The Riverboat Gamblers are made up of Freddy Castro and Ian M on guitar, vocalist Mike Wiebe, bass guitarist Patrick Lillard and Mark Baker on drums. Their latest album is called To The Confusion Of Our Enemies.
Buy To The Confusion Of Our Enemies
Daniel Robert Epstein: Whats going on today, anything good?
Freddy Castro: No, I had the day the off. I was worried I was going to have to talk to you from a construction site on my break, but luckily I had the day off so Im at home right now.
DRE: So construction is your day job?
FC: Yeah, I just do renovations and construction stuff. I just started doing that recently.
DRE: Anything good?
FC: The contractor that I work for is helping to build his own house actually so thats pretty cool. I did concrete scoring and staining and patch work for the first time so Im learning all kinds of new shit, so its not bad.
DRE: I dont know what that stuff means. I cant fix things.
FC: Im building stuff, thats about it.
DRE: What was the inspiration for the new album?
FC: The title is a Frank Sinatra toast. Its a toast that he did all the time. It was one of his favorites and it just seemed appropriate. Its a very subtle nice way to say fuck you to any of the naysayers. Its a very classy thing that he used to do but for the record its about a sense of the inspiration that is really in our lives. Its a culmination of the past couple years of our lives with what weve been going through.
DRE: How does the Sinatra part relate to what you guys were going through the last couple years?
FC: Its loose connection, but in a sense it shows some of the throwbacks of being pigeonholed in this punk rock and roll like way. You feel this weird unintentional pressure to write the same record and we just didnt want to do that.
DRE: Where does that pressure come from?
FC: Its probably a little bit self-inflicted. When youve done really well doing a certain style, it makes it hard to deviate from that but who wants to write the same songs every record? Our songwriting is really honest. Its not really conceptual. Its just a collection of songs that we thought were our best songs at the time and we put them together.
DRE: What is the writing process in the band?
FC: Its pretty chaotic. We all bring in everything that we have and will work through it in practice. None of the songs are the same as when someone first brought them in.
DRE: Whos considered the leader of the group then?
FC: Theres not. It is more of a democratic communist regime. We all have an equal say in everything. We sit down and figure it out with anybody who has points to make. Well discuss it and come up with what we think is best for the band.
DRE: Do any two of the guys team up on anyone else?
FC: No, we havent done that since we were 15.
DRE: Jeez, youve known each other a long time.
FC: Yeah, Mike and I have known each other since 1993. Ive known Patrick since 1995; Ian and I met when he was just 16.
DRE: Did you always want to be in a band together?
FC: Yeah, Mike and I had a couple bands together in high school. Then he and I started another band after a few of our members split from us. Patrick and I got together in a different band. But where we all grew up the music scene is very incestuous. Were all friends and everybodys in someone elses band and youre all in multiple bands at one time. At one point I was in three bands. Everyone in our tight group that eventually became the Riverboat Gamblers had similar but still different takes on music which made it interesting.
DRE: How was it touring with the MC5 here in the States?
FC: The MC5 thing was great, even with the missing members. It was weird and a lot of fun playing with these guys that youve loved for years. Unfortunately we only had a week with them but it was still awesome. Theyre like really nice and approachable.
DRE: Since youve toured solo in Europe, does that mean you are more popular over there?
FC: I have no idea because weve only been there but once. We could be the fucking Yanni of Europe. They might have forgotten about us by now. We dont get too much word from them because we dont have a lot of European ties as far as business. To be honest, some of the shows were hit or miss but the shows that were a hit were really fantastic especially in Holland, Germany and Sweden.
DRE: What did the Rolling Stone article on how well your show went at South by Southwest do for you?
FC: It just came out but our friends and family got really excited about it, because its Rolling Stone. Its a huge thing for us so I was really excited to hear about that.
DRE: Did you feel how good that show was?
FC: Yeah, thats one of the most fun times Ive ever played at Emos and thats been our home base for our shows. It was a packed house and the crowd was really into it.
DRE: Whats pop-rock bowling?
FC: Technically its a three day tournament. Theres a show the first night and then two days of bowling tournaments. But really what it is, is an excuse for every label and every band who gets invited out there to have three nights of drinking and partying and being in Vegas.
DRE: Do you guys actually bowl?
FC: Yeah, but didnt because I had a bad thumb at the time. I hurt it right before we got to Vegas so I had to sit out but a friend with a better bowling average than me played which caused a little controversy. He stepped in for me and bowled while I just sat back and drank. It was actually a lot of fun. I think we came in around 42nd place out of 200 teams. It wasnt too bad for our first time.
DRE: I saw you guys are on a Skate Rock compilation.
FC: Yeah, were doing a Skate Rock compilation and well be on Side One Dummy Warped Tour compilation. Also weve got a single in this Pirates Press box set of seven inch singles.
DRE: Are you guys skaters?
FC: There are three of us that skate. I dont skate like I did when I was 16 or 17 but it was a big part of our lives.
DRE: Your band built your fan base way back when with the single you guys produced yourself, Jenna is a No Show.
FC: Yeah. That seems to be the big standout of the first record.
DRE: How did you like the process of having to do it that?
FC: The thing is, back then we didnt know any other way. We knew that it was very self-motivated but we didnt have that stigma because all weve done our entire lives is get things together ourselves. Being from Denton, youre not exactly in the spotlight of the music industry so we had to put on our own shows when the clubs in Dallas wouldnt put them on for us. Patrick and Michael lived in two houses where we used to put on shows at all the time. We got in touch with our own people to get that first record out. We got Tim Kerr to produce the first two records. It was very much a circle of friends and we just did it ourselves out of necessity really.
DRE: How is it working with Volcom?
FC: Its great. Those guys have been really cool. We just clicked right off the bat and theyve had nothing but support for us with a lot of good communication.
DRE: I read that Patrick really hurt himself recently.
FC: Yeah, he did. Theres been a series of injuries in this band but I think that was definitely the worst. It was in San Francisco at the Parkside. We were playing a show and it was packed and really sweaty. Everybody was drunk and the floor was really hard to maneuver around there. Mike just threw the microphone back and right at the exact same time Pat put his head up and it knocked his front teeth out.
DRE: What are some of the other injuries?
FC: Ive gotten popped in the head with a swinging microphone before, cut me over my left eye. Ive hit Mike over the head with my guitar. Nothing is planned. Nothing is choreographed. Were not like masochistic or anything. It just happens at crazy shows and when you get enough booze thats when that happens. Mike has impaled his hand with a broken glass. Sometimes it gets out of hand but were trying to minimize the amount of emergency room visits.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy To The Confusion Of Our Enemies
Daniel Robert Epstein: Whats going on today, anything good?
Freddy Castro: No, I had the day the off. I was worried I was going to have to talk to you from a construction site on my break, but luckily I had the day off so Im at home right now.
DRE: So construction is your day job?
FC: Yeah, I just do renovations and construction stuff. I just started doing that recently.
DRE: Anything good?
FC: The contractor that I work for is helping to build his own house actually so thats pretty cool. I did concrete scoring and staining and patch work for the first time so Im learning all kinds of new shit, so its not bad.
DRE: I dont know what that stuff means. I cant fix things.
FC: Im building stuff, thats about it.
DRE: What was the inspiration for the new album?
FC: The title is a Frank Sinatra toast. Its a toast that he did all the time. It was one of his favorites and it just seemed appropriate. Its a very subtle nice way to say fuck you to any of the naysayers. Its a very classy thing that he used to do but for the record its about a sense of the inspiration that is really in our lives. Its a culmination of the past couple years of our lives with what weve been going through.
DRE: How does the Sinatra part relate to what you guys were going through the last couple years?
FC: Its loose connection, but in a sense it shows some of the throwbacks of being pigeonholed in this punk rock and roll like way. You feel this weird unintentional pressure to write the same record and we just didnt want to do that.
DRE: Where does that pressure come from?
FC: Its probably a little bit self-inflicted. When youve done really well doing a certain style, it makes it hard to deviate from that but who wants to write the same songs every record? Our songwriting is really honest. Its not really conceptual. Its just a collection of songs that we thought were our best songs at the time and we put them together.
DRE: What is the writing process in the band?
FC: Its pretty chaotic. We all bring in everything that we have and will work through it in practice. None of the songs are the same as when someone first brought them in.
DRE: Whos considered the leader of the group then?
FC: Theres not. It is more of a democratic communist regime. We all have an equal say in everything. We sit down and figure it out with anybody who has points to make. Well discuss it and come up with what we think is best for the band.
DRE: Do any two of the guys team up on anyone else?
FC: No, we havent done that since we were 15.
DRE: Jeez, youve known each other a long time.
FC: Yeah, Mike and I have known each other since 1993. Ive known Patrick since 1995; Ian and I met when he was just 16.
DRE: Did you always want to be in a band together?
FC: Yeah, Mike and I had a couple bands together in high school. Then he and I started another band after a few of our members split from us. Patrick and I got together in a different band. But where we all grew up the music scene is very incestuous. Were all friends and everybodys in someone elses band and youre all in multiple bands at one time. At one point I was in three bands. Everyone in our tight group that eventually became the Riverboat Gamblers had similar but still different takes on music which made it interesting.
DRE: How was it touring with the MC5 here in the States?
FC: The MC5 thing was great, even with the missing members. It was weird and a lot of fun playing with these guys that youve loved for years. Unfortunately we only had a week with them but it was still awesome. Theyre like really nice and approachable.
DRE: Since youve toured solo in Europe, does that mean you are more popular over there?
FC: I have no idea because weve only been there but once. We could be the fucking Yanni of Europe. They might have forgotten about us by now. We dont get too much word from them because we dont have a lot of European ties as far as business. To be honest, some of the shows were hit or miss but the shows that were a hit were really fantastic especially in Holland, Germany and Sweden.
DRE: What did the Rolling Stone article on how well your show went at South by Southwest do for you?
FC: It just came out but our friends and family got really excited about it, because its Rolling Stone. Its a huge thing for us so I was really excited to hear about that.
DRE: Did you feel how good that show was?
FC: Yeah, thats one of the most fun times Ive ever played at Emos and thats been our home base for our shows. It was a packed house and the crowd was really into it.
DRE: Whats pop-rock bowling?
FC: Technically its a three day tournament. Theres a show the first night and then two days of bowling tournaments. But really what it is, is an excuse for every label and every band who gets invited out there to have three nights of drinking and partying and being in Vegas.
DRE: Do you guys actually bowl?
FC: Yeah, but didnt because I had a bad thumb at the time. I hurt it right before we got to Vegas so I had to sit out but a friend with a better bowling average than me played which caused a little controversy. He stepped in for me and bowled while I just sat back and drank. It was actually a lot of fun. I think we came in around 42nd place out of 200 teams. It wasnt too bad for our first time.
DRE: I saw you guys are on a Skate Rock compilation.
FC: Yeah, were doing a Skate Rock compilation and well be on Side One Dummy Warped Tour compilation. Also weve got a single in this Pirates Press box set of seven inch singles.
DRE: Are you guys skaters?
FC: There are three of us that skate. I dont skate like I did when I was 16 or 17 but it was a big part of our lives.
DRE: Your band built your fan base way back when with the single you guys produced yourself, Jenna is a No Show.
FC: Yeah. That seems to be the big standout of the first record.
DRE: How did you like the process of having to do it that?
FC: The thing is, back then we didnt know any other way. We knew that it was very self-motivated but we didnt have that stigma because all weve done our entire lives is get things together ourselves. Being from Denton, youre not exactly in the spotlight of the music industry so we had to put on our own shows when the clubs in Dallas wouldnt put them on for us. Patrick and Michael lived in two houses where we used to put on shows at all the time. We got in touch with our own people to get that first record out. We got Tim Kerr to produce the first two records. It was very much a circle of friends and we just did it ourselves out of necessity really.
DRE: How is it working with Volcom?
FC: Its great. Those guys have been really cool. We just clicked right off the bat and theyve had nothing but support for us with a lot of good communication.
DRE: I read that Patrick really hurt himself recently.
FC: Yeah, he did. Theres been a series of injuries in this band but I think that was definitely the worst. It was in San Francisco at the Parkside. We were playing a show and it was packed and really sweaty. Everybody was drunk and the floor was really hard to maneuver around there. Mike just threw the microphone back and right at the exact same time Pat put his head up and it knocked his front teeth out.
DRE: What are some of the other injuries?
FC: Ive gotten popped in the head with a swinging microphone before, cut me over my left eye. Ive hit Mike over the head with my guitar. Nothing is planned. Nothing is choreographed. Were not like masochistic or anything. It just happens at crazy shows and when you get enough booze thats when that happens. Mike has impaled his hand with a broken glass. Sometimes it gets out of hand but were trying to minimize the amount of emergency room visits.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
courtneyriot:
The Riverboat Gamblers are made up of Freddy Castro and Ian M on guitar, vocalist Mike Wiebe, bass guitarist Patrick Lillard and Mark Baker on drums. Their latest album is called To The Confusion Of Our Enemies...
jameson13:
I have never seen a more energetic live show than the Gamblers. It's not uncommon to see Mike swinging from the rafters, wading through the crowd or rolling on the floor, all while singing his little heart out. I miss seeing Mike and Fadi at The Brickhaus in Denton getting some coffee and nursing a hangover.