The new record is awesome, did you guys have fun in the recording process?

Thanks!  I wouldn’t necessarily describe the recording process as fun, per se.  It was two weeks in a windowless room in a part of Baltimore that didn’t really demand windows, playing parts of songs over and over and over again for like 12 hours a day.  On top of all that, I hadn’t finished writing all the lyrics for the record and I was incredibly stressed out and nervous that I’d either not finish them or finish them poorly.  Fun?  Not really.  But not bad either.  I like to think of recording as similar to an actor learning lines or a runner training for a race; it’s tedious and taxing but also rewarding and worthwhile.  The sense of accomplishment that one gets when a record is finished is definitely better than any particular fun time, and that’s what makes it worthwhile and will keep us heading back to the studio. 

How was it working with Mr. Robbins?

It was incredible.  Like I’ve said, recording is tedium, and that tedium is unavoidable, but a producer has the power to make the experience positive or insufferable, and J. definitely managed to pull off the former.  He is both confident and relaxed, which is just a perfect combination of attributes a producer can have.  We could completely trust J.’s opinion regarding each take, confidently moving forward when he thought we should, but also not getting too worked up when we needed to sit for a moment in a part and make it the best it could be.  I would love to work with him again on subsequent albums.

Anything you learned in the recording process of this record?

I think we learned that we can trust our instincts, that we can effectively adlib.  Our first few trips to the studio taught us that you really can’t over-prepare, that you need to know exactly what you’re going to do and why.  We did that for most of our songs this go around, but we also wrote a song in the studio, and that song ended up being one of our favorites.  I think that has a lot to do with how comfortable we are as a band now, that it is now possible for us to shoot accurately from the hip.  I’m explore that some more the next time we record.

So you are on tour for the new record, Rebellion, how is that going so far?

It’s great.  I love doing full U.S. tours.  I love being able to see the whole country in such a short time because the differences stand out that much more.  You get a better understanding of what is unique in each area.  Also, we’re getting to a point now where on each tour we see an increase in fans.  The crowds are slowly growing in every city and that is always great to see.  Lastly, we couldn’t be out with better bands.  Blacklist Royals, Nothington, and Heartsounds are all a pleasure to see play every night and also to hang out with.  It’s a lot of fun.

How are the crowds reacting to the new songs?

So far, so good.  We’re still at a place where all our material is new to a lot of the people we play to, but for those who have been fans for a while, they seem to be enjoying our new stuff. 

There is a song on the record, “list of things i hate” Can you list us five thing you hate on the tour so far not including the funk of Freddy’s feet?

Amazingly enough, Freddy’s feet have been incredibly tolerable on this tour.  I’m not sure if that’s because he is taking better care of himself or if I’ve finally just developed a tolerance for it, like my nose, for the sake of survival, just no longer registers that smell.  Either way, I hate:

1.     Long drives over boring highway scenery.
2.     Spending no more 18 hours at a time in incredibly fun/beautiful cities, most of that time waiting around at venues instead of seeing the sights.
3.     Eating horrible fast food that I think I’ve finally lost the ability to enjoy anymore.  Except when I’m drunk.  I still like that shit when I’m drunk.  This probably explains why alcoholism and touring are so linked together. 
4.     Meeting really great people and then most likely never seeing them again.
5.     Freddy’s face.

How about five things you have loved about the tour so far?

1.     Finding good food in new cities
2.     Being reunited with old friends/meeting new ones.
3.     Playing shows.  I’ve had more fun just playing music on this tour than I have in a long time.  Not to say that it wasn’t fun before, but it’s been especially so this time. 
4.     Watching people sing along.
5.     Freddy’s face.

Of everyone in the band who has the most funk or flies hovering around them?

Probably Freddy, but not because he smells, because everything he says is bullshit.

Any Lemmy style orgies happened yet?

You’re going to have to talk to Bryon about that.  Pretty sure there was a trampoline involved.

Is New Orleans still fucked?

The fucked up thing about New Orleans is how it robs me from sleeping.  The last two times I’ve been there I have slept a total of like 2 hours.  It’s becoming one of my favorite cities to go to, and that says something coming from someone like me who is horribly grumpy in humid weather. 

How many hot dogs has freddy sucked on this trip and been told not to do so, then the hot dog taken away from him and thrown out the window? (There’s a long back story to this one..)

I try not to pay attention to what Freddy eats because if I do, then I lose my appetite.  If I were to throw anything of Freddy’s out the window, I’d never hear the end of it.  My goal on tour is to not be an enabler to his crazy ranting and irrational rationalizations. 

Have you tried to use your dirty laundry to plug up the oil line in the Gulf?

BP asked us to help out, but the price they offered was just too low.  I’m sure it would have worked, but we can’t undersell ourselves simply to help out some stupid gulf that is apparently Mexico’s anyway. 

How many rednecks have you offended at gas stations on this trip?

Keeping in mind, we’re from VA and we’re offensive to most people.  So the real question is: how many people have you rednecks offended?  The answer: 12. 

Since kids love to do blow all the time now, has a venue tried to pay you in blow yet?

I’m pretty sure we’re not good enough for someone to sacrifice their blow on.  But I never deal with money and I’m not into drugs.  So if we ever did get paid in blow, Cory would be the guy to ask.  And I’m sure his jittery, million word response would be all the answer you need.

Does Vinnie pay your royalties in old Less Than Jake records?

Vinnie gave Freddy some Less Than Jake bobble-heads because Freddy likes bobble-heads all of a sudden.  Not really sure what that’s about.  But it definitely wasn’t royalties.  It’ll be a long time before Vinnie has to deal with paying us anything.  We’re really just more concerned with keeping him out of debtor’s prison.

Well I hope you guys are having fun and we wish we could be there with you guys and hit all the skatespots and bars along the way. Any last words?

Yes.

For info on the few remaining tour dates and to hear tracks from the new album check out The Riot Before on The Myspace.

Interview and band flicks by Greg Bethmann.

And here is Hippie’s part from “What We Do Is Secret” a few years back.

All shots by Sir Greg Bethman.

Richmond’s weekly rag, STYLE.

Check out RVA Magazine’s new photo issue. Besides featuring some great work in general,
there is also interview with one of our favorite Born Ugly contributors, Nick Ghobashi.
Check out the whole issue here and then check out Nick’s interweb site at scatterbrainphoto.

p: Heather Waraksa

Below is the complete interview with Jonathan Mehring from Born Ugly issue 1. Check out more of his work on his portfolio site, and his new photography book. Enjoy….

Where are you from, where are you at now and the in between?
I was born in Virginia and grew up in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I went to school at VCU after a short stint at Beaver College, which is outside Philadelphia. Then I did DC for a year and Philly for two before finally moving to NY in 2003.

How on earth did you start skating living in a log cabin in the middle of the woods?
Dude I have no idea. My cousin was from California and she gave me a plastic G board when I was about 10. I would push myself back and forth in the kitchen while holding the counter. Then my friend James started skating when he moved to Charlottesville and he gave me an old board. It was a Santa Cruz Street Creep. Sickest graphic yet! The tail was all razored and the wheels were dark brown and mismatched. I thought that was how they were
supposed to be. When I finally went to get a new board I was like “what’s up with this rounded off bo bo shit?” I think I also asked if I could buy one wheel. Pretty hilarious to think about now. I had nowhere to skate so I just tried to ollie in the basement or on the dirt road when it got packed down pretty hard. There was also a tennis court a couple miles away with a 4 foot length of railroad track. But mostly my parents would take me to Charlottesville on the weekends and I would skate with the Lee brothers. I think it was just an escape for me. There was no one to hang out with at all in the country other than my parents or aunt and uncle. I
had two cousins but they were too young at the time for me to have fun hanging with when I was a teenager. So skating was something that gave me a reason to go spend the weekend in town and get away from the monotony of home life. I like it now when I go back. Its peaceful and relaxing compared to NYC.

How did you get into photography?
I’m really not sure what made me take the first class. It was in 11th grade. I think I just felt like taking some kind of art class. That quickly turned into me taking lots of photos of my friends skating. Mostly the Lee brothers and Nate Thomas. They were the best skaters around at the time.

Who/what are some of your influences in photography?
That’s a touch one. I first worked for this guy Thomas Daniel at VCU. He is an amazing portrait/documentary photographer and I didn’t really realize it at the time but he had a pretty big influence on my style. As far as skating I learned to shoot by just looking at magazines and trying to figure out the light.. I would go to demos in Northern VA and ask the touring photographer what they were using. A couple guys were real cool about it and very helpful. Ted Newsome and Joe Brook especially.

Why do you travel so much?
I don’t know I guess I had a pretty sheltered childhood so that just made me want to see the world. If skateboarding can help me travel then I’m all about checking some new places out. The world is fucking insane. I also like putting things in perspective. It really makes you realize how great we have it here, how lucky we are to be born in this country but also you see a lot of fucked up things about the US. At least we are not living in dust covered stilt huts in Cambodia with no electricity or running water but at the same time we are fed factory farmed food which fucks up our bodies and makes us fat or get cancer or heart disease. But that’s probably better than being a sex slave or being born with your feet backwards because your parents huffed glue or some shit.

Can you talk a little about the train trip you took awhile back?
A few friends and I took the Trans Siberian Railway about a year and a half ago. It was the best trip any of us had ever been on. Basically we did a week in Moscow, took the train across Russia stopping in several major cities, through Mongolia and into China. It took about a month and a half. We would be on the train for two days at a time then get off and skate a city for three days or so then back on the train for two, etc. I think we went to seven cities total. Saw some crazy things. It was amazing. Irkutsk, Russia and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia were probably the highlights. And Moscow too of course.

I know there are a lot, but any sketchy stories about traveling (ie, food, people, transportation)?
Yeah totally, some kids threw rocks at us in Mongolia just to see if we would fight them. When I was just in Thailand we went to a sex show and my friend Al tried to take photos of one of the strippers (who was shooting darts with a blow gun out of her pussy and popping balloons we were holding on the other side of the room). They freaked out and started yelling at him. The whole place shut down and Al kept trying to deny it. We looked toward the door thinking about making a run for it but they had slid a steel wall in front of the doorway. I looked up and there was just solid metal instead of a door. Two guys were standing there with their arms crossed. It was sketchy as hell. Finally Al let them delete the photos and they let us go. The place is fully mafia run. We could have disappeared and no one would ever have heard from us again.

How hard is it finding a bathroom in a foreign country when the stomach is percolating?
It’s actually not harder than here. But sometimes they are Asian style squat toilets, which take some getting used to. They are basically just a hole in the ground.

Digital vs Film thoughts? How do you feel about magazines like Slap going completely digital?
Digi is fine. There are nice things about it. Like you know for sure you got the trick for example. I like film better as far as how it looks and its authentacy. Because with digital if you don¹t have a print then you don’t really have it. There is nothing tangible which is super sketchy.

What other sorts of photography are you into?
I’m into lots of different kinds of photography right now. I’ve always
been into shooting music related things and portraits. I’ve been shooting some fashion lately too, which is pretty fun. I like to nerd out on lighting techs and have a crew working together to make a shoot happen. Also shooting half naked super hot girls adds some fun as wellŠI was super stoked also on Christoph Bangert’s photos of Pakistan and the Middle East as well as Peter Beste’s photo book called True Norwegian Black Metal. Really amazing work.

Growing up and making a career in the skateboarding industry on the East Coast is somewhat of an understood hardship. Was this an issue for you?
Yeah probably, I never tried it out west though so I’m not sure I have a realistic comparison. I’ve avoided giving myself that perspective. I like the East Coast a lot better. At least judging from what little time I’ve spent out west. It’s cool to visit though.

What is a normal day consist of when you need to get a photo?
Wake up, check emails, meet up at NY Muffins or Tompkins Square park. Grab food and either drive to the spot or skate there depending on where it is. In Manhattan I pretty much just skate around but in Brooklyn or other boroughs, I usually drive. If there is something specific I need to shoot we’ll usually just go straight to the spot and try to bang it out. If not then we’ll check out some new things and try to skate several spots in one day.

Who is the best/worst person to try and shoot? (Skateboarding or other)
The worst people to shoot are ones who don¹t want their photo taken. That is a common problem with skaters and portraits, which I deal with regularly. The best is someone who’s stoked to shoot.

What are your top three places for traveling, skating, food, women, and shooting photography?
I’d say the raddest places I’ve been are New York, Moscow, and Rome. Buenos Aires too. Shit man I don’t know there are so many.

Have you ever killed a deer with a bow and arrow?
No

What’s on your plate for the summer?
Not sure yet. I have some ideas in the works but nothing solid. I’d like to go down to Texas and shoot with Guru sometime soon. Maybe Central AmericaŠ I’m still working on it. We’ll see what happens.

Anything you want to ad?
Thanks Rob for letting me stay at your house.