Vampirates

3.09 V2.0

Dave Masud - Vocals
Pat Mayfield - Basser
Chris Fox - Guitars
Chris Tufino - Drums

RBN: Who do you think would win in a fight, a Vampirate or a Werewolfninja?

Chris Fox: I guess by default, I'll have to say a Vampirate. They have cannons...

Dave Masud: I can't begin to tell you how many times I've asked myself this very question. I think the best way to answer is to break down these compound nouns; Vampires vs. Werewolves, and Pirates vs. Ninjas. While a Werewolf is a formidable opponent, a Vampire is something to be reckoned with. The capability of flight alone would obviously win. Now, Ninjas are extensively trained in fighting, as are pirates. But pirates fight dirty, so again the pirates would win. So to answer briefly, Vampirates. At least we won last week's fight.

RBN: I read you guys are from Oregon. What's the nightlife like there? Do you get a lot of support back home?

Chris Fox: Well, we started in Ashland, Oregon back in '03. The shows there are great, the kids really go off. There's basically a lot of drinking at night... Now, we all pretty much call Reno, Nevada home, even though we don't all always live there. We've been pretty scattered about at times. Again, there's a lot of drinking. Our support is growing, it can vary night by night. All ages shows are really the best, the kids love it.

Dave Masud: I'm from Reno, where nightlife is 24 hours.

"We've been getting increasing support over the years, despite the fact that we attack our crowd."

Our response in Oregon is usually well received, except the time we were threatened with a lawsuit.

RBN: When you opened for the Circle Jerks and The Adolescents how cool was that?

Chris Fox: It was fucking unreal. I still to this day can't believe that we've had such amazing opportunities The guys in the Circle Jerks were fucking great, Zander, their basser, was even so kind as to suggest some song titles for us. Look for "Diarrhea Generator" on our next full-length.

Dave Masud: It has been awesome getting to open for all of these bands that have influenced us over the years. I think that my favorite so far has been opening for Duane Peters.

RBN: Why did you choose the South for your upcoming tour?

Chris Fox:

"My grandfather, who lived in Chattanooga, was kind enough to give me his Buick just before he passed away. Therefore, I had to drive it back out west at some point. So we figured, why not play shows all the way back home?"

It's going to be awesome to play in new towns and to new people that we've never had the chance to play for, and it'll be great to see some of our friends who happen to live in some of the cities we're playing along the way.

Dave Masud: Chris was already going to be driving the Buick back to Reno from Tennessee, so we figured why the hell not tour the way back? Pat and I are also spicy food enthusiasts.

RBN: When you come to Chattanooga are you bringing the fun?

Chris Fox: We most certainly are. It will be the first time we're all in the same room since back in December, so I'm sure there will be some drunken craziness.

Dave Masud: No, we're saving it.

RBN: Tell us about your E.P. Muffstache and the forthcoming full-length. What can we expect?

Chris Fox: Muffstache came out back in December. We recorded it in Sacramento, California on July 6th, '08. It is seven-songs in ten minutes, and plays continuously. It is the first professional recording we have ever put out. Everything else was done ourselves, or by friends. It's available on Interpunk.com or at our shows. Personally, I feel that it is our strongest material to date, and sets the tone quite nicely for our upcoming full-length.

Dave Masud: Probably to be offended at some point.

"Most of the lyrics are about my distaste of life in general; elderly drivers, stupid people, alcohol abuse, dead girls."

The performance is amazing, these guys blow me away. Most people seem to like it though (they probably don't read the lyrics).

RBN: You have a live DVD in the works as well, when is that coming out?

Chris Fox: We've shot two shows for this project so far, and we've not been fully satisfied with the results either time. Each certainly had it's moments, but also had their fare shares of technical difficulties or fuck ups. I'm sure parts of those will end up on a DVD, eventually, but for now it's sort of on hold. We're currently focusing on the upcoming tour, and then we'll finish the demos for our next full-length. We might attempt this again along the way, I just don't know when. You can find video from each show on our youtube page.
youtube.com/thevampirates

Dave Masud: I hope that it doesn't. My vocals on that are total dogshit. I would really like to re-record all of it. I do like the jokes that I tell on it though.

RBN: Anything you'd like to add?

Chris Fox:

"It'll be cool to play in the city in which I was born (Chattanooga), I'm really looking forward to it."

Also, unfortunately, for this tour, our regular drummer, Chris Tufino, couldn't make it, so our singer is going to be back there on the drums. We're usually a four-piece, but we'll make it work. That reminds me... I need to go learn some lyrics.

Dave Masud: I'm really looking forward to this tour. It is our first national tour, and we are starved to play together again. Also, I love the opportunity to get drunk in a new town each night.

vampirates.org
myspace.com/vampirates

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