Knuckle Sandwich

Interviews | Nov 30th, 1996

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Kunckle Sandwich play a bit of the pop-punk with a bit of the street punk, and they’re rockin’ New Jersey like it’s their job. They recently released “Nice” on Resurrection AD. Check them out at knucklesandwich.com.

You guys have a fun, peppy punk sound, kinda like Bouncing Souls, H20, Murphy’s Law… Is it because you’re from Canada?


We love all three of those bands, but our real influences are Bad Religion, No Use For A Name, Suicidal, Avail, Sick Of It All and the Crue. We are not from Canada, we are from NJ. Being that I read ahead and saw that this interview has a Canada-based theme, and I am a chronic ballbuster as well, I will play along. The irony of this all is I am actually doing this interview from my laptop with cellular internet access (through our merch girl Erica-she works at Verizon when not on tour with us) from Canada. I decided to spend the Xmas holidays up here snowboarding and right now I am in a beach chair enjoying Niagara Falls (Canada side).

You guys strike me as having conservative, suburban political views. Was your ideology molded from growing up in the wilds of Canada?
I write all the lyrics, so this question is all mine. Nah, my Dad is a Union Pipefitter and my Mom is a homemaker. My brother Jason (guitar) and I grew up in a middle class home in Piscataway NJ. Rap and Hiphop was the rage in our hometown so we had to drive into beautiful Trenton NJ or Brooklyn or NYC to see punk/hardcore/metal shows. We both followed our Dad’s trade and became welders/construction/union men. We lived the whole NJ workin class life so that is probably where I get my political views. I love enjoying the freedoms of being an American, but if ya read deeper into the songs you will see there are a lot of things I bitch about as well. I am no bandwagon patriot. but I am not a “live and dress the punk ethic” just because I love the music either. My opinions land on both sides of the fence on most of the big issues. I am more of a Hardcore kid than a punk rocker. NYHC is what drew me into this scene.

Do you guys receive any negativity from being straight-edge vegans? Or from being from Canada?
None of us are straight edge or vegan.

Do you ever wish you had gotten into hockey instead of music?
No, none of us like hockey. We are all really good basketball players, though. I have an awesome outside shot, Avi can drive to the lane like Jordan, Jason can rebound like Rodman, and Mike can jump so high his nickname is “The Space Chicken.”

I really enjoy your chord progressions and sense of rhythm. Did living near the hometown of Rush influence you?
I cannot stand Rush. One time a bigwig at Johnson and Johnson was breaking my balls on my lunch break at work. We had just gone over a big job I had to complete, and when he found out I was in a band he started goin on about his favorite band “Rush”. He asked me, You like Rush right? When I told him I could not stand Rush he said, your band must suck then, “you must suck if you do not like Rush.” What do ya expect from a yuppie suit right?? Anyways, The next day he came into work and saw me in the cafeteria eating lunch with my crew. He walked up to us, with his other executive mucky mucks, and handed me a Rush CD. He said, “Go home, listen and learn these songs and then get back to me. Maybe then you guys might play ‘real’ music, not that punk shit you guys do.” They all started laughing at me. “Hahahahaha.” I looked at the CD and it was one of Rush’s newer releases. “Test For Echo” was the title of the record. From across the crowded cafeteria I saw a wide mouth metal garbage receptacle, I said, “Test for echo huh??”… I then stood up, and chucked the CD across the room and swish!!! cuclank cuclank cuclank right into the garbage can!!! His mouth along with everyone else’s hung completely open for a second and then he yelled! What the hell do you think you are doing!!! I smiled and replied “Testing for echo.” Hahahahahaha, needless to say my company lost that account. That’s why I am now making a go of music career.

While your songs are fast and infectiously fun, I can distinctly hear the love and longing for your native land of Canada. Is Canada a mother-figure to you, a comforting womb so to speak, or is it simply a place you choose to lay your head?
Right now it is just a place where they give me $30 for every $20 I cash in. This place rules!! Tons of snow…cold though. I already broke two snowboards and the Canadian record for most girls hit on in one night in a casino. They let me cash in my chips before they kicked me out. I love Canadians.

Any final words of wisdom?
Nah, just please check us out on the web at knucklesandwich.com and buy our new CD, Nice!! We go out on our US tour this Feb. A tour of Ireland in April and possibly Canada after that.

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