http://www.redefinemag.com/music/interviews_music_2.php?artist=The-Aquabats&id=32[]
The Aquabats[]
They Will Wow You With Their Superhero Glory!!!
The Aquabats are MC Bat Commander on vocals, Crash McLarson on bass, Chainsaw on Guitar, Ricky Fitness on drums, and Jimmy the Robot on keyboard and saxaphone! Happily dubbed nerd-core, the Aquabats have a new album out on Nitro Records called Charge!! (with two exclamation marks, mind you!) With every song title on the album ending with an exclamation mark, Charge!! is a quirky collection of songs about mechanical apes and fashion zombies! Before we parade into their unusual rants, let’s hear it for some real questions (although true to Aquabat nature, the “real” questions don’t really get “real” answers either!)!
How come you guys decided to end every song title with an exclamation mark? Robot: Why wouldn’t we? Commander: Just listen to the songs. They’re so exciting. In case there’s any hard of hearing, get our album, and they’ll know each song is exciting without even hearing it. [They’ll know] just by seeing the exclamation marks.
Did you guys just finish shooting a music video? Robot: We just got done shooting it last Sunday morning at like five in the morning, and now the editors are hard at work trying to turn six hours of footage into a three minute video. It’s for “Fashion Zombies.”
What is it about? Commander: It’s about the struggle between fashion in an urban setting. The stuggle between fashion styles. Who’s going to win in the all-out battle of fashion? Will it be the runway coutoure? Will it be the underground punk look? Will it be the 80s retro look? The classic 70s? It’s kind of like “Beat It” meets the runway. The Aquabats are kind of like the UN of the fashion scene. They call us in to establish peace in the U.S. We’re like a multi-man peace force. When there’s violence between fashion styles, they call the Aquabats in to control order, but it doesn’t always work out. Our fashion often intimidates those who are hip and fashionable, which causes anger and more hate. It’s kind of equivalent to the UN in other questions, so the whole thing is a metaphor for war basically. They’re just there to hold it down and make sure no one gets hurt, but they don’t see this as an invading force. This is similar with the Aquabats and fashion. We’re just there to create harmony amongst fashion styles, but they kind of see us as an invading force trying to impose their fashion on them. It’s all about power struggles.
I can’t tell if you’re serious or kidding. Robot: We’re totally both at the same time. Commander: Just like the yin and the yang. We’ll chase the dragon, and the next day we’ll ride the dragon.
Redefine Magazine, July 2005