All photos by Carol Padgett @carolscaptures
The last show I attended before we all went underwater was
Black Lips at the Earl. I spit through those doors expecting to spend the next forty five minutes before the Lips went on nursing a Pabst and calculatingly shifting my weight to alternating legs, maybe with or without a polite expression. On quite the contrary I ended up thrashing around to a growing crowd and making it clear that the moth light geezers in the back wanted no part of this.
The future was then apparently, because that was the first time I laid eyes on Upchuck, a beautiful siren with glazed tendrils that rip you into their midsts but never spit you out. Instead you slam around in a pitch black mouth covered head to toe in your higher power.
The future is now once more as the first show I’ve seen treading water is twice again the fervent Upchuck. With the pandemic behind us I caught them behind Star Bar for the Neon Christ reunion show. I immediately went to the front as it looked like there was some sort of ascending age mandate for the crowd. I was a little queasy in the brain as this had been my first show since the bat craze swept the nation and so on. I feared that they would begin to play and I’d come to find I had forgotten how to hang. Then the other young punks I’d thought I could run with would cast me three paces back to the hospice section. Luckily moshing is just like riding a bike or committing arson.
The set was a self-explanatory display of prison break folly. An asphalt taste test paired with an elbow waltz. Rowdy and good to say so the least. When they finished I tripped out of that pit in sated fulfillment. That was when I noticed a short school bus yay ways back from the stage. On it was a growing group of punks from the Upchuck pit. They sat from the top of that bus and watched the old people take over with wry smiles and underdog victory. I made my way over there to talk to the band. There I found lead singer K.T and the braided baron lead guitarist Mikey. As the inquiry went on more members would shift in and out, never once with the full band together and answering a question individually. That is likely because they are not many but one.
Scrugg.
What follows is an account of what will some day be considered an interview, but for now it’s an encore that matched the set in chaos and beers with wings.
Was it a conscious decision to have other forms of media and entertainment coinciding with the band like the videography and art or did it come together naturally?
We’re family. We just happened. It just synced up. Why come up by ourselves?
How did y’all meet? Did you go to high school together?
Some of us worked together. Some of us went to high school. We didn’t plan anything it just happened. Honestly we’re family. That’s the only answer. We’re family. We knew each other before we knew each other.
Where at? What High school?
Doesn’t matter. We don’t mention it. Some of us got kicked out in tenth grade. We don’t talk about that.
What were some of y’all’s influences growing up? Are y’all into punk music? Did your parents encourage this type of music?
I don’t even like punk music. I like reggae. Country’s my shit. I hate punk music.
Then why do you play it? Do you play it because you hate it?
I play it because I’m bad at instruments. We play it because it’s raw emotion.
So would you say there’s any specific formula to Upchuck?
No, we don’t even write songs. We kinda just show up to band practice. These guys do a little thing, then I do a little thing. Our songs are just freestyle pretty much, or a good bit.
Can you explain the meaning and mythos behind Scrugg?
For scruggs only. That’s one question I never want to answer. We can skip over that one.
I saw y’all were in the studio. Is there an official release date for an album?
Yeah, well, we’re working with the label right now, we can’t really talk about it. But stuff is coming. There’s definitely something coming, something in the works.
Is the music industry something you want to be a part of or exist outside of?
Hell no. They want to be a part of us.
Is there any particular community you seek to be a part of or even a community you seek to create yourself and exist in?
Our community. Our friends. Scrugg. If you know it you know it. Does that sound douchy? Actually that does sound douchy. IT’S FAMILY! IT’S FAMILY! FAMILY! COMMUNITY! OUR COMMUNITY IS FAMILY! AND IT’S A BIG ASS FUCKING FAMILY!
(This is when another Upchuck member comes into play spilling cervezas and taking over my recording device for a sponsored message entirely in Spanish which I can undoubtedly approve for its approach though I can’t read a word of it. I sit patiently and wait for the smoke to die down before I resume the scheduled
deprogramming.)
How do you explain the relationship between s
kateboarding and punk music?
We all enjoy pain. Armondo fell off stage. Mikey rolls his ankle every other day. KT’s bleeding out her eye. I don’t know.
(One of the upchucks seems to be meddling with something before saying)
Pain equals punk.
(The others jeer)
Don’t get too deep! When we get too deep we can’t swim out! (Beers clinking in cheers)
Are there things that offend Upchuck?
You asking me questions. What are you investigating me?
KT, you are a black woman in punk. This is an undeniably uncommon fixture. Is this aspect of the band something you think should be acknowledged or do you prefer for the music to speak for itself?
No, I don’t give a fuck. Don’t accentuate the fact that I’m a black woman because it almost seems like you’re tokenizing me. Don’t token me please! People love to do that shit.
(Just then one of the Upchucks grabs my phone and begins to read the next question in Spanish for our bilingual audience.)
¿Cuál es el objetivo final de upchuck? ¿Qué ves para el futuro?
Exactly.
What are some local bands and artists you can recommend?
Shoutout Psychic Death. Rude Dude & The Creek Freaks. Playytime.
Fuck everybody.
Anything y’all wanna end with? Anything y’all wanna say?
Ay, always check your bags, test ‘em. Be safe. Don’t take interviews seriously. Shoutout my Scruggs. Every Scrugg. Everyone who helps us do this shit. Daniel Lane, Pat Phillips, Carson, Digital Dan, and All the homies who move our equipment and cuddle us when we’re on molly.
Published by Record Plug Magazine in the debut July issue 2021
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