Know Your LA Bands: Abe Vigoda Interview

BeatCrave brings you band, Abe Vigoda, as part of our Know Your LA Bands series. Abe Vigoda has been making music together since 2004 and is now one of the most sought out indie bands to play alongside with. Just as their friends from The Smell, No Age, they have been steadily coming out with new music and regularly touring. Although they have often been dubbed as “that tropical punk band,” the guys of Abe Vigoda (yes, it is also the name of the guy from The Godfather) know where their sound has started but more importantly where it’s going.

As part of LA’s Eagle Rock Music Festival, Abe Vigoda takes the stage tomorrow night on October 4th. If you’re in the area, be sure to catch their set which starts at 6:30pm on the Emerging Stage. They’ve recently been snatched up by big new names such as Vampire Weekend, and they’re about to blow up even more than they have. It only makes sense to catch this truly original noise punk band when they are still around in the local scene.

Until then, check out our interview with guitarist, Juan Velasquez, and just wait. Everyone will be talking about these guys and you’ll be glad to have some solid knowledge.

Why did you choose to share your band name with an actor from The Godfather?

Well when Mike and I were talking over AIM during high school we thought that it would be funny to name a band after Abe Vigoda and when the chance arose to start a band (during the end of high school) that’s really the only name that stuck… It’s sort of hard to name a band, but now we are sort of stuck with it (haha).

Do you ever get sick of people referring to you as “that tropical punk band?” Obviously, that’s not what all your music is.

We do get tired of it but I don’t think that it’s necessarily a bad thing to be associated with. People place too much weight on those sorts of labels and tag lines. With that said, if it makes people interested in the band then it’s not a bad thing. I think when our new EP comes out next year and people hear the new stuff we have been up to, that label might not be relevant any longer.

What part of LA are you guys from?

We grew up 40 minutes east of LA proper in Chino, which is part of the Inland Empire in Southern CA. We just moved to LA in the last year, but obviously have been hanging out here more than in Chino for the last couple years.

How did you all meet?

We all met at different times but didn’t all become friends until high school. I had been good friends with David (bass) since junior high though. We all sort of met on the shared obsession with the Smashing Pumpkins; that’s how I found out about Mike because he was wearing this rare Smashing Pumpkins shirt… It’s a really geeky thing.

You guys have done an album a year since 2006. Is this the result of a comfortable rhythm that’s occurred in your writing process?

Yeah, it’s really easy for us to write songs. Our main problem is trying to slow that down because then we won’t want to play our old material. But since this record we have only written 3 songs. I think it’s due to all the touring.

Are you guys still in school or have you completed your degrees?

We sort of took breaks from school. I was really close to finishing and then we started getting really busy. I had to choose work/school or work/band. Hopefully, it will soon be band/school but I’m not sure how realistic that is. I really miss it. I love reading, writing papers, taking tests and all that stuff.

Who has been the funnest band to tour with?

This last tour with No Age was pretty rad. Although, it was a lot busier and we didn’t get as much hangout time as we wished but we really like touring with them and with Mika Miko. They are really fun plus they are our good friends so it’s not just like we tour with them. We do hang out a lot outside of all this. I actually have more experience hanging with them outside of show atmospheres.

But last year, we did the west coast leg of our US tour with Talbot Tagora from Seattle and they are so fun, We had some of our best tour memories with them, for sure. Also, their friend they brought along – Robert Wolfe, ended up becoming so close to him that he moved to LA for an entire year. We even named a song after him and he’s on the cover of an upcoming UK 7″ single. So yeah, touring with them was super fun.

When you get bigger than you already are, do you plan on always coming back for a show at The Smell?

Haha, there is no question about it, but I like your wishful and positive thinking about us getting big. Yeah, playing there is always really great. Lots of people have told us that they have seen us play other places and that we are always better at The Smell. I think it’s because we feel much more comfortable there, we practice there, we go to shows there… been going to shows there for about 5 years now! So, it’s not even something we have to think about; it’s our home.

The Smell is always all ages. Do you think the LA music scene would thrive even more if we had more free shows than we already do?

I’m not sure if it’s the money aspect of shows that makes a difference. I mean, touring bands need to get paid for at least gas, because it’s tough on the road and all of that. Shows at the smell are 5 dollars! So it’s not the most expensive night out you can have. I think that LA just needs more DIY spaces that encourage kids to get excited and confident about playing music. I think that it can be intimidating to be in a band or start one if all you know are larger “legit” venues that don’t cater to that sort of thing.

What venue or place have you not yet played but still want to in LA?

Oh man! That’s a good question. Lately, we have been playing places I have only dreamed of really. It’s totally CRAZY but I’m not sure I would want to play the Palladium when it opens because it always looked really cool to me. I’m not sure where else … I guess it would be cliche to say the Hollywood Bowl or something like that, but it would be so insane to play there…. My parents would be really proud. It would be nice to do that for them, I think.

How did you get the chance to open up for Vampire Weekend?

It was pretty simple, they contacted our booking agent and it got set up. We had not met them previous to them asking, but we did meet them on our last tour when we were in Chicago. They came out to our show that was a Pitchfork Festival after-party. They are super nice guys and we had a blast playing with them. I got to take them out for really amazing Oaxacan food before one of the shows. I hope we can play with them again.

Quick Fire Round:
What’s something you always wanted to do but will probably never do?

Base jump/skydive. (Pretty cliche but im pretty sure I wouldn’t do that…. but would want to?)

What’s the last physical CD you bought?

I don’t really buy CDs – just records, which is super easy since I work at Amoeba BUT with that said, the last record I bought was the new Growing record. However, I also bought a Depeche Mode record along with it. The one with “Master and Servant” on it.

Chocolate and caramel or chocolate and peanut butter?

Choco/caramel!

What was the last movie you watched?

I just watched EXTE last night. It’s a japanese horror movie about evil hair extensions. Its completely insane; there are like two scenes with people pulling hair out of their eyeballs…. and hair growing out of wounds and fingernails! Totally nuts!

Photo credit: Dan Monick