Lots of things fly through your head when you’re about to interview a guitarist from a punk band. Do I have a good enough question? Is he going to obstinate? Is he punking me? Just like anything else, you dive in, head first, and take it straight on… Mike: I saw you guys were in a movie called “What We do in Secret.” How was that? Joby: Really cool. I’ve never been in a movie before. You spend most of the time sitting around in a trailer, but yeah, I felt pretty honored to be asked to play one of my favorite bands in the whole world. [Black Flag] M: How is everyone reacting to the new album? J: Pretty good. Just like anything, there’s people that hate stuff, and there’s people who love stuff you do, which, you know, is probably one of the greatest things about music – that it is subjective. We are really proud of it. Made it ourselves in OUR studio. M: How did you guys hook up with Gilby Clark? J: After our first three demos, we had attracted the interest of a guy who I still our manager today. He coincidentally used to be in a band named Candy with Gilby Clark before Guns and Roses. It was a real bad 80’s Sunset-Strip pop band. Gilby came down to our rehearsal space. About a month after that, we had a record. M: Que es “EL Bronx”? A mariachi album? J: It comes out in March or April. We are in the middle of hammering out the details for the release date as we speak. “EL Bronx” just kind of happened. There is no rhyme or reason to it either other than we love mariachi music. M: I’m officially your biggest fan. J: Mariachi is the punkest thing I’ve ever done. I finally feel that I’m part of punk again by flipping and doing something different than what an aggressive band is supposed to do. M: What is the Social Club on your website all about? J: Making music with people we want to make music with and putting it out on 7 inches. You just get in a room and make music together and put it out. Vinyl is pretty much all we listen to in the studio anyway. M: And you get the artwork a lot bigger on vinyl. J: Yeah, it’s like, ‘wow, this music really exists.’ It’s not just ones and zeros somewhere on your computer. M: Did you do the artwork that was on the latest album? J: I do every single thing: the website, the 7-inch art, the T-shirts, CD’s, everything. My band keeps my pretty busy. M: I enjoyed reading your website. It is pretty sarcastic. J: It’s funny. I do a lot of writing that is actually extremely serious, but it isn’t really right for the Internet. I don’t enjoy reading serious things on the Internet. I always end up on mailing lists where all these bands push products on me with mind-numbing seriousness. M: What kind of products do you have out? J: Cologne, serious. We are working on it right now. What’s worse than cologne? Nothing. M: How long have you been playing the guitar? J: I think playing guitar would be stretching it; Attempting to master the instrument – Maybe 10 years. I’m a piano player to be honest with you. I think there is a destructive sound in playing when you have had training. It all sounds the same. M: That is why you hear about Eddie Van Halen or someone like that. J: I went and saw them for the first time a year ago. That guy is incredible! I didn’t really realize that dude may have killed rock music. Not because he sucks; he’s very talented, but because of all his imitators only trying to be just like him. Watching a band like that or watching a guy play guitar like that was like watching an animated movie. M: Was Warped Tour a lot of fun? J: Nope, wasn’t a lot of fun. There’s just nothing to do. It’s too hot to go outside. I couldn’t count on one hand, not using all fingers, the amount of acts that I did want to see. It’s long and hot and a bunch of kids running around. It’s strange. I’m not talking bad about it. It was good for us to do as a band. There’s disciplinary actions for bands or people who do sketchy stuff or people that don’t pay their vendors fees. It’s just really weird. Kind of felt like a bubble I guess. Like there’s a world of music, and then, there was a bubble where normal rules didn’t apply. Interesting experience. M: Was it the commercialization of the tours? When Perry Ferrell started Lollapalooza, it had a different vibe. Now it’s kind of Disneyland. J: As long as there’s music, there will be a corporate structure to try and take advantage of bands. Find The Bronx at www.thebronx.com