Mariecar Mendoza(MM) Mariecar Mendoza, Diversions editor
(YR) Yuri Ruley, drummer for MxPx
MM: What is the question you hate getting asked the most by reporters? – So I don’t ask it.
YR: Not that I hate it, but it’s the most asked question of all time, which is “What does MxPx stand for?”
MM: Doesn’t it stand for Magnified Plaid and the x’s are just –
YR: Periods.
MM: Yeah, with plaid inside of it so people mixed it up with x’s.
YR: Yeah, you got it, you got it.
MM: All right then, now that that’s out of the way, can I ask you a funny question? My boyfriend and I got your guys’ DVD a while ago, when it came out, and we wanted to know if there will be a sequel?
YR: To the B-Movie? We haven’t talked about doing the sequel, but when the time’s right I’m sure we’ll do another DVD. That one was kinda fun because we were touring a lot – and well, we still are – but we had a lot to draw from.
That was prettyold, but it’s cool. And it’s fun for me to watch because every time I see myself on the screen I know that people who like the band really get a kick out of it.
MM: Yeah, we thought you guys were hilarious, especially that roller skating party.
YR: Omigosh, oh yeah, that was fun.
MM: I was like, ‘I want to go!’
YR: My wife got really badly hurt that night. She bruised her coccyx, which is basically your tailbone. Someone just came in and knocked her over and she just basically went “slam!” right on her coccyx. And there’s really nothing you can do, you just have to wait it out. It just hurts, constantly.
MM: Wow, that sucks. But sorry, I kinda sidetracked you – So hey, do you guys have a preparation before you go out on shows. I don’t image you guys get too nervous before shows anymore considering you guys have performed for about 14 years. But I heard that you guys stretch before you go out, is that true?
YR: I don’t do a lot. The hour before the show is kind of my focus time. A lot of times, even though you’re on tour and stuff, you can feel very distant from the concert that’s going to be happening in a couple of hours because you’re doing it every single day. So you have to have some time before that to concentrate and focus on being a performer as well as just being a musician. So I’ll change into the clothes I wear for the show and I have a little practice drum pad and I just try to relax and not tense (up) and just totally get my mind clear of all distractions so that when I get out there it’s just me, Mike and Tom and make sure that that is a unit. Doesn’t always happen, but it definitely helps when you really take that focus seriously.
MM: Do Mike and Tom have any specific preparations?
YR: Yeah they do, but it’s changed over the years just naturally. We used to all blast our favorite music and jump around and that’s fun. But yea, you just get into a routine and mine’s just been to just get by myself and find some where to be. I definitely try not to be in the party room where poker is being played because I’ll only concentrate on the poker and not the show.
MM: OK, so I went to this Ataris show five years ago or something and this guy got on stage and stripped butt naked and jumped back into the crowd thinking everyone was going to catch him, which totally didn’t happen. Have you guys have any of that during this tour?
YR: You know, the one thing that happened it didn’t happen in this tour. It did happen recently though. It happened in late August, early September when we were in Australia playing a show down there. We were downstairs warming up in the dressing room, which was basically a basement with windows, and the kids were trying to hang out outside of the dressing room. They were just banging on the windows and kinda yelling at us to talk to their friends or something and it was cool, but we couldn’t even open some of the doors because they were really freaking out.
But there was this one guy who opened the door and was crying – he was crying. He was like, “I can’t believe I got to meet you guys.” Literally, tears rolling down his face – and he was a big guy too, so we were like, “Aw man, thank you so much. We appreciate it.” Then he goes, “What song are you guys playing first?” He was talking to Tom and Tom said, “I don’t want to tell you. I want it to be a surprise.” Then he started getting mad. He started getting really mad. He was like full-on “What?!” and totally disgusted with Tom’s answer. He was just going off on him and then he turned his attention to me, and was like, “Dude! Oh my God, come here!” So yeah, he must have been high or something because he was way too insane. But I came over to him and he wouldn’t let go. – A security guard saw that and (came over), but didn’t touch him or anything, and said “Hey man, you gotta chill out.” And he told the security guard to “f*** off” and just kept swearing at him. So I was like, “That’s not cool, man.” – We had to all push him out the door and supposedly he was kicked out. But he came back in easily.
So, he came back and was sticking his head in the door crying and screaming, “You guys, I can’t believe it.” And he was kind of mad, but at the same time excited to see us. – At this point, everyone was frustrated because he was really being a jerk, but he was yelling at me saying “Hey, come over here!” And I was like, “No. I’m good.” So he slammed the door and spit at me – on the grass. He looked at me, flipped me off and spit on the grass. So I was just like, “Whatever.”
Then we started playing the first song and after getting kicked out about three times, he runs up on stage with the craziest look in his eye and going towards Mike. Two of our guys get up there and grab him and it literally took two to three minutes to get him off stage because he wasn’t going anywhere. But they finally got him out – It’s a long story, but the dude was just totally insane. It’s probably the craziest fan interaction we’ve ever had.
MM: Wow, that’s hilarious.
YR: Yeah, but it’s not because you want to be cool with everybody. But at the same time, if you’re being a jerk, just because you know who we are, it doesn’t mean you can be a jerk to us.
MM: Yeah, totally. But that’s cool, I’m glad I asked you that question. But on a more serious note, what’s the future of MxPx? You said you guys are going on your 14th birthday; is retirement in the near future at all?
YR: In our near future, I can tell you that we’re going to be doing a lot of touring around the world and in the U.S. And in the far future, I don’t even want to pretend that I can guess – because I couldn’t have told you that five years ago – even though I knew we’d still be around – that things would still be going good for us.
MM: Well, I’m sure that your fans, like me, are glad that you guys aren’t thinking about stopping any time soon.
YR: Obviously it’s inevitable; it will happen. But when? I can’t tell ya.