Artist: Authority Zero
Label: Lava Records
Official Site: Click here
Date: October 31, 2003
Shoutout: Click here
Conducted by: Savanna Carel

TMF: One of the most popular songs you guys do live is the Irish Drinking song, Rattlin Bog. What made you decide to do that song, and where did you hear it?
AZ Bill: Right.
TMF Savanna: What made you guys decide to do that song, and where did you 1st hear it?
AZ Bill: Umm, there's a guy named Tony Cummins and he does Irish covers over at the ... Dubliner down on thunderbird and forty third or something avenue. So, I mean, he just did a bunch of traditional Irish songs. Plus, Jason and I did some traveling over in Ireland, So I mean, you just run into a lot people that know those old school songs and uh, it just translates well to a big audience.... Especially when they're drinking.
TMFSavanna: Isn’t Jason Irish?
AZ Bill: We're all... I'm Irish German. Jason has a little bit of Irish in him. He's like Polish/Irish. We're all mutts, really, but we all really identify with our Irish roots. Yeah.

TMF: If you could be anyone, dead or alive, for a day, who would it be and why?
AZ Bill: For a day...Who would I be? Winston Churchill, probably.
TMF Savanna: Really?
AZ Bill: Yeah, just cause he's like, world-renowned and actually had some sort of a different views on the world.
TMF Savanna: Yeah.
AZ Bill: You know, he had a real good grasp on how things worked here, and maybe had a little bit more knowledge than I did. So we could figure this place out a little better.

(Someone walks into the room)
Stranger: What’s uuuuuuppppppppp?
AZ Bill: What's up dude?
(Guy leaves)
AZ Bill: People are stupid.
(laughter)
TMF Savanna: That was interesting.
(laughter)
(Kim walks in) Kim: Sorry, I had to squeeze a little baby. It was so cute.
(Bill makes squeak noise)
AZ Bill: Oh, I thought you meant (makes noise again)
Kim: No, an actual baby.
(Laughter)

<TMF: The song, Mesa Town, has shown up on albums 3 different times. The Passage In Time's verision says 'Phase Three'. Is that going to be an on going deal, or is the phase ending at 3?
AZ Bill: Oh no. Phase Three... That's funny....[it] says phase three, Uuuh, no, Phase Three is a haircut.
TMF Savanna: Oh Really?
(Laughter)
AZ Bill: This guy, Tom, made up a term for it, it's like remember when you used to have the...It was long on top and shaved on the sides?
TMF Savanna: Yeah.
AZ Bill: And It's like.... He called it the Phase Three, so we just did it up at the end of the song.
TMF Savanna: Oh, see we always thought it was different versions because it was on each album.
AZ Bill: Oooooooooooh, no. Nope.
TMF Savanna: No?
AZ Bill: Yeah, That's a good take on it, though. It's a haircut; it's when it's long on top and shaved underneath. It's a Phase Three. It makes no sense, that’s why we threw it in there. TMF Bro Dewayne: I used to have one, like a long time ago. AZ Bill: I used to have one too.
TMF Savanna: Like a bowl cut.
AZ Bill: Yeah. It was like real in style. We used to have that haircut too. Well, a lot of people did. I did too when I was younger, you know?

TMF: Name a moment in rock n roll history that surprised you.
AZ Bill: Um... Shit. When Krist Novoselic threw his bass up in the air during the mtv music awards and didn’t catch it... caught it in the face.
TMF Bro Dewayne: I remember that.
AZ Bill: You can’t change something like that... Or even, fuck, I mean, Milli Vanilli isn’t a part of that either. But I mean, tons... there are tons of things that catch you by surprise. But, that's something that really stuck out in my mind.

TMF: What's your most enjoyable song to play live?
AZ Bill: Hmmm.. I don’t know.. From the newer stuff or the older stuff?
TMF Savanna: It doesn’t matter.
AZ Bill: I don’t know... "Sky's [the limit]." It's a good release. It's like the last song, where you usually go off.
TMF Savanna: That's what he said (points to Dewayne).
TMF Bro Dewayne: That's what I figured it would be.
AZ Bill: Yeah,"Sky's" is one of the ones where you can just really get into it. Three cord punk rock, you know?
TMF Bro Dewayne: Yeah.
AZ Bill: Little bit of variation there, there's a little bit of variation, but it's a great song to kind of release to?
TMF Bro Dewayne: Every show the whole crowd sings.
AZ Bill: Yeah, it’s.... Feel the energy.
TMF Savanna: Same with Mesa Town.
AZ Bill: Yeah, Mesa Town too, totally.

TMF: I've heard that some bands write their music first, and then add lyrics, and some do it the other way around. What process do you guys use to write your songs?
AZ Bill: Yeah
TMF Savanna: How do you guys do that?
AZ Bill: Well, a lot of times Jason will write lyrics to different songs, He's got a book of stuff, but most of the time we write the music first all together; and, he'll add lyrics he had made prior to us writing the music just to have an idea before he throws it on top of the music.
(Jason enters the room)
AZ Jason: 'Eeeeeeyyyyyyyyy!
TMF Savanna: (laughter) He shows up, finally!
AZ Jason: I didn’t know where we were supposed to be. I'm sorry.
(laughter)
TMFSavanna: Oh, it's fine.
AZ Jason: I was checking out the bar.
(laughter)
AZ Bill: That's okay.
TMF Savanna: We know what's important.
AZ Jason: (laughter) Da beers. Just kidding.
TMF Savanna: I would know. But anyway.. Are all band members present when writing music, or is it just like, an on and off thing?
AZ Jason: Just the important two.
(Laughter)
AZ Jason: Yeah, yeah....
AZ Bill: It all depends, really. Sometimes I’ll write a little bit of like, a part, or otherwise he'll write a bunch of stuff or sometimes we'll write together, it just depends on the day.
AZ Jason: Yeah.
TMF Savanna: Depends on how you're feeling?
AZ Jason: Yeah. Yeah, pretty much, yeah.

TMF: What are your goals for the new album?
AZ Jason: I don’t know... it's a whole... Just to make the best album possible with the short amount of time we had to write songs.
TMF Savanna: Is there anything [different] we can expect from this album or is it just....
AZ Bill: It's a different twist for sure. It's definitely going to be an evolved version of the last album.
TMF Savanna: Yeah.
AZ Bill: A little bit broader, more raw, I guess you could say. Yeah.
AZ Jason: Yeah. Not as many effects on it.
AZ Bill: That's what we're looking for.
AZ Jason: Till we get all excited and we're like "Wow! What's this do? What's this do?"

TMF: If you were a statue what would be your pose?
AZ Bill: What pose?
TMFSavanna: Yeah.
AZ Bill: Thinker.
TMF Savanna: Thinker?
AZ Bill: The thinker...you have to do it like that (puts his hand up to his chin while his face appears to be lost in deep thought).
AZ Jason: I'd be the pee'er. What was the one that pees?
AZBill: It's the one in Belgium... where it's like peeing...
AZ Jason: That’s right... I'd be that one.
(Bill makes peeing noise)
(Someone walks in)
AZJason: You can’t interrupt!
AZ Bill: Go Away!
(laughter)
Donny: Am I interrupting?
(laughter)
AZ Bill: No.
Savanna: No! The more the merrier!
Donny: Ask me about 'em...I could tell you about these guys.
(laughter)
AZ Jason: True, true.
TMF Savanna: I'll come back to you later then!
Donny: Yeah, I got all the dirt on them.
AZ Jason: He does.
(Donny chats with the guys about sponsors, and apologizes for interrupting, asks about the media fix, and leaves)
AZ Jason: Mr. Anderson and the Peeing one.
TMF Savanna: The Peeing one.
AZ: Jason: The Peeing one.
TMF Savanna: And the Thinker...Great mix.
(laughter)

TMF Sav: You guys seem extremely close.
AZ Jason: Yes.
TMF Sav: How do you guys get through the arguments and stuff like that? Because touring, spending time in the studio, has got to bring on a lot of arguements.
AZ Jason: Beers.
TMF Sav: Beers? (Laughs)
Both: Blood, sweat, and beers.
TMF Sav: Just getting drunk
Both: YEEEEAH! AZ Jason: We get through them so well because we've been so close for so long, and we're able to... you know, kind of understand each other a little.You know what I mean? So it's like, whenever there's a problem, it's like we understand why there's a problem most times.
TMF Sav: Yeah.
AZ Jason: We're able to look past it a lot quicker than a lot of people.
TMF Sav: How long have you guys known each other?
AZ Jason: Uh...
AZ Bill: Ten years.
AZ Jason: Ten Years now, yeah.

TMF Sav (To Jason): For you -- you were a telemarketer.
AZ Jason: I was a telemarketer.
TMF Sav: Any memorable phone calls that you made, that you can tell us about?
AZ Jason: No, not really. They're all pretty fast, cause like, the way I telemarketed was I talked so fast that nobody could understand what I was saying.
TMF Sav: Kinda like how you sing?
AZ Jason: Exactly, yeah.
(Laughter) AZ Jason: And I'd talk so fast that nobody could understand me, and that's kinda how I'd try and get my, you know, my sales or whatever the case - or whatever they're called. And uh, none really stands out. A lot of the times I got yelled at and like, I'd kinda mess with the people because I wouldn't want to let them go, because I had a bad day too.
(Laughter) AZ Jason: So, they'd be like "If you call me again...", and I'm like, "Look, I have YOUR credit card number. You're the one who called me!" You know, stuff like that. Which was complete bullshit. But... you know, try and keep them on the phone, to make my day more interesting, too.

TMF Sav: Does environment play a big role in your songwriting?
AZ Bill: Sure, yeah. Totally, like "One More Minute." When we were in Mexico, "One More Minute" kinda came out. It just depends on where you're at.
TMF Sav: That's my favorite song.
AZ Jason: Thank you!
AZ Bill: Thanks.
TMF Sav: I LOVE that song. (To Bro, Dewayne) Ask him. I play it constantly!
AZ Bill: Ah, that's cool!
TMF Bro: Yeah. She puts in A Passage in Time -- straight to track five, always.
AZ Jason: Nice! We're talking about - thinking about doing a remix of that with Miguel - our next producer on this next album.
TMF Sav: Really?
AZ Jason: We did a lot of --
AZ Bill: -- you know, have a better feel about it. Like... I dunno, sound different.
AZ Jason: Yeah. He'll probably make it a lot thicker. Right now it might be a little higher ended - endish. But I mean, with Miguel, he does like a lot - he likes throwing bass in, like a lot. So...
AZ Bill: Make it a little more Reggae, than mainstream.
TMF Sav: One More Minute - it's kind of slow. You can actually understand what you're saying.
AZ Jason: Yeah.
(Laughter)
TMF Sav: It's one of the reasons why I kinda latched onto that song. Because I didn't know what else was going on!
(Laughter)

TMF Sav: Okay, you guys are into the local scene a lot.
AZ Jason: Yes.
TMF Sav: Are there any bands that we wouldn't know about, that you want to promote - tell us about?
AZ Jason: Yeah, a lot of the bands are on the show tonight. Bands like Fourbanger, you know, Bullet Train to Moscow. Uh... what else? Geez-
AZ Bill: What's Jimi's band's name? Give him some props.
AZ Jason: I don't remember. Do you remember?
(Both Jason and Bill ask the other people in the room what the name of Jimi's band is.) AZ Bill: We don't know. They're good, though.
AZ Jason: Yeah... that sucks.
TMF Sav: We'll just call them Jimi's Band.
Both: Okay
AZ Jason: Yeah, there's a lot. I mean... if you go to AZPunk.com, you'll see a lot of the great bands there. You know, around the scene. That's probably the best way to --
TMF Sav: We're on there, too.
AZ Jason: Oh, cool.
TMF Bro: We're both registered there, yeah.
AZ Jason: Hell yeah. Yeah, so you guys know that's probably the way for people to check them out.
TMF Sav: The colors kind of give us a headache, though.
AZ Jason: Oh yeah!
(Laughter)
TMF Sav: Black, yellow, red.
AZ Jason: It's all (makes a zipping noise, and moves his finger in a straight line, mimicking how the show headlines appear on AZPunk.com.)
TMF Sav: It gets you, early in the morning.

TMF Sav: A lot of your lyrics are politically correct; and they deal with a lot of issues in life that are easy to relate to. How do you come up with them? Do you just take your own experiences and write it? Or, do you kind of like, try to write about what other people can relate about?
AZ Jason: Both, actually. You know, I kind of take my own. I mean, if there’s something I’ve got the lyrics for or whatever, I’d take my own personal experience – what I’m going through – and you know, try and--if it was a bad day, try and turn it into a positive thing.
(Someone comes in and asks if there’s anyone in the bathroom.)
(Laughter and chatter).
AZ Jason: But yeah, it’s like that, pretty much. You know? I take my bad day if I have one, and try and turn it around. Like, let people else realize that everybody else has a bad day too, you know? There’s always something that’s gonna be better off coming eventually.
TMF Sav: Songs like “Sky’s The Limit.”
AZ Jason: Yeah, exactly. Like “Everyday” also – songs like that. And, that personal experience – like you said “One More Minute”. Stuff like that.

TMF Sav: Cool. Can we expect any collaborations with any other bands, anytime soon?
AZ Jason: Um… like side things? Or…?
TMF Sav: Just like, on albums, future albums. Like getting with other bands, writing songs together.
TMF Bro: Yeah, like that Stone Temple Pilots cover you guys do with Alfie (of Redfield).
AZ Jason: Oh, okay.
AZ Bill: I think we have a song called Revolution that Alfie might be on, but we’re not sure if we’re going to put it on the next album. And I think that Marshall from the Skunk Crew over there, he might come and sprinkle some of our songs with some beats and whatnot. We don’t know – we don’t have anything really planned, though. It’s just usually us.
TMF Savanna: That’s easy.
(Laughter)

TMF Sav: Since it’s Halloween, I have to ask Halloween questions.
AZ Bill: Alright, cool.
TMF Savanna: What were your favorite Halloween costumes?
AZ Jason: This year?
TMF Savanna: Any year.
AZ Jason: Any year? The penis and the vagina down on Mill Avenue.
(Wild laughter)
AZ Bill: Penis on Mill Avenue! He’s been there for like five years. He always squirts everything in the air. He’s a hit, dude!
TMF Savanna: Fun!
AZ Bill: I didn’t see the vagina. I saw the penis – was there a vagina out?
AZ Jason: There’s a vagina now too, yeah.
AZ Bill: I only saw the penis – like for five years straight.
AZ Jason: It’s very uh… it’s pretty crazy. Get to wash your hands off.
AZ Bill: He’d get excited, and there’s a fountain off his tip.
TMF Savanna: Fun!
AZ Jason: Yeah!
(Laughter) AZ Jason: Sure!
TMF Bro: That’s a photo op.
TMF Sav: Yeah, really. Where’s a camera when you need it?
AZ Bill: There’s a lot of people who were taking pictures with him. That’s when you usually hit the button (when he squirts). So it’s more photogenic.

TMF Sav: Favorite scary movie?
AZ Jason: Mine would have to be… when I was a kid, it was like Friday the 13th .
AZ Bill: Poltergeist!
AZ Jason: That’s a good one!
AZ Bill: Oh my god, the clown!
AZ Jason: That’s right.
(Laughter)
AZ Bill: The clown thing, and it’s the face on the thing that just tripped me out.
AZ Jason: Yeah.
AZ Bill: That, and The Serpent and the Rainbow. That’s like a fucked up movie, man.
AZ Jason: I never saw it.
AZ Bill: It’s about like, uh, Voodoo and all that. And, it’s a little bit wacky. But yeah, definitely Poltergeist, all time. When you’re a kid, you just couldn’t sleep after that.
AZ Jason: Yeah. Yeah. That movie. I had a nightmare – the clown, under the bed – I had a same nightmare with that clown, exact same nightmare for like a year straight. That clown fucked me over.
TMF Bro: I think it’s even worse than Tim Curry in It.
AZ Bill: Pennywise?
TMF Bro: Yeah.
AZ Jason: Yeah.
AZ Bill: That’s true. I don’t know, I wasn’t as afraid of Pennywise as I was that clown. It’s like so inanimate, and then it’s just gone… the next minute. Weird. And it’d strangle your ass. And another thing that kind of made it better was in Scary Movie… 2? Or what, which one was it?
AZ Jason: Two.
AZ Bill: Where Ray’s like… fucking it.
(Laughter)
AZ Bill: That’s the only thing that made it kind of better: when they made it into a comic relief.
TMF Sav: Yeah.
AZ Bill: We were talking about that in Burbank, when we were recording the last album, actually. It’s one of the pointless things we were yapping about. (Off another guy in the room, dressed as Agent Brown from The Matrix, complete with made-up bullet wound in his forehead.) We got this guy we hang out with, too.

TMF Sav: What traditions did you have on Halloween, besides trick-or-treating?
AZ Jason: Uh… yeah. Drinking beer.
AZ Bill: Yeah, drinking beer. There’s usually a party at my girlfriend’s house. There’s a party somewhere.
TMF Sav: There’s always a party.
AZ Bill: Just dressing up.

TMF Sav: Why are penguins a turn off for Jeremy?
AZ Jason: Oh… he’s just afraid of penguins.
(Laughter)
AZ Bill: He has certain things that he is afraid of, and he has little habits that are funny. He’s not really an idiot. I just like to say stupid shit.
TMF Bro: It’s all on tape.
(Laughter)
AZ Bill: Yup.

TMF Sav: Is there any band that you guys liked before sitting through their show?
AZ Bill: Get Jim! Ask Jim.
AZ Jason: Yeah, ask Jim. He’ll tell you straight up. He’ll probably list them. He’s like that.
(Big Mike from Redfield comes in, checks to see who needs drinks.)
AZ Jason: What up, Mikey?
AZ Bill: BFM!
AZ Jason: I think we’re all good.
(Big Mike walks out again)
TMF Sav: Alright, then.
AZ Bill: (Cracking up) This is a fucking traffic room. dude. There’s like a pee’er dude (guy in the bathroom).
AZ Jason: Pee’er.
TMF Sav: Pee’er.
AZ Jason: Pee’er.

TMF Sav: What’s the worst or most annoying song on the radio right now?
AZ Bill: I can’t even think…
TMF Sav: I don’t even listen to the radio anymore… because it’s all annoying.
AZ Bill: Every now and then, when you flip it on. I just can’t really think of any songs that annoy me. A lot of Staind shit annoys me.
TMF Sav: Yeah.
AZ Jason: Yeah.
AZ Bill: That’d be safe to say… that’ll work.
(Laughter)

TMF Sav: How about your best “caught in the act” story?
AZ Bill: …caught in the act story?
AZ Jason: Like… naughty time?
AZ Bill: We have like a lot of “Pickin’ da boogerrrs” we call it. Because like, Jim has a really bad habit of picking his nose and wiping it all over the steering wheel while when we’re driving. He doesn’t mean to do it, but he just does it, you know? He does it without thinking.
AZ Jason: When we see him do it, we’re all “Pickin’ da boogerrr!”
AZ Bill: So that’s what happens whenever you pick a booger. Then, we go “Pickin’ da boogerrr!” Then, we’re like “Shit, they got us.” Sometimes we’ll try and do the justification.
Both Jason and Bill: No, I was scratching!
AZ Bill: No, no. Pickin’ da boogerrr!
AZ Jason: Scratchin’ an’ pickin’ da nose.
TMF Bro: It’s just like an episode of Seinfeld.
AZ Jason: Is it?
TMF Bro: When he’s sitting in a cab, and the girl he’s dating pulls up next to him, and it looks like he’s picking his nose. He’s all “I was scratching!”
AZ Bill: That’s the same thing we do.
TMF Bro: It was from one of the first couple of seasons.
TMF Sav: I remember that one. And… that’s it.
Both Bill and Jason: Cool.
AZ Jason: Thank you very much.
TMF Sav: Thank you! You didn’t have to do this, so we should be thanking you.
AZ Jason: No, it was totally cool. We enjoyed it.
AZ Bill: Awesome.