Interview — Television City

Skratch Magazine

Television City is a power pop/punk band with a distinct sound. “We sound like Screeching Weasel met up with Face to Face and The Methadones to kick Green Day’s ass, “ says John Coronado (drums.) Coronado, along with George Higa (guitar), Jason Murphy (bass) and Daniel Guerra (vocals) spoke to Skratch about the music they’re making out of Texas. Check out what they had to say.

Skratch: How did you become interested in music?

Jason: My brother was really in to music and just handed it down to me.
George: When I got my first Iron Maiden records I wanted to be Steve Harris. And then Nikki Sixx. I loved how they both seemed to be the visionary people in those bands. And then I realized that playing bass guitar was boring, so I switched to guitar.
John: I became interested in it when I hit puberty.
Daniel: By listening to it.
Skratch: What is your song writing process like?

Jason: We have a process? I like to figure out something that sounds good with the song as a whole, but I also like playing.
George: I’ll either bring in a riff or we’ll jam on an idea at practice and then feel it up and out at practice, and if it works it works. When we first started, I would write everything on my trusty Mac in Logic Pro from the drums to the guitars and bass, and occasionally the keybored, much to Dan’s chagrin. And then he’ll write words over the music.
John: Like a last minute dinner, you don’t know what to cook, but the end meal is always nice.
Daniel: Like coming to grips with all the past mistakes you've made.

Skratch: What artists or musicians inspire you?

Jason: Mike Inez, Cliff Burton, Matt Sharp, Dimebag Darrell, Zakk Wylde, Angus Young, Scott Ian, the dude from Green Day.
George: Izzy Straddlin. The man is a bad ass rhythm player and good song writer. I love his choppy style of playing. Ron Asheton is another bad ass. The things he does with a wah-wah make my pants feel tighter. Band wise it’d be: Screeching Weasel, The Icarus Line, Dillinger Four, J Church, Samiam, The Stooges, Fifteen, Crimpshrine, et cetera.
John: Face to Face, Strung Out, The Methadones, Bob Marley.
Daniel: Charles Bukowski, John Waters, Joey Ramone, Jello Biafra, Milo Aukerman.

Skratch: Where do you take musical inspiration from? Your environment? People? Explain.
Jason: I’m not really sure, the shower seems to inspire some pretty good shtuff.
George: Riding my bobber around town, while not getting my pants or shoelaces caught in the open belt drive, and hoping the kick start works seems to inspire a lot of musical ideas.
John: My environment, which is usually hectic, so when it comes to practice, it’s like a anger management meeting, except there is no one for me to punch in the face, except my drum set.
Daniel: My inspiration comes from personal experiences as well as the various social politics that occur between all of us.

Skratch: What is your musical background?

Jason: Started out on bass when I was 16, and guitar about 8 year ago or so.
George: My parents bought me a shitty acoustic guitar when I was like 15. And then I got an Epiphone Strat. Moving to electric guitar made all the difference in the world. Of course, I’ve barely made any progress as a musician since then.
John: I play drums…
Daniel: Singing in the car, playing air guitar in my room.

Skratch: Tell us about how you got started as a band.

Jason: George and I have been in several bands together. I was originally going to join as a second guitarist but the bassist quit and so I stepped up.
George: Jason and John and I were in another band together, but it was getting boring fucking fast. So I asked John and Jason if they wanted to do something else, so we started this band as a side project/distraction. We found Dan one stormy night. But we didn’t have a bass player yet. So I got a friend of a friend on bass, Matt Powers. And then Jason dropped out to focus on the other band. I threw my friend Mary in front of the keybored, which didn’t work out too well. Matt quit after nearly a year, right around the time Jason was gonna come back on as second geetar. So then Jason became our bass player. Never knew what happened to that second guitarist idea though. I still would love a full time keyboardist.
John: Well our other band that George, Jason and I were in called it quits so we found it to be a new beginning to start a new project.
Daniel: I answered an ad looking for a singer. The guys were already playing together, mostly with each other.

Skratch: What is the most rewarding part of playing in a band?

Jason: We get rewards? Just making kick ass music, and hopefully someone out there actually enjoys listening to it.
George: I agree with Jason, except that I would include annoying other people as a goal.
John: Getting away from it all, the world, work, stress, not having a care except for wanting to play music.
Daniel: Dancing around like a fool and singing your heart out.

Skratch: What challenges have you faced as musicians?

Jason: My own slow ass fingers. Learning new styles and trying to unlearn old habits.
George: Groupies, the heroin, the boozing, womanizing, all-night orgies and parties, lines a mile long of cocaine, coming up with random shit to put on the rider, figuring out which should be our next cover song: Rhythm of the Night, or I Wanna Dance With Somebody?
John: NOT Having a music scene to play to, we can thank the City of Dallas for that one. Thank you so much for replacing music with upscale shops, lofts, wannabe ed hardy bitches and a lot of homos…Tom Leppert you are NOT my hero…
Daniel: Building a fan base.

Skratch: What would you say is your best song to date? Why?

Jason: This changes all the time, right now I’d have to say “Suicide Suits You,” it’s just fun to play.
George: I would say “Kid Gloves.” I like “Ideas” a lot, too.
John: I personally think that Mistaken Identity is our best song, it just tells what king of band we are, that we are just not going to put with shit, we are not fake, and we stick to our roots. I’m not going to mention any names… *Ahem*…July Alley…
Daniel: The Weather Underground. It's short and fast with great lyrics!

Skratch: Do you remember the first album you ever bought? What was it?

Jason: Probably an Anthrax tape, I loved those guys… still do.
George: I know this is a lie, but I’m gonna go with “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son,” by Iron Maiden. But when I bought “Appetite For Destruction” on cassette when I was barely 11 or 12 or whatever, and then the hot high school-aged check out girl told me that that was a good choice, I knew I was onto something.
John: Face to Face-Don’t Turn Away.
Daniel: Ice Cube's "The Predator."

Skratch: Where do you see your band in five years?

Jason: Hopefully playing to people we don’t know.
George: Looking back on doing this interview five years from now.
John: I can’t I’m not a fucking prophet :P
Daniel: selling out, getting fat, trying to rekindle what made us great in the first place.

Skratch: Would you say your goals as a band are long term, or short term? What do you ultimately hope to achieve? Explain.

Jason: It’d be nice to get paid to do this for a living.
George: My goals are always long term. Executing on them always seems to be short term though.
John: We hope to be able to pump ten thousand jiggity watts into people’s ears and take them back to the future of 90’s punk style.
Daniel: The goal is to play shows and put out great songs.

Skratch: How has your band evolved since when you first formed?

George: I think the sound has come into its own given our disparate influences.
John: A few changes here and there, but musically we have stepped up to the next level of our performances and song writing, and hope to keep climbing from there.
Daniel: Faster, and more melodic.

Skratch: How often do you practice? What is your rehearsal time like?

Jason: Usually 2 times a week depending on if everyone is in town or if we just had a show.
George: I remember we used to drink at practice a lot more. Now we don’t those two times a week we do get together. Why is that?
John: We usually practice about 2 times a week, but it’s still not enough.
Daniel: We usually practice about 2 times a week. Practice is always fun. I treat every rehearsal like we're playing an actual show!

Skratch: What would you say is your band’s motto? Explain.

Jason: Have fun!
George: Kill The Poor.
John: Fuck it, cause whatever happens…happens.
Daniel: Proving right by doing wrong!!

Skratch: What shows/album releases/plans do you currently have set up? Tell us about them.

Jason: I stay away from the business stuff…
George: John is setting up some recording time in a proper studio with someone who knows how to work the knobs and level meters. At least that way, I won’t have to lug my laptop around tracking the shit for any new recordings we may want to do, or figuring out how to make the snare drum sound tighter. Right now though, our goal is just on playing shows and getting as many people to hear us as possible.
John: We have a few shows lined up for this month, but we are concentrating more on writing songs right now, but we do plan on hitting the recording studio in a few weeks to get an album cranked out to you guys and gals.
Daniel: Kid Glove EP available at televisioncity.net for FREE!!!! New shows coming soon!

Skratch: Where have you performed? Tell us about the experience.

George: We’ve seen a million faces, and not-really rocked them all.
John: Quite a few places really, but my best experience was down in College Station for Loudfest, kids all over the place, adults, a few grandparents, and a rocking crowd, and Street Pizza to close the mother fucker down!!!
Daniel: Mostly around the DFW area. A few times in Austin And College Station TX, Louisiana, and Arkansas. It's always exciting to play out of your home town because it gives you a chance to spread your music to a whole different audience!

Skratch: What sets your stage show a part from all the other bands making the rounds at venues?

Jason: You can tell we’re having a good time playing our music, and we want the crowd to too.
George: Aside from when we wear hilariously tight and short, 80’s workout gear, I would say it has to be Dan’s dance moves on stage.
John: We usually try to dress up like either jocks, or Mormons, or in 70’s athletic gear with our nuts hanging out, or whatever.
Daniel: High energy, awesome dance moves, and a killer attitude not yet seen in the pop punk world!!!

Skratch: Anything else you think we should know about the band?

Jason: Come out and see us!
George: I’m a Virgo. And go check out our Myspace page or go to http://www.televisioncity.net
John: Yeah if you like us cool, if not hey at least you gave us a shot…
Daniel: We are the hardest working very best looking pop punk band in all of Texas!!!!!!

You heard the man, go to www.televisioncity.net if you want more or visit www.myspace.com/televisioncitydallas.

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