Interview w/Jim Domenici of The Fake Boys & Hammer Bros!
AO: Hi Jim. For starters, I want to ask what's going on in your world? What is new?
JD: Eh, same old shit... I just got home from a years worth of touring, I got married and I just finished writing a new Fake Boys record. Now I'm playing Skyrim and getting ready to do it all over again.
AO: What can you tell me about the new Fake Boys album titled Pig Factory? How does it differ from earlier releases?
JD: The biggest difference is that we are a better band all around and I am obviously a better songwriter now then when the band first formed. This record seems to be what the band has been trying to write since day one and it's the record I've been trying to write since I was 14. We've had to deal with a lot of shit in terms of finding our niche/sound - but we've definitely put all that to rest.
The thing that has bothered me most over the past 4 years is the incorrect assumption that we're trying to be a traditional pop-punk band. NO ONE hates 3-chord pop punk/ramones-core more than I do - reason being that NOT ONE Ramones-core band actually SOUNDS LIKE THE RAMONES!
For anyone who bothered to jam our last 7" Nice Knowing You on Kiss of Death, this upcoming LP will pick up right where that left off. It's heavy 90's ish alternative/pop with a heavy 60's rock influence. Imagine it being a record influenced by 90's alternative/pop and heavy 60's rock...All the while being played by 80's hardcore nerds. Imagine Negative Approach trying to write the first two Weezer records or some shit. It's warm, catchy, and dead serious.
For people who fail to understand the way rock & roll works (which is pretty much everyone except you and I), you usually don't hit the nail on the head right off the bat, or as I like to say...YOU DON'T TOUR ON A DEMO. This LP is us finding our sound completely, this is us smashing the fuck out of the nail, this is our fucking band. I learned how to be in bands by watching The Beatles and The Ramones growing up, and I've spent the past 29 years of my life trying to do what they did. I love every aspect of rock & roll, I play guitar 5 hours a fucking day, and I couldn't be any prouder that my "I want to hold your hand" has evolved into my "and your bird can sing". If that isn't enough to make most of you feel stupid, suck this...Rubber Soul WAS NOT The Beatles first record. The Fake Boys Pig Factory will be the most honest LP of the year.
AO: I may be out of the loop - is there anything going on with Hammmer Bros?
JD: We broke up a year and a half ago but we played a reunion this past Halloween. We did all Misfits covers, no original jams.
AO: I remember once when we were hanging out frequently - we ate food at some restaurant in boston and then happened to fall into some sort of crazy intelligent/ deep conversation within minutes. Does this happen with you regularly? Who have been some writers/philsophers/thinkers etc. that influence your outlook on life?
JD: Dude, that was a great night... I think about it all the time. it definitely happens a lot, but it's a reflection of the type of people i like to hang out with. My friends and I don't think the same so we learn a lot from each other, and learning is one of the only forms of stimulation that truly gets me excited. When I'm hanging with someone new I like to engage in conversation and push that person to bring out their best thoughts and qualities.
In terms of writers/philosophers/thinkers I really dig Nietzsche, Thomas Paine, Betrand Russel, Kerouac, and John Lennon. When I was finishing up college I came to the conclusion that I would never use my degree because I didn't support the justice system in which I would have to work, so I picked up a philosophy minor to feel like I was actually getting something out of my education. My life changed forever and John Lennon, he's been speaking to me since I was a little boy who would wake up at 4 am and blast his fisher price record player. To be perfectly honest, my father is my biggest influence; he just knows how to live. During one of my last classes when I was finishing up my degree I was asked "What is the most important thing your Father ever taught you?", my answer: The Ramones. What else needs to be said?
AO: Any thoughts on this presidential candidate stuff?
JD: I added one of my old high school english teachers on Facebook. He mentioned that to stop reading or watching the news was the best thing he had ever done. I soon did the same.
AO:
What can you tell me about your touring schedule in 2012?
JD: When this record drops we are gone, forever... don't sleep.
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