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Music

Meet Dirty Few, Denver’s Drinkingest Band

Listen to their puke-filled, job-quitting album, 'Party or Don't.'

Photo by Matthew Novak

Welcome to Denver, the drunkest city on Earth. Today we're here to introduce you to the city's newest and booziest ambassadors, Dirty Few. Dirty Few are a four piece rock ‘n’ fucking roll party machine. They will drink you under the table, puke, and then drink even more. They can't stop. They won't stop.

On any given night, you might find one of the Stones, the twin brothers behind Dirty Few, perched out front or inside working at The Hi-Dive, a Denver rock ‘n’ roll institution. It might not look like much—it's a dark, dank, seedy dive bar, but it never promises to be anything but and therein lies the venue's charm. When watching a show there, you might find yourself wondering why there is a trash can so prominently placed on the stage. If you have ever seen Dirty Few play, you'd know why.

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If you were fortunate enough to catch the Dirty Few/Mean Jeans/Kepi Ghoulie show some eight weeks back, you might have gotten more than you bargained for from the Dirty Few’s set. It was shortly after that the audience was filing out onto the streets of Denver to smoke. Dirty Few were putting away gear and next thing you noticed was a smell wafting your way from the stage. You looked up and there are the two twin brothers bent over the trash can expelling the contents of their stomach and you realized why their trash can made its permanent home on stage at the Hi-Dive.

Recently, next to the out-of-order Toobin arcade game, was a table lined with beer cans, bottles, and shot glasses. Sitting around the table were Dirty Few members—Seth and Spencer Stone, Kim Phat, and their touring bass player Leo Gutierrez. The band has of course been drinking and we continued to drink the night away while they told stories about the band’s adventures, hard-partying ways, and losing their jobs. They even taught us a new drinking game called Butt Snake.

In just a few short days, the band would be upstairs on stage for their newest album release, Party Or Don't; released by Denver's Black In Bluhm on LP and Wiener Record for cassette. The band will have a two-night, back-to-back release party here within the hallowed walls of Denver's Hi-Dive, where they are sure to use the stage trash can once again. The band will then immediately take their wild antics out on a month-long tour of the states with Austin's The Blind Pets.

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Stream Party or Don't below and pre-order it from Black In Bluhm Records:

Noisey: How many drinks have you had so far tonight?
Seth Stone: I've had about three strawberry margaritas and about ten beers.
Spencer Stone: I'd say about three shots of whiskey, six PBRs, and about five Extra Golds.
Kim Phat: I worked today, and for the first time ever, I did not drink on the job. [Laughs] I did have a delightful sushi meal with hot saki and a fucking 24 oz Kirin. I haven't had that much to drink.
Leo Gutierrez: Three Tullamore Dews Irish Whiskey bombs, a Strongbow, and I've had about four of these High Lifes.

You guys are making a name for yourselves with your wild antics and heavy drinking. Is booze a necessary part of the formula for Dirty Few to exist?
Spencer Stone: I can't play a show without drinking. I think we're better drunk.
Gutierrez: There is better energy, that's for sure.
Seth Stone: Beer is definitely number one formula of Dirty Few shows and I am drunk.

So you guys can't perform without booze?
Seth Stone: I mean, we can. Last year at SXSW, we played the Peelander-Z Fest. We played at 12:30 PM. We were the first band of the fest. I think we had only one beer. We waited for the keg to get tapped to play. I think that was the most sober show we have ever played.
Phat: I've had to play after smoking ganja all night and it's just not the same. You can't be stoned and play with the Stone brothers.
Gutierrez: I did that whole year of probation and I had to play many shows sober. It was the worst fucking thing ever. It's awkward. Very awkward.

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As well known as you are for you hard partying, do you have to party even harder to live up to that reputation?
Seth Stone: We've always been partying harder. It's never changed since day one.
Gutierrez: I grew up here in Denver, and ever since these guys got here, there have been levels that have been raised for people partying. People always want to outdo you guys. Mother fuckas can't! It's almost like a legend now.
Phat: “That one dude from the Dirty Few got naked and did a backflip over the fire pit! It was sick!”

Seth, there is video footage of you playing drums, vomiting, and not missing a beat. How do you master the art of drumming and vomiting simultaneously?
Seth Stone: You do it almost every single show and you'll learn to do it perfect. I hate doing it, but it happens. I don't like it at all. I fucking vomit, and I just keep doing my thing. You don't stop. You never stop during the show. I like vomiting before the show more, like I did in Austin back in January. I like to vomit during soundcheck, get it out of the way, and then play the show. That's my favorite thing to do. Vomiting during the show, it happens.

Has the vomiting become a part of the show?
Spencer Stone: I think it's become part of our thing, kind of. Not intentionally.

Does it get you in trouble?
Seth Stone: It never gets us in trouble. We always clean it up, but I've definitely been cut off after some shows.
Spencer Stone: One time the sound guy from the Hi-Dive made Seth come back the next day and clean all his cables.

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The tracks “Work Is for Jerks” and “I'd Rather Tour” have to deal with Spencer losing his job at Jimmy John’s. Was it worth loosing your job for your art?
Spencer Stone: Most definitely. I hated that job. Jimmy John's is the worst job you will ever have in your entire life.
Seth Stone: According to The Huffington Post, actually.
Spencer Stone: Kim hooked me up with a job when I got back from that tour. It only took me about a week to get back on my feet. [Jimmy John’s] sucked so bad. I want to throw Jimmy John's under the fucking bus.

You guys are in your mid-20s. How long do you think this hard living, partying lifestyle can last?
Seth Stone: It lasts until the beer runs out.

Dirty Few are coming to a city near you with The Blind Pets. Check out their dates below.

Damian Buford has a podcast called Mostly Harmless and his on Twitter - @DammitDamian

February 19 - Denver, CO at Hi-Dive Denver Album Release Party part one!
February 20 - Denver, CO at hi - dive Album Release Party, part two!
February 21 - Lincoln, NE at Knickerbockers
February 22 - Milwaukee, WI at Frank's Power Plant
February 23 - Minneapolis at Hexagon Bar
February 24 - Dells, WI
February 25 - Chicago, IL at Reggie's
February 26 - Cleveland, OH at Now That's Class
February 27 - Philadelphia, PA at Kung Fu Neck Tie
February 28 - Brooklyn, NY at the The Ancheron
March 1 - Providence, RI at The Dusk
March 2 - Asbury, NJ
March 3 - Chapel Hill, NC
March 4 - Charlotte, NC at Crown Station
March 5 - Atlanta, GA at The Music Room
March 6 - Nashville, TN at TBA
March 7 - Nashville, TN at TBA
March 9 - Mobile, AL at Blind Mule
March 10 - New Orleans, LA at house party
March 11 - Beaumont, TX at The Gig
March 12 - Shreveport, LA at Bears
March 13 – Fayetteville, AR at Smoke and Barrel
March 14 - Tulsa, OK at Mercury Bar
March 16 - SXSW