ION INDIE MAGAZINE March 2015, Volume 10 | Page 119

JP: Is there any band out there--a current band--that you want to share the stage with?
John: National?
JP: Yes
John: Clutch, Jane’s Addiction… I would probably pass out if I got to do that! (laughing).
John: We know our role for now. That is what we are--opening act. We aren’t headlining. That ain’t happening.
Rob: Not yet.
JP: What do you think of reality shows like “American Idol” and “The Voice”?
John: Personally, I don’t like anything reality show-wise. I did like “American Idol” when it was fresh. I liked it because
it showed talent. It showcased talent. I never watched “The Voice” up until a few years ago. I thought it was neat that
they couldn’t see who was singing. They couldn’t judge looks. They’re judging talent. I don’t have a problem with it,
but it’s not like I say, “I gotta tape ‘The Voice’.”
Steve: I don’t like them. I’m a drummer.
John: I think “American Idol” has become a parody of itself.
JP: Like it’s outlived its usefulness?
John: Yes
Steve: Yeah, it has.
Rob: The thing with “American Idol” is, it’s like they can sing. We can work with this person. You see someone that
comes in for an audition and they’re this person, and they go to the finals and they’re a completely different person.
They make them over. That, to me, is not what a singing competition should be about. I understand this show--we’re
making the idol.
JP: A marketable commodity.
Rob: Exactly. Now “The Voice”--they took away from that and they can’t see what they look like and in the end, it still
turns out to be the same.
John: Ok, you’ve changed my mind. I hate “The Voice” too. (laughing).
Rob: I like the aspect that it’s a singing competition, if that’s what it’s about.
JP: Let’s assume for a minute that you’re a headliner, a national headliner. If there was any one place you could play
to a sold-out crowd, where would that be?
Steve: International…WEMBLEY STATDIUM.
Rob: I wanna do something more intimate. The Presidents of the United States…MOUNT RUSHMORE.
John: I like smaller, more intimate. I love RAM’S HEAD (in Baltimore). I’d like to make that dream come true for this
band in the next year. One of my favorite places is THE HOUSE OF BLUES in New Orleans. I could say MADISON
SQUARE GARDEN, but I want something a little more intimate.
JP: How about the new HAMMERJACKS?
John: I can’t wait for that to open.