The A.K.A.s

Dwayne: First I guess your name and what you do in the band?

Mike: My name is Mike Ski and I sing in the AKA’S

Dwayne: How did you come up with the name The AKA’s (Are Everywhere)?

Mike: The true story is when we originally came up with the name for the band we were called the AKA’S and our first demo was called the AKA’s are everywhere. It was kind of inspired by 60’s sort of Kinks vibe and there is also a book written by the weather underground in the 60’s he was like a LSD king. They broke him out of jail and he wrote letters from prison called “we are everywhere”. We thought that was something to aspire to – the being everywhere not breaking LSD guys out of jail. So when we signed for our first record the label thought that was a real cool idea. So all the initial ads for our record, all they said were the AKA’S ARE EVERYWHERE on black on white box with nothing else. Just as the ads where about to run they had just got done a failed legal battle with another bands name on the label and they ended up getting pretty screwed on it. So they wanted to make sure our name was totally legit and stuff. So when we tried to look there was some weird software company and kyboshed the use of the 3 letters AKA so we just decided to make that the full name of the band.

Dwayne: You guys are on tour with Anti Flag, how has everything been going so far?

Mike: It’s amazing. Anti Flag are good friends of ours and they are one of the first bands that kind of believed in us as a band for no other reason than they thought that what we were doing was cool and they liked our band. We didn’t necessarily know them first and they took us on our first big tour of the states – the Rock Against Bush tour in 2004. We toured with them again in 2006. Those guys, musically and personally, are one of our favorite bands to tour with just because they treat everyone so awesome and we feel like comrades for a lot of different reasons. It being our first time in Canada we are super blown away. Like the shows have been awesome and the kids have been super receptive and really great. I think that’s something that’s awesome to discover places where people are not quite yet spoiled and jaded on music. That’s defiantly the case in the States I find. So for the simple fact that bands don’t come here as often and shows may be fewer and far between that people really appreciate the opportunity to come to a show and just have an awesome time and that’s just priceless now a days.

Dwayne: I read on your website that your music is described as “Dancehall Fight Music.” Why define your music as that?

Mike: When we first started the band we really wanted to make a precise effort to not become associated with some niche made up goofy sub genre. At the time we were being compared to bands like the Strokes and hipper New York rock bands. We were like “fuck that scene” you know. As its progressed we have toured with every kind of band. We’ve played shows with Fall Out Boy, the Dwarves and TSOL and stuff like that. It’s been such an eclectic ride in our band we’ve kind of proven that a lot of times we just don’t fit in anywhere. So in efforts to describe it to people without being totally dorky we just made that up and it’s just cool ‘cause we are a real danceable band but were not like “pussy dance music.” Its aggressive and I think that spirit of a crowd that’s one step away from one or the other is a real awesome energy and that’s kind of what we have experienced. On one end were kids that are dancing and stage diving to the other end where we’ve had bottles thrown at us. It’s all a true story.

Dwayne : The first album “White Doves on Smoking Guns” was on Fueled by Ramen. The new one “Everybody Make Some Noise” on Metropolis Records why go from FBR to Metropolis?

Mike: We get asked this often and I guess the main thing to consider is like record labels are all retarded. I think that a lot of times you make decisions based on your options. Our deal with Fueled by Ramen was a one record deal and when they went from a point of having like a pseudo eclectic line up when we signed to becoming a very successful pop label and that’s great. Obviously we’re not a success at that you know? So were fine with that. We knew for a long time that we wouldn’t be doing another record with Fueled by Ramen but we continued to tour on the first record to get it to where we wanted it to be and when we felt comfortable enough to do another record. That was 400 shows later, so you know, to a degree labels are pointless. We have had the opportunity to have labels to help put out our records which is cool. So Metropolis put out our record. They came to us and were excited about the band and didn’t need to hear demos and stuff like that. They were just like we just want to put out your record we know its going to be good. That’s also rare these days.

Dwayne: You guys worked with Alex Newport on the new record. Did he bring anything out in the AKA’s that say wasn’t there before or was just hiding deep down?

Mike: I think the reasons we went with him as a producer were, I guess number one – he showed interest in our band and I think it’s best to work with somebody who already likes your band. He’s got a certain level of success of bringing out a live energy in his recordings and that’s something that is really important to us because we know that the more whipped cream you put on our band the shittier it sounds. We wanted a real raw and urgent sounding album and I think that he has a natural talent with that. He was definitely a different personality for us to work with and I think that he’s got a talent of bringing out good performances by making you feel horrible. That’s the best way I can describe it.

Dwayne: How was the recording/writing process the second time around compared to the first time for you guys?

Mike: Well the first record was like from the time we signed till the time it came out was like 3 months. It was like so fast. Most of the songs had been written but they were the first songs we had written so it was like hey lets start a band and write 11 songs and record them right away, and then it’s a record and then we are out on tour already. It happened like super fast. Which is, on one hand, how some bands make their best records; so we thought that was a good way to do it. I love the first record but the second record we spent all this time on the road and we were sort of like drifting aimlessly trying to figure out who was going to do the next record. We spent along time to kind of find a solid line up and get back to the first record and take it from there. So we put out a record that was the same spirit of the band but an evolution instead of just doing the same record again, you know? So it ended up taking a long time and we ended up writing like 30 songs to varying levels. We ended up recording 12 songs that we all loved. We have these other songs to choose from and none of us ,in any band we have ever been in, have had the opportunity to like choose. People always ask what took so long and I always answer with we could have put out 3 shitty records in the mean time if you would prefer. Second record is really important you know. We aren’t in any head space to start pushing this but just as sort of experiment that we can do this. We wrote like 4 songs and learned a cover in 4 days and recorded them recently and they sound FUCKIN AWESOME so I think that we just wanted to prove that it doesn’t take us a long time to write songs!

Dwayne: The AKA’s are socially aware of what’s going on around you and your country. Do you think it’s important for people to be aware of what’s going on around them in their city, province, state, and country?

Mike: That’s an interesting question. I mean, we as a band walk a line of not being overtly political. But we are interested in social issues and growing up in punk and hardcore and being aware of those things and kind of combining them into one thing has always been kind of normal for me. I think that as “punk music” or whatever you wanna call it has become more shitty and lame and accessible like it seems as if doing that seems more of a stark thing. Which I think is also bizarre. I also think that there is a responsibility that I feel for having to travel around the world and effect people through our music and what we say and do. So like I take that really seriously and take that as a cool opportunity to not tell people what to do but to make information available so people can have a forum for debate and discussion about it. That’s a big mission of our band. I think that to go back to what your question is everybody finds their own way to do that and I don’t think it’s necessarily being involved on every level but I think that it’s important to be involved on some level at the very least. As active as I feel I am and as much effort as I put into it, I don’t necessarily follow the local Philadelphia stuff . That could be because I’ve been on the road for a year, we’ve all been following the election really closely and we do voter registration and we are actively supporting a candidate and a lot of bands would never touch that kind of thing cause its dangerous. Because you open yourself up to looking like an idiot or turning potential fans of your band off. Whereas I feel like the outcome of peoples lives in real life, not in entertainment fantasy land, is more important than whether our band sells another five records. When we first started this band we had this big discussion about you know what’s this “Revolution” we throw around like it sounds cool but you know it’s that shits fucked up but what are we really saying or doing about it? One of the very first things we did is agree that George W Bush is a fuck up and just an idiot and just dangerous to our country and our world that everyone lives in. So that was something we put our backs up against as a band. Over time things remain the same or we have taken other things that we think are important and the main thing that I can sum that up as is not necessarily as a musician but more so as a committed human being that gives a shit about myself and other human beings. There’s a hierarchy of problems that exist in this world and the fact that is that thousands of people are getting killed here there and then in the next 5 years we’re gonna be under water or next summer its going to be below freezing because our planet is on a crash course. I think that those things are a little bit more important that whether I got laid last night or my girlfriend cheated on me. I think of things far more opposite. Those things are a lot more universal because we all live on this planet. That’s just my opinion.

Dwayne: You said you’re actively backing a candidate. May I ask who is that? And what do you hope the outcome of the upcoming election will be?

Mike: We’ve actively said we are voting for Obama. I mean you may have guessed that. It’s interesting because – and the dangerous thing about it for a band that’s “Political” or whatever in some sense is that you get the people who are like super leftist who think that’s lame. I think that’s the reason a lot of bands that don’t do that is because it might not be who we think would be perfect but outta the 2 options I feel like what ever you feel about it. It’s a historic election no matter what happens but I think that there is a general sense that young people and all people in the country are inspired by him and I think that hasn’t happened in years. I think that a young person can relate to it. That is inspiring to see and I think that people want things to change and be different. Whether or not those things are important to me like I want A,B,C things to happen, whether his policies are those exactly or not, but I think that there’s at the very least a realistic start to those things. Where as John MCcain is the antithesis of all those things .His crazy fucking vice presidential nominee is fucking crazy. She is the fucking anti Christ and I don’t even believe in god (laughs)

Dwayne: What’s next for you guys after the Anti Flag tour?

Mike: We go home for the first time in several months for two weeks. Then we start a run with Streetlight Manifesto then were doing like a last minute get up go tour with just ourselves through the southern states then back home. That’s our touring plans for now but the record is going to be released in Europe and the UK soon so were gonna start looking at that. And hopefully return to Canada as soon as possible. Then we’ve recorded this EP which we are probably going to release sometime early next year. And we have this crazy weird record with all these crazy DJ’s and like dance dudes. Just a crazy cast of characters remixed our entire record that are like straight up dance songs so were trying to figure out how to handle that. It’s cool it’s got some really weird guests like Travis from Gym Class Heroes. It’s bizarre and awesome.

Dwayne: Second last question. The phrase “Knowledge is Power” what does that mean to you?

Mike: Well I think that to have awareness and information is like ammunition. Its like the more you know about subjects the better decisions you can make about it and making good decisions or making bad decisions and learning from them its just adding to that . I think that’s what makes people who they are. Learning to be more individualized, that’s the most important thing you can do. It’s like being yourself to the most dangerous capacity that’s possible.

Dwayne: Any final comments?

Mike: Thanks for having me. Hope that I have been moderately entertaining enough that someone checks out our album. And they should buy it and not download it cause no one buys records anymore.