Hey guys, this is Katie from my We Show Still Sleeping on WXAV 88.3 FM Chicago. And here's my interview with Joey Kate from Lag Wagon for the Fat Records 25 years to her. So Fat Rec has been around for 25 years and so has it to her going for you guys and what's it like to be a part of something like this? Well the girls are going great.
We've actually only done two of the fat shows so far. Okay. So, you know, I don't want to jinx it but it's so far it's just been awesome. Yeah, cool.
It's a strong show and then we had a Halifax show and we've been doing kind of shows in between but it's also been good. So far it's, yeah, it's really great and to be a part of it. It's kind of hard to put into where it feels pretty good to be a part of something that's long. You know, it's still going and all the band on the tour is just great people and we're having so much fun.
It's only the second show that we've had. We have the third show tomorrow and I already feel like it's going to be too short. So I'm pretty sure you guys get this question a lot. Where did the band name come from?
Lag Wagon. Oh, it was something that actually my brother came up with when we were kids. My mom drove a station wagon and he called her the conductor of the lag wagon. And then that was when I was like six years old or something and it was just something that stuck with me through life.
And so, you know, 20 years later, 10 year whatever was when lag wagon started, we had a, we had this sort of nine passenger mini bus, flash band thing that we were touring and it broke down all the time. And we, we made it to lag wagon because, you know, it was always falling behind. And then we were called Section 8 back then. Yeah, Section 8.
And when we made our first record, we were still Section 8, but we, before we released it, decided to change the name because there was like a gangster rap band, kind of like NWA, Compton as well, called Section 8. We were kind of like, I don't really want to mess with both guys. They got their own mouth first. We'll just let them have it, you know.
Yeah. And, and it was a bunch of other bands. There was a punk band from the Pacific Northwest, like Portland or something that was called Section 8. It's just one of those overuse names.
So, made a long name list and lag wagon was on it. And that, that was it. It's a good name. Thanks.
I don't know. I sometimes think it's not. But, you know, because one of those names where you say, people go, what's the name of your band? You say, lag wagon and they go, what?
And you think, they're never going to remember that. Yeah. But what are you going to do? Not true.
Who are some of your biggest influences you would say when it comes to your writing? Because I know you've been a lot with lag wagon, me first and gaming gaming game. He's a bad astronaut. Are there all like different influences for that?
Or is it? Yeah. I mean, you know, and it changes throughout the years, I suppose. I mean, when I was a kid, I was, you know, obviously ended up at the goals and timing and got a phone call and I was like, I'm pretty dense, clear about to revive all that, you know, anything bulky as well.
And whatever my parents listened to, which fortunately for me was a lot of singers, all that kind of stuff. And I grew up listening to that and when I got a little older, you know, I mean, once I was 9 or 10, I started listening to the metal and then later, punk rock kind of came around. I'm pretty old guy. But as far as lag wagon, when I mean, the influences, I think that played the most part in the early days were, you know, bands like that related to like the stuff or album came out.
I bad was, I remember. Yeah. I love it. Wow.
You can do this with harmony and melody like like Simon and Garfunkel, but it's punk. I just remember thinking this is amazing. And we were really into a band from our hometown that we all actually were played in at one time or another called RKL that they kind of created a lot of like the hiccup breaks and the kind of things that we did. I feel like they invented.
So there was a kind of a mix of hometown sounds bands that we came from and then bands like that religion that had now. But with punk, it's kind of always hard to say and metal. There's just so many great bands. A lot of times when you use influence correctly, it's not directly calculated.
It's more of a, oh, that exists and it kind of goes into your brain and becomes part of your repertoire by actually. Yeah. That would be exciting. Is in Chicago.
I'm pretty sure you guys have played here a bunch of times. So do you like coming to Chicago? And what do you like to do when you're in Chicago? Well, a lot of really good friends there.
So speaking personally, you usually hang out with my friends and get drunk. That's awesome. That's pretty much what I end up doing. You know, it's kind of like I have any time there.
I end up at Ginger and, you know, over by Metro, little bar, friend of mine runs, you hang out with buddies, you know, from bands. I mean, Lawrence Arms come to mind, you know, good cows and you know, the alkaline guys, alkaline show guys. But there's a bunch of people I know the way that they're in Chicago that are just good, you know, really good people. I've yet to meet somebody from Chicago that I didn't like.
Oh, okay. It's a weird thing, you know, and you don't say that very often. Yeah. I mean, I have plenty of friends in New York, but there are people that I have met that I don't like there.
Yeah. And I can definitely say that about a lot of the end of it, you know what I mean? But Chicago is one of those pounds where I kind of get it. I don't know.
Well, the food, obviously the pizza rolls and it's just great city. I've never had a bad time in Chicago. That's awesome. I hope this is a good story.
Oh, yeah. I'm super stoked to see you guys next Monday. So I'll definitely come for that. Yeah, I wish it wasn't Monday.
Yeah, right. That's the problem of the week because it's always going to be a Monday show. You just hope it doesn't land in a town like Chicago. Yeah.
Yeah. I guess hopefully it'll be good. Yeah, it should be awesome. I think so.
So this is kind of really it's one of the questions. Like, who are you listening to right now that you would suggest to somebody else? Like, hey, go check out this band or go check out this person. Oh, boy.
Well, I mean, I do like career solo records or any of those needs that kind of stuff. Any sort of a cop out answer in a way. Yeah, because I'm working on it. I'll end up listening to that kind of music more than almost anything else.
I'm going to do the old sheet and look at my agent. Like the latest stuff and it is. Oh, man, I've been listening to this band from Texas called Bob Goblin. Bob Goblin.
I think it was their last record called Love Loss or Blood Loss. Okay. Love Loss for Blood Loss. Yeah, Bob Goblin.
That's my favorite record right now. And it's kind of like hard explain. It's almost like Devo meets Weezer meets. I don't know.
They've got a real heavy-edge tune and it's really progressive. The music's really kind of deceivingly simple. I guess that's the way you'd say it. It's pretty difficult.
Or is it the other way around? I always get that wrong. Beatingly difficult or deceivingly simple. But basically, music is sound simple.
Going to try to learn it. The arrangements are really incredible. And some of them are just awesome and they just have their own sound. And that record's just amazing.
The melodies are so good. I'll definitely check them out. So this is kind of, I don't know if it's a couple of good questions. So you've juggled a lot of projects like Good Bad Astronaut, Me First and the Gimme Gimmies, and Lag Wagon.
It's not even a managed that. It's just like a big time management thing or kind of what you're feeling with them. I didn't mind, Lag Wagon. I mean, Me First and Gimme each hard day ever doing anything.
One tour a year maybe and it's usually pretty short and it's hard to get everybody together. That afternoon, it's even last, you know, but after every few years we do something and we've done so little that it just doesn't count. You know, and the other things I've done are similar. The only other thing that's besides Lag Wagon, it's time consuming that I do is solo stuff.
You know, I have a new record coming out in September and I was over right after this, like five weeks. That I do a lot of, I mean, Lag Wagon tours. And that's just so I don't have to get a real job and I love it. But you know, the other bands in general has generally always been a reaction.
This is what I love to do. And if the band is going to take breaks, you know, I can either, I have no credentials to do anything else. I can either go back to, I guess, painting houses I'd do that before the band. Oh man.
Which is a great, it's a great line of work and I love it. But you know, it's also really great to play me 16th. Yeah. You know, it's just one of a, that's why it always can happen.
But I do really like doing a acoustic thing, you know, sort of the opposite in many ways of what I do with lag and I think it gets to the soul of the song kind of quicker and more pure way. And so I like doing that and do a lot of that. Yeah. It's just answered my next question too.
Pretty good man. So whenever lag is not working, you know, kind of the answer really. I got one more question for you. So we're at College Radio Station and I wanted to ask your opinion on College Radio what you think about it, you think it's important for the music industry.
And if you've had any personal experiences with any College Radio stations? Yeah. I actually had a show for a little while when I was in college at the place of the Oklahoma State University in Northern California. And I can't remember their call number.
It's so long ago. I mean, so I got to figure that out someday. And I used to do like kind of guess stuff on a place. Another one another college that I once you for a while, like a junior college kind of got called the callers were Kager, like K-G-R-G or something, really K-G-G-R or something.
I don't know, that one had a really land name Kager perfect for college. Right? Yeah. I think it's always been a really valuable source for music.
I mean, you know, it's obviously very different now with streaming in the way things are. I mean, radio is a completely different animal. It's a much smaller part of the equation. But certainly in the early days, we had mainstream radio that went off Billboard charting and this sort of thing.
Even if it was specialized, it still mattered what records sold. College radio stations generally have independent shows where people play what they want to play. There might be like a program director, but the program director is usually pretty cool. And I discovered so much music in my life from listening to college radio.
So, you know, in my hometown, there was a punk show that I would listen to. It was like 1 a.m. on Sunday or something. But, you know, I would stay up for it and always discover new bands through this girl bath.
I haven't seen it in 20 years, you know? But I remember her and remember how cool her show was. My band would go play it. And we used to play, there was regular college stations that we would go play to, you know, in house to form a fair.
It's always been cool. It's hard to really know what the state of it is nowadays other than when, you know, I do interviews every once in a while, but we don't hear about it as much as I used to. But I imagine that it's still equally important. I mean, there are people on campuses, you know, and they listen to you and have to be a good thing.
Yeah, I do. I do my own show. I do a punk show, obviously. And there's also this thing they started doing at the radio day and going one of the stations who are in charge of it.
So, it's like the one day all the stations come together and they try and play all their interviews and try and do all this cool stuff to try and still say, you know, college videos still alive. No, it's record for day. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Great.
So, I think it's that the first week of October. Be on tour in the States and in the first week of October. I'll have to see if there's any way to honor it somehow. Yeah, maybe you can come through here if it'll work out or something.
I'll have to figure out where we are. That's neat. Cool. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to talk to me.
I hope you guys have a good show tonight and I'm definitely stoked to see you guys next Monday. So, if you're at your booth, I'll come and say what's up and everything. So, get a picture of whatnot. Alright, well, you have a good day.
Thank you. See ya. See ya. See ya.
See ya.