TIS= The Independent Spiritualist

DP = Dean Pleasants

ME = Eric Moore

TIS: This is a really nostalgic tour that you have organized here. You’ve got the Cro-Mags, DRI, Underdog…all of whom, along with you, are hardcore legends! How has the tour experience been for you so far?

DP: He’s been a really great man. Somewhat blurry, as tours tend to be, but great fun. We call the bus we are on “the submarine”, we go underwater and we come out at concerts. Every day there is a different crowd of people, but it is always fun. We’re playing stuff from the No Mercy record, as well as Suicidal Army and other older stuff, so the crowd really enjoys it, and so do we. We’re really getting into our niche right now, which is usually what happens, and then it’s over. We all came together and it’s been a lot of fun.

TIS: Is it me, or do you guys tend to stay away from touring with a lot of the new “punk/hardcore” bands?

DP: Not really, we just do what works for us. We did some shows recently with Deftones.

EM: Yeah, and we toured with Lamb of God a while back. We tour with a lot of the new bands and then we crush them haha.

DP: We did a few festivals in Europe and it was such a diverse lineup. We did a show with Jay-Z, Missy Elliot, Kiss. It was crazy.

EM: Yes, believe me, it is diverse. Suicide is very diverse.

TIS: Have you ever skated?

DP: Oh yes, absolutely.

EM: Dean still skates. His board is right there. I also skated when he was skinny. Like all the time. I fell and broke my lip and shit, but he always picked me up again.

TIS: Haha, great. So what boards did you grow up on?

DP: Well, as a kid, my first board was this little polyurethane plastic thing when they first came out. That was before it was skate bowls and stuff. Now I’m skating a Pep board with monster wheels and Indy trucks. I can show you.

TIS: Yeah, that would be awesome if you don’t mind.

DP: Not at all!

EM: I always had the man from the Wal-Mart tables. I had the life board from Walmart. I’d tell my mom I wanted the one that folded on both sides and she’d be like, “No! You’re going to buy this $10 board and you’re going to like it,” and I’d be like, ok, okay, I’ll ride some BMX bikes. Because when you grow up a thug, you’d only be stealing whatever you wanted.

DP: So here is my board. It definitely worked on this tour and it’s definitely a cruise. The guys at Rip City (Santa Monica, CA) hooked me up with this. I told them I played in a band with Jim’s brother and they connected immediately.

EM: Yeah, the only reason he’s skating a Pep board is because Pep is our house boy.

DP: Yeah. I really like surfing, so on this thing, it’s like two kicks and you can go forever, and it’s fast. Prior to this board, he skated at Dogtown’s and also owned a Santa Monica Airlines Jesse.

TIS: Rad. So Sucidal, particularly Mike Muir, has been singled out for having issues with Rage Against The Machine. In fact, he wrote a song called Do What I Tell You, which is a parody of the lyrics to Killing In The Name by Rage. Is it still ongoing?

EM: Hahahaha.

DP: Honestly, I don’t know much about it. In fact, we just came from South America, where we played with Rage.

EM: Yes, we play with them. It was just three bands, us, The Mars Volta & Rage.

DP: Yeah, and that was pretty cool, so I don’t want to say anything bad about them.

EM: But we don’t really have anything bad to say anyway.

DP: They put on a great show. He was crazy. There were 50,000 people going crazy. I mean, we all put on a good show, but Rage PUT ON A GOOD SHOW.

EM: Yes, Rage was killing it.

TIS: Great. So is it safe to say you don’t play that song anymore, or at least you didn’t then?

DP: We definitely didn’t play it there.

EM: It was really a fight between people, not between gangs. It wasn’t like we had to kick their asses, or if they had to come after us.

DP: It was a war of words that Mike was involved in. What happened was that the bands were on tour together, and someone was on the phone, and someone pushed someone, and it was really all Tom Foolery. Then they said something about Mike in an interview and the band being old or something funny. Mike asked us if we would mind if he wrote a song about them. He really didn’t want to get us involved. He wasn’t mad at those guys. So he wrote Do whatever you tell me, I was like, okay, he’s really mad at them.

So we were going to South America, where we had been offered two festivals, one in Chile and the other in São Paulo. The Rage manager said, well I don’t know if they want you guys to come but he asked and it was long forgotten. And the Brazilians said they wanted Suicidal to come, so we went. We got there and we saw Tom and Zack, we said hello to them and everything was fine.

TIS: Right on. What’s the word on the new album? Is there a tentative release date?

DP: Well, we wanted to release the No Mercy/Suicidal Army record to tour because Mike had a vision to make the records again and show people a tougher side to Suicidal. We usually play three or four of the songs in our set. As for the new record, it’s really based on the current moment because of the way the industry and distribution is. We really want to get out there right now and rename the people who were with us before, as well as show the new generation of kids who we are before we put out a record. We don’t want to release something that’s not going to be heard. That is very important to all of us. When you put your heart and soul into something, you want it to be heard. And we’re going on this US tour to Europe and South America and so on.

TIS: Yeah, my friend Randy was saying along the way how much he loved the new No Mercy recordings and what they did with it.

EM: Yeah man, that’s something new, hard and fast.

DP: It’s a throwback to the way they recorded a long time ago. I was originally in Infectious Grooves, before Suicidal, and we were used to doing things a certain way, a lot of improvising and writing, but there was a formula for Suicidal that made it sound that way. And we went back to that formula. Mike was doing the hard beats and I was doing the solos, and the drummer and bassist were doing their thing. It really makes for a different kind of recording. And that’s what we did with No Mercy. When you listen to it, you can hear everyone doing what they do best.

TIS: You mentioned Infectious Grooves. You guys will be playing your first US show in 10 years on November 23rd. Can you talk a bit about that?

EM: Yeah man, it’s going to be a great show. We’re playing at The House of Blues in Hollywood.

DP: Infectious was able to play in Chile with RATM and The Mars Volta, and we had never played there before. However, we have done a few tours in France, Europe and Australia. Infectious’s first tour was opening for Ozzy.

TIS: Yes, I remember. Would I go out and sing Therapy with you?

DP: Yes, and actually, when he filmed the video with us, he had a broken leg. We were in Chicago and I will never forget it. Anyone can say what they want about Ozzy, but he’s the best guy, he really is.

TIS: So, is there any truth to the Suicidal/LA Sureno Venice 13 gang rumors? You can nod once for yes and twice for no if you wish.

EM: Hahaha, oh man.

DP: Haha, well, there are a lot of gangs that say Suicidal but I’m not a gang member myself.

EM: I wear red, so… (laughs).

DP: We have a lot of people who are in the band who are also into other things that may not be nice. When we play Ventura, we have Hell’s Angels at our shows all the time. We have a lot of 1% biker gangs that are in Suicidal. They never really cause problems at shows, but they are there. When we hit Ventura, the whole street is lined up with Hells Angels.

TIS: Crazy sounds.

EM: It’s weird.

DP: Yeah, it’s crazy. A lot of people like our music and for us it is an honor. There are a lot of people in prison who like our music and say it helps them through the day, so that’s great. For us, the most important thing is to touch someone. If you can help someone during the day when they’re having a hard time, that means something. So as far as the gang thing, I don’t know. It’s crazy and people are definitely doing their thing.

TIS: Great guys. Thanks for your time.

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