Drummer Gavin representin' the DHC...

• Introduce yrself!...I'm Gavin, I play drums for the Dance Hall Crashers. We're a band that plays punk and ska and rock and stuff and we have two female lead singers. I like long walks on the beach and songs about clouds.
• How did the band members meet?...We all sort of met through mutual friends or through eachother, having all joined at different times.
• Any sort of line-up changes/difficulties since the band's start?...The current line-up has been the same for about 10 years, but we had a lot of line-up changes at the beginning.
• You are a very big force in the ska scene right now, as one of the only female-fronted bands at the forefront of it. What sort of response do you get from yr audience?...We're a big force? That's very sweet of you, Sara...but we get a great response from the crowd. We've kinda been doing this for long enough that we know a lot of the folks that come down to the shows and they seem to want to be there. We don't really get the drunk dudes making lewd gestures, so it's pretty much completely positive...which is nice.
• What topics do you write about lot?...We write about relationships and people. We do have a song or two that focus on self-image and how hard the media and print can be on young ladies ('Do You Think You're Beautiful?').
• Which of yr songs do you believe best portrays yr sound?... I think our 30-second song ('Triple Track') on the Short Music for Short People comp succinctly represents us. It covers the sorta ska, sorta punk, very melodic and energetic sound we have.
• So, about yr pasts...where did you all grow up?... Well, most of us grew up in the SF Bay Area for at least part of our lives. Jason, Mikey, and I were born here. Karina was born in England, I believe, and lived there until she was 12 or so. She then moved to Berkeley. Elyse was born in Southern California and grew up in Orange County, moving up to Berkeley to go to college.
• Were you involved in music at younger ages? When did you start playing music?...Jason and I were musical as kids, taking piano lessons and stuff, then moving on to guitar and drums respectively. Karina has always sung and been around musicians and artists. Mikey just started playing bass one day, and Elyse sang a bit before joining DHC.
• What other bands have you been in?...We've all been in little bands you've never heard of, but Jason was in Rabid Lassie/Breakaway and Downfall, and Karina was in Jezebelle, a vocal group from San Francisco.
• How do you like the scene where you live? Is the rock crowd accepting of women in music in yr area?...We don't really get into scenes much anymore, but in the Bay Area, there is great acceptance of female artists.
• What are yr day jobs (if any)?...Most of us work when we're not touring. Mikey owns his own store out in Brooklyn, Elyse works with bands doing managerial duties. The rest of us have less than exciting jobs.
• Do you have one show that you remember enjoying the most? What do you consider yr worst performance? There's not really a favorite, there've been lots of great shows in great places that stick in my memory. But the worst would probably be this show we played opening for somebody in Montreal. Man, they sure didn't like us. I think we got our set to like 20 minutes and just got the hell out.
• So, are you satisfied with the way you have grown, sound-wise and otherwise, in the past few years? Do you enjoying playing new songs live more or busting out some old material?...I think we're really satisfied with how we've grown and evolved as a band. And it's fun to play old stuff and new stuff. Sometimes really new stuff doesn't go over so well at first, so it can be a little less fun than playing an old favorite. And right now we're not really writing anything so much as fiddling with ideas.
• What lessons have you learned through being in this band?...I think the lesson learned from being in a band is that it's a family and it's dysfunctional. You have to work at it to make it enjoyable or even tolerable for the other members. Being on the road in a little van, bus or RV will (hopefully) teach you how to live with other people and treat others with respect. Doesn't always take though. And, performing teaches us (that being the all-inclusive galaxy-spanning 'us') how to be confident and strong. Luckily I have lots of wood and metal to hide behind, but if I fuck up, everybody hears it.
• What do you consider yr 'motto'?...My motto (and I can only speak for me) is live and let live.
• Is there anything else you'd like to add about yr band and yr experiences?...Nah, just thanks to all of those who've supported us throughout the years even if we've been less than encouraging. We really appreciate it.