Page 22 - ISSUE 21

PAGE 22
ROCKNATION ISSUE 21
DogHouse Swine Rocknation: Your band has toured in the Midwest U.S. with stops in Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois, as well as NY/NJ/PA/CT area. Any funny stories or encounters you had while
on tour you can tell us about?
DogHouse Swine: Well, what tour doesn’t have its share of stories or mishaps. Like
Interview by Tom Mathers for the first night on tour for example, we were in Ohio, and right into the first song,
Bang!! We blew the fuses in the place, and there were two other bands on before us
and they were fine. A good ten minutes later we continued, and into the second song
Rocknation: Hello DogHouse Swine and welcome to Rocknation. Your band has a my guitar was dropping out of tune....badly, and that never happens. So I changed
5 track EP called “Dogs Of War”. Please tell us about the writing and recording guitars, and that fixed the problem. We continued with the set and finished. It may
process. not seem so funny to the reader, but for me looking back on that first night, I have to
DogHouse Swine: Well, Dogs Of War represents a more aggressive sound than the laugh about it because was it was like a bunch of bad omens happening all at once.
first CD we recorded ‘Faster Side Of Normal’. It is also our first recording as a four It was like the rock gods were going ( Insert gandalf voice here) “You will not tour!”
piece band, with the addition of Iron Rich (bass). Digital versions of the CD through We did one other show in Ohio as well, great show, a real dive but with a great vibe.
itunes, amazon and google contain 4 bonus live tracks from selections off our first It screamed rock n’roll. Bodies flying, beer flowing, no blown fuses, good time was
CD. Track number one, ‘I’m suffocated’ was written in ten minutes. I (Ian - lead singer/ had by all. I found out about a month and a half later, that the place burned down to
guitar) had a guitar riff and not much elese. I had to bring one more new song to the ground. Thankfully nobody was hurt, but the show we did was one of the last rock
the table, to the rehersal that day, so we could start recording the following week, shows in the place. It brings new meaning to the term bringing (burning) down the
I worked it out, and left for rehersal, we put it together and the rest is history. It is house. The rest of the tour went great, good times in Indianapolis and Chicago as well.
the best song on the CD. With that song it just kinda happened, sometimes things For the tour we had a fill in guitar player, because B.T. could not make it for personal
work out for the best when you least expect it to. ‘Hard Luck Education’ was writ- reasons. So we got our friend Jeff to fill in, we taught him all the songs and he did the
ten a long time ago by me and my friend Jim Foster from Electric Frankenstein fame, job well. In the mornings before we drove to our next destination, we would go have
but nothing ever came of it. We recorded a few songs, but never released them, so breakfast usually in a diner. The one thing about Jeff, is that he is a mythodically slow
they sat collecting dust. I called Jim up one day, and told him I wanted to use it in my eater, and Rich would always be on him to hurry up, because we gotta go. The drum-
new band. He was cool with it, he even forgot about the songs we recorded, I had mer Chris and I, would be cracking up hysterically, because they would be bickering
to remind him. We were both laughing about it. ‘OpenWide’ was a departue from my like an old married couple. I called them Fred and Ethel, for anybody who doesn’t know
usuall writing style of riff based hard rock/punk. I wanted to try something different who they are, they were Luck and Ricky’s neighbors on the old I Love Lucy shows. I
with drop tune guitars and a more modern composition. I think it will appeal to people don’t know if that is really funny to anybody elese but us, I guess you just had to be
that like heavier bands. It’s good angry mosh pit music. ‘Nonstop To Nowhere’ was there.
a song that I originally wrote acoustically, it was slower and a bit more meloncholly. Rocknation: Please name some bands you have appeared with.
So I decided to give it some energy and a punk attitude. ‘Goin Down The Bar’ was DogHouse Swine: We’ve had the pleasure, of playing with a lot of great bands and
written by B.T. (guitar). It’s a punk rock classic. He was the guitar player for the east musicans from around the country. Some of the more recognizeable names would be
coast punk band The Wretched Ones. Everybody likes to sing along to that one, it’s a Mucky Pup, Electric Fankenstein, Stigma (Vinny from Agnostic Front), and Devy Dee.
good set closer. We used a new studio in Sparta New Jersey. B.T. knew the engineer Also this June, I think we are going to be opening for either Arron Lewis of Stained or/
and owner Kevin Lacatina. We spoke about the sound I was looking for, and he knew and Hollywood Undead, although it’s not confirmred yet as of this interview.
exactly what I wanted. Kevin is a really funny guy, great personality and very easy to Rocknation: Please tell us about your promotion campaign with Tinderbox Music from
work with. It just makes a huge difference in the studio when the engineer/producer Minneapolis,
are in sync and on the same page with the band they are working with. The inital DogHouse Swine: Tinderbox Music, starting on March 11th will be promoting us on a
tracking was done over the course of about five days,and about a week to a week national radio campaign, with charting on CMJ. They are well know within the industry
and a half to mix and tweak the sound before it went to mastering. Max Castlenova at and have a proven track record of success. Its a great promotional tool for us to help
Clearcut Studio did the mastering for us, the man has ears of gold. We are just about us plan an effective tour. Later they will be doing a press campaign as well. There is
in pre-productiom of a new CD , and we will be using both Kevin and Max again, with- also some publishing/licensing work as well with some well known TV shows. I can’t
out question. say what yet because the ink is not dry (you know legal issues), but we’ll let you know
Rocknation: You live in NJ/NY area. What is the music scene like there? when things are official.
DogHouse Swine: That’s a loaded question...lol. It depends what scene your into. Rocknation: Thank you for taking time for this interview and last words to the fans?
There is a LOT of Indie Rock, experimental bands, rappers, and NY and Brooklyn are DogHouse Swine: You’re welcome, I enjoyed telling you about the band and some of
crawling with Hipsters. There is some metal, some rock, some punk, and its all good the stories we have. To the fans, future fans and even casual passers by check out
but there is not enough of it in this area. The scene in this area used to be good, but the sample of the song ‘Hard Luck Education’ on the Perris Records CD Sampler. It’s
a lot of rock clubs closed. For example CBGB’s, for which I am proud to say I have a free dwnload. If you like that go to www.doghouseswine.com and pick up our latest
played on a number of occasions. I am still to this day, always amazed whenever I go CD ‘Dogs Of’ War’. You can even hear sample tracks of it before you buy. You will not
down Bowery and it’s not there, its just an office building now. Unfortunately there be disapointed , I promise! We are planing a tour for this summer, so sign up on the
were no other clubs that came up to take the place of the ones that are now gone. mailing list, so you can keep up to date on info, shows, new merch and all that stuff....
There are very few bands like us here doing just straight up, no nosense hard rock/ Also, where do you want us to play? Seriously, write us, tell us where you are, and we
punk. It kind of feels like we cornered the market on a certain sound in this area. The will try and make that happen. Anywhere, no really anywhere in the US or in Europe
people that see us play, like it. What more can you ask for. This area is more like a or anywhere elese. We want to know!! And finally, a big Thank You to all our fans and
strange bubble, rather than a scene. future fans for supporting DogHouse Swine. You Rock!!
PERRIS