On April 2, 2012 we did an interview with Ryan Young, a singer/guitarist of Minneapolis, Minnesota punk rock band OFF WITH THEIR HEADS.
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS – “Clear The Air” video:
Hey! Thanks for taking this interview. You’re heading on a European headlining tour this month. Tell us more about this short trek.
We were asked to play Groezrock and wanted to do a few shows around it.
Will you be staying the whole weekend at Groezrock Festival to see RANCID, REFUSED and the other old Epitaph bands play?
Yes! I made sure when the tour was booked, that we could stay both days. It seems like a pretty awesome festival. All of my friends who are in bands that have played it say that it is their favorite European fest. I’m hoping it is everything I’ve heard.
Ok, how about your August run with BOYSETSFIRE? Excited? How did you end up supporting those guys? How do you know the band? When did you guys approach them for this tour?
I don’t know them. They asked us to do the tour. I’ve met the singer from playing shows with The Casting Out a couple years ago, but that it. I am pretty excited to play some shows with them though.
It has been 10 years since you formed. What’s your view on your local music scene now? How do you see today’s scene compared with the time you were rookies?
I don’t really have a local music scene, as I don’t live anywhere long enough to see one. I’m always on tour. I also don’t really listen to music based off the “scene” that it is a part of. I don’t like most of the bands that we would be associated with anyway! If its good, I’ll like it and not really care if it is cool or not. I think the worst thing that happened to music is all of this new age scream / sing swoopy hair shit. Its boring and turning kids into morons.
What’s your view on music industry these days? I mean, you sold fewer records on Epitaph Records than you did with No Idea Records, but still there are more and more people that know your music. What’s that like for you?
I think at this point, we sold more with Epitaph. I always wonder what it would be like to have formed and had the same success 10 years earlier than when we did. I’m completely broke. I don’t even have a bank account, because I have nothing to put in it. If I have $500, I think I’m rich! The music industry these days is a give and take. Its cool to be able to reach so many people, but you have to work 3 times harder than before to be able to make a living doing it as a small band.
Did you make any friends in the Epitaph roster? Any idols from the past perhaps?
It was pretty cool to be able to become pals with DROPKICK MURPHYS and STREET DOGS. Every band that we have toured with on the label has been pretty cool. I’d say the coolest thing about being on the label is getting to go out to lunch with Brett when I am in LA. We never talk too much business. I always ask him about what it was like being a kid in a punk band in LA in the 80’s. He has a lot of funny stories. He has always been really good to me, and I’m very grateful that he decided to help me and my band out.
Can you already give us some more (secret) information about your new album, that you’re recording in July? How is the demoing going? Tell us something!
We start recording on July 5th and finish right before the BOYSETSFIRE tour. Its pretty awesome to be able to record with Bill Stevenson. My first tattoo was a DESCENDENTS Milo head that I did to myself with a sewing needle when I was 15.
The songs are coming along. I’m not writing punk songs. I’m not writing OWTH songs. I’m just writing songs and transforming them into something I like. Doing that has made the songs on this record much different than any of the other ones. I wish I would have done that with our last record. I like half of the songs on it, but I could have done better.
What do you like and dislike about Europe? Please, be frank.
The worst part about Europe is when someone comes up to you and tells you either how they liked your old records more or how you were so much better last time. Europeans say that they are just being honest, but that is the same thing as being a complete dick. If I asked for an opinion, that would be different. I’ve started giving people the same criticism. I’ll tell them I think their hair is ugly or their shirt makes them look fat.
Thanks! Feel free to add anything you want.
I’m very excited to come to Poland for the first time. We have never made it there over the last 10 years, and I’ve heard it is always a fun show.
