Watch Them Die

Thrasher Magazine, June, 2004 by Tonus

WHAT CAN YOU SAY about a band that is so intense that heat rises off the stage when they play and always a pit ensues. As raised fists and thrashing bodies are flailing, Watch Them Die give you energy in its rawest form. If your head ain't banging it's because you're either drunk and passed out in the corner or dead! Watch Them Die is: Pat Vigil--vocals; Grey Valencia--vocals, guitar; Jase Freakly--backing vocals, guitar; Pat Mello--backing vocals, guitar; and Ira Harris--drums.

Do you skate or read Thrasher?

I read Thrasher when my friends who are in bands are in it. We used to skate a little.

When did this band start?

In June of 2001. Ira, Pat and Jase had been jamming for a couple of months and they had been bugging me for a while I just got in there and it kind of went rolling along really quickly. The songwriting happened really fast. We were all enjoying what we were doing and thought maybe we could take it up a notch.

Which other bands were you guys in?

Grimple, Schlong, Word Salad, El Dopa, Ojo Rojo--a number of bands in the last 13 to 14 years.

Is that how you guys got your instant fan base?

Yeah, kind of. That seems to be working more for us now than it did in the beginning, as far as the bands we were in.

What's the origin of your name Watch Them Die?

We were looking for a name for a long time. Nobody liked what we had crone up with. Pat came up with Watch Them Die, Basically, we were thinking about what would be the most horrible thing in life to go through, and it would be watching your family die. We all agreed it would be an awful thing to have to endure and it felt right for the music, because of the lyrical content and the energy we were putting out.

So what's this Watch Them Die quality challenge?

We're saying that we will get on the stage with any band--anywhere, anytime--and basically walk out with more fans than we had before the start of the show, regardless of who we play with. We honestly feel that we put 110-percent into our shows and our music grabs everyone by the fucking balls. For a while it seemed like we weren't getting a lot of support from the SF/Oakland scene, but that's started to get a lot better recently.

How has touring been for you?

It's been kind of hard. It's a punk rock tour at the moment, so we're playing a lot of small shows And our record just came out so we're not really known. But a lot of the shows arm going really well and we are selling merch. records, CDs--but it's pretty small for the most part We're trying to get on bigger tours with bigger bands, and we're hoping that will come to us in the near future.

You guys are now on Century Media?

Yeah.

Are they going to help with making that happen?

Definitely so, because they love our band and they love us as people and vice-versa They're really down-to-earth, and trying to push us as much as they can. Right now they're just kind of testing the waters to see what we can do, and what will work for them. I have a feeling that in six months we'll be in bigger venues and with bigger support bands.

So you guys will be like rock stars with the big tour buses and groupies, drum techs and stuff? So when you're rolling in the big fat cash and the hookers, will you remember the little guys?

Of course, man, of course. We will play anywhere--parties and anywhere. That's actually my favorite thing to play, parties: where punks and metalheads are getting fucked up. We love that shit. We hardly ever get to do it though.

That's kind of what the Oakland scene is, right?

Yeah, but there's not too many places to play in Oakland. Just Gilman Street and a couple more places like that. There's nowhere to practice. It's really expensive to try to find a practice space. It cost just as much as a house nowadays.

What is your best pet name for George Bush?

I guess it would just be fucking idiot. When I look at him I just get disgusted. My father's always been that way (Republican) and he has always supported the United States, but even he bows his head in disgrace at the sight of that guy. Now we got Schwarzenegger in there too. I have people from Germany calling me up and laughing at my ass because I'm from California.

Who is your favorite hottie? The hottest woman on the planet? It cannot be your girlfriend.

I don't know, man. I have some very weird taste in women. Archenemy is just brilliant and they've got a gorgeous front woman. She kicks ass. I was mad that I missed them opening for Slayer. And we keep missing Dimmu Borgir everywhere we go, too.