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Interview with Paul Roman of The Quakes
June 2003

Destin_TXPSY: First off, great show at the American Nightmare. How about let's start with some history, lineup changes, releases, all that stuff.....just start from the start?
Paul: The band started,.. too much history - too many lineup changes - go to www.thequakes.com for the full boring story - about LA - we had a real bad show that night - I don't think the audience knew just how bad it was because they have never seen us before.
Destin_TXPSY: The consensus for the majority of the crowd there seemed to be that they were there to see The Quakes and everything else was a bonus for showing up, do you think you are being your "own worst critic"?
Paul: No - I was really disappointed - Because I knew no one had seen us out there and I wanted to make a good showing - we wanted Rob Peltier to play bass with us and offered to pay him a large sum of money but he would not do it - Rob played on the first Tiger Army CD and is one of the best bass players both musically and on stage. I hope that someday he will want to play with us again - maybe when he is finished with graduate school - what really blew us away is how the whole crowd sang "Stick to your guns"! We were really humbled by that - I really had no idea that there was so much support for us out there - we have only played a few shows a year since 1995.
Destin_TXPSY: That would have been nice to see Rob playing with you guys, I saw you guys at the NY Rumble with Mark Burke on bass (need a shag?).
Paul: Ha! Ha! Yup, that's Mark - that's right about the time Rob stopped playing with us.
Destin_TXPSY: As far as the people knowing your music without you playing out much is the best part about the psycho genre, I think. You don't have to get out and tour like a fiend to sell albums, the scene, itself, is a built in ear and, for the most part, it's LOYAL and it's STILL all about the festivals. And you guys were the first band (Psycho) to come out of the States.
Paul: I ask myself to this day "How is that possible?" - When we would be at the Nervous Records office in London we would listen to all the demo tapes from American bands and no one sounded like we did - it was all "weakabilly".
Destin_TXPSY: But as far as you guys being the first psycho band in the States, I think folks have that in mind somewhat and consider your music as a "must hear". On that note, would you guys ever try to tour the States?
Paul: Naaaa - I'm too old now to be riding around in vans and sleeping on floors - that's for the guys who are 19 ha! We never played much outside of our area of Buffalo back in the day because no one was interested - this was '86, '87 - we couldn't even get a $200 guarantee to play in Pittsburg or Cleveland, etc - so it did not make sense - that's why we sold all our stuff and moved to London.
Destin_TXPSY: Going back...about LA...what does LA have to offer you now with your recent personal situation change? Something up your sleeve or are there some definite plans coming together?
Paul: Well....Yeah, I just got divorced so I'm going out to LA to see if I can get a job, etc. - And I want to play a lot with others and put a band together - I could even end up in a Western Swing band! (laughs) I have a lot of ideas that I can use - I want to help bands. I like to write for others - produce -- we learned everything the hard way so now I can help some younger guys with stuff we fucked up.
Destin_TXPSY: If it's Western Swing, it better not suck ass, I live in Texas and we don't put up with imitation Western music...just messing with you...actually I'm not, but...
Paul: I know exactly what you mean about that. I am not a "recreationalist" - I do not reenact the civil war on weekends, etc and those bands really suck.
Destin_TXPSY: "Fuel to the ever burning fire of someone else's era", I can create my own quotes. Anyways, from a drummers point of view, Western Swing can be quite explosive and fun, definitely a style of music that is fun to play and can be experimented with, with new tricks on all instruments.
Paul: Yes - what you do is take the spirit those guys had and the vibe and do something with it. You don't try and recreate it, because you can't.
Destin_TXPSY: Good happy drinkin and dancin tunes...
Paul: Songs can be about anything - there are no rules - I wish some of the Psychos would use their brains a little and come up with something other than BATS, MONSTERS, & GRAVEYARDS etc. etc. It's been done to death (even by us!) and it's lame and it takes no imagination - Be different - even if it sucks, at least it's your own.
Destin_TXPSY: You mentioned earlier about helping bands out a bit there (LA) too, I'm curious, would you be expanding Orrexx records and publishing something more?
Paul: It's really hard just to put out my own stuff cause it's all me and I have to have the money - I'm still recouping on "Last of the Human Beings" - But at least some guy in Europe isn't getting all my money - Attention bands: DO IT YOURSELF - especially on this small scene there isn't anything a "label" can do for you that you can't do yourself - distribution is easy on the psycho scene.
Destin_TXPSY: EXACTLY, very good advice. A lot of bands just starting out have no idea that they can actually do everything themselves, even distributing releases all over the world. If the album is moving (in sales), usually distributors will start with buying small amounts from your band and go from there, if it's a brand new release, there are distributors that will do a consignment situation as well. Paul, how about a book?
Paul: Ha! I don't know shit!
Destin_TXPSY: Whatever...you could write in a way that band members can actually understand, it can be used for all underground music genres, basically spelling out what works and what doesn't. DIY to the bone!
Paul: Fuck that - these young punks will have to learn the hard way like we did (laughs).
Destin_TXPSY: I guess you need to live the blues a bit before you can sing about them, huh? Well Paul, thanks for your time.... maybe some day we can get The Quakes over here in Texas for a show or two...