Virginia Beach - The Wolfe finds himself in the hallowed halls of the DNA Snack Stix tour bus with none other than Mark Adkins and Ryan Farrell of Guttermouth.  Mark has been playing his particular brand of Huntington Beach, California punk since the early 90s, and it was a rare pleasure to sit down and sip some rum and Coke with a legend of punk rock.

 From DNA to PBR...

33: I guess we're gong to start with a question that happened as soon as I saw you guys...What's up with the DNA Shred Stix?

(Notes from the Wolfe: When the band had pulled into the parking lot while I was waiting outside the Jew Mom, I did not realize it was them at first.  It was this giant bus that said “DNA Shred Stix” on the side.  I thought some Mountain Dew-chugging extreme sports guy was gonna bust out of it when it parked and start chucking jerky treats from the back of a motocross bike whist screaming “Extreme!” at the top of his lungs.  Instead, I got Guttermouth.)

Ryan Farrell: They're quite delicious, actually.

33: And I heard they come in a variety of flavors.
Mark Adkins: They come in pizza, original, and spicy.
RF: Spicy!
MA: I'm a fan of the spicy ones myself.  But they give me a case of the little smokies.  Really uncomfortable.  A lot of the clubs have been feeding us Pabst Blue Ribbon as our choice of beer.  I don't think anyone really likes it; they just drink it for the cool factor.

33: I always drank it because it was cheap...
MA: They have raised the price...Pabst Blue Ribbon is the fastest growing beer in America.  We've heard that from many club owners...we can go to any bar in any city in the nation while we're on tour and say, “Hey, we're with Pabst Blue Ribbon,” and just belly up and just drink till we've had our fill.
RF: That stuff's got sand in it.

In the Beginning...

33: So, you've been around for a little bit of time...how'd you get your start?  How did you get into punk rock originally?
MA: Just a couple guys in the neighborhood who introduced me to certain bands, and certain things were happening.  Bands like the B-52s and the Talking Heads were putting records out that were a little more interesting.  They hadn't really captured the radio just yet.  They were this close. 

33: On the cusp...
MA: ...and Joe Jackson, and then like a year past that there were bands like the Fabulous Poodles and F-Word that surfaced.  It was a little more aggressive, and it kept getting more and more aggressive.  It was pretty much these two brothers, Paul and Bobby Gomez, they lived right down the street from me, and they were kind of ahead of their time.  That really helped.  I owe all of this to them.

33: I was listening to the Full Length LP, the first Guttermouth I had ever heard, and I noticed a kind of Elvis-style emoting kinda going on with the vocals.  Is there any old rock kind of channeling the King in your past or any older rock and roll influence?
MA: You're not the first person to say that to me.  I've been compared to the King more than once.  [everybody laughs]  Countless times.  It must be my chops.  I don't know.
RF: I think it's because you look just like him.
MA: I look more like Lisa Marie.
RF: Well, she looked just like him.
MA: No, it was more of a Cramp-ish feel.

33: Lux Interior...

Controversy!

33: So what's the full story...the Warped Tour incident...your departure from the Warped Tour...
MA: It's actually quite simple.  NOFX was doing their thing...[Fat] Mike was doing his thing, and he firmly believed in it and I have much respect for what your beliefs are, you go do your thing, but you know how bands look up to them so much...and that's nice too, but, when they start emulating everything they do on stage, that started to get to me a little.  And I've got a short fuse and when every band is walking up and for the first note of their song it's like, “Fuck Bush! Fuck Bush!”  It's like, why kiss Mike's ass that much...they just kept going and going, and I'm a Republican at heart.  I mean I don't like anything that's happening in our current administration.  Granted Bush made some mistakes.  Anyways, it was a mutual thing between Kevin the owner of the Warped Tour and I for me to leave.  He said, “There's several bands here that are complaining about you...maybe it's just not your year.”  So I said, “Maybe you're right.  See you next year.”  So we amicably parted ways.

33: So over the years, how many venues have you actually been banned from due to your onstage antics?
MA: There's been a few.  I can't really name them.  If I did my research I could find out.  There's been a few that didn't want us back.  A lot of that's not me, but ill-prepared promoters and security being overzealous and not knowing how to do their job and how to handle children in a manner that they should be handled. 

33: How do you think you've grown over the years as a band?  Have you really grown or just stayed in a terminally 16-year-old state of mind?
MA: Grown in certain aspects.  Nothing I can think of off the top, but you never stay the same, nothing does.  You go to some towns that you haven't really been to in a long time, and they expect the same show that they saw 13 years ago.  Verbatim.  The exact same show.  And I'm like, “That's not gonna happen guys.”  Superbowl XXVI was a great Superbowl, but that ain't gonna happen in Superbowl XLIV...things change, people change.  Sometimes on the road people get sick or they're having a bad day or they didn't sleep last night.  People expect a little too much sometimes.

33: You're in your 40s now...
MA: 43!  44 in October...

33:  Is it hard to maintain the level of energy that you do onstage?
MA: Probably really only over the last week because I've been eating so poorly.  When I'm at home I'm an avid runner.  I train to run half marathons.  I'm really into running, all kinds of weird exercise shit.  When I'm out here...all the stupid excesses of the road, but when I go home, I'm just the guy around the corner.  Most people don't know what I do, they don't care, they just wonder why I'm sitting at home all the time.  You have to keep working out to keep up with the fan base...And it's not easy to do when you're overloading on McDonald's and Burger King and gross shit.

In Closing...

33: Any music that you've heard out there?  Anything you would consider noteworthy?  In ska and punk...
MA: No.
RF: I think the Flatliners are pretty cool...I like the Loved Ones...and that's all I can think of...
MA: Have you heard of any of those bands?

33: No, actually I have not.
RF: I like Vampire Weekend.
MA: Twilight bullshit...
RF: I don't care who they are just because they use vampire in their name to capitalize on something that is happening.
MA: I need my dose of ELO.

So there you have it.  A clean living Republican that can rock out for the kids even at an advanced age.  Who would have thought it?  I guess it's that “Adkins Diet” that keeps him going...

XXX-Guttermouth-XXX.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.