Virginia Beach – All the way down to Atlantic Avenue in the (thankfully) tourist-free off season, I got the word on this show and just had to go.  The Supervillians have been rocking their brand of goodness for over a decade and have worked with some of the best in the scene, from Pepper to Slightly Stoopid.  It's always awesome to get a chance to see a band like this in the chill atmosphere of a smaller venue.  So to the back of the bus I went with Dominic Maresco and Scott Suldo to take a peak into what's happening with the band...

33: So you guys are all from Orlando area basically?
Dominic Maresco: We grew up in Marksville County, a little south of Orlando.  We live in Orlando now, and Skart lives near the airport.
Scott Suldo (Skart): I live in the swamp.

33: So what is the current lineup that is going to be here tonight?
DM: Tonight you got me and Skart, you got Smally [Jonathan Cestero] playing saxophone, you got Dan [Grundorf] playing bass, and Tom Rex playing the piano.  He's a brand new guy.
SS: Yeah, he's a filler.

33: So kind of a fill-in for the missing trumpet?
DM: Umm...not so much a fill-in as a replacement really.
SS: Trumpet's not coming back.
DM: Yeah, the trumpet's definitely not coming back.  The thing is, with the music we're writing now, the horns are a lot more of an accompaniment than they were.
SS: We don't mean the trumpet player; we just mean the trumpet as an instrument.
DM: I'm just saying, as far as having big, huge horn-heads and stuff like that, we'll still have them on the records.  Smally just terrorizes solos and just adds, adds, adds, and adds - you know what I mean?
SS: With keyboard you can fill in a lot of the orchestration for the parts that you want.

33: Very true, very true.  When did you guys get into ska and reggae?
DM: We were kids, like 16 I guess...that's when I got into it...like when me and Skart started going to shows.
SS: Back when it was in its hayday, when there were shows every night.
DM: Yeah, there were shows all the time.  All the kids went and danced all night, raged, and got drunk.
SS: Definitely different from now when it's a once a month affair, if that.

33: Any particular bands that got you guys started listening?
SS: Mephiskapheles, Blue Meanies...
DM: Operation Ivy.
SS: Of course.
DM: The Suicide Machines and NOFX and all that.
SS: Definitely the Mad Caddies.
DM: Yeah, Mad Caddies were huge.  Goldfinger...you know, stuff like that.

33: Would you say, nowadays, ska is dead?
DM: No comment.
SS: I wouldn’t say it's dead, it just exists in different forms.  It's kind of evolved and moved on to bigger and better things...it's natural progression, you know?

33: With the bub rock/reggae rock...things like that.  You've got bands like Slightly Stoopid, I know you guys have worked with them...
SS: Well, think about Sublime.  They were kind of considered a ska act in the beginning, and they ended up doing a lot of reggae...the more reggae side of ska then they just focused on that.  I kind of think our career is kind of the same thing.  When you're young you have a bunch of energy and you play real fast, but as time goes on, you start looking at the finer intricacies and kind of latch onto those.
DM: I always like to bring it back through to myself, I like to bring it back.
SS: Toots.
DM: Like Toots and the Maytals-style, like the traditional fuckin' Slackers and older reggae.
SS: What's cool about touring with Stoopid is they actually put a lot of thought into their support acts, and we've been on a couple tours with them.  One was with Inner Circle so for us that was a real treat.  Every night to hear Johnny 2 Bad...and then another tour we did with them and Fishbone...that to me still to this day was the ultimate tour.  Fishbone is amazing.

33: Any good dub/reggae rock bands that you've seen lately?  The other night I saw the Dirty Heads and that seemed like a pretty tight set...
SS: Dirty Heads are doing great for themselves.  It couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of kids.
DM: They are the nicest dudes.  We played with them back in the day, and I still once in a while keep in touch with them on Facebook and stuff like that for sure.
SS: I heard a band recently, and I've seen a lot of their stuff.  They're called Seedless, and I'm gonna really check them out because I heard their CD, and it's really good.  It's just a band I never really heard before, but I heard the name, and once I put name to music I was like, “Check them out!”

33: How did you guys get hooked up doing your newest album?
DM: Our newest record was done in Orlando with a guy named Brett Hestla.  We did it on our own.  We are releasing it on our own at this point.  Brett Hestla has a long list of accomplishments, and he's a super-cool dude.  He's got great ideas and pulled some really interesting things out of us.  So right now that's what were doing - doing our own record.
SS: [Brett] definitely pushed us in a different, more progressive direction.  Simplify everything, don't fool around, don't let anybody get bored with it.  Just keep it fresh, keep it going, keep them on their toes.

33: About what point are you at on your tour right now - is it mid-tour?
SS: It's like the fourth day.

33: Right on...how long is the tour going to be going on?
SS: This one is just a month.  Just a big lap going up to Boston, then cutting by the mountains, then Pacific Northwest down the west coast, through Texas and then back home.

33: Any favorite bands you guys like playing out with?
SS: We played with Pacifier the other night, and it's been so long since we got to play with them and those guys...very good musicians, very tight band.
DM: My favorite to tour with, of course, is Pepper and Slightly Stoopid cuz we've been on tour with those guys so many times, Pepper especially.  We have so many close connections with them because we've known them for years and years.  The English Beat was probably one of my favorite bands to tour with.
SS: English beat were really great.  We're going out with Less Than Jake...those were really nice dudes.  We're going out with them for January.  I was thinking maybe next summer we can hit back with our old buddies the Expendables.  That would be a fun tour to do in the summertime, especially at this stage in our career.  I think us and those guys would be a pretty fun fucking tour.

33: So I understand you guys got a sponsorship to Jagermeister?
DM: Always.
SS: We've been with them for eight years.

33: How did that happen?
SS: We were down in the Virgin Islands, and the guys at the bar ended up calling his reps from Jager going, “I got a band that just sold like 28 cases of Jager tonight, and they did it again last night.  You need to check these guys out.”  They said put them in contact with us.  Ever since then by circumstance we ended up writing a song about Mary Jane and Jagermeister, about being down in the islands.  That's one of our hits, and you know Jager's always been great with us.  They put us on cool tours with Pennywise, Slightly Stoopid, Pepper...
DM: Authority Zero - I love touring with Authority Zero, too.  I fucking love those dudes.  They all have small penises.
SS: They help out a lot of bands that would normally, you know...they see bands that are working really hard and reward them with a sponsor from Jager, and Jager's great so...

33: Indeed...couldn’t agree more.  What's the name of the newest album?
SS: It's going to be self-titled.

33: When's that coming out?
SS: Within a month, tentatively.
DM: Tentatively Thanksgiving, hopefully before that.  We're hoping that by next week we will be pushing a single...just kind of figuring out which one it's going to be at this point.
SS: We're waiting for it to get mastered.

33: So no idea which one its going to be?
DM: We're waiting for a bastard.
SS: We have a sponsorship through Silver Surfer Vaporizers and also Music Bailout that we're on live right now with...
DM: Yes, we're on live with Music Bailout right now.
SS: Silver Surfer Vaporizers helped us out a heap, and they're just very gracious people...they gave us all kinds of grinders and fucking badass vaporizers...
DM: Love vaporizers.
SS:  That's another small town, very mom and pop organization that helps out a lot of bands for a good cause, too.  It's healthy - if you're going to do it in the healthiest way you can do it.
 DM: Do what, Skart?
SS: Vaporize herbs and medicines.

33: Exactly.

The Supevillians!  TheSupervillains.com

Jagermeister!  Jagermeister.com

Silver Surfer Vaporizers! SilverSurferVap.com

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.

More Featured Articles