I remember the first time I heard MxPx. I was
at a party and the DJ spun “Punk Rawk Show”
from the “Teenage Politics” album.
I had to know who this band was. The next day
I headed out to buy my own copy, and have been
buying MxPx records since. From indie success
to major labels and back to their indie roots,
MxPx has had an interesting career. I spoke with
drummer Yuri Ruley about the band’s new
album “Secret Weapon” available on
Tooth And Nail Records.
Jim McDonald: What’s new with MxPx?
Yuri Ruley: Right now we’re out on a week
long promo tour. We’re doing in store performances.
We were just in Philadelphia and Los Vegas. Now
we’re in Santa Ana
Jim: How’s the new album being received?
Yuri: Really, really well. I think this is something
our fans have wanted for many, many years. They
wanted a return to the old stuff we did, a little
harder and a little faster and we kind of did
that on this record.
Jim: I got the album a few days ago and I was
pleasantly surprised by it. I’ve been listening
to MxPx since “Teenage Politics” came
out.
Yuri: That’s quite a while.
Jim: I was really surprised to hear a few songs
that sounded like earlier albums like “Teenage
Politics” and included a bit of new wave
influence which I didn’t expect at all.
Did the writing process change?
Yuri: I don’t think the writing process
changed at all. Being back on Tooth And Nail there
wasn’t any pressure on writing, to write
whatever’s hot now. That was they way it
was when we were on Tooth And Nail before as well.
We’d write a record, bring it in and they’d
be like sweet, let’s put it out. It wasn’t
like that on a major label. You’d write
like thirty-five songs and they’d be like
back to the drawing board, boys. On Tooth and
Nail we write like twenty five and they’re
like awesome, let’s do it. I think it’s
allowed us to do what we want and have some hard
songs and some fast songs. On other labels we
still did it, it was just much less.
Jim: “Secret Weapon” is an interesting
album in that it’s a logical progression
from the albums you recorded for Side One Dummy,
while still sounding more like early MxPx than
anything the band has put out in some time.
Yuri: Yeah! Totally.
Jim: How did you come to be back on Tooth And
Nail Records?
Yuri: We worked with them on a re-release that
was put out last year. We saw how the label runs
now and met the new people working there. It was
quite a different experience They actually approached
us and asked if it would be OK if they put together
a deal to offer us. They made us and offer and
we were really surprised by it. I think we realized
that an offer like this comes maybe not once in
a lifetime, but certainly not often.
Jim: I know some of the fans are happy to see
you back on Tooth And Nail. I was talking to a
few people about having the opportunity to MxPx
and I heard things like “they were a great
band when they were a Christian band” and
“I heard they’re back on Tooth and
Nail, so they must be a Christian band again.”
Do you get a lot of this?
Yuri: We don’t get a lot of that anymore.
When we originally left Tooth And Nail it was
a really big concern for our fans. I think as
we’ve continued to do what we do and to
be ourselves people have realized that we’re
not a Christian band per se, at least not in the
way that we’re using the band to further
the kingdom of God. We’re three Christian
guys who happen to be in a band that we started
because of it. A lot of fans were upset at first,
not to say everyone was there were some that didn’t
care. Now that we’re back on Tooth And Nail
it’s like some of the old fans are breathing
a sigh of relief. They feel like now I can start
listening to them again, even though the music
and lyrics haven’t changed at all.
Jim: I kind of find that view a little humorous,
because MxPx has never released lyrics that were
offensive or that a Christian couldn’t listen
to. This also doesn’t seem to apply to other
fields. When was the last time you heard someone
say “that guy was a great plumber when he
was a Christian plumber”?
Yuri: (laughing) Yeah, exactly! That carries
it through to it’s logical conclusion. You
wouldn’t say that about other professions
like plumbers or whatever. We’ve tried to
talk to people about this and really get down
to the nitty gritty and find a way for everyone
to understand. Sometimes people get it and sometimes
they don’t. All that to say that we do still
get that, but not often. It doesn’t really
bother us anymore.
Jim: The production on the new album is stellar.
Just an hour ago I listened to it through headphones
for the first time and I was blown away by how
many things I had missed just listening casually.
There’s a lot going on.
Yuri: We had a lot of things pinned down in the
demo phase. We had fifteen days to make the record,
so we were under the gun. We did the drums in
a day and the bass in like half a day and then
concentrated on guitars and vocals. We worked
with Aaron Sprinkle who produced our first album
and has just worked with a wide range of artists.
A lot of the little things you’d go oh where
did that come from just came from hearing the
songs in the studio and someone gets an idea.
But yeah, there’s a lot going on.
Jim: The album has a really aggressive sound
while still keeping the production slick.
Yuri: Yeah, we worked with Aaron on the re-release
and when I heard the sound he got from my drums
I was like this is who I want to work with.
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