Ten Questions with the BuzzKill Mofo’s

1.Hello and welcome to Kickacts Buzzkill Mofo’s. Who are we talking to and
tell us about the band and how did you come up with the name and where can
we find you on the web at?

ans. by Gina, Helson Management

Band members are as follows: Matt Allinger – vox
Shane Holt – guitar, backing vox/harmonies
Travis Beals – bass
Jeff Bockhold- guitar, backing vox
Steve Nelson – drums, backing vox/harmonies
The band started out as a 4-pc in Sept. of ’08 and started playing out the end of
Jan ’09.  Matt, Travis and Jeff used to play with Wasted Dayz, Shane toured with
Loveletter Effect, and Steve played with Undone among others. Jeff was brought into
the band summer of ’09. Steve came up with the name by researching 90’s
catch-phrases and found the title to be ironic and humorous. The rest of the band
had no objections so the name was born. It seemed other bands were either “classic
rock” -covering the 70’s and 80’s –or “new rock” –covering the 2000 to today–so
we thought we would capitalize on the forgotten 90’s. Steve manages the Myspace site
( www.myspace.com/thebuzzkillmofos ), and I manage the Facebook site. Myspace has
the most info on it.

2. So, what do you think about the current music trend of today with acts
like Taylor Swift to Avenged Sevenfold?

Steve: I think it is based more on looks instead of talent. Basically i hope this
decade will be more like the 90’s where the talent was more important than a certain
look. The 80’s focused more on the look, and I feel the last decade did too,
although I’m very excited that A7X has brought my favorite drummer in the world —
Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater–on board.

(editor) Hold on here….We got to stop for a moment and put this car in neutral … “The 80’s focused more on ‘the look” and the 90’s on “talent”???  Did I read that right? I was around and playing in the 80’s and there were a lot of amazing and talented guitar players from that time. It wasn’t all about “the look”. I can easily name probably twenty  guitar players from the 80’s that could play and play well. I might be able to name two 90’s guitar players, one being Jerry Cantrell and the other one is not Dave Navarro…

In fact, I posted this question on a popular message board. Here are some of the responses…

well yes the 80s had great guitar players, but it was also more about the look than at any other point in time, ever where as the 90s was about the music, not about the look i think this is what he meant…he probably should have used a different word instead of “talent” to explain what he was trying to say because the 90s didn’t have as much talent as in the 80s. from “Heenan Snuka”

The 90’s “anti look” was as much a look as the 80s with flannel jeans, unwashed hair in the face and looking at their shoes while playing. It was just a reaction to the glammed up look of SOME of the 80s metal bands. And the talent level went way down un the 90s, most of those guys can’t play a guitar in standard tuning at all. It’s Drop D and the bottom 3 strings, played with index finger primarily and no solos. Not exactly inspiring. It’s funny how those guys always made lame excuses for not soloing like it was too indulgent and such. Fact is they never progressed on the instrument enough to be ABLE to play solos.a lot of grunge bands were glam a few years before. Two I can think of are Nirvana, who did it kinda halfassed but did have the Aquanet thing going on, and Alice in Chanis, who looked like Poison in 1989. Go see “Exposed” on the main page and you’ll see them and bands like Pantera all glammed up.Not that I blame them for doing what they had to to be successful, but I bet they had no clue that the then-infant Internet would blow their grunge street-cred covers one day. Nirvana being the most sainted band of grunge and its “honesty”, it just kinda cracks me up. I dig Nirvana, but the Exposed section of Sludge blows the whole myth the later grunge kids bought that they were revolutionaries. They were trend jumpers, which is fine, but cop to it and admit your grunge gods have feet of clay. Doesn’t mean they didn’t write some cool songs, but the sense of superiority is funny. from “lerxstcat”

Lerxs hit it right..Many of the 90’s band’s were guilty of “the look” and their playing and songwriting ability was mediocre.. I laugh my ass off when these band’s attempt to act like their look and music were genuine when it was nothing more than part of the trend and it reminded me of what the Sunset Strip would look like after the water got shut off..Also many grunge band’s were doing the glam thing before they changed over when the trend started to end..from “Luminiferous”

and one more…

I don’t really give a shit about guitar solos. All I know is no one in the 90s put any effort into their presence and personality (well, Manson I guess) that intrigued me enough to want to hear more of their music. from “HMJ”

(editor) OK, I think my friends have made some fine arguments here and in the court of Rock and Roll, I believe the 80’s have won on talent. So let’s put the car back in drive and keep going 🙂

Jeff: There is a lot of cool stuff going on right now.  However, the most
interesting things are a little under the radar and have to be sought out. Blogs,
myspace, internet radio, etc, are  the best places to find new music. Mainstream =
Lamestream. (<— good point…editor)

3. You guys play alot of 90’s grunge music. That was a period of gloom in
the music world thanks to Cobain and every other flannel shirt wearing
band out of Seattle. Everyone seemed down and depressed. So does the band
take antidepressants before each show to get through it?

Travis: Grunge was only one genre of music that was popular in that decade.  We
cover a wide range of genres from the 90s, grunge included, of course.  I wouldn’t
be surprised if a few of us are taking anti-depressants recreationally, but not
because of the music we’re playing.
Jeff: Well, we try to cover the whole spectrum of the ’90’s. So, we try to balance
out the “grunge” with some r&b/hip-hop, ska, and some pop-rock.  We like to put out
a party vibe and stay away from anything too depressing…

4. Tell us about your best gig so far.

Jeff: There have been a few stand-out shows where everything came together, but
anytime the crowd is really into it, it’s a good show.

Steve: That would have to be the day after Christmas at the Cantina in Tell City
because it was an assholes and elbows kind of party.
5. And one the same ticket, how about the worst gig in your life so far
story?

Steve:Possibly the Calumet in Jasper. We didn’t even make enough to pay for the PA
because it was a huge venue w/ only a handful of ppl and it wasn’t promoted
properly. It was …crickets…crickets…crickets….

Jeff: I try to block out the bad ones

6.I see where you guys are playing Casino’s. I see a lot of professional
bands do that too. How are the crowds? Do they treat you or receive you
differently than say, a gig in a local bar?

Shane:. i personally thought the crowd was just as cool and responsive as a bar or
anything like that. it was a good time!
Travis:  The only casino we’ve played thus far had a crowd similar to what we’re
used to. However, the atmosphere lent itself to more listening rather than dancing
and going crazy for the music.

Jeff:  It is definitely a different atmosphere.  You get a mix of people, some are
just there to gamble and don’t pay much attention, and others are there for a night
of entertainment who really want to see a show.

Steve:Good but different crowd. Casino, you are playing for the ppl getting drinks
while gambling. They might stay for a couple of songs, but… the ppl that were
hanging out gave us a good reception. We had our “fans”, but the majority are using
us for background music.

7. Are you guys currently working on an album or planning to in the near
future?

Travis:   There are a few original projects going on behind the scenes by a few of
the members, however, the mofos project, being just cover songs, has no album in
it’s future.

Jeff: The short answer would be that we are a cover band, so I don’t see a “Mofo’s”
album in the works. However, for most of us, this is the first serious, full-on
cover band we’ve done in a while.  We all cut our teeth in various original
projects over the years and that’s kind of how we all knew of each other to begin
with. I think everyone still has their own separate projects, so there could be 3-4
different albums in the works at anytime

Steve: They’ve already been recorded once! With us being a cover band, we are
basically just having fun playing the stuff we love listening to. There will not be
a Mofo album so if you wanna hear us, you gotta come see us live.

8.Tell us something about each of your band members that we wouldn’t
expect to hear.. Like your hobbies or something like that..

Shane:  well, i love to play video games, specifically survival horror games like
silent hill.
Jeff: I’m an information junkie, and I hate reality TV, except for the news, which
is close to being a game-show/popularity contest/rumor mill these days…

Steve: I  am in the works to run for President. I can’t be any worse than those
other guys lately. …And I like peanut butter.

9. What are your goals for the band? Are you looking to tour the United
States or just keep it local until the wheels fall off it?

Shane: my goal is to be booked all year around with this band, which we pretty much
are! so i guess im pretty set. 🙂

Jeff: You always have to start local and just see what happens from there, but
again, being a cover band kind of limits your options in that reguard.

Steve: Personally would like to see a mixture of the two. would like to tour
regionally until the wheels fall off.
10. # 10 is called “Shout It Out Loud”. It’s were you get to talk about
whatever you want to talk about. So go ahead BuzzKill Mofos’, and “SHOUT
IT OUT LOUD”!

Jeff: Buy local, bottled water is a scam and a poison to our environment, and the
record industry as we’ve know it is dead.

Steve: STEVE NELSON FOR PRESIDENT 2012 …and Chinese food rules!
Bonus Question for Gina the Band Manager:

This one is for you..
I noticed you are a band mom and there is another band mom in the
band too. Nothing wrong with that, or a band dad for that matter, my
parents supported me too but they weren’t “a part” of my band.They showed up
for gigs every once in awhile.. So are you a “Joe Jackson” type of
manager where its all business and nothing else or are you a band mom that
brings them water to the stage and takes up for them when the business turns
bad? (here’s an example. I few years ago I was running sound for a young
band and the lead singer/guitar player was up there being rock n roll with
all the expensive gear his parents bought for him and right in the middle
of his set when the chicks were really digging him he says over the
mic..”mom, would you bring me a bottled water”..and she did..In an
instant, he lost his street cred and any chance of getting laid from
that gig. His rock n roll card should have been taken away at that
point..lol) So are you moms’ a Joe Jackson type, or the other type or maybe a
somewhere in the middle type?

OH DUDE! I’m gonna HAFTA be long winded in order to straighten THIS out!
LOL

We are moms because we have given birth to their sons! Marcy is the
23-yr-old WIFE of guitarist Shane, and they have a 3-yr-old son together.
I started out as “the drummer’s girlfriend”, then graduated to manager
(story to follow), and we now have 6 mo-old twin boys together. Do we LOOK
old enough to be their MOMS?! LOL

Just to cover everyone’s personal lives: Jeff is getting married to Sarah
in October, and Matt and Travis are single. I have a Facebook picture of
the “band wives”.

So originally Steve was trying to book for the band, but he’s a bit of an
asshole so, one day, I wore a low-cut top and walked into a place I was
familiar with, and got their first gig. Since then, Steve would make up
the press kits, but have me do the talking. So I unofficially became the
manager. After the first year, the guys came to rely on me, and I earned
enough respect to where they decided to pay me a %. So now I am officially
the manager and have them pretty much booked solid for the rest of the
year. I do their promo photography, and stuff like talk to the magazine
guy! 🙂

I don’t get to go to many of the shows now b/c we have my 3 kids from a
prev. marriage plus the twins so you can imagine how hard it is to find a
Sat. nite sitter for 5 kids!

I’m not all business. I guess I’m a paid monogamous groupie! I DO get the
guys water, collect the money at the end of the night, get people on the
dance floor if the crowd is shy, take some action photos (as does Marcy),
and am guaranteed to go home with the drummer! Steve and I have also
invested alot of money into this band by purchasing our own huge ass PA
and a trailer to haul it in! That’s how much we love this shit!!

To be fair to you, I am older than the band members (by 2 or 3 yrs) and
with the way they act sometimes, I do have to assume the mom role!

(editor) Oh man do I feel like a dumb ass..I usually do a lot of homework on the bands but I only
assumed the same last names meant “moms’ of the guys in the band not wives or girlfriend’s :(, …so I will
gladly eat the crow sandwich for this mistake of mine..I busted the guys in
band balls about 90’s being talented and 80’s being looks and it looks like
you busted mine about band mom’s..lol…:(

In closing, these guys got a lot of good things going for them. I hope we all had fun busting each others balls here but these guys are booked solid at a lot of really great places to play too so if you get a chance, Check them out!!

chuck