By: Chris Stead
A little horror, some punk and metal, sugar, spice and everything’s not so nice. Jonah, Ryann and Steve produce some hard-hitting, in your face rock. It does no justice to say that they are playing metal-influenced punk. No, Schoolyard Heroes are the new lo-fi all-stars. The entire album is a slap in the face with a board with nails in it, but like the most outrageous car crash you can’t tear your attention away. The instrumentals are fierce guitars and thundering drums while Ryann belts out the unmistakable siren call luring you into her world of horror.
Influenced by the pop punk sounds of bands like NOFX as well as the much more classic horror punks The Misfits, Schoolyard heroes introduce a world of false pretence, plastic surgery “abominations” and horrible people the world around. Carrying Glenn Danzig’s torch onward, they pull no punches and now, with a new album fresh on the shelves, Schoolyard Heroes are coming to a town near you. It has been said that “Schoolyard Heroes will fuck your shit up.” Ryann took some time to tell us more about it.
Gothic Angst Webzine (GAW): What first drew Schoolyard Heroes together?
Ryann Donnelly (RD): Jonah, Steve, and I met in highschool. Jonah and I both really wanted to be in bands, and as we became friends and started talking about music a lot we decided might as well be in a band together. Steve was a really talented guitar player and he and Jonah used to practice songs at lunch. We’d practice that summer in our garages and bedrooms. Jonah met Brian during his first year at college and we started playing shows soon after. First show was 2001, so we’ve been at it awhile.
GAW: What is the significance behind your name?
RD: There’s not really much significance anymore, really. We used to like the idea that a Schoolyard Hero was kind of like a young rebel- like the first kid to jump off the jungle gym. Honestly, we don’t really identify with it as a very good representation of how we sound, but as we starting gaining popularity and simultaneously changing our sound there was never a good time to change the name. We used to sound like NOFX with a girl singer. It fit then.
GAW: Who are some of your main influences?
RD: The Misfits are a really important band to us. They just wrote really perfect catchy songs, that always walked the line between a couple genres. And they totally fucking loved horror movies and comic books. Living in Seattle, we saw Murder City Devils a lot, and they really influenced our live performance- involving the audience, making it really fun and unpredictable. Dancing really hard, and being willing to kind of hurt yourself.
GAW: I understand that Abominations is your third release. How has your sound changed from the first two albums to this latest one?
RD: From our first song to our latest, I think they all still sound like Schoolyard Heroes songs, but we’ve definitely become better song writers, and have learned to play up each others strengths, writing in a more complimentary way.
GAW: What prompted the songs geared toward plastic surgery?
RD: The whole record is about horrible people, disgusting human beings, and the more horrific side of human nature. We’ve always been labeled something of a horror themed rock band- writing about old Vincent price movies, or some amazing episode of the twilight zone- this one’s about real live abominations. The plastic surgery is a reference to people who get so much surgery they stop looking human, and just look vile and hideous. There’s also a pathetic desperation and dissatisfaction to those people
GAW: Is this a personal movement or is it more for the horror factor?
RD: Many of these songs were inspired by being on tour , and for really the first time being forced to deal with really unpleasant people of such a wide variety. They’re very personal stories about horrific things. We’ve just always been most comfortable, and found it the most pleasurable to use horror as the filter we write through. It lends itself to a lot of amazing imagery and ideas.
GAW: Your sound seems to be a mixture of female fronted punk, black metal, horror-scapes and an angry badger, which is a good thing, mind you. What inspired your sound?
RD: Its definitely been a progression to get to this point. On the first record we were just finishing up that switch from the pop punk stuff we started out playing, toward the weirder, horror metal/disco pop thing we started exploring. Things got progressively darker though, and more metal I think. I was listening to a lot of axl, Jonah and Steve were really into Iron Maiden when that second record came out. After that though I think our song writing, and the sort of structure of things became our focus. Also, sort of the obvious compromise of working out the right keys that fit my voice best, etc. Before this record I was listening to a lot more Freddie mercury. Jonah too, actually went through a really serious queen obsession.
GAW: If you were to put a name to your sound, what would it be?
RD: I still really like the idea of disco metal. Not sure if the boys would agree with that. Bassically its really dark, but you can always dance to it.
GAW: Not only are you gearing up to go on tour in support of your new album but I see that part of your tour schedule will be with The Birthday Massacre. How are you feeling about touring with them?
RD: We are absolutely thrilled! We LOVE that band! We toured with them about a year and a half ago, and it was fantastic!
GAW: Who are the other groups that you will be touring with?
RD: After The Birthday Massacre dates, we’re going out with Sum 41 until early October.
GAW: How long are you going to be on the road?
RD: This time we’ll be out about a month! We are stoked!
GAW: If there was any one thing that people should know about you, what would it be?
RD: Just that they should absolutely catch a live show. We will rip your face off and feed it back to you. You’ll love it.
Don’t miss Schoolyard Heroes while they are on tour with Sum 41, but while you are here, check out a couple of links:
Listen to Schoolyard Heroes’ song “Dude, Where’s My Skin?” click here.
Check out Schoolyard Heroes’ Official Website
Yet another band I’ve not heard of. Thanks again for covering bands like this. Definitely will check them out!
Ok, nevermind, I have heard of them, just not heard them. Thanks for doing the interview as it made me go and check out their sound finally. :)
Okay so I saw Schoolyard Heroes in Colorado Springs a couple months ago and I fell inlove with them!! I’m so glad that they’re getting more recognition because they deserve to be big! Thanks!