5 Questions With Dan Vapid
All hail the summer of pop punk!
After last year’s demise of two of my favourite bands, Screeching Weasel and the Riverdales, due to the actions of hot-headed Weasel frontman Ben Weasel, I was bummed to say the least. So you can imagine how stoked I was when I heard that Weasel’s former bandmate and Riverdales frontman Dan Vapid was going to release a new LP and tour with his band The Cheats.
Dan Vapid has been responsible for the majority of my all-time favourite pop punk tunes, especially with the Riverdales. The self-titled Dan Vapid & The Cheats debut plays like a ‘best of’ all of Vapid’s past projects, but with fresh, new songs. In addition to tracks distinctly DVNC (Devo On Speed, Feeling Manic) you’ll still hear the doo wop-tinged punk you knew from The Mopes (Girl Group, Work Of Art), Screeching Weasel snot (Beware Of The Fog), the grittier energy of The Methadones (Good Enough, In A Heartbeat) and three-chord wonders reminiscent of the Riverdales (Torture Chamber, Baby Baby Get Over Yourself). In other words, it is unmistakably a Dan Vapid record and that is a wholly good thing. Don’t get me wrong, the album is far from a recycled compilation but just reaffirms that Vapid still has it and is better than ever.
Dan Vapid & The Cheats hit Toronto on July 28 and Dan took some time to answer the infamous GEEKPR0N five questions.
GEEKPR0N: Describe your musical style in 140 characters or less.
Dan Vapid: We are a pop punk band mainly influenced by early punk, power pop, new wave, girl groups, bubble gum, etc… from the late 50’s and 60’s.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it?
D: I’d like to be invisible at will. I think I’d have a lot of fun with that.
Who would be on the bill of your dream tour; dead, alive or fictional?
D: I always have trouble with these type of questions because there are so many i would want. I would have to make it a touring festival. Many of the bands in the genres above from famous and obscure would be a part of it.
Photo: Bill Thomas – www.witchmilk.com
Star Trek or Star Wars?
D: Star Wars.
What have you been up to lately, and what can we look forward to coming up from Dan Vapid & The Cheats?
D: DVNC have a debut record on our own label (Torture Chamber records) that is available through Bandcamp and Interpunk. We are getting ready to play some Canadian dates in July and (US) east coast dates in August. We are scheduled to play the Gainesville fest in October. We will be recording a track for a Go-Go’s tribute record this month and are looking to get back into the studio and record another full-length record sometime at the end of the year.
Give the album a listen and head over to wwww.danvapidandthecheats.com.
Cover photo: Kate Hovland
