Skaters don't skate. But, who cares. They make lo-fi suave punk that sounds like getting kicked in the balls by someone wearing steel-tipped brogues. They're also mates with basically everyone in New York and we kind of want to be in their gang. So when they came to London a couple of weeks ago, we invited them to the VICE office for a chat. We offered them coffee, because they really wanted some. After a few americanos, and a few americanos more, we got to talking about their month in Blighty.
Josh: That's right.Are you showing the other two around?
Josh: Yeah, definitely.How does a Little Chef compare to a Taco Bell and things like that?
Michael: I haven’t had a Little Chef yet but I don’t really eat Taco Bell anymore either.You've been playing loads of small towns like Truro and Wakefield. What have been your observations of regional Britain?
Michael: Well I don’t really have any. I wasn’t anticipating anything in particular when we got here, but it was really sunny which was really fabulous. The weather caught up to us eventually but it's still been really great. I’ve liked a lot of the cities. I’d never been to any of them, so I had no expectations really.Did you get to go to parties and stuff?
Michael: Yeah we tried to go to parties, we tried to hang out with people after the shows.
Josh: When we went to one house party there were some excitable fans. We’re not that old, but we went to one house party and everyone was 18. I think we tried to impress them with magic tricks and card tricks.
Michael: They weren’t impressed because we messed up the coin trick. We couldn’t even do them properly.
Josh: It was kind of adorable though when we showed up and it was really hard for them to scrounge together the beer because it was in South Hampton.
Michael: Yeah, they were so proud they got all the beer from the only place that sold booze to them. You know like American beers and shit for us, it was quite cute.It’s going really well for you guys and it seems like the last six months it’s really kicked off.
Michael: Yeah, it’s been really crazy. The band has been together for a little over a year now and yeah the last six months have been nuts. But it’s been a steady progression, baby steps all the way, so it's not surprising really. It didn’t feel like it came out of nowhere.I can never tell if you’re trying to do this to be sucessful and get to number one or if you’re just having fun.
Michael: We’ll see what happens. Depending on how successful we are I guess our story will change.Is that a topic of dispute at the moment?
Michael: No not at all, we're just thinking about the next step. But you know you can have your own personal goals, that you keep real quiet. It seems like you're the sort of people who like just actually being in a band and aren't that bothered whether you get on Pitchfork or whatever.
Josh: There’s just a point where a lot of people just drop out of being in bands and move on with their lives and some people don’t.And what made you not?
Michael: Because we were really unqualified to do anything else at this point. I mean, you know, you drop out of everything you do, so before you know it you’re in your mid-twenties and you know how to do nothing.Do you think that everyone has that role that they’re destined to do? Like in Futurama?
Michael: I wanted to be a bartender but the music chose me.What’s the difference between being in this band and being in a band when you were teenagers?
Michael: Yeah I feel like we still have a lot of fun, you just try to choose your fun times a little more carefully.
Josh: All three of us were pretty young when we started the first bands that we were in, so it’s not like we’re in education or anything anymore.Yeah I know but there’s a difference between being like 17 and 27.
Josh: Yeah, you know that if you have to play on the radio the next morning you shouldn’t stay out all night and not come home.So we should wrap this up, are you starting to feel like the UK is home now?
Michael: Yeah. We’re like addicted to coffee and it’s been really tough getting the good shit so we have to keep on going on the Guardian, to their the top 50 best coffee shops in the UK piece, and we’ve been trying to hit them all up from city to city.There’s this really good London coffee app, it’s fucking great, they have like a little map and they give coffee bean ratings to each one.
Michael: Wait I need to get that, can we download it now? Ok cool. You know, if you’re grumpy in the morning and then you have a shitty coffee then you’re still grumpy you’re just like more happy and stuff, if you’re grumpy and you got your good coffee then you’re like super!Skaters begin their UK and European tour at Germany's Hurricane Festival on June 21 and travel to the following places along the way:JUNE28th – London, Koko, Club NME showAUGUST24th – Reading Festival25th – Leeds Festival27th – Liverpool, Shipping Forecast28th – Manchester, Soup Kitchen29th – Newcastle, O2 Academy 230th – Glasgow, King Tuts31st – Nottingham, BodegaSEPTEMBER1st – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds3rd – London, The Lexington4th – Brighton, Green Door Store7th – Bestival
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Noisey: So, Josh, you're from the UK originally, right?
Josh: That's right.Are you showing the other two around?
Josh: Yeah, definitely.How does a Little Chef compare to a Taco Bell and things like that?
Michael: I haven’t had a Little Chef yet but I don’t really eat Taco Bell anymore either.You've been playing loads of small towns like Truro and Wakefield. What have been your observations of regional Britain?
Michael: Well I don’t really have any. I wasn’t anticipating anything in particular when we got here, but it was really sunny which was really fabulous. The weather caught up to us eventually but it's still been really great. I’ve liked a lot of the cities. I’d never been to any of them, so I had no expectations really.Did you get to go to parties and stuff?
Michael: Yeah we tried to go to parties, we tried to hang out with people after the shows.
Josh: When we went to one house party there were some excitable fans. We’re not that old, but we went to one house party and everyone was 18. I think we tried to impress them with magic tricks and card tricks.
Michael: They weren’t impressed because we messed up the coin trick. We couldn’t even do them properly.
Josh: It was kind of adorable though when we showed up and it was really hard for them to scrounge together the beer because it was in South Hampton.
Michael: Yeah, they were so proud they got all the beer from the only place that sold booze to them. You know like American beers and shit for us, it was quite cute.
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Michael: Yeah, it’s been really crazy. The band has been together for a little over a year now and yeah the last six months have been nuts. But it’s been a steady progression, baby steps all the way, so it's not surprising really. It didn’t feel like it came out of nowhere.I can never tell if you’re trying to do this to be sucessful and get to number one or if you’re just having fun.
Michael: We’ll see what happens. Depending on how successful we are I guess our story will change.Is that a topic of dispute at the moment?
Michael: No not at all, we're just thinking about the next step. But you know you can have your own personal goals, that you keep real quiet. It seems like you're the sort of people who like just actually being in a band and aren't that bothered whether you get on Pitchfork or whatever.
Josh: There’s just a point where a lot of people just drop out of being in bands and move on with their lives and some people don’t.And what made you not?
Michael: Because we were really unqualified to do anything else at this point. I mean, you know, you drop out of everything you do, so before you know it you’re in your mid-twenties and you know how to do nothing.Do you think that everyone has that role that they’re destined to do? Like in Futurama?
Michael: I wanted to be a bartender but the music chose me.
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Michael: Yeah I feel like we still have a lot of fun, you just try to choose your fun times a little more carefully.
Josh: All three of us were pretty young when we started the first bands that we were in, so it’s not like we’re in education or anything anymore.Yeah I know but there’s a difference between being like 17 and 27.
Josh: Yeah, you know that if you have to play on the radio the next morning you shouldn’t stay out all night and not come home.So we should wrap this up, are you starting to feel like the UK is home now?
Michael: Yeah. We’re like addicted to coffee and it’s been really tough getting the good shit so we have to keep on going on the Guardian, to their the top 50 best coffee shops in the UK piece, and we’ve been trying to hit them all up from city to city.There’s this really good London coffee app, it’s fucking great, they have like a little map and they give coffee bean ratings to each one.
Michael: Wait I need to get that, can we download it now? Ok cool. You know, if you’re grumpy in the morning and then you have a shitty coffee then you’re still grumpy you’re just like more happy and stuff, if you’re grumpy and you got your good coffee then you’re like super!Skaters begin their UK and European tour at Germany's Hurricane Festival on June 21 and travel to the following places along the way:
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