PLAYGROUND BOSTON

 

After a 4 year hiatus, The Marvels have reunited and are ready to wreak havoc upon the Middle East Upstairs on Friday, August 21st. Ask around town, ask anyone who’s been in the Boston scene for a while and you’re bound to hear some crazy stories about their experiences at Marvels shows in the past. Now they’re getting ready to start the band up again and rock Boston’s face off. They’ve put together a great lineup for this show, teaming up with the Dirty Truckers, VAGIANT, and Pulp 45 to bring you a great night of rock madness. With a bill like this the show’s VERY likely to sell out, so we’d recommend picking up tix in advance at the Middle East’s box office or online through Ticketmaster. PGB caught up with The Marvels before the big night to welcome them back, talk about the reunion, and find out what’s in store for the future. Here’s what they had to say…

Oh, and while you’re reading, check out the song “Hate Myself” off of their most recent CD, Cheat to Win. It was actually licensed by FX and appeared on Season 4 of their hit television show “The Shield.”

The Marvels – “Hate Myself” – Cheat to Win

 

 

PGB: So its been 4 years since your last show – where’ve you been?

Matt Zimmerman (guitarist): I was sunbathing in a strip mall parking lot called South Florida.

Chris Stafiej (lead vox): That’s a good question, and one even I only partially know the answer to. I started the Throwaways with Zim and played with them until last May. I guess I’ve been mostly sitting on bar stools and plotting my inevitable return to a life of rock n roll mayhem.

PGB: What caused you guys to break up in the first place?

Jesse Von Kenmore (drummer): Zim went to Florida to work for his brother “for 3 months”. It turned into 2 years.

Staffy: Zim moved to Florida and I planned on moving to Nashville, TN (which I decided against at the last minute). Zim and I both agreed that we didn’t have the time to give The Marvels the energy it deserved, and we had no desire to be one of those bands who plays the same set for 2 years. So rather than fade away or die slowly, we pulled the plug. We wanted to go out ‘on top of our game’ (so to speak) instead of just limping along.

PGB:What made you decide to reunite?

JVK: Same thing that makes some junkies return to drugs, or thrill killers to murder again. It may be self destructive as hell, but ya miss it like crazy and nothing else feels as fucking good.

ZIM: Enough time had pased that we were able to only remember the good times. Same thing that probably motivated the Eagles

Staffy: A real penchant for destruction and self loathing, with an added dash of boredom. Playing in this band has been some of the best (and occasionally worst) times I’ve ever had in my life. We’ll see which it is this time around.

Michelle Paulhus (bassist): The timing was right. The whole idea was tossed around on a Friday evening – that Monday all 5 of us were in the room playing for the first time in 4 years.

Staffy: In all seriousness, everyone in this band is very close to my heart, and it gives me an excuse to get together with them, have fun, get drunk, and do something creative all at the same time. Zim and I have a bunch of song ideas kicking around, and I can’t think of a better bunch of people to play them with.

PGB: What musical projects have each member been involved in since the breakup?

JVK: After the Marvels broke up I played with Wild Zero for a year (did one record), was in The Pug Uglies (with Marvels guitarist Niceguy Jimmy B)  for 2 years till they broke up , and started The New Alibis about a year and a half ago (Two records so far).

Staffy: I was in this hipster/dance/electronica/disco project called I Wear My Girlfriend’s Jeans that got really big in Brooklyn and Germany. Oh… and The Throwaways too.

ZIM: I only did The Throwaways

MP: I continued to play with The Dents, and then joined the Andrea Gillis Band

PGB: Are the songs on your myspace page new recordings with the current lineup, or leftover from 2005?

JVK: One in the same..All those songs are from “Cheat To Win” which was released on Abbey Lounge Records in 2004. This lineup (Staffy, Zim, Jimmy, Michelle and I) came together in spring of 2003 and is the same as on that record. We played a shit ton of shows from 2003-2005.

PGB: How long do you intend for this reunion to last? Are you talking a one-shot deal (plus the show in Portland September 26th at Geno’s, of course), or are you planning on sticking it out, booking some more shows and maybe recording some new songs?

JVK: We’re back, unless we kill each other. We already have a 2nd  Boston show booked for later in September, plans for a video for “Hate Myself” with Mike Gill (Circumvision) are in the works, and hope to be in the studio recording new stuff by around Christmas. Zim’s got plenty of new songs in the cooker. That jew can write rock tunes wikkid good. So I hope we are back in this for real… but The Marvels have aways been a precarious endeavor, so we could be gone tomorrow, but I fucking hope not.

ZIM: I hope to do more but we all have different lives and responsibilities than before. I do have plenty of songs I have written in the past 5 years that I’d love to record, but that shit costs money. We will see.

PGB: Looks like a great lineup for your reunion show! Are the other bands friends of yours, or was the show kind of slapped together with whoever was available?

ZIM: JVK set this one up so he takes the credit, or the blame, for such a diverse lineup. I like it when a show offers this kind of a spectrum of tastes. I am old.

JVK: Good question- Yes they are friends, but The Dirty Truckers, Vagiant and Pulp 45  are also all very good bands that are all very different. Straight up ragged Boston bar rock, Allston punk singalong, some rockabilly… and whatever ya want to call us. For shows to do well in this environment it’s so important to put together shows that are top to bottom high quality bands – lineups that are really entertaining and can draw well together, as well as with people you really like. This is no different than when I put together shows for The New Alibis – bills are NEVER “just thrown together” with whoever’s available. It’s a pain in the ass to do it right, but worth it for a great night. The good news is that there are so many great bands in Boston and we are friends with a ton of ‘em.

PGB: In asking around it seems a lot of people and reviewers consider The Marvels to be one of the best live acts they’ve ever seen. What makes a Marvels show so good?

JVK: Great songs and chemistry. There’s just something about the way the 5 of us fit together that just Rocks like a Hurricane… I’ve been in a ton of good bands, but The Marvels are really special in that regard.

ZIM: Our friends and fans, to begin with. Rock bands should give people the opportunity to cut loose if they want, and that is what a Marvels show is an invitation to do. We are not reinventing the wheel. We also have a certain chemistry when we get together. This is fun for us up there.

Staffy: It’s like watching a car crash that you can participate in.

PGB: What are some of your favorite stories from past shows?

ZIM: In the past our shows have featured band member arrests, fights both including and excluding members, and the rest of the usual debaucheries one would expect. But most of it is hazy at best.

JVK: The guy licking horse shit remnants off Michelle’s boots onstage in Portland was pretty good…The 2005 BCN rumble shows were great, and a lot of epic nights at the Abbey [RIP] and Geno’s [in Portland]. The place would be just packed. the ceiling would just drip sweat…beer flying though the air – chaos! The mini tour with Lost City Angels and Avoid One Thing when Jimmy was wikkid boozed up,  fell in the creek – the jew saved his scally cap as we frolicked with Tiki Torches and chainsaws..

Staffy: Too many to list. Show up on the 21st and help be a part of a new NC-17 rated memory…

PGB: What can we expect for your reunion show on the 21st?

Staffy: Fun, debauchery, and depravity that knows no boundaries… and that’s just the sound check.

JVK: More of the same. A really good time..an assload of fun.

ZIM: Hopefully you will have such a good time you won’t remember any of it.

The Marvels

Dirty Truckers

VAGIANT

Pulp 45

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