1. First of all, can you explain to us what is the story of the band ?
We've been around for about 4 years and are from Santa Barbara, California. I joined the band in May of 1999 after seeing them play some shows as a trio, they saw me playing bass in a few other local bands (including Nerf Herder) I switched to guitar and we just hit it off. We played around town and in surrounding cities for about 2 years before a small label called Ultimatum Music decided to give us the chance to make a record. We recorded Start Static, and hit the road touring non-stop for almost 2 years in the US (including 2 summers on the Warped Tour), Canada, and most recently Northern Europe/UK, where our album is now finally coming out.

2. How was the process of recording of "Start Static"? How long, the conditions...
From pre-production rehearsals, tracking, overdubbing and final mixing, I'd say about 2 months of hard work. It was a lot of fun, I had my birthday party in the studio; we played a lot of basketball, drank beers with Ozzy's guitarist Zakk Wylde who was recording next door; and flirted with 80's star Pat Benetar, who was also recording nearby. The studio was called Rumbo Recorders, it's in the San Fernando Valley so it's much less expensive than the fancy Hollywood studios and way better. Guns N Roses recorded "Appetite for Destruction" in the same room! Recording always is: fun, exciting and at times stressful.

3. How would you define the music of Sugarcult ?
Turn on your stereo, put on our album, turn it up loud, and make up your own definintion!

4. Is true that story that says that the guilty of "Start static" has distribution in Europe is the daughter of Brett Gurewitz ?What is the story ?
I went to a party at Brett's house with my friends in NOFX. Brett heard I was in Sugarcult and told me we were his son's favorite band, and that he also really liked our songs. Fat Mike (NOFX) likes Start Static a lot too, except he hates the slow songs!

5. How was the experience of knowing him ?
Mr. Brett is very eccentric, intelligent, charismatic and forward thinking; a total individual in every way and worthy of all of the respect he gets. He truly loves good music, not just punk, but all kinds of good music (soul, blues, country, etc). Oh, and Epitaph's office has really strong coffee!!!

6. Are you a Bad Religion fan ?
Of course. I've seen them play countless times. I don't turn their music on as much as I used to, but I still think "Suffer" and "No Control" are 2 of the best punk records of the last 20 years. I remember finding an original pressing of "How Could Hell Be Any Worse" at a used record store for .50 cents! Plus Greg Graffin has a cool hair style!!!

7. How do you feel being in a so important label as Epitaph ?
It's a huge compliment to our band. We have worked very hard and believe in what we do, so to gain the attention and respect of a great label like Epitaph is a huge victory for us. We are happy to call Rancid, Tom Waits, Ikara Colt, INC, Solomon Burke, Merle Haggard, Bad Religion, the Distillers, NOFX, etc our labelmates...now we're even on the same label as Turbonegro!

8. Is a surprise, see that the record has sold more than 250,000 copies in the USA ?
Definitely, we were hoping to sell 1000 at best. Of course in your dreams you always wish that your record will reach as many people as possible, but we're happy that we sold any at all. 250,000 is a lot of people, I hope they all play it loud!

9. Is the group ready for an enormous success ?
Sure, it's all an adventure from here so we enjoy the mystery of seeing where we'll go next. All we ever cared about from the start was making up some songs and playing shows. As long as we get to do that I don't care how big or small we are.

10. What is the story of Bad Astronaut, the group with Joey Cape of Lag Wagon?
That is my side-project band with Joey, Derrick Plourde (ex-Lagwagon drummer), and a few other musicians from our hometown in Santa Barbara. I play bass in the band, which was my main instrument before Sugarcult turned me into a guitar player. We have 2 albums (www.honestdons.com), and a split EP with Colorado's Armchair Martian. It's just another outlet of creativity for all of us and an excuse to spend time together amidst our busy schedules. We're all really good friends and grew up with eachother. It's fun.

11. What can you tell to us about the rumour of your singer was in a glam-hair-metal band in the eighties called Lost Kittenz with people that is actually in bands like Foo Fighters and Nerf Herder?
Not our singer, it was me! The guitar player is now in the Foo's, drummer Steve is in Nerf Herder, and singer Luke is in a band called the Penfifteen Club. First of all Lost Kittenz was not a "hair-metal" band, we were active in the early Santa Barbara punk scene in the late-80s. We liked glam and hard rock in the sense of New York Dolls, The Sweet, AC/DC, Cheap Trick, 70's-Aerosmith, Johnny Thunders, Hanoi Rocks, early-Guns n Roses, etc. We also loved the Sex Pistols, the Misfits, GBH, the Clash, The Ramones, etc. We had nothing to do with the ridiculous 80's metal scene like Bon Jovi and Warrant. We were freaks with long hair and black nail polish, and crazy thrift store clothes, we all wore creepers. I still put on my creepers occasionally! We were 15-16 years old and fucking outrageous compared to the other bands in town at the time. We played a lot, we became like little brothers to Social Distortion whenever they'd come to town we'd hang out and drink and smoke with them.

12. What do you think about the actual bad press of hair bands?
Some of them deserve it, especially all those horrible bands that came out towards the end of the whole movement with the power-ballads. There's nothing more embarrassing than a grown man wearing tights with a huge hairdo singing a sensitive sappy love song, at least Barry Manilow has the decency to put on a shirt! There were some incredible metal bands though, Iron Maiden, early-Metallica, Slayer, the first Motley Crue album still fuckin rocks! It's fun to laugh at the past, I can't wait to look back 10 years from now and laugh at all these spiky haired kids wearing baggy shorts hanging off their asses with corporate punk shirts on!

13. Who is the producer and how was the experience with ?
Matt Wallace produced our record. He had done most of the Faith No More records, and worked with one of my favorite bands, the Replacements. He did H2O's last record too. We liked his attitude, his ideas, and all the fun stories he had to tell us about the Replacements' fist-fights and drug abuse.
It was cool to work with such an experienced guy, he's now our good friend.

14. How do you understand the actual situation of the punk scene in USA?
Its obviously grown a lot and gotten very organized. Take Epitaph for example, it started out 20 years ago in Brett's parents' garage and now they have an office in Amsterdam! I used to see NOFX and Lagwagon play in people's driveways and backyards in the late 80's when I was just a kid. Now the whole world knows about them. Punk is no longer a secret, but it's spirit of individualism and independent-minded ethics still live on in all kinds of underground music and subculture in general. I love that bands as diverse as Blondie, Black Flag, Blink 182, and the Refused are all called 'punk', it shows how open the borders are for creativity.

15. Do you find a relation between Sugarcult and Sum 41 and all that kind of bands, or do you prefer the comparison with Green Day (for me there are songs that could be play by the band) ?
We love Green Day, I used to see them live a lot in the early 90's. I would say we have a lot more in common with Green Day, probably because we're all 25 to 30 years old and grew up with similar record collections and influences. Sum 41 are an interesting blend of Blink, Beastie Boys, and metal a lot of people like them so I'm sure they are good in their own way. They are really young too!

16. In what kind of groups are you really interested ?What kind of music hears you when you were younger than now ?
I like all kinds of music. I love bands that defy easy categorization like the Clash, Refused, At the Drive In, Janes Addiction, Primal Scream, Massive Attack, the Police. I'm a sucker for great songwriters: Elvis Costello, the Ramones, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Superdrag, the Cars, Jawbreaker, the Decendents, the Muffs, Jimmy Eat World, Cheap Trick...the list goes on.

17. What is the immediate plans for the band? I think you need to write new songs....
Funny you should mention it; we're home right now finishing up a batch of new songs that we'll begin recording next month for our 2nd album. This summer we'll hit the road to do tours in Europe, Japan, and the US, so keep visiting www.sugarcult.com to find out our newest action.
peace,
Marko 72/Sugarcult