Lorain Skum ***New Interview***

Coming to you from Ohio, Lorain Skum are another great band to add to your list of must see bands. They have had the chance to share the stage with some legendary bands and are currently working on their first release. As band they are one band that has come out of the ashes like a phoenix from other bands to give the world some great tunes. I got Mike to tell their story...

Introduce yourself…
I’m Mike- lead vocals for Lorain Skum. I sing in an American accent, and I can play guitar too. Don is our drummer- he has also played guitar and sang in several bands. Dave O is our bassist. Darren is our guitarist- he has also been a lead vocalist. Don, Dave, and Darren have played in various other bands together. We’re old dudes compared to some of these young whippersnappers. I’m 41, Dave is 40, Don is in his late 30’s, and no one is sure how old Darren is because he was born in the woods.

How did the band start?
Don (drums) and Dave O (bass) got kicked out of a heavy metal band over some money dispute in 2006. Don was actually singing. Anyways- Don plays drums, and he and Dave started jammin’ with our buddy Chris (aka Swanky), and I met them through myspace. We figured out later that I crossed paths with them several times in the past playing in other bands, but we never really hung out.  I play guitar, but they just wanted me to sing. Our first practice we just clicked, and here we are… Chris later quit and we got Darren to play guit-fiddle. I’ve thought about playing guitar in the band, but I’m too lazy to haul gear around. It’s also more fun to be able to interact with the crowd.

How did you come up with the name?
We’re from Lorain, OH, and we are Skum. We can’t stand the rock star types, so I guess that makes us skum.

Who would you say are your influences?
We all grew up on heavy metal and punk- Stuff like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, etc… Black Flag, Guttermouth, DRI, Iggy & The Stooges, Circle Jerks, etc… Punk is the most fun to play and perform. Don and Dave played together in a band called Poco Lo Lo back in the 90’s. That band had an awesome heavy sound that was hard to label. They did a lot of experimentation. Dave is a Devo fan and likes just about everything from The Beatles to Slayer to Motown. Dave is still in a Devo tribute band that plays in a bluegrass style called The Mutant Mountain Boys. Darren likes Black Flag, Flogging Molly, DRI, and Elton John (I just threw that last one in there). I like everything from those old Edison vaudeville cylinder recordings to Miles Davis with John McLaughlin to Minor Threat. It pisses me off when people put a definition on what punk is. Stupid rules.

What was the punk scene like in Ohio?
It’s kind of fragmented like most other places I guess.  We got a decent circle of friends in Lorain County OH and in Cleveland who have other bands, and we try to help each other out as much as possible. We also had a little hub in Lorain centered around a skateboard shop called Rise Above and a skatepark called Chenga.  Those unfortunately went by the wayside, so we play wherever we can.

Describe the song writing process...
Me, Don, and Dave have written songs on our own and brought them to the band. Don is our drummer, but he is a pretty awesome guitar player who has fronted several bands. I’ve done some songs where I record a demo at home and the guys learn it.  We’ve had a few songs where the guys just started playing a riff or idea and I just started yelling, and we wrote the song on the spot. Those are some of my favorites. We wrote “Gimme My Money” and “Bend Over” like that. Whatever we think is funny or pisses us off is usually the subject matter.

What have you released?
We are releasing our 1st real recording as we speak (July 2011). We did various little demos on our own, but nothing like our 1st . It’s called “We Are Skum”. We recorded it live, and then went in and overdubbed the vocals. Tracking individual instruments takes something away from the punk energy. We did our first recording on a school tape recorder. That was on our myspace music player for a long time. Some of those recordings may still be on there.

Who are some of the bands you have done shows with?
We opened for The Mentors along with about 8 other bands. Did the same thing with The Vibrators. Other than that we play local shows with our friends- Siscok, This Avenue Dark, Antiseptic, The Evicted, The Struttin’ Cocks, Punished Existence, Shovelface, and many more. Our buddy Michael Rys got us a show in Toledo, OH with The Luxury Pushers (from Dayton) and Glitter Trash (from Detroit). That was fun.

Do you prefer to do shows at large venues or small clubs?
We prefer small venues. House shows have been the most fun, but we like the small clubs. We’ve done shows at small bars that don’t normally have bands. We brought our own PA etc. Those are more fun than the corporate type venues. We made $6 playing at Peabody’s in Cleveland once because we sold 6 $10 tickets.

Have you toured?
Nope. We do this mostly for fun, but we plan on doing some more road trips. We have friends in Toledo, Detroit, Cincinnati, and of course Cleveland.

Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with?
We had some great times with our buddies The Dumpster Babies. They don’t play as much anymore, but we’ve had some rowdy times.  We always have fun with This Avenue Dark, even though they’re more grunge. Their guitar player’s wife has a lot of hot friends that shake their asses once they’re drunk. We mix well with The Struttin’ Cocks- they’re more like a straight ahead rock n roll band. We always like playing with metal bands, and in other type venues where we don’t necessarily fit in. We’re tortured artistes. (That’s a joke for all of the people who take themselves too seriously).

Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at?
The Spitfire Saloon in Cleveland is by far the best. Stosh, the owner,  treats the bands well and their regulars like punk rock. It’s a small place that has a chain link fence in front of the cage- fun. Stosh let’s you do your thing and doesn’t put a bunch of dumb rules on you. There was a place in Lorain, OH called The Red Parrot that was always a blast, but the owner died a few years back and it turned into like a shitty sports bar.

Do you see is the future of Lorain Skum?
Just to keep rockin’ and writing new songs as much as we can. We wanna do some more road trips and just keep the skumminess going. Our goal is to have fun.

How can people contact the band?
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lorain-Skum/361559479534?sk=app_2405167945