Interview with Refuse Resist at the Church, Boston, MA
By Slimedog
Refuse Resist are one of my favorite bands we have on our site. Like they say in the interview they straddle the line between punk and hardcore maybe falling on the punk side here, hardcore there. All I know is I like them cause they keep the original punk spirit alive in a modern way. They consist of Shawn (Vocals), Mike Barone and Steve Risteen on guitars, Jamie Payette on bass and John Mehlman on drums. Finally, caught up with these marauding menaces of moshing music at The Church and talked with Shawn, Mike and Jamie in their van.
Slimedog- So, Shawn has been avoiding us for interviews.
Shawn- (In a very indignant tone) Not avoiding, not avoiding.
Slimedog- So my first question is –
Shawn- Why?
Slimedog- Not why, but what are you trying to hide?
Shawn- Well, Jamie and I have had a long, stemming, loving relationship.
Jamie- We have. (Confirming it)
Slimedog- Oh, first of all I have to ask you your name and what you play and then, hopefully, I can differentiate you on the tape.
Mike- I’m Mike and I play guitar.
Jamie- I’m Jamie, I’m the bass player who gets way more pussy than anyone else in the band.
Shawn- This is Shawn and Jamie is a liar.
Slimedog- So, Shawn, why did you assault Lynn to cause her to be on crutches?
Shawn- Well, first of all her name is Lyz. (Laughter)
Jamie- You better run, dude. (Directed to Slimedog alluding to Lyz)
Mike- Lyz actually spelled Shawn’s name S-E-A-N and Shawn got mad.
Slimedog- I thought it was spelled S-H-O-R-N.
Mike- That’s correct, he’s Norwegian.
Shawn- No, she’s a rock star in her own right.
Mike- She’s actually more rebellious and awesome than all of us.
Slimedog- What about the whole moshing situation there?
Shawn- I think the only people who have to worry about it are ones that are in clubs where they watch, like House of Blues, Paradise. It’s not like they haven’t tried this shit before.
Jamie- It doesn’t affect our shows.
Slimedog- So do you think they just noticed moshing has started?
Mike- Moshing actually started last year.
Jamie- I think punk started in 2010.
Slimedog- I think Green Day was the first punk band, right?
Shawn- I hear there’s new clubs with marsh pits. People get the swamp ass and scare everybody away.
Slimedog- I think it’s Posh Pits, it was started by Posh Spice of the Spice Girls. Alright, Alright.
Mike- Let’s get serious now.
Slimedog- How did you guys get started?
Shawn- I was out of the music for ten years ’cause I went to college and started working. I missed everything that had to do with music. Mike, John and a few guys were playing in a garage. I went up and practiced with them and they had Minor Threat, Black Flag covers and that was along the line of what I wanted to play and we went from there…. and they totally thought I was gay but that’s beside the point.
Mike- He used the past tense. You know, just because you’re with Lyz….
Shawn- Well, she’s more of a man than I am, so.
Mike- That’s for fuckin’ sure. (laughter) Shawn found us on myspace and his picture was him screaming into a microphone with blue hair and we’re like, “Wow, he’s punk!” But he tricked us. He’s like those girls with those photo’s. But it all worked out, we became good friends.
Shawn- We played our first show in 2007 at The Abbey Lounge (great club that is gone now) and we’re gonna have a nice fifth year anniversary party at the Midway where we’re gonna play both our CD’s, back to back. The band really started when Jamie and Steve came on board.
Slimedog- How would you describe your style?
Shawn- We ride the line of punk and hardcore, we don’t wanna be one or the other.
Slimedog- I agree with that description.
Shawn- I think if you took my vocals away, it’s very punky.
Mike- What did Maximum Rock N Roll say we were?
Shawn- Oh, they said we’re pop/punk with growly vocals. (Laughter)
Slimedog- I wouldn’t call you guys pop/punk.
Shawn- Naw, we steal all our riffs from Green Day but other than that.
Slimedog- Who writes the music?
Jamie- Me, all of it.
Mike- Jamie wrote one song and he’s a fool. Shawn writes the lyrics.
Slimedog- You have any plans coming up?
Shawn- We plan this year to do a few splits. (Unclear if he means 7” splits, ballet or banana) CD’s are okay but we wanna have vinyl, it’s more artistic, sounds better.
Jamie- You just throw it in your record player in your car and go.
Mike- We’re actually coming out with an eight track later this year, too.
Jamie- We’re bringing back cassettes, also.
Shawn- We want to do shorter recordings, get music out quicker to the people.
Slimedog- My metal friend, Andy, says your name came from a Sepultura song?
Mike- John liked the song but yeah, we have no influence from them.
Shawn- Refuse Resist is like the two core values to punk rock. Refuse the majority and resist falling into the line. (Much laughter from his bandmates)
Slimedog- I don’t think that’s funny.
Shawn- No, they’re drunken idiots.
Slimedog- In that vein, who drinks the most in the band?
All- Steve.
Shawn- He was the most straight edge guy back when he was in Slapshot.
Slimedog- How about a favorite dive bar?
All- The Midway.
Shawn- Used to be The Abbey Lounge when it existed, the Rat when it existed.
Jamie- Midway is great because it’s one of the few places that have all ages shows. And they don’t take a ton of money out of the door. So if you have a band coming from out of town you can actually pay the band. It’s so easy to get a date.
Slimedog- Who’s most likely to become a serial killer?
All- John.
Shawn- It’s always the quiet one.
Mike- One day he’s just gonna flip out and murder everyone.
Jamie- He’s gonna start with the four of us.
Check out TNB’s Band profile for Refuse Resist here.
