Do you miss your ska-punk roots?
Dave Hillyard: Ha. How can you miss something you never had? How can you miss crabs? Oh wait a minute...oops....

So how is Epitaph treating you guys? Are you getting all the drugs you want?
DH: I enjoy my drugs but in the next contract I'm gonna get a 5 years' supply of milk, kahlua, and vodka. Actually, I think I'd more like to o.d. on cheese than drugs.

Lightweight. So the Slackers effectively blend trad ska rhythms with 20's gangster attitude. Do you think Canadian power rock trio Rush would be into that?
DH: I think Geddy Lee is doing guest backing vocals on our next album. Neil Peart is playing a tibetan gong.

Do you think every young ska girl has a crush on Vic because he's the Billy Joel of ska, or because his eyes are dreamy, or both? And what's with the fake Brooklyn accent?
DH: Vic is the Billy Joel of ska. The Piano Man. I think it's his pheremones from not showering that lure them in like flies. His fake Brooklyn accent is a Bronx accent.

Who do you have a crush on?
DH: My right hand. It's jealous of my left.

How was the solo career? Did the album go platinum? When you rejoined the band, did they first make you undress and drag the Stone of Shame around the studio by your neck?
DH: My album was huge in Thailand. Which is a good thing as i got to go to a lot of opium dens. Next, I want to be big in Japan. Which shouldn't be too hard as.. drum roll please...

Ah, I see. When is the rest of the band gonna grow a pair and stand up for themselves and demand cover art that doesn't depict the lead singer and his girlfriend??
DH: The band is a bunch of spineless jellyfish who can't think further than their next meal/bong hit. They will never rise up. Rather they will roll around in their own excrement.

The Slackers: sweet as honey or scummy as mildew?
DH: Scummy. You should smell us sometime.

The Slackers' new album Wasted Days is available on Hellcat Records. You can visit Dave Hillyard and The Slackers at www.theslackers.com.