MxPx Interview – May 4th, 2007

I was really fortunate to get to talk with the band that created my love for music, MxPx. Mike Hererra was nice enough to answer some of my questions about their history, and present state as one of the longest-standing bands in music. A huge thank you to Libby Henry and all of MSOPR for setting up this interview!

Why is your tour bus named the black pearl?
The Black Pear, that’s our cursed ship because it’s crewed by the damned and it breaks down a lot! It seems to break down quite a lot so we ended up calling it the black pearl just cause of all of the problems we encounter along the way, so it’s always an adventure.

MxPx has been together for 15 years now, what is your secret  for maintaining being friends and in a band for so long?
(sarcastically) I tell you…it must be communication…
No, it’s just drive, and having a focus that’s common, which is making music, touring and getting the job done. Obviously, we have our disagreements and we have our own ideas about certain things but when it comes down to it, we just want to get from point A to point B, live life and enjoy life and that’s what the band’s all about.

What would you say has been your high and low in MxPx?
Let’s see, a lot of the lows came with the highs. As you gain a lot of popularity for the first time and it’s all new to you, you get a lot of the bad with the good. You get a lot of criticism. For every person that loves you, there’s another person that hates you. You put out a record and it’s sort of your little baby and some fans don’t like it, ‘you’re a sellout’ so that’s the way it is. The better you do, the more criticism you’re going to get. I guess in a way criticism can be good, because it means you are doing well.

Secret Weapon, comes out in July, and saw the return of Aaron Sprinkle behind the production helm, how did it feel to be back working with him?
It was really easy and comfortable. Aaron Sprinkle brought a lot of laid back experience. We’ve worked with a lot of great producers that we’ve really enjoyed working with but it was really cool to have the experience of being his first record and over ten years later, here we are again with him. He’s learned so much and gotten so good at what he does. I feel like we did too, you know, through the years. It really made the process super easy and super fun, but it’s going to go down in MxPx history as one of the best records we’ve ever made.

You did live video feeds on the internet while you recorded, that’s not something a lot of bands would consider, what did that change in the studio?
I don’t know what it changed in the studio. Obviously, we wanted to let fans in a little bit. We wanted them to check out where we were recording and what we were doing. You couldn’t hear any music obviously, because we weren’t going to let people hear all of the bad parts when it’s not finished but people were really stoked. It really succeeded in getting people interested in the new record and paying attention to what we’re doing.

How was it having Brian from Bad Religion, Benji from Good Charlotte, Tim from Sugarcult and so many more friends in the studio with you?
It was cool, some of the people we had do stuff, like Brian from Bad Religion was in LA working on the new Bad Religion album and so we just sent the files. It’s great because technology today makes it so easy to just call somebody across the world and send them the files and they record it. Back in the day that just wouldn’t happened. On “The Ever Passing Moment” we had our friend Stephen from The Descendants/All fly in from Denver to record a solo, where now we would just send the files.

One of the songs on the new disc is a call-out to get rid of your cell phones, what tech devices are you currently wired to?
I don’t have anything, I don’t have a cell phone, computer, fax  machine, video game, nothing. (long pause) I’m kidding!
I was going to say…that’s really impressive!
In that song, I’m not saying technology is evil, I’m just saying we let it become our lives instead of help our lives a lot of times. Anytime you’re spending more time on the internet than you spend doing normal things then you’re losing yourself. It’s really hard to learn and to really grow as a person if you don’t interact with others or interact with the real world.

It seemed like things were going quite well with SideOneDummy Records, so what brought the return to Tooth & Nail?
We struggled with the idea to go back to Tooth & Nail for quite a while. There were no problems with SideOneDummy at all. We love those guys and we’re really good friends with them. Basically it just felt like the right thing to do to go back. They were offering us a great record deal. We reconciled past differences, which to me was the most important thing out of all of this. We really felt like going back to Tooth & Nail would open up a new chapter to our band. We really needed something new, to be a catalyst, to get people to look at the new album in a different light.

The Tooth & Nail Tour kicked off this week in Seattle, what has it been like for you guys to be out with some very new and diverse bands?
It’s been good, it’s super new. I don’t think I’ve even met all of the guys yet who are out on the tour. It’s just a matter of learning all of the names. I’ve watched the bands and they’re all really good.

MxPx is filming a new video on Sunday, can you tell me a little about it?
The song is Secret Weapon, the title track. It’s not really a single, just an introduction song for everyone to know we’ve got a new record coming. The concept for the video is like mid-80s early 90s LA punk scene. A lot of punk-rockers in the video, a lot of dogs barking at cameras, real gritty and dirty, live performance stuff. It’s going to be a really cool looking straight up punk video.

Transitioning a bit, I heard a rumor going around that we might see a return of the MxPx side-project Arthur, is this true?
I think eventually we would like to put out a full-length and if people like it we’ll go on tour, but at least we’d like to put out the full length. We have all of the songs and it’s there, it’s just not quite finished recording.

Is the Rock City Recordings label done with?
It’s kind of done with, it’s been hibernating for so long and I just don’t know if I really want to do it now because it’s so hard being in my own bands and doing a record label. We signed one band and they were great and then they quit and stopped touring and it was a letdown.
But, I’ve got Tumbledown going, it’s my country-folk project and I’m starting a clothing company called Legionnaire Apparel. There’s another guy doing a lot of designs as well as me. That will be coming soon online.

You’ve maintained a fan club for your band for years now, as well as recorded a free christmas song every year for the fans, what motivates you guys so much more to be in touch with your fan base than other bands?
I think we realize the fans are what keep us working, paying our bills, elevated to where we are and if it wasn’t for them we would just be working regular jobs and not being able to see the world. We really value that in our fans and we want to give back as much as possible. The fan club is pretty awesome, you get a lot of band access, free songs, contests and it’s pretty sweet.

Any Last Comments?
Secret Weapon, coming out July 17th. We’re really stoked to see you guys out on tour. If you can’t make it out to a show, check out our online web-store, the MxPx Merch Arsenal!