Interview No Bragging Rights: Mike Perez

Artiest: No Bragging Rights

Geïnterviewde: Mike Perez

Interview afgenomen op: Impericon Never Say Die Tour

Label: Pure Noise Records

De Impericon Never Say Die Tour trekt ieder jaar veel publiek aan. In 2014 staat niemand minder dan Stick To Your Guns, More Than A Thousand, Comeback Kid en meer op deze affiche. Als headliner konden ze in 2014 de hardcore band Terror strikken; iets wat veel fans wel zagen zitten. Ik had de eer om vandaag de zanger van de melodic hardcore band No Bragging Rights te interviewen, namelijk Mike Perez, die ook op deze prachtige affiche mocht verschijnen.

So, hi! Welcome to this interview with Festivalblog.

Hi Jacqueline!

Hi! Well, first of all, can you tell me something about your band No Bragging Rights?

Well, I’m Mike Perez. I am the vocalist of No Bragging Rights. We are from Southern California, Riverside. It’s about an hour East from Los Angeles. We are playing second on the Impericon Never Say Die Tour. We are a melodic hardcore band. The big thing about our band is suicide awareness and mental illness.

Okay, so what’s the story about No Bragging Rights?

No Bragging Rights started in 1999 and in 2005 we should’ve changed our name. We became a different band, because that’s when our drummer Martin (Alcedo) and our guitar player Christian (Lee) joined the band and it was like the new No Bragging Rights, I guess. You know, I’ve always been in this band, but it feels like I’ve been in two different bands, because over the years we have different members come and go and I feels like that’s the thing when our music changed a lot. But since the last three years, we really started to getting our sound. We are defenitely a hardcore band, but punk rock is our roots. And that’s coming too start up more now and I think that’s awesome. I don’t know what other people think, but I think that’s awesome.

Why did you go from punk rock to melodic hardcore?

Oh, I just think because of different members, because when we started the band I’ve played the guitar and I wrote a lot of music and so a lot of it was punk. It was easy to play. And then when I stopped playing guitar and we started to get different members, better musicians than I was, our music got kinda more technical and that took us into more metal. It should’ve went hardcore, but I think that it is kinda cool because it’s a challenge for me. The members that we have now, have all similar backgrounds in music and I think that’s the thing what got it back towards hardcore.

Did you regret it that you changed into melodic hardcore?

No, I like it, it’s different. I mean, if I get it out in my way, that I would have been in a band that sounded like Strung Out or something. No, I’m happy for the changes that we went through, because that taught me a lot musicwise, and kept it interesting for me. I took it as a challenge with more metal riffs.

Well, how did you come up with the name ‘No Bragging Rights’?

We just wanted something humble. Because I’ve come from a sports background and our band is not one person. Like even now, I do not like it when they call me the frontman, because without anyone of our band we would fail. So it’s a whole team-up thing. No Bragging Rights seemed to fit that. I don’t like if people boost their name, because music is art. It’s your form of expression. Maybe many people like that, but that doesn’t make you feel more special, because we are all doing the same thing.

I know what you mean! So, Mike, where did you find your inspiration behind this kind of music and your lyrics?

Just from people that we live with, like friends, family, people that we meet on tour.

Are you the writer in No Bragging Rights?

Yeah, I write all the lyrics and our guitar player Daniel writes the things for the music. Before, I wrote a lot about things that bothered me and things that I saw. There are still things that I am very passionate about, but it’s now the things that I see in the life that I’m in. I feel like I am more aware of what is going on in the world and around me; what’s happening to my friends and family. And you know, in this scene, I see a lot of the same: hurt, same issues, same anger. And that’s what really caught my tention to write about it.

Hmm. I know what you mean. Other direction now. What does the new album ‘The Concrete Flower’ mean for you? What’s the special touch in this album?

About the album, it’s like what I said, it’s about people that I live with and that I see in the world. ‘The Concrete Flower’ is something beautiful coming from something impossible, or something difficult. And I feel like we’ve seen that all the time, like a friend of ours has cancer or somebody had an abusive relationship or friends of us are struggling with a depression. And then they’ve all come out of it. To me, that’s the thing that inspires me. It’s easy to look around and to see that this world is a very ugly place. But I feel like, there are good things that happen, too. I thought that hardcore was the last place to find something positive but it kept me going and gave me inspiration. There were things that’ve kept me going and I’ve got hope in this very ugly scene. That’s in the album, it’s art and like personal things that happened to me, friends and family. It’s kind of a darker album for us, but I do feel like it has a lot of hope in it.

That’s a beautiful way to think about it.

Thank you!

If we stay with the positive things in your life; you are now at the Impericon Never Say Die Tour with many great bands lie Terror, More Than A Thousand and Stick To Your Guns. How does it feel for you to be on a bill with so many great bands?

Well, I’ve said it a couple of times on stage. I’ve paid to go see a lot of these bands. It’s a crazy feeling. Even like Stick To Your Guns, we know these guys, we are friends with them. We’ve respect them on a friend level. On a music level, every night I watch them. It’s really crazy. Terror was one of the first bands I’ve ever heard.

How does it feel for you to share the stage with Scott Vogel?

Oh man, it’s crazy, it’s insane (smiles). The background that I come from is punk rock and here I am on tour with one of well-known hardcore bands like Terror; one of the respected ones. And there is Comeback Kid. They are a big reason that I am into hardcore. It’s insane to tour with one of these bands and now I am with all of these bands. It’s like a dream come true. I also listened to Obey The Brave. We’ve toured with them before, they are all awesome dudes. They have really cool backgrounds. It’s very humbling to be on a tour like this. We’re just happy to play when we play and we hope we get the crowd going.

What are the pros and cons on a tour like this? You have so many different bandmembers on tour, there must be something that doesn’t develop the way you want it to be.

I’ll go first with negative, because there are so many people, it’s really hard to meet all of these people. I am still introducing myself to some people. At least for me, I am very slow when it comes to meeting new people. I’m really shy, but I make my way. With so many bands and we are playing for so many people in Europe, you don’t get to that point that you’ve met them all, you know. The positive things in this tour is every night and every band that is saying something to the crowd. It’s really cool that people have different opinions and visions. You are giving the listener different sights of things and options. I think that it’s important that the public has to know that there are different messages and people that want to help you. There are so many pros for this tour like this. We got to play for people that even don't want to see us (laughs). Now they’ve heard us, now they can say what they don’t like about us. They have a reason for it. I prefer the people that don’t like us to write about us, I respect that.

Well, maybe a really weird question, but you did a cover of ‘Living On A Prayer’ from Bon Jovi? I just wanted to know, why did you cover that song?

Well, that was supposed to be a joke (laughs). Our old bass player and the band, we just liked karaoke. And that was something we just did on Wednesday nights. Our old bassist used to sing ‘Living On A Prayer’; he has a higher voice than me. One day, he came to practice and was playing the bass thing. It was literally a stupid and fun thing and we were jamming it and then we decided it to give it to one of our buddies and he recorded it for us. It would be just for us, because it was a joke. It’s crazy and it got a lot of downloads on iTunes, but at the same time, I don’t want to listen to that song, because it sounds so bad.

It doesn’t sound bad, really! (laughs) So you don’t play it on stage?

Really rare. We might do it on one of our European tours. We brought it out of the blue. We did it on a tour with The Acacia Strain. We were so out of place. It was with bands like The Acacia Strain, Cruel Hand, Fit For An Autopsy and I Declare War. And like one day, I don’t know how we came along with it, we were soundchecking it as a joke, I think, and some guys of The Acacia Strain they said that they wanted to see it and hear it live. Because it sounded really good. If dudes like that ask me to do something like this, you don’t ignore it. And it was really awesome. The response was really great.

Would you do a cover again? From which band/singer would it be?

Uhm, yeah. I really want to. There are a couple of songs.

Tell me, I want to know!

Okay, there’s an old BMX-movie, it’s called ‘Rad’. There is a song in it and it is called ‘Thunder In Your Heart’. It’s like a total 80’s montage pimp me up song and I think it would be a great song to cover. But we actually have a coverband when we are not doing this and we cover everything from Bush, No Doubt, Weezer, Nirvana, a bunch of 90’s songs. Actually in Europe we covered Ignite, yeah, it’s my favorite band all time. If was our first or second time in Europe, I can’t remember. We’ve played it at the end of the set. Especially in Germany (laughs).

Well, you are a really long time in the hardcorescene, from 1999..

Yeah, wait. I’ve got in the hardcorescene in 2003, but going to shows or something like that, it was in 2005, probably. For me, before 1999, it only was ‘punk rock’ (laughs).

Okay, then what does punk rock and hardcore mean for you?

Punk rock was exactly what I needed for growing up, I’m not the typical punk rock or hardcore guy. I have good parents, they are still together and I went to a private school. I had all these things in life. But for me, the conflicts I had, was the thing that I was the Spanish guy in a white community. I felt like all these kids, but the truth was that I didn’t look like them. I really felt like that I didn’t belong with them. I grew up with the feeling that I wasn’t a part of it, I was always in battles. My white friends didn’t like my Spanish friends and my Spanish friends didn’t like my white friends. When I was older, my sports friends didn’t like my punk rock friends and the other way around. So I was in two different worlds, I grew up with the feeling I wasn’t a part of it. Towards the end of high school, my parents wanted to help me with college and gave me every opportunity. But I wanted to sing and make punk rock music and I felt conflicted. And I knew how much it killed them when I made that decision. They worked really hard with the world I struggled with. Punk rock was angry and the music had different issues like racial issues, something that I struggled with a lot and just feeling different. I really don't know where I would be if I didn’t find punk rock, because I was so young. Punk rock went into hardcore, it was more energy and intense. Hardcore is kinda like punk rock, but it’s more personal. Punk rock can be more social. Hardcore has little things in it, like hate and anger. I think it really helped me out and identified what I was feeling inside. It goes out in different ways. Hardcore and punk rock was and is a part of me. You know what I mean?

Yeah, I know.

It’s been a lot of things, it has been life saving. Now hardcore for me is a tool to get my message out. In this genre there are messages that are relevant and what is going on in our scene. I want them to listen to music and what I have to say.

What do you think about the hardcore scene now?

I feel like it’s okay now. But people need to get back to enjoying what they are doing. There are so many bands that we see, the concern is having fun and the music. That are the big things that got me into music in the first place. I feel that many punk rock and hardcore bands that I’ve grew up with, had something to say. If I agreed with them or not, they had something to say. The bands of these days are really all the same. It’s like I heard that before. I literally sat through albums and I’ve said ‘I really heard that a lot’. I think I miss that about hardcore these days, the message isn’t the same anymore.

What’s the band that gives you the real feeling of hardcore?

I feel that Stick To Your Guns has the best message today. And many people are critizing them about the change of style and they are singing more and this and that. People can say and puke what they want, I know that there message is true. I always loved bands that are socialy aware like Ignite, they opened my eyes with the Sea Shepherd foundation. The ocean terrifies me and because of them, I am more clear about the things that we do in life. We should be more cautious about the ocean. I learned from them.

Well, a different thing, can you describe No Bragging Rights in 3 words?

(thinks). Hope. Fun. And maybe work. I don’t know if it does make any sense. (laughs).

Yeah. It makes sense. Especially after this interview.

Thank you, Jacqueline.

What can we expect from No Bragging Rights in 2015?

Actually, 2015 might be a big festival year for us. We are doing something in March. And depending on our summer, we are doing a tour in America. And if doesn’t works out, we are doing tours and festivals in Europe. Oh, we are in January on tour with Funeral For A Friend in Europe. I really don’t know what to expect. We will be playing a lot.

Well, thank you for doing this interview with Festivalblog.

Yeah, thank you, too. And for all of these questions!