STARVING MILLIONAIRES INTERVIEW
It may have been a bit quiet on the Starving Millionaires front in recent months, but that is only because this rock/reggae trio have something special brewing. Bassist Joe Reghitto fills us in on all the latest happs.
The Pier: Right from the beginning then, tell us how you got into playing the bass and were involved in forming Starving Millionaires?
Joe: We were all friends from middle school, but didn't start playing together until after college. Dave (drums) and Eric (vocals/guitar) were living in LA and I was down in San Diego.
Even though we weren't playing together, we were all exchanging music that we were doing at the time. Eric and I were recording reggae and punk rock tapes in our closets, and Dave was learning how to play any instrument he could get his hands on. When I say Eric and I were recording music, I mean, we would write and record all the instruments on 4-tracks in our closets, then hand them out to all of our friends around town and back home. Eric has the luxury of being able to sing, but I can't sing for shit, so his were a little easier to listen to.
Dave and I finished school and moved back to San Jose, started playing together a little, bouncing ideas off of each other. About a year later, Eric was up in San Jose a lot after the death of a friend, and was sleeping on my couch. We started writing stuff together because we had talked about it since high school, but never actually done it. I thought him practically living with me would be a good opportunity.
At the time I was really into punk rock, and he was into the SoCal reggae scene. Wanting to combine those genres I would write really rock choruses, but slide in the reggae for the verses. I would leave the house for a couple hours and he would sit in the living room with headphones on writing the lyrics. We wrote Double Brown and Hopscotch Girl, and went, "Holy shit this is actually pretty good!" Our neighbors must have hated our guts because we would run the 4-track through these huge PA speakers I had, then stand out front with all the doors and windows open and listen to it with our friends.
We showed it to Dave and just so started. It took a few months to write and practice, but after we got going, we played our balls off for the next two years.
The Pier: So what's the scene like in the Bay Area?
Joe: I think the Bay Area is the greatest place in the world, if you get to a certain point. With cities like Santa Cruz, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, and San Jose, all with VERY different personalities, and only 45 minutes away from each other, you can cross the spectrum of pretty much every facet of life and music.
There are so many places to play within just a few miles of each other, it has the feel of almost being up for grabs. You can do anything you want here. It just depends on if you are determined and good enough to make it happen.
As far as bands go, there are some really great bands mixed in a whole bunch of shitty bands. Pretty sure it’s the same everywhere. You have to sift through a whole bunch of poop, but when you get to something good, it is really good.
The Pier: So how did you guys end up on Long Beach Records?
Joe: We sent a press pack to Mudd at LBR, then ended up playing with a band he was in at the time called 3rd Alley in Bakersfield. Me and their bass player ended up hanging out and getting fucked up that night and talking about SM working with LBR. We went back and forth the next few weeks, talking about what we were doing and what we were looking for. We then made a trip down to Long Beach to meet with Mudd and set it all up. We have a tendency to bug the shit out of people whose attention we want. Ask Jon Philips at Silverback Management and Kevin Lyman (Warped Tour). I bug the SHIT out of them. They are just cool enough to understand where we are coming from. Other people I bug tell me to fuck off after a while.
The Pier: Haha nice. I hear you are recording the band's third album right now. What can you tell us about it at this stage? When is it going to drop? Has there been any specific inspirations for it?
Joe: This album is going to kick so much ass! I feel like I am going to blow my load just talking about it.
We have found that this genre of reggae/rock has worked itself in to a couple of variations, and has held on to those variations for the last 12 years or so. Bands either go one way or the other, but people aren't really stretching it out and morphing it like other genres. The tendency seems to start out very rock and reggae, then abandon the rock and punk for the lighter stuff. We don't want to do that. We are going to add different elements to the tried and true reggae/rock style and expand the genre. At least give it a good swift kick in the ass with some new flavor.
The Pier: Cool. So how do you guys typically approach songwriting?
Joe: Dave and I write out the music, then give it to Eric for the lyrics. Once we get a good feel for where the song is going to go we jam it out and tweak it so we end up with what we want. One thing that is great about this new album is we are taking our time. We put a lot of money into the last album because we did it in a big time studio. Since we were running out of money we would cram together ideas and record them because we couldn't afford to book any more time. What ended up happening is we have something’s we would have changed if we had the time.
This time, the process is very drawn out and very meticulous. We want this next album to be exactly what we want. It takes longer, but it is well worth the wait.
The Pier: In hindsight then what do you think of the band's previous two releases? Are you happy with the way they turned out and were received?
Joe: I think we are happy with the way they turned out musically, but we have very high expectations for what we can accomplish, and until we get that we won't be content. Like I was saying, there are changes we would have made on Vegas Drive, but we have an overall good feeling about it.
It is difficult looking at something you put so much time and money into and know you can do it better, but that's what we are doing now, it better. Who we want to know us know us, now we are going to put the right CD in their hands and take it from there.
The Pier: So tell us how did you end up being on The Chick Flick DVD (the first all female wakeboard video)?
Joe: We were brainstorming about where our music would work in different media outlets other than radio and the internet. Since we had all found out about bands we loved through the extreme sports video boom in the 90's, and thought we would do the same. I sent in a press pack, a couple of emails, and we were in. The timing was perfect because they were in the process of looking for music for their new video. That's one thing we have found out about music, timing is everything.
The Pier: What has been the best things that has happened to you by being in this band?
Joe: We have been all over the country and met a bunch of cool ass people. We have had the opportunity to play with some of our idols: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Warped Tours, Eek A Mouse, Mad Caddies, The Expendables, Long Beach Shortbus and Voodoo Glow Skulls.
The Pier: Besides a new album what else can we expect from SM in 2008? Are you going to do any major touring?
Joe: We are going to get in to every facet of things you can do with a band. We have made a lot of friends in a lot of places over the last few years, and 2008 is the year we exploit the hell out of those relationships!!!
Seriously though, we are going to go where this cd takes us, and we are going to take our friends from Long Beach Records and Left Coast Boardwear with us.
The Pier: What has been your favorite and worst show experience to date?
Joe: Favorite experience is the Warped Tour by far. Hanging out at 9am bringing in your gear with Less Than Jake, NOFX, The Casualties, it is a pretty crazy experience.
Nothing really stands out as the worst. I think any time our gear doesn't work right sucks for us because we look like retards on stage. A guitar is getting feedback, a head dies, it all feels really awkard on stage.
The Pier: What is your favorite summer hangout spot/destination and why?
Joe: Summer hang spot? BBQ with our friends baby!!
A big thanks to Joe for taking the time to answer these questions for The Pier. I know at the very least he got me really looking forward to the next album.
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