Kicked In The Head (Gary)
Interviews | Feb 24th, 2005
Kicked in the head is an interesting name…where did it come from?
Our guitar player got it from an old Slapshot song “Punks Dead You’re Next!” We just thought it was cool so we used it…
Since you guys are from Boston…. I was wondering if you have a favorite place to hit up when not on tour?
There’s tons, let’s see…Anna’s Taquaria, burrito max and big burrito, Bukowski’s, pat Flanagan’s on Wednesday night for some karaoke, the movies, our big ass house in Quincy…basically, anywhere we can cause trouble. We definitely have fun. About a month ago we were blowing fire from our mouths in the backyard of our house…that was pretty interesting…(Kids, don’t try that at home…)
What can you be seen doing on a Friday night when not playing a show?
Practicing and writing, hanging out with our girlfriends, sometimes we’ll go to some shows, check out DJs or hit up a party…it’s weird because when we don’t play, we run out of things to do. We rock, that’s what we do. I mean we all have a million things we do outside of the band, but we just do the same old stuff everyone else does.
I know you’re last album “thick as thieves” was self-released…. how challenging was it to do that?
It was a challenge, but i think it was a really good experience for all Of us. We had a blast! It’s the first time we have ever recorded an anything and felt totally confident in the final product. We’ve all been really psyched about it. We put way more time and effort into this album then we have anything else recorded and spent a lot more cash, but it was worth it. I think the toughest thing may have been our budget. None of us have a lot of money, but for a while we were just dumping our paychecks into the band fund and we came out with the album. It was definitely worth it. Plus, we worked with Jim Siegel at the Outpost. He’s incredible. He recorded the Dropkick Murphy’s and a bunch of other bands from the northeast. He really blew our minds and we learned so much just from a studio perspective with him. We’re a live band and he made us sound the way we’ve always wanted to be heard on tape. He’s really unbelievable.
What genre would you consider kicked in the head? You have a very unique sound!
Hmmm…I’d personally say we’re a straight up rock band. Even hard rock At that. It’s weird because we have a ton of influences as a band, but I think a lot of that comes from the fact that we all listen to so many different kinds of music. I really think we’re mostly influenced by early “ALTERNATIVE” / “PUNK-HARDCORE”. Bands like Faith No More, Fishbone, Bad Brains, Fugazi and Jane’s Addiction. What we’ve always liked is how all those bands took the values of punk-hardcore created something new and interesting with it. That’s what we try and do…
What Boston area bands/other bands are you friends with?
Reach the Sky, Big D and the Kids Table, Drexel, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Goonies, the Sinners and Saints, Darkbuster, I could go on and on. Boston’s music community is pretty tight. For the most part, we’re all friends.
What’s behind the name for the new album “thick as thieves”? Does it have to do something with your personality?
The phrase Thick As Thieves” means camaraderie, friendship etc. most of The guys in the band grew up together and it was just an idea that seemed to fit because of that. We’re all best friends who like to have a good time and along with that can come a lot of trouble. Plus the fact that we all spend every waking moment with each other…
Who’s cuter Barbara bush or Barbara Streisand?
Ooh…Barbara Streisand, the bush’s freak me out…
Is there a musical goal you have yet to accomplish? If so, what is it?
I think as a band we are just working on writing more and better songs together. We constantly think about how we all can work together as a unit and focus on creating a better musical chemistry. The chemistry we have now is great, but it can always get better. We want to think like our 5 minds are one. That’s our main goal. Plus, we are all constantly learning. We all pass around CDs of Musical directions we’d like to head towards and listen to song arrangements that we’d like to explore. No matter what it is. As individuals we all take lessons so that our roles in the band are the best we can possibly make them. That way, creatively we can all find our peace in the band. We really push ourselves hard…
Do any of you fart in public….. And if you don’t why are you opposed to it?
We fart…a lot…why? Because poop is always funny…no matter what…
As I’m sure you are aware of Napster is being limited in its material. Are you opponents/supporters of Napster and why?
I think the whole band has mixed opinions, so I can’t speak for everyone. Personally I love Napster…I’m all about the live and rare stuff of my favorite bands. I’m a bootlegger to the bone…
Who did you guys look up to growing up?
I think we all have different people we looked up to. Mostly bands probably. As a collective I’d say Fishbone, Fugazi, Faith No More, Bad Brains, Jane’s Addiction, Rancid, Aerosmith, Pantera, Metallica, Alice In Chains…there’s so many. I myself have looked up to a lot of front men for bands. It doesn’t get any better than Angelo Moore, Mike Patton, Ian Mackaye and Steven Tyler…that’s what I’m working towards…hopefully I’ll get there some day. For now, I’ll just keep dreaming and singing into the mirror in my bedroom while using my bed for a stage and a hairbrush for a mike…hahahahaha…
Who’s better blink 182 or the Backstreet boys and why?
I think we hate them both equally…
Who has the biggest poop?
Anthony or Rositano…they only had one poop fight and I think Anthony Won because his was bigger.
Who are the members of the band and their instruments?
Gary Hedrick-Vocals Matt Sanocki-Guitar Rositano-Guitar Ryan Dowd-Bass Josh Smith-Drums Thanks for your time and remember to check out our site at www.kickedinthehead.com
