Criminal Hygiene: Interview

Los Angeles rock band CRIMINAL HYGIENE exchanged a few words with me below to discuss their new upcoming tour and the importance of education. 

Who is in the band and where are you guys from?

The band is Michael Fiore from Smithtown, New York, Michael Hiller from Manhattan Beach, California, and Birdman from Tacoma, Washington. 

What brought all of you together?

Fiore was going to college at USC and all our friends were kinda living in the same neighborhood playing music together in different bands. We started Small Smile Records to self release all our material and have shows and everyone was focused around that. We eventually all lived in a huge house in the ghetto and recorded and practiced there, but mostly played basketball and drank Colt-45. 

Who thought of the name Criminal Hygiene? Was there any other possible names for the band?

Original bassist, James Watson, who left the band a little over a year ago came up with the name. It was part of a lyric to the chorus of our song "Teeth", which was vaguely about him knocking his front teeth out skateboarding. Honestly, we needed a name quickly and we thought it was catchy and kinda funny so we just ran with it. It doesn't really mean anything, we've had a good laugh with it. We actually never considered any other names which I guess is interesting. 

Who has influenced your music?

I mean, you name it, and we've probably been influenced by it. We are all into a lot of music, and probably consider ourselves students of music. I'm personally always going back and trying to find the band that influenced the band that I like, and then going back even further and seeing who influenced them. We're all into classic rock, country, punk rock, classic pop and even some new wave and disco, old ska, all kinds of shit. We're big on songwriting. I would say we all agree on Jeff Tweedy and James Mercer as some of our modern favorites. 

In your opinion what is the current state of rock and roll?

I've got this romantic idea of what rock and roll is supposed to be like. I feel like it lacks some of the danger and mystery of previous years, probably due to the fact that you can find anything you want about any band on the Internet now. Things have changed a lot, some for better some for worse. There's a lot of saturation now, and a lot of that idea of anyone can start a band now with a facebook or twitter page and a few garageband recordings. Some of that is good, because more people are creating now, but on the flip side it becomes harder for serious musicians and bands to make a living off of their craft. In Los Angeles specifically I've noticed a trend of hip garage bands all kind of doing the same thing, some of it seemingly based more on image and shit than actual songs, and most of it turns me off, but if you sift through there's a couple of great rock and roll bands out there. We're not one of them yet. 

Why is it important to get an education?

To not get fucked or fall behind. Its really good to be one step ahead of people in the music world, and I think being educated and dedicating yourself to learning about your field is imperative. Its personally helped me time and time again. And I'm not saying everyone needs to go to college if they don't want to, I'm just talking about educating yourself about a project you're about to undertake, such as starting a band. It really helps to seek out others who have been doing it a while and pick their brain. To me that is the most important education to us right now. 

Favorite subjects to revolve your lyrics and songs around?

I write about what I know, as cliche as that sounds. A lot of lyrics can end up being really personal, which I think is gratifying.

Criminal Hygiene for FYF 2015?

Who we gotta kidnap to make this happen?

How did your beef start with Buzz Bands LA?

Well I caught Kevin Bronson, head BuzzBands writer, asleep on a chair at FYF and I tweeted about it. After a long battle of words we concluded that we are going to have a foot race for charity. If I win, he's gotta wear a Criminal hygiene T shirt for a week and donate to a charity of his choice. A feud isn't always a bad thing. 

Best experience you've had during a live show? Worst experience you've had during a live show?

Some time in March we played the Troubadour in LA on tour with The Orwells and we just really nailed the show. It was packed and we weren't too drunk to fuck everything up and we just really played well. We could all feel it, and it is hard to explain It was a really special moment for us as a band. Worst experience recently was probably on tour in Tucson, AZ. We were a bit late to set up our stuff, kinda got sidetracked with friends from town and played air hockey at a bar instead of setting up and sound checking. We were drinking and then went on stage and we were just terrible that night and no one could care less about us. haha. It was kinda fun to taunt them though I guess.

How do you determine when a song or a project is worth releasing out to the public? As a band would you say you are all often satisfied with your own work?

We usually write stuff separately, like bits of a song or maybe even a complete song that could use some work and start playing it as a band. Once we practice it a bunch and we decide its ready to be tried out at a live show, then we demo it and maybe show some people and get it ready for the public. But it all starts in the practice room and then gets played live before it is recorded. I'd say we aren't ever really satisfied, and that's what keeps us going. 

Lastly what are your plans for the remainder of 2014?  Project?Tour?

We are playing this weekend in Tempe, AZ and then in November we go on a 2 week tour with Twin Peaks and Meatbodies up the coast and such. We'll be starting to work on our second full length LP after that. Hopefully locking in that Rolling Rock sponsorship, its been a long time coming.  Cheers


http://www.criminalhygiene.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crmnlhygne

Bandcamp: http://criminalhygiene.bandcamp.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/crmnlhygne