Originally published in Mostly Harmless Magazine #0 & reprinted for Mostly Harmless Magazine #1. This interview has also been published as a Mostly Harmless Podcast episode.
This is a Vintage interview with A Wilhelm Scream circa 2005. This interview took place in Colorado Springs at the building that would eventually become the home to THE BLACK SHEEP. The interview was one of the first interviews, where I was finding my footing. Learning to banter and jump back and forth. I look back at this interview and it reads like AWS were such assholes, and years later I reconnected with their touring guitarist Curtis Lopez and it turns out the guys were huge dicks at this early point in their career, but who wasn’t a huge dick in their 20’s?
But what I remember of that night, was being madly in love with this little band since their previous adventures in Colorado Springs with Pinhead Circus a few years earlier, when the band was still touring as Smackin’ Isaiah. AWS showing up in Colorado Springs during this particular summer was just what I needed to jump back into my hobby of interviewing bands, after a few years of depression inspired sabbatical.
I loved this interview. I had so much fun bantering with the fellas. I had so much fun being shit talked by Nuno to ask questions faster! I was hanging out with my heroes.
This interview was published on Myspace before becoming the center piece of Mostly Harmless Magazine Issue #0, before being reprinted in Mostly Harmless Magazine Issue #1 in 2005. While on Myspace, I took the audio from this interview and turned it into what would be a prototype for the eventual Mostly Harmless podcast, in fact the very first Mostly Harmless Podcast episode is this interview, along with an interview with THE ERGS, to show people what I was going for with Mostly Harmless.
Thank you to Nuno Pereira, Christopher Levesque & Curtis Lopez for taking the time to talk with an awkward 24 year old kid as he was just discovering his love of PBR and harassing bands with questions. This interview helped my life take off into the direction to the place that I am today. I will be forever grateful to AWS for this night, the memories and all the great shows I’ve witnessed them at in the last 20 years.
Want to listen to the audio of this interview? Download the Mostly Harmless Podcast preview episode from: https://mostlyharmlesspodcast.com/flashback-episode-1-w-a-wilhelm-scream-the-ergs/
Thank you to Nuno Pereira, Christopher Levesque & Curtis Lopez for taking the time to talk with an awkward 24 year old kid as he was just discovering his love of PBR and harassing bands with questions. This interview helped my life take off into the direction to the place that I am today. I will be forever grateful to AWS for this night, the memories and all the great shows I’ve witnessed them at in the last 20 years.
Want to listen to the audio of this interview? Download the Mostly Harmless Podcast preview episode from: https://mostlyharmlesspodcast.com/flashback-episode-1-w-a-wilhelm-scream-the-ergs/
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“The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect first recorded in 1951 for the movie Distant Drums. It has been featured in dozens of movies since. …It is probably the most well-known cinematic sound cliché.” -Answers.com
There is nothing “stock” sounding about the unconventional band known to the world as A Wilhelm Scream. With their gripping melodies and invigorating guitar parts of punk, metal and jazz, AWS burst onto the scene in 2002 as Smackin’ Isaiah, with their release, “Benefits of Thinking Out Loud,” on Jump Start records. Shortly after, CHRIS LEVESQUE joined the band and that’s when everything, including their name, changed. They signed up with Nitro Records and recorded “MUTE PRINT” in 2004 with the Blasting Room crew of Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore. After years of relentless touring, June 2005 found the band back in Colorado Springs, supporting The Lawrence Arms. The following interview transpired after several, SEVERAL alcoholic beverages …
(thanks to Willow for editing this for me…)
Nuno: Check. Check. One. Two. Nuno Pereira. Lets go. Fucking do this shit. Drink beers.
That’s Nuno. Who are you?
Chris: I’m Chris, dawg.
Cobra: Cobra.
Chris: AKA Rabbit, AKA Rookie of the Year.
Cobra: Or just Curtis.
Chris: AKA Tiffany.
Cobra, how long you been in the band. You’re new, huh?
Cobra: 3 months?
You don’t know any of the songs off of … Umm …
Chris: “Benefits Of Thinking Out Loud.”
Cobra: No, No, and if I knew I was going to be getting so much shit every day… I would have fucking learned the whole thing.
Nuno: It was a tough regiment …
Chris: When I joined the band, everyone wanted to hear shit off of “A Way to A Girl’s Heart is Though Her Boyfriend’s Stomach.” So I know exactly how you feel.
Cobra: I will learn it, I promise.
Chris: They were all like “Play ‘Bowling.’” and I don’t know that shit.
I know why you guys changed your name, but why did you guys change your name?
Chris: Because Smackin’ Isaiah was a SHITTY name.
Nuno: You heard it here first. Chris is fucking correct. It was a terrible name. Thank you Chris for joining the band and giving us a fresh start.
Cobra: When I first heard of the band …
Chris: Nobody liked the idea of A Wilhelm Scream. And I pushed that shit, so hard, until other people liked it.
Nuno: And he always pushes hard, by the way, ladies.
Chris: Yeah. Really hard.
Nuno: Next question, next question. Next question.
Cobra: Wait, wait, wa …
Nuno: No!
Chris: No waiting!
Nuno: Next Question!
Cobra: I thought it was a ska band when I first heard the name.
Nuno: SHUT UP FUCKING ROOKIE!
Chris: Ease up, Rabbit
So what kind of confusion did you guys run into? ‘Cause when I was looking for Smackin’ Isaiah, I fell in love with you guys. Last time you were here, I was looking for Smackin’ Isaiah. And I was wondering what the fuck happened to you guys… Now you are A Wilhelm Scream…
Nuno: We tour so much that we thought we would cover it. We went through Denver and Fort Collins with the name change. We figured that most of our fans were people who come out to shows, anyway. So if they came out to a show …
Chris: Word of mouth spread pretty fast about the name change. And the most common confusion is that we are straight. When really we are SO GAY.
YES! So … Where are you guys staying tonight? [Wink wink]
Nuno: In Denver. With two of our very, very good friends.
Pinhead circus? Err Love me Destroyer? Whatever the fuck their name is today. Next week it’ll be a different name …
Nuno: Nah it’ll be the same.
Chris (to Nuno): Hey your girlfriend E-mailed me a link to download our new record. So we can smoke them!
Can you get me that link?
Chris: NOOOOOOOOOOO!
So you guys just recorded at the Blasting Room again? What was the difference between last time and this time?
Chris: Like two more weeks.
Nuno: We recorded “Mute Print” in about nine days or eight days.
Chris: Recorded in nine and mixed in two. This one was recorded in two weeks and they mixed it for a week.
Nuno: No, We were there a little longer than two weeks.
Chris: Yeah, I know. We did the tracking for like 2 to 2½ weeks. And then mixed it for another week. So it sounds way better.
What was the difference for you guys, recording the new album?
Chris: It was hell on earth.
Nuno: I think the biggest difference was that we were touring so much that we didn’t get so much practice. We would kind of go into the studio with these brand new songs that were literally brand new to some of us, like certain things. We had practiced the best we could.
Chris: There were parts that we had to figure out in the studio. Things got rewritten and rearranged and shit. They really ran us through the ringer this time because we didn’t have the luxury of so much time last time, so this time they really fucking drove us. It was fucking hell.
Nuno: Next Question!
When you guys record. What do you guys bring to the table? What’s different every time?
Nuno: Our music, especially a lot of the guitar work, and some of the harmonies and stuff like that. We always try to come up with better ideas for them. The standard is pretty played out. So we try to keep it fresh.
Chris: We try to play to the absolute limit to what we can physically do. And we do that to every song. There were a couple of songs that were made on this record that were first written, that when they first came up, we couldn’t even play them. We were like “We can’t play this, but we’ve got a year-and-a-half to learn them. So lets do it.”
So what can we expect from this new album? What’s the difference from this and “Mute Print”?
Nuno: I think the songs are a little more—I don’t want to say “structured.” I think how we always try to keep songs, and people, on their toes for like changes and stuff like that. This album has a lot of that. At the same time, it has a lot of big anthems. A lot of sing-along type shit. Which I’ve been dying for. I think I sang a lot cleaner. I think you can understand most of the words I sing on the album.
Cobra: Its more focused sounding.
Chris: Its different …
Cobra: Its refined.
Chris: Its not so different that its not like this is a different band.
Nuno: Next question. Next question.
Chris: Fuck off.
Drunken group interviews are fun! So I was reading through the song titles. What’s up with “The Kids …”
Cobra: “The kids can eat a bag of dicks?”
“The kids can eat a bag of dicks.”
Nuno: Two words. Fuck that. The Internet is weird, and it’s a funny place where people like to talk shit. Then people try to have fun with their band and themselves …
Chris: You get a bunch of shit-talking little bitches.
Nuno: And things get construed and then a song title changes from what is was into “The Kids can eat a bag of dicks.”
I was hoping it was something about all the scenesters wearing girl pants, or something like that.
Nuno: You know what? It’s good enough that you can wrap that up in it too.
Chris: It’s about the kids who I don’t really think even like the music. They just want to talk shit, just for the sake of talking shit. They just want something to hate and we happen to be a pretty popular thing to hate right now. I don’t care about the people that don’t like us. I only care about the people who do like us. I don’t have time to think about people who don’t like us.
Nuno: Next question. Heh. I have a cold pitcher of beer and we have to load out. Lets do this!
You guys sit in a van all fucking day on the way to the show—well, except for today, because it was only an hour drive—how the hell do you guys get out and put on that fucking show you guys put on, every day? Even for a little crowd like this?
Cobra: You get to sleep in quite a bit.
Nuno: People come to see a show. You know what I mean? We’re not here to give a half-assed show. Every night you should be the fucking best. Sometimes we’re not the best but we always have the best intentions.
Cobra: Like tonight for me … Heh.
Nuno: Like this is what we do. Why not? Why not do it the best you can? I’ve always said: Five, 50 or 500 kids, it doesn’t fucking matter. You have to go out there and do your thing.
So when does this new album drop?
Chris: August 16th.
When can you guys give me a copy of it?
Everyone: August 16th.
Are you saying I have to buy this album?
Nuno: I’m saying everyone and their mother should buy this album.
Okay. Last words. How about them damned Red Sox?
Nuno: Yeah! First place baby!
Cobra: They fucking kick ass this year.
Chris: Shit birds.
You’re the Yankee’s fan I was reading about weren’t you?
Chris: You’re goddamned right I am! Although I will admit they are fucking terrible this year.
Nuno: Thank you very much for listening to this interview if you made it this far into the interview or reading or whatever you are doing with this thing. It was a pleasure, but its time to go drink.
Chris: But if George Steinbrenner happens to read it, trade Kevin brown and Tom Gordon, please?
Cobra: Fuck your catch Eddie Murphy [Who knows what he said.]
At least you guys don’t have the fucking Rockies. The Rockies are in a desperate fight for last place. They’re like, “No, we’re worse than the Royals. No! We’re worse than the Royals.”
Chris: Tell George Steinbrenner to trade all those old ass mother fuckers.
It was fucking awesome seeing you guys. Hope to see you guys again soon. Maybe I’ll come in there and drink a few more beers with you. Maybe I’ll buy a couple. Unless you guys want to give me some beer. Heh.
Chris: Give? How much money do you think we get paid?!
Cobra, let me ask you a couple of things real quick: How do you like being on the road with these guys?
Cobra: I’m fucking really liking it.
How many shows has this been? How long have you been on the road?
Chris: HE HATES US!
Cobra: It’s been like maybe three weeks so far. 2½ weeks—something like that.
This your first tour?
Cobra: Well we did a little thing with Boy Sets Fire. It was cool to see those guys playing again. And then this. And this has been a really fun thing. I’m liking it.
Visit http://www.awilhelmscream.com and http://www.nitrorecords.com for more information on their upcoming release, “RUINER.”
