“Wipes will save your life, man”
An Interview With The Mad Caddies

by Brandon Ross

It’s Friday the 13th on a cold November night. Where is the biggest party in Toronto? The Mad Caddies at The Opera House, of course! We had a chance to sit with Sascha (vocals) and Chuck (lead guitar) to talk about the future of the Caddies and their 14 year history as a band. The California natives have toured the world playing ska-punk since 1995 and have no plans on stopping. Keep It Going, their most recent and fifth full length album, was released in 2007, but a new album is in the works alongside plans to release a Greatest Hits album in 2010. Check out this hilarious interview:

BBTBB:  I’m sitting here with Sascha & Chuck of The Mad Caddies outside The Opera House, downtown Toronto on a chilly Friday the 13th.

Sascha:  Is it really Friday the 13th?

BBTBB:  Sure is!  Let’s jump right into things…  You are just getting started on this tour with The Johnstones.  You’re going to  Quebec, I think I saw Las Vegas in there and ending in Tijuana, Mexico early December.  Was it The Mad Caddies decision to finish the tour off with NoFX in Mexico just before Christmas?

Sascha:  We have never played Mexico, but always wanted to.  At one point we had two Mexican tours booked but they both fell through.

Chuck:  It was just chance though, NoFX asked us to open up some shows for them on their tour and we said, “Did you even need to ask?  Of course we will come play with you in Mexico!”

BBTBB:  Right on.  Have you thought about extending your stay in Tijuana from early December into the Christmas holiday to record or write some tracks for the 2010 release?

Chuck:  That’s actually not a bad idea but it has not been discussed really.

Sascha:  A lot of people are afraid to go down to Tijuana right now because of all the crazy drug wars going on.  Nonetheless I am staying an extra day to hang out with one of my friends, but no studio time planned.

BBTBB:  You guys have been together 14 years, been to more countries then I can even name off the top of my head…When you’re gearing up to hit the road for an extensive tour with the crew, are there any last minute rituals or checklists that you go over before you leave?  What are the key essentials before going on tour?

Chuck: Wipes, baby wipes. This bus does not have a shower on it and we only get to shower once every couple of days.  Wipes will save your life.

Sascha:  I don’t really rock that, I might steal them from other people to use but I usually forget to pack them.

BBTBB:  No special requests before heading out though?

Chuck:  Of course we have the essentials like booze and all the fun stuff.  Actually, before we left one of the guys who plays bass with us sometimes gave us boxes of wine.

Sascha:  We still have it!

Chuck: No, it’s gone.

Sascha:  The white wine too?

Chuck:  Yeah, that too!

BBTBB:  Since your last release Keep It Going in 2007, it has been made public that you are going to release a “Best Of” record and even chat of a studio album sometime in 2010.  If you could choose one song to feature on the Greatest Hits album as the ’secret song’ (song not listed, but a surprise to album consumers) what would it be & why?

Sascha:  I think it would be kind of funny to feature something that would be clearly on a “greatest hits” album like ‘Monkey’s.’  That’s all that really comes to mind.

BBTBB:  Keep It Going had a ton of performance credits given to a number of different talented musicians.  Can we expect the same sort of diversity in your work projected to drop in the New Year?

Chuck:  I think we are going to pick up right where we left off and keep it going.  We are going to try and stick to our roots and not do anything too fancy.  Do what really works for us with the reggae, ska, dixie land, jazz and rock.

BBTBB:  Nice! Well we are all excited to hear what you’ve got in store.  The 1998 release Duck & Cover was the last time Fat Mike sat down to produce with you guys, will Fat Mike produce or co-produce the 2010 studio album with you?

Chuck:  Actually, it’s funny you ask that.  Fat Mike called us up not too long ago and was like, “I was just listening to Duck and Cover and I still think it’s your best record. And remember, I produced it!”  So in light of that phone call he will probably be helping us with a lot of the record, we even might hit up Fat Mike for some recording time at his studio in San Francisco.  As long as he gives us a good rate at his studio!  Working with such a talented musician is amazing and when we recorded last with him, we were a lot younger.  Back then it was a bit different so I am curious and excited to work with him now that we have gotten older and matured with our music.

BBTBB:  Between the year of 1995 & 2009 you have produced a number of quality albums, all reflecting equally pleasing album art work.  How involved do all five of you like to get in the creative process when it comes to your album art?

Sascha:  We are all pretty involved in the visual process of it at the beginning.  Everyone from the band has their own opinions and ideas and it really does become a group effort.  The artwork, the layout, the basic idea is everyone’s two cents.  When it boils down to getting it done and creating it – it’s just get it done.  But we are all very involved in the early stages of the process.

BBTBB:  The Mad Caddies have been labeled many different genres and even deemed responsible for the birth of the sub-genre ‘pirate-core’. Does life on the road begin to feel sort of like a pirate ship?  Making port in unfamiliar towns, traveling the world for months at a time with a crew of your closest mates?  Do you miss having “home” to go to at the end of the night?

Chuck:  We have got to this stage in our career where it has all become accustom to us.  Mind you, the bus life is similar to being on a ship.  No bathroom, nowhere to escape really… most definitely does get to you after a while.

BBTBB: You are on tour with The Johnstones right now, does it get kind of crazy partying and touring with them?  Do you feel as if you may not be up to par with their partying abilities these days?

Sascha:  We are not that old yet!

Chuck:  I actually find it sort of cute to me.  You know, we are the age that Fat Mike was when we started playing with NoFX.  We were ten years younger than NoFX and The Johnstones are ten years younger than us.  I almost feel like we are supposed to be cool to them and act almost as their mentors.

Sascha:  For such a young band, The Johnstones are wicked guys who are a lot more respectful of a band then we were at their age.  But they are also Canadian, Canadians are generally better mannered then Americans are – especially bands.

BBTBB:  If you could change paths and just escape the fast pace lifestyle, The Mad Caddies and the industry for a little while, where would we find you and what would you be doing?

Sascha:  We just did that for a year, took a year off.  We each went our own ways for the year.  I took off to Jamaica to lay down some tracks and work on my side project.

Chuck: I have been working on my side project “Elwood” and farming in my off time on my parent’s ranch, working one or two days a week.  After touring for almost 12 years straight, it was nice to have some time away.  Taking a step back like we did really helps you appreciate your work a lot more, we were excited to get back on tour this time around after the year out of the loop.  A nice break was needed and well deserved.

BBTBB:  Being from LA and having such an extensive tour history, have you ever had a chance to experience a real Canadian winter while on tour?

Sascha: Oh yeah man, we have been in Winnipeg when it was minus 40 outside.  Like so cold, when you take a piss outside it freezes.

BBTBB:  Any crazy Canadian winter stories you have taken back to LA with you?

Sascha:  This one time in Edmonton I realized I didn’t have any boxers on the bus and they were stowed away in the bay under the bus which was frozen shut, so I had to go without boxers. Not too long after I started to feel this burning sensation in my pants, I was worried and confused.  I thought maybe I had contracted something but I realized that the zipper was so frozen and it was stuck to my junk causing excruciating pain!

BBTBB:  Chuck, any possibility of topping Sascha’s story?

Chuck: I don’t think so!

BBTBB:  Looking at your past or current record collection can you give us one record that you “may or may not” own that you don’t want to admit you own?

Chuck:  I still have a Winger CD at home with “She’s Only 17” on it.  That was the second CD I bought, the first one was Motley Crew’s Dr. Feel Good.

Sascha:  Honestly, I didn’t until recently.  I have always listened to a ton of different music but I will have to admit “Venga Boys” may be hidden somewhere in my collection.

BBTBB: Alright, on that note I have the infamous Boom Box question.   If you were not here with us today in the music industry what would you be in jail for?

(The Mad Caddies had a good laugh, took a sip of beer…. look each other in the eye… long pause)

Chuck:  Awhhhhhh… manufacturing and growing narcotics.

BBTBB: Amen.

Sascha:  What he said, smoking narcotics.

BBTBB: Lastly, I have a picture here I want to show you – and in your own words I would like you to describe to us what is going on.

Chuck:  Oh my god!  That’s from 1998.  That’s the sax or merch guy from Less Then Jake.  We were on tour with LTJ and ALL then, but that’s about all I can tell you.

Sascha:  There are a bunch of pictures on our website and Facebook of us on tour but I have no idea where they come from.  Like that picture of us in the bathtub drinking beer, where did that even come from?

Chuck: That was Adelaide, Australia the night before I threw my back out. I remember that.

Sascha: That was in Adelaide?  Why were we drinking beer in the bathtub?

Chuck: For fun!  Remember we were eating fries and drinking beer in the bathtub because we could?

Sascha: Pills, booze, french fries, bathtubs, jet lag… those kinds of things man. It’s hard to remember everything.