Avail

If we told you that we were traveling on a train to NYC to see a band whose musical genius required the efforts of not only a bass, guitar, vocals and drums but also a crazy guy, who’s job is to dance really hard and taunt the crowd with his frequent spitting, you might think we were going to see The BossTones, or maybe Not! Maybe that was just a very bad example. Well here we were at The Wetlands to see Avail. Being the nice guys that we are, we bought the band a huge bag of bagels, given to us from Elysa at Einstein’s. Imagine this...The interveiw was with Time the lead singer, done in a 3feet wide hallway where al the bands were moving their equipment out the back door....Yummy!

Wonka: Band History?

Avail: We’ve been together for like 10 years. Just making music and screwing around. Touring forever. There have been lots of different members.

Wonka: You don’t go to school or anything?

Avail: We live off of the band. And the only reason we live off of the band is because of where we live. If we lived in Philly or New York it fully wouldn’t work. For example, we live in a five bedroom house that cost’s $ 500 a month. There are 6 of us living there so it’s really cheap. It’s regional that’s why we don’t have to work. I haven’t worked in years.

Wonka: It’s a pretty good job you have!

Avail: Yeah, but ya know what’s scary is the idea of going back to the real world and laying carpet or cooking again.

Wonka: How do you feel about the new record?

Avail: Man, I’m so critical of everything we do. I’m actually really excited about it. I’te my favorite so far. I don’t know what other people will think of it. We are totally stoked. Some of the shit’s heavier than more of the stuff in the past and some of it’s more rock.

Wonka: I’ve heard about Avail still playing small kitchens. What’s the deal with that?

Avail: We actually do those UN-announced shows in Richmond sometimes where we play in basements. For the first time ever were doing the first Richmond tour. We are going to play in the smallest places every night. We are going to play down the street at this Laundromat that has open-mic night. Were going to make posters that say “Avail Richmond Tour.” It’ll be six days and were going to play all these hole-in-the-walls.

Wonka: Is it true that Avail doesn’t have to announce a show until the day of and can still bring 500 kids?

Avail: I don’t know about that I guess it’s happened before. If I said that was true it would make me sound extremely bigheaded.

Wonka: How has Lookout Records supported Avail over the years?

Avail: They have treated us so well as long as we have been working with them and they have caught so much shit for the most idiotic reasons from people who are like 50 years old but act like 13 year olds in high school. But as far as I’m concerned we will not work with people who treat us like shit and they have never treated us like shit. We don’t have those 4 record big contracts. Every time we want to put out a record we go “Hey we wanna put out a record” and they say “cool”. They support us. Then we sign a little little contract that says this is based on trust and friendship. It’s just to safeguard them. For example, they had Green Day and if Green Day hadn’t signed one of those little contracts, then when the major’s picked them up they could have picked up all of Green Day’s back catalog merchandise also.

Wonka: How about being the band that doesn’t sound anything else like the other bands on Lookout?

Avail: How about the bands on Lookout not sounding anything like us? I don’t know where we fit in. If we were on Epitaph or Dischord would we fit in there? We’ve talked about that a lot. Like “Where do we fit in this shit”. I don’t know where it is.

Wonka: You guys do a lot of Food Not Bombs benefits shows. How do you support them exactly?

Avail: We support them financially. Richmond Food Not Bombs that is. Meaning we try and donate a couple thousand dollars to them a year. Although the whole concept of Food Not Bombs is not suppose to be dependent on money. The money backs them up for pots and pans and legal problems. I use to participate on a daily basis but because I’m on tour so much I can’t.

Wonka: What is the “origin” and “concept” of Food Not Bombs?

Avail: It originated in the early 80s and continues to be a demonstration started by a man named Keith McHenry and his friends. Their concept was lets go out there an serve free food and annoy the fuck out of these rich people who are destroying the world with weapons...I’m totally jaded right now. I can’t think.

(????? From Boy Sets Fire)

Wonka: did you guys really turn down 5 million dollars from a major label?

Avail: That’s totally untrue. We’ve had offers from major labels and we’ve turned them down. If I were offered 5 million dollars to sell my soul to a major label I’d do it in a second. Because what that would do would be the ultimate collapse of Avail, but it would be the beginning of a lot of really great things that could happen in our hometown. If I had that much money I would spend it wisely. I would buy a lot of land and a lot of people would live on that land.
(Beau Beau walks in)

Wonka: It’s all of those internet rumors.

Avail: Like a year and a half ago we were on the Internet and Beau and I were both in rehab for heroin so the tour was cancelled.

Wonka: Are you all right? (To Beau)
(Beau wipes a tear from his eye, shrugs his shoulders and walks away)

Avail: Neither of us have ever done heroin in our lives. I also got locked up for heroin and died twice. (Laughing) It’s funny and shit until your mom reads it, and she’s like “oh my god, what’s happening! I haven’t heard from him in 2 weeks.” That shit’s not funny sometimes.

Wonka: I don’t know if this is a touchy subject or not, but can you tell me about the song “F.C. A.” on 4AM Friday?

Avail: I told myself I would never talk about it but it’s actually about a friend of ours, who at the time was watching our house while we were on tour. And we came back from tour for a couple days and he died the morning we were going back out. It was totally random. He had rare meningitis and a headache. Everybody was like “What, that no big deal?” and he was like “no really I have to go to the hospital.” So we took him. We didn’t really think to much of it and at 4 in the morning they called us up, “He died.” it was one of those insane things. Then we were up here the next night (NYC) and we had an emergency call right after we played, that it was contagious through respiratory. We had to drive all around New York to find these pills to anecdote it. It was totally intense. Everybody was exposed to it in Richmond had to do the same thing. Luckily only one other person had to go to the hospital. It was totally fucking insane. I wasn’t as close to him as a lot of my friends in Richmond were. I wrote it more for them and my roommate who was watching the house with him at the time. It’s totally dramatic and some of those words came right out of his journal.

Wonka: The guys from Servtron told me that you guy were the smelliest band around.

Avail: I’m gonna kick his ass. I have to clear this up, it’s not the band that stinks, it’s the roadies. Totally serious, it is the roadies; it’s not us. We are clean people. I’ve actually heard that many times. (Sticks his armpit in Justin’s face) Check it out. Nah straight up, smell me...

Wonka: Nah..He smells all right

Avail: Haven’t showered since Wednesday...Now what’s up?

Wonka: How much of a percentage of your music is mental, physical, and emotional when writing and putting on a show?

Avail: It’s all of the above.

Wonka: How about when you go into the studio?

Avail: I’m emotional. Lock me in that god damn room...And then it gets frustrating when Mark, the guy who records us is like... “That’s a little off key, do it again Tim”, I don’t like to do that, when I’m in the studio. I say hit record and I’m going. But sometimes it’s fun to focus a little bit at a time make it sound just a little bit better.

Wonka: He was so fucking tough. People still talk about it.

Avail: Ya know why? Cause I’m down Yo! Don’t fuck with me. I’m harder than shit!

Wonka: This is a long distance question from my friend Jon Alcoff...

Avail: I’m not answering it!

Wonka: OK

Avail: I’m just kidding!

Wonka: If you were a crayola marker what color would you be?

Avail: Black! What color would you be?

Wonka: I’d be bright blue.

Wonka: I’d be Kermit the Frog Green.

Avail: Or I could be pee colored...that’d be fucking hit, wouldn’t it?

Wonka: What do you think about violence during your show?

Avail: I think it’s great. I endorse people beating the shit out of each other. I’m joking. I’m joking. I love people dancing. I eat it up. I think it’s healthy. I think it’s a release. I think if the band can jump around on stage the people should have every right to jump around as well. I endorse it as a release, but if people are going to beat the shit out of each other they need to get out of there.

Chad from Boys Set Fire: Ya wanna hear an Avail Story? When you guys played in Newark at Railheads last show, a million years ago.

Avail: Oh yea yea yea. That was a while ago.

Chad: There were a couple kids really fucking shit up and being assholes when Avail was playing. Tim leaned down and grabbed the kid who was fighting and held him.

Wonka: I read an interview where you said that you get upset when people compare you to bands like Judge and Fugazi because of the one word name?

Avail: This is true. People are always comparing us to Fugazi. I don’t know why? I don’t think we sound anything like Fugazi.
(Erik, Avails drummer walks by)

Avail: do you think we sound anything like Fugazi? (To Erik)

Avail-Erik: NO!

Avail: If we were getting compared to them because of the way they do their business... then...

Wonka: Do you like hip-hop?

Avail: I like the Gravediggaz. Erik is into hip-hop..(haha)

Wonka: On the way here me and The Krusty Jew were talking about hip-hop being dead. What do you think about it lacking in sincerity?

Avail: I don’t follow it. Just sometimes when I’m drinking 40's the image thing comes up.

Wonka: Where do you see yourselves in 10 years? Playing huge stadiums? Singing love songs with Blanks 77? Touring with the Vandals?

Avail: If we start sucking really bad, we’ll break up. No doubt about that. If we don’t keep getting the vibes from playing shows we’ll break up. 37 years old...man. I don’t know.

Wonka: What has been the best time and age for you, being in Avail?

Avail: Right now!