By: Gian Erguiza

For years in between 2001 to 2009, I wondered what happened to one of my favorite skate punk bands, Suicidal Tendencies. I somehow thought that the band just threw in the towel and fell off the face of the earth. But then a new video surfaces and to my surprise, Mike and Co. are alive and well, still kicking ass and still taking names. Then news comes my way that Suicidal has a new DVD and CD coming out this year and boy did that get my attention faster than a hot naked woman begging for ridiculous sex. Okay, maybe not but you get the point. This was exciting news for me, bigtime. I’ve been a fan of Suicidal Tendencies since “Join The Army” and have long thought them out to be musical pioneers of this generation and hopefully the next. With classics like “I Saw Your Mommy,” and “Institutionalized,” Suicidal Tendencies have always brought the fresh originality and creativity to their music. Now, with a new chapter about to unfold in Suicidal Tendencies’ musical legacy, I thought it was time to put my flip hat back on and thrash with Suicidal once again, like I’ve done many times before in my younger days. Getting the chance to catch up with none other than the ever elusive and ‘cyco’ frontman Mike Muir, I was glad to finally interview the man, the myth, the legend. So here it goes. Here’s my interview with Suicidal Tendencies mainman, Mike Muir. Enjoy.

Hey Mike, thanks for doing the interview, lets get it started. So with the busy 2009 behind you now, I was wondering if you guys were working on a new Suicidal CD for 2010 by any chance?

Yeah, we’ve got two CD’s coming out this year. One is a re-make of No Mercy songs, band where Mike Clark and I were in before Clark joined Suicidal. Clark joined after Join The Army, so there’s also old songs from Join the Army. In the fall, we have the actual Suicidal record coming out.

What can your fans expect from this new CD? Are you guys going back to your earlier, thrash roots or more rock?

You know every record we do people always ask us what it’s going to be and I think that the important thing is that it’s different stuff. Years later when you play a live show, it all fits in. When we did our first record we had big problems. When we did our second record we had big problems. And then we did our third and that’s life. Some people are just used to everybody regurgitating the same thing , doing what’s popular at the time. I think that’s something that’s definitely not needed. There’s a lot of people doing the exact same thing. I think that whatever we do, we put the Suicidal signature on it. For us, the parameter of what a great record is not how it fits in at the time to what music’s around at the time, it’s how many people are still listening 20 years later and how it fits into music then.

I hear you man and that’s why I love you guys. You guys push boundaries and push the envelope and I totally dig that. So you guys just put out a new schedule of dates for March. Are you guys currently planning some dates for the US? Maybe after the European run?

We pretty much got a full schedule going until the fall and then in the fall, that’s when we’re going to do the time set up for the states. We haven’t booked them yet but that’s what the plan is.

Yes sir! Can’t wait for that! Your new DVD, which comes out later this month, Live At The Olympic Auditorium, is straight brutal. I loved it! How did you pick which songs were going to end up on this DVD and how come ‘You Can’t Bring Me Down’ or nothing from Art Of Rebellion made it onto the DVD?

Basically, The Olympic Auditorium, if you go back to the history of that place, it was where all the big punk shows were in the early 80’s. It was the only place where they had big punk shows. We played there in 84’ and 85’ and basically, we got a call from someone that wanted to promote the show whom said “Hey, the place is closing down, and it’s being bought by a Korean church.” As like the Forum and a lot of places, like an Arena in Houston, they were being bought by churches. It would basically be the last time we could do a show there. I had back surgery and we hadn’t been playing but we got a chance to headline a show in Columbia in front of 95,000 people and the Olympic show was right after it so we did that. The thing with the Olympic Auditorium is kind of like a legacy, a history of where we came from so all the songs that we played are from stuff that we had done when the first record was out. We opened for Anthrax at the Olympic Auditorium back in 85’ and we did “War Inside My Head” together and I think in Johnny D’s book, he writes about how it was the most scared in his life he was when he came on the stage with the crowd. We played “Waking The Dead,” a No Mercy song and “Possessed To Skate,” obviously. Then we did a couple of the newer songs that we felt were reflective of that time and period so it kind of fit in. “You Can’t Bring Me Down” that was much later and that wasn’t really what was going on at that time. For us, it was much more than a Suicidal show, it was a moment, kind of like a one-off show.

Awesome! I also wanted to ask you, on the DVD, your stage is full of people. Now are those all family and friends or are those fans and people you guys grabbed from the crowd?

Well, you know, I have to admit, I went on there and I was going, what is everyone doing on the stage?

[both laugh]

One of the guys was saying that security was a little scared and basically just let everyone kind of go. They used to have a saying that goes “Went to a fight and a hockey game broke out,” a friend said yeah, “I went to see Suicidal, they were onstage and it looked like a hip-hop/rap show with everybody on the stage!” It’s funny because years ago, we had done a show in Purple Palace, which in 83’ was like this big place theater kind of thing. They had built it and a lot of people thought it was a really small place because all the people were coming on the stage and fans were slamming on the stage. So they thought “Hey, there’s this little club where in front of the stage, these people are slamming,” and I said no, “That’s the actual stage! We just filled it!”

[both laugh]

So it was interesting and in the end of the Olympic show, we did end up bringing a couple of people up onstage.

Good times! Now do you guys have footage that got cut from the DVD for various reasons or maybe for its unrated nature?

Some of it we’re not going to put out. To a certain degree, when you do something, you can make it go as real as you want and have guys in focus, while we’re playing, doing a stage dive and some other stuff like that. We didn’t want to try to have it be brutal for just the sake of being brutal. So we tried to keep it more in the moment of what it was.

Let’s talk about your merch. You guys must sell a lot of merch. I always see 1-5 pieces of clothing with ST on it per rock show. What new merch do you guys have or are working on for 2010?

We have new things and we always have the classics like the flip hats that we’ve been selling for about 30 years now. We have some old stuff that we’re bringing out now. In the early 80’s we did the possessed to skate skateboard, always had the association since my brother co-owns Doggtown Skates with one of the original Z-Boys, so we’re bringing back the original designs.

“Some people are just used to everybody regurgitating the same thing , doing what’s popular at the time. I think that’s something that’s definitely not needed. There’s a lot of people doing the exact same thing. I think that whatever we do, we put the Suicidal signature on it. For us, the parameter of what a great record is not how it fits in at the time to what music’s around at the time, it’s how many people are still listening 20 years later and how it fits into music then.”

Besides that, this month, Vans came out with two Suicidal shoe models, which for us is pretty cool cause when we were kids, that’s what we wore. Whenever September came and before we went back to school, my mom would take me to get clothes and I would get one pair of Levi’s and one pair of shoes, which were Vans. It’s pretty cool to have your name on shoes that you’ve worn for more than thirty years.

Man, that is more than cool! So Mike, let me ask you a different side of selling merch. With album sales and digital sales at an all time low, do you agree with bands that say that touring and selling merch is the only way for a band to survive in this economic climate?

I’m never one to say what someone should do. When we started off, we never did a demo to give to anyone. I think people gotta do what they want to do but more importantly, do what they believe in. It’s just like my dad always said “Each individual is the one. They’re hopefully going to make it to 65, 85 or 100 years old and they’re the ones that’s going to look back and have their regrets.” It’s one of those ones. Suicidal is Suicidal and it’s a different thing. Last year we went to the festivals and every festival we went, we sold more merch than and all of the other bands. Some of these festivals we had to fight, not literally, but figuratively, to get on the bill. We’re a little subculture, sort of speak, so we’re not in every single magazine and we choose not to be. We haven’t done a record in over 10 years and some people are all over the internet trying to promote themselves in all kinds of way and we’ve always told them that the best way of promoting is that when someone likes you, they drag friends along or they get something to show their friends, that type of thing. Now unfortunately, we have the DVD and the record coming out so we have to start doing interviews and as much as people won’t say it, I’m happy this is the first one, I’m in a good mood but 8 hours later, when I’m dealing with the 15th one, I probably won’t be in a good mood!

[both laugh]

You go crazy repeating the same thing! It’s one of those where I’m not a salesman. If I see something and try to make somebody buy it, it’s wrong. I’ve always bought it cause of the music and cause it’s something I want. There’s a lot of people too that email and ask when are we going to do this or that and we answer them and say dude, we just played there. There’s a lot of advantages now to let people get in touch with people and let them know what’s going on so they can make that decision if they want to go or want to get it.

I hear ya and well, I better thank you for being in a good mood right now. Like you said, I’m sure after a few hours, you just get burned out!

Yeah, you know I always have to warn everybody. You work for different people and after a while, you forget what people are saying. Today, my dad has to have minor surgery. A lot of people don’t realize that there’s other things going on in your life and they say something that may be a little inappropriate and I’ll say something to match that and next thing you know you’re at it but that’s life.

That is life! I’m hoping for a good surgery for your dad, I didn’t know that as well.

It’s just a minor eye thing but nobody wants to go in there and get these things done. I’ve had two back surgeries from 02’ to 04’ and that’s the way it goes. My dad knows that. My dad’s kind of quiet about it but to him, he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do and get it done and if it doesn’t have anything to do with you, he doesn’t need to tell you.

[both laugh]

The man is totally right!

That’s another thing why I don’t do good with interviews. I’m not one of those people that just love to talk. I’ve got some friends and people that I grew up that I’ve told that they would be perfect in a band cause they just talk, talk, talk!

So Mike, let’s change gears and get with the war inside your head. H1N1 vaccine, take it or skip it?

Passed on it.

What’s your favorite website?

My favorite website? There’s about like 10 main ones but I mostly traveling so as bad as it may sound, finding about my Lakers, finding out what’s going on in the L.A. Times, keeping in touch with the news and what’s going on with the world. I’m kind of more a news person and definitely not a gossip person. I don’t watch reality shows and stuff like that.

Now Mike, are there any new bands that you dig, not in the vein of thrash, punk or metal or is there any band that you dislike by any chance?

I’ve always said a long time ago, what we do is probably more motivated by what we don’t like than something that we heard. A lot of times, you can tell when “Something’s New.” It usually sounds like something else. I’m one of those people that appreciates something different. I’d rather hear something I’ve never heard before and admire. I’m not in the loop. Everything I’ve ever liked is something that people hear and tell me to check it out and a lot of stuff I don’t like it. I don’t expect to turn on the radio and go “Whoa, that was amazing.” I think unfortunately, because of the way music is and everything now, it’s going to take a while for that to happen. Hopefully it will again, all in cycles, there’ll be someone who will come out with the I don’t give a beef attitude and hopefully will have some skill behind that. That’s a pretty powerful combination.

There’s a new trend among classic metal bands to play one of their albums live from beginning to end. If you had the chance, which album would you love to play live from beginning to end?

I think that there’s two ways to answer that. The first big tour we did with Queensryche was when Silent Lucidity was out and all over the radios and MTV and then they did the Operation Mindcrime thing right after and at that time, that was pretty elaborate. I know that there’s been a few bands that have done that now as well. We can play the first album from top to bottom, even play it in order but then we went “You know what? That’s kind of cheesy for us.” And I use that word ‘cheesy’ which I don’t use much so for someone here to use ‘cheesy’ it’s like damn! I could really see that there are times where you sit there and in that one particular moment, it might be fun to play a different record in a different place but that’s not really going to happen. Like I said, we recorded some Join The Army and No Mercy songs and some of those came out 22-23 years ago but it gives us a chance to play those songs for people that haven’t heard it in a long time. It’s good to be able to show people how things were then.

After 20 something years of being in this game, is there one career highlight that sticks out in your head?

I’ve always said that if you don’t like what you’re doing, something’s wrong. And if you like what you’re doing, something’s probably wrong too. That’s some kind of variation of what my dad said to me. If you’re not working for something or it’s not taking a lot of effort, then you’re probably not accomplishing anything. So basically for us, we have a parameter of judging. Give it everything you have and go into it the right way and prepare for it and not just play different styles but do it for the right reasons. If you do, then you have a victory. With the last shows that we’ve done, every one of us were glad we did it and that’s really over simplified for me but we’re looking forward to everything. I think that many times in the past, we’ve done 9 month tours and then it gets really really close to being a J-O-B, a job, and that’s not what I want it to be. I think you lose yourself as a person. We just played Australia in December and we did three shows there, played small little surf towns and it was really amazing. A lot of people flew in and it was a lot of great vibes so sometimes you just try to do things cool and you don’t worry about how people will interpret. You try to explain that you’re not playing the major cities and that you’re just playing the small cities and that you’ll be back later. Some people kind of get what you’re doing and some people think it’s special and we always get big ‘Thank you’s’ and ‘That was so cool!’ and that’s great, which makes you glad you were there. That’s what we do when we tour. We try to keep it exciting and a little bit different and not just do it for the sake of doing it.

That’s a great mentality to have Mike!

Yeah, you don’t want to become a slave to the dollar and you end up not happy. You have to put yourself in the position of making decisions for the right reasons cause you’re going to look back and be proud of what you’ve done. There’s a lot of things you won’t know and there’s a lot of things you can’t know. The next tour in March, we’re doing because we’ve got opportunities that we didn’t expect to have. To headline certain events that we weren’t able to before, that’s cool because we probably won’t get the chance again. So we’re going into it thankful and happy.

And that’s the way that goes! Mike, thanks much and I look forward to thrashing with you guys in 2010!

No problem man, I hope everyone is as pleasant as you are!

[both laugh]

Thanks again Mike!

Cool man, take care!

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