IE: You guys are from a beach town in Orange County California called San Clemente. Being surrounded by more of the pop punk sound and culture how hard was it to find other musicians that were into playing a more raw style of hardcore punk?

Danny: It was relatively easy to find the original guys that I started the band with. The hard part was keeping them. We’ve had a few guys dropout over the years but there are three of us who have kept it going since the beginning, Ryan, Jerome and myself…and we’ve got a solid lineup now.

IE: What is the punk/hardcore scene like these days in Orange County? Are there other bands playing a more raw style like you are?

Danny: Sometimes I feel like were standing out there alone because of our sound, we come from south Orange County away from the epicenter of the so-called Orange county sound, so we have to scratch and claw for whatever we can get. The scene isn’t what it was say 15 years ago. Since we started the band 8 years ago a lot of bands have stopped so it’s hard to have any continuity. Also venues change so much that it makes it tough to grow a scene especially locally.

IE: Do you remember what your first punk/hardcore show was?

Danny: I saw Murphy’s Law in Miami, Florida when I was fifteen…I’d say ‘88 or so, that’s the one that really sticks out as a first. I remember all the skins and there were a lot of them back then…just thinking holy shit this is crazy. Its cool too, we got to open for Murphy’s Law a few years ago in Tucson, Arizona and at the after party I was able to hang out with and relay that story to Jimmy Gestapo.

IE: Are you guys into or influenced by any NY hardcore bands? If so what are some of your favorite bands past or present?

Danny: Oh man I went thru the biggest Sick of it All phase way back…but yeah I love New York hardcore and so do the other guys in the band. Everything from the old guard Cro Mags, Gorilla Biscuits and Agnostic Front to Madball and Biohazard, at one time or another I was into them all. That Madball 7” when Freddie was a kid fuckin’ rules…as to our sound, maybe it’s in there but I wouldn’t say we consciously put in an effort to do so.

IE: The band started out back in 2004 and here we are 8 years later. What are some of your memories.. good or bad.. when you think over this bands history?

Danny: The best memories are from touring, that’s where the band really becomes a unit, stuck together everyday. Our tour though the Midwest a few years ago out to SXSW was a big deal. You know I guess some of the worst memories come from touring too, the drunk arguments and the gig butt. One of our best shows came out of that tour, we played Pueblo, Colorado, had never been there before and we played to a packed all ages venue and they went nuts, that felt really good. I’ve got a weird fight at a show story, our drummer picked a fight with a palm tree one night after he forgot his snare drum or something…he ‘s been known to lose his temper and he decided to take it out on a tree and as you’d guess that ended being one of our worst shows that I can remember.

IE: What were some of your favorite places to play?

Danny: My favorite place to play is any new city we haven’t played before, the venue doesn’t matter. New faces and new terrain, that’s exciting.

IE: What is your favorite part about getting out on the road?

Danny: The band gets real tight and the new scenery.

IE: What sucks most about being on the road?

Danny: Gig butt and missing my kids.

IE: Can you define “gig butt”?

Danny: Gig butt....is sweaty, dirty road ass....from lack of showers and clean restrooms....the only solution is baby wipes!

IE: What do friends and family not into punk/hardcore music think of Killing California when you play them your music?

Danny: If they’re not into punk and hardcore I don’t bother, why, they won’t get it…plus I don’t really pass out our music to friends or family and stand around waiting for them to listen to it, that’s uncomfortable for everyone involved. My family probably thinks I’m nuts, and my friends already know I’m nuts, so the music really won’t change anything.

IE: Are you totally satisfied with the end result of the new record? If you could go back and change anything what would it be?

Danny: Oh I’m satisfied with the end result, it’s by far our best stuff…there’s one song we left out that had we nurtured it a bit better might have made the record, so instead we added another track that would be my least favorite if I had to rate them…that’s all I’m gonna say…Chucks gonna kill me for saying what I already said.

IE: Do you have tour plans set up as of yet to support the new album?

Danny: We are working on it now…there are tour plans but no dates yet to speak of other than some local dates around the release of the record. The who’s, where, and when’s are to be announced.

IE: What’s up with the song “Dirt” off of the new release? It is totally different from all your other songs in that it is more of a jam type song. Are you planning on playing this song out live?

Danny: Oh yeah we play it live…we’ve been using it as an intro to our set, it’s really cool, kinda sets the mood, than bam, we break straight into “Now I’m You”. I think that was the point with “Dirt” to add something a little different. It was a jam Jerome had and we just ran with it…I think you could say it might be us evolving a little, I think our sound in the future might include a little bit of that heavy texturing.

IE: Are you guys making a video for any of the songs off of the new album? If so what song is it for? Is it just a live setting video or is there a story line behind it?

Danny: Yeah, the video is for the title track “No Pentagrams No Crosses”, it is in the editing phase and is almost done, should be out by the release date. It’s us live and more, there’s a theme to it; Good and Evil as the title would suggest. You’ll have to wait and see it.

IE: How has the band changed or not changed since your last album “Goin’ South”?

Danny: Since “Goin’ South’” we’ve got a new bass player, Todd Lake, and we added a 3rd guitar player, Josh McEndry. The biggest thing is obviously the 3rd guitar player. That added another layer of texture and heaviness, it also allowed me to put the guitar down on two tracks live and just sing which kinda mixes things up.

IE: You have quite a list of songs that have appeared on TV and in movies (Jackass 3.5 movie, Rob & Big on MTV, Nitro Circus on MTV and an IPhone app Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2). How did you manage to get your music out there to all these different media outlets? 

Danny: That’s all Chuck behind the scenes label stuff. He works his butt off doing that for himself and his bands. He’s smart, you’ve got to do whatever you can these days to get paid in the digital age.

IE: What kinds of regular jobs do you guys have when you’re not doing the band?

Danny: I will just rattle it out in no particular order or name assignment: machine shop, snowboard company, recording engineer teacher, construction, and painter.

IE: Most bands have Facebook pages but not a real website. You guys have www.killingcalifornia.com. Who runs it and updates it and do you feel like it is an advantage over just having Facebook?

Danny: It’s hard man keeping up with all that stuff, Jerome runs our website and most of our computer related needs. I don’t know if it’s an advantage or not, sometimes I wonder if people even visit actual websites or if they are just stuck to Facebook, hard to tell.

IE: Anything else that we didn’t touch on that you would like to add?

Danny: Support underground music and give the new record a listen…and dig a little deeper than Facebook for God’s sake….stay lean and mean…and support your local shaper!