Switchblade Comb

Switchblade Comb is proud to be a sponsor of this year’s Punk Rock Prom taking place May 1 at The Nomad World Pub located on the scenic West Bank of Minneapolis, MN, USA, Earth. Over the next week we’ll be talking to each of the participating bands and getting their thoughts on Punk Rock Proms of past as well as any stories they have of their High School Proms.

Well kids, here it is, our final Punk Rock Prom interview. Much like the week I spent at Jewish fat kid astronaut camp in 1987 our time here is at an end. Today we’re talking to the only band to play every single Punk Rock Prom, The Fillmores.

We’d like to thank all the bands that participated in our little Q & A and we hope to see all of your lovely faces tomorrow at The Nomad for Punk Rock Prom. I’ll be the sketchy guy trying to hit on everyone else’s date. Cheers!

www.myspace.com/thefillmores

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SBC: For those unaware tell us a little bit about your band. Who’s in the band, how Long you been together, etc. All that stuff.

Damien Tank: The Fillmores were a moderately real band from May of 2002 until January of 2008. We wrote songs, played them live and recorded three albums and a Christmas EP. Our music leaned heavily on not-too-serious punk rock styles like The Ramones, The Replacements, The Buzzcocks, The Modern Lovers. The constant members are Nate Baka (vocals), Josh Oxborough (bass), Trevor Engelbrektson (guitar), and Damien Tank (drums), with a rotating fifth position occupied at times by guitarists Harper Zwicky and Neil Pederson, or pianist Mike McCabe. The Fillmores always attempted to show our audience a good time, even if we weren’t showing our audience a good band. We started out playing basement shows in a tiny room, which established a close connection to the audience that we tried to carry throughout our career. Also, we tend to get real drunk. As a live band, we peppered our sets with 2 or 3 well-chosen covers. Sometimes we made valiant attempts to play them faithfully; some were intentional reinventions. We used to joke that we “knew” enough covers to be a wedding band, and eventually that idea got rolled into the Punk Rock Prom, with our role as the house band.

Trevor E: The fillmores sprang from young boyhood friends afraid of the looming death sentence of adulthood. Avoiding real life and responsibility by surrendering our youth in booze and rock and roll. For 6 years we fruitlessly grinded our fingers, only to become all but a rumor now.

Nate Baka: I was drunk most of the time, but I know I met a couple of different dudes. I think there was a guy named Nelly once. I don’t know.

SBC: Playing a prom can be pretty weird. Not so much this one but an actual High School prom would be fucking bizarre. What’s the weirdest venue / event you’ve ever played?

Damien Tank: Probably a Mississippi river boat cruise. A friend of ours worked for the Padelford Packet Co. and she got a cheap rental rate at the end of the season. She threw a killer party and had us play with Brown Moses and Switchback. In typical Fillmores fashion, we learned a nautically themed cover set (“Ocean Man”, “Sloop John B”, “Upper Mississippi Shakedown”). This show was also the live debut of Fillmores’ pianist Mike McCabe.

SBC: Have you been to any of the previous Punk Rock Proms? If so, what was your favorite band / moment from them?

Damien Tank: We’ve played every iteration of Punk Rock Prom. The Goddamn Doo-Wop Band closed PRP II in 2007, and it was beautiful. It was at Big V’s, and it was totally packed. The lights finally came up at 2:15 with the band still playing. The decorations had all been drunkenly ripped down, the balloons had been stomped, the punch bowl was empty. Sweaty, stinky and close: as rock n’ roll should be.

SBC: Did any of the member in the band go to their High School proms? If so, any weird stories from them? Boning in a car afterward, getting drunk and throwing up on your date? Fun stuff like that.

Damien Tank: I got nothing. Real prom blew. Shitty music, shitty rented tux.

Trevor E: A buddy and I went to our Junior prom with 2 dates each. Good friends of ours. It was great. Got out of an old town car with a group of lovely ladies. Other than that. I hated prom. I hate tuxedos.

Nate Baka: I only went to my girlfriends senior prom when I was 19. It was lame as fuck.

SBC: Anything else you’d like to tell us?

Damien Tank: Punk Rock Prom is the best exercise in arrested adolescence in the Twin Cities. Geek Prom wishes it was this debauched.

Trevor E: Harper is the only single one of us in the band. Someone, please take him home Prom Night. Please, he needs a date. Yes, he is looking to party.

Nate Baka: The Fillmores will melt everyone’s face this year. Period.