Sunday, August 9, 2009

Tobias' featurette No. 4 - Angels In America (NYC/MTL)





'Angels In America' is a band made up of two kids who have assumed the persona's Moppy Pont and Rob Rombus. Who met in High School in NYC and formed the group at that time. After self-releasing their 1st tape "Cunt Tree Grammar" they sent a copy to Thurston Moore & Byron Coley's Bull Tongue column in Arthur Magazine (R.I.P). Soon after that exchange they were invited to have the tape re-released by Moore's own label 'Ecstatic Peace!'. Moppy has been living in Montreal for the past year or so (and is returning to the states permanently after this tour). While they were staying in Montreal they picked up two backing members which they will be taking with them through the states all month on their first tour.

They have been described as "a really stoned Teenage Jesus and The Jerks." and variations of that. They are way too pretentious to have a myspace page but you can download some high quality mp3 versions of their tunes on WFMU's Free Music Archive.

They sell teeshirts at their gigs of a man in black face being hugged by witches for $5.00 printed on the thinnest and tightest material known to man. 1 size. Which they got wholesale for .99 cents each.

Oh and probably the greatest live band you will see this Summer! We got into it recently. This was a recorded conversation in their borrowed apartment from 1am after a long day of wearing colorful costumes, barfing sprinkles and gummybears for an artfilm called "Smile Stealers" that Moppy stars in and Rob Rhombus also cameos in. I will also mention that Rob Rhombus has a stick n' poke tattoo on his stomach of a gravestone that reads "PIZZA", which he got this Summer.

(Moppy Pont in the film 'Smile Stealers' by Jasa Baka)

(Rob Rhombus in the film 'Smile Stealers' by Jasa Baka)


Rob Rhombus: I gotta control myself.
Tobias: Okay. You're a band, you did a
tape, how old were you? 18? You covered 18 by Alice Cooper when you
were 18? Is that right?
Moppy: um huh.
Rob Rhombus: We were babies.
Tobias: You were babies.
Moppy: We were 18.
Rob Rhombus: I had adopted this baby.
Moppy: And we had just been adopted by Mr. Boombastic.
Rob Rhombus: Father Boombastic. He runs a mission.
Moppy: We said "Can you be cute to us?"
Rob Rhombus: Yah.. he was a real fi-yah-star-tah.
Tobias: And the tape?
Rob Rhombus: I made one. And then I tried to make another one. I
couldn't do it so I called up my friend. My friend Peter. Greazy
Peter. Yeah we made it and then we made more of it. Let's just leave
it at that, allright?
Moppy: Then we had a little rendezvous at Kinky's.
Rob Rhombus: Yeah it was just the usual stuff. You go down to Kinky's.
They make your paper pop.
Moppy: Now we have a lot of inserts. They made a big mistake.
Rob Rhombus: Let's just say we knew what they knew. Listen this is the
real deal. We had gotten Mr. Boombastic to sponsor us at this
Dance-a-thon. And for every dance he would donate a tape. So we got
really energized. And then we got all these tapes outta the deal.
That's true. That's a true story.

Tobias: How many shows have you played in total?
Moppy: 4
Rob Rhombus: 5.
Tobias: So you've been a band two years and you've played 5 shows. 2
in the last week. And then.. a 100 in the next month on tour in the
States?
Rob Rhombus: We just decided to start showing our turds. Spreading our
stuff around. Smearing it. We are going to teach the people about
Philosophy.
Tobias: Who's your favorite philosopher?
Moppy: Maria Bello.
Tobias: Angels In America is..
Rob Rhombus: Some Kinda Monster. It's this quote we heard in Some
Kinda Monster. Phil Towel says it. Then Lar's dad reiterates it later
in the film.
Tobias: What do you think about..
Rob Rhombus: I got this rash. Seriously. Off the record. I gotta rash.
Moppy: I think this is a good interview.
Tobias: Where do you want to go from here? Not in your band but in
this interview?
Rob Rhombus: Basically the main thing is.. we're like..everytime I look in the mirror I expect to see the Candy Man. And that helps me because if I don't. In a way I feel like my day
has been ordained for safe passage. I just keep licking myself. I
can't stop. That's how I know it's going to be a good day. If I lick
myself for like 3-4 hours at the beginning of the day. Then I can go
out and just take care of it.
Moppy: yeah.
Rob Rhombus: That's what Mr. Boombastic taught me at the Rash Academy.
He taught me if you have a rash you need to just lick yourself. 'cause
that's how you clean.
Moppy: But sometimes if you lick yourself too much you get a rash.
Rob Rhombus: That's called too much of a good thing.
Moppy: That's what we're about.
Moppy: We wrote a new song about Obama.
Rob Rhombus: It's called "Touch it." We're going to debut it really soon.
Tobias: What are you touring in?
Rob Rhombus: America.
Tobias: No.. what kinda of vehicle are your touring in? Greg (of
Special Noise)'s parents car?
Moppy: & Markus' parents car.
Tobias: So that cars of both band drummer's parents.
Moppy: Why don't we talk about the new song?
Tobias: Sure talk about it.
Rob Rhombus: Talk about it but talk loud. We wrote a scary song about
the moment we saw the ghoul;that has become our god.
Moppy: And..
Rob Rhombus: .. he told us..
Moppy: There was some bad news.
Rob Rhombus: And the bad news is "Congratulations.You are.."
Moppy:"...holding"
Rob Rhombus: ".. a satchel.. down below.."
Moppy: "..a little.. living...cutie..."
Rob Rhombus: It's about how if a cutie comes out of you.. and what to do then.
Tobias: What's the song called?
Rob Rhombus: Phallaform. It's like "Brenda's Got a Baby" meets Ramstein.
Tobias: Can you talk to me about the new members of your band you've
picked up in Canada?
Rob Rhombus: Yah we're playing with a couple of real greazzzy weasels.
And their great.. Nader.. I mean called BiteNFight.
Moppy: Nader Hasan.
Rob Rhombus: But he goes by BiteNfight. And then there's Papa Spawn.
Moppy: He's kind of our new daddy.

Tobias: What would be a good reason to come to one of the upcoming performances?
Rob Rhombus: If you like good time Hellraiser licks. Mixed with
Darjliing Limited costumes.
Moppy: I'm sari.
Rob Rhombus: No it's okay, I was sarong.


(by David Forcier)

TOUR DATES:
08/08/09 - Montreal, QUE - Divian Orange w/ Woods
10/08/09 - Montreal, QUE - The Silver Door w/ Special Noise, NightGoat
12/08/09 - Providence, RI - AS220 w/ Kokomo, The Ram, Special Noise
13/08/09 - Boston, MA - House Show w/ The Great Drought, Special Noise
14/08/09 - Providence, RI - Warehouse Party w/ Special Noise
16/08/09 - Brattleboro, VT - Jared's House Party w/ Special Noise
17/08/09 - Brooklyn, NYC - Don Pedros w/ Stupid Party,Bad Blood
18/08/09 - Philadelphia, PA - TBA w/ The Great Drought, Special Noise
19/08/09 - Baltimore, MD - The Bank w/ Sewn Leather, DJ Dog Dick
20/08/09 - Washington, DC - The Mini Gallery w/ Sewn Leather, DJ Dog Dick
21/08/09 - Brooklyn, NYC - Monster Island (Todd P presents..)Sewn Leather, Teenage Girl Fantasy, MDNR
22/08/09 - New Brunswick, NJ - Meat Town w/ Special Noise
23/08/09 - Brooklyn, NYC - Silent Barn w/Sewn Leather, Hume
30/08/09 - Burlington, VT - TBA

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