Joe Queer Interview

OK, I post this cuz the Queers are absolutely the best, but also due to the mention of a certain punk rock band from Wilmington... Thanks Joe!

"The Return of the Queers"
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
By Mike Sembos

If everyone who saw the Ramones went out and started their own band there would be too many bands that sound like the Ramones. For a while this was the case. Joe King started his band, The Queers, in 1982, and while much of the competition from that original wave has long since traded in their second-hand Marshall stacks for business casual, he has kept The Queers at it in some capacity for 22 years.

We caught up with King as he was about to hit the road.

Advocate: You've had no less than 30 other members of The Queers. Do you find this constant rotation liberating or annoying?

Joe King: Liberating. It keeps everything fresh. It doesn't matter who's playing with me. If it's me on stage with your grandmother in a muu muu, it's The Queers.

What's this about doing a pop tour? I hear there will be a keyboard player, too?

Not for the New Haven show, but next month we're doing a pop tour. I'm thinking of doing a whole set with lots of covers and cool songs we all love that never get played live. Beach Boys and Lesley Gore and shit like that.

How is the new record coming along?

We'll record this winter. I keep putting it off as I have a studio and I've been busy as hell doing that. Then, my wife and I just moved back to Atlanta from New Hampshire and I had to move all my gear to a new studio. I'm getting my two inch MCI JH24 tape machine today, actually! I'm pro analog. I hate recording with some fucking nerd with glasses staring at a fucking computer screen - you know the asshole hasn't been laid in about 15 years and has nothing to share about life...looking like the fucking trombone player for Reel Big Fish. I need some dude that's lived life with a huge tape machine going, telling me about cornholing some young chick the night before or something. It gets you in the vibe to record. It's a spiritual thing really.

Name some favorite places to play in Connecticut.

Oh man, it seemed there were lots of hardcore kids back in the day. But yeah, Connecticut? Shit, we opened up for The Ramones in '86 at the Agora in Hartford. This was before we ever toured. There were about 4,000 people there. We'd never played in front of 400, never mind 4,000. We got up and played for about 58 minutes. Played everything we knew and a few we didn't. Got offstage and Joey came up and told me when you open up for bands just play 22 minutes and get offstage cause the crowd doesn't wanna see you anyway. Best advice I ever got.

Are there any new bands that you're into that we should know about?

Eh, Unbelievers, Tit Patrol, Riptides, though they're not really new. Mostly underground punk bands.

You played at Cafe Nine last year and now you're coming back. Do you remember anything about that last show there?

Yeah the owner is great and there's a good vibe to that club. The crowd was energetic. I liked it a lot. Can't wait to get back.

Jimmy Claus, #11

Here's an MLB Special Report by Bonnie Clark.

PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins sat down and answered a few questions about Christmas memories that he holds near and dear.

MLB.com: What are you looking forward to most this Christmas?

Rollins: I am giving a PAL family -- a mother and her four kids -- Christmas this year. I heard that they weren't going to have a Christmas since the mother is out of work, so I'm going to change that and play Jimmy Claus. I'm really looking forward to seeing the kids' expressions when they get the gifts.

MLB.com: What's your favorite Christmas tradition?

Rollins: Well, it used to be my grandma's peach cobbler, but now it's definitely my mom's apple pie a la mode. It's got to be warm, you know when the ice cream melts on top of the pie. Christmas this year just won't be the same without my mom's apple pie since I'm not going back home to have it.

MLB.com: Do you still believe in Santa?

Rollins: Oh my goodness, yes! Wink, wink.

MLB.com: Have you been good or bad this year?

Rollins: Oh, um, I've been on both sides of the fence this year, but mostly I've been good. Although I didn't run out a popup.

MLB.com: What's the best gift you've ever gotten?

Rollins: There were a couple in my younger days. When I was like 8 or 9 it was my aqua-colored Cycle Pro bike. My second favorite was a remote-control car. My best adult gift was the Nikon D80 camera that Johari -- Ms. Claus -- gave me.

MLB.com: What's your favorite holiday movie?

Rollins: Wow -- definitely "A Christmas Story." My favorite part is when his tongue gets stuck on the flag pole. I also like when his father gets the lamp. My second favorite is the original "Home Alone" movie, especially when he shaves.

MLB.com: How many of Santa's reindeer can you name?

Rollins: Rudolf. ... Everyone knows Rudolf. ... Um, Dancer, Prancer, that's about it. You get to a certain age when you don't have to remember them anymore.

MLB.com: What gift would you get for Charlie Manuel?

Rollins: Rosetta Stone.

MLB.com: Ryan Howard?

Rollins: Definitely golf lessons. He's a terrible golfer.

MLB.com: Shane Victorino?

Rollins: I'd get him his own SMU (special makeup) cleats. He always steals mine. He's definitely worthy of his own now.

MLB.com: Do you shop early or wait til Christmas Eve?

Rollins: I always wait until the last 72 hours. In fact, I still have to get Johari a Garmin GPS.

Plow United Interview - Bloody Wanker Zine

Another Plow United interview, this one from Bloody Wanker Zine, cerca '97... hey, c'mon! I've read worse interviews. You'll read it and you'll like it!

Bloody Wanker- Name, instrument you play, age, height and weight.

Sean- I'm Sean, I'm the drummer, 5'11", 175 pounds…is that everything?

Sara- And height.

Sean- 5'11", no I'm 23- that was the age.

Sara- Oh yeah, the age (my bad).

Brian- I'm Brian, I play guitar, I'm 21 and I'm 145 pounds and I think I'm 5'9".

Joel- I'm Joel, I play the bass, I think I'm around 155 pounds, I'm 6'5" and I'm 21.

Bloody Wanker- What's the Pennsylvania music scene like?

Plow- Pretty much like anywhere else.

Bloody Wanker- Aren't you guys from Westchester?

Joel- We don't live there anymore, but we're from Pennsylvania. We're not from any specific town because we all come from different places.

Bloody Wanker- What are your favorite Pennsylvania bands or bands in general?

Sean- Ick.

Brian- Shortfuse, Super Hi-Five, Dutchland Diesel, uh…

Joel- FOD.

Sara- The Crash? (I love them so.)

Brian- They're a Delaware band though.

Bloody Wanker- How did you guys get onto Creep?

Joel- You don't really get on Creep. You kind of just…

Sean- You stay at their house long enough…

Joel- You stay at their house long enough time that they just fucking throw you in the basement and tell you to record.

Bloody Wanker- How did Plow get together? Were you all friends before?

Brian- We all went to the same high school. And Sean, naturally is two years older than us, so…Well we all met in high school and we were in jazz band together.

Sean- And marching band…

Joel- We played in orchestra together.

Bloody Wanker- What's your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?

Brian- I don't really watch it anymore but when I was a loyal Saturday morning cartoon watcher, my favorite, I think, was the Spider Man, Fire Woman, Ice Man…whatever that one was called.

Noel- Spider Man and his Amazing Friends. (Noel's a big cartoon fan)

Brian- Exactly!

Sean- My favorite was the Smurfs from 1985 when I used to watch cartoons, channel 3.

Bloody Wanker- Why did you change your name from Plow to Plow United?

Joel- We were legally obligated (For those of you who don't already know- there's another band out there named Plow).

Sean- 'Cause we started a soccer league (he laughs alone). We had to, they were going to sue us.

Noel- Were you kind of upset about that?

Sean- At first…

Joel- It was kind of annoying…

Brian- But its grown on us.

Bloody Wanker- What's your favorite Plow United song?

Joel- My favorite's "Plow II".

Mumbles all around- Sounds like they say Big Mike and Dean (but those aren't any songs we know of).

Bloody Wanker- If you could marry anyone living, dead, fictional or non-fictional, who would it be?

(Pause)

Sean- Can we come back to that?

Brian- I don't really ever plan on getting married, but I can think of a person or two that I'd like to spend a lot of time with.

Sara- Who would that be?

Brian- I'd rather not name any names (laughs all around). It would be weird.

Bloody Wanker- What do you do when you're not playing with the band? Do you work?

Brian- I work at a Lawnscape supplies place called Sweeny Seed Company. I just do that from 8:00-5:00.

Noel- Is that a plug?

Brian- Yeah, this is a plug…Come get your fertilizer, we have 80 compacts (I think that's what he said) of rock salt, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride.

Joel- Magnesium chloride is great!

Brian- Magnesium and chloride will ruin your shoes. So come down, we'll ruin shoes together.

Sean- I teach math. And uh, that pretty much keeps me busy.

Sara- Do you have to dress all nice?

Sean- I wear a tie. I comb my hair.

Brian- He also bartends too.

Sara- Teach by day, bartend by night.

Sean- It keeps me busy.

Brian- He's a little flashdancer.

Joel- I work in a CD store.

Bloody Wanker- And, uh where's the coolest place you've toured.

Brian- El Paso, Texas.Group- Yeah, El Paso, Texas.

Sara- How come?

Brian- Because the people were awesome and they treated us well.

Sean- And they've all been to jail (I think that's what he said).

Brian- And they're just great people.

Noel- Did they know you when you got out there?

Brian- I think a dozen did, but they're just such freaks and just so fun to be around. They're such good people, they really are.

Joel- What's that other place? Biloxi, Mississippi. Pensacola. Lake Charles is good.

Sara- Have you guys made it to Europe yet? Not yet.

Brian- Nope, next summer. That means it's exactly one year after we were initially told we were going.

Sean- We're not angry or anything.

Joel- We'll all look a little different from our passports. 'Cause we all hurried up and got them.

Brian- So we each spent sixty or seventy bucks for our passports this past summer to go to Europe. So we're just waiting.

Bloody Wanker- What's your most embarrassing, strangest, or funniest tour or road story?

Brian- I'd say, we were driving through Louisiana and uh, Joel was playing the End of the World soundtrack…

Joel- Until the End of the World! (Until the End of the World was a good movie, go out and rent it. It's about this dream recording machine that these people get addicted to, it's about 3 hours long though, so don't plan on doing anything else for a while).

Brian- Until the End of the World soundtrack, and I was driving and everyone else was asleep.

Joel- And soon you were too!

Brian- It was at least 105 that day. And, I was kind of tired and the heat was making me even more tired. So I started falling asleep and everyone else was asleep and when I fall asleep I have a tendency to press on the gas more. So I was speeding up.

Sean- Notice how he said when he falls asleep behind the wheel because it happens quite frequently. (Everyone laughs)

Brian- Exactly. And uh, we almost rear ended a pick up truck full of like, just, a lot of stuff. And we all woke up at the same time, all five of us. And I swerved out of the way in time and everything, but it was just really scary and embarrassing. It was funny at the same time, ha ha.

Sara- Do you have a van, how do you get around?

(Weston's "Just Like Kurt" kicks in really loud in the background…)

Joel- Mumbles… something about four vans and a go cart.

Bloody Wanker- If you could commit any crime and get away with it, what would it be?

Sean- Speeding. Oh wait, no, vehicular assault, I've always thought about this. The people that cut you off on the highway, you should have the right to hit them. They shouldn't be driving like that in the first place. If they cut you off or something like that, you know how people pass you, they'll get behind you on the highway, and then they'll pass you, but you want to get over too…

Sara- And then you're blocked.

Sean- Right, right. That's when you go and hit people, just hit em' and knock em' right off the side of the road.

Sara- I have a tendency to tailgate when people piss me off.

Sean- Yeah, exactly, that's all you can do, you can't touch them.

Brian- I have the same kind of feeling, but mine's more geared towards old people. Sean tells me I should respect them 'cause they're older, but I think when they get to the age of 65 or so, they should have to retake their driver's test.

Everyone- Yeah, yeah.

Sara- You want to go back to the marriage question? Or, if you could have sex with any cartoon character, who would it be- that's the back up to the marriage question.

Sean- Azriel. (Everybody laughs.)

Noel- You're still caught up on the Smurfs there.

Sean- I have to go back to 1953 and find someone exactly like my mother and marry her.

Sara- Incest…

Bloody Wanker- Okay, do you have any last words?

(Silence)

Sara- Buy your new CD.

Joel- Don't buy our new CD. Don't buy our stuff. If you see our van, fuckin' slash the tires.

Sean- That would be awesome too.

Everyone- All right.

So that's it, the interview ends, we go out and watch Weston. Brian lets us get a free copy of the Creep Records sampler and we go home happy with free booty (that's booty as in pirate treasure, not that other booty).

Sometimes, Brian wore glasses.

Sometime, Joel sold t-shirts.

Plow United Interview - F.O.E. Fanzine

Here's a wonderful old Plow United interview from back in the day. It was conducted by the legendary Frank Foe for his F.O.E. Fanzine, still chronicalling the ups and downs and downs and downs of the Lehigh Valley hardcore and punk scenes. This interview appeared in issue #29. I got more to come on this front! Watch out!

Plow are a three piece pop-punk band from West Chester that has always had a large fan base in the Lehigh Valley. Make that "Plow United." Seems the band has had a bit of a legal problem with their name. A band from Baltimore, through a series of letters to the band, claimed and proved that they had used the name "Plow" before the West Chester "Plow" began using the name.

The melodic and energetic band has recently had an onslaught of releases and will continue their furious pace throughout 1995. Their split single with fellow West Chester band Tallman has just gone into its second pressing. Their "Dance (Better Than I've Ever Seen)" single has just gone into its third pressing. The band has just released a split single with Bethlehem favorites Weston. All three singles were released on Coolidge Records, which is based in Wyckoff, New Jersey. The band also has three songs on the "Who Gits Da Deer" CD which is an eight band compilation of West Chester bands on Creep Records. The West Chester label will release Plow United's debut, self-titled CD/LP/Cassette in April. Arik Victor, who runs the label, recorded the band in his studio.

As if all these releases weren't enough, Shredder Records of California picked the song "Timmy is an Arsonist" from the band's "Dance" single to be on their "Shreds - Volume 2 American Underground '94" CD. The disc is what Shredder and friends thought were the best songs from singles released in 1994.

The band will also contribute a track to the Descendents tribute CD, to be released on Coolidge Records later this year. Plow United will do the classic Descendents song "Bikeage." Other bands featured on the trubiute will be Black Train Jack, the Bouncing Souls, and the Parasites. Plow is in the final planning stages of setting up a tour of the U.S. that will start in June and end in late July. It will be the band's third and biggest tour.

This interview took place outside the 4G's, on the lot that used to be Wally's, the legendary hard-core punk club in the Lehigh Valley. Plow is Sean on drums, Brian sings and plays guitar, and Joel sings and plays bass.

FOE: What is the meaning of your life.

SEAN: My eternal quest in life is to try to learn how to relax and have a good time, and not just half of the time. It's taken 21 years and I still haven't gotten it right yet.

BRIAN: I still haven't figured it out yet. Maybe I should try and go to school and do something. But I don't know.

FOE: Do you think you'll find meaning in school?

BRIAN: Well, maybe if I can learn something instead of working in a warehouse all day.

JOEL: He works at the Franklin Mint.

BRIAN: I probably won't be able to come back to the Mint after the tour.

FOE: What is your goal in life, Joel?

JOEL: Just to get by without doing anything I don't like to do.

FOE: What is the purpose of Plow? Or what do you hope to get out of it?

JOEL: It fits in with what I said earlier. This is what I like to do, this is what I love to do. So I'd like to get to the point where this is all I have to do. Being in the band, touring, recording.

SEAN: When I said I'm only happy half the time, part of that half is when I'm playing. Oh, yeah! Really happy!

FOE: Is there any time when you're unhappy with the band.

JOEL: The only unhappiness is weeks when we can't practice.

FOE: Because you're busy doing things that you don't want to do.

SEAN: Last weak was exam week. I am a Math Ed major. Someday, down the road I'll start teaching. I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility just quite yet.

JOEL: I'll probably end up going back to college, just cause I can't deal with working shitty jobs anymore. I've had like eleven since last May.

FOE: Yeah, it's better to hate your job sitting behind a desk than moving desks...

SEAN: Well put...

FOE: Who writes the lyrics, and how do you determine which lyrics are keepers and which ones get tossed aside?

JOEL: The whole thing has to do with honesty. If I can't feel it, then it isn't really worth doing anything with.

FOE: Do you think you will still be doing Plow, like when you get to be Ramones aged?

JOEL: I don't think it's really worth thinking about.

BRIAN: As long as they are happy.

JOEL: They might just be stupid at this point. Needless to say that when bands get to the point where they are playing shows for $20 and they don't see anything wrong with that, then it is pointless anyway, and they've lost eveything that we're talking about here. Part of the thing that makes things tougher is that we're always going to do things the way we want to do it. So we end up turning down a lot of stupid shit. Like when we were going in to do the album, we had a couple different labels looking at us, and there was one particular one in New York, that if we had done it with them, I probably wouldn't have to work right now. Brian wouldn't have to work. Sean could just go to school. And we could just work on the album. But it was a cheesy label, and it just meant alot of things that we weren't happy with. We ended up putting the album out with one of our friends. The guy who records us, his label. I'm really adament about that. That's the best way to do anything, like deal with your friends.

FOE: What's up with your upcoming tour?

JOEL: I kinda went nuts booking the last two tours, and since this one was going to be a lot bigger in scope than the others, we got Chris Newmyer to help us out. (Chris is a local guy who sets up shows at the Stage Door and stuff). I wrote him like a nine page letter, detailing what we wanted to do, the numbers we had from the last tour, a proposed itinerary. We'll hed down south in June, go out West, through California, and back through like Chicago. Like a big rectangle. Previously we just did the East Coast, as far out as Nashville. We played like Georgia, Florida. It was this past winter. I really wouldn't recomend touring in the winter.

BRIAN: You have to go really far South to stay warm. Georgia was freezing.

FOE: I fucking hate winter... What are your five favorite albums, in no particular order...

JOEL: Descendents "Milo Goes to College", Bouncing Souls "The Good, the Bad, and the Argyle", All "Allroy's Revenge", Dwarves "Thank Heaven For Little Girls", Pogues "Red Roses For Me."

BRIAN: Stray Cats first album, not the one they did here, the one they did overseas. Screeching Weasel "My Brain Hurts", the Muffs album, and I guess umm the Bouncing Souls album and umm... ah, shit, umm...

JOEL: Nothing against the Dwarves but I have to change my Dwarves one to Screeching Weasel's self-titled debut album.

BRAIN: Alright umm Eddie Cochran, anything by him.

FOE: How do you feel about the mention by Ben Weasel in his column in MRR? (Note: In MRR's February 1995 issue, subtitled - The Selling of a Culture - Ben Weasel States in his column, which was about the industry attempts to pick up the next big thing, "I mean, they read magazines like MRR to find out what's gonna be the next big thing, but they never bother to actually go out and BUY a record to find out if it is indeed good enough to be the next big thing and the stupidest part of all of this is that what's gonna be the next big thing is what THEY DECIDE is gonna be the next big thing (for the record it's gonna be a Ramones-style pop-punk band from Pennsylvania called Plow.")

JOEL: I took it kind of differently than everyone else did. In the context of the article it's kind of implicit that a)the next big thing is kind of negative, and b)the next big thing implies mass media and we all have ethical problems with that. I thought it was kind of condescending on his part. Like he was assuming a lot of things when he doesn't even know us. But, I don't know. Say what you want just spell my name right. I know what we want, and I know how we want to do it, and that is all that really matters.

Brian McGee
Joel Tannenbaum
Sean Rule