Whether you have just begun to listen to punk rock, or have been for a couple decades, there is no denying, whether you love em or hate em, you have heard of The Dwarves. Hailing from San Fransisco and bringing their own kind of gnarly and vulgarity to the scene for years now, The Dwarves are a force not to messed with. Loud proud and fantastically obscene, Dwarves pummel all predictability with their act on record, and on stage. I was able to have a chat with Blag about the new record, The Dwarves Invented Rock and Roll, shows, album art, and what's next for them.
Blag also wanted to make sure that we had a chance to have a read about the radical Islamists hacking into their website which you can read about here. Its a great take by Blag on the whole situation and a reminder of the privileges that we enjoy through our right of freedom of speech in our countries, when so many are oppressed and silenced, all in the name of a fanatical view of their religion. Its a great read, I highly recommend it.
Read on for the interview:
Jay: Thanks for taking this time to chat with us Blag, we appreciate it! You guys are rolling through town next week for a back to back performance at Morgans. You must really love us Calgary fans to bring your awesomeness two nights in a row. Why are we the only town you are doing that for?
Blag: Philly Roch said we should do 2 shows in Calgary and if he’s paying, we’re playing! It’s also fun to do a bunch of different songs for the second show, mix it up and get some seldom heard stuff going.
Jay: Your latest album The Dwarves Invented Rock and Roll which was just released in September has been getting great reviews all around. How's reception been out on tour for this album? I would imagine fans are stoked!
Blag: Fans seem to love this new record, it’s not quite as experimental as the last couple, back to basics and featuring all the Dwarves past and present. We’ve been doing Get Up & Get High and Sluts of the USA live and they seem to be crowd pleasers.
Jay: Dwarves style has been called many different things punk, garage, hardcore, bum punk, dirt punk. Can you agree with that nowadays? Is there really one specific sound that can describe you guys?
Blag: No! We started out as a garage rock band, got kind of psychobilly, played pop punk and hardcore, and then we went crazy with drum programming, noise, surf- everything. That’s the fun way to make a record for us. Live we just crank out punk though, otherwise it gets too arty.
Jay: I think we can agree that the lyrical content can be at times controversial. Is it the potential shock value behind the writing of such songs that's the driving force? Or does that even matter when putting the songs together?
Blag: Most bands censor themselves before the song is even written. We just write about the sick shit in our heads and let it all flow out. Before you know it, squares are shocked!
Jay: Your album covers no doubt can raise a few eyebrows for sure. Out of curiosity, who gets the final say when choosing a face to the album?
Blag: I personally inspect each and every breast and vagina to make sure that nothing but the finest quality oozes through onto those covers. For the Gentleman Blag 7” we even threw my cock on there just to prove we aren't sexist, just really disgusting around the edges.
Jay: After this tour, what's next for The Dwarves?
Blag: We want to get high and fuck some sluts! Then we’ll spend the year celebrating 25 years of Blood Guts & Pussy live with HeWhoCanNotBeNamed. It should be a wild show…
Jay: Thanks again Blag. Looking forward to seeing you guys next week. One last question: Is there anything that shocks you anymore having the rap as shock-value-kings?
Blag: I’m shocked we still get paid to scream fuck and mock everything that moves!
-Dwarves play Morgans Pub in Calgary tonight May 13th and May 14th for a double bill.
-Jay Caption
