IE: For those out there who are not familiar with you guys give us the short version of who and what Yo! Scunt is all about.

Seamus:  All inclusive organized chaos.

IE: You already told me you’re sick of answering what the name Yo! Scunt means but I’m gonna ask anyway. There is also a debate within the band as to who came up with it as well, correct?

Andrew: Haha. So sick of hearing about this.

Danny: Since Chris is going to lie about it anyway, the truth is that it’s Pig Latin for "Chris is a liar."

Christopher: Not "Stir for 4 hours?” Danny and I each have our own version of the story. My version is the truth.

IE: You guys just added a 5th member on second guitar. Why did you think this was the move to make for your band?

Andrew: We want to fill up the sound.

Seamus: It beautifully thickens the sound. Each guitar backs the other one up. Not the first time Yo! has 2 guitars either.

Christopher: The 2 SPY vs SPY spies are stocked with mattresses in a safe house up on Farmers Boulevard playing pinochle with our new guitar player now. His only worry is not gaining weight. These 2 spy guys don't really trust each other too much. So the new guitar player is always having to sample their grub before they eat. He doesn't mind the beer though. The White Spy likes Colt 45. The Black Spy likes Olde English. Apparently Spys drink a lot of malt liquor. I think the staff in general at MAD hits the sauce.

Danny: I'm Alfred E. Neuman and I approve of Chris' answer.

IE: You guys have been around going on 10 years now but have just 2 CD’s and a couple of demos... some of which have the same songs redone. What has slowed the bands progress over the years or are you guys purposely not on a schedule and more about doing things on your time frame?

Andrew: We do not want to release another record until we are satisfied with the lineup. It sucks recording something prior to a member leaving the band.

Christopher: There been some member changes and various sways of life that have affected some aspects of progress for us.

Danny: This is a very busy band. It’s been continually playing shows since it started, to the tune of like one or two a month. On top of that the lineup has been less than steady. I myself have quit and joined I think three times. Recording and coming up with new material takes time, it’s not for lack of desire.

IE: With that said is the band working on new material and when can we expect to hear something new?

Andrew: We have been playing new ones that are not yet recorded. We had a few other songs, but they may have faded with the departure of our last guitarist.

Christopher: “Thumbs & Spine, “In The Park”, “Carpet Baggers Delight” ("ABC Shanghai Yes")... All these tunes we've been playing live. Yeah there are some songs that we haven't been playing. “A Quarter Here, A Quarter There" is a song I'm looking forward to playing more.

IE: You guys are at the forefront of a wave of NYHC and punk bands making a name for themselves at frequent shows at smaller bars mostly in Queens and Brooklyn. Can you talk a bit about these shows and some of the bands involved as well as your involvement with booking shows at the Hilltap Tavern in Elmhurst.

Seamus: All the usual suspects.

Christopher: Queens. The Wild Turkey Saloon has been doing shows. I think these were booked by different bands. In College Point, No Dice's Mike has a yard hook up with a garage and cement room attached to it that has been a spot for some matinees. There's an oil truck or some truck in the driveway. The Hill Tap I did some Saturday night shows since November or December of '09. These weren't every week. Not every month even. Now there are matinees. The matinees have been being booked by Sean from On The Offense, Jamie Hamma from Abject!, and me. The Saturday night shows, people had helped out over the years with equipment and watching the grounds when it got to that point. Astoria, there was Gussy's Pub. Larry Left had booked some shows over there and so did Dave Blood. One of our earlier shows was in some Romanian club in Long Island City. The stage was split into twos and was flashy. Lights and chrome. It was the first night we met and played with The Straphangers. First time we drank and smoked with them. We found their guitarist's g'tar. A fun night.

Andrew: I love playing music and I greatly appreciate anyone who shows interest in our band. 

IE: How did you approach the Hilltap ownership at first to book shows there?

Danny: Chris has long been friends with my wonderful girlfriend Diana who is friends with the owner’s son, Pat.

Christopher: Diana called me up one afternoon and said her friend's family has a bar on Grand Avenue, and they're down with having bands play. I was looking around for some spot to try to see about letting bands play. There were shows being held at Bar 131 in College Point. Seizure Crypt were doing Skull Fractured Friday night shows. Obnoxious Gas, DWI, Caught In A Trap, Blackout Shoppers, East Coast Scammers, Last Call Brawl, What Doesn’t Kill Me, WWIX, Distraction, Olde York, The Shit Loving Angels, Razor Blade Hand Grenade. All these different bands were playing there. They were putting on shows as well every few months at the VFW Hall over there. The Point Bar (RIP) below my old apartment on College Point Boulevard. Mr. McCann was losing his lease from the scumbag landlord. He let me put on 2 shows there. I couldn't find any place near the subway that would let me do it. Then the Hill Tap came along. I met up with Diana and we went to the Hill Tap and she introduced me to Pat. We spoke and he said I was welcome to book shows there. I would promote for well over a month or longer. On the subways to and from and after physical therapy. And when PT was over. I used the same approach. E,F,R,7,lines one could find taped flyers around maps in the station and on the trains. Corners pinched in a little and flyers would stick in between the ads on the subway cars. I would approach people and hand them flyers. I'd go to QCC (Queensborough Community College) and Queens College and tape flyers around the bus stops by the school. Leave ‘em around. Generation Records (Manhattan) I'd tape flyers up there and hand them to people who were in the store buying and or looking at records.

IE: You are now planning on having weekend matinee shows at the Hill Tap on a regular basis?

Christopher: We'll see what happens.

IE: Are you also looking for out of town bands passing through Queens to play these shows too?

Christopher: Yes. We've had some. We'd like some more please.

IE: You recently were scheduled to play a show on the top of a building in Brooklyn before it was shut down by the cops. What went down that day?

Seamus: The excitement of the bands and the crowd didn't match that of the residents of the building.

Danny: From my understanding of it (and I could be way off here), nobody involved in putting on the show actually lived in the building. One of them had a friend who had lived there but was moving out the next week. So you get home from work and hear a bunch of noise on the roof and go upstairs to find 50 punks hanging out drinking beer and smoking pot. And what the hell? They brought a drum set and all those speakers up here too? I’m not surprised somebody called the cops. I almost assumed it would happen. Still, it was such a cool idea how could we not try to be a part of it?

Christopher: The piss bucket was over flowing.

IE: At least more recently there have not been many out of state Yo! shows. Why?

Danny: This is one of the big things on the agenda.

Christopher: In May we played in Easton,PA. and November in New London, CT. We've played out of state before and not as much as of late. We're playing CT again in August. From what I can remember, we've been to Virginia, Delaware, Jersey, Massachusetts, and PA.

IE: The band has caught some flack for the song “Honky, Spic, Nigger, Slope” which you have explained is in no way a racist song. Tell us about the song and why have you gotten into some friction with the folks who book shows at ABC No Rio over it?

Andrew:  Anyone that bothers to read the lyrics can see for themselves what the song is about. Someone at ABC No Rio has an issue with us. Supposing it's some kid named *****. He actually used to attend our gigs hahaha. What's irritating is that those are some serious accusations. To spread such slander is spiteful and petty. Now, because of this, we have been excluded from such events like Punk Island (which we played the first three years prior to ABC taking over). It makes me laugh because if you attend our gigs, we have such a diverse crowd. It just shows how someone can play children's games over personal feelings

Seamus: They take issue with the "offensive" words and ignore the message that is trying to be conveyed. Start a rumor that you fucked one of those kid's mom....Ho!

Danny: It’s a song about how many of the distinctions we draw between ourselves and other people are stupid. I don’t know how much more clear it could be. Part of me wants to laugh, I wish they would have picked something less serious because we could have ran with it and had fun. But being hateful and intolerant is not a reputation I want.

Christopher: They do allow bands to sing about getting head while drunk and songs about someone get raped from the neck up by an ass.

IE: You have also played at the last couple of Punk Island Fests here in NYC but now with the ABC No Rio folks being involved you tell me you are not allowed to play there either. How did you find out about this?

Seamus:  Blacklisted and our spies.

Danny: Everybody is entitled to their own thing but what happened is that they had this thing that was everybody's (seemingly almost by accident) land in their lap. They could have recognized that this thing was not theirs, and that it belonged to everybody. What they did was start deciding who could and couldn't play. They added an agenda to the whole thing. There was going to be an “activist” table at each stage. We don't play at ABC No Rio, and that’s fine. Honestly, no hate there. It’s their place and they make their rules, and although it’s based on a misunderstanding they think what they think about us and were not welcomed there. That's cool. But this should have been neutral. It’s a shame. Punk Island could have been huge.

IE: Correct me if I am wrong but Andrew played naked to protest this assumption of racism from the previously mentioned song. What did you want to accomplish by playing nude and please tell us about the show where this happened and the crowd’s reaction.

Andrew: I played bucket naked to make people confront their insecurities. People act like tough guys, judging you based on how many tats you have, how many spikes on your leather, or how high your mohawk is. People want to label us as something we are not (somehow being racist), so I stripped down to show I am human, the same as anyone else. We have nothing to hide behind. No hatred towards any race, lifestyle, or belief. Some people walked out, fearing the sight of a naked man slapping his junk against his bass, others still talk about those wild hijnx when I see them at gigs. There were 3 shows that I had the b-day suit on: The Hilltap, Otto’s, and Gussy’s. I'm just glad I didn't get arrested.

Danny: The only thing Drizzle ever protested was people not paying attention to him.

Christopher: True.

IE: My first punk record was the first Suicidal Tendencies record and when I played it my mom came into my room and crumbled up the lyric sheet. Growing up what did your parents think of your punk rock music and can you remember their earliest reactions to it?

Andrew: I grew up with punk. My uncle, The Bomb Walker from No Place To Piss had me singing punk rock lullabies. My dad hated punk, though. I would get my ass kicked if he caught me with my liberty spikes or mohawk.

Seamus: My parents were oddly tolerant but you on the other hand...

Christopher: My father wasn't too thrilled with most of the music I liked. In 8th grade I was listening to DK's “In God We Trust INC”. "Religious Vomit" is the 1st track on the album. My father was fixing a window frame and ran over and looked at me. He was pissed. Told me to shut that shit off. When I was 8 years old I'd be playing The Kinks, Kiss, and The Rolling Stones records. He didn't like that. “Group Sex” by The Circle Jerks I think was my first tape. The Sycottic Sons tape might have been. My father had ripped up a few of my t-shirts too. Right as I was done washing ‘em too. Oh snap!

Danny: They were always overly concerned about my appearance. When I was in high school I dressed quite the little fashion punk and they hated it. The other day my dad made fun of me because I didn't know who Maroon 5 is. He said, you fancy yourself some sort of musician and you don't even keep up with what’s what? He's grown accepting over the years.

IE: Around the time you started this band what kind of music was influencing you and what has changed if anything in regards to what influences your band today?

Andrew: We are mere vessels for the chaos of life to transform into music.

Danny: My tastes in music were not very diverse when the band started. Pretty much just punk, hardcore, and grunge. Now I'm a huge fan of bands like Throwing Muses, all sorts of noise bands, and especially jazz.

Christopher: When I met Timma our old drummer right before we met Danny, Swedish hardcore mixed with pogo punk, and NYHC was the recipe we wanted to cook up. 

IE: On the bands Facebook page there are a bunch of photos of Yo! Scunt stickers pasted all over NYC and other places you have played. How many stickers do you think you guys have put up?

Seamus: A whole lot.

IE: If we put all of the members of Yo! Scunt in a steel cage match against each other who is walking out the winner and why?

Andrew: I, Drizzle, would reign supreme with my excellent street fighting, and hado ken abilities.

Christopher: 5 Deadly Venoms. 5 count.

Danny: Seamus for sure. You always have to be careful of the quiet yet confident ones.