I first heard of The Briefs when my old friend Paul, who has lived in Seattle for the past few decades, started mentioning this great local band that he’d been seeing. Classic Punk Rock, he claimed. Eventually he sent me a CDR featuring the tracks from their debut single, ‘Poor & Weird’ / ‘Rotten Love’. He certainly hadn’t been exaggerating ! ‘Poor & Weird’ was a frantic rush of adrenalised, recalling the Buzzcocks’ ‘Spiral Scratch’ era in terms of raw musical enjoyment and witty lyrics, whilst ‘Rotten Love’ slowed the pace with an almost Flipper-style bass riff infused with similarly cool lyrics and catchy melody. Finding copies of the single in London proved to be impossible, but soon enough they released their first LP, ‘Hit After Hit’ and copies began to arrive in the UK. While the single had been great, the album was astounding. Musically referencing many of my favourites, from Buzzcocks and Heartbreakers all the way through to the Big Boys and Wire, this was a band that really didn’t disappoint. So much energy, great tunes and sharp lyrics (even the ‘dumb’ moments were smart !) If you couldn’t enjoy this band, you must have had some emotional problems.
Their second album, ‘Off The Charts’, followed pretty quickly and this time, they headed over for their first gigs in the UK. I got to meet and interview them for the first time (guitarists Steve E,Nix and Daniel Travanti, bassist Lance Romance and drummer Chris Brief) and thoroughly enjoyed the gigs. Although it wasn’t a big success for the band, the visit certainly created a buzz and their reputation began to spread. By the time they returned to tour again, a lot more people were waiting to catch them.
The ensuing years proved hectic for the band and they seemed to be constantly on tour , whilst new records continued to appear on a regular basis. Sadly, Lance decided to quit the band to concentrate on other commitments, but was promptly replaced by Kicks, formerly of the New Town Animals, who for all intent and purpose appeared to be born to be a Brief. Needless to say, no momentum was lost and the band continued on their steady path to punk rock perfection.
However, the frantic pace inevitably began to take its’ toll. In 2007 they returned to the UK as support on The Misfits tour. It would prove to be their last gigs in England for over a decade as the band went on indefinite hiatus. Not that they gave up music altogether… Steve and Kicks soon formed The Cute Lepers, whilst Dan relocated to the San Francisco area where he became involved with the ‘Modern Action’ record label as well as the band of the same name and yet another combo, Sharp Objects. Chris, meanwhile, fled the country and reappeared in Berlin, where he soon started drumming in a band called Suspect Parts as well as several other projects. All of the former members were continuing to produce great music in their own rights so it started to seem unlikely that a full-on Briefs reunion was likely (they had played occasional one-off gigs over the years.) But in 2018, that all changed when a new European tour was announced and news began to filter through that a new album, to be released by Damaged Goods, was in preparation. In December, they played their first London gig in over a decade and it easily met all expectations (despite the hassles they’d had getting through Customs !) The band looked and sounded great, The old songs remained just as vital as ever, while the handful of new tracks were certainly up to standard.
My original plan had been to interview them before the London gig, but due to the unavoidable delays they’d endured, it just wasn’t possible. Instead, I arranged a more leisurely interview with Steve and Chris via email. Here are the results…
Their second album, ‘Off The Charts’, followed pretty quickly and this time, they headed over for their first gigs in the UK. I got to meet and interview them for the first time (guitarists Steve E,Nix and Daniel Travanti, bassist Lance Romance and drummer Chris Brief) and thoroughly enjoyed the gigs. Although it wasn’t a big success for the band, the visit certainly created a buzz and their reputation began to spread. By the time they returned to tour again, a lot more people were waiting to catch them.
The ensuing years proved hectic for the band and they seemed to be constantly on tour , whilst new records continued to appear on a regular basis. Sadly, Lance decided to quit the band to concentrate on other commitments, but was promptly replaced by Kicks, formerly of the New Town Animals, who for all intent and purpose appeared to be born to be a Brief. Needless to say, no momentum was lost and the band continued on their steady path to punk rock perfection.
However, the frantic pace inevitably began to take its’ toll. In 2007 they returned to the UK as support on The Misfits tour. It would prove to be their last gigs in England for over a decade as the band went on indefinite hiatus. Not that they gave up music altogether… Steve and Kicks soon formed The Cute Lepers, whilst Dan relocated to the San Francisco area where he became involved with the ‘Modern Action’ record label as well as the band of the same name and yet another combo, Sharp Objects. Chris, meanwhile, fled the country and reappeared in Berlin, where he soon started drumming in a band called Suspect Parts as well as several other projects. All of the former members were continuing to produce great music in their own rights so it started to seem unlikely that a full-on Briefs reunion was likely (they had played occasional one-off gigs over the years.) But in 2018, that all changed when a new European tour was announced and news began to filter through that a new album, to be released by Damaged Goods, was in preparation. In December, they played their first London gig in over a decade and it easily met all expectations (despite the hassles they’d had getting through Customs !) The band looked and sounded great, The old songs remained just as vital as ever, while the handful of new tracks were certainly up to standard.
My original plan had been to interview them before the London gig, but due to the unavoidable delays they’d endured, it just wasn’t possible. Instead, I arranged a more leisurely interview with Steve and Chris via email. Here are the results…
Firstly, I wondered how the band had first come together. Had any of you been together in bands or known each other before The Briefs ?
Chris I would say we officially became the Briefs with our first show, which was a house party in 1999 with The Spits. I think we only had 3 or 4 songs and we joked that it was going to be a brief set, so that’s what we called ourselves. I think Steve came up with it. The name The Girls was also being thrown around at the time, but The Briefs stuck. At the time, I was playing in a much heavier band called The David Koresh Choir while Dan and Lance had a band called The Ya Ya’s. I guess they would say that the Briefs came from the remnants of that band and I guess that’s true, but from my perspective the Briefs started with that first show as it featured the complete, original line up - Dan, Lance, Steve and me.
Steve I think that after playing in miscellaneous other bands, we all came to the point of sharing the same mindset, that it would be great to play in a band inspired by the stuff we all loved as teenagers. When we got together in the rehearsal room, it reminded me of the excitement I felt when I was 17 and driving around with strange girls, getting high and blasting The Adolescents out of a boombox. It felt like we were all on the same page and it was really fun. Once we were all in the same room, that's what really brought us together, that excitement and enthusiasm. We really didn't have any interest in the contemporary punk sounds that were going around at that time so we didn't think we were going to be some kind of successful thing. We just wanted to have a cool and weird band.
When The Briefs started playing together, were there any other bands playing in a similar style around Seattle ?
Chris I can’t really remember any Seattle bands playing the kind of stuff that we were playing at the time, but there were some great bands around. The Spits, Valentine Killers, Murder City Devils and The Intelligence, to name a few… but we were all kind of doing our own thing, musically.
Steve Yeah, we did a lot of shows with The Spits while bands like The Exploding Hearts and The Epoxies would come up from Portland to play with us. We’d also play with the New Town Animals from Vancouver BC, who Kicks played with, too. There was a super-small but really fun scene going on for awhile. If there was a good local show, everyone in the other local bands would be out to support it and make the scene. Pho Bang! was also happening back then, which was like a drag queen theatre which would happen once a month. It was full of offensive humour and punk bands would play during the intermissions... It was really great and I always felt like it was a vital part of the punk scene at the time. We actually did our first record release party at one of those events.
Chris I would say we officially became the Briefs with our first show, which was a house party in 1999 with The Spits. I think we only had 3 or 4 songs and we joked that it was going to be a brief set, so that’s what we called ourselves. I think Steve came up with it. The name The Girls was also being thrown around at the time, but The Briefs stuck. At the time, I was playing in a much heavier band called The David Koresh Choir while Dan and Lance had a band called The Ya Ya’s. I guess they would say that the Briefs came from the remnants of that band and I guess that’s true, but from my perspective the Briefs started with that first show as it featured the complete, original line up - Dan, Lance, Steve and me.
Steve I think that after playing in miscellaneous other bands, we all came to the point of sharing the same mindset, that it would be great to play in a band inspired by the stuff we all loved as teenagers. When we got together in the rehearsal room, it reminded me of the excitement I felt when I was 17 and driving around with strange girls, getting high and blasting The Adolescents out of a boombox. It felt like we were all on the same page and it was really fun. Once we were all in the same room, that's what really brought us together, that excitement and enthusiasm. We really didn't have any interest in the contemporary punk sounds that were going around at that time so we didn't think we were going to be some kind of successful thing. We just wanted to have a cool and weird band.
When The Briefs started playing together, were there any other bands playing in a similar style around Seattle ?
Chris I can’t really remember any Seattle bands playing the kind of stuff that we were playing at the time, but there were some great bands around. The Spits, Valentine Killers, Murder City Devils and The Intelligence, to name a few… but we were all kind of doing our own thing, musically.
Steve Yeah, we did a lot of shows with The Spits while bands like The Exploding Hearts and The Epoxies would come up from Portland to play with us. We’d also play with the New Town Animals from Vancouver BC, who Kicks played with, too. There was a super-small but really fun scene going on for awhile. If there was a good local show, everyone in the other local bands would be out to support it and make the scene. Pho Bang! was also happening back then, which was like a drag queen theatre which would happen once a month. It was full of offensive humour and punk bands would play during the intermissions... It was really great and I always felt like it was a vital part of the punk scene at the time. We actually did our first record release party at one of those events.
Your first single was released on ‘Cut & Run’ records… was that your own label ?
Chris It wasn’t our label and it was very short lived. It was someone who was willing to put the money up to get our single pressed. Cut and Run is basically what happened… He cut and ran ! I think there were 700 pressed and we sold a good amount before eventually moving the record to Dirtnap which, at the time, had only put out 2 or 3 singles. Ken at Dirtnap covered the Cut & Run logo with a Dirtnap sticker and we sold the rest of them as a Dirtnap release. I don’t think we ever got all of the remaining singles from Cut & Run, though, and I suspect that somewhere, maybe in the back of someone’s closet, there’s still a box of maybe 100-200 copies of the original singles, waiting to be found…
Steve I can't even remember who the Cut & Run guy actually was… I think he hung out at a hip bar and it seems like he thought he would score with chicks if he released a Briefs 7"… Or people would give him coke, or something like that ? We eventually sold the rest of the singles with a sticker over his logo !
As you were saying, the band soon became involved with Dirtnap records… did you already know Ken ?
Chris I don’t think any of us really knew Ken or his partner at Dirtnap, Dave, before then. I knew that they had put out a single by Scared of Chaka, a band from my home town, and they were friendly people on the scene. I can’t even remember if Ken approached us or if we approached him. We did a rough demo recording of ‘( I think ) My Baby is a Communist’ in Dave’s house and we filmed the ‘Poor & Weird’ video there as well… I remember that we showed up for the video shoot one morning and painted Dave’s wall red while he was out getting lunch or something. I seem to remember he was not happy about that ! The video looked great though…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHj6gA-pV5Y
Steve We were just happy to work with Ken as we liked him a lot. He’s a very down to earth guy and serious music fan.
By the time your first album was released, there seemed to be quite a buzz building-up about the band. Were you surprised by this ?
Chris I think we’ve always been surprised when people like us ! By the time the first record was released we had already done a couple tours down the West Coast and were playing a lot in Seattle… even when we released the single, we’d pretty much hit the ground running and that didn’t stop until about 2007.
Steve On our first couple tours down the coast, we actually played to very, very few people and it took a few trips before it felt like any type of buzz was happening. So I'm with Chris, I'm still surprised when people are into us ! We were lucky to land tours with TSOL and The Damned early on and it was super cool having those bands let us know that they liked us and what we were doing. That kind of stuff went a long way towards making us feel like we were on the right track. We wound up being the band that the older bands and sound men liked, which I guess helps to build the buzz !
After your second album, you were briefly (no pun intended) signed to Interscope records, but apart from one promo CD, nothing else was released by them. What happened ?
Chris Actually, we were with Interscope after the first album... We recorded and quietly released the second album on Dirtnap because nothing was happening with Interscope… That’s where the name “Off The Charts” came from. It was a weird time… Interscope made all kinds of promises and demands but we just wanted to keep doing what we were already doing, touring and writing songs. We did a ton of recordings for Interscope but none of it was up to their “high” standards, meaning, we didn’t sound like Blink 182 or whatever they wanted. We were just left in limbo and we were never much for sitting on our asses, so we went ahead and released a record without them knowing. That’s why it was ‘Off The Charts’.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg5W2CAbhDM
Steve At one point, they were keen to use Steve Jones to produce a record with us. Of course, in hindsight, we should have done that, but when we met with him he only wanted to talk about girls. It was just pretty odd so we decided against him and went with an Arty-er route for production, working with Mark Waterman who had produced Elastica. But the label didn't like that and, by then, we didn't like the label either. We did manage to funnel a good amount of money out of them to buy a van, keep touring and pay our rents, which was cool, but all the while we were still operating like a basic punk band and selling our Dirtnap releases on the road. The great thing about the Interscope experience was that we were able to quit our day jobs and just tour and do band stuff for a few years. So there’s no real complaining about them, even if it didn’t work out the way it was supposed to…
Chris I think we’ve always been surprised when people like us ! By the time the first record was released we had already done a couple tours down the West Coast and were playing a lot in Seattle… even when we released the single, we’d pretty much hit the ground running and that didn’t stop until about 2007.
Steve On our first couple tours down the coast, we actually played to very, very few people and it took a few trips before it felt like any type of buzz was happening. So I'm with Chris, I'm still surprised when people are into us ! We were lucky to land tours with TSOL and The Damned early on and it was super cool having those bands let us know that they liked us and what we were doing. That kind of stuff went a long way towards making us feel like we were on the right track. We wound up being the band that the older bands and sound men liked, which I guess helps to build the buzz !
After your second album, you were briefly (no pun intended) signed to Interscope records, but apart from one promo CD, nothing else was released by them. What happened ?
Chris Actually, we were with Interscope after the first album... We recorded and quietly released the second album on Dirtnap because nothing was happening with Interscope… That’s where the name “Off The Charts” came from. It was a weird time… Interscope made all kinds of promises and demands but we just wanted to keep doing what we were already doing, touring and writing songs. We did a ton of recordings for Interscope but none of it was up to their “high” standards, meaning, we didn’t sound like Blink 182 or whatever they wanted. We were just left in limbo and we were never much for sitting on our asses, so we went ahead and released a record without them knowing. That’s why it was ‘Off The Charts’.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg5W2CAbhDM
Steve At one point, they were keen to use Steve Jones to produce a record with us. Of course, in hindsight, we should have done that, but when we met with him he only wanted to talk about girls. It was just pretty odd so we decided against him and went with an Arty-er route for production, working with Mark Waterman who had produced Elastica. But the label didn't like that and, by then, we didn't like the label either. We did manage to funnel a good amount of money out of them to buy a van, keep touring and pay our rents, which was cool, but all the while we were still operating like a basic punk band and selling our Dirtnap releases on the road. The great thing about the Interscope experience was that we were able to quit our day jobs and just tour and do band stuff for a few years. So there’s no real complaining about them, even if it didn’t work out the way it was supposed to…
Around the same time, you came over to play in the UK and mainland Europe for the first time. What did you think of the response you received ?
Chris To be honest, our first time in the UK was set up by Interscope and, no offence to the UK, it wasn’t the best. Like the first shows we played on the West Coast of the US, not many people showed up. But the good thing was that those that did come out ended up being the right people. I think we met TV Smith and Gaye Advert on that first tour and also met Paul North, who became our UK tour manager. He and his brother Carl helped us a lot in those early days.
Steve I recall having a couple dud shows and then one good one on that first trip… at least, that’s what I think happened ? But like anywhere, you have to keep coming back and playing. I’ve always liked playing in the UK a lot, as the musical history is big deal for us. Actually, we've played England and Scotland many times but never Ireland, so I really think it would nice to play there some time…
From the first album onwards, you seemed to be releasing records at a pretty prolific rate. Did you feel that this was a particularly important part of the band ?
Chris We didn’t really know what else to do, I guess. When you spend 7 months out of the year on tour and then you come home to realise that you don’t really have a home, the best thing seemed to be to hide out in the studio or practice room, waiting for the next tour, Ha ! It wasn’t that it was a bad thing, but it did start to become more natural and comfortable to be doing Briefs stuff or being on the road then being at home. It was hard to imagine doing anything else.
Steve At our most productive, we must have been getting together to work on music or other band shit at least four times a week. And I think we did it really well for a while.
At the same time, I assume from all the different releases you were putting out that you were all big fans of vinyl ?
Steve We all loved vinyl and members of The Briefs used to DJ at a bar in Seattle. That turned me on to a ton of great bands.
Chris Yeah, in fact, that’s how I met Dan and Lance. They used to do a punk rock DJ night at our local bar in Seattle. Eventually, I started DJ-ing there as well and it became a big event. Everyone came out every Wednesday night and we would spend the evening trying to one-up each other with rare and obscure records. We discovered a lot of great music that way and it influenced what we were making.
Chris To be honest, our first time in the UK was set up by Interscope and, no offence to the UK, it wasn’t the best. Like the first shows we played on the West Coast of the US, not many people showed up. But the good thing was that those that did come out ended up being the right people. I think we met TV Smith and Gaye Advert on that first tour and also met Paul North, who became our UK tour manager. He and his brother Carl helped us a lot in those early days.
Steve I recall having a couple dud shows and then one good one on that first trip… at least, that’s what I think happened ? But like anywhere, you have to keep coming back and playing. I’ve always liked playing in the UK a lot, as the musical history is big deal for us. Actually, we've played England and Scotland many times but never Ireland, so I really think it would nice to play there some time…
From the first album onwards, you seemed to be releasing records at a pretty prolific rate. Did you feel that this was a particularly important part of the band ?
Chris We didn’t really know what else to do, I guess. When you spend 7 months out of the year on tour and then you come home to realise that you don’t really have a home, the best thing seemed to be to hide out in the studio or practice room, waiting for the next tour, Ha ! It wasn’t that it was a bad thing, but it did start to become more natural and comfortable to be doing Briefs stuff or being on the road then being at home. It was hard to imagine doing anything else.
Steve At our most productive, we must have been getting together to work on music or other band shit at least four times a week. And I think we did it really well for a while.
At the same time, I assume from all the different releases you were putting out that you were all big fans of vinyl ?
Steve We all loved vinyl and members of The Briefs used to DJ at a bar in Seattle. That turned me on to a ton of great bands.
Chris Yeah, in fact, that’s how I met Dan and Lance. They used to do a punk rock DJ night at our local bar in Seattle. Eventually, I started DJ-ing there as well and it became a big event. Everyone came out every Wednesday night and we would spend the evening trying to one-up each other with rare and obscure records. We discovered a lot of great music that way and it influenced what we were making.
Were you surprised when Lance decided to leave the band, and how did you hook-up with Kicks ?
Chris I don’t think any of us were surprised. When you spend so much time together in a small van, there isn’t much that you don’t know, even if nothing is said out loud. Lance had a family and was / still is a great photographer, so he needed to get back to that. I guess the worst part was when he decided to leave. We were just finishing up our third record, ‘Sex Objects’, and we had a couple of tours already booked when he chose to throw in the towel. We needed to find a replacement fast but fortunately we didn’t have to look for long. I’m not sure who suggested it, but I picked up the phone and called Kicks. I think he was working as a cook and in the middle of a shift when I called, so it was a short conversation. “Do you want to fill in on bass for a couple tours until we find someone?” “Yes !” At the time the New Town Animals were still an active band and we were all fans so we didn’t want to steal their bass player permanently. But I guess what we didn’t know was that they were having problems at that point, so in the end, Kicks stayed with us and it was a perfect fit.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Ev4Fvbeu8
Steve The funny thing was that he learned all of our songs from listening to a record player that was a half step off, pitch wise. When he came to the audition, he was playing all of the songs like that and getting really frustrated. With fast songs which you've just learned, it's not always easy to just change the key... We figured it out with him, though, as we already knew he was a great bass player.
Did you enjoy getting to play alongside bands like The Damned, Buzzcocks and Die Toten Hosen ?
Chris Of course, who wouldn’t ? We have been really lucky to be able to share the stage with so many great bands. I think my favourites would have to be The Damned, TSOL and Naked Raygun, although we also got to play a festival with Merle Hagard and we once played at SXSW in Texas with Method Man. Both of those may have been weird line ups but they were things that got me pretty excited !
Steve E Yeah, I’d agree. Playing alongside bands that I love is one of the biggest thrills. It really is the best !
A documentary about the Briefs, ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’, was released in 2007. How did that come together and were you happy with the results ?
Steve I think it's probably pretty good but I haven't seen it in a long time… Watching myself in a documentary, I just think, what a dummy ! I think the documentary was BYO Records' idea…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMQN3YzxgHk
Chris I don’t think any of us were surprised. When you spend so much time together in a small van, there isn’t much that you don’t know, even if nothing is said out loud. Lance had a family and was / still is a great photographer, so he needed to get back to that. I guess the worst part was when he decided to leave. We were just finishing up our third record, ‘Sex Objects’, and we had a couple of tours already booked when he chose to throw in the towel. We needed to find a replacement fast but fortunately we didn’t have to look for long. I’m not sure who suggested it, but I picked up the phone and called Kicks. I think he was working as a cook and in the middle of a shift when I called, so it was a short conversation. “Do you want to fill in on bass for a couple tours until we find someone?” “Yes !” At the time the New Town Animals were still an active band and we were all fans so we didn’t want to steal their bass player permanently. But I guess what we didn’t know was that they were having problems at that point, so in the end, Kicks stayed with us and it was a perfect fit.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Ev4Fvbeu8
Steve The funny thing was that he learned all of our songs from listening to a record player that was a half step off, pitch wise. When he came to the audition, he was playing all of the songs like that and getting really frustrated. With fast songs which you've just learned, it's not always easy to just change the key... We figured it out with him, though, as we already knew he was a great bass player.
Did you enjoy getting to play alongside bands like The Damned, Buzzcocks and Die Toten Hosen ?
Chris Of course, who wouldn’t ? We have been really lucky to be able to share the stage with so many great bands. I think my favourites would have to be The Damned, TSOL and Naked Raygun, although we also got to play a festival with Merle Hagard and we once played at SXSW in Texas with Method Man. Both of those may have been weird line ups but they were things that got me pretty excited !
Steve E Yeah, I’d agree. Playing alongside bands that I love is one of the biggest thrills. It really is the best !
A documentary about the Briefs, ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’, was released in 2007. How did that come together and were you happy with the results ?
Steve I think it's probably pretty good but I haven't seen it in a long time… Watching myself in a documentary, I just think, what a dummy ! I think the documentary was BYO Records' idea…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMQN3YzxgHk
Dan didn’t tour with the band when they supported The Misfits in the UK during UK and shortly after that, The Briefs went on hiatus. Do you think it was inevitable that you’d all need a break, having done so much is such a relatively short time ?
Chris Dan didn’t actually leave the band, he just couldn’t do that tour. In hindsight, we shouldn’t have done the tour for many reasons. We never officially said that we were done but we all knew that we needed a break from The Briefs. We were all in different places by then and trying to put our lives in order. It took a few years but, in my mind, I knew we would be back eventually.
Steve I think the band had run its’ course, for that period anyways. Maybe if we’d been making some kind of decent money, things would have been different. But we were always just struggling to stay afloat - as good artists should be! It became a bad psychological experiment, having four guys living in a van year after year. It couldn't go on forever, but after having the break from it, we're having a good time with all The Briefs stuff again, which is really nice. This is a fucking great band to be in !
You may have taken a break from The Briefs, but none of you gave up playing music during that time. Can you give some details of what you were doing and who you were playing with, etc…
Chris I moved to Berlin in 2007, as we had been there a lot when we’d been touring and I really liked it. I wanted to focus on my painting so I figured, what better place for that than Europe ? But before I left Seattle, I did play drums on the first Cute Lepers record. I wasn’t officially a band member but I did do a couple of tours with them as well. Once I was in Berlin, I started playing a little with Smail from the Shocks and Pascal Briggs from The District. On the 2007 Briefs tour, I’d also run into Justin from the Clorox Girls who was living in Madrid at the time. We decided to start the Suspect Parts and ended up releasing a hand full of singles and a full length album which came out last year… The band is still active. I also played in a band with my wife, her brother and his wife called Metric Eyes. We put out a single a few years ago on Stencil Trash records but I know what you’re thinking. That’s too many family members for one band and maybe that’s true, but please check out the single because I think it’s pretty good.
Steve I did the Cute Lepers, which I guess was kind of my solo venture. I’d always liked writing songs with lots of backing harmonies so Kicks and I put a band together with back-up singers, made some records and continued touring. The band had a lot of high points so it was pretty fulfilling and a lot of fun.
The Briefs reunited for some shows in 2012, but it hasn’t been until more recently that you’ve reformed on a more solid basis. Do you think you just had to wait for the right time to work together again ?
Chris Timing is always the key. That and a fibre-rich diet…
Steve Jesus and The Briefs have always worked in mysterious ways. As a consequence, our new album is being released on Good Friday !
Chris Dan didn’t actually leave the band, he just couldn’t do that tour. In hindsight, we shouldn’t have done the tour for many reasons. We never officially said that we were done but we all knew that we needed a break from The Briefs. We were all in different places by then and trying to put our lives in order. It took a few years but, in my mind, I knew we would be back eventually.
Steve I think the band had run its’ course, for that period anyways. Maybe if we’d been making some kind of decent money, things would have been different. But we were always just struggling to stay afloat - as good artists should be! It became a bad psychological experiment, having four guys living in a van year after year. It couldn't go on forever, but after having the break from it, we're having a good time with all The Briefs stuff again, which is really nice. This is a fucking great band to be in !
You may have taken a break from The Briefs, but none of you gave up playing music during that time. Can you give some details of what you were doing and who you were playing with, etc…
Chris I moved to Berlin in 2007, as we had been there a lot when we’d been touring and I really liked it. I wanted to focus on my painting so I figured, what better place for that than Europe ? But before I left Seattle, I did play drums on the first Cute Lepers record. I wasn’t officially a band member but I did do a couple of tours with them as well. Once I was in Berlin, I started playing a little with Smail from the Shocks and Pascal Briggs from The District. On the 2007 Briefs tour, I’d also run into Justin from the Clorox Girls who was living in Madrid at the time. We decided to start the Suspect Parts and ended up releasing a hand full of singles and a full length album which came out last year… The band is still active. I also played in a band with my wife, her brother and his wife called Metric Eyes. We put out a single a few years ago on Stencil Trash records but I know what you’re thinking. That’s too many family members for one band and maybe that’s true, but please check out the single because I think it’s pretty good.
Steve I did the Cute Lepers, which I guess was kind of my solo venture. I’d always liked writing songs with lots of backing harmonies so Kicks and I put a band together with back-up singers, made some records and continued touring. The band had a lot of high points so it was pretty fulfilling and a lot of fun.
The Briefs reunited for some shows in 2012, but it hasn’t been until more recently that you’ve reformed on a more solid basis. Do you think you just had to wait for the right time to work together again ?
Chris Timing is always the key. That and a fibre-rich diet…
Steve Jesus and The Briefs have always worked in mysterious ways. As a consequence, our new album is being released on Good Friday !
Well, the new album certainly sounds as if the band are back on full-form. How long did it take for it to come together ?
Chris Seriously, don’t ask ! I don’t think any of us could say at this point. Making a record when all of
the band members live in different cities or even countries is a challenge. It took a little longer than it should have, we’ll just say that. But the record is finished and we’re all happy with it… and very
happy that Damaged Goods is releasing it in the UK !!!
Steve It’s good to hear you like it ! At the core of the process, it was the same as any Briefs LP in the past. We write a bunch of songs, weed out the shittier ones and try to play the better ones like a good punk band. None of us has lost our angst or become well adjusted adults, so I think we're doing okay !
Are there any of the new songs that you’re particularly pleased with ?
Chris I guess ‘Terrible Vibes’, ‘Underground Dopes’, ‘Lonely Satellite’ and ‘She’s the Rat’ are my favourites at the moment. But I’m sure that will change... I usually end up liking every song once I've had the chance to play them for awhile.
Steve I think ‘Underground Dopes’ is my favourite right now…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULi4kgTJny8
The Briefs have always been able to combine lyrics with ‘serious’ intentions with others that
are almost absurdist in their humour. Do you think it’s important to not get stuck with only one lyrical approach ?
Steve I don’t know… that might be over-thinking it. But, at the same time, getting stuck in one thing really sucks, so maybe yes…
The album is called ‘Platinum Rats’ and the recent single was ‘She’s The Rat’… so, who are the Rats ?
Chris You, me and everyone… We’re all rats !
Steve Yeah, Fancy rats.
Finally, way back on the first album, you had a song called ‘Where Did He Go ?’, apparently about the infamous disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. It’s been nearly 20 years since then, so I was wondering…did you ever find him ?
Chris Was that song about Jimmy Hoffa? I had no idea. I always thought it was about Steve’s cat. But then again, I thought that all of our songs were about Steve’s cat…
Chris Seriously, don’t ask ! I don’t think any of us could say at this point. Making a record when all of
the band members live in different cities or even countries is a challenge. It took a little longer than it should have, we’ll just say that. But the record is finished and we’re all happy with it… and very
happy that Damaged Goods is releasing it in the UK !!!
Steve It’s good to hear you like it ! At the core of the process, it was the same as any Briefs LP in the past. We write a bunch of songs, weed out the shittier ones and try to play the better ones like a good punk band. None of us has lost our angst or become well adjusted adults, so I think we're doing okay !
Are there any of the new songs that you’re particularly pleased with ?
Chris I guess ‘Terrible Vibes’, ‘Underground Dopes’, ‘Lonely Satellite’ and ‘She’s the Rat’ are my favourites at the moment. But I’m sure that will change... I usually end up liking every song once I've had the chance to play them for awhile.
Steve I think ‘Underground Dopes’ is my favourite right now…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULi4kgTJny8
The Briefs have always been able to combine lyrics with ‘serious’ intentions with others that
are almost absurdist in their humour. Do you think it’s important to not get stuck with only one lyrical approach ?
Steve I don’t know… that might be over-thinking it. But, at the same time, getting stuck in one thing really sucks, so maybe yes…
The album is called ‘Platinum Rats’ and the recent single was ‘She’s The Rat’… so, who are the Rats ?
Chris You, me and everyone… We’re all rats !
Steve Yeah, Fancy rats.
Finally, way back on the first album, you had a song called ‘Where Did He Go ?’, apparently about the infamous disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. It’s been nearly 20 years since then, so I was wondering…did you ever find him ?
Chris Was that song about Jimmy Hoffa? I had no idea. I always thought it was about Steve’s cat. But then again, I thought that all of our songs were about Steve’s cat…
So there you have it… the total-skinny on the return of one of the best bands ever to emerge from Seattle. The album is officially released today, Good Friday, even if Damaged Goods jumped the gun and sneaked it out a week early (damn their impetuousness !) But, as Ian Damaged himself said, ‘Any Friday that sees the release of a new Briefs’ album is a good Friday’, so I’m sure we can let him off ! The band themselves will be back in the UK this coming Summer so you have plenty of time to familiarise yourself with the new songs and get ready to pogo (you fuckers !) In the meantime, you can keep up to date with these wonderful websites ;
www.facebook.com/TheBriefs/
https://damagedgoods.co.uk/bands/the-briefs/
www.facebook.com/TheBriefs/
https://damagedgoods.co.uk/bands/the-briefs/
