Band: Mad Caddies Member: Sascha Lazor Label: Fat Wreck Chords Location: Starlite Room - Edmonton, Alberta Date: May 9th, 2006 Interviewer: Bobby Gorman

Two years after I had last interviewed him, I was back sitting on the Mad Caddies tour bus talking to their guitarist Sascha Lazor about their new album and their recent trip to South America. It was a good interview, and once again, Sascha was a nice guy. Thanks a lot to Rob for setting it up and to Sascha for doing it.

All live photos taken by Chris Wedman.

Sascha: Oh, it’s good. This is the first day that it’s actually been really relaxed, because we’ve been late or had lots of technical problems for the other shows. But this is a legitimate club, a nice club, good sound. So far it’s been going good – but it just started you know.

Bobby: Last November you guys played some dates in South America, how was that?

Sascha: Oh, it was amazing. Amazing. We played two shows in Caracas, one show in Bogata, Columbia, and one show in Ecuador. We were supposed to play another show in Columbia out in the jungle, but it got cancelled. But it was amazing. I mean, the band had never toured in a third world country and it was very different, everything eventually got done, but it was definitely different than any other spot.

Bobby: Were there any really memorable moments from that tour?

Sascha: Yeah, there were a bunch. I mean, we played, I think Ecuador, we played Guayaqui which is the big city in Ecuador. And we played this tennis court and it was outside, and the kids were just so thankful that we were there. Because no band… I think we were the first American punk band ever to go to Guayaqui, so they were just happy that anybody came. They would’ve showed up if it was any band. But they were very, very, very, very thankful, and they thought… Especially the kids that were big fans of us, they thought that through their whole lives they would never get to see us play. So it was great. Most bands when they go to South America, they go to Brazil or Argentina, or some of the bigger countries, but it just worked out that we went to some smaller ones. That, and the food was amazing, the people that took care of us were amazing, the girls were amazing, yeah, it was great. I want to go back very bad.

Bobby: Last April, you guys started recording your follow up to “Just One More”, how did that go?

Sascha: It’s still going. We did like thirteen songs. We just completed about thirteen songs and then we’re gonna do some more touring and then we’re gonna record another twelve or thirteen, and then out of those, we’re gonna pick the best fifteen, sixteen for the record and then have some extras for compilations and what not. But so far, it’s been going well. Stylistically, it’s pretty similar to some of the stuff we’ve been doing in the past, you know? Just as far as reggae, punk rock, some ska stuff, lots of Dixie Land jazz kind of stuff. But we’re just really trying very hard to not accept things. We haven’t set a due date yet, as far as a release date yet; and we probably won’t until all the songs are finished. Anytime in the past, we’ve always kind of set a release date and then had to hurry to finish the record, and things, music, lyrics or the production has always suffered as a result of having to get it done. So we decided that we don’t want to set a due date until it’s done.

Bobby: Do you have any idea what you’re gonna call it yet?

Sascha: Not really, we’ve got a couple ideas floating around. I think we have to get everything together, the rest of the songs, before we can kind of do that. We’ve all been thinking of things, but you’re not gonna get a good enough picture until we have the songs, album artwork, title, you know.

Bobby: Yeah. When you guys announced that you were recording, you said you were going for a more of a “whatever happens happens” feel, so has anything weird happened so far while recording the first half of the album?

Sascha: No, I think that magic’s gonna come… We have a portable recording, we have ProTools on the bus, we still have more overdubs to do and stuff on the songs, so eventually it will come.

Bobby: You also said that the studio you’re recording in is right next to an Oriental laundry mart and a used cars salesman’s office and you said that any sound from those that made it onto the recording would stay on the recording, so has anything made it onto the recording yet?

Sascha: No, no, they’ve been pretty quiet so far. I mean, the things that normally make records are things that most people never even hear; maybe someone when they’re stoned might pick up something like that. But I think our goal was just to make something that’s not very stale, and these days a lot of records sound very stale, very polished, we’re trying to make it not like that.

Bobby: Do you think you’re going to have any guest singers on it, or guest appearances?

Sascha: Yes, for sure. Part of the reason we have ProTools and a portable way to record is so we can work on the songs ourselves, but also if we’re on tour and we meet other bands on tour, they can come on… And we have all the tracks for some of the songs we recorded with us, so hopefully they can come in and say “hey, your voice would sound good on background vocal or something.” Then we would easily be able to do it, and have it be good quality too.

Bobby: You said that you’d be playing some new songs on this tour, have people been having a good reaction to them so far?

Sascha: Yes, yes, definitely. They’re pretty groovy, they’re pretty reggae kind of, one ska one; they’re pretty instantly kind of groovy, you know? So the reaction has been very good.

Bobby: In 2004, you guys released a live record called “Songs in the Key of Eh!” why did you decide to release a live one?

Sascha: Cause a lot of people had been asking for a live record and it was very easy to do. We did it in Toronto, and the sound company that recorded it, they were really good and relatively inexpensive and it just kind of came together really easily. So we just thought we’d do it.

Bobby: Why did you pick Toronto to record it in?

Sascha: Just for those reasons, because there was a sound company out of Toronto that was really good, for the money it was very good; and Toronto, we’ve always had a lot of fun in the city and the crowds have always been really enthusiastic and we’ve always had a good time there. Not to say we haven’t had a good time in any other place. It just happened where there was the sound company, it was on a good day – it turned out to be St. Patrick’s Day, we didn’t plan for that. Everything just kind of came together.

Bobby: One thing I really liked about the record is when you talk about Melanie from Fat and how she only wants to have her baby so she can drink again. How did she react to that when she heard it?

Sascha: She laughed.

Bobby: I love going to concerts, I try to go to as many as I can, but of course, there are always some that are a bit more memorable than others. So thinking back, what are some concerts that you went to that are really memorable for you?

Sascha: Ah, memorable concerts… Ah man, there’s been a lot of memorable concerts. Random, I mean, we played a show… there’s a lot of NOFX concerts when we toured with NOFX. They’re pretty hazy, but they’re memorable. We played once with NOFX in London, that was really memorable. I remember… there’s so many of them. Are you talking about our shows or other bands?

Bobby: That you’ve seen.

Sascha: I’ll always remember the first time I saw the Bossstones, the Mighty Mighty Bossstones, because I didn’t really know who they were at the time, so I was in shock you know? I remember the first time I saw the Ramones. The first punk show I ever went to, I remember that, that was really fun. Oh man, there’s so many. Madness, I saw Madness play, that was great. I’ve been to so many shows, whether it’s been playing or just been to, it’s just too many. Shows that were good, shows that were bad, it just runs the gambit you know?

Bobby: Could you tell us something about the band or one of its members that not many people know about? Like a little quirk they do on the road or something like that?

Sascha: *he thinks about* umm… something about the band… umm… Let me get back to that.

Bobby: Okay, if you could have one thing at this moment, anything at all, what would you have and why?

Sascha: My girlfriend.

Bobby: That’s exactly what Spider from The Loved Ones said too. I guess that’s something most people miss on tour.

Sascha: Yeah.

Bobby: Okay, I guess that’s about it, thanks a lot for doing it. Do you have any finals thoughts you’d like to add?

Sascha: Nah, I’ll get back to you about that question, I can’t think of something right now.

Bobby: That’s okay, no worries. Thanks a lot.

Sascha: Cool, Bobby.