Several months ago, Mean Jeans released their latest full-length on Fat Wreck Chords, entitled Gigantic Sike. We recently caught up with singer/guitarist Billy Jeans and talked about the inspiration behind the album’s name, the quick manner in which the record was made and what some of its songs are about. Gigantic Sike features a stripped-down approach to the Ramones-influenced punk that fans have come to know, but there’s now a greater sense of honesty found in the lyrics. To be fair, there’s still plenty of songs about partying, but it also addresses the notion of what to do when the partying days are over. Additionally, we discussed how all three band members currently live in different states, their show this fall at Cobra Lounge, future plans and more.
Bill – Tell me about your new album’s title, Gigantic Sike, and some of the thinking behind its meaning.
Billy – Well, so if you’re looking at a sike and when you make a statement, you can always sike it at the end, implying you didn’t actually mean what you were saying. Then, you’ve got your scale of sikes: a tiny sike, medium sike, regular sike. So, we’re talking about a gigantic sike here. Does that make any sense?
Bill – It does.
Billy – I mean, it’s a ridiculous album title. I’m not going to act like it makes a shitload of sense, but at the same time and without getting too literal, it’s a term that I imagine doesn’t exist otherwise. It’s open to interpretation, but I think it kind of suggests the idea of maybe the Mean Jeans have just been pulling your chain the entire time that we’ve been a band, which has been about a decade. Or, to take it a step further, maybe it’s a gigantic sike on my entire life or my identity as an adult in society. It’s kinda like a sike is an excuse after you fuck something up and it’s a pretty lame excuse, but it also works. That’s why it exists. So, it’s kind of about maybe just entertaining the idea of being able to sike everything that I’ve done up until this point and just become a respectable person. Something like that.
Bill – Sure and see where things go from here. In terms of making the album, you guys recorded it in roughly three days, which seems like a short amount of time. What made you want to go for this sort of approach?
Billy – Well, I’m into that approach. I mean, I like reading books about Fleetwood Mac spending a year making Rumours or whatever. Some Kind of Monster is fun to watch because Metallica spends like five years making a garbage album. But, first off there’s the reality that at least when you’re in the Mean Jeans you’re not about to go have an immersive experience with top producers in Los Angeles and write 100 songs and pick the nine best ones or whatever. We’re just not that kind of band. I like doing shit like that, but in the context of Mean Jeans and what I believe our music is and should be and what is good about it, really I don’t think it gets better with the more time, thought and layers of auxiliary percussion that we add to the music. And I mean I’ll change my mind about that and we’ll put out a jazz album or whatever. So, we really just recorded it in two days. On the first day we learned all the songs for the album and then the next two days we just banged them out. We weren’t analyzing things in the control room. We just went for it and didn’t overthink anything. We probably underthought many elements, but it’s fun that way and a little less unnecessarily nitpicky. We just slammed them out. But the legitimate answer to the question is the fact that the Mean Jeans live in three different cities, we were doing a tour with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and there were three days off from the tour in L.A., which is where I live. I was like, “We could get drunk for three days and just have fun, or we could make a new album.” We decided on the second option, so that’s the real answer.
Bill – Very cool. Tell me about the record’s first song, “Party Line,” which actually includes your real phone number in its lyrics.
Billy – Yeah, it does. I’ve done a handful of interviews for the record and a few people have pointed out to me other bands or artists that have done the same thing. I don’t know, I guess other people have dropped their number in a song. But the reason I have my phone number in the lyrics of the song is because the concept of the party line is my cell phone and the song is about how no one is calling the party line any longer. Compared to years back, it was blowing up, like “Who’s going to the bar? Who wants to come over?” Now years later, no one’s calling on the party line. The second reason, and this is similar to why we recorded the album in two days, is that my phone number also rhymed in the song. I was like, “Well, I’ve got no choice. It’s gotta happen now.” And then another level of reality to the story is that my phone is already ringing with bullshit robot calls all day, so who knows who’s calling this thing? Also, I’m lonely, so whoever wants to call it, what’s up?
Bill – There we go, (laughs). That’s great. For the song “I Fell into a Bog,” was a there a particular incident that inspired its lyrics?
Billy – Yes there was. Jeans Wilder, our drummer, he was the one who fell into the bog. I don’t know how well he would actually remember it, but it’s remembered because he told us about it when he emerged. I think The Fest was last weekend and we didn’t play it this year, but we have many times. It’s a debauchery-filled weekend where the city of Gainesville is overrun with drunk, pop punk people. I guess I’ll have to include myself in that crowd. One time at Fest, some of us were going our separate ways at the end of the night and Jeans Wilder took off. We had to find him in the morning, standard tour shit, and I believe his clothes were all soaking wet. We were like, “So what became of you?” He was like, “Well, I met a new friend and we were walking off and everything was great. And then the next thing I know, I had literally fallen into a bog.” I think bogs only exist in Florida, I don’t know, but I know his night was ruined by it…
Bill – But he survived. That’s the important part.
Billy – He did survive and another important part is that it materialized into a beautiful punk song.
Bill – Awesome. The record’s last song, “Time Warp,” kind of talks about starting over again. Can you share some of your motivations for writing this song?
Billy – That one kind of ties the most into the “Gigantic Sike” theme, which was kind of looking back on the band or looking back on your life. Maybe it was looking back with regrets or wondering what it would be like if you kind of pretended like that was all just a joke and maybe you could start over again. I don’t know. We’re all in our thirties. I’m not trying to say we’re old as shit, but looking back on a couple decades of partying and some mistakes that you’ve made, etc. “Time Warp” is kind of just a fantasy about getting a chance to do it over the right way, which obviously you cannot do. So, there’s a tinge of sadness to an otherwise Ramones rip-off.
Bill – (Laughs). You kind of touched on this earlier, but with all three band members living in different states, what are some of the challenges you face with this sort of arrangement?
Billy – Well, we were never really a particularly functional band, so I don’t know. If all of the challenges were removed, I’m not sure that we would be doing more than we do already. Sometimes we’ll get asked to do a show, but now we’ll have to buy plane tickets to get there, so that’s a pain in the ass. When we all lived in the same house, it’s not like we were efficient. I don’t know. People are giving me shit for this left and right. I’m like, “Hey, we’re a punk band. Aren’t we supposed to be fuckups?” We don’t have a manager or a booking agent. If the Mean Jeans were compared to another band that has a hyper-functional business model of how they work, we never had that. The band must be for fun or it’s not the band anymore. And I’m not saying that it’s not fun to go on tour or release records and do things properly, but I’m also just making up excuses for why we’re a bunch of fuckin’ idiots.
Bill – I’m sure being able to share song ideas with the internet makes it easier…
Billy – Sure, or if you’re writing a whole record in one day you don’t even need to do that.
Bill – (Laughs). That’s true. A couple months ago, you guys played Cobra Lounge here in Chicago. Was there anything particularly memorable about that show?
Billy – It was particularly memorable now that I think about it. It was the end of almost a monthlong run with three other Fat Wreck bands. I didn’t know any of them personally, so it was a new endeavor. It was with Teenage Bottlerocket, Clowns from Australia and Jen from The Bombpops played solo as well. It turned out to be a total success and we loved everybody and every band. We had so much fun on the road and that Cobra Lounge show was the grand finale. It was a late night, we got some classic group shots afterwards and all the bands ripped, but it was also the end of Riot Fest. It was the Sunday night after show, so I think everyone in attendance had been hitting it pretty hard. I saw some haggard faces out there. We got to show up the day before in Chicago and Chicago is one of our top three favorite cities to play. It’s fun, I don’t know what it says about the demographic of people who have chosen to live in Chicago, but there’s more people that get the Mean Jeans there than most other cities, which really is not a compliment, (laughs). So, for Riot Fest, just being there a day beforehand, I got to see Cock Sparrer, The Village People, Nick Lowe and White Reaper. That was so fun and it was a memorable gig. If you asked me about the one in Green Bay the night before or whatever, I can’t say I really remember which one that was, but I do remember the Chicago show. That’s gotta mean something.
Bill – What do you guys have planned for the rest of the year in terms of shows or touring?
Billy – We don’t have that many plans. I threw a wrench in our plans because I’m touring with another band. And when I say that the three of us are now living in different cities, Junior Jeans, our bass player, moved to Austin, Texas and he opened up a motorcycle repair shop. Which is awesome and I’m really happy for him, but I know that’s what he’s focusing on for the moment. But we are going to hit Australia for the first time next year. We’ve never been to the UK either and we’re talking with some people about that right now. There are some gigs that haven’t been announced that are in the works and that I’m excited for, but that’s it for us right now.
Bill – When you think about the long-term future of Mean Jeans, what are some of the things that come to mind?
Billy – I’ll tell you what man, I do not think about the future. If I did, I’d have a heart attack. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism, but many times in this conversation that we’re having, I’ve referenced the three of us being dysfunctional idiots. And it is true, but we’ve really never had any kind of plans or future plans. Hence the story of the album Gigantic Sike and hence not living in the same place, but you know what? We always find a way to throw in, bro. So, I don’t know. The future is unknown, but I love doing Mean Jeans. Some of the most fun that I’ve had in my life and some of the tightest places I’ve been, the best people I’ve met, are always through Mean Jeans. So, I hope to keep hitting it.
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