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Alexisonfire is a pretty rad band who's new album, Watch Out, went gold...in Canada, which is a damn awesome feat and something anyone should be proud of.
PL: Just start by introducing yourself.
AOF: Hello, my name is Tom Selleck. You may know me from the show Magnum PI. I'm George Pettit from Alexisonfire.
PL: Is it scary touring in bad weather like this (It was snowing outside).
AOF: Uhh, we're from Canada. (Laughs) We toured the East Coast Canada in late November/early December one time and we played in this town called Munkton, and there were 60 centimeters, which is about two feet, of snow on the ground, but we toured it. This is a cakewalk for us. Bad weather is like nothing.
PL: I read, I think it was in Rolling Stone, that your album went gold in Canada. Whats the difference between going gold in Canada and going gold in the US?
AOF: 450,000 records. 50,000 is official Canadian gold because you guys have got ten times the population that we do, so Canadian gold is 50,000 where here is 500,000. Per capita, we sold a lot of records.
PL: Will you guys get your own gold record?
AOF: I think we got them, but we haven't been home for about two and a half months and we kind of went gold right before we left so they didn't have them made yet, but when we get home, we'll have them.
PL: Is album promotion different between Canada or the US or does it matter since you're on Equal Vision?
AOF: Oh yeah; definitely. We don't do a lot of press in the States. We've just done a month long tour and you're the first interview I've done. Its really hard to get press around here. I know a lot of the press that we've had has been stand-offish. We had a big beef with Alternative Press magazine. I don't know; its hard to get people to look your way in the States. Canada has been really nice to us, actually. We've gotten a lot of really good press. So yeah, there is a difference. I think that there's a lot more bands down here and not as much media to support it all, so you're gonna get a lot more coverage of the bigger bands than you are of the up and commers.
PL: How do you handle it when you don't feel like playing a show?
AOF: You suck it up. You don't really have a choice. There are some nights you go up there and you feel it everywhere in your body, and some nights, you still play, but its a little different. I never don't want to play. Its the best part of my day everyday. I'm in a van all day and I'm staying in a hotel every night and playing shows is the best part of my night. Its not that I ever don't want to play. There are times you get bummed out on tour and you miss home and all that stuff, but I don't think its something that you have to handle. Playing shows is fun.
PL: If you could kick one person in the crotch, who would it be and why?
AOF: Oh wow, there's so many people. I'd the singer of Jet in the crotch. I'd kick the President in the crotch. I'd kick our Prime Minister in the crotch. I don't know; there's lots of people. I'm not a violent person either. Pretty much all those fucking goofy hipster mod dudes and girls in the crotch. Fashion mullets; those guys could use a good crotch kicking. So do dudes with frosted tips and shell necklaces; those people need kicks in the crotch. All racist people need kicks in the crotch and all homophobic people as well. People who go on message boards and use the word "faggot" need to be kicked so many times in the crotch.
PL: What do you think if they just use it as a word?
AOF: You've got to know the difference between saying something stupid amongst friends and when you're saying something stupid in a public forum where everybody is going to read it. Especially with the way it is, with one in ten or one in 15 kind of thing, you're probably encountering a lot of people who you don't know are gay. People wouldn't get away with saying "nigger" on a message board and you wouldn't get away with saying "kike," so I think people should say that either.
PL: Name one album, besides your own, that you think all kids should have in their collection.
AOF: All kids should have Iggy Pop and the Stooges Raw Power. All kids should have, oh God, so many records. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds First Born is Dead, go get that record. I don't know, there's so many staples out there that this is a really hard question. I think that the Stooges record is a really good one to have because it predates punk rock.
PL: Do you think, since Bush got elected for another four years, that Canada will open its doors to a lot of Americans who might want to move to Canada?
AOF: Sure, yeah; you can crash in my basement. Come on up and we'll hang out. I don't know; it doesn't really matter. I think the President of the United States in general has such a world wide effect that it doesn't really matter where you live. I think its gonna effect everything. I think a lot of people pay attention. Thats why so many people in Canada paid attention to the U.S. election because its really a world wide issue, the President of the United States. Its the most powerful country in the world. And, there you go, George W. Bush.
PL: I was watching the election like it was a football game-yelling at the tv and stuff.
AOF: Yeah, totally, totally. I don't know. I mean there's a lot of people there that support him and you're allowed to have your opinions on everything, but man, that is a President thats fucked up a lot of stuff in four years and now he's got four more years to play around with.
PL: I was optimistic, but then I saw his press conference where he wouldn't let reporters ask him follow up questions cause he got reelected. I'm just hoping for the best.
AOF: All we can do now is cross our fingers. If anything, it will make for a lot more cool punk rock records and stuff like that. Think of when some of the best punk came out. They were up against Reagen and they had all these really great Presidents to rebel against. Hopefully, there'll be a lot more great compilations and stuff like that.
PL: Yeah, but punk is a lot different now than it was then.
AOF: Thats true, but the pendulum's got to swing sometime.
PL: Do you have any final comments?
AOF: Come see us play, have a good time and be nice to one another. Don't run with scissors. Don't cry over spilled milk. You can lead a horse to water but there won't be a glass house. Thank you very much.