Chesapeake - It all started at a show at H20.  I was just checking things out, taking in a Jackmove show, when I happened upon the awesome; a band I hadn’t heard yet.  I was a little unsure what to expect when I heard the opening band was called Feed God Cabbage.  I know that traditionally Jackmove pulls from a diverse pool of music for their openers, and while the band might not exactly be my cup of tea, they are always at least talented.  So I was standing at the bar when it all began.  It caught me off guard, this smooth style that was reminiscent of Sublime and Pepper and the like, but without the drawback of being derivative.  I started getting into it and turned to look at the stage.  That’s when I realized that the drummer was singing, and doing a damn good job of it. 

After the show I ended up spending some time talking to their guitarist Aaron March and the drummer/singer, Dylan Sajbel.  Not only did these guys have a tight groove on stage, but they were nice, down-to-earth cats with a very genuine and easy-going attitude.  So I popped the question: How about an interview?  Well, they had driving to do that night, plus I didn’t have any ready to go questions so I asked them when they would be down this way again.  They said July 9^th, so I dialed it in to the calendar and started research that night with a mellow listening session of the album. 

Well, time flies when you’re groovin’ to some chill tunes and next thing you know, it’s July 9^th.  I met up with the guys at Paradocks in Chesapeake, a nice place with an outside stage on a deck, a perfect atmosphere for a chill summer show.  This time around they had their full lineup of musicians including a second guitarist named Jared.  Their sound caught my attention before, but the second guitar really filled out their sound.  They opened up with “Roller Skates” by Steel Pulse, and they played a couple Sublime tunes, but it was the originals that really caught my attention.  Having had some time to listen to them at my leisure and now having some kind of expectation of what their sound was, I was not disappointed by the show.  They definitely drew the crowd in.  What started as just a couple kids standing around ended with a decent compliment of newly found fans dancing and enjoying their unique blend of music. 

With their time on stage over and the band in need of a place to kick back, it was back to my place for refreshments and the inevitably awesome interview…

(Note from the Wolfe:  Unfortunately I must mention in passing that Seth has departed the band since this interiew.  We’ll call it “artistic differences” and keep it moving.  FGC is currently looking for a new second singer but are still carrying on without for now.)

What a friend we have in cabbage…

33: First I would like everyone to introduce yourself, say who you are, what you do in the band. We'll start in a left to right kind of motion...
Corey Sullivan: Can we not start with Seth, please?
33: And we're gonna start with Seth...
Dylan Sajbel: Dammit!
Seth: I am Seth, better known as “Seech.”  I am the front man of the band.  My job in the band is to sing and to keep the crowd... I'm the middle-man between the band and the crowd.  I make sure that the crowd is having as much fun as we are.  And I also play the tambourine, because I just gotta keep the rhythm going.
Aaron March: Talks to the customer so that the technicians don't have to...
33: “I'm a people person! Dammit! I've got people skills!”
S: My instrument is the people...
CS: My name is Corey.  I play bass.
DS: My name is Dylan Sajbel.  I play drums, and I do vocals.
AM: I'm Aaron March, and I play guitar.
S: He's the riff guy.
AM: I own the van.  I own everything.
S: Your van, your equipment....
Jared: I'm Jared, and I play guitar.

33: I'm gonna preface this next question by saying I actually did read your bios and everything, people are gonna want to know...
CS: What does “Feed God Cabbage” mean?
33: Yeah.
CS: Do you want to know the real story or...
S: We'll tell you two stories and you can pick which one is real.  Feed God Cabbage is a representation of what we aim to deliver.  When you feed god cabbage, what do you do? (pause) You give sustenance to god.  But what is god?  God is everyone...
33: I'm guessing this is the bullshit meaning?
S: We are the feeders, we are the providers, we feed the food to the people.
CS: “Feed God Cabbage” really does mean something, but it's one of those things that you can't explain.  It means something different for everyone else.  Like the way it came up is, I was actually playing disc golf with my brother and his friend, and they had actually come up with it earlier in the day.  It was in a text message or something.  And I did something, and I ended up saying something to my brother, and I was like “Man, what the fuck?” and he was like, “Corey, go feed god cabbage!”
CS: Our music is all about life, and how awesome life is, and that's kind of what Feed God Cabbage means now.  It's how good life is, and how life is short.
S: You gotta feed god cabbage.   You gotta live shit up before it's over.
CS: People tend to think everything is so serious.  I'm not really a religious person anymore, but this world has become so religious that it causes problems.   If people were just kind of relaxed and didn't take things to seriously, then the world would be a better place.
S: Instead of taking shit from god, let's feed him...

Welcome to Dub Rock!

33: Alright, I'm gonna have to dive into this one, it was inevitable, you know it's coming just because of the kind of music that you play.  For a band that only lived its life in it's pure form, Sublime has become a major influence in a lot of newer bands.  How do you guys see it?  Is it like to me, being of an older generation, how I saw the Doors and Hendrix and Joplin...a band that peaked and was gone before my time...what's your take on that?
DS: I think they were the forefathers of our genre. They created a whole new wave that spread like quickfire across America.  Now you go to bars, and you're gonna hear a lot of reggae rock.  Because when people get drunk they want to hear something beachy and rootsy.  We try to put a lot of funk and groove into our music.   I grew up on Sublime; my mom listened to them...probably one of the most influential bands...because they lived so short and became so big.
33: They burned bright as a motherfucker...
CS: And they did it the way you’re supposed to do it.   They did it themselves, and they built themselves up on their own.  And really what won everybody over was the music.  The music was so good...they could put out a CD, and it's not even like they had to go out and promote.  People would hear the CD, and they'd just want to come out and see them.

 I’ve “scene” it all…

33: So the local music scenes can be very tight-knit groups.  You got the punks and the rudeboys and all your little subsets and sects that have come up.  Dub rock has got its own little scene right now, it's started, it's germinated.  Which of the other scenes do you feel like your most a part of that actually accepts you?  Or is there actually a dub rock scene that I haven't seen out there?
S: There is a dub rock scene.  It’s building.
CS: We're right in between...
DS: We can hit two genres at once...
CS: We mix with everything.  Most of the shows we play, the people that we play with are on different sides of the extreme.  They're like really reggae or sort of like punk.
DS: We play with so many genres.  Northern Virginia you got a lot of different people there, and a lot of different bands...a lot of sounds.  And it's so unorganized with the scenes; it's a shit-fest.  So basically you end up playing with bands, punk bands and a reggae band and a fusion band.  All in one show.

33: So what's the scene like in northern Virginia?
S: The thing about northern Virginia is the whole west coast, ya know, as far as Sublime and all that, everything came from the west coast and the east coast is building it's scene but a lot of it is hip-hop, a lot of it is metal, a lot of bands that could be great are either too local to do anything, or they burn out before their time.  Pointed example Duburbia.  They were a great local band, and they burnt out before their time.  Their lead singer died.
(Note from the Wolfe: Duburbia was indeed a great band.  Check out their MySpace page and you can see what we mean by the loss of their singer Jay being particularly tragic.  They truly had potential to do something great.)
S: The scene has hit too many shortcomings to be bigger than it could be now.  And at that point, that's what we're trying to break into.  You've got all these bands like No Dreads, Jackmove...all these bands...punk, rock...they all draw from the same genres, the same influences but there's not enough standing behind them to bring it all together and that's what we aim to do

33: It definitely needs to take, in my opinion a lot more from the punk rock DIY thing...the who do-it-yourself...that's what keeps the punk scene alive no matter what happens... And there's less reliance on the labels now with iTunes.  You can just put a good album together.  You don't need a record label anymore; you can just sell your shit directly to the people.
CS: The best way I could describe NoVa's music scene is by comparing it to somewhere else.  I mean, I come down to Virginia Beach, and whenever we come to Virginia Beach, I always have a great time.  The first time I ever really came down here was actually seeing Duburbia shows and hanging out with Jay and all those guys.  And the scene down here is so much better, I mean people actually like going out to places and hearing live music.  Live music isn't a big part of northern Virginia.  When you go out and play people are like, “I rather go out and listen to top 40 pumpin' boomin on the speakers.”

33: Reading your bio I read something about you started as a high school party band.
CS: I have been throwing parties since I was in high school.  And I started every year like my senior year throwing backyard parties.
DS: We would practice like times a week at least.
CS: I remember the first practice, I walked in, and I saw Dylan on drums, and I started seeing him sing.  I remember the first thing in my head was like, “He's not playing drums after a week.”
DS: Dude, I sucked so bad...
CS: He pulls it off really good.  I was like, “Man, he can actually like kind of do that...”

Stay tuned for next month’s issue for the conclusion of the Feed God Cabbage interview!  Find out what happens when you close your eyes on stage!  Hear the amazing account of the greatest show ever in a church basement!  Shock and awe, all brought to you by the Wolfe and Magazine33.

By Director, Genre Lead, and Editor: Andrew Wolfe

The Wolfe was born to a small litter in the mountains of West Virginia and transplanted to suburban Virginia Beach in the iconic year of 1984.  Left to the public school system, he soon became immersed in the varied subcultures of suburbia. Quickly he became a connoisseur of the rich substrata of disaffected youth in post-Reagan America.  Having to leave corporate tool-hood behind, the Wolfe prowls the silent alleyways in search of the next great spark of local music - the incendiary device that will reignite creativity in a music world gone wrong (apparently in the throes of Bieber Fever).

And other fun facts ...

Age: 33
Place of Birth: Parkersburg, West Virginia
Gender: Raoul Duke
Religion: Gonzo
Likes: Good music.  Drinking.  Smoking.
Dislikes: Ignorance.  People who take themselves too seriously.  People who say "I just wanted to touch bases with you."  It's "base" asshole, not a baseball reference.