They’re a little bit country, and a whole lot of rock and roll. They’re Birdmonster and they’ve made some of the best rock music to come out of One of the coolest things about Birdmonster is how they’re changing the way fans interact with the music. I’d hate to call it a “scene” due to the negative connotation that word seems to have so instead I’ll say Birdmonster is on the frontlines of a revolution – a new movement where bands that seem larger than life actually, truly communicate and connect with their fan bases. They weren’t the first to do it, surely, but discovering their music and finding out about the band was the first time in a long time I felt like something big was going on. I remember how cool it was seeing the Birdmonster blog, reading about the recording process; seeing incredible pictures, and thinking how awesome it was to have this much insight into a band.
It’s hard because what I’m trying to convey is such a difficult thing to explain. You almost have to seek out and listen/read/see/watch on your own to understand what I’m talking about. And hey, even then you might not get it. Everything is different to everyone. Either way, it won’t stop you from enjoying the music and it certainly won’t stop you from enjoying the great answers they’ve provided
Birdmonster are Peter Arcuni (vocals, guitar), David Klein (guitar, piano), Zach Winter (drums, cello), and Justin Tenuto (bass, Rhodes, melodica, banjo) Today, Peter and Justin from the band talk about drinking before shows, places in San Francisco to get great chicken wings, sleeping in bushes, and becoming a wizard by age 65.
First things first, what are your favorite drinks when you're on the road? Or drinks in general?
Peter Arcuni: We used to have this pre-show tequila shot ritual, which sort of got derailed early on when we discovered that we play terrible when tequila drunk. So I switched to beer for a while, which was also derailed after a few embarrassing blunders in which I let out loud belches while singing. So from then on it’s been non-carbonated beverages...vodka cranberry as of late. Though I’m a sucker for a good Shirley Temple.
How stoked are you guys to be playing with Division Day this August/September? Do you think you'll you be contributing to each other's sets or anything of that nature?
PA: Division Day is a real hoot to tour with. There will most certainly be some cross-pollination of sets, and in the very least some inappropriate practical jokes.
Do you enjoy touring or does it eventually take its toll and drive you all nuts?
PA: So far so good. We’re still new enough to this that it’s really exciting to travel to new places. Maybe when we run out of cities it’ll be a different story, but then again, there’s a lot of cities.
Actually we all get along shockingly well for spending weeks on end in small spaces with the same 4 people (van, club, motel, repeat). It helps to visit our countries bizarre highway tourist attractions...we plan to hit up Mitchell’s
Of all the cities you've played which one has the craziest night life?
PA:
What is your favorite song to play live and which song seems to get most audience feedback?
PA: I like playing “No Midnight”. Acoustic and Banjos bring out the ho-down feeling deep within us. “Spaceman” seems to be the biggest crowd pleaser. We loan tambourines to audience members for that one, which proves to work out great sometimes, and disastrous others. I always tell people that we’re bestowing a great responsibility to the tambourine player...it’s usually best to find the most sober person in the room and give it to him.
What is the best bar in your hometown,
PA: Zeitgeist is a cool biker bar...really good chicken wings.
You guys ever eat at Sam Wo in
PA: Nope. I’ll take your word for it. They have some pretty authentic places there. I’ve always been partial to the Yum Yum House.
Who, out of the four of you, is the wildest drunk?
PA: David Allen Klein the Third, Guitarist...I’ll let him take the rest of the questions and fill you in on all of his drunken panty-raiding escapades.
Justin Tenuto actually takes over here.
Justin Tenuto: We’re past our “let’s get drunk before shows” phase, as it tends to lead to the dreaded “let’s play really sloppy during shows” phase. I'm gonna call out Dave on this one, although he’s not too bad. Only once did he ever try and stab us with a corkscrew, but he was too blotto to move with any sort of speed. We kid him about it now.
Have you had any mishaps while shit-canned?
JT: I fell asleep in a bush once. For the record: not comfortable.
Are the girls coming out in full-force to throw themselves at you?
JT: I’ve got two G-rated woman-fan related stories for you. (Less safe for work stories can be found at XXXMONSTERXXX.com). We’ve got two in SF who we, as a band, adore. One makes homemade buttons and brings them and has been coming ever since we were knee-high to a grasshopper. The other is in fact knee high to a grasshopper right now (she’s 12) and gives us all pleasant memories of when we were young, going to shows, and generally trying to act older than we were. We also signed her cast. Which was thoroughly awesome.
What is your favorite album you're listening to right now?
JT: I’m listening to Richard Buckner right now. I stole it from Peter. We had a moment when we were driving through
Anyone in the band still aspiring to be a wizard at age 65?
JT: That’s me. And yes. I begin growing my beard at age 50. By 65, I’m wizened and epic looking. If they aren’t making any wizard movies, I could probably pull off being the old guy in slapstick comedies. The possibilities are endless, really. And if you steal my idea, I’ll go Avada Cadavra on you.
Are there any other crazy, wild, drunken antics or otherwise crazy outings you'd like to share?
JT: We’re honestly a pretty mellow band. After shows we’re all too exhausted to engage in impressive shenanigans. Once we had a medieval sword fight in a castle with Division Day though. And you think I’m lying, but I’m not.
Finally, which are better: ninjas, pirate, or Vikings?
JT: See, Vikings do a lot of pillaging, which is great, but also a lot of raping, which is bad. So they’re out. Pirates stole FROM Vikings, so they pillaged the pillaging rapers, which is a big plus in my book. Ninjas do a lot of sneaking around and I can stand behind that, but pirates cooperate, sail around, and have cool exotic diseases. At the risk of giving into Johnny Depp hysteria, I choose pirates.
*Peter later informed me the name of the Peter Buckner album is actually “Devotion & Doubt” if anyone was going to go looking for it.
Buy No Midnight now on iTunes or wait until next Tuesday when SpinArt will be distributing the album into your favorite music stores, nationwide. For tour dates, free MP3s, and more than you needed to know about Birdmonster visit the links below.
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