I interviewed the Russ, the lead singer of Good Riddance. Be sure to look for their new album “My Republic” hitting stores soon and don’t miss their next show at the Catalyst on June 23. I enjoyed this interview a lot because Russ himself is a writer and it definitely shows in his answers…  

Jake: So how did you guys hook up with PETA?
Russ: It think it was 1996. At that point there were two vegans and two vegetarians in the band and we thought it would be cool for them to send us some of their pamphlets and literature and stuff and we would set it out on our table. We called them and they were really responsive and had heard about our band and they were stoked to participate with us. So they sent us a box of stuff and it went really well, we just had a real good relationship with them after that. They've been really cool to work with.
Jake: Do all you guys surf/skate/snowboard?
Russ: I skateboard and surf, the other guys maybe snowboard a little but not too much.
Jake: How big of an influence has boarding been on your music?
Russ: I don't know if it's been a direct influence. I know growing up in Santa Cruz skateboarding punk music was always around. For me I always thought the two scenes were interlinked, intertwined, punk rock and skateboarding.  I've always sort of related the two together, surfing too, but skateboarding more. I always wanted to be in Thrasher Magazine so when Good Riddance finally got an interview with them I was stoked, although I wish it was a picture of me skateboarding at least I got in there somehow.
Jake: So do you find that every time you play Santa Cruz you get a hometown welcome from the fans?
Russ: It's always been great here. In fact, the last time we played was July and  it was the first time we had played Santa Cruz in a while. The show was insane, one of the best we ever played and it was huge. There wasn't  a whole lotta bullshit like fights and stuff being broken, and it was the Catalyst, which we avoided our whole career until last summer. We were really nervous about how it was gonna go down. But it went really well, it was a big show, we had a great experience there and we're hoping to have another one June 23.
Jake: How did you end up getting signed with Fat Wreck Chords?
Russ: It was 1993 and we were recording demos and trying to get our music out there. We recorded out demos off of our tours, which were sorta tough, but we were committed to doing whatever we had to do to make a go of it. At that time Fat Wreck Chords was really small. We got to see NOFX play and we knew who (Fat)Mike was and I thought their band was pretty good and checked out some other bands on his label and ended up liking them. We sent a tape there and we got a letter back right away, which we were really surprised about. He said he was interested in our songs and he wanted to hear some more. He wasn't gonna sign us right there and then, but he was really interested and wanted us to write some more songs. So we demoed like 10 more songs in like 1994, his plan I guess was to put a 7" out and lets us do that for about a year. When he hear the demo with all the new songs we had he was really excited and kind upped the schedule. Our first album "For God and Country" was recorded in October of 1994.
Jake: What pushes you to keep pumping out CDs and tours for over 10 years?
Russ: Well, before we got into this cycle where a CD would come out and we would spend like 9 months touring, get home, write another album, put it out and tour. It was a crazy cycle that we'd get into. Lately it's been a lot different; everybody in the band has other stuff going on and we slowed down a bit with our touring schedule.  We were really not sure when we were gonna do another album, and we had never really closed the door on the deal. But last summer we had played a bunch of show, you know like that show in Santa Cruz, and we played a bunch of show in Canada. We thought it went really well so we started thinkin' maybe we should cut another album and we talked about it, the label was really stoked, they really wanted us to do one. This last fall we started writing for this new album. The writing went really well, really fast and before we knew it we had a ton of good songs. I think it's one of those things where if we started writing and it was hard to get thoughts to come out and it seemed  forced, I think that might have been a good sign that maybe we ought to stop. At the same time, because the thoughts came so easily and we produced what I think is such a strong album, there's momentum and there's incentive for us to do it again.  We always wanna top the last thing we did. We don't wanna be a band who just wants to settle for an ok record.
Jake: Did you guys think you would be able to earn a living off your music when you first got together?
Russ: No way. No, it was pretty much a leap of faith. I remember when Fat signed us and our album came out we went over to Europe with No Use For A Name, and then pretty soon we had about 8 months of touring booked. Suddenly we went from being this band in Santa Cruz to being known all over the world and people wanted to see  and know who we were. It was always sorta crazy and we all had to quit our jobs to do all this touring that we were gonna do. I remember that was a really big step because even though it's what you've always wanted to do if you play music, it's tough to quit a steady paycheck. It's tough to trade that for an uncertain future. We weren't really sure how it was gonna go on the road, we weren't really sure if people we gonna come to the shows, if they're gonna buy our album. It was pretty tough, but at the same time like I said, it's what we worked for for so long and to get an opportunity to do it, we couldn't pass it up. The fact that we were able to do this, being from Santa Cruz, doing what a lot of bands there don't do by moving to a bigger city, that's always sorta driven us too. Ever since we started touring and putting records on Fat, we've watched the music scene in Santa Cruz become really even more vibrant and I'd like to think that's because other bands see us touring and they think "Well we can do that too." We've always thought we'd be able to put Santa Cruz on the map by touring. Maybe they'd see us and check out one of the bands here.
Jake: Your lyrics flow incredibly well and are much more intelligent than a lot of bands out there. What would you say is the overall message of your songs?
Russ: It's hard to nail down anything specific. In general I've always tried to get people to think with a different perception. When I was younger I had feeling of separation, of loss, of loneliness , uncertain. If those just rattle around in my head, I start thinkin' that I'm somehow different than everyone else, that I've got these unique problems. Whenever I heard songs that sorta echoed those sentiments it was a big relief tome because I could identify with it, like "Wow, somebody else knows how I feel." I think that's a really powerful thing that music can do for people and there's a lot of Good Riddance songs that I think can offer that, as well as pretty sound social and political critiques with what's going on in the world. I've always wanted to use music for just more than entertainment. I think the reason why I was attracted to punk rock was cuz it was so political and there was so much spit and anger and desperation in it that was really attractive to me. When I got into music in the Eighties, (it) was so passive and lame and shallow. It really attracted me to come across something so vibrant and alive and really colorful and it totally captured the way I was feeling, plus it had this political kinda slant to it.
Jake: What's the philosophy behind your name?
Russ: Nothing really more than we just thought it sounded cool, kinda like a cool punk band. It's a phrase that doesn't get used like it used to be and we just thought it sounded cool, had a good ring to it.
Jake: Whom do you support for governor in the upcoming CA elections?  Why?
Russ: I'm gonna vote for Peter Camejo because he's the Green candidate and I'm registered Green.