Leftover Crack released their ‘Constructs of the State’ LP on Fat Wreck Chords late last year.

‘Constructs Of The State’ marked the first release by the ska-punk icons in over ten years.

[Source]

There is a lot here for fans to be excited about. From the moment an ominous voice kicks off ‘Archaic Subjugation’ suggesting that religion is a language virus, you know this is a Leftover Crack record. All of your favorite subjects from the perils of religion, to the oppressive police state, and the hypocrisy of government are covered in that familiar scathing, tongue in cheek, antagonistic style you’ve come to expect from the band. It works here about as often as it doesn’t. I will say, what is good, is really good. While I’m not crazy about what the huge roster of guests musicians does to the consistency of the record, but ‘System’s Fucked’, ‘Corrupt Vision’ and ‘Poliamor Fiesta Crack’ are easily the best songs because of what Jesse Michaels, Penny Rimbauld, and others bring to the table. Much of that is how much less they make them sound like the typical songs you would expect from Leftover Crack. These songs are more upbeat, bass driven ska tunes with especially hooky refrains and stand out way more than the heavier, hardcore based tracks on ‘Constructs’.

If there is one thing that Leftover Crack does especially well, it’s when they re-record songs from other bands they were involved in; ‘Gang Control’ and ‘So You Wanna Be A Cop?’ being far better versions of old Morning Glory songs. This time around, ‘The War at Home’, a song released in 2007 by techno punk rockers Intro5pect shows up. It seemed like a strange choice at first because Stza was only a guest vocalist on the original track. It did make sense after learning newcomers to the Crack family, guitarist Chris Mann and drummer Donny Morris, were in Intro5pect before they joined the band. Like the aforementioned Morning Glory songs, ‘The War At Home’ works much better under the Leftover Crack moniker. The band is clearly having a great time revisiting this jam as the synth lines that dominate this track are driven to the forefront over the guttural vocals and guitar work by the slick production found throughout the record.

As much fun as it was to revisit an old favorite, I found 29 year-old me having a hard time getting as into this record as I would have 11 years ago. Though the band doesn’t say one single thing I don’t agree with, their approach doesn’t stick hit me the same way it did in high school. And, there in part lies the beauty of this album: anyone excited about the idea of new material from Leftover Crack in 2015 will find something to love about ‘Constructs of the State’. I even found my cynical self absolutely loving the aptly titled ‘Amenecer De Los Muertos’, a big chorused, power-pop song about the band playing a show at a mall. I really hope it actually happened because it was really nice to see the band poke fun at themselves in that way. Tracks like this and others from the record that fall outside the realm of typical Leftover Crack lay the foundation for an excellent follow-up. Fingers crossed that the band doesn’t face similar obstacles with their next album that they did with Constructs because despite my jaded attitude towards them lately, I’d still love to see where they can go from here.

MAT STOKES

[Source: Billboard]

Slightly different to their previously revealed ‘System Fucked’ with Jesse Michaels of Operation Ivy, ‘Bedbugs and Beyond’ welcomes Kate Coysh of REIVERS as co-vocalist.

[Source: Brooklyn Vegan]

Following on from June’s highly successful Oli Smith memorial fundraiser, ANTI-VIGILANTE (3.5/5) return to the Underworld. With a take-no-prisoners approach, the Milton Keynes outfit marches through a set that refutes its opening slot, delivering a pummelling brand of ska-core that’s one part ska to two parts hardcore. The band is best at its heaviest, a point that isn’t lost on the large crowd that have been drawn in. Punktastic has said it before and we’ll say it again; this is a band ready to step up a level.

CHEWING ON TINFOIL (2.5/5) may be much lauded by Stza Crack himself but the band’s performance tonight is a bit of a bipolar affair. For the first 15 to 20 minutes the set traipses along, with each song falling flat to the ears of everybody but a die-hard contingent at the front (the fact that there are some die-hards is quite an achievement being that the band hasn’t crossed over from Ireland too often). The final three songs give an idea of what the band has up its sleeves; energy, catchy hooks, and a little bit of grit. Whilst it’s not a performance to write home about, it’s not time for a write-off just yet.

Hands up if you thought THE FILAMENTS (3.5/5) would come out and play that 2005 set all over again. Yep, Punktastic did too. However, it turns out the returning Essex outfit has been in the studio recording a new album, which means tonight we’re treated to four or five brand new tracks as well as an assortment of the familiar. On first impressions, some of the Mohawk spit has gone from newer material in favour of a balls-to-the-wall rock stance, although that’s not to say there’s no punk. The Filaments are still very much a punk band, you only have to listen to the lyrics to realise that. One annoying stage-invader aside, tonight the band puts in a performance that doesn’t so much hark back to the ‘good old days’ so much as leave you intrigued for that future album.

Such are the reports that constantly surround the band and its individual members, it’s all too easy to forget that LEFTÖVER CRACK (4/5) can be a fun band, and can have fun whilst they perform. Tonight’s set is the type that brings this fact back to the forefront. Rather than punch-ups we see the band synchronise jumping. Rather than vicious profanity, we see Stza and co. laughing and joking with the hordes of stage invading and diving revellers. Hell, the frontman even makes a leaping Batman-esque entrance after almost missing his cue to haul ass to the stage. See; it’s fun.

The band thumps through a set that sees the likes of ‘Burn Them Prisons’, ‘Gang Control’, and ‘Rock The 40 Oz.’ turn the dancefloor into something closely resembling a warzone. The moments in which Stza forgets/mumbles/misses lyrics, the crowd gladly recites them, a chorus of off-key malcontents if you will. Surprised by the quickness in which they race through tunes (“I haven’t talked enough,” quips the frontman), the band takes requests for the final 20 minutes of the show. Well, they take some requests. Some songs are straight-up declined whilst others have been lost in the mires of memory. The befuddling approach proves quite comedic, not something you’re used to hearing from a Leftöver Crack gig. Maybe that’s why tonight feels a little special.

ALEX HAMBLETON

Photos by JOSEPH DUNCAN

OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5

Stza: It was run by kids in Germany and what happened is that I needed to get some news up about the band…maybe it was about shows or urgent and I would write ‘em and he wouldn’t post it for a month. I mean it was kinda was stupid I mean…I don’t have a computer and I don’t often have access to one so Brad started the MySpace page and I had instant access to posting things right away that people wanna know or news about the band so it became really convenient for me whilst travelling to do that.

Jules: I think it’s just that its MySpace and its now owned by Rupert Murdoch…
Stza: Brad started it at the beginning of the year and we just been using it…its free. And it’s a way to get to know our fans too. I mean if we are playing and people watching us I can’t find much out about them but I can go click on someone’s picture and be like oh…I can know about other people. I like that, its cool. I get to know our fans even though it’s owned by a motherfucker (laughs) but you know…its free and right now I don’t see any problem with it.

Jules: What kind of a childhood did you have? I don’t know if you wanna talk about personal stuff?
Stza: What kind of childhood? That’s kinda a vague question. I didn’t have any friends and that made me be more creative I suppose. I spend more time by myself and I enjoy it because I am used to it.

Jules: What kind of music are you listening to at the moment?
Stza: Mostly Indie Rock.
Jules: British or American?
Stza: I wouldn’t know exactly umm I discovered New Model Army. When I am on tour I don’t have any access to new music. The King Blues are really good. The Postal Service, Pretty Girls make Graves umm…

Jules: Do you still listen to a lot of Hip Hop?
Stza: Yeah. I got a lot of new Hip Hop I listen to…a lot of new stuff from Brooklyn. You know it’s like Cage, Immortal Technique…whose a little bit homophobic and sexist but dead on politics. Grand Buffet, Aesop Rock…these are all people from New York.

Jules: What does Homeo-Apathy mean?
Stza: Well Homeo-Apathy is like I got it because of the squat scene in New York City. Umm a lot of squatters aren’t into traditional medicine so they use homeopathic remedies. So Homeo-Apathy is about these people that I live with that…well its not so much now, I mean its still the same…the people I live with that like try and live a certain way and be healthy and be outside the system…the medical system but at the same time they don’t give a fuck about politics and they live like very apathetic lives really. You take homeopathic remedies when you’re sick but you’re also doing drugs and drinking booze all the time and not really giving a fuck. It’s not like nihilism…its trying to be a healthy nihilist or something. So Homeo-Apathy is like homeopathy but I stuck the ‘A’ in there and stuff like Apathetic. That make sense?
Jules: Yeah…
Stza: Nobody ever asked me that one before. I was waiting for it.

Lottie: Are you interested in Acupuncture or anything like that?
Stza: I never done that…

Jules: How does the band feel about their records being sold in major chainstore’s alongside Green Day and Fallout Boy? I mean…you can get them in places like K-Mart.
Stza: I don’t think so? Who told you that?
Jules: Forum members…
Stza: As far as I know we are banned from every major chain and after Fuck World Trade came out….they were selling us at the Virgin Megastore at Virgin records? And when Fuck World Trade came out they stopped selling Mediocre Generica.
Jules: I know you can buy Fuck World Trade at our local HMV and I live on a little Island…
Stza: Can you? Cool. I mean I love you have access to it but I don’t like making money for HMV but you can shoplift it from there. They miss the money and they fucking deserve to get robbed.

Lottie: What do you think about filesharing?
Stza: Yeah…please. As long as people get to hear the music. Every single kid I ever met that’s given me a ride or a place to stay that is into my band Leftover Crack or Choking victim…all their CDs are burnt. I’m like cool..share it you know? Spread the love. I’m not in it for money I have a political message to get across and good music too you know?

Jules: You mock straight edgers on numerous occasions but how do you justify fuelling the corporations you seemingly oppose, the exploitation and injustice they perpetrate by supporting the alcohol/tobacco industries…
Stza: Well…I do…I have made fun of straight edger’s on one song…which is ‘Atheist Anthem’ But its really not umm hypocrisy I mean that’s songs really about religious hypocrisy and how straight edger’s and I mean straight edger’s in the context of them being hypocritical themselves and trying to like stick to certain rules and laws like the laws of a religion per se and have people treat straight edge like it’s a religion and if you break those religious laws then you are pray for getting beat up its all bullshit. If you wanna be straight edge that’s cool but don’t fucking… you know…don’t punish people for not doing it. Why do I drink? Its because I am trying to kill the pain of fucking…everyday existence and I fucking feel like I hate life and when I drink I feel a little better about living…
Jules: Why do you say that? Life’s what you make it.
Stza: Cos its fucking…It feels like fucking straight edger’s and the corporations and all that shit make life hateable.

Jules: Who is the Coconut Man?
Stza: Umm I don’t know (laughs) I cant answer that actually…Its secret.

Jules: Do you think the serious points in your lyrics are negated by the way i which you deliberately surround them by shock tactics?
Stza: Are they negated? No? I think that if you are smart then you should understand our politics when we are on serious subjects. I don’t think that all serious subjects should be taken seriously because..I’m sounding so stupid…I think that umm I mean we are a band we are here to entertain people and hopefully they will walk away with some kind of political message and shock tactics? I mean…someone calls something a shock tactic…I just call it honesty or I call it like fucking whatever…it’s a fucking fantasy. Like shoot the kids at school it’s like…
Jules: Or the new one…baby punchers…
Stza: Baby Punchers…well when everyone reads the lyrics to Baby Punchers they will understand that baby puncher actually relates to the people the song is about…
Jules: Because we’ve not heard that yet…
Stza: Well you will have to wait until October 31.
Jules: That’s the release date?
Stza: Yeah and all the lyrics will be written on the back of the 7”

Jules: Are there gonna be anymore Hip Hop tunes like ‘Hood to da Mouth’? A lot of people liked that song…
Stza: Yeah…I really liked that song but the person I worked with was a total fucking asshole and he really shat on me on doing that but umm I always write hip hop lyrics and I have other songs and one day when I don’t have a band and maybe if I ever own a computer and I learn to do all that programming shit I’ll try to make a hip hop record or something. I could always produce one for somebody.

Jules: What about an acoustic album? Will that ever emerge?
Stza: Yeah…probably next year.

Jules: Here’s one I took straight from the forum…why don’t you kill a fucking cop? My loyalty to you is fading.
Stza: If he kills one…I’ll kill one. (laughs) Well you try to inspire people. I mean you know…I never said that I kill cops. I am saying that people should kill cops because they kill innocent people every day…
Jules: So what was that about MySpace taking the ‘cop’ photos down?
Stza: There was a picture of me as a cop with a 40oz as our MySpace picture. I didn’t do it…Brad does all that…I dunno how..all I do on our MySpace is post blogs. He does all the pictures shit whether I like it or not and he puts the music up…whether I like it or not umm I don’t really have a say in it…much. Anyways umm he had posted our main picture as me as a cop with a 40 and umm and this guy…NYPD Dave asked to be our friend and I checked into him and he was really a cop and I didn’t really know what the deal was but we realised later that he thought I was a cop and he was trying to make friends and after he realised that we hated cops he tried to get in touch with his superiors in the police department to get me arrested for impersonating a police officer but the best he could do was get MySpace to take the pictures down. So yeah…he was really a police officer and he kinda failed in his mission to put me in jail. But I think he was embarrassed because he got suckered in by a picture he didn’t look at. He didn’t look at our politics or anything. This was like..’oh another cop’

Jules: Is anyone on the band Vegan or Vegetarian?
Stza: I don’t eat dairy. I’m not vegan…I eat eggs. I don’t think people should support the meat or dairy industry. I mean…that’s not my only reasons but…
Jules: Does it often occur that when you have written a new song…you throw it away because you don’t like it?
Stza: No. If I write a song…if I strum a chord and that’s a bad chord and I don’t use it. I write a song that’s in my head and if something sounds good…then I make it a song. I have never thrown away a song. The only song I would consider throwing away in retrospect is ‘Burning in Water drowning in flame’ and ‘Shoot the kids – Mercy me’ is the name of the song but for some reason Hellcat put NC and I don’t know what NC stands for on the record…
Jules: That was another question I had…what does NC stand for?
Stza: No idea…you would have to ask Epitaph…or their lawyers. Know what I mean?

Jules: Is the new split EP really going to be on Fat Wreck Records?
Stza: Yes.

Jules: Are there plans to record a version of ‘One Dead Cop’ with Fat Mike?
Stza: I doubt it!

Jules: Since you oppose corporate greed…and since you specifically denounce the music industry in your lyrics, do you not think that releasing the new record on Fat Wreck makes you hypocritical?
Stza: No. Fat Wreck has no ties to any major labels or corporations…
Jules: Aren’t they distributed by Sony?
Stza: No. That’s Epitaph. After we left Epitaph that label really went to shit. And they’re umm you know actually…I’m pretty sure they have no corporate ties…
Jules: Do you always look into that then?
Stza: Well I will now… But we are still putting the record out…I did make a verbal agreement. I don’t break my promises.

Jules: How do you feel about using branded instruments?
Stza: Well…branded instruments. Yeah I know I mean whenever I get a piece of clothes I find in the garbage I usually tear out the name brand tag. You can search me I don’t think you will find any name brand on any clothes I wear. Umm I did play a Telecaster guitar. Umm some corporations aren’t really problems…some are I mean I guess they are cutting down tree’s to make guitars but they aren’t disposable…its art you know? A piece of art in itself a guitar and they not making billions of them… you know what I mean? It depends how many guitars a year they make and how many trees they cut down. I definitely think that if I had the choice between having five trees and no guitars I’d rather have four trees and three guitars. Then I can have a band right? What’s life without music?

Jules: What do you think you would have done with your life had you not been in a band?
Stza: I’d have done more heroin and be dead.

Jules: Are you going to come back over with the full line up? With Ezra and Brad?
Stza: Maybe. Kinda hopefully. Unless one of them dies. Or I die.

Jules: What do you spend all your money on?
Stza: Bailing my friends out of jail and people I don’t know out of jail. That’s probably the thing I’ve spent most money on this past year is bailing people out of jail.
Jules: I watched you get arrested yourself in Salisbury last year…
Stza: I didn’t get charged so they let me out. I didn’t have to get bail.

Jules: Do your views about the police waiver when you meet a nice policeman…or have you never met one?
Stza: I’ve met nice policemen but they are all part of the same gang and just because he is a nice cop…doesn’t mean that… the bad cop he is with…if the bad cop gets shot…that cops gonna kill you even though, no matter how nice he is. And the time comes when they cross that line into being bad cops…most of them. Any person that thinks they can join the police force and be a positive cop and positively change it is a fucking idiot. And they will learn sooner or later that they have no power…

Jules: Are Leftover Crack ever going to progress lyrically or just persist in producing similar angsty anthems for ‘church hating’ and ‘cop bashing’ teenagers?
Stza: I write a little about both. Depends if I can’t think of anything better to sing about. I’m not gonna write love songs.
Jules: Never?
Stza: No.

Jules: To what extent is Leftover Crack‘s validity as a means of ‘spreading a message’ limited by the fact that you are a: Preaching to the converted and b: Half your fans don’t seem capable of constructive thought?
Stza: Well…the fact that this person doesn’t think someone else is capable of constructive thought shows that that person is not capable of constructive thought. And I mean…we reach new people every day you know what I’m saying? So we’re not preaching to the converted. I mean…basically what that person is saying is that half the people understand the politics and half don’t. The whole point is to get the half that he considers don’t have constructive thoughts to think the constructive thoughts and to like get the message.

Lottie: What do you think of England’s political system? It seems over here that our Prime Minister seems to be trying to get in with your President to the extent….
Stza: Peas in a pod….that’s how I see it.
Lottie: Do you get to hear much about our politics over there?
Stza: Not much bashing of the English government even though there should be more. Cos the British government is one of the richest in the world and the thing that people don’t understand is that it’s the people with the money are the ones controlling the fate of the world, the fate of the poor of the world. Britain is just as guilty and most of Europe is too. The USA is more famous for being assholes…
Lottie: But they are a bigger country I guess…
Stza: We’re a bigger country but…
Lottie: But we are just as big a part…
Stza: Just as guilty.

Jules: Are we ever going to see a Star Fuckin’ Hipsterz release or is that all over?
Stza: Next year. I have all the songs written. In fact…the three songs I wrote for the Leftover Crack split are Star Fuckin’ Hipsterz songs that I donated to the band…just because I wanted the split to be good. So I gave them three songs.

Stza: It was run by kids in Germany and what happened is that I needed to get some news up about the band…maybe it was about shows or urgent and I would write ‘em and he wouldn’t post it for a month. I mean it was kinda was stupid I mean…I don’t have a computer and I don’t often have access to one so Brad started the MySpace page and I had instant access to posting things right away that people wanna know or news about the band so it became really convenient for me whilst travelling to do that.

Jules: I think it’s just that its MySpace and its now owned by Rupert Murdoch…
Stza: Brad started it at the beginning of the year and we just been using it…its free. And it’s a way to get to know our fans too. I mean if we are playing and people watching us I can’t find much out about them but I can go click on someone’s picture and be like oh…I can know about other people. I like that, its cool. I get to know our fans even though it’s owned by a motherfucker (laughs) but you know…its free and right now I don’t see any problem with it.

Jules: What kind of a childhood did you have? I don’t know if you wanna talk about personal stuff?
Stza: What kind of childhood? That’s kinda a vague question. I didn’t have any friends and that made me be more creative I suppose. I spend more time by myself and I enjoy it because I am used to it.

Jules: What kind of music are you listening to at the moment?
Stza: Mostly Indie Rock.
Jules: British or American?
Stza: I wouldn’t know exactly umm I discovered New Model Army. When I am on tour I don’t have any access to new music. The King Blues are really good. The Postal Service, Pretty Girls make Graves umm…

Jules: Do you still listen to a lot of Hip Hop?
Stza: Yeah. I got a lot of new Hip Hop I listen to…a lot of new stuff from Brooklyn. You know it’s like Cage, Immortal Technique…whose a little bit homophobic and sexist but dead on politics. Grand Buffet, Aesop Rock…these are all people from New York.

Jules: What does Homeo-Apathy mean?
Stza: Well Homeo-Apathy is like I got it because of the squat scene in New York City. Umm a lot of squatters aren’t into traditional medicine so they use homeopathic remedies. So Homeo-Apathy is about these people that I live with that…well its not so much now, I mean its still the same…the people I live with that like try and live a certain way and be healthy and be outside the system…the medical system but at the same time they don’t give a fuck about politics and they live like very apathetic lives really. You take homeopathic remedies when you’re sick but you’re also doing drugs and drinking booze all the time and not really giving a fuck. It’s not like nihilism…its trying to be a healthy nihilist or something. So Homeo-Apathy is like homeopathy but I stuck the ‘A’ in there and stuff like Apathetic. That make sense?
Jules: Yeah…
Stza: Nobody ever asked me that one before. I was waiting for it.

Lottie: Are you interested in Acupuncture or anything like that?
Stza: I never done that…

Jules: How does the band feel about their records being sold in major chainstore’s alongside Green Day and Fallout Boy? I mean…you can get them in places like K-Mart.
Stza: I don’t think so? Who told you that?
Jules: Forum members…
Stza: As far as I know we are banned from every major chain and after Fuck World Trade came out….they were selling us at the Virgin Megastore at Virgin records? And when Fuck World Trade came out they stopped selling Mediocre Generica.
Jules: I know you can buy Fuck World Trade at our local HMV and I live on a little Island…
Stza: Can you? Cool. I mean I love you have access to it but I don’t like making money for HMV but you can shoplift it from there. They miss the money and they fucking deserve to get robbed.

Lottie: What do you think about filesharing?
Stza: Yeah…please. As long as people get to hear the music. Every single kid I ever met that’s given me a ride or a place to stay that is into my band Leftover Crack or Choking victim…all their CDs are burnt. I’m like cool..share it you know? Spread the love. I’m not in it for money I have a political message to get across and good music too you know?

Jules: You mock straight edgers on numerous occasions but how do you justify fuelling the corporations you seemingly oppose, the exploitation and injustice they perpetrate by supporting the alcohol/tobacco industries…
Stza: Well…I do…I have made fun of straight edger’s on one song…which is ‘Atheist Anthem’ But its really not umm hypocrisy I mean that’s songs really about religious hypocrisy and how straight edger’s and I mean straight edger’s in the context of them being hypocritical themselves and trying to like stick to certain rules and laws like the laws of a religion per se and have people treat straight edge like it’s a religion and if you break those religious laws then you are pray for getting beat up its all bullshit. If you wanna be straight edge that’s cool but don’t fucking… you know…don’t punish people for not doing it. Why do I drink? Its because I am trying to kill the pain of fucking…everyday existence and I fucking feel like I hate life and when I drink I feel a little better about living…
Jules: Why do you say that? Life’s what you make it.
Stza: Cos its fucking…It feels like fucking straight edger’s and the corporations and all that shit make life hateable.

Jules: Who is the Coconut Man?
Stza: Umm I don’t know (laughs) I cant answer that actually…Its secret.

Jules: Do you think the serious points in your lyrics are negated by the way i which you deliberately surround them by shock tactics?
Stza: Are they negated? No? I think that if you are smart then you should understand our politics when we are on serious subjects. I don’t think that all serious subjects should be taken seriously because..I’m sounding so stupid…I think that umm I mean we are a band we are here to entertain people and hopefully they will walk away with some kind of political message and shock tactics? I mean…someone calls something a shock tactic…I just call it honesty or I call it like fucking whatever…it’s a fucking fantasy. Like shoot the kids at school it’s like…
Jules: Or the new one…baby punchers…
Stza: Baby Punchers…well when everyone reads the lyrics to Baby Punchers they will understand that baby puncher actually relates to the people the song is about…
Jules: Because we’ve not heard that yet…
Stza: Well you will have to wait until October 31.
Jules: That’s the release date?
Stza: Yeah and all the lyrics will be written on the back of the 7”

Jules: Are there gonna be anymore Hip Hop tunes like ‘Hood to da Mouth’? A lot of people liked that song…
Stza: Yeah…I really liked that song but the person I worked with was a total fucking asshole and he really shat on me on doing that but umm I always write hip hop lyrics and I have other songs and one day when I don’t have a band and maybe if I ever own a computer and I learn to do all that programming shit I’ll try to make a hip hop record or something. I could always produce one for somebody.

Jules: What about an acoustic album? Will that ever emerge?
Stza: Yeah…probably next year.

Jules: Here’s one I took straight from the forum…why don’t you kill a fucking cop? My loyalty to you is fading.
Stza: If he kills one…I’ll kill one. (laughs) Well you try to inspire people. I mean you know…I never said that I kill cops. I am saying that people should kill cops because they kill innocent people every day…
Jules: So what was that about MySpace taking the ‘cop’ photos down?
Stza: There was a picture of me as a cop with a 40oz as our MySpace picture. I didn’t do it…Brad does all that…I dunno how..all I do on our MySpace is post blogs. He does all the pictures shit whether I like it or not and he puts the music up…whether I like it or not umm I don’t really have a say in it…much. Anyways umm he had posted our main picture as me as a cop with a 40 and umm and this guy…NYPD Dave asked to be our friend and I checked into him and he was really a cop and I didn’t really know what the deal was but we realised later that he thought I was a cop and he was trying to make friends and after he realised that we hated cops he tried to get in touch with his superiors in the police department to get me arrested for impersonating a police officer but the best he could do was get MySpace to take the pictures down. So yeah…he was really a police officer and he kinda failed in his mission to put me in jail. But I think he was embarrassed because he got suckered in by a picture he didn’t look at. He didn’t look at our politics or anything. This was like..’oh another cop’

Jules: Is anyone on the band Vegan or Vegetarian?
Stza: I don’t eat dairy. I’m not vegan…I eat eggs. I don’t think people should support the meat or dairy industry. I mean…that’s not my only reasons but…
Jules: Does it often occur that when you have written a new song…you throw it away because you don’t like it?
Stza: No. If I write a song…if I strum a chord and that’s a bad chord and I don’t use it. I write a song that’s in my head and if something sounds good…then I make it a song. I have never thrown away a song. The only song I would consider throwing away in retrospect is ‘Burning in Water drowning in flame’ and ‘Shoot the kids – Mercy me’ is the name of the song but for some reason Hellcat put NC and I don’t know what NC stands for on the record…
Jules: That was another question I had…what does NC stand for?
Stza: No idea…you would have to ask Epitaph…or their lawyers. Know what I mean?

Jules: Is the new split EP really going to be on Fat Wreck Records?
Stza: Yes.

Jules: Are there plans to record a version of ‘One Dead Cop’ with Fat Mike?
Stza: I doubt it!

Jules: Since you oppose corporate greed…and since you specifically denounce the music industry in your lyrics, do you not think that releasing the new record on Fat Wreck makes you hypocritical?
Stza: No. Fat Wreck has no ties to any major labels or corporations…
Jules: Aren’t they distributed by Sony?
Stza: No. That’s Epitaph. After we left Epitaph that label really went to shit. And they’re umm you know actually…I’m pretty sure they have no corporate ties…
Jules: Do you always look into that then?
Stza: Well I will now… But we are still putting the record out…I did make a verbal agreement. I don’t break my promises.

Jules: How do you feel about using branded instruments?
Stza: Well…branded instruments. Yeah I know I mean whenever I get a piece of clothes I find in the garbage I usually tear out the name brand tag. You can search me I don’t think you will find any name brand on any clothes I wear. Umm I did play a Telecaster guitar. Umm some corporations aren’t really problems…some are I mean I guess they are cutting down tree’s to make guitars but they aren’t disposable…its art you know? A piece of art in itself a guitar and they not making billions of them… you know what I mean? It depends how many guitars a year they make and how many trees they cut down. I definitely think that if I had the choice between having five trees and no guitars I’d rather have four trees and three guitars. Then I can have a band right? What’s life without music?

Jules: What do you think you would have done with your life had you not been in a band?
Stza: I’d have done more heroin and be dead.

Jules: Are you going to come back over with the full line up? With Ezra and Brad?
Stza: Maybe. Kinda hopefully. Unless one of them dies. Or I die.

Jules: What do you spend all your money on?
Stza: Bailing my friends out of jail and people I don’t know out of jail. That’s probably the thing I’ve spent most money on this past year is bailing people out of jail.
Jules: I watched you get arrested yourself in Salisbury last year…
Stza: I didn’t get charged so they let me out. I didn’t have to get bail.

Jules: Do your views about the police waiver when you meet a nice policeman…or have you never met one?
Stza: I’ve met nice policemen but they are all part of the same gang and just because he is a nice cop…doesn’t mean that… the bad cop he is with…if the bad cop gets shot…that cops gonna kill you even though, no matter how nice he is. And the time comes when they cross that line into being bad cops…most of them. Any person that thinks they can join the police force and be a positive cop and positively change it is a fucking idiot. And they will learn sooner or later that they have no power…

Jules: Are Leftover Crack ever going to progress lyrically or just persist in producing similar angsty anthems for ‘church hating’ and ‘cop bashing’ teenagers?
Stza: I write a little about both. Depends if I can’t think of anything better to sing about. I’m not gonna write love songs.
Jules: Never?
Stza: No.

Jules: To what extent is Leftover Crack‘s validity as a means of ‘spreading a message’ limited by the fact that you are a: Preaching to the converted and b: Half your fans don’t seem capable of constructive thought?
Stza: Well…the fact that this person doesn’t think someone else is capable of constructive thought shows that that person is not capable of constructive thought. And I mean…we reach new people every day you know what I’m saying? So we’re not preaching to the converted. I mean…basically what that person is saying is that half the people understand the politics and half don’t. The whole point is to get the half that he considers don’t have constructive thoughts to think the constructive thoughts and to like get the message.

Lottie: What do you think of England’s political system? It seems over here that our Prime Minister seems to be trying to get in with your President to the extent….
Stza: Peas in a pod….that’s how I see it.
Lottie: Do you get to hear much about our politics over there?
Stza: Not much bashing of the English government even though there should be more. Cos the British government is one of the richest in the world and the thing that people don’t understand is that it’s the people with the money are the ones controlling the fate of the world, the fate of the poor of the world. Britain is just as guilty and most of Europe is too. The USA is more famous for being assholes…
Lottie: But they are a bigger country I guess…
Stza: We’re a bigger country but…
Lottie: But we are just as big a part…
Stza: Just as guilty.

Jules: Are we ever going to see a Star Fuckin’ Hipsterz release or is that all over?
Stza: Next year. I have all the songs written. In fact…the three songs I wrote for the Leftover Crack split are Star Fuckin’ Hipsterz songs that I donated to the band…just because I wanted the split to be good. So I gave them three songs.

BEN – I know you just answered this question [in the previous interview] but what happened with the switch from Hellcat to Alternative Tentacles [Jello Biafra’s label]?
STZA – Basically Hellcat wouldn’t print our art or the title of the record; they didn’t want to do it. Including them and the distributor and the printers wouldn’t do it either so we had to make a deal with when I gave them new art and a title that was totally fucking shit and boring and they let would let us out of our contract which they didn’t do for two years. Finally we got out, we got a letter saying we’re out of our contract which made it possible for us to sign to Alternative Tentacles.
EZRA – Basically what we’re trying to make people aware of is the fact that censorship happened on many different levels and Hellcat bowed to other major conglomerates in the States who wouldn’t print the record…
STZA – …or the distributor wouldn’t carry it…they were afraid they wouldn’t sell a lot of them. It comes down to the bottom line of money.
EZRA – The major chains wouldn’t carry them and so they were like fuck that, we’ll censor your record so you can put it in a major chain. We had no say in it so we asked to get out of our contract.

BEN – Do you feel a lot more at home on Alternative Tentacles, where you’ve got the usual roster of bands but also spoken word as well?
STZA – It’s funny, all these spoken word things with Arundhati Roy, Christian Prente…
BEN – Chomsky too…
STZA – …yeah, and Howard Zinn, all these guys are very influential on my politics, same with Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys. We’ve only been on the label for a month and a half but everyone there is really cool and for the first time I feel like these people are behind what we’re doing, politically and musically.
EZRA – We grew up listening to the Dead Kennedys…
STZA – Hellcat Records is addled all the time…these people, they’re not people I’d call friends, they didn’t like me and I didn’t like them, it’s really hard to do business with people like that or be on a label with them when you know they’re not supporting what you’re saying. Everyday we realise how much we were ripped off by Hellcat.

BEN – Are you a band that plays political songs or a political band, in that it’s impossible for what you write to not be political in some way?
STZA – It’s impossible for us to write a song that doesn’t touch on politics on some levels. We might make up a funny song once in a while but there will be a line in there that’s political.
EZRA – You can’t be somebody you’re not. We’d never sell out or become an acceptable, mainstream band because that’s not who we are. It would be against everything that we’re about and everything we stand for.

BEN – I saw you described on the Alternative Tentacles website as “squat ska punk”, how important is your past to you now, the Choking Victim / Morning Glory stuff?
STZA – We’re trying not to sell it as Choking Victim II or Morning Glory Plus but these things are important. Me and Ezra are still squatters and that’s not something that we push when advertising our band.
EZRA – When we were Choking Victim and we weren’t very big it wasn’t a big deal to put a squatting symbol on the record, but now we’re bigger and it’s not something that we’d use to advertise us.
STZA – It’s important to us that everyone should squat and get rid of landlords…
EZRA – …but we’re not trying to capitalise on that and get popular…
STZA – …in a way I do like to think that we could influence some people to live that lifestyle. Obviously you don’t pay rent, it’s great! Plus the fact that you’re automatically living a political lifestyle, you don’t have to go to a protest to be political.

BEN – I’m a university student, when I’m not at uni I live at home with my parents, when I’m at uni I live in a house, I pay rent to a landlord…how do you feel about playing to people like me that like the music but don’t share the lifestyle?
STZA – I think 99% of the people that listen to us either live at home with their parents of pay rent. We’re not trying to say that we’re better than anyone, but it’s virtually impossible to find a squat and keep it open for a long time. These things are very hard to do and we don’t expect people to do it because we say so.
EZRA – We’re not trying to tell anyone what to do or preach to anybody or say that we are living better.
STZA – It doesn’t matter what you take away from our songs, as long as you take away something. [Stza gets up to go to the toilet next door]
EZRA – University students, people that go to college probably consider themselves privileged, but we consider ourselves privileged to be able to live in a band and that’s not for everybody. The whole world can’t live like that – some people can, and maybe we’ll get through to those people. You don’t have to be a part of everything that’s going on; we’re all supported by somebody. We just live the way we live and give our opinions. I consider myself lucky to have lived the lifestyle that I do, to live on no money and eat out of the trash and hop free trains.
STZA [just returned] – I like eating garbage. It’s delicious. There’s a lot more variety.
EZRA – Just being alive, you have to pay every day.
STZA – It’s insane that nature has been perverted as far that you have to pay to stay alive.
EZRA – What we’re saying is that you don’t have to pay to stay alive.

BEN – You’ve got a political side along with a catchy, melodic musical side, what’s that mix like?
STZA – I think that if you like catchy upbeat ska songs and you sing about bullshit like love or whatever you’re selling everybody short, it’s the only justification we have for playing like this. We make the lyrics really dark and really political and that justifies happy fun-time ska! The fucking wicked, kill-yourself, kill the world, in your grave, die another day, fucking…
EZRA – We both grew up on, among other things like pop music and The Beatles – it sounds good, makes you feel good, but we sing about negative fucking shit!
STZA – We’re definitely not optimists.
BEN – I gathered that much…
STZA – That’s the thing about politics, a lot of people feel the need to propose an alternative and I think that’s wishful thinking in a way. It’s nice to say but in reality this world is going to shit and there’s not much we can do about it. We’re trying to spread non-hope to the masses [laughs].
EZRA – I’m surprised that it hasn’t been touched on before and I’m not saying that we’re pioneers, but I’m surprised that people haven’t mixed poppy music with negative messages before.

[Brad Logan from F-Minus/LOC walks in]

STZA – Hey Logan…this is Brad Logan from F-Minus and Leftover Crack, you should talk to him too!
BRAD – I’ll talk…sure.
STZA – I pissed all over myself. A little bit.
BEN – That’s punk rock.
STZA – I masturbated this morning and there was a bit of come stuck in my urethra so when I pissed it went in two directions and now it’s all over my pants. Print that, buddy!
BEN – That’s the headline… “’I masturbated this morning’, by Leftover Crack”.
STZA – Yeah, go for it.

BEN – With the popularisation of the underground mentality, Michael Moore making big movies seen by millions…
STZA – That’s great, I’m glad he’s doing it. I found the movie pretty fucking boring. I already knew about everything, but one of the few times I paid to see a movie I felt like some of that money is going to go to that dude, and he deserves it for opening people’s eyes.
EZRA – Personally I don’t like Michael Moore myself…
STZA – He’s such a fucking asshole! He’s such a fucking wanking fucking…what’s the word…
EZRA – He’s a middle class white dude…
STZA – …panders to liberals and it’s disgusting. But he has a lot of really good points and he educates people, and that’s important in our country right now.
EZRA – I think I hate liberals as much as I hate Republicans, you know? We’re against all political agendas.
STZA – I’m a fucking nihilist.
EZRA – We don’t agree with anyone’s agenda, we don’t agree with leftists necessarily.
STZA – It’s the circle of politics, it all comes around to mean the same thing in the end.
BRAD – Like Bush is gone, what’s going to change? Are the States going to get better?
EZRA – What we’re trying to say is think for yourself.
STZA – I thought we were saying that you don’t have to pay rent…I don’t like calling myself a nihilist…I’m not an anarchist, that shit doesn’t work either. I’m a pessimist.
EZRA – A lot of people think we’re anarchists and that’s the closest thing that we resemble but that isn’t what we are.

BEN – If you don’t believe in anything, what’s the point in saying that you don’t believe in anything?
STZA – You have to do something to make yourself want to live the next day. Otherwise it’d just be panhandling every day, getting wasted…I’d probably be dead by now. We’re pretending we have a purpose.
EZRA – We’re just fooling ourselves, and everyone else.

Leftover Crack‘s 2nd album “Fuck World Trade” will be out in the UK on 30th August on HouseHold Name Records. Again, thanks to Kafren HHN for sorting this out.