INTERVIEW
THE EFFIGIES
 |  Interview by Maria Estrada . Photos by Tim Tonooka |
the EFFIGIES are:
 |  |
[ OBIK: this interview was scanned in by Slaughter on 10th Avenue, who used to run the awesome punk server "Three Legged Dog." ]
WHERE ARE YOU GUYS FROM?
Northside Chicago, Evanston, but we play all of Chicago.
WHAT KIND OF SCENE DO YOU GUYS HAVE OUT IN CHICAGO?
Small but dedicated, burgeoning scene right now.
WHAT'S IT LIKE?
It's over 21 mainly. It's real hardcore and dedicated but they're over 21. There's an underage scene but we haven't tapped into it yet because it hasn't really solidified yet. A lot of people I'm sure are into the music but they don't know each other in the way like people out in LA or San Francisco do.
SO DO YOU THINK IT'S PRETTY BIG OUT THERE RIGHT NOW?
It's going to get big. It's not big right now. We could help it get bigger. There's a lot of great bands coming out of the Midwest.
LIKE WHICH ONES?
Like Toxic Reasons, the Fix, Six Feet Under, the Necros and more and more.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN TOGETHER NOW?
About a year now.
AND YOU GUYS ARE TOURING RIGHT NOW?
Yeah. This is our first tour. We're hitting all the West Coast. We're going up to Vancouver, to Seattle, and then after that we're going to go back down to Los Angeles, Arizona, Texas, New Orleans and back home.
WHAT DOES THE NAME "THE EFFIGIES" STAND FOR?
The old dictionary meaning is like an effigy is something, usually in the form of a man, that's used to take hatred out on...We're not political in any way. It's not to say that we're apathetic but it's just to say we ain't that political. Not that we won't take sides but we won't delineate ourselves politically with the left or right or anything like that.
BUT YOU DO TAKE A POLITICAL STAND IN SOME OF YOUR SONGS.
I suppose that is a political stance if you want to draw sharp strict definitions of it. But on the other hand there's a common definition of politics that I think most people understand that is what we're not. As far as interactions between people, yeah, that's what we sing about.
YOU'RE NOT POLITICAL IN THE SENSE THAT YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELVES WITH A CERTAIN GROUP?
That's right.
PUNK SEEMS TO BE A FORM OF REBELLION. WHY DO YOU COLLECTIVELY FEEL THE NEED TO REBEL?
Because things suck, okay.
IN YOUR SOCIETY OR WHERE YOU COME FROM?
I haven't seen that much of a difference as far as Chicago compared to every other city we've been to. Look at the hippies in the 60's. It's the same type of thing, rebelling against this and that. They had their things to say, but punk has its thing to say as well. It's the same type of thing.
I don't think that I'm rebelling and causing some kind of movement. My lifestyle just will not fit into any normal establishment and I'm not going to follow the basic goals and trends of society.
You get sick of laws for everything. It's like you can't do this and you can't do that. It's just all bullshit. After awhile you just get fed up with it.
Basically it's not that we're an anarchist band or that we're totally antisocial, because we fit in with society. Everybody that's into punk really fits into society in a way, but we're just against basic fuckups in society. There's so many things that could be done much better but they're not getting done much better because people are being crooked, people are greedy, and they're out for themselves. That's what we're basically against. It's not that the system is really bad, but things could be run much better in the system.
I think people are just naturally rebellious in their teenage years, against their parents or whatever. Punk rock has sort of tapped into it. Especially in its most raw form. But on the other hand I think there's a more deep-seated rebellion which is more of a rejection of society's values.
Also, being from Chicago--just to open a club you have to make the big payoffs. The club Oz in Chicago closed down because the guy could not afford to make his payoffs. After awhile it just became so ridiculous that he couldn't afford to do it. These other clubs have big bucks and they can afford to make their payoffs. But that's totally absurd and totally corrupt. The whole system in Chicago is corrupt and the only way you're going to get ahead in life is to be corrupt with them and make the big payoffs. That's bullshit. That's the kind of stuff we're definitely against, for sure.
WHAT KIND OF BACKGROUNDS DO YOU GUYS COME FROM?
Middle class backgrounds. I was born in Europe. I know I come from a poor more than a middle class.
WHAT DID YOU GUYS ALL DO BEFORE YOU WERE IN THE BAND?
We still all have jobs. I make sails for sailboats. We're definitely a working class band. We all work to get ourselves by. We're not people who sit around and mom and dad flashes the bucks to us.
WHAT RECORDS DO YOU HAVE, OTHER THAN THE EP AND THE COMPILATION ALBUM?
The compilation (Busted At Oz) was done on Autumn Records, but our EP--we don't like what Autumn Records is doing. We decided to take the EP into our own hands. The initial pressing was on Autumn Records, but everything else now will be on Ruthless Records which is our own record label. We have an upcoming single Bodybag / Securlty (it's out now).
SO YOU'RE DOING IT ON YOUR OWN?
Yeah. We played a lot of gigs and we saved a lot of money from all the gigs and we'll just put it out ourselves because you could have somebody else back the money but they're going to have some say in what goes on. We said the hell with that.
We had a sort of strong relationship with Autumn Records. I think a lot of the different goals that we had weren't really shared. They were different. One thing I think these new labels have to come to grips with is the fact that a lot of these bands are making a lot more demands on record labels than regular rock and roll bands might. And we just didn't seem to agree on it so we just split from the label. They didn't hold up their end of the bargain either. We put up all the money for our record yet the guy insisted on having a big say in our record. We were paying for it so we figured we'd get the entire say in it. We had better ideas anyway.
WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE PLACES TO PLAY ON THIS TOUR THAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING NOW?
So far Minneapolis is my favorite town. Minneapolis is real wild. Those people are really into it out there. They don't have to dress in green and blue hair to be punks. They know the difference between that.
DO YOU THINK THERE'S A LOT OF THAT IN A LOT OF THE PLACES YOU'VE PLAYED?
On the West Coast people with mowhawks and green and blue hair and safety pins in their face...they look up to some of these bands. It's the same hero worship shit. That's what punk was supposed to be against. It was supposed to be against massive record company attitude and that's almost what it's turning into right now. And it's sad...