After their March 4 show at the Las Vegas Country Saloon with Lagwagon and Cobra Skulls, we sat down with Jay Northington and Chris Matulich from San Francisco’s Nothington to talk about why they signed to Red Scare, their dream team tour lineup, how they’d probably be making more money if it weren’t for the internet, and more.
Mike: There seemed to be a pretty good crowd for you guys tonight. How do you feel the show went?
Chris: I thought it was great. I think it was one of the better shows for us on the tour. As soon as we started playing people came forward automatically and showed some interest, which is always really comforting. That doesn’t always happen.
Jay: Especially when we’re the openers. Usually people are standing around like “who are these guys?” Tonight we had a couple of people who really knew the songs and were right up front.
Mike: You guys used to be on BYO Records, do you still keep in touch with the Stern brothers?
Chris: Yeah, we actually just saw those guys in Texas or something. I go to the bowling tournament every year and I really like hanging out with those guys.
Emily: What facilitated the change to Red Scare?
Chris: For me it was a pretty simple decision. We put out two records with BYO and I think they did the best that they could do. They’re not putting out a lot of current, new, important bands. Red Scare isn’t necessarily a bigger or better record label.
Jay: But Toby [Toby Jeg, owner of Red Scare] hits it out of the park.
Chris: Toby does everything he can for his bands and he’s putting out consistently great records from touring bands. He just put out that new Sidekicks record [Awkward Breeds] which is awesome. He’s had some of the new big bands that are around today like Teenage Bottlerocket, and even Cobra Skulls a few years ago. They’ve all been helped out by Red Scare and Toby. So for me, it was just a question of being a player in the game at this point.
Jay: And no shit on The Sterns, but when my girlfriend left me, I don’t think Shawn Stern was going to call and see if I was OK, and Toby did. It’s just one of those things where everything feels more in-house.
Chris: I’ve been friends with Toby for more than 10 years.
Emily: It seems like Toby stays pretty on top of things in the changing industry, making sure albums get released digitally and on vinyl.
Chris: Toby does stay on top of it more than a lot of record labels. I won’t tell you what record labels, but there are a lot of labels that are putting out great bands that are not on top of that stuff.
Mike: You guys have played in Vegas plenty of times, over the last few years especially. What do you enjoy about coming here?
Jay: The Golden Nugget. I’m excited about going down the slide with the shark tank. I don’t really gamble, and I kind of got a bad taste in my mouth from the last Punk Rock Bowling, just because I was too hungover for the rest of the weekend after the first night. We’ve met so many people like you guys, and Sal Giordano [from TheCore.] It’s become a very cool place for us to be.
Emily: I’m sure your last show in Vegas [July 18, 2011 at the Bunkhouse] was pretty memorable.
Jay: Yeah! There was a one-armed girl with a knife.
Chris: And the time before that when we played at the Beauty Bar there was a fight.
Jay: This guy hit me in the head with a beer bottle and I just kept rolling, but then he spit on our bass player, and he dropped his bass and went after him. Luckily for him, security got to him first. When the cops came I could see him on the other side of the barbed wire fence with his hands on the cop car. I was heckling him like “how’s that going for you buddy?” It sucked being hit in the face with a beer bottle.
Chris: I’ve heard some pretty gnarly stories from other bands, and I think we’ve been pretty lucky because we don’t run into that very often. We’re here for the people that came to see us. That’s the important thing to remember. I used to go to a lot of hardcore shows where things can get a little out of hand and shows just end.
Emily: What kind of hardcore were you into? “Tough guy” or more of a 7 Seconds style?
Chris: I was really into the 7 Seconds style. I was punk hardcore. I did some straight edge hardcore like Carry On and stuff like that but I was punk hardcore, Kid Dynamite, Minor Threat-influenced stuff. But in the early 2000s when hardcore became such a big force in the Bay Area, there were all kinds of shows happening, specifically at this placed called The Pound. That tough guy hardcore became huge. Of course, I was going to check out the shows. I had to see the madness that was happening. It was a great time, but sometimes the shows would only last for 15 minutes. I guess luckily, we don’t generally attract a violent crowd.
Mike: Has Nothington’s writing process evolved over the years?
Jay: Absolutely. I wrote most of the first record, and then Luke came in on the second and did his thing. But Borrowed Time was the most collaborative effort we’ve ever done. We would just hang out on the beach with acoustic guitars and be like “nope, that sucks, I suggest this.” I think this is the first time it really felt like a 50/50 effort. It made sense and everyone is really stoked on it. So the next one is like “alright, let’s go out to the beach again” because that’s what people like apparently.
Chris: I think every record I’ve written has been a learning process, and I’ve never written one the same way. I’m sure Jay and I will go back to some of the methods we used with this one, but I always feel like I learn something from each record that we write. And then once we record it, I learn from how it came out. I still haven’t recorded a record that I’m 100% happy with and I’m not sure that I ever will be. I think that’s what keeps musicians playing music though. I’m about 95% happy. I think that’s why the writing process changes all the time.
Mike: Playing with Lagwagon and Cobra Skulls seems like a pretty great fit for you guys. What are some of your favorite bands you’ve played with?
Jay: Bouncing Souls.
Chris: They’re standup guys.
Jay: We always had a really good time with Spanish Gamble. I’m not sure if they’re still active, but those guys were like brothers.
Chris: We’ve had a good time with pretty much every band we’ve spent time with.
Jay: We haven’t had any bad experiences where someone is an asshole. It’s gone pretty well, I’m surprised. I thought Lagwagon was going to be one of those bands where they’re like “we’re in our 40s, we’re gonna just show up, play and get the hell out of town.” But I’ve made friends with all those guys already. It’s rad. I’m partying with dudes who are 10 years older than me and still can hold it down better than I can. Lagwagon is awesome.
Emily: Were you really into Lagwagon when you were younger?
Chris: I was.
Jay: Funny thing. Joey Cape came to a show when I was playing acoustic by myself in San Francisco. There were like 5 people standing around and they introduced me to Joey. I was like “look man, I never listened to Lagwagon growing up, but I love your solo shit.” And it was the harshest silence. People were staring at me. And Joey was just like “That’s fuckin’ rad man.” Since then, we’ve hung out. He lives a couple of miles from me. These are really good people.
Emily: Who would you like to tour with?
Jay: Banner Pilot.
Chris: Yeah, we played a few shows with them and made friends with them immediately. We also played some with Dead to Me. We’re friends with them just from living in the city. I’d love to tour with those guys. We’ve already toured with Off With Their Heads pretty extensively, but that was back when Off With Their Heads pretty much exclusively toured in basements. That was great, and I love that we did that, but now I’d like to do that when they’re playing the fancy pants venues.
Jay: I’d love to meet up with Rise Against again. When I was in my old band, we toured with them and that was another really fun scenario. Lagwagon has been amazing and hopefully we can hook up with them again too. Hot Water Music would be great.
Chris: Kid Dynamite! I’m just trying to think of bands that would never happen…
Mike: What would be your all-time lineup of bands? Doesn’t matter if they’re still together or even alive.
Chris: National package tour of Operation Ivy, Kid Dynamite, Dead Kennedys. Wait. I don’t like the Dead Kennedys. Do you?
Jay: I do.
Chris: Ok, so Dead Kennedys. Spanish Gamble, they broke up. Just for my own fun factor, that would be great.
Jay: At the Drive In and Refused. I grew up on those kinds of bands. It’s awesome that they’re re-forming, but it’s also not awesome that I’m not going to be in town when they come through. I think it’s cool. I heard a great quote from At the Drive In’s singer, Cedric. Someone asked him if they were going to do any new material and he said something like “this is like a sweater that I had in high school that still feels really good when I put it back on, but that’s it.” I respect that and I appreciate it. It’s cool that they’re putting on that old sweater for a little while. I don’t see much more from them in the near future.
Mike: After these U.S. dates you guys are heading to Europe. Aside from the shows themselves, what are you looking forward to on those dates?
Jay: Kabobs, Currywurst and going to Russia.
Chris: Just seeing new cities. I always like to walk around the cities before we play. There’s so much history over there that as an American, it’s hard for me to even grasp onto. Our history here is only like 200 and something years old. But over there, there are things that have been standing for over 2000 years. For me, that stuff is really interesting.
Emily: How are the crowds different in Europe than they are here?
Chris: The U.K. is kind of like out here.
Jay: Yeah, but in Germany and anywhere else in Europe, there are big crowds. For opening bands, people don’t stand there like “meh.” They just go off from the first note. They treat you really well. We’re always taken care of.
Chris: Over there, relatively insignificant bands like ourselves are treated phenomenally different. They treat you like you’re an artist. Not a nuisance. They’re very concerned with your comfort and the crowds are great. For us, they’re a little bit bigger over there and they’re very invested in what you’re doing. You can tell that they’re really paying attention.
Mike: Do you think the American musical superstar paradigm impacts the way that you’re treated when you go from city to city in the U.S.?
Jay: I think that whole paradigm is dead. There’s really no such thing as a rock star anymore. We just do what we can. You always have that kid that comes up and says “hey man, I downloaded your record illegally, but I’m here to buy a t-shirt.” On one hand, it sucks, but on the other hand, at least he’s there buying a t-shirt.
Emily: We’re at a point where there are music fans who have always had illegal downloads at they’re fingertips.
Jay: They grew up in an era where it’s just normal that you download shit. I always make a joke that if we were doing this in 1996, we’d probably be paying off our mortgages right now. Instead, I don’t have enough to pay off my credit card, and that sucks. But whatever.
Chris: I don’t know if we’d be paying off our mortgages, but with as much work as we do, and as many people actually have our music, we’d probably be able to afford to rent an apartment. Not to sound like an old dick, but back in my day you had to buy a CD. And I didn’t have a lot of CDs. But the bands that I was really into, like Lagwagon for example, I bought those records. And I didn’t have every single one of their records. It’s a weird thing. I think people have more records, but they might not be as into them.
Mike: But at the same time, you guys are able to book and promote your tours via the internet. So there seem to be pros as well as cons.
Chris: I think the modern internet has opened up the playing field immensely. Before, you had to be signed to be able to do any of the stuff that bands like us are currently doing. Suppose we didn’t get interest from Red Scare, or BYO or something like that. We could still be a band booking tours like you said, using all this social media. But back in the day, it’s kind of like you had to be invited into this little club. But once you were in it, I think your opportunities were immensely better because you were going to be selling records. It’s good and bad. It has opened the playing field, but it has also watered down some things and taken away opportunities for real working bands to make money. Sadly, I have a feeling part of the reason Spanish Gamble isn’t a band anymore is because they were tired of going on tour and losing all of their money and then going to work for three months and then losing all their money again. It’s hard.
Jay: There used to be this funny word. Labels would provide “tour support.” That doesn’t exist anymore.
Chris: A good label could still do a lot for you. One of the most important tools you can have is a good, supportive label.
Mike: Do you guys read, watch movies, etc. while you’re in the van?
Jay: I haven’t had a television in years. My girlfriend made me go see a movie the other night called “The Vow.” It was one of the most terrible things I’ve ever had to sit through. I wanted to walk out.
Mike: You guys recently got a new website. Who put that together?
Chris: 808 Design, this guy named Bob who we met in New York at a show. I like working with people that I’ve met before and can at least maybe put their name on it and get a little money for them.
Emily: Like Tyler Gibson from Doom Toof Design and your shirts?
Chris: Yeah, like Tyler! I’m a huge supporter of Doom Toof Designs. He designs awesome t-shirts. Yeah, I try and bring in people that I meet to help us out, but also hopefully to help them a little bit. I couldn’t afford to pay for our website to be designed and he was nice enough to offer to do it. I had a bunch of strangers offer to do it for us, but we wanted to keep it in the family.
Emily: I know you guys put out Borrowed Time just 6 months ago, but do you have any plans for anything new?
Chris: No. [laughs] It takes a lot of organization and direction for us to get together and write music. It’s part of the reason it takes us so long to release records. It’s a lot of getting together, there’s a lot that goes into it. I might start a side project and record something stupid. I used to do that shit all the time.
Jay: He’s really good at recording dumb shit. [laughs]
Chris: It all sucks, but it’s awesome to do. I’ve started a lot of joke bands. Another great thing about the digital era is that you can just go on your computer and record something that actually sounds listenable. You ever have those friends that are always getting drunk and coming up with stupid band names? Now, you can start that band, and it won’t take you more than like a day to record a demo. I’ve done that. I’ll probably be doing that, more likely than a new Nothington record anytime soon because we actually put effort into the Nothington records. I really enjoy the work we do with Nothington, but it’s hard work, so we need to set aside some time to do that.
Interview by Mike Law and Emily Matview
Transcribed by Ashleigh Thompson
Nothington photo by Emily Matview (edited by Tyler Newton)
Get more Nothington on their Facebook page: facebook.com/nothington
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