Interview With Chris Dimwit of the Dimwits.
The following is an interview with Chris Dimwit, drummer of local punk band The Dimwits. Boston has a mess o' good punk bands but for my money the Dimwits and the Spoilers are my picks for the best. If you like punk music, and chances are you do if you're on the Knucklehead on-line 'zine, then you owe it to yourself to check them out, especially live. Or at myspace.com/thedimwits.
1. What are the bands plans for 2008?
Well this May we'll be heading out on the road for 10 days making our way through the Mid-West down to Tennesee and then back up the East Coast. After that we'll be doing our First Annual Summer Debacle at The Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain. Two shows, one day in July. One All Ages and one 21+. It will truly be a debacle. Then we'll be laying low for the rest of the year and writing the next record which we'll be out in 2009.
2. Where have been you're best spots on your tours?
Pittsburgh hands down. The Smiling Moose is a great place with a great staff. They treat you like you're royalty there. Plus a great crowd and we've also made good friends with this band called Face Down Presley from down there. They played a Naked Raygun cover for us, bought us a bunch of booze and that was all it took. That whole area on The South Side is pretty cool.
3. Why did you start Winter records and what are plans for that?
Sean (guitar) and I always threw around the idea of starting our own label back in our old band Freezerburn. We just really had no clue and nothing ever came of it. When we were ready to put out Good Set we just said hey, why don't we make our own label since we're putting it out ourselves anyway. We'll just have a logo and P.O. Box the same way Brett Gurewitz started Epitaph to put Bad Religion 7 inches out. Or the same way the Bouncing Souls started Chunksaah. We took the name Winter Street from the house Sean and I used to live in back on Winter Street in Taunton. We used to practice in the basement and everything sort of started there. We also turned the house into a make shift studio to record the Clear The Room ep. So after the record came out I was a little bit more familiar with the whole process of pressing and distributing a record. So we said hey, why don't we put out the records of other bands we like and we'll make this sort of a real label. So I did a little bit research into some of the smaller indie punk labels. Asked different bands how the relationship works with their label and what they do for them. Once we were ready we put out our first record, Drago's "Bowling With Stalin". A great 80's style hardcore record and good friends of ours. And for 2008 we got Up For Nothing's record coming out in May(a great melodic hardcore band out of Brooklyn), then local drunks, The McGunks record sometime in the summer.
4. Does the band have any recording plans in the future?
Yes, like I said earlier. We should be heading into the studio in early 2009. Ray Jeffrey we'll be turning the knobs once again, and we'll we're happy to have Eric Edmonston on board to co-produce.
5. How do you think Boston compares with other cities scenes you've witnessed?
That's hard to say. I haven't spend enough time in other cities to get an idea of the different music scenes. I will say Boston seems to be champion of the whole "working class, street punk" thing. I'm pretty sure that it probably due to the success of The Dropkicks.
6. What new bands locally do you like?
That's tough, not a ton of new bands right now. I like what Thunderhog is doing and obviously Drago. I heard The Thowaways were really good at The Throwup the other night. Not really new but my favorite band of recent years was OO700 Club. Anything Delano does is genius. They were way too short lived.
7. How do you feel getting a vote for most grumpiest drummer in the Noise Top Ten poll and do you think you or Mike Mahoney really deserves this honorable award?
It's funny I've been told I need to smile more my whole life. I don't what it is, I guess I'm just a natural frowner. I've been told that Mahoney is way more grumpy than me. So I'll kindly step down and let him have the honor.
8. Is it true that all of Britney Spear's current problems have been caused, even indirectly, by Paul Dimwit?
Ha!, you never know with that kid. Who the hell knows what that kid is thinking. I think most peoples problems, not just Britney's, are most likely caused by Paul Dimwit.
(Slimedog)
