PZO: Where’s your favorite getaway place? Theo: Like when we’re on the road touring, I guess it would be home because that’s sort of a getaway from everything. You know? In a way...’cause sometimes you go on tour for so long that home is like... Tom: I lock myself in my apartment for a couple of days when I get home. Theo: Yeah, I just lounge. If you’re on the road for a couple of months straight and then you come home, it just feels like it’s a different place. You have to get used to it, everything looks kind of different than from what you remember. You kind of have to sink back into it. ‘Cause out on the road you’re always moving and it’s always like you’re going here, you’re going there, you’re doing this, you’re doing that. Then when you get home everything stops; it’s kind of weird. Perfect timing dude...
Gob interview for EdgeFest
Oh those punk rock kids. When we caught up with those hooligans from gob they were in prime shape - making fart noises, burping, etc. - for the smart-ass questions we had for 'em. Here's some of the things Theo and Craig had to say to us. Boxers, briefs, panties or nothing? Tom - All of the above.Craig - Edible. Favourite Simpsons quote? Craig - "My cats breath smells like cat food"-Ralph WiggimTheo - "English. Who needs English. Like I'm ever gonna go there."-Homer Greatest rock moment as an audience member? Craig - I got to roll up the Ratt banner at one of their shows.Theo - I met Steven Tyler. Eddie Van Halen at LAX Airport. Greatest rock moment onstage? Craig - Didn't Tom fall off the stage once. Every night. Who's the biggest poser in rock 'n' roll? Craig - Us and Ricky Martin.Theo - Wouldn't that be us? Favourite Rush album, and why? Craig - I dated their manager's daughter.Theo - I've never owned a Rush record. Hottest babe and/or hunk in Hollywood? Craig - Gwyneth Paltrow, Catherine Zeta Jones.Theo - Salma Hayek. What's the one album to listen to if you want to be a rock star? Craig - AC/DC Back In Black, Gun 'n Roses Apetite For Destruction. Worst album you've ever heard? Theo - That new album by Sky, boy bands.Craig - Sugar Ray. Favourite '80s song? Theo - Billy Idol "White Wedding."Craig - We really like '80s dancing. "Video Killed The Radio Star." Where'll you be at midnight on December 31, 1999? Theo - We're gonna go to New York and take out the big apple. We're gonna ride the apple nude. Favourite fast-food snack? Theo - Slurpee.Craig - Slurpee. Give us a Marilyn Manson make-up tip. Craig - Lose it. What's the stupidest band name you've ever heard? Theo - Sky.Craig - gob.Theo - finger eleven. Their music sucks Rainbow Butt Monkeys. What's your favourite rock star move/pose? Theo - Tom's Cinderella rock spin.Craig - The Keith Richards kick.Theo - The Super Mario Squisher with Spider Man dance. Who's got the cutest butt on the EdgeFest 99 tour? Craig - All the guys in Moist.Theo - Edwin.Craig - The guys in Wide Mouth Mason. How punk is Terry David Mulligan? Theo - On a scale of 1 to 10, he's about an 8.Craig - I'd say he's about an 11. So what's the deal with you guys and felt markers? Theo - I remember guys passing out and getting extra felt pen marks. Tom once passed out after a show, he had a couple beers or something, and he woke up with "I love guys," "666" and that stuff on him. He got the special Curly Dude Moustache. Did it looked like Rollie Fingers'? Yeah.
Welcome to trivia with Gob, where we test the intelligence of Canadian punk
outfit, Gob. Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, Tom, he enjoys
singing, playing guitar, chewing yummy Chinese gum, and telling witty
stories of his childhood days. Next, we have Theo who also lists playing
guitar and singing among some of his favorite pastimes. Theo also enjoys
tasty vegetarian delicacies, as well as a fine mango chutney. Craig, our
next contestant, prefers to play bass. Craig also gets easily enraptured
playing James Bond 007 on Gameboy color. Finally there's Gabe, resident
drummer of Gob. Alright kids, here we go....
Margie: Why don't you guys introduce yourselves.
Craig: Hi, I'm Craig.
Gabe: I'm Gabe, were from Gob, you should know that.
Margie: "A Different World" is a spin-off of what television show?
G: "The Cosby Show"
M: Very good, and what actor or actress is the link?
G: Umm... Lisa Bonnet.
C: I couldn't think of her name, I knew it, I just couldn't think of her
name.
M: Can you name all of "The Golden Girls"? One point for each.
G: Isn't Maude one of them?
C: I bet you don't' even know and you're asking us the question.
-laughs-
G: Dorothy is one.....
M: If you don't know, you can sing the theme song for part marks.
C: I can't sing.
G: (sings) "Thank you for being a friend".
M: There you go, very good. Next question, what actress is married to
Christopher Guess of Spinal Tap?
G: In the movie?
M: No, in real life.
G: Damn, I don't know, no idea.
C: Absolutely no clue.
M: The correct answer would be Jamie Lee Curtis. On the periodic table of
elements, what is the symbol for Iron?
G: Once again, I have no idea.
M: I don't think you're going to be getting to many prizes are you? The
correct answer would be FE.
G: Would that stand for fuck the elements? Fuck the elements....
M: What was the first video ever played on MTV?
C: Thriller.
M: Nope, this one's easy, you should know this, come on....
-in walks Theo-
C: Theo, what was the first video ever played on MTV?
Theo: On MTV, or Much Music (Canadian music channel)?
M: MTV.
T: Nah it's supposed to be Much Music, I don't know MTV. I know the first
one on Much Music.
M: Alright what is it?
T: It's "Video Killed the Radio Star".
M: That's the same as MTV. I think we should give you extra points for that
one.
T: I get the extra points, these guys don't know fucking anything.
-laughs-
M: Okay, extra points for Theo.
T: Don't give them anything (laughs).
C: I didn't even have cable when I was a kid. This is not fair!
M: Okay so this one's for you then. In Brazil, it is common to eat:
a) rooster heads
b) grasshoppers
c) alligators
d) rat
G: I'd say rat.
C: I'm going with rooster heads.
M: No, I'm sorry, you're both wrong. The right answer was "C" alligators.
Stilton is a cheese which is also known as what?
-silence-
C: Stilton?
M: Yes, here's a hint, it starts with a "b" and ends with an "e".
C: Brie
M: No another cheese, it's a color....
C: Red cheese!
-laughs-
G: It's starts with a "b" idiot! Ahh Blue cheese.
C: Of course, Blue cheese....
G: Aww, we're so dumb...
M: I'll make Gob look very smart don't worry.
C: That's okay, we're not that smart.
-laughs-
G: There's a reason we play music.
C: You're book smart, and we're street smart, from the Ghetto.
-laughs-
M: Maybe you'll get this one. "Ti violio bene" means what in Italian?
C: Come to bed with me? You're place or mine?
M: Close....
G: See you tomorrow? I don't know.
C: Let's go fuck (laughs).
M: Along the same lines, but a little more romantic.
-silence-
M: It means "I love you".
C: We need more music questions, we know those ones.
M: Okay well the next one's about music. What band toured with Madonna on
her "Like a Virgin" tour?
C: Beastie Boys!!!
M: Right, finally! Which 80s band became famous for the song "Africa"?
G: Totto.
M: Right, can you sing a verse?
C: I can, but I don't want to.
G: What is it? Like "I touch the rains down in Africa" or something like
that.
M: Now we're at the Bonus question. Remember, this is for big prizes. Do a
freestyle rap on guinea pigs and or baby corn, extra points if
choreographed.
G: Okay tell me the monetary value of these so-called prizes.
M: 5 dollars, but a lot of love.
-laughs-
C: You just went to a dollar store.
M: No, it was a specialty store, you can't by this anywhere else.
C: I can make up a rap, but the things is, it's gonna be put on Napster. I
want it to be published first, I want it to be recorded properly. So, I'm
sorry we can't do it.
G: Our management wouldn't allow it. Actually Tom could do a good one. Let
me go get him.
-Gabe leaves, Tom enters-
Tom: What do we have to do?
M: A freestyle rap about guinea pigs and or baby corn, extra points if it's
choreographed.
C: I'll do the beat Tom, and you bust a rhyme.
Tom: But I'm not good and freestyles though.
M: Maybe you have a hidden talent.
Tom: No, I know I'm no good at it. But the prizes.... Okay Craig what are
you gonna do?
C: I'm doing the beat.
Tom: Are we going to dance?
M: A little ballet perhaps, maybe some tap dancing.
Tom: Tap dancing.
M: Okay let's do a crash course in tap dancing.
-Enter Theo-
Theo: What's going on in here?
Tom: We're learning to tap dance.
At this point, Theo's cell phone rings and he runs to it yelling "mommy" and
leaves. Tom and Craig attempt to learn to tap dance. Craig masters the steps
while Tom remains un-coordinated and confused. Tom refuses to give up,
however, but it is to no avail. After about 15 minutes, he is tired and has
fallen over still unable to dance. Meanwhile, Craig, has left Gob and has
become a superstar on broadway. Thankfully, Craig returns in time to do the
requested freestyle rap.
Tom: Okay we're ready, give me a beat Craig.
-Craig gives a beat-
Tom: A little more bass
-laughs-
C: Okay, here we go.
-Craig once again gives a beat-
C: I want to shove that gerbil in my ass
Tom: Gerbil, gerbil, gerbil run around real fast. Creamed corn sittin' in a
poop log.
C: It kinda looks like my fuckin' dog.
-pause-
Tom: Is my nose bleedin'? Nope (continues with rap)
C: The end!
-applause-
M: Well here are your wonderful prizes. A Wonder Woman Pez dispenser and a
Chupa Chups lollipop surprise pack, including: one lollipop and numerous
cheap toys!
Tom and Craig: Thanks!
M: Thank you!
Even though Gob didn't fair too well in the trivia, they more than made up
for in their performance. Closing the show with their version of "Paint it
Black", the boys of Gob proved that although may not be "book smart" they
definitely know how to put on one great show.
(http://www.aaapunkrock.com/interviews.html)
GOB INTERVIEW, April 10, 2001
INTERVIEWER: A lot of the interviews focus on the mischievous side of the band. Is April Fool's day a bad time to be around the guys in GOB?
THEO: I slept through it.
TOM: I think it was a day off or a drive day or something. I think we probably didn't think about it after midnight.
THEO: Well, I actually did. I was going to plan something, but when the day came, by the time we realized it… if you do it past noon, you're the fool right? I think by the time we got up it didn't matter.
TOM: I think I played a joke on someone that day, sometime in the afternoon, but I play jokes all the time.
THEO: It's April Fool's 24-7.
INTERVIEWER: "The World According to GOB" is a strong release. Do you find yourselves doing things differently now than when "Too Late … No Friends" came out?
TOM: Yeah, we put the album in the weight room, so it got really strong.
THEO: Doing a bit more bench pressing than normal. The debut came out in '94. First of all we put it out ourselves, we made like 500 copies, which sold pretty good. Me, Tom, and Jay [Clark, currently GOB's manager] took control of Landspeed Records and did our own little record company thing. Now there's a lot more people working for us, which makes it easier to do stuff and get it out there. There's more stuff behind it. Obviously in the beginning, no one knew who the hell we were or anything. So now it's a bit more professional I guess in that sense.
THEO: We're more recording artists now, we make records, we write songs, we go on the road, whereas before we did everything. We were the business people and everything. We don't exactly like the business, so it's kind of nice to have people there that will deal with the business for us. We don't even have the energy to do everything anyway. We couldn't possibly do everything. We don't really have a record company anymore, we don't have our own label. If we did, it might be a little different, but we decided to work with Nettwerk so we have them behind us. They've been putting out records for years.
INTERVIEWER: GOB has been together since 1993, how do you keep from killing each other?
TOM: '94. Seven years now.
THEO: Fire band members and get new ones. I'm just kidding. Most of the time it's pretty good on tour. There's always going to be... we argue about topics and stuff we feel strongly about, and everyone obviously has their own opinions. Personality-wise, everyone pretty well gets along. Me and Tom have been friends the longest. Everyone's pretty well part of the whole thing and we kind of knew what we wanted to do and we just went for it. We went through four bass players and two drummers and finally found our setting in a sense. It was weird, we'd have sketchy bass players in the band before we'd find someone who was good. Then Gabe came into the band because our other drummer quit, he wanted to pursue his family thing. So it was really good that we got Gabe, cause he's a really good drummer and stuff. And he's right there.
[Gabe and
CRAIG: join in the conversation]
INTERVIEWER:Was there a point in time where you said "Ok, this is going to work?"
TOM: We just always did that.
THEO: I think right from the start we kind of knew it was happening after we were getting our stuff on college radio. Tom, you can elaborate.
TOM: Yeah, I worked at a record store in Vancouver and I ended up losing my job for the band because we had to go on the road. Or we wanted to go on the road. I didn't want to work at a record store for the rest of my life.
INTERVIEWER: You've toured in the States and in Canada. Do you find any differences between the crowd response here and there?
TOM: Yeah, we have a crowd in Canada and we don't in the States, really. Hopefully it's building as our record is released. I don't even know that it is, but we'll be playing some shows down there on this tour so we'll see what it's like.
INTERVIEWER: When are you playing down there?
TOM: A couple weeks or so?
THEO: The end of April. After we go to Newfoundland we come down a bit and go down the east coast. We'll do a couple of places in New Jersey, New York, a whole bunch of places. Then we make our way back up to Winnepeg. Then we play from Winnepeg and cross back home, and finally we'll end the tour on the 25th in Vancouver at the Vogue Theatre. We've never really done a tour and I've always wanted to do a tour where we end in our hometown. It usually starts there, so it's kind of cool, we get to end in our hometown.
INTERVIEWER: Who are your favorite Canadian bands?
THEO: Um, Anne Murray [chuckles].
GABE: Neil Young.
TOM: Stompin' Tom. No seriously.
CRAIG:: Trooper? Honeymoon Suite?
TOM: I don't know about that.
INTERVIEWER: GOB is really good at getting the audience involved in the show. How do you keep that kind of intensity going when you're playing the same songs night after night?
TOM: We try to just have fun with what we're doing.
GABE: Alcohol.
CRAIG:: The kids.
THEO: A lot of it is the audience. The last time we played [in Peterborough] it was a bar crowd but they were still given 'er, they were giving all they got.
TOM: Last time we had a really good crowd here, especially for a bar. But I think it's also like, coming on after Treble Charger, it's like … not to diss Treble Charger, but we're way more energetic. Actually, we didn't come on after Treble Charger, we should have, but we didn't.
THEO: See, if I went to a show, trying not to sound biased or anything, I'd rather see a band like ours where they're fuckin' giving what they have and having a fun time with the audience instead of just hanging out and just playing and whatever, you know what I'm saying?
TOM: When they're getting into their music, passionate about their music. That's the way it looks to me if someone isn't given 'er, they don't care about it… if they're just sort of standing there.
INTERVIEWER: What's the hardest thing about being on the road?
TOM: Sitting in the van.
INTERVIEWER: Doing interviews?
THEO: That's second.
TOM: That's not hard, it's just annoying.
INTERVIEWER: I don't blame you.
THEO: No, it's all right. But being in the van, you just sit there while you're driving. I try to sleep. You know it's like all that "half-sleep" at a hotel. I'll get four hours of sleep so I can do something while I'm in the town until whenever. Then sleep a little in the hotel, then sleep in the van on the way to the show. You don't really get a lot of proper sleep.
INTERVIEWER: I don't think a lot of people realize the ten hours that goes into the two hours at night.
THEO: When you're hanging out at strip bars getting posters signed … (laughs) [trying to get Tom's attention while he talks to the waitress]. I'm just kidding. Trying to make reference to Tom last night but…
INTERVIEWER: What are you looking forward to doing when you get a break from touring and the studio?
THEO: After this tour we're going to be taking some time off just to ... some down time.
GABE and TOM: We don't know that for sure.
THEO: Well, we don't know for sure. Well, I'm going, I'm going to Varadaro, I don't know what these guys are doing [laughs]. I'm leaving no matter what.
GABE: I'm going to Hawaii.
TOM: I have a couple of plans but I don't think it's going to happen. I wanted to go teach English in Japan. I wanted to join the peace corps and do stuff for people, but I don't think we're going to have enough time for me to do that properly. I don't think they'd want to send me anyway.
INTERVIEWER: How much time would you need for that?
TOM: Probably a year or six months.
GABE: At least six months.
INTERVIEWER: Do you do any songwriting on the road?
THEO: Hardly ever. It's pretty hard.
TOM: Hip-hop, a cappella kind of stuff [grins].
THEO: I think I've written maybe two songs on the road in seven years. It's pretty hard to do that. When do you have time? We get to town, we get in, we try to get something to eat, and next thing you know we're at the place playing. By the time the night's over you're at your hotel sleeping. You sit and talk to your girlfriend or whatever. Then that's it, the whole day kind of starts over again.
INTERVIEWER: Any plans yet for the next record?
THEO: We're thinking about it. We're going to try to do something for next year obviously, try to get something out.
GABE: By this time next year probably. Hopefully over the winter we'll record, that would be ideal, for once. We always seem to record in the summer for some reason, so we're in the studio for two months in the summer which totally sucks. It would be better to do it in the winter and hopefully we'll do it like that this time.
INTERVIEWER: Do it in the winter in Hawaii, then you'll take care of a few things.
THEO: I want to record our album in the Bahamas where AC/DC recorded "Back In Black", in ah ... Nasa?
GABE: Nassau.
THEO: Nassau, whatever. N-A-S-S-H-O-L-E [chuckles].
GABE: We'll be recording it in Vancouver, I'm pretty sure of that.
TOM: I'll be in the studio all day and all night, so I don't really care where it is.
INTERVIEWER: Where are you more comfortable, onstage or in the studio?
THEO: In the studio, it's a little different. You're trying to be more focused. I mean, you're trying to have fun and that. Onstage it's a little more relaxed because you can do whatever you want. In the studio you're concentrating, you're trying to make a piece of art or a piece of work that you want to be happy with, and you're trying to get it done, you know?
TOM: Live is more about energy. In the studio you have to get it right. You have to get everything right. It's got to be in tune, in time, energetic, with feel. How do you do that? I mean, it comes to us, no problem, of course.
INTERVIEWER: The band is musically tight onstage, do you still go for the first or second take in the studio, or are you experimenting more?
THEO: We haven't really gotten the chance to experiment that much.
TOM: I would say that we're more picky because we can be… and that became apparent in the record, just better performances.
INTERVIEWER: Do you show up with say 90% of everything done when you get to the studio?
THEO: Yeah. Like this last record was about 90% done and then we had the producer come in and do some tweaks here and there.
GABE: But the producer's tweaks were things that we would have done anyway the way I looked at it, so it was about maybe 98% what we did and maybe 2 or 3 percent he helped with, like in terms of production. He's a very good engineer, Neill King.
TOM: I think the people that are working with you … like we will hear something and we'll be like "that's great", and they're like "no, it's out of tune" or something like that. No, it's got character. We would love it, but they're looking at it from a side perspective. I don't know what's right.
GABE: Whatever you like is what's right.
INTERVIEWER: Where do you see the band heading in the next ten years?
THEO: Ten years? Hopefully... It would be amazing if we're still all together and playing, doing the same thing.
GABE: It's hard to picture ten years. I don't know. Who knows. It's hard to picture a year away.
THEO: … that'd be awesome if we could still be doing what we're doing. You know, at that point, we'd be seventeen years old as a band.
TOM: We'll be doing a reunion tour [laughs].
INTERVIEWER: Eric Hoffer said "Our originality shows itself most strikingly not in what we wholly originate but in what we do with that which we borrow from others." Do you think that anyone can create truly original music these days?
TOM: Not really.
GABE: No, no, no.
TOM: I mean, I'm sure every melody was written before rock n' roll came around.
THEO: … even up to the Beatles' albums. I think they wrote every melody left for pop music these days.
GABE: But still, every kind of music… like Theo plays Van Halen, it doesn't sound like Van Halen, it sounds like Theo playing Van Halen. You play music, it's like putting a fingerprint on it. Every person puts their own little fingerprint on it, so it's not going to be exactly like whatever it is you're trying to emulate. You just have to put your own fingertip on it. Get your fingers in it.
TOM: Yeah, the people making the music recognize the elements that they extracted from other places that they put in their music, that the people listening to it don't have a clue. I know things where I've ripped off a lyric or a melody, lots of melodies, and a lot of people don't know. Sometimes these guys don't even know until I tell them.
INTERVIEWER: So it's the combination of things. Is that how you keep it fresh?
TOM: I think it goes back to what you were saying about being original from what you steal.
GABE: Exactly. You just don't steal from the obvious places where everyone knows "oh, that sounds like Green Day" or whatever. At least go to where Green Day stole from.
INTERVIEWER: Do you want to add anything?
THEO: This food tastes good.
Interview by Brian Benwell for and SIN CITY
