They were not one of the most popular bands of 70’s punk, but they shared stages and friendship with Stiv Bators and many other punkheads. Their career was limited to just one album, but ended as a cult object for fans of real punk rock. Now, twenty-two years after, they have loaded their batteries again and have recorded a second album – and it’s a real blast! We will have them soon in Europe celebrating this release onstage, try not to miss it!!

-You're back with a second album 22 years alter the first one... isn't that a little bit of a delay?
ROD: Yeah I suppose it's unusual for a band to do it's second album after 22 years. But we are a phenomena. We're gonna do things that people just don't expect. We're not just a reunion thing either, we are writing and performing new songs. You're just going to have to adjust your mindset if you think a rock and roll spirit cannot inhabit a body after it reaches a certain age. That's not true. We're living proof. We're better than most of those bands out there that weren't even born when we did our first gig.
BUZZ: on the one hand it doesn't seem like any time has past at all...but then you hear our cd and you know that the the time away doesn't matter, good rock and roll is just good rock and roll.

-Talkin' seriously now, why this comeback after these lot of years?
R: That's an odd question. To me that implies you know why bands do it in the first place. Why do the Briefs or Turbonegro want to do one more gig? Why do you want to go see one more gig? Why buy one more record. Who the fuck knows? But that's what we'd rather be doing right now. And at great expense I might add. So, I guess it's just a passion we have. It sure as fuck doesn't make any less sense now that it did 20 years ago. You only think it does. It's all an illusion. 99% of bands suck and break up after a
while. We're lifers. Get used to it.

-What do you think that your old fans will think about this new record?
R: Well, most of our old fans are like everyone else, they are skeptical as to whether we can pull off something new that's anywhere near as good as they remember. They come to the shows and buy the records and are pleasantly shocked. We're better than they remembered and the new album fits right alongside the rest of our stuff. I'm telling you we don't care what you think, we're doing it for real.
B: I think the old fans start out in disbelief when they see our name out there again, but then after they hear the new cd they can't believe we're back, but better than ever!Then they get that great big smile on their faces when they know we haven't let them down and we are still kicking ass!

-Obviously you're now more experiencied than 20 years before, which things you did in the past you would change? Any regret?
R: I wish I hadn't gotten rid of any of my guitars. I wish I had every one back again. I had a Jazzmaster, 52 Tele, Reverse Firebird, Ibanez Les Paul Junior and Modern. Oh well.
B: Well I kept all of my old gear so I have a closet full of old guitars and amps, so no regrets there...I guess I am at peace with any mistakes I made in the past...it's all about moving forward now anyway so I don't have time to worry about something that happened years ago...

-Which of these things you have learn in your life you applied in this new period of the band?
R: As far as the band is concerned. We don't give a fuck about what anybody thinks about us. We are doing what WE want to do. It's working well. We are way further along than we expected to be. We have a a world tour going on, a new record that we are proud of, our first music video is killer, we have been included on the Tony Hawk Underground Soundtrack which millions of kids will buy so it's just like a hit record. All this and more little girl...
B: Right again Rod! it's all good because now we do what WE want and go where WE want..and the sound is better for it. I don't have to worry about some agent or lawyer or record co. telling me how our songs should go.

-Mates as Bators and Dee Dee are dead, but people as the Dictators are still fighting for R&R. When you were starting, did you think about your future, about the risk of using drugs and all that stuff?
R: Absolutely. When I was 15, I sat with my guidance counselor and we discussed my career options. We made a list of the pros and cons of being a rock and roller. Let's see, loose your hearing, ruin your liver, venereal disease, die penniless, look like an idiot, have people constantly lie to you or tell you you suck, live like a homeless vagrant. Then we discussed the cons...
B: I couldn't wait to be a musician...what a bonus that all that other stuff comes along with it! The first thing you have to learn though, is survival...you can't be much of a rock star if you're dead, so some of it doesn't really fit into a long range plan...be very careful out there kids...

-I think record industry has changed a lot since the seventies, do you agree? What do you think about these changes?
R: Well, it's mostly the same. Because it sucked then and it sucks now. I only thank God for labels like Munster, Smog Veil and Gearhead. They are run by dudes who risk all their money so we can see a couple of good bands now and then. They only do it out of love. I know them, and believe me it's true. I like the fact that girls are getting more action these days. I love the Donnas. I think bands that sign with a major should think it through. It's risky. Your career is usually over after that. Some bands breakout but most
don't. You're really better off staying in the underground for as long as you can stand it. You won't become a zillionaire but you won't end up like Green Day either. Bands like Supersuckers have a good little thing going. They pack em in wherever they go and really don't need anymore money than that to keep going. Major labels are only playing the lottery. If you only sell say 50.000 records you're a big loser. But fuck. if I sold 20,000 records for Munster we'd all be celebrating, mightily.
B: The major labels don't like rock and roll records too much these days do they? but then again they never did...I don't think it's wise to jump to a major unless you're ready to have someone else present you in way you might not like. Then after they are done you may be stuck with an image that really isn't what you're all about. Of course you can always take 20 years off and then put out a new cd... it's called the Rebels 20 year plan... a sure-fire method for success...works every time!!

-In the nineties we had a punk comeback. what did you think about those bands? I think most of them were no real punk?
R: Turbonegro is like my favorite band. I think Apocalypse Dudes is the best rock record ever made. Is it punk? Who cares. I like the Donnas too. Green Day, Offspring, it's not bad. It's not their fault they got to be so big. Don't blame them. The bubble gum punk of Good Charlotte and the like is kind of weak but you always have that kind of stuff for the teeny bops. Do I see a Rolling Stones or a Sex Pistols in there somewhere, no sorry, can't see it. Punk is about shaking up the establishment. So none of these bands are doing that, except for Trbngr. The rest haven't figured out how. It's all been done hasn't it? The real good thing about it was that it turned some kids on to old school
bands like Iggy, MC5, Dolls, Ramones, and Dead Boys. That makes it all worth it. The Dead Boys and Ramones are more popular now that they ever were.

-Anyway, what's punk for you?
R: I really don't like for people to have to know if something is punk or not. It's a religious question that shouldn't be asked. Do you like it? Then go ahead. Don't let some asshole somewhere make you ask for permission to be entertained. Pure fashion is something different, not rock and roll. I remember when we first arrived in LA, most of those punks thought The Dead Boys sucked and they hated us for not being punk enough. We were too glam and metal for them. That's how you get Black Flag and Agent Orange etc.
B: I really don't pay attention to what genre a band is, I like what I like and that's punk enough for me..

-Why did you record covers of Status Quo and Music Machine?
R: When the whole punk thing happened in the mid seventies, it was a reaction to disco and corporate, overproduced metal like Boston and Journey. They had taken all the guts, all the nastiness, out of it and turned it into easy listening with distortion. The New York scene was producing bands like the Heartbreakers and The Ramones. The Ramones stripped away all the crap and what was left was pure. People started checking out Rockabilly, and Garage Rock because that's where they found what the popular bands of the 70's had lost. That's why we do covers like "Talk Talk". There is a spirit in some of these classic songs and sometimes you can translate it to a more modern sound and let the audience discover it. Buzz and I saw Status Quo on their US tour in '72. We saw them in a small club in Akron. No one came except Buzz and I. That show really affected us. We saw a band that was like the Ramones, stripping away all the pretensions and just hammering their guitars with some stoopid rock and roll. It was definitely punk. Paper Plane is a great song because it strives to be simple to the point of being stoopid. We worship at the shrine of stoopid rock. I think that song kicks ass. Especially the way we play it.
B: What could be better than LOUD FAST & STOOPID???

-And how was born the tribute to Stiv?
R: We have always liked to play friends songs in our set just for the fuck of it. We played Mongoloid (Devo) too. We're just into learning other bands songs. When we started playing Sonic Reducer it wasn't the overdone standard it is today. So we decided to quit playing it because folks might misunderstand. Instead we wrote a song about Stiv. It's kinda funny and has a Dead Boys feel to it.
B: We just started working on a song and it kinda wrote itself, hey when you're dead we might write a song for you too...

-How was your relationship with him?
R: Stiv and Cheetah were always nothing but cool to us. They took us to New York and we played CBGBs in '77 for 3 nights in a row. They put us up in their digs and showed us around New York. We actually WERE the Deadboys once. Stiv and Cheetah showed up in LA, no amps, no band, no nothing. They asked the Rebels to back them up for a
couple of Dead Boys gigs in LA. We rehearsed a couple of times and then we played the Whiskey and some other places. We did Dead Boys and Rebels songs and some covers we both knew like Personality Crisis and God Save the Queen. I wish I had the tape of Stiv, Cheetah and me singing Childeaters.
B: Stiv was a great guy and lots of fun to hang out with, his music was cool and he knew what real rock and roll was.

-Is it true than he was who gave the name to your band?
R: That's true. I think it was New Years '77 with Devo, Dead Boys and us at the Crypt. We had a song called "Rubber City Rebels". After our set Stiv and Cheetah suggested we change our name to that. So we did. I think that was the same night that Cheetah pulled down Mark Mothersbaugh's (Devo) pants and a fight broke out between Devo and the Dead Boys.

-What do you expect from the upcoming Spanish tour?
R: We toured Northern Europe earlier this year, but we have never been to Spain before, but the Dictators told us we would love it and Spain would love us too. We have some awesome gigs lined up and I think we're even gonna be on National TV. So now it’s up to you guys. I think we are even playing a gig with The Darkness. Ok, whatever.
B: Hey, we come to play... like I said before LOUD, FAST, & STOOPID... it
should be fun, and thats what it's all about... right?

Do you wanna laugh? Do you wanna cry? DO YOU WANNA PUKE? Check the brand new RCR video for "Pierce My Brain" at www.rubbercityrebels.com