25 February 2003

NB - Please introduce yourself.
O. - we are the jewws, i am omari (g/v). the other members are matt (d) and rebecca (b).

NB - How and when did the band start?
O. - rebecca and i went to the same highschool. we met on the school bus. when the band first started my brother played drums. matt was a local scenester and in a band that we liked (junior varsity) so when we needed a new drummer he was the guy that we asked.

NB - Jewws - what does that mean exactly?
O. - nothing...or everything.

NB - Did you play in other bands before Jewws?
O. - none that really count. matt's been on records with junior varsity and the wontons. rebecca was on the last junior varsity record.

NB - First Jewws record I heard was Alien Snatch 7". Was that your first release?
O. - the 10" ep on remedial records was our first release. it's still available from the label as far as i know so don't pay any inflated prices from someplace else telling you it's sold out!

NB - What was the first record you bought when you were kid?
O. - my family already had a lot of good music in the house before i ever got around to buying anything (i'm the youngest after all) so the earliest records i bought were mostly in the hip-hop or indie vein. later it was Lookout! records type stuff.

NB - When did you first hear about garage punk/trash and what made you turn to it? You still listen to other stuff?
O. - punk came along in my life when i was about eight or so i guess. my older brother was into it so it was something that was just around that i really liked. my room was right next to his and he'd be playing the radio really loud and so it just kinda creeped into my conciousness. the earliest bands that stick out in my mind were the ramones, big boys, misfits, the SST stuff like black flag and minute men, ect. there was lots of hardcore bands that were big at the time too. i also got into skateboarding a little later and the music just came along with it. back then if you were a punk you had a skateboard and if you had a skateboard you were a punk. it was phasing into what skateboarding has become today though (whatever that is). the only true revelation i've ever had with regards to punk rock (other than rediscovering the ramones) was hearing teengenerate. i saw the cd in the record store and was compelled to buy it for no reason other than i just had a feeling that it might be cool. suffice to say that band was the catalyst for me in finding my voice and the sound i wanted to explore with the jewws.
i'm generally just a music fan. i sort of indentify myself as a punk rocker but i've always liked lots of music and the older i get the more stuff i like. i've also noticed though that there is something about the 60's that really appeals to me. the music, the social issues, the state of art and design at that time, it's all endlessly fascinating to me but music is music. i do tend to prefer sounds that are more uptempo and exciting. anything that you have to take a lot of drugs to enjoy (i.e. pink floyd, grateful dead, "stoner rock") probably isn't going to be for me but i never count anything out without giving it a chance.

NB - What do you think about garage punk bands that are being popular these days - Hives in US, here in Europe it's more White Stripes, Strokes, ...?
O. - it was fun while it lasted! those bands are already old news as far as i can tell. i know that in the US it's back to sucksville.

NB - My hopes were that maybe some more good bands will get bigger. But music industry really sucks today. Anyway, tell me how is it where you live? Do you have many people on your gigs? Are there record shops who sell good stuff? Can you name some good, less known, local bands?
O. - we just recently have started to have more people coming out to our shows. i don't know if the white stripes had anything to do with it. the title of our record "the now sound explosion" was actually sort of a reference to what was about to happen with the whole garage/subversive sound phenom. "the now sound" being sort of a mid-century buzz phrase and the fact that those old influences were becoming popular again were what it was about. there's no doubt that trend was short lived. we'll see if those bands can make it to the top again when they put out their next albums. as for us, i'd say that now we're no longer on the bottom and far far from the top.
houston has had some pretty good record stores. sound exchange and vinyl edge being the main ones along with soundwaves to some extent. we've also had some okay local radio over the years. great radio at times.
the only houston band that truly gets me is sugar shack. those guys are really good and have been great to us. some others that i enjoy would be magnetic 4, the kants, swarm of angels, hand driver 9 1/2. we recently played with a new band called the fighting type who were pretty good. our drummer matt is in the ka-nives and they might be putting out a record soon, get that. there are plenty of others that are good but whether or not they're heard outside of our little scene is another story. most of the good bands here tend to be more in the indie rock vein than what we do.

NB - What was, in your opinion, the best album in 2002?
O. - because of lack of funds i really didn't buy many records last year. i did like the latest realeases by the pattern, the briefs, sugar shack, and fireballs of freedom. live i'd say the same bands along with total sound group direct action committee and the dirty sweets.

NB - How do you record your stuff?
O. - mostly live to analogue tape. i'm not anti-digital but for what we do tape is where it's at. i like the sound of tape and we don't feel any need to clean up our mistakes.

NB - Any plans for European tour?
O. - not right now...we'll see. if someone offers us lots of money we're there.

NB - What are you guys/girl up to now, when can we expect new release?
O. - i'm writing new songs and we're still playing around texas. we're all playing in other band as well. we hope to and probably will be putting out at least a couple more records but i wouldn't hold my breath. no telling when they'll be out but they'll be worth the wait. we won't play a song unless we all really like it.