The Brokedowns

The Brokedowns are an enigma; an engima born out of crusty, alcohol soaked punk rockers hidden within the dingiest, darkest dives of Illinois. Every once in awhile they come out of the woodworks, blast out a new album and leave audiences in awe.

This past September, the band released their brand new record Species Bender through Red Scare Industries. I sent guitarist Kris Megyery some questions through this wonderful invention called “e-mail” to find out more about the band, the release, and their wizarding friends.

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You were one of the many bands who made their way down to Gainesville for The Fest this year. How was it?

It was a stone groove, Jack.  I usually find myself completely exhausted by the time I arrive there and then I become possessed by the power of righteous vibes and stay awake for three days.  You would have to be a real dick to have a bad time down there.

What was your favourite part of the weekend?

As cliched and cheesedick as this may sound the best part is seeing friends and meeting new ones and just drinking in the sun. Seeing bands you don’t get to see all the time is fun too I guess.

I know you played The Fest 7, I’m assuming you probably played The Fest 8 too. What makes you keep coming back?

The insane amount of money they pay us and hearing the story behind how Tony managed to find 10 gallons of panda blood that we demand on our rider every year.

I read one time that on tour, Kris’ seven year old nephew came up on stage and did stand up comedy between songs. How did that happen and how hilarious was that?

>It was very funny and some serious performance art on his part.  He improvised every joke.  Not one of them made sense but people we’re legitimately howling with laughter and it wasn’t pandering.

Now is random stuff like that something one should expect from a Brokedowns show?

No…absolutely not.  Keep your expectations as low as they can go when watching us.  If we all end up playing the same song at the same time you should consider it a miracle equal to turning water into wine.

You guys just released Species Bender this September on Red Scare. It was your first release since 2007’s New Brains for Everyone. Three years is a rather long time, are you glad to finally have new material out and what took so long?

Whoa!  Whoa!  What are you, our motherfucking manager?  Between those albums we had an EP and 4 splits come out.  That seems like a lot for us…Lay off man.

Of course, the record was released through Red Scare – how’d you hook up with Toby?

He pursued us with the same intensity as a Ringwraith hunting the Hobbits.  He asked us a long time ago.  Then when we we’re finishing up we got in touch and the rest is platinum history.

One thing I find interesting about the release is where it was recorded. It was recorded with kitchens, bathrooms, basements and a bar. Why do it that way instead of an actual studio?

Mainly because of the lengths of time in between recording.  We did the drums at one place and then a few months later we did the guitars at another place and then a few months later the vocals at one place, etc.  We basically needed to find a way that we could complicate what should be an easy process.  I’m pretty sure we won’t do it like that again.

 

How did having to move around so much effect the recording process?

We really captured the feeling of frustration and aggravation that was pouring out of Joe, the dude recording it.  If you listen closely you can almost hear how much he hates our guts in the mix.

What’s the meaning behind the artwork – the mixture of cavemen and advance technologies?

Ryan Duggan did that.  He’s an artist from Chicago that does a ton of great posters.  I guess the message would be that despite how technologically advanced we are, we are still stupid animals.

A lot of the lyrical content kind of has that juxtaposition – condemning people’s reliance on technology and taking what they are told as the truth. Can you explain why you went in that direction?

I don’t think we’re condemning technology or people’s dependence on it as much as condemning the celebration of technology as proof that we’re evolving or moving in a more progressive direction.  It feels like we’re apes with iPhones.

 

The day after the album was released you unveiled a music video for Wizard Symptoms through National Underground. Its a rather weird video – who came up with the idea?

I’m gonna go ahead and take full credit for that one.  Months and months of pre-production went into that piece of cinema history.

Who was dressed up as the wizard?

That is our buddy, Ian who is a robe away from being a young Gandalf already.  He was born for that role.

Now you guys are planning to write and record some new material before March before Kris becomes a dad – are you going to record it in the same haphazard manner? 

We really don’t have any concrete plans.  Our plans usually go like this “Hey, we should do some stuff in March.”  “Yeah, totally.”

Then March comes and goes and it is never spoken about again.

Now, this is a lot quicker turn around this time – is it just because Kris is becoming a dad or do you have a lot of material you want to get out there?

\Totally.  I feel a really creative zenith approaching.  I have a library’s worth of lyrics about my kid vomiting on me and cleaning baby shit out of the webs of my fingers that I need to express. 

 

What do you guys do outside of The Brokedowns?

I am a carpenter.  Jon works at a warehouse and is a student.  Moose is a debt collector, and Eric does some kind of office stuff.

And we all are very active in the Chicago area pog scene.  It’s kind of amazing that four pog enthusiasts found each other.

Coming to the end of the year- what are some of your favourite releases of 2010?

Remember in 2005 when every shithead on the planet did their “Top 5 in 05”?  That was rough to get through.  My faves so far are The Arrivals “Volatile Molotov”, Sweet Cobra “Mercy”, Bust “Suck Cuts” ,Canadian Rifle “Facts”, Superchunk “Majesty Shredding”. Vacation bible school-ruined the scene.

Who’s poster did you have on your wall growing up?

For some reason I had a Corey Haim poster from the age of 11 to about 14.  When my first girlfriend saw my room the first thing she saw was that poster and was creeped out.  Mainly because by the time I was 14 Corey Haim was completely irrelevant… It would be like having a Dawson’s Creek poster today.

Any final thoughts?

I love you.