Last May, The Brokedowns released their latest full-length and third for Red Scare, called Sick of Space. We recently caught up with singer/guitarist Kris Megyery and talked about how the album was recorded and what some of its songs are about. The record finds the band, (also consisting of singer/bassist Jon Balun, guitarist Eric Grossmann and drummer Mustafa Daka) further evolving their approach to heavy Midwestern punk, complete with lyrics that balance social commentary and humor. The end result is easily The Brokedowns’ most focused and accessible album to date. Additionally, we discussed some of the band’s recent shows, their plans for this year and more.
Bill – What was it like playing this year’s Ian’s Party? Having played every prior Ian’s Party, what was different about this year?
Kris – Not a ton this year. We played really late, at like 1:30 AM, so the playing part for us was awful. We were really drunk and everybody just wanted to be in bed at that point, (laughs). It was really great because The Arrivals played and I hadn’t seen them since the last time they played, which I think was five years ago. They’re probably top-five all-time favorite bands for me and everybody seemed very excited about that. That was really cool and just the last three or four years how it’s been in Wicker Park has been awesome. Mainly because you can walk back and forth between the venues.
Bill – You guys once again recorded with Joe Gac and I feel like the history your band shares with him is somewhat evident in the recording. Not only is the sound quality better, but everything just seems a bit more streamlined. What was it like collaborating with him on this record?
Kris – You probably make a good point because the thing with Joe is he’s a good friend and we’re super comfortable with him, so we just try a ton of shit. So, for Species Bender in particular, we took almost two years to record that and there’s some songs that have six or seven guitar tracks. There are a couple songs on there where I sang it once and then we didn’t like it, so Jon sang it and we just kept both vocal tracks. So, there’s basically two singers for the entire song. For this one, we demoed everything beforehand and kind of knew a little bit more of what we wanted to do.
Bill – When you go back and listen to Sick of Space now, what stands out to you?
Kris – Not a lot at this point. Pretty much whenever we’re done with an album and then for like two years after, Jon and I hate it. And then like three years later we’ll be like, “You know, it’s actually not that bad.”
Bill – (Laughs). So you’re still in the hatred period…
Kris – Yeah, I kind of hate it right now, but it’s fine.
Bill – Got it. Tell me about the album’s title and where its inspiration came from.
Kris – Well, it was just the song “Sick of Space.” We thought it was fitting. A lot of the songs are about being a kid and that song in particular is about being a kid and feeling like you’re in a vacuum around a bunch of monsters who aren’t like you.
Bill – Interesting. Whose idea was it to incorporate sound clips from Empire Carpet and Celozzi-Ettleson Chevrolet commercials in that song?
Kris – That was Jon and I for sure. We were obsessed with Celozzi-Ettleson commercials. Anyone who grew up around Chicago remembers those guys. They’re just the best. In fact, we started recording this album the weekend that the Donald Trump “grab ‘em by the pussy” tape came out. Literally that Friday was the first day that we started recording. That was a pretty crazy weekend and then for some reason Celozzi-Ettleson commercials popped into me and Jon’s head and we just kept watching them on YouTube. And then a year later when we were mixing the record we were still talking about those commercials and just how bizarre they are. Those dudes suck so bad. They’re so horrible at speaking it’s just amazing they were on TV. They even had a Pizza Hut commercial that they did that aired during the Super Bowl. They had a couple national spots, which makes no sense. Those guys are so stiff and wooden and horrible at speaking. They have the thickest Chicago accents and it sounds like they’re making fun of people from Chicago. It sounds like the Super Fans from the Saturday Night Live skit. They somehow had enough juice to get a national commercial. Yeah, it’s good shit.
Bill – I had no idea about their other commercials. I’m going to have to look for those on YouTube.
Kris – If you YouTube that one there’s probably a dozen or so and man, they’re bizarre.
Bill – I can just go down that rabbit hole, (laughs).
Bill – In terms of a different song on the album, “Led Zeppelin III” is one of my favorites and one that partly addresses the topic of income inequality. What were some of the things that motivated its lyrics?
Kris – It’s about a particular conversation I had when I was 17 with my aunt who was a doctor. I’m from the most white trash family you’ve ever seen in your life and I just had no concept of the future. This 80-year-old woman is trying to explain the future to me and how I should plan ahead. In my mind I was like, “You don’t know shit, lady. I know everything.” That’s kind of what it is, that kind of mindset. I have kids and every now and then I’ll catch myself trying to explain how you have to plan ahead to an eight-year-old and I’ll say to myself, “What are you doing? You know he doesn’t understand what you’re saying, right?”
Bill – I feel like that’s kind of the typical mindset of any 17 to 19-year-old, that they kind of have everything figured out.
Kris – Yeah, I was like that till I was probably 30 though.
Bill – (Laughs). I probably can’t pretend to be any better. On a different note, you mentioned Trump earlier and the song “America’s Riff” is fairly topical as it talks about the 2016 presidential election. What are you trying to get across in that song?
Kris – So, this is pretty funny because that song to me is teetering on the edge of a Weird Al song. We wrote and recorded those lyrics the same time we were recording a split with Direct Hit!, which was November of 2015. So that was actually recorded a year before and had nothing to do with Trump. It’s about being divided, obviously, but it’s trying to be funny about the idea of a riff uniting the country. And not only a riff uniting the country, but that we came up with the riff. It was a total joke, but then the election happened and we were like, “There’s some crazy lyrics in there that sound exactly like what happened.” But yeah, it was recorded a full year before the election.
Bill – I never would’ve thought that listening to it…
Kris – Yeah, and then I didn’t want to put that song on the album, but Jon and Joe love that song. It’s like their favorite song. They were like, “there’s no way we’re cutting it.”
Bill – Just listening to it, it really seems like it’s more of a commentary about the election.
Kris – I’m glad you took a deeper meaning from it, because it’s about a riff, (laughs). That’s what I’m saying, when we were recording it, I was like “Guys, are you sure this isn’t like a Weird Al song or something?” I wrote it and everything, but I feel like it’s almost too funny. I like songs to be funny, but I don’t want it to be like a parody or something. I’m glad you took it seriously though. That makes me happy.
Bill – Is there a song in particular that you’re most pleased with in terms of how it turned out?
Kris – Yeah, the song “Guy Shit” and then there’s one called “Shitty Little League.” They both have “shit” in the title, but I really like both of them a lot. And those are the ones that Little Dave from The Arrivals sang on.
Bill – How did you end up getting him involved?
Kris – We wanted him to sing on the “Guy Shit” song because it started off with just Jon’s voice and we thought it’d be cool with another one. He was the first person that came to mind and we just texted him. We probably texted him when we started recording and then he didn’t come in until the last week or two before it was completely done. He threw it down and we were like, “Oh yeah, it’s way better now.”
Bill – Last year you guys played some pretty significant shows, including opening for Against Me! and Apocalypse Hoboken. What were some of the highlights from those shows?
Kris – The Hoboken weekend was definitely amazing. Growing up, they were a super important band to us. That was a really great weekend and everyone was in just the best spirits for that. We tried to cover “School” by Oblivion at that show, but we couldn’t finish it, we tried like 15 times. Nobody got that we were kind of kidding. After the show everyone came up to us like, “Man, I’m sorry about that, that was weird,” (laughs). Hoboken was amazing though, I went to every night that weekend. The Against Me! show was really cool too. We’ve played Wicker Park Fest twice now. It’s super weird, because we’re not that kind of band, but that was fun. I love Against Me!.
Bill – Going back to the Oblivion song, it’s funny you mentioned that because I remember in the ‘90s there was always kind of a friendly rivalry between Apocalypse Hoboken and Oblivion. It seemed like people from the northern suburbs, where Apocalypse was from, always thought that they were better and people from the western burbs sided more with Oblivion.
Kris – For sure. I loved them both equally. I’d say both of those bands have aged really well. Hoboken was totally ahead of their time. Hoboken in particular didn’t sound like any of the other cheesedick skate punk bands at the time. They kind of made all that shit seem silly. I was a fan of all the big stuff at the time, but Hoboken just cut through that shit and were so bizarre. I remember the first time I ever went on tour and just talking to people from other states, and I thought everybody would know Hoboken and Oblivion. Because to me those bands were like fuckin’ Zeppelin. I couldn’t believe that no one knew who they were outside of Illinois or Chicagoland.
Bill – Not to go off on an Apocalypse Hoboken tangent, but I totally had that same thought when I saw them over the summer. Their music almost seems like it could have been written now. And I think back to the ‘90s when the lines were so rigid and bands had to fit within certain classifications and there was no room for anything else.
Kris – I think it’s definitely better now. There’s way more branching out with bands. None of that shit exists anymore. I mean it does in little tiny subcultures, but huge bands are weirdos now. It’s a lot more accessible today.
Bill – For sure. What sort of plans do you guys have for 2019?
Kris – We’re doing some out of state shows, like we have some weekends booked. We have a weekend in Michigan in March and I think we’re going to Indiana at some point in the spring. We also have a whole new album demoed. We might start recording it this year, but I doubt it. We’ll see what happens.
