Life's a blast for musical 'superheroes'
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| The Aquabats, a seven-member group from Orange County, Calif., has been compared to theatrical bands such as Devo. Its leader, M.C. Bat Commander, says the group is a "pop culture blender" that includes '80s influences that stem from the '60s.
The Aquabats with opening act Pimpbot 7:30 p.m. today World Cafe $17.50 526-4400 |
Who exactly are The Aquabats, where do they come from, and what the heck is up with the blue suits?
Once we found out, we still let group leader and vocalist M.C. Bat Commander (aka Christian Jacobs) tell us the rest of the Orange County, Calif., band's sordid story (real or imagined) anyway. And we played along.
What are your Aquabats aliases?
"Besides me, there's Crash McLarson, Catboy, Chainsaw the Prince of Karate, Prince Adam, Jaime the Robot. Then there's Ricky Fitness behind the drums ... personal trainer to the stars. There's a magnificent seven Aquabats. Six of us and one robot."
How did the Aquabats find each other?
"Well, it was kind of a long, laborious process. We've actually been a team of action heroes for some time now. We're here on a mission to save our home island, Aquamania. It's in the ... well, the thing is, we don't really know exactly where it is. It's somewhere in the South Pacific."
I feel a sad story coming on.
"It's kind of long story. But we had to leave our island home ... our island paradise because it was under siege by a mysterious force from outer space. You remember V? Well, this was M."
M?
"Space Monster M and his crew from the M galaxy. We didn't really know what was up. So the seven of us escaped in a log and came to the Western World to find help."
More specifically, to Orange County.
"Yeah. And someone told us the only way to really get help was to raise an army of fans through rock 'n' roll. So we started a band. Each gig we play supports our "Save Our Homeland of Aquamania" fund. We try to get every fan to join the Cadet Club to join us in the battle. No one really believes us, though, which is the hard part of all this."
I can't imagine why anyone would doubt you.
"I don't know either. You'd think that by now people would realize that there's dangerous factions on the Earth trying to take over. Maybe it has to do with where we started the band. There's a lot of complacency here in Orange County. Suburbanites just happy with where they're at, not realizing that they're actually in danger. We try to warn the kids and sell a few T-shirts at the same time."
Are you guys the only superheroes in Orange County?
"No, there's quite a few, actually. But we're probably the most high-profile.
It's the suits, right?
"I don't know. I think it's just sheer numbers. We're seven guys. Or six guys and a robot, if you want to look at it that way. The other superheroes in Orange County are just working alone, you know?
What are The Aquabats' superhero powers?
"Well, the ability to withstand insults. We have a high threshold for being spit on and insulted. Our main superpowers involve stopping evil and promoting good vibes. To feel irie."
Do the Aquabats get mistaken for Devo?
"We've definitely been compared to them a lot. And obviously, we've been inspired by them quite a bit. First and foremost, there's the sarcastic overtones that many Devo songs were laden with. But mostly it's the costumes. Our music is pretty different. They were trying to tell the world that it was devolving and that we were all turning back into apes. The Aquabats have already come to grips with that. We're just trying to entertain the monkeys."
So if you are not Devo, describe your music.
"We get compared to a lot of theatrical kinds of bands. But there's elements of everything from The Ventures to Madness to Wall of Voodoo. A lot of '80s influences that stem back to the '60s, television shows, movies, soundtracks. It's kind of a pop culture blender. We throw it all together."
Let's discuss the lyrical content of a few songs. In "Pool Party," why invite only the cool kids in your school to the pool party? Are you all trying to compensate for not being cool yourselves?
"Exactly. Did you need to even ask?"
In "Pizza Day," you mention your school's Thursday lunch menu as "sloppy joes and burritos in a bag." Come on, your school cafeteria couldn't make fresh burritos?
"No way ... you're talking about an L.A. Unified School District. There's no fresh burritos to be found. It was bad. Welfare burritos, basically."
Alrighty then. In "Giant Robot Birdhead" from 1999's "The Aquabats vs. The Floating Eye of Death" CD, my broad question is ... what the hell is going on?
"It's basically about Japanese giant robot toys. It's about the fact that it seems like the whole world is coming to the end and what we need now (is) our own giant shogun warrior to, like, destroy the Floating Eye of Death. Do you know what I mean? If you look at it with that interpretation, it's easy to see what I'm talking about."
Uh, yeah. Since the band's name is pretty much an amalgam of both, who's more dope ... Aquaman or Batman?
"I probably have to go with Batman, but it's a tough call. Aquaman can summon the powers of the deep. He can call all the whales to push the boat into the harbor. That's pretty dope. He's got the power of the sea and a cool utility belt."
Blink-182, sum 41, matchbox twenty or Vanity 6? Who rocks best, numerically speaking?
I have to go with the last one ... for obvious reasons. I can't imagine any of those other bands singing 'Sex Shooter.' Blink-182 is a close second, though, because they have a good drummer."
You mean Travis Barker, who Blink-182 basically stole from you guys.
"They got a good drummer from somewhere. Let's leave it at that."
Sorry. What's kept The Aquabats together for, like, nine years?
"Sheer will ... the triumph of the will, to quote a Devo reference. That's because there have been many temptations on our journey. There have been many distractions. We've never played in Hawai'i and Japan ... two milestones that we have yet to achieve. So maybe after Hawai'i, we'll be able to finally break up. Anyway, we're working towards that."
