A last minute effort was able to corner Skunk (the guitarist) for an ICQ interview, and here is what was said...

<HotBands> Hi

<HotBands> How many years has the band been together, and who are the founders?

<Rumble> D-2e & GB formed the band in 1993. I joined in 1996 and we've been through way too many drummers (Spinal Tap).  Pace just joined in March.

<HotBands> Boy does that sound famliliar! How many CD's do you currently have out?

<Rumble> Two. Our first full length CD, "Mutate", came out in 1995 (about 4 drummers ago.) "Liquor Store, Laundromat, Chinese Restaurant" came out last year, but even that drummer’s gone.

<HotBands> So, do they keep spontaneously combusting?

<Rumble> No although sometimes I wish they would!

<HotBands> You guys seem to have a pretty good following. As I mentioned, you were the #1 referring band to our site for the last two months. The pics on your site show some pretty big concerts, so I'm assuming that you your following is decent?

<Rumble> Yeah, although the photos are a bit misleading. The pics on the site are from two huge festivals we did, which included some national acts, so not everyone was there to see us.

<HotBands> Obviously, you must have SOME following because you were able to get the gigs in the first place.

<Rumble> We do have a very good following within MA and New England.

<HotBands> Are you touring?

<Rumble> Oh definitely...we’ve paid our dues and have been playing tons of shows. We did over 100 last year all across the East Coast.

<HotBands> Wow! That’s a ton! Do you have any plans for Mid-West, West Coast or Southern tours?

<Rumble> We did a couple gigs down south in Atlanta and North Carolina, and we would love to get out West and branch out, but without financial backing it's gonna be very difficult... We all still work day jobs!

<HotBands> I hear you! That's one of the problems with most of the bands...everyboydy has a day-gig and it's hard to pick up and leave without any money coming in. Hopefuylly, the Internet will make world-wide tours a reality without leaving your home! Live concert streaming is where it's going to go, and the bands that understand the internet and empower themselves with it will be the ones on top of the game.

<Rumble> Any band that is not trying to make a presence of themselves on the internet is missing out.

<HotBands> How many sites is your band listed on?

<Rumble> I can't even keep track of them anymore. There are so many sites out there.

<HotBands> And each one drives a little traffic your way.

<Rumble> Exactly. These web sites are nothing but free publicity for bands. unfortunately, there’s a lot of junk out there too.

<HotBands> How would your classify your music?

<Rumble> We classify ourselves as rap-core although we're very different from most other rap -core bands because our singer actually "sings" as well as rap/scream/cuss/etc.  There’s a lot of heavy metal influence in the music mixed in with blues, funk and classic rock . We come from four different musical backgrounds and the mix together is really unique.

<HotBands> What type of audience do you cater to?

<Rumble> We play a lot of 21+  clubs and go over really well, while at the same time, we'll play all ages shows at halls and festivals, and the kids love it to.

<HotBands> Have you spent any time marketing yourselves in Europe or Asia? I know that there is a voracious appetite for American music overseas, and many of the bands HotBands has interviewed have had a lot of success outside of the United States.

<Rumble> No we haven't . I think you're right about that, but it’s difficult enough trying to get airlplay and gigs in our hometown. I don't think we could afford to put ourselves on tour!

<HotBands> I've been to Boston before and noticed it wasn't really "band-friendly", but that was in the early 90's. Seattle, (where I grew up and went to college) has ALWAYS been really open to the music scene (although the musicians here still complain and will tell you different). I've been around the country enough to see what's up, and Boston isn't the easiest
market to break into.

<Rumble> No its really sad. In fact, it’s even worse than when you were last here. There are only about 4-5 clubs in Boston that hare even worth playing. There is a really good scene in Boston with a lot of talented bands, but nowhere to play!

<HotBands> Berkley School of Music must crank out a lot of good bands....competition HAS to be tough out there!

<Rumble> I don’t think of it as competition out there at all. I abosolutely love it when a freind's band does well. It’s good for the scene in general. Everything we've accomplished so far would not have been possible without all of the networking we've done with other bands.

<HotBands> Do you have any "special thanks" that you would like to extend to some of the bands in your area? Get them on our site too!! :-)

<Rumble> Definitely! Gargantua Soul from Connecticut, and Eastcide from MA,. We play with those guys quite a bit and they're all great guys.

<HotBands> Are they also rap-core (bands)?

<Rumble> Yes but it’s funny because each of us sound completely different. Rap-core is such a genercic term.

<HotBands> I know, rap-core is a general term that will attract people that like rap and metal. I wouldn't think that hip-hop or true rap are even close to rap-core. I would classify rap-core more along the metal lines.

<Rumble> I agree. But we have played with straight up rap bands. (and blues bands) we'll play with anyone.

<HotBands> That's great that you guys don't seem to have an attitude about "your style" of music. In my opinion, it's all good, and some of it is great.

<HotBands> What are your intentions for upcoming tours over the summer, or your next CD?

<Rumble> We are booked through June and July mostly in the New Engaland & New York area. Hopefully more dates will be added tthhrought the rest of the summer .

<HotBands> Let's talk for a minute about the MP3 and Napster flap. What is your take on that?

<Rumble> I think Napster is kidding themselves if they think they're not breaking a law.. but who doesn't break the occasional law now and then? MP3, on the other hand, is the best thing to happen to independent bands in a long time! We've had nothing but posititve results!

<HotBands> Do you mean MP3 the sound files, or the MP3.com the site?

<Rumble> Both. We started out on MP3.com and now have MP3’s on a bunch of sites. The Internet is full of so many resorces and 99% of them are free. It just takes a little   amibition to figure out which are worth your time and which are just trying to take money from naive bands

<HotBands> How did you find us?

<Rumble> I have no idea... our singer does a lot of the promotional work and I do all the techinical. He sent me an email about your site and I put the banner up.

<HotBands>Well, I want to thank you again for the traffic! You’ve sent a lot of people to our site!