May 23, 2012, Las Vegas Weekly, Noise

Las Vegas will be packed with punk bands and punk fans this weekend, as the annual Punk Rock Bowling festival hits Downtown. The most punk-rock move of all, however, comes courtesy of the frontman for a band playing not on 6th and Fremont, but at the M Resort—Tom Gabel of Against Me! In the current issue of Rolling Stone, the 31-year-old singer and guitarist announced his plans to change his gender and begin living life as a woman named Laura Jane Grace.

In a Punk Rock Bowling interview with the Weekly’s Chris Bitonti (see Page 56), Hot Water Music’s Chuck Ragan—who has toured frequently with Gabel over the years—talked about his friend’s big news.

What are your thoughts about [Gabel’s] announcement?

I thought it was really brave of him—to make that step and come to terms with who he feels he truly is. Laura Jane Grace is as much of a dear friend as Tom Gabel ever was. If anyone believes a certain way, I’m gonna back them up all the way. That’s just one of the duties of being a friend.

Do you think punk fans will react the same way?

They better, otherwise we’re coming after them! (laughs) In all seriousness, I felt really honored to be a part of a community that was so open-minded supporting people doing things out of the norm, because when I was a kid, that’s what punk was all about. It was a mind-set, about you being exactly who you wanted to be, no matter what your school or your parents or the church said.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/may/23/punk-rock-world-stands-gender-changing/

May 23, 2012, Las Vegas Weekly, Noise

Exister is your first studio album in eight years. Why did Hot Water Music decide to go on hiatus in the first place?

Well, at the time we were hitting it extremely hard. It was a combination of just being worn out, overworked, making a lot of sacrifices … I was definitely the one that kind of took a step back. We were singing songs about living free and being true to your friends, and all of a sudden all of these lyrics started ringing truer to me. I hit a point where I felt like if I were to continue on that path, eventually I would just be fooling myself as well as all the good folks who supported Hot Water Music. I just felt like it would become false.

It was too much to risk for me, I simply felt that I needed to re-evaluate my life and the reasons I was playing music to begin with. So I went back to my trade. I never stopped writing music—my own music became more of a priority than Hot Water Music. And then it was just a matter of timing. We knew we would play again at some point, but we had no idea when.

What was it about right now that made writing an album work?

We started playing gigs again around three years ago, and it was great—coming together, playing old songs and just living it up. Again, it was kind of a matter of timing. It finally took us getting tough on ourselves and literally putting a finger on the calendar. Once we put that on ourselves, it was go time.

Did making an album after that long apart feel different than it had before?

You gotta understand that in the course of that eight years, it wasn’t like we were completely out of each others lives. We were communicating; there was a togetherness. And we never stopped playing music … We’re songwriters, we’re musicians and over the years we’ve grown older, we’ve had more experiences. I think we’ve all progressed and grown as individuals and musicians. So coming together and pooling all of that, there was this whole new life breathed into the whole writing and recording process that set us on fire to go. Once we kind of opened those gates it just started flowing. If there was any challenge at all, it would be weeding through the massive amount of material that we had. There was no shortage of inspiration.

How was it working with producer Bill Stevenson [drummer for the Descendents] on the new album?

It was just a massive honor to work with someone of his caliber. He’s known for making fantastic records. We’ve all listened to his work since we were little skate rats. So that in itself was incredible. Aside from all of his known talents, he is just a good man. For us, it was such an honor to have that opportunity and have that experience—not only to work with a hero but to come out of it having a friend.

But I gotta, I feel really blessed and honored to say that about the majority of the people we surround ourselves with. You look up to these people and you grow as a musician, as an individual and you idolize these bands. It’s a testament to the fact that anything can happen as long as you believe in what you’re doing. If you stay stout in your beliefs and you stay strong and stay an individual and come together with all your buds, anything is possible. Sooner or later, if you stick to it long enough you’re going to be playing shows with the bands you went to see when you were a kid.

I know some of it’s timing, and some of it’s who you know, and some of it’s luck, but to me the majority of it is just if you’ve got the heart and the guts to keep pushing forward and not let anybody tell you different,

I’ve seen Hot Water Music and I’ve been to a couple of your Revival Tours, and those are two really different shows. The energy of HWM live versus the cooperative/organic nature of Revival. How differently do you approach the two?

It’s a completely different animal. To me, the Revival Tour is by far the most special way of touring that I’ve ever known in my life. It’s infectious, and there’s this really relaxed atmosphere and really strong feeling of unity and togetherness that’s completely consistent from the first day of the tour to the last.

I’m not saying the Hot Water shows are a bummer. I’m saying that when we’re out touring every night, it could be a whole new set of opening bands. There’s positive things about that, too—it’s always changing, and that can be cool. But at the same time its always kind of a push/pull, start/stop kind of thing. There’s always a little more stress, compared to the Revival Tour, where when we hit the road everybody who’s on the tour is already on the bus. You get to know ’em, and it’s just a big family throughout the whole thing. Hot Water Music is just this extreme blast of 110 percent that is just “uh” right away and for a short period of time.

Hot Water Music has played Punk Rock Bowling before, and your Revival Tour has also been showcased in the festival. This year you’re doing a solo club show and a HWM set. What is it about Punk Rock Bowling that you’re so drawn to?

The Stern Brothers [Punk Rock Bowling’s organizers and promoters]. The Sterns and I have been friends for a long time, and Hot Water did some stuff on their record label. We’ve known them for years, either touring with them or doing records with them or doing Warped Tour, you name it. It’s another one of those connections with old friends that are doing something that we believe in.

Anyone that you are particularly excited to see or play with at PRB?

Man, I heard The Avengers are playing, and I can’t wait to see them. There’s a ton of great bands on that bill, but when I saw them it just blew me away, so I’m stoked.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/may/23/return-hot-water-music-chuck-ragans-band-goes-punk/

April 11, 2012, Las Vegas Weekly Noise

How was the show last night [Monday]?

I think it was pretty good for seven years off. Gonna take us a few shows to get into a super groove, but I think it was pretty cool.

Just like riding a bike?

Sort of, but it’s kind of a wobbly bike right now … Last night was the first official show with production and stuff. We did a show Friday where we, for the last rehearsal, instead of playing in our rehearsal space in North Hollywood, we went into a club and posted for a couple hundred fans to come watch. It was good to do it, because it’s different when you play in front of people. You can practice till you’re purple in the face in your rehearsal space, but it’s different when you walk onstage.

Why has the band reunited to tour and write a new record?

We never really broke up; we just went on hiatus because everybody needed to reclaim their own lives. It just seemed like the right time to get back together. We were off for almost six years by the time we started recording, and Shirley [Manson] was the one who got it going. She worked on a solo record that was rejected by her label because it was too left field. They kept trying to get her to write with these pop songwriters, who’d worked with, like, Rihanna and Katy Perry. She said, “You know who I want to write with? Butch, Duke [Erikson] and Steve [Marker].”

So she was the one who suggested it over a year ago, just get in and see what happened. And it was quite liberating to start writing and recording, because we were free agents. There was no label telling us what to do … we basically just had fun, and very quickly all these songs started falling into our laps.

How have you seen the industry change during the time away from Garbage?

Obviously, the old business model is rapidly depleting itself. For 95 to 99 percent of artists and bands out there, I don’t think they should be on a major label. If you really want to be a pop star, someone like Katy Perry, then to have that kind of swagger and marketing power with a major label is necessary. Most people don’t want to be that way, and they’re not going to be able to play that game. The main thing is we’ve just found the whole digital revolution has sort of empowered us, as it has a lot of other artists. We’re releasing the record on our own label, and we’re in control of the marketing, what we release, when we release it.

It’s a lot more work, but it’s also kind of fun, because that’s how we started out with the first Garbage record before we were bought and sold to several different corporations during our career. So it’s cool, because there’s no one to answer for anything except ourselves. And while I have no idea how many CDs or mp3s we’re even going to sell, at this point just getting the record done was a success for us. So we wanna have fun doing it.

Really, the only way to do that is to take control and do it on your own terms.

What are your expectations for the tour?

We’re gonna play a bunch of shows in the U.S. and a couple scattered shows in Europe and the U.K. in April and May. Then a bunch of festivals in the summer and probably some more festivals and shows in the fall.

It was our first show last night, so to me it’s daunting to look ahead like six months and look at all these dates. For one thing, personally, I don’t like the planes, trains and automobiles. I just don’t like traveling, which is what a lot of touring is about. It’s one thing to be onstage for a couple hours, but its getting from point A to point B that sucks.

It looks like there’s already quite a few sold-out shows. Did you expect that?

Honestly, it’s pretty thrilling for us to be gone for so long and to see we still have a fanbase out there. We kind of made the record in a void. We had no expectations, and then to see this kind of response from our fans is pretty cool and overwhelming in a way. The fans at the show yesterday were great, and you can tell they’re hardcore fans because they know all the songs. it was quite a momentous occasion.

Your Facebook page is full of fans’ excited posts. Were you ever worried everyone might have forgotten about Garbage?

Well, that’s kind of what we thought, that nobody would care. We were a band that never really fit into any genre, and we have all these styles of music that we incorporate: electronic and fuzzy guitars with pop melodies and a beat … When we made this record we decided that we didn’t want to reinvent ourselves; we just wanted to do what we do, be who we are, and it sounds fresh again. At least, I think it sounds fresh.

Part of it is the looseness in the playing and the approach we took to the recording, but a lot of people have said that the new record sounds vibe-wise like the first album. And I guess I can hear that. I mean, it sounds like it was recorded in 2012, but there’s an energy or a spirit there that does remind me of the first record. And I think that’s a good thing.

When you’re in the studio with Garbage, how do you balance the roles of musician and producer?

When working with the Foo Fighters or Green Day or Muse, it’s their music, and it’s my job to channel that into their vision of the album they’re trying to make. In Garbage, I am a musician and a songwriter first. I am one of the producers, [but] all four of us make production decisions equally. There’s something satisfying about working on your own music, to be able to get up and write a riff or chord or lyric and go show the band and later in the day we record it. That’s how the title song, “Not Your Kind of People,” came about. I was driving around in my car, and I started singing that line with no chords or music or any other licks beneath it, and I called Shirley and said, “I think I got a cool title for a song.” We got together that afternoon and wrote the song in, like, 30 minutes. That’s something I can’t do producing Green Day or the Foo Fighters.

Are you ever tempted to look at your bandmates and say, “Hey, I’m Butch Vig.”?

(Laughs) No, they would laugh at me if I did. I’m really close to all three of them, like a family. There’s no egos involved. We fight a lot and argue a lot about what the mix should sound like, and at the end of the day I think that healthy tension is part of what makes us sound like who we are. A lot of bands are run with an iron fist by the main member or main songwriter. Very few bands are democracies. Garbage is a dysfunctional democracy—everybody has an equal say; I guess it just depends on who shouts the loudest. I think it’s healthy to have that kind of discourse among band members.

What do you look for in taking on a band as a producer? Is it a demo or meeting them?

Usually it starts with someone telling me about them, either a manager or a friend. The great thing about the Internet now is you can usually go on YouTube and see a video of them live and hear a song. First, I need to feel some sort of connection to the music, and then usually it goes way beyond that, because I want to sit down and talk to them and meet them and sort of see what they’re like and what their vision is like and see if I can bring something to the table. There has to be some sort of a spark or some sort of connection that makes sense for me and for them also.

You’ve been playing in Garbage for 15-plus years and producing since the early ’80s. How do you still get excited about what you’re doing?

I have been so immersed in music my whole life that I guess I still have a fire burning. I still love making records, I still love writing songs. It’s exciting. It’s the best f*cking job in the world.

I’m so lucky—I’ve spent my whole adult life doing this, and I don’t take it lightly. In some ways, when I start a record, it could be the last record I make. Because if it sucks, no one’s ever going to want to work with me again. To have that planted in the back of your head, makes you work hard. At least it makes me work hard every time.

It doesn’t matter if I work with someone big like the Foo Fighters or if I work with a young band like Against Me! who I absolutely love. Once we have a connection, we just have to make a great body of music. I’m a studio rat. I prefer being in the studio to going on tour, because to me that’s kind of the ultimate creative tool. To get in with your bandmates or with another band—I love it.

Web Link: http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2012/apr/11/chatting-garbage-drummer-butch-vig/