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BACK TO WORK, Interview and Preview
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Pulse Weekly, Philly, PA, BACK TO WORK, Interview and Preview >>
The Beat
By Monica Ortwein, Associate Editor
BACK TO WORK
The Slackers have better things to do than sit on the couch all day, vegging out. They’d rather be making fun ska albums. And covering Bon Jovi.
Vocalist and keyboardist Vic Ruggerio of The Slackers was just getting off the train on his way home from a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan when we had the chance to interview him recently. “Did you know that in all the dictionaries that are out, there’s this one word that I can’t find in any of them?” he asked in his thick New York accent (born and raised, baby).
Ruggerio was searching for the word “chythonic.” “It means humble, of the earth, kind of. But I’m looking for a really good definition of it. Guys who thought they were really literary used to use it and you’d always see it and be like, that’s not a real word.” Our dictionary didn’t have it listed either. But talking to Ruggerio, we did find out the definition of a Slacker – the music-playing kind, anyway.
The Slackers will play the Trocadero in Philadelphia soon to promote their latest disc, titled Close My Eyes. Keep those peepers open and read up on what Ruggerio had to say about his band’s new album and why he wants to get the hell out of New York:
PULSE WEEKLY: What do you think is the biggest change on Close My Eyes as compared to your previous albums?
VIC RUGGERIO: This time, we made the album completely ourselves, there’s no outside help from anyone. I engineered the whole thing, the band produced it, we didn’t have any guests. There might be one thing we did that someone helped us out on, but it’s very homegrown. It’s not low-fi but it’s home-fi, you know? It’s cool because we used our friend’s studio in the basement of his mother’s house. It’s really old equipment, kind of dilapidated. I think Wasted Days was a little too hi-fi or something.
PW: But you guys covered Bon Jovi!
VR: I wasn’t satisfied with [Wasted Days]. I felt like I could’ve worked on it for the next 20 years. I’m always critical I guess.
PW: Would you say you guys are big procrastinators, hence calling yourselves The Slackers?
VR: We’re actually trying not to be. You don’t have time to procrastinate with the band. Everything comes quick and goes quick, so you have to kind of be on top of it. But in my personal life, yeah, I am completely [a procrastinator]. I’ve been trying to go the dentist for like three years.
PW: Me too! My teeth are going to fall out soon and I’ll probably start losing friends. Anyway, do you set deadlines for yourselves when you’re recording or do you just work as long as the job takes?
VR: I don’t think we’ve ever actually finished any record. But it comes out anyway, and people go, wow, it sounds good. They don’t realize what you haven’t finished. Which is OK.
PW: Tell me what it’s like before you go onstage at a Slackers show.
VR: Personally, I try not to party too much before I play. [laughs] We always meet up right before and do a little huddle, get everyone on the same page mentally, you know? Then afterwards we try not to talk about the show. You’ve done it, it’s done.
PW: I read that you just got back from a boat cruise show late last month. Does that mean you play weddings and stuff like that too?
VR: Yeah, we do any kind of gig to make a buck. We’ve done bar mitzvah gigs on boats. If somebody asked us to play a party or whatever – we’ll do it. That’s part of it; when you play music, you play everywhere. You don’t just do one kind of thing.
PW: Do you like living in the Big Apple?
VR: I need a change. I’m going crazy in New York City, man. It’s very conservative now. It’s not the city I grew up in. I feel smothered, and on top of it, it’s too expensive. It would be different if I was paying a lot of money and I walked out my door and there were like orgies happening on the streets.
PW: That would be a different story altogether I guess.
VR: Yeah, now you go drink a beer and the cops give you a ticket. I go make some noise and everybody’s telling me to be quiet.
PW: Was that the final straw for you?
VR: People are renting parking spaces that cost as much as my apartment. A lot of people in life do a lot of things they don’t want to do just because it’s habit – they work jobs they don’t want to work, see people they don’t want to see. The same thing with New York City. People stay around and say it’s the greatest city in the world or whatever, but it’s not as worth it as it used to be.
PW: What made you choose to move to New Jersey?
VR: My friend Jeff Baker lives there, and my girlfriend has family out there. Although I’d like to move someplace like Omaha or something where no one would ever f--kin’ bother me. [laughs] But I can’t do that just yet.
PW: What was the best time you had while you were over touring in Europe?
VR: We played Prague for the first time. It’s a beautiful town and the people really enjoy music. We drank some really tasty Czech beer. It doesn’t cost anything, like a dollar, and it’s fantastic. And they also have this stuff called absinthe. I guess the locals don’t drink it that much, but they used to. It’s hard to come by when you’re outside that part of the world.
PW: What’s your favorite legal thing to drink if you’re just hanging out on the porch in the summer?
VR: Definitely lemonade. I made lemonade with brown sugar the other day, and it was good. My girlfriend didn’t like it though. She was turned off by the color.
WHAT? The Slackers, Ruder Than You
WHERE? Trocadero1003 Arch St.Philadelphia
WHEN? Friday, Sept. 12, 7 pm
HOW MUCH? $13
MORE INFO 215.922.LIVE thetroc.com 09/01/03 >> go there
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