T
THE
EXPLOSION
HE FIRST TIME YOU HEAR THE
Explosion, you might forget that it's
been 25 years since punk rock hit the
shore of the US like a brick through a
windshield. Your next thought will most likely
be, "This doesn't sound like the pop-punk crap
that's being shoved down my throat by MTV."
Though The Explosion is relatively new on
the scene, they are making a pretty good name
for themselves by playing stripped-down
street punk that should have Clash fans water
ing at the mouth. And though he may look the
part of the clueless punk, singer Matt Hock
knows that gimmicks and trends are the
fastest road to nowhere.
As their new record Flash, Flash, Flash on Jade
Tree clearly illustrates, The Explosion are smart,
creative, and, above all, real.
Punk music goes through periods of varying
popularity, and I wouldn't really consider this
to be a popular period. But you seem to be
unaffected by that sort of trend. Is this a good
time to be a punk band?
We started this band to make the music. We
didn't really think about if it was a good time or
not. But since you're asking the question, it's as
good a time as any. We aren't trying to ride any
coattails. But punk rock is popular. I mean, look
at the Warped Tour. It's always going to be pop-
ular among a certain
but we aren't hearing
CHICAG
Shirt Lettering
745-022
group of people,
Rancid every day
I on the radio, or
understand where
from. It's still there. It
for the kids.
Green Day, so I Your record seems to be straightfor-
you're coming ward punk, and there is melody where
hasn't lost its luster there needs to be. How do you walk that
line, putting in melody and singing with-
out going overboard? It seems like people
either want to be really melodic or they
reject that whole way of playing.
It seems like bands out now seem to be either
metal/hardcore or pop-punk. The poppier
stuff is along the lines of "look how stupid we
are," but a lot of people involved in punk music
are actually very smart. Do you think it's
important to prove to people that you're intel-
ligent? Your music isn't stupid, but people
might look at you and think that.
Here's how I'm going to put it-people can
think, about me and us and people who are into
alternative stuff, whatever they want because,
quite honestly, it doesn't matter to me. If people
want to judge me by looking at me and seeing
that I have tattoos and that I may have different
color hair than they do, then I don't really care
about their opinion anyway. I respect people
who respect other people after they have met
them and know them, rather than crack judg-
ments based on aesthetics.
Is punk music serious to you, or should it be?
Definitely. It's serious to everyone who plays,
no matter what the content of the lyrics or the
music. People who are fans of music, whatever
kind of music it is, even if it's friggin' circus
music, take it seriously and like it.
But at the same time it's fun.
It's a combination of both.
Variety is important, especially on a record;
if everything sounds the same, then it's just
going to get boring. We want to keep the
record fresh. We want to keep the songs dif-
ferent enough that they sound fresh. Maybe if
we had done this record four months before
we did, the songs would have sounded a lot
more similar. But we wanted some slow songs,
some fast ones, and some mid-tempo songs.
We all listen to different types of music and it
shows in that variety.
Some of the lyrics on the EP and record seem to
be geared toward calling people on their shit.
Like, "Could you be a rebel in your work
clothes?" What is that all about?
That song, "Terrorist," is about people who
are angry at the world and feel like they have
a cause but really are just complaining and
don't care about anything but complaining.
The theme of that song is that you don't have
to complain from the outside to make
change. Sometimes it helps to be on
the inside and to make a difference,
to make a positive change instead of
a negative one.
Is that something that in this genre
of music often gets missed? Is there
a lot of negativity?
Oh yeah, there are a lot of people
who like to talk shit. A lot of peo-
ple are just jealous; they're
unfortunate and have less
than others, and they
take it out on their
friends. But there are a
lot of good people; the
majority are good.
The minority are ass-
holes, and they make
themselves known
very apparently.
-Oakland L Childers
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