RTS Nick: Can you please state who you guys are?
RBF A: There is an important message flying in the sky…*editor’s note: an advertisement was flying in the sky via plane* Paaarraamorrree with Tegan and Sara, and… New Found Glory at…
RTS Nick: At Jones Beach I think.
RBF A: I can’t read, I don’t have my glasses on.
RBF D: Hi, I’m Dan from Reel Big Fish.
RBF A: Hi, I’m Aaron from Reel Big Fish.
RTS Nick: Well, Do you like Paramore?
RBF D: I love Paramore, in that prison kind of way. *laughs*
RBF A: Nothing for love for them.
RTS Nick: I wanted to ask you were signed to Java *editor’s note: I messed up.* records for a while…
RBF A: Jive Records?
RTS Nick: Oops. I’m sorry.
RBF A: I wish we were on Java Records.
RTS Nick: Yeah, I got kicked in the head during Alkaline Trio. I’m a bit out of it, but what was the story with Jive Records. I know you wanted to be out of it immediately…
RBF A: Pretty much what happened was; we were signed onto Mojo Records in the mid 90’s. That was kind of an indie label. Very Personal, but overtime, they got bought up because major labels were buying up smaller labels, and Jive Records bought Mojo Records. So, we were then onto Jive, then Zomba Jive…, then it was… Umm.
RBF D: We were being absorbed by bigger labels.
RBF A: And Pretty soon, we couldn’t even get a phone call from somebody. We were like, “Hey, Can we make a new album?”
RBF D: It’s not because they were mean, but it was because they didn’t know whose job it was.
RBF A: They didn’t even want us in the first place.
RBF D: We got bought.
RBF A: We kind just got stuck on the label and just came with the package. We wanted to get away from that, because it would be best for our band.
RTS Nick: Did they make you release the Greatest Hits album?
RBF A: They released that after they dropped us because they knew that we had a lot of fans and there was some money to be made off of us, I guess. They spent more money on the promotion on that album, then the other two we did with them.
RBF D: That was a slap in the face.
RTS Nick: Did you at least make any money from it?
RBF D: Uhh, I think penny’s come in somewhere.
RTS Nick: Wow, That’s pretty messed up. Well, you are releasing a new Greatest Hits album now.
RBF A: Yes! Well speaking of that, because Jive Records own all of our old recordings, and we like to feel like that we own our music, that way if someone wants to use it in a movie or something… Well, at least we have the live album that sounds really good, but no one wants that. They are like, “We want “Sell Out.”” And we are like, “Yeah we have the live version!” And they say, “No!”
RBF D: These aren’t just a collection of all these old songs, these are all re-recorded and they are crystal clear… Crystal Clarity.
RBF A: Clear, Stereophonic Sounds!
RBF D: We did a really cool bonus disk filled with acoustic stuff that was really cool.
RBF A: We got the whole band in their! We got the HORNS!
RBF D: We unplugged the horns.…
RBF A:Yeah we unplugged the horns, and the drums.
RTS Nick: Did you mute the horns?
RBF D: No… we play loud. We just stopped having sex with dudes for a week.
RBF A: It’s not like sleepy slow acoustics; it’s more fun… more energetic.
RTS Nick: It’s like what you did with the… *Editor’s Note: I was going to say Easter egg in the You’re All In This Together DVD*
RBF A: It’s like Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution!
RBF D: We ripped them off.
RBF A: We ripped them right off!
RTS Nick: Why do you play ska music when you are the MASTERS of all music?
RBF D: *laughs*
RBF A: Because we like to play ska music. The most amount of people in our band can play parts in that. It’s very well suited for our A.D.D.
RTS Nick: But you are masters, correct?
RBF A: Yes, but only for that one song.
RBF D: Everyone in our band likes different styles of music, but its ska and reggae that brings us all together.
RBF A: Well, that’s what people that listen to Reel Big Fish come to hear. They want to want to listen to ska punk sound. We like to please our fans.
RTS Nick: What songs would you like to cover next?
RBF A: No more covers.
RTS Nick: No more covers?
RBF A: No, too many.
RBF D: Sleeping in the nude.
RBF A: After our 10 song cover album, people were like, “Please no more… No more covers.”
RBF D: Why, What songs would you like us to cover?
RTS Nick: What songs I want to hear? Well I… *Editors Note; I would have said Flock Of Seagulls, “And I Ran..”*
RBF D: *interrupts* We will not cover any songs until
RBF A: *interrupts* we have a cover album of our own songs coming out on the 20th. *laughs*
RTS Nick: They were all re-recorded correct?
RBF D: Yeah
RTS Nick: I know during the press release they only said that only one song was re-recorded.
RBF D: We don’t want it to sound like that we change the songs completely. We just played it better now that we are 20 years older.
RBF A: Kept it straight. *laughs*
RTS Nick: What actually happened to Suburban Rhythm?
RBF A: They broke up.
RBF D: Yeah, they were one of those bands in the scene that everyone loved. They were super huge and they never quite….
RBF A: *interrupts* Actually they weren’t that huge sadly. To us, they seemed like they were biggest band in the world, but now thinking back I’ve never seen them perform more than 200 people.
RBF D: Yeah…
RBF A: But we all thought that they were going to be the famous thing ever and get huge.
RBF D: Everyone felt this movement going on throughout Southern California with all these Ska bands and this whole scene. We were playing all these big shows. They were the symbol of that scene for us.
RBF A: They kinda brought us into the ska scene and the rise really started happening after they were gone.
RBF D: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. We kind of filled the void.
RBF A: That was our first experience with a local band.
RBF D: Seeing the potential in them and watching them fall apart. We kind of learned how to interact with the crowd. That influenced us.
RBF A: So, They broke up! To answer your question, they broke up! *laughs*
RBF D: They have had many bands since then, and they are all great musicians.
RTS Nick: Why wasn’t the Forces of Evil Album you wrote, a Reel Big Fish album?
RBF A: Actually it was, but we were forced to work with this producer at the time, while we were working on Cheer Up and I did not want to bring those songs to him and get them ruined. In retrospect, I wish I would have waited because those are the best songs I’ve wrote.
RBF D: *laughs*
RBF A: Those were the best Reel Big Fish songs I’ve wrote and they are not even Reel Big Fish songs. Cheer Up was ruined! *laughs*
RTS Nick: I liked Cheer Up. I thought Cheer Up was good.
RBF A: That was supposed to be Cheer Up.
RTS Nick: That was really supposed to be Cheer Up?
RBF A: That was supposed to be Cheer Up if we weren’t on Jive Records.
RTS Nick: Speaking of Jive Records, They wanted no horns mixes of your CD’s?
RBF A: That was Mojo Records!
RTS Nick: Oh, that was Mojo… Sorry. I know one of you tweeted about that.
RBF D: Don’t worry, We are confused by that a lot of the time.
RBF A: Turn the Radio Off was a big hit album or whatever, and the band was all about horns, and we started making our new album and of course, our label heard that horns weren’t cool anymore. The radio didn’t want to play that. So, They said “Give us no horn mixes.”
RBF D: We blame the swing bands for ruining horns. They over did it.
RTS Nick: Wait, you don’t like the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies?
RBF A: *interrupts* But, luckily we said, “Fuck that! We don’t want to give you no horn mixes!” Oh, and since we had a gold record, we had a little bit of say.
RBF D: We love the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. We just like to punch them in the nuts.
RBF A: Oh, we do love the Cherry Poppin Daddies. We got them signed to Mojo, pretty much.
RTS Nick: Oh really?
RBF A: We were touring with them and we were like, “these guys are awesome.” So, we got them a record deal.
RBF D: … Oh and punch them in the nuts.
RBF A: Punched them gently… in the nuts.
RTS Nick: How was it being in the movie Basketball? It’s kind of a cult movie now…
RBF D: Yeah, Yeah…
RBF A: Very awkward… Very Strange. We felt like we didn’t belong.
RTS Nick: Did you meet Trey Parker and Matt Stone?
RBF A: We did.
RBF D: They came through a couple of times.
RBF A: They were very nice. Very polite.
RBF D: It was like they were re-writing the script everyday though. They were really busy… They seemed really stressed out.
RBF A: I just found the script for Basketball. I was cleaning out my closets.
RBF D: We shot a bunch of stuff with them, but they only used the live stuff.
RBF A: Yeah, we were in a party scene with them.
RTS Nick: Oh really? I want to see that.
RBF D: We were hanging out, and “acting” drunk.
RTS Nick: Are you sure you were acting?
RBF A: Was it you or Scott that dropped the popcorn bowl, and had to reset the whole scene?
RBF D: THAT WAS SCOTT!
RTS Nick: Way to go Scott. So, You played the Warped Tour in 2007…
RBF D: and 2002.
RBF A: And 1997…
RTS Nick: I wanted to go for the most recent one, but I wanted to know how those warped tours compared to the other ones.
RBF D: This one is pretty much like the last one we did.
RBF A: I feel like this warped tour, is pretty much the least amount of people we know in bands. I feel lonely. I don’t know anyone… like an outcast.
RTS Nick: Want me to hold you?
RBF A: I feel the most outcasted, at this one.
RTS Nick: You’re right. Not a lot of ska bands at all!
RBF A: The air isn’t calm enough. I feel like my V-Neck, isn’t V-neck-y enough.
RBF D: We are the old guys here.
RBF A: My tattoo sleeve isn’t sleeve-y enough.
RBF D: *laughs*
RTS Nick: *laughs* …You’re horn section, I guess is to annoying.
RBF D: Yeah! There aren’t many horns this time.
RTS Nick: There isn’t any, I think you guys are the only ones.
RBF A: Streetlight is going to be on soon. Tip The Van is going to be on soon. Chase Long Beach…
RTS Nick: Well I’m not going to be here for that…
RBF A: There will be some of our friends joining us, after a while.
RBF D: And there will be knuckle sandwiches for all of them!
RBF A: *laughs*
RBF D: Then we will punch them in the nuts.
RTS Nick: Well Tip the Van is good. So is Karen.. Wait Karen? She quit. Was it Karen?
RBF A: Yup.. Chase Long Beach.
RTS Nick: Ahh, it was Karen. Any memorable stories so far this Warped Tour?
RBF A: So far? Uhh, well we have to play really early which sucks.
RTS Nick: Yeah, I’ve seen that every day you open up at 11:15 or 11:55.
RBF A: Every day, we either play first or last… If you are not first, you are last.
RBF D: We have sustained this in our time. We are first at being last.
RBF A: But, what is awesome about this warped tour, like the others ones is; we still get a pretty good crowd. We get a shit ton of people watching us everyday.
RBF D: We do a lot of meet and greets, hang out and high five the bands. Thank them for paying our rent. We have a fun merch booth. We go hang out there and come by and say hi to us. Thanks for supporting us. It’s awesome.
RTS Nick: Besides the Greatest Hits album, I wanted to ask if you have any other plans on releasing a new CD.
RBF A: Probably early next year.
RBF D: Sounds good to me.
RBF A: We have too. We put it off for 5 years.
RBF D: Yeah it’s that, we were on all these labels and we would always sit around and be like, “Oh, some day if we would have a recording studio and no record label, it would be awesome to do a cover album, and an acoustic album, and a live album, and a Greatest Hits.”
RBF A: These are all the plans that we made 5 years ago, after we got dropped.
RBF D: We had a checklist.
RBF A: We are going through them all.
RTS Nick: Anything else you want to do off the checklist?
RBF D: A Hanukkah record.
RTS Nick: YES!
RBF A: Yeah, a Holiday record.
RTS Nick: I’m not going to lie; I would skank to a holiday record.
RBF D: You would? Yeah, Yeah…. And it would be required to be played at the wrong holidays. Just like holiday roulette.
RBF A: It’s just going to be different versions of “Holiday” by Madonna. *Singing: Holiday….Celebrate*
RBF D: Now here’s the disco pop…
RBF A: *interrupts* Reel Big Fish: The Holiday Album! *laughs*
RBF D: *laughs*
RTS Nick: *laughs* that should be the name of it!
RBF A: Done!
RBF D: Done! …Right here, this is the genesis.
RBF A: Watch what’s going to happen…
RTS Nick: Right here; this is the exclusive! This is what the new album is going to be named!
RBF D: Oh my God… *Singing: Holiday… Celebrate!*
RTS Nick: Ok… Thank you so much for doing this interview.
RBF A: No problem!
RBF D: No problem!
RBF A: Thank you!
RTS Nick: Thank you!
