader, and No Idea. Pretty much every band those labels put out have affected me in a very intense way.

The bands that really have affected me song-writing wise would be Glass and Ashes, Challenger, and Dillinger Four. The song-writing Glass and Ashes has going on completely blows my mind time and again. If I could ever get to that point I would be amazed. Challenger’s stuff is so stripped down, yet original. And D4 is fucking D4, ya know?

You wrote everything on the demo yourself, right? How do you think you'll work with Sakes Alive!! in the future? Will there be more collective work than before?

Indeed, I do write everything myself. It starts out with me programming midi drum beats on my laptop, which I then record guitars on top of with a small practice amp plugged into an interface. Thankfully it makes writing music insanely easier for my brain. For some reason I can’t seem to really understand what a song is trying to do until I hear it being played back to me.

At this point in time, I’m going to continue holding the reins with the song and lyric writing for the band. As I said before, Sakes Alive!! is sort of my ‘baby’ (for lack of a better term), and I have some very specific things I want to express creatively.

Sort of a control-freak, are ya? Ha ha! But, I understand what you're saying. Are you the guy behind the artwork of the demo as well? That thing looks really good. I love the style.

Haha, yeah, you could say that. There’s a very specific vision in my mind for this band, and I’d really like to follow it through. And the other guys are very awesome to be so accommodating to that vision. Plus, it seems to make the band relationship a far more lax one compared to bands we’ve been in the past. If everyone has very specific ideas in mind, it can lead to a lot of struggle and fighting.

The artwork for Sakes Alive!! is handled by Stan Doll (www.safearmy.com), from the Louisville (Kentucky) band, Lords. His stuff is mind-blowing! I knew right from the get-go that he needed to be handling artwork for us. For the demo layout I explained that I wanted the red curtains, a stage and water lapping at the edge of the stage. Everything else I asked him to come up with it based on the song lyrics of the three songs. And viola! It’s rad.

Lyrically it seems like you pretty much fed up with how things are being run in the world. "You're Money's No Good Here" is about how you find comfort through playing music, am I right? Do you believe music can change the world?

This is very much true. A lot of things in this current world, in these current political systems, in these current economic systems, at these social levels drive me absolutely nuts. And I don’t know if music really can change the world, but if people are listening you should at least be saying something worth their time. I can’t jive with bands who try to toe the line of speaking about something but want to remain ‘apolitical’, as to not offend or upset anybody. As someone once said in an old issue of Punk Planet (who’s name I can’t recall right now), “politics are affecting you all of the time.”

“Our Mistress the Sea” deals with the ecological damage humans inflict through our selfish existence. It’s not trying to fight the global-warming fight, nor the vegan fight (though both are worthwhile causes). What it is saying is we’re out of control. And if you happen to notice, the food-chain is a pretty delicate system. Don’t look at it as “save the planet!” It’s far more like “save our asses!!”

“Your Money’s No Good Here” is definitely about finding comfort through music, but more specifically about the mutations punk rock has experienced that has given a lot of bands in the “mainstream” (or mainstream minded) the opportunity to rape and achieve rock star aspirations, by drawing direct influence from it. I compare the current Victory Records/ Fueled By Ramen catalogs to that of a dance party being thrown at a beauty salon. And in the basement the punks will shake the foundations of this racket till it falls.

“Riders United” is about reclaiming hope; reclaiming our lives. That love isn’t dead; that everything hasn’t been done so adventures are still a possibility; and that careers, jobs, and money are unnatural. Maybe every road has been paved-- so let’s ride them as recklessly as we can.

Have you played any good shows yet?

We’ve played a total of 4 shows so far, all of which have been very sweet. Played our first show in our buddy’s basement; two shows with Polar Bear Club; and one benefit show for a couple who had been in a car accident (the reason is not sweet, but the show was).

I’ve been booking weekend tours that begin mid-February, going onto whenever it feels right to schedule something bigger or different. Some of the shows we’ve got going are in Pittsburgh, Ohio, D.C., around New York, etc.

Being a band from the New York area there must be a lot of competition. Is it hard being noticed? I mean, there must be thousands and thousands of bands trying to get their music out.

Well, thankfully we’re not from New York City or anywhere around it. Rochester is a small city comparably, so it’s not too hard to be noticed. Overall, music in general is over-saturated. So I think with the advent of the internet you’re forced to contend with bands world-wide, as opposed to just your specific region. The silver-lining I discovered though makes it so much easier to sleep at night– if your band focuses on building a foundation of people who can be considered friends and not ‘fans’, you’ve don’t need to worry, because your friends will stick with you through thick and thin.

Yeah, sites likes MySpace and Pure Volume has really changed the way of promoting music over the last few years. I really like the concept, it's getting easier and easier to find new cool bands that aren't on the "big" labels. I think one of the best parts about it must be the fact that bands can connect with eachother to book shows together and stuff like that. Do you agree?

I completely agree. How bands did it themselves back in the 80’s is beyond me. It must have been a real Darwinian process. If you couldn’t handle the stress of booking out of town, you were done for perhaps?

But yeah, I love using MySpace, as stupid as it may be. It allows us to remain in contact with people on a pretty personal level. E-mail is alright, but you can’t see who you’re talking to, nor know anything about them besides what they tell you directly. And I like to think that MySpace has a bit more positive vibe going than most online messageboards.

Apart from Sakes Alive!! what do you guys do?

B.C. works at a Children’s Center; Thom is going to school for web-design; and both Tim and I work at a grocery store company called Wegmans (though at separate locations).

B.C. and Thom have bands outside of Sakes Alive!!; Tim and I stick to this.

So, what are you working on right now? You guys really need to get a 7" out or something!

The first weekend of February we’re recording two tracks just to put up online to give people something new to listen to. It’s been about four months since the demo tracks were posted, and it’s time to freshen things up.

April we’re recording a 7” single for Barrett Records, who are out of Syracuse, NY.

The reason I say single is because in May we’re going to Louisville, KY to record a full length record with Chris Owens at Headbangingkillyourmamamusic, and the 7” is going to include an ‘A’ side song that’s from the full length, and the ‘B’ side is going to be two unreleased songs.

Whether the full length is going to be released by a record label, or if I am going to foot the bill is completely in the air right now. There aren’t too many labels that we have any desire to work with. Though if any of the aforementioned three were to get in touch, there certainly would be cause to celebrate.

Well, that's it! Thanks Chris for taking the time to answer! Anything else you would like to say while you still have the chance?

Just thank you to everyone who has given us a chance. We 100 percent appreciate your ears and attention. Thanks Christer!

Thanks again and all the best to Sakes Alive!!

Links:

Sakes Alive!! Official MySpace | http://www.myspace.com/sakesalive

Download "Presents" for free!!! | Click here to get it!