Lily of KNOBROCK has a powwow with Scott Vogel of TERROR.

Posted on Mar 3, 2011 / Posted by Lily Howell /

What a pleasant chit-chat I had with the friendly front man of California hardcore punk band, TERROR. The band was in Germany, in the middle of a tour when Scott and I talked about COLDPLAY, psychos and what fills him with terror.

Lily: Okay, just to start off can you give me a quick history of Terror?

Scott: Sure, we started out in 2002 based out of Los Angeles.  We started making songs and then bands started asking us to go on tour and we did, and we started putting out records and that’s what we’ve been doing for about nine years now.

Lily: Cool, and how did you personally get into hardcore punk music?

Scott: My brother was into a lot of punk stuff which, I guess I thought was cool. I liked the energy and stuff but I was never really into that whole like anarchy… I’m a freak type vibe…

Lily: The more political kind of punk?

Scott: Yeah, and then when I found hardcore it was just like, you know, a little more real.  It was a little more real to me and it clicked with me more. That was in like 1988 and all the things I was into up to that point got thrown out the window and then I just wanted to go to shows and I started little stupid bands that sucked but then started doing other bands that got a little better and better and better and here we are 20 something years later.

Lily: Do you remember what bands got you… converted you I suppose?

Scott: Well I would say through the punk thing with my brother, SOCIAL DISTORTION was the first band.  I don’t know if they made that documentary movie, Another State of Mind?

Lily: Oh I haven’t seen that.

Scott: Yeah, it’s really cool.  If you ever get a chance to see it it’s really old but -

Lily: I love doco’s -

Scott: Yeah, I think when I saw that, something clicked in me.  In that movie they go on tour and they stay with MINOR THREAT who was, you know, one of the very first hardcore bands I got into.  So SOCIAL DISTORTION in particular, in that movie really clicked with me you know. SOCIAL DISTORTION is playing Soundwave. I haven’t seen them for probably 10 years so I’m definitely looking forward to checking them out.

Lily: There’s some good bands on the line-up.

Scott: Yeah, it’s crazy.

Lily: So can I ask you what fills you with terror?

Scott: [Laughs] I had a strange nightmare about someone on the bus last night coming to my bunk and stealing my blanket.  So stuff like that definitely fills me with terror.

Lily: Nightmares?

Scott: It was really weird because I thought it actually happened and this morning I woke up and my blanket was there and then, the guy in my dream, he was one of the first people I saw this morning and I was like, “did you take my blanket last night?”  He goes, “what are you talking about?”  I was like, “alright.”

Lily: [Laughs]

What would you say has been the biggest challenge for Terror?

Scott: Well we tour more than most bands, up to like nine or 10 months a year, so just trying to stay sane on the road and trying to not make each other jump off bridges and stuff like that.  Just learning how to get along with four other people, spending that much time together is probably the biggest challenge.

Lily: Do you have a mantra or any tools that you hold close to help you through the long hours on the road?

Scott: Like, you mean, my DVD collection so I can escape from everyone and just watch a movie and pretend I’m not on tour?

Lily: Yep.  Thank God for DVDs.

Scott: Yeah, I agree.

Lily: Now can you tell me about your vogelisms?

Scott: Yeah, I don’t know man.  There’s a website some girl in Toronto started.

Lily: Oh really?  A fan or a fanatic?

Scott: I don’t know. I’ve never met her. I was trying at some point to get the site shut down. I guess in one way it’s kind of flattering, in another way it’s really retarded and mean.  Some of the stuff up on there is definitely true but some of it is stuff I never said.

Lily: Has there ever been a scary time when someone has gone from a fan to a bit of a psycho?

Scott: Psycho stalker?

Lily: Yeah.

Scott: I mean, that thing’s weird but recently there was a Facebook of me and I had all these people saying “how come you didn’t add me on Facebook”, I was like, “what the fuck?”  So I looked and it was this person answering questions like they’re me and it definitely wasn’t me so we had to go to Facebook and put in a claim and it got shutdown. But I had people I know saying, “oh yeah blah, blah, blah,” and I’d be like, “what are you talking about?”  They were like, “yeah, you wrote me that on Facebook.”  I thought, oh this is getting kind of weird.

Lily: That would be weird.  Sometimes people have too much time on their hands.

Scott: Yeah, very strange.

Lily: Which of the seven deadly sins best sums you guys up?

Scott: Let’s go with wrath because that’s strong and evil and mean.

Lily: I reckon it’s the least offensive of all of them.  Not even offensive, but I reckon that’s a good one to go with.

Scott: Yeah, that’s cool.  As long as you approve let’s stick with it then [laughs]

Lily: Yes, I approve Scott.  What is the most obscure thing that you’ve ever been inspired by?

Scott: COLDPLAY.

Lily: COLDPLAY?  Really?

Scott: Yeah, I probably listen to them more than anyone else.

Lily: What music do you like to listen to when you want to chill out.

Scott: COLDPLAY, TOM PETTY, HOT WATER MUSIC, NEIL YOUNG, PINK FLOYD, stuff like that.

Lily: Cool. What excites you the most about the creative process of making music?

Scott: You know, when something happens and it just clicks.  It’s kind of like fitting a puzzle together, the lyrics and the song structure and all the timing and stuff, and sometimes you’ve got to force things and in the end you’re happy with the product but sometimes, you know, everything just clicks right away and you know you have a really good song and those, to me, are the best songs when you don’t have to work it and they just flow out right away from the start.

Lily: Yep, when it all just fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Scott: Yep.

Lily: Is there somewhere in the world that you haven’t toured but you’re dying to visit?

Scott: A couple of places that we really want to go are Alaska and South Africa. We’ve had a lot of talk and interest about going there but every time it gets close the people back out on paying for our tickets. We’re not going to fund our tickets.  So, hopefully one day that will happen soon.  I know that HAKARI went to Israel and said it was really cool.  Oh how cool, COLDPLAY just came on the radio here.

Lily: Oh how cool is that.

Scott: So those are the kind of places that we haven’t gone to and we want to.

Lily: Now you guys are currently in Europe and you’re doing the Soundwave Festival.  What else has 2011 got in store for Terror?

Scott: We finish this tour up right here in two days and then we go by ourselves to Greece for two shows, then New Zealand a couple of days before Australia and then after Australia to South East Asia for I think eight shows, and then we’re home for three weeks and then we have a nice six week US and Canada tour, and then back to Europe in June and July for festivals over here and then it will be July 17^th and I hope to God we take a break.

Lily: Yeah, I don’t know how you guys do it.

Scott: Me neither.

Lily: Six months ago I went interstate for only four days and I was ready to come home.

Scott: [Laughs) Where did you go?

Lily: To Melbourne [laughs]

Scott: Oh, cool.

 

Lily: Is there anything you’d like to say to the Aussie fans?

Scott: I just encourage people to pick up some new bands that I think are really good.  There’s bands, BACKTRACK, DEAD END PATH, TITLE FIGHT, ALPHA AND OMEGA and the new HAKARI album has been out for a little while, but those are bands I like, you know, keep me inspired and stuff.  So, you know, if people haven’t heard of them, check them out.

Lily: Alright, well thanks for talking to me Scott.

Scott: My pleasure.

Lily: I hope the rest of this tour goes well and I look forward to seeing you at Soundwave.

Catch TERROR at SOUNDWAVE in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, because that’s the only shows left, so….

Tags: backtrack, coldplay, dead end path, hakari, interview, knobrock, minor threat, punk, scott vogel, Social Distortion, soundwave festival, Terror