(This interview took place with frontman for Uphill Battle, Adi, outside the El-N-Gee Club on July 8, 2002)

Josh:  I’m going to try not to give you too typical and too boring of questions.  But I’m afraid I may have to any way.

Adi:  No problem.  It’s a neccesary evil. 

Josh: What is it like for you being from California?

Adi:  The scene has always been pretty cool.  I don’t usually go down to Orange County or anything to see bands because I’m not really into that whole Orange County scene.   I used to be into the Ebullition scene a lot when I was younger but that’s kind of died out and I don’t really enjoy many of the bands any more.  I generally go to L.A. for metal shows.   That’s pretty much it-- me and our drummer driving down to see a lot of the Relapse bands and stuff like that.   Recently we saw Mastadon, and that was really cool.   This is my first time touring with Uphill Battle on the east coast- it’s the first Uphill Battle tour on the east coast- and it’s rad.   The south was pretty grueling because it was long drives and no one would come.   Even the guys from Relapse told us the south would be pretty bad and it’d pick up when we hit the east coast. 

Josh:  That’s another thing, because you mentioned Orange County, I think California kind of has a reputation for punk with Fat Wreck Chords, Epitaph, Nitro and all of that. 

Adi:  Yeah, it’s weird.  We’ll play there with bands and there’ll be fifty people out for the local band and by the time we get set up and ready to play, there’ll be ten people left.  Not just the other bands, people just won’t stick around to hear your band.  But that’s just how it is.  I guess you just kind of get used to it.  L.A., I think, is definitely better than Orange County.  I don’t even really listen to that much hardcore any more.   I don’t even really pay attention any more.  I spend a lot of time writing and playing music.  I collect a lot of records, but I don’t really concern myself with who’s doing what in what scene.  It’s just kind of like, fuck it, I’m in it for music. 

Josh:  You actually have a lot of buzz around your name right now.

Adi: Do we?  That’s a good thing, I guess.  I guess you can contribute that a lot to us signing with Relapse.  We’re pretty much a nobody band, we don’t have any members worth mentioning.  We’re just some kids who got together playing music and we work really fucking hard.  The name Uphill Battle has meaning because we work and we practice as much as we can.  We all live pretty far apart, but we still see each us other as much as we can.   So we’re driving constantly.   But I’m just glad there’s a buzz.  Like I said, I’m out of the loop, I’m not really aware of this.   We’re stoked to be on the front page of the Relapse site, that’s like a dream come true.   That’s the one label we’ve always wanted to be on since the very beginning.  We just sent them a demo and got signed. And I guess it’s like a success story.   The only other band they said that’s ever done that is Halo.   We never even met any of the guys until about two weeks ago.   they are the coolest bunch of guys and it’s so rad to be on that label.  It’s so incredible.  Our van was actually in the shop and we had to get the transmission rebuilt, which took a couple of days, and the guys from Relapse would drive us in their van to a show.  They’d drive us after work two hours to the show and then two hours back, and help us load equiptment.  That’s fucking nuts.  What other label would do that?   So we’re really excited just to be on that label. 

Josh:  So that was really that simple, where they just heard your demo and signed you? 

Adi:  We sent our very first six song tape demo to them and they say they listen to everything.  We got a note from them saying they weren’t interested.   We were just going ahead and we recorded a split 7” and that took forever to come out.   So I decided I was going to record an album and find someone to put it out or just put it out myself.  We were recording and getting things done, and we sent out some rough mixes to some labels and about three responded.  Relapse was one of them.   Obviously we just waited it out and worked things out from there.  We finished the album and remixed it. 

Josh:  This isn’t a question, but I know Uphill Battle wasn’t your first choice for a name, but I think it’s a really good one and that’s something that’s hard to find these days it seems. 

Adi:  The name Crawlspace that we originally had was because me and the guitar player at the time lived in this sort of warehouse, which is weird because there aren’t a lot of warehouses in Santa Barbara where you could live.  My room was in this kind of crawlspace area and that’s where I got the name.   We were recording the demo and it was mixed and we were ready to make the covers, and we found out there were tons of bands called Crawlspace and a label right down the freeway called Crawlspace too.   We just thought about it and I guess Uphill Battle is the name I thought of a few years before.   I remembered I thought of it, so I was like, hey let’s call ourselves this.   Our drummer didn’t really like the name at first, but we were like, fuck it.  We weren’t really that serious.  We were kind of serious, but we weren’t serious to the point where this was going to be what we do.    And it’s taken on all the meaning for us.  I’m happy with the name.  Our drummer loves it now.  He likes it. 

Josh:  I was surprised no one had thought of it before.

Adi:  Oh, it’s been thought of.  I was on the web and I saw a couple bands with it.  But they were like, high school bands or whatever.  Every name has been thought of.  There’s a ska band from New Jersey called Uphill Battle.  We thought about getting our name patended but that costs way too much money.   We have the first world release of the name with a real album out, so... I’m not too worried about it. 

Josh:  Yeah, because there aren’t really bands anyone’s heard of with the name other than you.   And the ones are, are bands that we’re probably not going to hear of ever.  If you’re not listening to a lot of Orange County punk or hardcore, what are you listening to right now?

Adi:  I listen to a lot of stuff.   I listen to a lot of really mellow stuff.  A lot of stuff on the label Temporary Residence Ltd. I listen to a lot of the Cure, Morrisey.  I’m into a lot of ‘80’s music, I guess.

Josh: And it comes out in your music too.  (laughs)

Adi:  You think so?  (laughs)  I don’t think it does.   I listen to a good amount of metal, like At the Gates, the Crown, Slayer.  I listen to some hardcore, pretty much whatever suites my fancy at the time.   Black metal, death metal, it’s all good it’s just music is music, if it’s good it’s good.