The Psychoholics will be playing tonight (Fri Mar 17) at The Irish Pub. Check 'em out!
The Interview
The Psychoholics have been around in San Antonio for about 15 years now. That's a long time in a town where bands spring up and disappear almost monthly, it seems. What is it about the Psychoholics that has allowed the band to persevere where so many bands have failed?
Probably that we've all known each other for so long that we are like brothers. We fight like brothers but we're still family. Several of us our from military families and we're brought up with certain moral beliefs about loyalty. Also, we have nothing better to do.
The band has been through numerous changes in band members. So much so that you have a "family tree" on your website that graphically details all the changes in lineup. Do you think these changes have held the band back or contributed to its growth as a band?
Well, we've all at least known each other since High School. This band has had around 28 different members since we started in 91, but right now, 3 of us are original members. We've all quit, played in other bands and come back. We just like the familiar old songs I guess. We know what to expect from each other. We've weeded out the people we couldn't work with and stuck with the ones we can.
How has the Psychoholics music evolved over the years? How has your style changed since the band started out?
We started out pretty much as a punk-pop band and that hasn't changed much. When we were doing it in the early 90's, it wasn't that cool, now there's a lot of bands with that sound, so it's come around. The core of our music is punk-pop but in the last few years we have made our sound very eclectic. We touch on folk, country, hip-hop, metal, psychedlia, etc. The idea of this band is not to pigeonhole ourselves into one genre.
Who were your influences at the beginning? Have any newer bands had an effect on your music?
Personally, I have a triumvirate of influences: The Beatles, The Sex Pistols and Pink Floyd. I think our singer Tim shares that as well, although he's probably also heavily influenced by the Stones, Zeppelin. I also listened to Lou Reed a lot back in the day. Other guys in the band dig Rush quite a bit, something Tim and I don't share. Green Day, the Foo Fighters, Louis XIV, Strokes, Gorillaz, etc.
I caught a Psychoholics show back in the day at Sneakers. The main thing I remember is one of the band members running around in a Gumby costume. I have also heard about an Energizer Bunny costume. How did the costume idea come about and do the Psychoholics still do this?
Gone are most of the clubs with big stages like Sneakers and Rock Island. It's a bit difficult to pull off shows like we used to in these small clubs. We used to really like to catch peoples attention and hold it there, even if they weren't into the music, you could still have fun at our shows. We would have dancers on stage, Godzilla fighting batman, etc. We still try to be flamboyant in the way we dress and try to bring out a lot of lights, fog machines, props, toilet paper guns, etc.
I had to leave that show early and go to work, but I heard that the singer "exposed himself" at that show. Some people said he didn't. Do you remember, is it true?
Ha ha. Tim used to wear this rather elaborate outfit that was kind of like a flesh-colored body stocking. Attached to it he had this kind of home-made “cabbage-patch” penis. It was made of pantyhose nylon and stuffed with cotton. It had thick carpeting for cubic hair. It was also about 14 inches long, so if somebody thought that was his real endowment they either need glasses or have a vivid imagination.
As veterans in the SA music scene, what changes have you noticed in the local scene over the years and what changes would you like to see in the future?
Howbout an actual SCENE? This town can be so apathetic. Also there was a few bands in the mid 90's that seemed to break up right when they were getting really good or on the verge of something. Then there's the bands like us that just overstay there welcome. You can't get rid of us!
The Psychoholics are currently working on releasing their first CD in 10 years (one of the songs, "Mardi Gras," is on the SA Rocks jukebox and sounds great!). You've been working on recording these tunes for some time now. How's that going? When do you project the CD will come out?
Hopefully this summer. We've pushed it back a dozen times. It's mainly a money problem at this point. We agonized over the songs, title, cover art, for over 3 years now. It's finally mixed and ready to be mastered and pressed. All we need now is the money to get that ball rolling. We're saving.
The Psychoholics will be performing at The Irish Pub tonight for St. Patrick's Day. What can we expect from this show? Tell the people why they should come to this gig.
You'll GET LAID. We've always tried to make ourselves THE holiday band. We play Xmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day shows. When we do, we really try to get into the spirit of that holiday and make it an appropriate “event”. This is the Irish Mardis Gras. It's St. Patrick's Day and it's at The Irish Pub. That's “THE” Irish Pub. Last year we played there on St. Patty's. It was packed to the gills from 5pm on. The night crowd was pandemonium. That was a Thursday, this year it's a Friday, so it should be totally off-the-hook. Don't tell the fire marshal.