Folks, here you are Angel City Outcasts, a band that has shaken The Rock Explosion's headquarter with its bursting debut album "Let It Ride". A letal mix among country, punk, hardcore e metal. Our Margherita Realmonte interviewed Tak, the lead guitar player of A.C.O.. Read and take your dose of pleasure!

Hi Tak and welcome on The Rock Explosion! Let's introduce Angel City Outcast to our Exploders (explaining why someone of you decided to abandon their old bands Youth Rebellion and Broke 'Til Thursday. Are those bands still in activity?
Hi, my name is Tak, I play lead guitar in A.C.O.. Broke 'Til Thursday is currently playing with a new line-up. Make sure to check 'em out as well on www.broketilthursday.com. Youth Rebellion has not been a band for about 3 years now. Both Broke 'Til Thursday and Youth Rebellion were on shaky ground at the time we left the bands. My brother Alex Z. (bass) and I were close friends with Alex B. (lead vocals) and Bob (rhythm guitar). Ryan "Scotchy" (drums) with whom we clicked right away, we met around the same time. So, the transition into Angel City Outcasts was smooth and without much delay. With the new band we sought to broaden our sound and brake new ground in modern punk/rock n' roll and not just limit ourselves to a certain style of punk.

Let's say now something about the songwriting approach of your powerful album "Let It Ride"? In which way an A.C.O. song takes form?
I gotta admit and I think the rest of the guys will agree with me that making an A.C.O. song official is a big pain in the ass for the most part. That's a good thing tho. We are all extremely critical and picky about which song will see the light of day on stage or on a record. From the beginning we had agreed that every song from this band will be thoroughly thought out and chiselled before it is presented to our fans. I think there's too many shitty bands out there that in my opinion short change their fans with mediocre and half-assed music. If a kid is gonna buy an Angel City Outcasts CD we're gonna make sure they get their money's worth.

The "Let it Ride" opener song is titled "I'm an A.C.O.". So, tell to our readers about an A.C.O. lifestyle in L.A.?
I don't think the life of an Angel City Outcast differs significantly from a Milan City Outcast or a Rome City Outcast. We're all pretty much the same around the world. That's the main idea behind this band. We want to erase sub-genre factions and elitism and just have one big army of kids.

I know you love Johnny Cash so much that you dedicated him this album: do you wanna spend some words to remember this great artist?
Johnny Cash is one of my personal heroes, not just as an artist but as a human being as well. For me, he was a true symbol of integrity, perseverance and virtue aside from being an incredibly talented singer/song writer and performer. I love the Man in Black and the same goes for the rest of the guys in the band. May God rest his soul.

Which have been the sources of inspiration of this work? Which are your main musical influences? Except Johnny Cash!
Man, I couldn't even begin to list everybody who have inspired this band and this album. We're all over the place on the influence spectrum. Some of the most important bands and people include Guns'n'Roses, AC/DC, Rancid, Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams Sr., Jr., and III, Slash's Snake Pit, Brian Setzer, Bonecrusher, Hudson Falcons, Reverend Horton Heat, GC 5, Megadeth, Blood For Blood,Toy Dolls. The list goes on and on.

I've been really impressed by the song "Popeye In Afghanistan": explain us why did you choose to talk about that war in this way. What's your point of view about that? Popeye is for you the prototype of the American hero?
We have the outmost respect and admiration for veterans from all wars and I personally have always been a fan of war songs, humorous or melancholic songs that are either created on the battle field or popularised by soldiers during war time. "Popeye In Afghanistan" was meant to be that style of song. It is a modern American soldier's song so to speak.

You wrote as introduction of the same track: This song is aimed against those who attacked us on 9/11/01. Nothing more, nothing less. Who attacked New York in your opinion? Did you see Michael Moore "Fahrenheit 9/11"? If so what do you think about it?
The reason we wrote that disclaimer is because we got some flack from very few misguided individuals who thought the song had some kind of political agenda behind it. We, intentionally leave our personal political views out of the band's content and wanted to make sure it stays that way. We do not back any political party, movement or cause with our band. And if you think we're nationalistic or racist because of the Popeye song, you're out of your mind. I'd say 99.9% of our fans understand and love the song. To answer your question I'm not a big conspiracy guy so I'm going to agree with the rest of the world that Al Qaeda attacked New York. I didn't see Fahrenheit 911. Personally speaking, I have trouble trusting political extremists from either side, so the film was not something I was interested in seeing.

Why did you choose to cover "Detroit Rock City" of Kiss fame changing it in "L.A. Rock City"? Are you sure that L.A. is the greatest rock city of U.S.A or of the world?
(Laughs) Damn sure! Just kidding. Had we lived in Detroit the song title would have remained the same. Kiss is one of our favourite bands.

Why did you choose to end the album with an unusual instrumental track like "The New Breed Of Rock'n'Roll"?
So that I would get to shred on guitar baby! (laughs)

Why did you choose as front and back cover of your Cd two images referring to the years in which mafia gangs troubled America? It makes me think of some ancient Saint Valentine shooting in the early 20th Century.
Most of us in the band are big fans of gangster movies. Everything from "The Untouchables" to "The Godfather", "Goodfellas" and "Scarface". And some of our songs have a classic 50's rock'n'roll vibe to them. So there you go.

Which kind of outfit do you show on stage? Are you all dressed like Al Capone?
(Smiles) Nah, I think SKA bands have that market cornered. We just dress however we dress on the street. *see photos section on www.angelcityoutcasts.com.

Now a funny question. If you could choose to become a popular comics super hero, who would you be? Popey not included!
Batman has always been my favourite, but I'm not sure if I'd wanna be him. I'm not a big fan of psychotic clowns trying to kill me every other day. Know what I mean…

The best live performance of your whole career: when did it happen, how many people were there... Viceversa, tell us also something about the worst
concert you have done: what did the audience throw to you...
I'd say most of the time the kids are very receptive towards us. The last show was pretty awesome. There was a huge crowd on stage singing "I'm An Angel City Outcast". The worst two shows was our 2nd show ever when we played out of shitty amps at light speed and the show shortly after that, when we played with half a drum set and without Bob. Or was that with half a Bob and without a drumset. I can't remember… I tend to block that show out of my memory. Good thing nobody except for the bartender saw us play that night.

Which are the most boring aspects in the life of a musician:
Waiting for the shows.

Have you got particular passions or hobbies outside the music scene?
My brother and I draw. He also tattoos and I also write. Bob is a big World War II and electronics buff. Alex B.'s hobby is muscling people around and Ryan well, I probably shouldn't say… (laughs)

Choose one between the following options:
Billy The Kid or Buffalo Bill: The Kid of course.
Gen. Caster or Sitting Bull: Sitting Bull.
Popeye or Bluto: Take a wild guess…
Olivia or Jessica Rabbit: Oh man, definitely Jessica Rabbit!
Al Pacino or Marlon Brando: Al Pacino.
Bush or Kerry: Oh no you don't!
Lemmy or Dee Snider: Uhmmm that's a tough one. Ummm I would have go. I can't decide that's like saying whiskey or beer?

Now try to describe us in your own words some of the most outrageous rock'n'roll songs ever written according your opinion:
Turbonegro has like 3 or 4 albums of those. My favourite outrageous rock 'n'roll song is probably "One In A Million" by Guns'n'Roses. The song oozes media controversy and is catchy.

The craziest thing ever done in your life:
Diving from an Airplane at 30,000 with a parachute and joining a rock'n'roll band.

The interview is over now, thanx so much and use this little room to say whatever you like!
A big grazzi to The Rock Explosion and to all the Italian kids that support or will support us. See ya in your neck of the woods soon. Ciao!

Intervista realizzata e tradotta da Margherita Realmonte