Public Serpents slithered their way onto our website to answer some questions about their music. Let’s see what they have to say!
First off, what’s up with your name? Is there a story behind it?
Our name? Well, yea… it’s a play on words from the term public servant, of course, but considering most of society is run by money, religion and the folks who prosper by having us divided, the word serpent seemed to fit far better in that narrative.. It also harkens back to that little fairy tale regarding a place they call the garden of Eden… that proverbial struggle between good and evil… the people VS the state.
Tell us about your musical past, would you tell us about your early years?
I started playing music when I was 13. Punk music. I quickly joined my friends drunk punk band and it was on.
After running away from home for the first time at 12 for over 6 weeks and for good at 14, I realized quickly that music was the thing for me… I ended up in NYC living in a bunch of different squats there and really started to make my bones in 93 or so, playing in a ton of bands all at the same time, but finally settling on Choking Victim to be my main band.
During the recording of the CV record, I ended up having to slap the shit out of sturgeon because he was being insufferable about things out of my control, and that’s what caused the breakup of CV but that didn’t stop me and Ezra from starting the band INDK.
At the same time, LOC started and finally Ezra jumped ship to play in LOC causing INDK to disband.
After about 5 years of playing in a hardcore punk band called American Distress, I started to set my sights on having my own project, where I wrote ALL of the music. This was the birth of Public Serpents.
I ended up writing over 20 songs in a short period of time, without a band, recording everything myself…. That’s when I asked myself “who the hell is gonna sing this shit”? At that point I realized the only option was me because I couldn’t even imagine only one person singing the different styles I was trying to layer together, I’d need to get at least two people because I hadn’t heard anyone ever sing like that.
How would you describe your sound?
Our sound is basically SkaCore I guess, but I would say a more accurate label(s) could be: SkaPunk, CrackRockSteady or Electro RudeBoy.
We layer Two Tone Ska, with melodic hardcore/punk and dashes of Dancehall Reggae.
Which artists have the biggest influence on your sound?
Personally speaking, I grew up listening to absolutely NO Rock and Roll… my background started with Motown and Hip Hop. But I discovered Punk when I was 12, finding the Sex Pistols, so I’d say the Artists that personally speak to me and have molded our sound would be Desmond Dekker, Horace Andy, Madness, The Pixies, The Clash, Operation Ivy, Drive Like Jehu, Capleton, Gappy Ranks, Prince and the Revolution and sadness.
What’s the last song you listened to?
Last song I listened to was Hepcat, Together Someday.
What’s your source for hearing new music?
YouTube has this interesting little feature where under the video you’re watching, it lists similar artists or artists you may like… I think that sure is nifty.
Who is your dream producer?
Dream producer?!? Wow, well, I feel like Phil Spector might have been fun to work with, only so I could have took that gun from him.
Steve Albini would also be someone I’d like to work with, and I confidently feel like there would be NO gunplay.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
I’m feeling H09909 lately, I like how they mix genres and their flow is really great. Soul Glo are really sick too.
What led you to music, and what motivates you to keep making it?
At a very young age I realized that I needed something all my own. I went thru my teens writing graffiti, climbing roofs, signs and bridges, painting my name on anywhere I could find to do it… I never really felt that fulfilled though, until I started really giving music my all around age 17. The feeling in the room when a band performs, the urgency, the conviction… it all just made sense… and now, as I get older, and I look back on my whole life, I see that this thing that I found so dear to me then, is the only thing I have left… the only thing I can make happen with my mind and body that has made any real impact to the world, so I guess it’s just a question of having an undying love and drive to keep climbing higher with the one thing that has served me so long.
Tell us about the songwriting process. How does it all come together?
I write all the music. This started with me just blending parts I recorded. I’m mostly a drummer who found out he could play guitar and bass and later sing, so mainly I’ll start with an idea for a drum and bass line… and proceed to figure out the chords on guitar and record that.. a lot of my music is made in the studio to be honest… it comes from ideas I have going on,but it comes to life when I can try out all my options… my songs feel like “moments in time” instead of “songs” to me, and the funniest part is when it comes time to teach others to play them, I can’t! Because I am so invested in that moment and the urgency of getting it done, it’s almost like I forget them right after… so MP3s are used to show new members the parts I wrote in the heat of whatever it is I am going through at the time.
How do you connect with your audience?
I run a pretty big Facebook group called “Punks Arguing Over Nothing” (or whatever asinine incarnation I come up with monthly) that keeps me on the internet, Shitposting my life away, but we also have our website www.publicserpents.net and our FB and IG for the band as well…
https://www.facebook.com/publicserpents
Public Serpents (@publicserpents) • Instagram photos and videos
What is the easiest way for them to connect with you?
See above; or, proceed to the highest mountain in Leverett Massachusetts, look to the east at noon, yell “Mister Slither” three times, and I will appear.
What’s next for you?
Well, we have a US tour (not really a tour but some weekends) coming in Feb and March, and some record release gigs in April for NJ and NYC, then in May, we head to Europe for two separate tours, hopefully a month on the north and a month in the south… I will be staying there in between the tours traveling around Europe and living in my friends van there… our album comes out March 24 on SBAM records though, so I hope you all enjoy what has been a real journey.
Anything else you’d like to add or let us know about?
Support local bands today because they will be the bands that we will hopefully talk about tomorrow.
