Have Nots Interview

Forming from the ashes of Boston mainstays, Stray Bullets and Chicago Typewriter, Have Nots have blasted on to the Boston punk scene in quite a way.

With their first album ‘Serf City USA’ being heralded by the press as ‘sonically charged ska-punk brilliancy…as strong as a heroine kick’ and ‘the perfect blend of punk and ska riffs’, they’re a shot in the arm for a genre many had written off.

Rock Lifestyle caught up with Steve Patton, drummer in the Have Nots, for a few words…

Have Nots

Rock Lifestyle (RL): Can you give us a quick intro to the members of Have Nots?
Steve Patton (SP): Jon Cauztik and Matt Pruitt both play guitar and sing, and write the songs for the most part. Jameson Hollis plays bass and I (Steve Patton) play drums.

RL: How’s 2009 been for the band and what’s on the horizon for 2010?
SP: We’ve had a really busy 2009. We dropped our first album in January and have been touring pretty much non stop since then. We’ve been home for about a month now and it’s been a nice break, but we leave again in a couple weeks for another East Coast tour, our 6th this year I think! As for 2010, that’s pretty up in the air right now. We’re writing new songs and just thinking about how we want to proceed from here, doing the record label dance etc.

RL: Boston has always been famous for punk. Who has influenced you in the music you make and what bands were you going out to see when you were younger?
SP: Our tastes are all over the map, but I’d say The Clash is a pretty agreeable influence.

RL: You’re going to be touring with the Dropkick Murphys and Big D and the Kids Table, two of the all-time epic Boston-area punk bands, how does that feel for you?
SP: Haha, getting the email from the Dropkick Murphys manager was one of those little “dream come true.” I was sitting in front of my laptop half asleep in my underwear, and sandwiched between the spam was an email from them inviting us to open a show… pretty trippy. The Big D dudes are good friends of ours from Boston, so we’re psyched to join them on the road for a couple shows. Can’t complain too much about hanging out and partying in Florida during the winter with one of our favorite bands.

Have Nots

RL: Describe your perfect gig to play? The other bands can be present or R.I.P…
SP: That’s a good question. I think opening for The Clash at Giants Stadium would’ve been pretty cool, with Green Day and Rancid as support…

RL: ‘Serf City USA’ has been hugely well accepted. How do you guys feel about the album?
SP: I’m really proud of it. I think we made a great punk/ska record and a lot of people seem to agree. I also know that we can do even better though, so I’m really excited for the next record whenever that may be, to continue to improve upon where we left off.

RL: If you weren’t in this band, what do you think you guys would be doing?
SP: I can’t really speak for the other guys, but I would definitely be spending more time on audio engineering and production, probably doing more management/booking type stuff for other bands.

RL: How many opportunities out there do you think there are for new and unsigned bands to succeed? Are we in a saturated market so far as record labels signing bands is concerned?
SP: There are plenty of opportunities for bands to succeed out there, you just have to think creatively and work hard to find them. Maybe it’s a little harder, especially for punk bands, to get signed these days, and if you do get signed you’re not getting as much money as bands used to, but getting signed isn’t necessarily even the goal anymore.

RL: How do you feel the internet has changed things, especially with regards to rock music?
SP: Well pretty much everything that we’ve done as a band thus far would’ve been impossible without the internet. Printing and selling our own CDs and merch, setting up our own tours, this interview, etc. It always blows my mind when people come out to our first show in a town 6000 miles from Boston and know the words to our songs.

RL: And finally, have you guys toured worldwide yet? If not, is that an ambition and where would you really love to play?
SP: We have yet to play outside of North America. We’re trying to get to Europe as soon as possible, but we’d love to play anywhere they’ll have us. Japan would probably be a lot of fun.

Check out the Have Not’s Myspace page.