How did the band start?
Luke and I started playing together in high school in 2006. We found out that we both liked the same kind of music and we liked to write songs, so we thought hey let’s start a band. We played the same music under different names and had many different drummers. Then we found a name that stuck, The Fizzy Pops. We still had many drummers, but then we finally found our permanent drummer Jake in 2009. He saw us at Reggie’s when we were playing with the Beatnik Termites. He jammed with us, we all became friends, and now we’re a band with a solid line-up.
How did you come up with the name?
Luke our bassist came up with it actually. At that time we had a name that we felt didn’t fit with us. Luke and I tried to figure out what would describe our music or us as people. We thought hey we both like soda! Plus a long time ago I wrote a song called Fizzy that was about soda. We also thought about how people would call soda fizzy pop. So then we thought of The Fizzy Pops!
Who would you say are your influences?
We have many! But I’d say some main ones are Green Day, Teen Idols, The Muffs, The Ramones, The Queers, The Toy Dolls, Sloppy Seconds.
What is the punk scene like in Chicago?
The punk scene in Chicago is pretty big. Whenever there’s a punk show, it doesn’t matter the venue, people will come out. Maybe not every punk show will get a big crowd these days, because it really matters whose playing that will determine the crowd size. And sometimes it’s harder for newer punk bands to get noticed in Chicago. We think it’s cool though that there are a few places in Chicago where people hold shows in their bar, basement, or apartment and there will be a good turnout regardless. The Exit or Fireside Bowl is like that we’re there’s always a big crowd and great house music. We really want to play some of the apartment places like the Juicer or the Ice Cream Parlor too. Although at Fireside or other famous venues around Chicago, the punk shows may not be as raw as they use to, but they’re coming back and trying to have shows again. The punk scene in Chicago is also pretty open to a lot of punk sub genres, but it shows a lot of love for pop punk especially. Any time bands like The Queers, Teenage Bottlerocket, Chixdiggit, or The Manges come to town the show sells out. But even smaller pop punk bands are getting huge crowds because Chicago just loves pop punk in general.
In 2009, you released a self-titled album, tell us about the album...
We really wanted the first album to be a raw introduction of who we are. We loved how the album was fast and fun. And that the recording was raw and not over produced. We also loved releasing it on a very underground label called Throw Up Records. Our friend Chad runs it and his label really helped get the album out in ways we couldn’t do by ourselves. Instrumentally the guitar riffs are very catchy and the bass lines don’t follow the guitar, which makes the songs unique. The songs in the album are mostly about having fun, making fun of things, not taking shit from people, dealing with anxiety, and getting cavities. Though the recording is a little rough, we felt like it was a good first release introducing who we are.
What else have you released?
We’ve been on a few compilations like Brown Bag Propaganda’s Radio Riot CD, a cassette tape compilation called Acne and Machine Guns released on Nervous Laughter Records, another CD compilation called Dry Heaves Vol. 2 released on Throw Up Records, and recently we’ve been featured on a 12 inch vinyl compilation called Cancer Is A Punk released on Swamp Cabbage Records.
Who are some of the bands you have done shows with?
We’ve played with some great bands like the Teen Idols, Beatnik Termites, Sloppy Seconds, The Huntingtons, The Brokedowns, Vacation Bible School, Lipstick Homicide, The Tattle Tales, Van Buren Boys, Tracer Bullet, The Putz, Hollywood Nightmares, The Randies, The Frantic, The Dewtons. And many, many, many more!
Have you toured?
We’ve done a small Midwest tour. We still continue to play some Midwest states here and there, but it’s hard because we’ve all been busy. We’ve all been finishing up college or still going to college and working at our jobs. I’m finishing my last year of college, so when that’s all done we’ll probably do a lengthier tour sometime around summer 2012.
Do you prefer small clubs or large venues?
We like both, but we really prefer small clubs just because more cool shit happens there. Crazy moshing, dancing, and random things flying through the air. Plus the smaller places give us a chance to connect with the crowd more, like people jumping on stage singing along smacking our asses. Haha. But we like how the larger venues usually have given us a better live sound, free food, and free booze.
Is there a favorite band you like to do shows with?
We always think its fun to play with bands from our hometown. We always like doing our suburb shows with bands who we are good friends with like Shotgun Gambling, Hollywood Nightmares (who Luke plays bass for by the way), Van Buren Boys, and many other bands. But we mix the line up in the suburbs shows sometimes too. It’s just that typically we always end up setting up suburb shows with bands we already are good friends with. All in all we love playing with bands we’ve played with before and bands we’ve never played with before.
Is there a favorite place you like to do shows at?
We love to play shows at Reggie’s and The Exit in Chicago, IL. But away from our hometown we like to play shows in the suburbs and the boonies. The Day Old Basement in Macomb, IL is amazing and anywhere in Bloomington, IL is also great. Especially Bloomington, IL when we play with A Hidden Agenda and The Michael Seavers. Out of state the Blue Moose Tap in Iowa City, IA and many places in Wisconsin are also fun to play at.
What do you see is the future of the Fizzy Pops?
Playing a lot more shows and eventually doing an actual east/west coast tour, surprising people, releasing our 2nd full length album in which the recording process is almost done, and hopefully sticking around for a long time!
How can people contact the band?
You can contact us on our facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fizzy-Pops/111723898725, listen to us on our bandcamp: thefizzypops.bandcamp.com, or send us an email to greenjello45@hotmail.com, or you can add Cate, Luke, or Jake on facebook, we’re the admins on our Fizzy Pops facebook, so find us there!thefizzypops.bandcamp.com/thefizzypops.bandcamp.com/thefizzypops.bandcamp.com/
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