1. At first can you introduce your band, members, age, hobbies, work and tell us how you met each other?
Ralph: I get drunk and yell on stage. I just turned 42! I like late night strolls in the moonlight, knitting and curling up in front of the fireplace with a good book. I work as a printer.
Matt: Matt Bishop. 30+. Music & Skateboarding is life outside of work. Currently body shop estimator. I met Ralph from his other band. I was approached by our original drummer who at the time was playing in another band with me. I have always been a fan of the style of music but never played it, so I was down.
John: I play bass and am 33 years old. Hobbies include fast cars, good lookin girls, loud music and bar-b-que food.
Jason: Drums, 29 student at Eastern Michigan university, hobbies are video games, writing music and my bulldog. I met these guys after I took a year off drums to put my life back together from an online post looking for a punk band.
2. When and why you started to deal with idea about the founding the band. And why did you choose the name Bad Assets?
John: Back in March of 08, Ralph and I talked about starting an oi! band but due to grown up responsibilities we had to put it on the back burner until January of 09 when we had half an idea of a line up. We went thru a few members who didn't seem to work out for one reason or another till we had a solid line up of Ralph on vocals, Matt on guitar, Ali on drums and myself on bass. Ali left the band to focus on family. In July 10, Jason came in and brought his own take on Oi! drumming and contributed to the songwriting process on The Spirit of Detroit. As for the band name, at first I liked the name "Thick soles" but our previous drummer thought it sounded cheesy. We started throwing around different names but the one that stuck came from watching the news and seeing things at work regarding General Motors having to dump off their "BAD ASSETS" to gain financial stability and return to profitability. It summed up a lot of how Detroit is viewed by not only the U.S. but the world. I never thought that we'd have people outside of North America listen to this shit.
3. Have your members any experience with playing in some other band?
Ralph: I've been in a few bands before this one, I am currently also in Death in Custody, a Detroit hardcore band
Matt: (past to present) Scurvies, Jim Abusive and the Cigarette Burns, Disco Assault, Gnar Sesh, and currently in another band called Deliberate Abuse (formerly known as DA)
John: I played in a few bands that never seemed to get out of the garage but before Bad Assets there was nothing notable. I do fill in with a lot Detroit Celtic bands.
Jason: Along with Bad Assets I also play drums with Matt in D.A. Where we are currently on a west coast tour.
4. Your debut album is called The Spirit of Detroit, can you describe it in more details? Sound, lyrics, etc...?
Ralph: The Spirit of Detroit is a big statue in downtown Detroit, it's also talking about the spirit of the city. Detroit has seen some rough times, and is still not doing that good. The lyrics are about things we've seen and experienced here, working hard, not getting paid much, companies going out of business, stuff like that. Detroit Diamonds is about your car getting broken into while you're at the punk show, which has happened to more than one friend of ours.
John: A lot of the lyrics I've written are direct from geting fucked over at work, struggling to keep my head above water and provide for my family.
5. Album is out on United Riot Records which is one of most active US labels of nowadays...can you tell us something more about the cooperation with them?
John: We shopped a few different labels but from the beginning Dennis at URR showed us love and was willing to take a chance on a new band. Since the release we've had support from a few different distributors in Europe as well as the local scene in Detroit. We're happy to have Dennis backing us on this CD and hope to work with him again in the near future.
6. In your songs I hear Maddog Surrender or Bonecrusher...can you tell us about your musical influences? And do you prefer to listen new bands instead of the older ones? And do you plan to release your album also on vinyl version? And do you personally prefer CD´s or vinyl?
Matt: I don`t have a preference of new/old bands. I’ve always been about the band, not even necessarily the style of music. If they’re good, they’re good ya know? I’ve always enjoy going to live gigs and a lot of influence comes from the local scene, which in Detroit I think is very striving. It’s always up and down, but make the best of what you got. Way too many influences to mention, but I think we have a good mixture of style. We’re not trying to sound like anyone. Personally, I’m a big fan of vinyl and have a fairly large collection. So far I only have one 7 inch in it with my on it and would love to put something else in it. I would love to see the album out on Vinyl.
John: A lot of the music I listen to has a giant local feel. It shows you a bit of the life of band members. I really dig Agnostic Front, Madball, The Bruisers and Forced Reality in the U.S. and dig all the staples like The Business, Cocksparrer, Blitz and Sham 69. As for The Spirit of Detroit coming out on vinyl, we'll probably just stick to the first pressing on CD. We do have a 7 inch split in the near future though. Who knows who will put that out/distribute it.
Ralph: I like a lot of the same music as John, old New York Hardcore, the old British Oi bands, and some of the newer American Oi and hardcore. 4-Skins, Combat 84, Cockney Rejects, Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Warzone, bands like that.
Jason: My musical influences include nofx, lagwagon, strung out, agent orange, anti-flag, sublime and local bands such as snafu, aggro or die, koffin Kats and disco assault. I'm probably one of the only punk rockers without a record player or tattoos.
7. Your lyrics are very socially critical, how is the nowadays life of worker in industrial city of Detroit?
John: I can tell you as a firefighter and worker with General Motors it's a scary thought that you have a job one day and be out on your ass the next day. We've all felt the crunch with the downturn of the economy and work being outsourced.
Matt: Don’t tell anyone but I’m actually living in Windsor, Ontario Canada. But if your from the area you know it’s right across from downtown Detroit... And I actually live the closest to downtown Detroit. But I do know Detroit has a lot of problems, Windsor is much the same as it’s the motor city of Canada (or was, they just lost that title recently) . A Lot of struggle and hardships for sure. What doesn’t kill us just makes us stronger
8. Can you tell us about the scene in Detroit and its evolution from 80´s to nowadays? I know old bands from Detroit like Rogues and Rival and from the new bands I know just Traditionals, so can you describe some new bands, pubs, clubs, zines, crews, etc...?
Matt: I didn’t get into things until the mid 90’s when I was in high school. Detroit has a lot of history and a lot of good bands. I could go on forever about it. But these days I’ve been looking more towards the future than concentrating on the past. This could be a very long winded question… As far as bands and the oi genre, Ironclad would be the only band that comes to mind. There is a wide range of genres from punk, hardcore, ska, ect… But not a lot of oi bands at the moment. And I don’t think that even really matters that there are so few because there are so many great bands and shows still go over well. As far as Detroit area venues go: Corktown Tavern, Painted Lady, Magic Stick, Old Miami; just to name a few. Bands, there are a ton. A few we have played with or playing with as of recently are 1592, Standard Issue, Public Sex, Deliberate Abuse (DA), Aggro Or Die, Bill Bondsmen, Timmy’s Organism, SNAFU… the list goes on. I’d rather not talk about crews. And as far as zines go, check out criminal behavior.
9. Are you support Detroit Red Wings in NHL or some other team in some other sport (like basketball, baseball, etc...)?
John: Since the lockout in 2004 I have not been able to watch hockey. I am a huge supporter of the Detroit Tigers and love baseball. It's the American past time, right? Also looking forward to our minor league soccer team DETROIT FC to start playin.
Ralph: I love the Detroit Tigers and baseball! I don't follow any other sports.
Jason: I love hockey, I started skating at age 3 and have been a follower of the NHL ever since. I love the tigers but could care less about basketball or football.
Matt: I like hockey but don’t follow sports. Don’t have time and don’t really care that much
10. What about the gigs, do you like playing live and is it problem for skinhead band to find a venue for playing in your city?
John: We try to play as much as possible but like previously mentioned, we all have grown up responsibilities and can't get out as much as we'd like to. As for finding a venue, it's hard to find live music venues in Detroit that support punk rock in general. They don't care that we're a skinhead band, they care that we'll bring some people in and drink some beers.
Matt: I love playing live. We don’t really have too much of a problem finding a venue. We’ve all been around for a while and the clubs here treat the bands pretty well (for the most part).
11. Where can we order your stuff like T-shirts or CD´s?
John: Our 3 song EP is available on band camp, if you want to hear our first recording. The Spirit of Detroit is available online from United Riot Records and hopefully soon on i tunes. Shirts are really only available at local shows. If you drop us a line, we'll see what we can work out but as for now, they're low quantity runs and it's something special to see one floating around outside of the Detroit area.
12. Do you know anything about Czech Republic or the scene here?
Matt: I don’t know anything about the Czech Republic scene, it’s so far away… I think this the part where you tell us a little bit about it.
John: I know once we put music up on our myspace, one of the first comments was something like "That's how oi! is supposed to sound" and it was a fan from the Czech Republic. It was my first experience with someone other than a friend saying they liked our tunes. Eastern Europe seems like it has a lot of skinheads, but with that comes their own problems. If you look on youtube under skinheads, a lot of the videos are like Russian Nazis fighting or something similar. I figure the shows have some of the same problems.
13. Plans for the future...
Ralph: I'd like to play out of town more and put out more music, we have some things in the works now.
Matt: Play shows, get out of town, practice, write, record. Not necessarily in that order though
John: Play some shows, drink some beers, bar-b-que and make some more music.
14. Last words....
Ralph: I'd like to thank everyone that comes to the shows, buys the music and the shirts and anybody I've had a drink with!
Matt: Huge thanks to Dennis from United Riot Records. Thanks to all the bands we played with and the people and clubs that have supported us
John: I'd really like to thank all the people who have already bought the CD as well as all the people who come out to shows and support local punk rock.
Jason: The Detroit scene is coming back! It's hopeful seeing the next generation taking the bull by the horns and showing a sense of unity, also it's not a fanny pack it's a CHAOS POUCH!