THE SUPERVILLAINS INTERVIEW

Midway through opening for Slightly Stoopid on its US Fall Tour, The Supervillains drummer/vocalist, Dom calls me for a quick chat. Phone connection problems aside, it seems things are going really well for the Orlando ska/reggae outfit these days.

The Pier: So tell us how is the Slightly Stoopid tour going?

Dom: It has been going very well. A month and half ago we started this tour with them and Inner Circle. All those guys are legends so it has been great just playing near those guys and talking to them. One of those guys played keys with The Rolling Stones and of course some of them played with Bob Marley. Then to top it off you have Slightly Stoopid, those guys are just the epitome of what every single underground musician wants to happen in their life.

So we have been picking both those band’s brains of what we can learn from them. Put simply though it has been incredible.

The Pier: Sounds very positive and professional. So at the opposite end, what’s the craziest thing that has happened so far on this tour?

Dom: I am still alive, that is pretty crazy. Not too much craziness, just a lot of Jägermeister, a lot of smoking, and great brotherhood like playing ball or kicking the soccer ball. Just been having fun times hanging with these incredible bands both on and off the stage. So far not too much debauchery, no one’s lost a limb yet you know?

The Pier: Since Grow Yer Own came out you have been touring pretty much non-stop. You have done national tours with Pepper, The Expendables and now Slightly Stoopid. Has that touring paid off and have you seen your fan base grow over that time?

Dom: Certainly our fan base just keeps getting better and better. Our hometown is getting way better and the Northwest has actually shown what can happen if you continue to tour and crush. The Northwest is at the opposite end of the country from us and all those places are incredible. So many people come out, so many people are screaming the words to our songs.

It is evident of how it is growing every time we go out. We are very lucky to be in this position that we are and so we try and take advantage of that and it shows in the attendance and record sales.

The Pier: I have personally seen you opening on these big tours and I have to say your live show is really polished and entertaining. You seem to fit a lot into a 30 minute set. Have you consciously worked hard at perfecting the short set?

Dom: You know a lot of people go up on stage and they really freak out when they go up there and figure they have to go up and play music, play music, play music and pound it out and be perfect. We don’t strive to be a Dave Matthews Band or the most tightest and most perfect band. What we try to do is, if we have half an hour we want people to be watching that whole time and having a good time. Whether that is us playing music or telling jokes or watching the horn players dancing, the drummer sweating and just going crazy. We just try to have a show up there and be entertainers. Stopping for a minute and me stirring my drink in front of everybody; if I feel like doing that, then that’s what I’ll do. That’s how we get who we are up there on stage.

The Pier: Now it is pretty unique to be the drummer and co-lead vocalist. Do you have people seeing you for the first time thinking its weird to see the drummer singing?

Dom: Lately what has been really crazy for me is I have been singing a lot more. So it is really funny when I’ll stand next to someone with dreadlocks or one of the guys that is in the front the whole time and they will be complimenting everybody and I’ll be standing right there with my band and they have no idea who I am.

I got brown hair and I don’t really stand out too much. So I sing a lot of the time and I play drums and I talk in between songs and it’s incredible how people don’t know me to the other guys. It’s funny to be singing and watching the people watch the other singer as if he is singing. Then they look back at me and see that I am singing. Every night you can see people pointing at me going, ‘look the drummer is singing.’ I do definitely get a lot of compliments too, as it is not a common thing. I do a decent job at both singing and drumming and not slacking on either of them.

The Pier: Is that skill of being able to combine both something that came naturally to you?

Dom: Yeah it did certainly come natural to me. When we first started I was doing backing vocals. When you are a kid you want to stick out more I guess, back then playing drums wasn’t good enough. I had to stick my neck out there a little more. I guess we realized when we were younger I had a real nice singing voice so it was wise to utilize every tool we have in the fight you know?

The Pier: So how’s that RV you guys travel around in doing? I saw you pull up in it last time you were in town. Is it difficult to live in such a confined place with a bunch of other dudes?

Dom: Well we have had a couple of accidents in that thing. Only $6,000 worth of damage later (haha). They have actually put us into another one which is nine feet longer. That is pretty gnarly, so right now it is a lot different. I can tell you right now we are having some food at a rest stop in it (haha). We all have some munchies from driving and smoking all day. So it’s a big difference from the old one.

This is our business and what we plan to do for the rest of our life. So I think we need to at least be comfortable and living in such small quarters is very testy and hard. It is a lot different now with the bigger vehicle where we have our own place to sleep and if you need to take a leak in the middle of the night now you don’t have to get the vehicle to stop. Overall though touring is not for the timid and people who don’t like sleeping near other snoring dudes or waking up next to some guy with half a boner. This is the life we chose though and it is part of the gig. As they say, 'you can’t have your cake and eat it too.'

The Pier: So what are The Supervillains plans for the next album? Started thinking about it yet?

Dom: We sure have. We are going to be in the studios starting in January and that’s why we are excited for this leg of the tour as it will be the last for this year. I have been counting and I think we have played somewhere in between 150 and 220 shows this year, so we are very excited to get back home.

We are looking forward to recording some new music. We got a lot of great new stuff that we have been working on. We have got some tunes that we are also going to revamp from the old records no one has ever heard or seen. We are going to have at least 15 tracks on it if not more.

We are shooting to have it out in the Spring. That’s when the snow goes away and that’s when we like to travel.

The Pier: There was a rumor that a Supervillains DVD was coming out? Any word on that?

Dom: Yeah we just released it three or four nights ago. It is appropriately titled, ‘Fuck you We’re Drunk!’ You can pretty much watch the decline of us in the DVD from the beginning to the end. We shot it at a home town gig in Orlando on a Friday and Saturday night. The second night is where the footage is from, where we got sloppy and funny. It will be available on our web-site and at all live shows.

The Pier: Ok it is time for us play 'you can only choose one.' Which it would it be out of Mary Jane or Jägermeister?

Dom: Haha, that’s a hard one. The adult in me says Mary jane but the kid in me says Jägermeister. Or is it the other way around? I don’t know (haha).

The Pier: Round Two. So since Orlando, Florida is your hometown, which is better Disney World or Universal Studios?

Dom: That’s a good one too. I was just at Disney two days ago with my wife. The big difference is whether you like rollercoasters or if you like learning almost. Disney is all about learning, like the other day we went to the Animal Kingdom part. Universal is more intense and is all about getting tanked and going on all the rides.

The Pier: Yeah the freakiest one there has to be the Dr Seuss ride.

Dom: Oh I know what you mean. I am way ahead of you on that one.

The Pier: Nice. So any last thoughts for The Pier readers?

Dom: If any kind of message gets to anybody. My personal thing to say to people is to look into things in life. Don’t ever believe anything that anyone tells you until you look into it yourself. Watch the Government and watch the people in your life as they may take advantage of you. Don’t ever let anyone pull the wool over your eyes.

Thanks to Dom and The Supervillains for stopping by The Pier. Be sure to visit The Supervillains MySpace page HERE.