Weird Party (Photo by RamonLP4)

Weird Party is nothing but a big pile of sweaty, audacious, ready-to-scrap Rock and Roll. Etched in their new 7” is all the snot, spit, and fire of the finest punk. Live, they are possessed men who rage with a fury that infects any unwitting crowd. Hell, they might even steal your girlfriend at the end of the night if you’re not careful. The thing is, for all the wild shows and kick-ass Rock and Roll, you won’t find another band that is as smart, droll, and dedicated to their craft as these guys. We sat down with Buggy Rickshaw, Keg Noisily, Rowland Blackout, and DK Miller (Behest Peen wasn’t able to join us) at La Carafe last month and, I can honestly say, I’ve never had a harder time cutting an interview.

Keg – By the way, it was my idea to have a bar at Whole Foods. I came up with that idea and they stole it.

FPH – You should have figured some angle to make money with that.

Keg - I HAD an angle! They wouldn’t listen to me.

FPH - But they did listen to you….

Keg – Yeah, and they cut me out!!

FPH - When Weird Party started you had the thing where you could only have access through an invitation, you had business cards, and the limo thing with Jordan Graber. What was all that about?

Keg - Every bit of that is we’re a bunch of smart-ass idiots who sit around cooking-up stupid ideas to do and then dare each other to do it. You wanna hear what’s even funnier is the idea that didn’t happen ’cause it was too expensive. The first Summerfest we played, we were going to pay one of those airplanes that drag a flag behind them to say “Pray for Weird Party.” The card thing was actually a misunderstanding. We were talking about flyers and I mentioned an old punk flyer that looked like a business card and they actually made a business card. So when Bryan brought them in, we said “This is genius! Just go pass them out!” But it was a total misunderstanding and people just ran with it like Jordan (Graber) taking a picture of the girl’s hand with the card and I love that stuff. I mean it was all funny.

FPH - What was the worst idea you guys ever had?

Keg - We were going to kick-out a member by sending them a strip-o-gram but I don’t know if I want to elaborate any more….

FPH - No wait, that’s great…

Keg - Yeah, that IS a good idea. I mean, having never seen one, I don’t know what happens in a strip-o-gram - like do they deliver a message and then strip or…

Rowland - But it wasn’t a stripper; it was a dude in a banana costume.

Keg – Well, it was either or it may have been both - I don’t know - but we were going to do that to kick a person out.

FPH - If I got kicked out of a band, that’d be a classy way to go.

Rowland - Yeah, that was the point! See, you’d be happy about that.

Buggy - Nothing says “kicked-out” like a good pair of tits.

FPH - The stripper would be good but the guy in the banana suit…not so much…

Keg - And that’s an argument we had. If you do one, it’s a slap in the face but if you do the other, it might be a joy. Actually, we might have done it but Rowland fucked-up and sent him an e-mail.

FPH – Why a 7”?

Keg - I don’t think we originally planned on releasing a 7”. We just wanted to get some songs out with the new line-up.

Rowland - I like the idea of putting out 7”s. Why go all-out with an LP right out of the gates? Why not put out a little bit at a time? Tease ‘em at first. Foreplay. I don’t want to shoot my wad all at once.

FPH - What’s the focus of Weird Party?

Keg - 100% it’s on writing. We’re constantly working on riffs and Rowland is constantly working on his vocals and lyrics. For me, it’s all about making music that I would like to hear.

FPH - How was it releasing a 7” yourselves?

Keg - It’s nice not to wait for somebody else’s schedule. Our single from recording to release wasn’t very long. That’s nice because I’ve been in bands before where, by the time your record comes out, you really don’t care about what you did at all. In the end, I want to put out records that I will be happy with later on in life and make recordings that are compelling to listen to.

FPH - How is this band different from other bands you’ve been involved in?

Rowland - We practice!

Keg - Yeah, we have a good work ethic.

Rowland – …and it’s fun, it’s not drudgery. It’s work but we enjoy it. I’m older now - I’m not a young goofball like I used to be - so I can take it more seriously. I have less time to do it so, when we do meet, it’s more focused.

FPH - How does holding a job play into the whole Rock thing?

Keg - I think we have freedom; we’re not trying to make a living but what bands are anymore? I don’t want to trivialize it but this is like my golf. It’s a hobby but it’s a serious hobby that I want to do as well as I can. Hobby makes it sound like it isn’t good but…

DK Miller - … it’s a craft.

FPH - What’s your fan base?

Keg - Look at these handsome gentlemen – it’s young ladies. It’s a Death Rock Boy Band.

FPH – Death Rock Boy Band?

Keg - Death Rock is prior to Goth like early Christian Death and 45 Grave.

Rowland – Take that and add the boy band factor.

Buggy - At the record release, we had people dancing.

Keg - They weren’t on my side of the stage! I have a few guys interested in guitar gear on my side. Guys thinking, “What is that pedal? I think they stopped making that two years ago.” That’s all I’ve got. The other side of the stage is all young ladies checking the dudes out.

Rowland - We all bring our own demographic.

FPH – Hey, if you have the ladies and the guitar nerds…

Keg - …you’re covered. And the guitar nerds don’t bother the ladies and the ladies don’t notice the guitar nerds.

Rowland - They are at peace…in harmony.

FPH - Given all the work - the rehearsals, hauling big cabinets up stairs, all that stuff. Why do it? What’s the point?

Keg - It’s the same reason it’s always been; if you’re not a big strong tough dude or really intelligent, music is like magic. It’s a way to distinguish yourself in the world. It always has been.

Rowland - …and it makes chicks dance!

Buggy - When we play live, it’s a free moment to not be what we are during the day. I’ll look at these guys and I’ll see a nurse, an accountant, and a sign shop guy raging – that’s badass. It’s like magic. At the end of a set, it’s like waking up from a dream where I don’t remember any specifics about the show we just played.

Keg - It’s like running; it eradicates all the bad stuff in your head. It clears the decks of all life’s problems…at least for that time you are doing it.

FPH - Some people would argue, “Why do it if you are playing a shitty bar and you’re not going to get famous?”

Rowland - Well I’m pretty sure none of us are looking to get famous from this. And, I like the idea of playing in small, stinky clubs. I think that’s the essence of Rock and Roll.

DK Miller – I’d rather be playing at a small, stinky club than just sitting there drinking.

Buggy - That’s kind of how I felt when I was younger and I would go to shows. I would look around and I would see people who were DOING things as opposed to just being an observer and I felt I was much more about the people who were making those moments happen for everyone else. I like being a purveyor of joy as opposed to just being a recipient.

Keg - It’s about doing something, not just being a witness.

Rowland - I couldn’t wait to be the guy carrying an 8X10 cab up the stairs. I literally couldn’t wait!

Weird Party perform Friday September 02,2011 at Rudyards w/ Black Congress and The Men.

Their ‘Honey Slides/Sarah Palin’ 7” is available now.