OPM - Heaven Can Wait EP
A while back we were lucky enough to be invited along to interview OPM when they hit the White Rabbit in Plymouth, something which I thoroughly enjoyed and still witter on about to this day. What struck me most speaking to the guys was how laid back they are, how they don’t take what they’ve got for granted, and how their music represents their views on life in general, that laid back but spirited style which is sure to get people moving, singing along, and wanting to hear a lot more. I was pleased then when recently, Noz over at Skratch The Surface sent through a copy of their new EP, Heaven Can Wait, for us to check out. Packing 6 tracks onto the record, it’s almost like a journey through the bands music, style and approach, showcasing what to expect from them and showing why we all embraced them so much at the height of their popularity.
The opening moments of Brighter Side show off the bands punkier roots, immediately getting things going with the guitars at the forefront of the track before pulling back and offering up a laid back but Sublime-esque melee of soft and melodic vocals accompanied by upbeat backing music. The mix here is one which is sure to get you moving, make you want to get out to a show, and show why it is these guys are still as popular as they are to this day. Melody is at the heart of this track, refusing to overdo what they’re doing and instead keeping the track moving at a pace which is laid back, yet upbeat enough to make you want to get involved. It wouldn’t be an OPM track without a spot of the rap edged style, and sure enough it comes through fresh, clean and upbeat, opening the EP on a high and making you want more from the word go.
It’s only right that on an EP like this the guys feature classics like El Capitan and Heaven Is A Halfpipe, so both tracks follow on, the first getting you in the party spirit before the second comes along to get you singing, joining in and harking back to those days when it was the most played track on all the music channels. To me though, the high point of the EP has to be when Runaway comes around. Runaway is my favourite OPM track so it’s a track which can’t be played enough in my opinion. Catchy, upbeat and the sort of thing which live, gets crowds jumping and joining in with the band, the track sounds as fresh, fun and new as the first time I ever heard it. This is a track which once again shows off the bands Sublime influences, showing that there’s more to them than just the Heaven Is A Halfpipe style stuff and showing that they’re equally able to produce a punk style track designed for a damned good time. If you’ve not heard Runaway then this is the moment to check it out, awesome is the only word I can come up with for it.
Closing with Stash Up we’re left on an upbeat and hip-hop influenced melee of chanted vocals, pounding rhythms and more of that drink along style music. Give it a couple of listens and you’ll be singing along here, it’s one of those tracks that’s impossible to resist and is sure to get you involved before you know it.
Listening through this EP I was transported back to that live show, reminded of how much fun it was and shown exactly why I still listen to OPM. The tracks aren’t over done, aren’t over the top and instead simply showcase the style of the band in the best possible way. This is laid back music for a laid back lifestyle, something which came through speaking to the guys, and something which has really stuck with me since. Forget rushing around and pushing to do stuff you don’t want to do, crank on this EP, sit back, and let the good times flow.
Check out the OPM Facebook page HERE and our review of them live below.
Words: Dave Nicholls
The opening moments of Brighter Side show off the bands punkier roots, immediately getting things going with the guitars at the forefront of the track before pulling back and offering up a laid back but Sublime-esque melee of soft and melodic vocals accompanied by upbeat backing music. The mix here is one which is sure to get you moving, make you want to get out to a show, and show why it is these guys are still as popular as they are to this day. Melody is at the heart of this track, refusing to overdo what they’re doing and instead keeping the track moving at a pace which is laid back, yet upbeat enough to make you want to get involved. It wouldn’t be an OPM track without a spot of the rap edged style, and sure enough it comes through fresh, clean and upbeat, opening the EP on a high and making you want more from the word go.
It’s only right that on an EP like this the guys feature classics like El Capitan and Heaven Is A Halfpipe, so both tracks follow on, the first getting you in the party spirit before the second comes along to get you singing, joining in and harking back to those days when it was the most played track on all the music channels. To me though, the high point of the EP has to be when Runaway comes around. Runaway is my favourite OPM track so it’s a track which can’t be played enough in my opinion. Catchy, upbeat and the sort of thing which live, gets crowds jumping and joining in with the band, the track sounds as fresh, fun and new as the first time I ever heard it. This is a track which once again shows off the bands Sublime influences, showing that there’s more to them than just the Heaven Is A Halfpipe style stuff and showing that they’re equally able to produce a punk style track designed for a damned good time. If you’ve not heard Runaway then this is the moment to check it out, awesome is the only word I can come up with for it.
Closing with Stash Up we’re left on an upbeat and hip-hop influenced melee of chanted vocals, pounding rhythms and more of that drink along style music. Give it a couple of listens and you’ll be singing along here, it’s one of those tracks that’s impossible to resist and is sure to get you involved before you know it.
Listening through this EP I was transported back to that live show, reminded of how much fun it was and shown exactly why I still listen to OPM. The tracks aren’t over done, aren’t over the top and instead simply showcase the style of the band in the best possible way. This is laid back music for a laid back lifestyle, something which came through speaking to the guys, and something which has really stuck with me since. Forget rushing around and pushing to do stuff you don’t want to do, crank on this EP, sit back, and let the good times flow.
Check out the OPM Facebook page HERE and our review of them live below.
Words: Dave Nicholls
OPM - Interview and Review
I’m pretty sure that everyone’s heard of OPM, and probably for that one song – Heaven Is A Halfpipe. I remember when it came out and it was everywhere, on every radio station, on permanent repeat on Kerrang TV, and suddenly we had OPM in the lime light.
2001 saw them play Reading on the main stage alongside Rancid and Frank Black and the Catholics, something I was there to witness, and something which I remember very little of thanks to several beers replacing my morning coffee on that fateful day! Regardless, when the chaps from Skratch The Surface got in touch saying they were in the UK and up for an interview, I figured why not, it’d be cool to speak to them even if only to see if they’re sick of that song yet!
After arriving in Plymouth, we (myself and Steve) let ourselves in to the White Rabbit (the door was unlocked so we just sort of wandered in), found the sound guy and asked where we could find the chaps from OPM. After being led down through the venue we arrived at the backstage area and were greeted by the guys from the band, immediately welcoming us and suggesting we go somewhere quieter for the interview due to the support bands sound checking at that point in time. Chatting as we walked up, it was clear from the off that OPM are a band who are down to earth, enjoy what they do, and make an effort to take time to speak to the people who go to their gigs.
So after talking about the guys being dared to eat black pudding, Michael Jackson, spotted dick and generally just shooting the shit (as the guys put it), we figured we’d better say something!
Dave: So welcome to Plymouth guys, how does it feel to be here?
John: Great, it’s cool to be here, we love it – we think we’ve played here before but we’re not sure, he’s saying no (gestures at Geoff)
Geoff: We’re usually so drunk on tour that cities all kind of blur together a little bit.
John: I don’t remember the last two nights
Geoff: it takes all of us to piece a picture together you know, it’s like one hour chunks here and there.
John: Doesn’t Paul live in Plymouth?
Geoff: Bus Driver Paul?
John:You think he lives in Newcastle
Geoff: No it wasn’t Newcastle, remember it was that city, I don’t remember, I remember some land marks, I remember a bar that we went to, a bridge getting to the bar, some water and some bricks or something…
Dave: We’re narrowing it down a bit I guess…
John: Oh yeah now I remember it,
Dave: So we’ve got bar, bricks, water…
John: Sounds like all of England! Well actually the South West is our favourite part of the country for sure.
Geoff: Because we live in the South West of the United States
John: And for some reason it has the most similarities to California.
Dave: Is it just that laid back approach do you think?
John Yeah, like Exeter is like LA in some ways, then you’ve got Newquay which is kind of like Sandiago, that kind of laid back beach town vibe, so kind of I mean, it’s not the same obviously but it does have some similarities.
2001 saw them play Reading on the main stage alongside Rancid and Frank Black and the Catholics, something I was there to witness, and something which I remember very little of thanks to several beers replacing my morning coffee on that fateful day! Regardless, when the chaps from Skratch The Surface got in touch saying they were in the UK and up for an interview, I figured why not, it’d be cool to speak to them even if only to see if they’re sick of that song yet!
After arriving in Plymouth, we (myself and Steve) let ourselves in to the White Rabbit (the door was unlocked so we just sort of wandered in), found the sound guy and asked where we could find the chaps from OPM. After being led down through the venue we arrived at the backstage area and were greeted by the guys from the band, immediately welcoming us and suggesting we go somewhere quieter for the interview due to the support bands sound checking at that point in time. Chatting as we walked up, it was clear from the off that OPM are a band who are down to earth, enjoy what they do, and make an effort to take time to speak to the people who go to their gigs.
So after talking about the guys being dared to eat black pudding, Michael Jackson, spotted dick and generally just shooting the shit (as the guys put it), we figured we’d better say something!
Dave: So welcome to Plymouth guys, how does it feel to be here?
John: Great, it’s cool to be here, we love it – we think we’ve played here before but we’re not sure, he’s saying no (gestures at Geoff)
Geoff: We’re usually so drunk on tour that cities all kind of blur together a little bit.
John: I don’t remember the last two nights
Geoff: it takes all of us to piece a picture together you know, it’s like one hour chunks here and there.
John: Doesn’t Paul live in Plymouth?
Geoff: Bus Driver Paul?
John:You think he lives in Newcastle
Geoff: No it wasn’t Newcastle, remember it was that city, I don’t remember, I remember some land marks, I remember a bar that we went to, a bridge getting to the bar, some water and some bricks or something…
Dave: We’re narrowing it down a bit I guess…
John: Oh yeah now I remember it,
Dave: So we’ve got bar, bricks, water…
John: Sounds like all of England! Well actually the South West is our favourite part of the country for sure.
Geoff: Because we live in the South West of the United States
John: And for some reason it has the most similarities to California.
Dave: Is it just that laid back approach do you think?
John Yeah, like Exeter is like LA in some ways, then you’ve got Newquay which is kind of like Sandiago, that kind of laid back beach town vibe, so kind of I mean, it’s not the same obviously but it does have some similarities.
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Dave: Reading up on you guys you know with the bios and things, you seem to have that laid back approach to things that we’ve mentioned in your persona and musically, it’s that cool approach – is that intentional or is that just you guys do you think?
John: It’s just who we are. You know, like most bands will do a 10 year reunion but this is our 13 year reunion it’s because we just kind of like got around to it now. Geoff: We did have the intention of doing a 10 year thing but by the time we got around to thinking about it we were like oh shit, three more years have gone by. Dave: So looking back, does it feel like 13 years have gone by or has the time just flown by since then? John: Little bit of both, I mean, if you really think about it and try to do the maths we’re like, it’s been 13 years, that’s just insane! But at the same time it’s just life, just been rolling along and just enjoying everything, so yeah, nothing to complain about. |
Dave: It’s cool, I mean, I remember seeing you guys way back in 2001 and, I’ll be honest, I was completely off my tits…
Geoff: You know what…me too
Dave:…and that was obviously around the Heaven Is A Halfpipe era – so we’ve got to ask – how did that come about? I mean did you set out to write that track or did it just come out naturally as if you listen to other stuff, it doesn’t necessarily match your style.
John: The way that it came about was that really, we had no idea what we were doing. I mean Geoff was playing guitar and bass and was the only one who knew how to play an instrument. We knew that we wanted to do was sort of, like Sublime as they would have been our biggest influence, but we were trying really hard not to sound like Sublime. We wanted to represent that we were from South California and that we grew up skating and surfing whereas the other guy in the band from Northern California didn’t
Geoff He grew up skiing…
John: Yeah not even snow boarding, so we were just like fumbling around all these things and kind of came up with this idea to do a skateboarding song, and the way that it sounded was just a matter of us not knowing what we were doing.
Geoff: We definitely knew that we wanted to make a record for the same kind of kids that we were, when we were 13, 14 or 15 or what ever, growing up, really at that age where you start to discover music and find those things that you think are really cool, and we really wanted to make music for those people, so that was the main goal of that whole record. While we made that record we wanted to make a song that sounded like that or we wanted to make a song that sounded like this, so we did a song like that. Ever since then it’s been like trying to work out how to make it a bit more cohesive, you know thinking well fuck it, we don’t have to do a reggae song and a punk rock song and a hip hop song, we can do all of that in one song, and that’s kind of more natural for us.
Dave: I think it’s clear that the style has developed because if you compare it to say Runaway, Runaway is just like Sublime, Rancid, that real ska but with a rough punk edge to things. Is that the sort of sound you’re moving towards then now?
John: We kind of know what we’re doing now so now we have control of what’s coming out. For a while we had a feeling that we should be chasing what heaven was, but we got to a point where we realised we’ll never recreate that. I mean, there will be people out there that say Heaven is a Halfpipe is the best record we ever did no matter what we write, I mean, we could write, I don’t know…
Jonathan: Dark Side Of The Moon..
John: Exactly, and people would still be saying that record was better, no matter what we do. That kid is never going to see it as a better record than that. So we decided however many years ago whatever, we can’t chase that, we’re just going to be who we are and continue doing this because we love it. Style wise, it’s all because Sublime was like our Dad, but the Clash was like our Grandad, so when we did Runaway we kind of went back into our heritage and Runaway was kind of an ode to that. Think about it, there wouldn’t have been Sublime if there hadn’t been The Clash, and there wouldn’t have been The Clash if there hadn’t been all the Jamaican reggae. We definitely keep all that stuff in the mix but as far as saying is that the future of OPM, I think it’s definitely a part of it, but we’ll never limit ourselves to saying that we’re just doing that, we’ll just see what happens.
Dave: That sort of raises the question then of what is your genre and where do you fall?
John: Ha… it’s been 13 years of not being in any genre, we’re the same as what you would call the Police or The Clash, but back then it was just pop or rock and roll but it didn’t matter. Now everything is so compartmentalised! I mean if you look at the Clash’s career, they were all over the map that they never decided to stay with the same idea. The fact that artists buy into the compartmentalisation now is because they think it’s commercial, they’re selling out. All these bands that say they’re keeping it real because they’re doing that thing that everyone else is doing, they’re sheep! They’re being herded by some record company that thinks that’s how to market the music and it has nothing to do with being an artist. Being an artist is constantly trying to find yourself and trying new things. Look at David Bowie and the range of his stuff, he’s gone through a million different things over a career that’s spanned decades, but these bands now that are trying to do what they think they should be doing won’t even be around in a decade as that genre will be gone. It’s just ignorant.
Dave: So is that the secret to your guys longevity then, because you haven’t pigeon holed yourself you just keep evolving and that keeps the popularity?
John: Yeah yeah
Geoff: You know what…me too
Dave:…and that was obviously around the Heaven Is A Halfpipe era – so we’ve got to ask – how did that come about? I mean did you set out to write that track or did it just come out naturally as if you listen to other stuff, it doesn’t necessarily match your style.
John: The way that it came about was that really, we had no idea what we were doing. I mean Geoff was playing guitar and bass and was the only one who knew how to play an instrument. We knew that we wanted to do was sort of, like Sublime as they would have been our biggest influence, but we were trying really hard not to sound like Sublime. We wanted to represent that we were from South California and that we grew up skating and surfing whereas the other guy in the band from Northern California didn’t
Geoff He grew up skiing…
John: Yeah not even snow boarding, so we were just like fumbling around all these things and kind of came up with this idea to do a skateboarding song, and the way that it sounded was just a matter of us not knowing what we were doing.
Geoff: We definitely knew that we wanted to make a record for the same kind of kids that we were, when we were 13, 14 or 15 or what ever, growing up, really at that age where you start to discover music and find those things that you think are really cool, and we really wanted to make music for those people, so that was the main goal of that whole record. While we made that record we wanted to make a song that sounded like that or we wanted to make a song that sounded like this, so we did a song like that. Ever since then it’s been like trying to work out how to make it a bit more cohesive, you know thinking well fuck it, we don’t have to do a reggae song and a punk rock song and a hip hop song, we can do all of that in one song, and that’s kind of more natural for us.
Dave: I think it’s clear that the style has developed because if you compare it to say Runaway, Runaway is just like Sublime, Rancid, that real ska but with a rough punk edge to things. Is that the sort of sound you’re moving towards then now?
John: We kind of know what we’re doing now so now we have control of what’s coming out. For a while we had a feeling that we should be chasing what heaven was, but we got to a point where we realised we’ll never recreate that. I mean, there will be people out there that say Heaven is a Halfpipe is the best record we ever did no matter what we write, I mean, we could write, I don’t know…
Jonathan: Dark Side Of The Moon..
John: Exactly, and people would still be saying that record was better, no matter what we do. That kid is never going to see it as a better record than that. So we decided however many years ago whatever, we can’t chase that, we’re just going to be who we are and continue doing this because we love it. Style wise, it’s all because Sublime was like our Dad, but the Clash was like our Grandad, so when we did Runaway we kind of went back into our heritage and Runaway was kind of an ode to that. Think about it, there wouldn’t have been Sublime if there hadn’t been The Clash, and there wouldn’t have been The Clash if there hadn’t been all the Jamaican reggae. We definitely keep all that stuff in the mix but as far as saying is that the future of OPM, I think it’s definitely a part of it, but we’ll never limit ourselves to saying that we’re just doing that, we’ll just see what happens.
Dave: That sort of raises the question then of what is your genre and where do you fall?
John: Ha… it’s been 13 years of not being in any genre, we’re the same as what you would call the Police or The Clash, but back then it was just pop or rock and roll but it didn’t matter. Now everything is so compartmentalised! I mean if you look at the Clash’s career, they were all over the map that they never decided to stay with the same idea. The fact that artists buy into the compartmentalisation now is because they think it’s commercial, they’re selling out. All these bands that say they’re keeping it real because they’re doing that thing that everyone else is doing, they’re sheep! They’re being herded by some record company that thinks that’s how to market the music and it has nothing to do with being an artist. Being an artist is constantly trying to find yourself and trying new things. Look at David Bowie and the range of his stuff, he’s gone through a million different things over a career that’s spanned decades, but these bands now that are trying to do what they think they should be doing won’t even be around in a decade as that genre will be gone. It’s just ignorant.
Dave: So is that the secret to your guys longevity then, because you haven’t pigeon holed yourself you just keep evolving and that keeps the popularity?
John: Yeah yeah
Geoff: The popularity or the unpopularity, this whole time we’ve been playing we’ve played shows with metal bands, we’ve played shows with punk rock bands, we’ve played shows with hip hop bands and reggae bands, and every show no matter who it is we sit there and go wow, we’re kind of the weird guys on this bill.
Jonathan: Like Bruce Lee’s fighting style, whatever opponent he had he slightly differed it. John: But actually, in America right now they have named the genre even if we’re kind of the black sheep in the genre and called it rock reggae. There’s a lot of bands right now and it’s kind of becoming a big thing. Sort of like the leaders of the genre are Slightly Stupid, they were actually signed by Sublimes label when they set out. Geoff: They were signed by Bradley when they were like 15. John: Yeah so he signed them and so they’ve had Sublime co-sign them to have that open door, distinctive style, they play with like Dave Matthews Band and people like that now.. |
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Matt: They’re doing 311 Slightly Stupid co-headliner tour
Geoff: Snoop dog was opening for them last year, I mean they’re massive.
John I mean 311 had massive TV and radio and all this sort of thing, Slightly Stupid never had any of that but got their name out there just through touring. Then there’s bands like Pepper and then all sorts of others, we kind of fit into that world. There’s a lot of reggae stuff as well but reggae was originally Jamaican people trying to play RnB who inadvertently invented a genre, so then you get white kids from California trying to play reggae and it kind of becomes its own thing, and that’s rock reggae. So we’ve always felt left out because we didn’t have a genre, it would be great if all of a sudden in the world there was this genre and we fitted into it, but I don’t know. I mean, when Heaven Is A Halfpipe came out and we won that Kerrang award, all the other bands were like nu-metal…
Geoff Papa Roach and Linkin Park…just nu-metal
John So how we fit into that genre I don’t know.
Dave: I remember you guys having a completely different approach but it must be working or else 13 years on, you wouldn’t still be going!
John: Yeah right!
Dave: So 13 years on, how’s the tour going?
Geoff It’s going good, we haven’t been here in like 5 years or so, we came back in 2006 and 2007 and those were the first trips since the Reading tour. I think we did another trip right after that in 2001, so this is our first proper trip back and it’s kind of crazy to see how the people who were listening then, and how it’s kind of affected their lives where they’re grown up and doing things in the world, like the support bands we’re playing with now. I mean, a lot of them have freaked out when they saw us at sound check because they were like oh man, you guys changed my life and made me want to write music, this is a massive deal for me I can’t believe I’m stood here talking to you guys. You know, maybe we were more popular before, but now we feel like we’re seeing more of an influence that we had on things and how it’s changed stuff.
Dave: So I mean you say more popular before, think back to Reading when it was the same day that Rancid played and Frank Black and the Catholics played, how is it going from a stage like that to playing like the White Rabbit?
John: Ummmm, I mean it’s not like that just happened over night, it was definitely hard work.
Geoff we’ve been working hard to go backwards…
John It’s taken 13 years to achieve this kind of a low
Dave: I meant that in a good way but I appear to have just insulted the band….shit!
John: No not at all, we’re just kidding
Geoff: I mean Reading was cool, but the best part of it for me was standing on the side of the stage watching Rancid play, because in a place like that it’s awesome to be on the stage because it’s that big and it’s awesome to look out and see all the people that came to see you play, but I barely got to talk to anyone as the crowds so far away, you can barely throw something into the crowd because of the camera crews, press pits and security. You know, it’s cool because when you’re a kid you think you want to start a band but you never think you’ll play a stage that big, so when it happens it’s awesome, but playing places like this is really cool because you’re that close to the fans, it’s rewarding in a completely different way to the bigger stage.
Dave: That’s it, I mean the audience gets the feel of connecting with the band as well.
Jonathan: It also helps to break down a lot of barriers because a lot of times pre show I love checking out new music so I’ll just be the fly on the wall checking things out. So then the band finishes and it comes time for us to take the stage and the kids I’m standing right next to are like wait, why are you pushing past me? Why are you getting on stage? Why are you stood there? It’s almost like they’re like shit, it’s them. For us though it means we get to talk, we get to hang out and have a pint after the show, it’s really cool – the type of feeling we would have all eaten up at that age. It’s that feeling of the first time anyone of us met someone we looked up to or had their poster on the wall – it’s a really cool feeling.
John: We’re also really conscious as well that we’ve all met some of our heroes, like music guys over the time and sometimes walk away thinking I wish I didn’t meet him because it changes everything. We just try to be ourselves and if someone’s in a bad mood, they just stand out in the back and stay out of the way. It’s easy to be a dick but it’s hard to be nice all the time, and speak to everyone and take time, but we see it as part of our work to get out there and speak to the people that come down to shows and come to see us. It’s all part of the So-Cal lifestyle, it’s a positive vibe, happiness, love, it doesn’t have to be fucking miserable all the time.
Geoff: Snoop dog was opening for them last year, I mean they’re massive.
John I mean 311 had massive TV and radio and all this sort of thing, Slightly Stupid never had any of that but got their name out there just through touring. Then there’s bands like Pepper and then all sorts of others, we kind of fit into that world. There’s a lot of reggae stuff as well but reggae was originally Jamaican people trying to play RnB who inadvertently invented a genre, so then you get white kids from California trying to play reggae and it kind of becomes its own thing, and that’s rock reggae. So we’ve always felt left out because we didn’t have a genre, it would be great if all of a sudden in the world there was this genre and we fitted into it, but I don’t know. I mean, when Heaven Is A Halfpipe came out and we won that Kerrang award, all the other bands were like nu-metal…
Geoff Papa Roach and Linkin Park…just nu-metal
John So how we fit into that genre I don’t know.
Dave: I remember you guys having a completely different approach but it must be working or else 13 years on, you wouldn’t still be going!
John: Yeah right!
Dave: So 13 years on, how’s the tour going?
Geoff It’s going good, we haven’t been here in like 5 years or so, we came back in 2006 and 2007 and those were the first trips since the Reading tour. I think we did another trip right after that in 2001, so this is our first proper trip back and it’s kind of crazy to see how the people who were listening then, and how it’s kind of affected their lives where they’re grown up and doing things in the world, like the support bands we’re playing with now. I mean, a lot of them have freaked out when they saw us at sound check because they were like oh man, you guys changed my life and made me want to write music, this is a massive deal for me I can’t believe I’m stood here talking to you guys. You know, maybe we were more popular before, but now we feel like we’re seeing more of an influence that we had on things and how it’s changed stuff.
Dave: So I mean you say more popular before, think back to Reading when it was the same day that Rancid played and Frank Black and the Catholics played, how is it going from a stage like that to playing like the White Rabbit?
John: Ummmm, I mean it’s not like that just happened over night, it was definitely hard work.
Geoff we’ve been working hard to go backwards…
John It’s taken 13 years to achieve this kind of a low
Dave: I meant that in a good way but I appear to have just insulted the band….shit!
John: No not at all, we’re just kidding
Geoff: I mean Reading was cool, but the best part of it for me was standing on the side of the stage watching Rancid play, because in a place like that it’s awesome to be on the stage because it’s that big and it’s awesome to look out and see all the people that came to see you play, but I barely got to talk to anyone as the crowds so far away, you can barely throw something into the crowd because of the camera crews, press pits and security. You know, it’s cool because when you’re a kid you think you want to start a band but you never think you’ll play a stage that big, so when it happens it’s awesome, but playing places like this is really cool because you’re that close to the fans, it’s rewarding in a completely different way to the bigger stage.
Dave: That’s it, I mean the audience gets the feel of connecting with the band as well.
Jonathan: It also helps to break down a lot of barriers because a lot of times pre show I love checking out new music so I’ll just be the fly on the wall checking things out. So then the band finishes and it comes time for us to take the stage and the kids I’m standing right next to are like wait, why are you pushing past me? Why are you getting on stage? Why are you stood there? It’s almost like they’re like shit, it’s them. For us though it means we get to talk, we get to hang out and have a pint after the show, it’s really cool – the type of feeling we would have all eaten up at that age. It’s that feeling of the first time anyone of us met someone we looked up to or had their poster on the wall – it’s a really cool feeling.
John: We’re also really conscious as well that we’ve all met some of our heroes, like music guys over the time and sometimes walk away thinking I wish I didn’t meet him because it changes everything. We just try to be ourselves and if someone’s in a bad mood, they just stand out in the back and stay out of the way. It’s easy to be a dick but it’s hard to be nice all the time, and speak to everyone and take time, but we see it as part of our work to get out there and speak to the people that come down to shows and come to see us. It’s all part of the So-Cal lifestyle, it’s a positive vibe, happiness, love, it doesn’t have to be fucking miserable all the time.
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Dave: It’s cool to see for sure. So moving back to the tour, Southampton tomorrow, then what?
John: Basingstoke, London and Swansea Dave: Then is that it for the UK? Geoff: Is that it? It’s like 19 days of gigs every night Jonathan: 19 days and 20 appearances or something isn’t it? Geoff: 19 shows in a row with no days off. We flew on the 4th, started playing on the 5th and then fly again on the 24th. Dave: And then you’re done Geoff: Yeah then we get to go home and get some time in our own beds, take a shower in the morning. Dave: Then 2013, new music, anything else? |
John: New music and another tour, we’re already working on the next one, most of the venues have said they want to have us back so they kind of already set that up, maybe playing some festivals next year as well like Reading and Leeds.
Dave: Cool so we’ll be seeing you over on UK shores again then?
John: What’s the name of the Newquay Festival?
Dave: Boardmasters.
Jonathan: Is that the surf one?
Dave: Yeah it’s like surf, skate and stuff, all down on the beach, ideal for you guys.
John: Maybe we’ll try and get that one too, who knows?
Dave: Well hopefully we’ll see you back down this way soon then! Thanks for taking the time to chat guys and we’ll see you soon.
I’ve got to say that speaking to OPM, they were the nicest, down to earth guys I’ve ever come across from a band. From the moment we arrived until the moment we left there was no issue sitting down, talking and just chatting.
The gig was as you would expect, full of catchy tracks which got everyone dancing, and sure enough featured some classics which everyone knew like Runaway and Heaven is a Halfpipe, as well as a cover of Should I Stay Or Should I go and of course, El Capitan.
What was most notable though was the band themselves, speaking to the crowd before the gig, taking time to shake hands with the front row, and genuinely looking like they were loving every second of what they were doing whilst they were on the stage and in the venue.
Before going I didn’t know what to think – but you know what, I have to see these guys again for sure.
Dave: Cool so we’ll be seeing you over on UK shores again then?
John: What’s the name of the Newquay Festival?
Dave: Boardmasters.
Jonathan: Is that the surf one?
Dave: Yeah it’s like surf, skate and stuff, all down on the beach, ideal for you guys.
John: Maybe we’ll try and get that one too, who knows?
Dave: Well hopefully we’ll see you back down this way soon then! Thanks for taking the time to chat guys and we’ll see you soon.
I’ve got to say that speaking to OPM, they were the nicest, down to earth guys I’ve ever come across from a band. From the moment we arrived until the moment we left there was no issue sitting down, talking and just chatting.
The gig was as you would expect, full of catchy tracks which got everyone dancing, and sure enough featured some classics which everyone knew like Runaway and Heaven is a Halfpipe, as well as a cover of Should I Stay Or Should I go and of course, El Capitan.
What was most notable though was the band themselves, speaking to the crowd before the gig, taking time to shake hands with the front row, and genuinely looking like they were loving every second of what they were doing whilst they were on the stage and in the venue.
Before going I didn’t know what to think – but you know what, I have to see these guys again for sure.