It's a pleasure to be speaking to Spike Slawson – the sole constant in the revolving-door madhouse that is America's premier punk cover band, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes.
Actually, perhaps 'speaking to' isn't the most apt of terms. 'Spoken to' might be a little closer.On the line from inside an elevator at the Virginia Tap Room in Reno, Nevada, of all places, Slawson – who freely admits to having consumed "way too much coffee" – barely needs more than a couple of word prompts to speak for minutes at a time.
Take this prompt, for instance. Who does he feel had a worse time watching the Gimmes play live: Jonny, the subject of their 2004 live album 'Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah', or Madison, the subject of that album's 2024 sequel, 'Blow It At Madison's Quinceañera?'.
"Good question!" he replies. "Some people around Jonny at least knew who we were and dug us. At Madison's quinceañera, that was definitely not the case.
"Of the two events, I feel like we had to do a lot more for Madison to win them over. We played one song [Olivia Rodrigo's 'Good 4 U'] that got them out on the floor – probably because it was the only song from this decade, or millennium, that we played. I don't think there were many Black Sabbath fans in attendance!
"Madison's dad told me after the set he had to calm some of her uncles down, because our off-colour jokes weren't necessarily appreciated by that audience. It was definitely awkward, but I'd describe it as deliciously awkward."
When it comes to audience reactions, Slawson is reminded of a quote from Alan Alda in 'Crimes And Misdemeanours'. "If it bends, it's funny. If it breaks, it's not funny."
The way he sees it, things need to be proverbially bent just enough to get the audience laughing and engaged with what the Gimmes are doing. "Isn't it ridiculous that the more offended and outraged the crowd gets during our sets, the more t-shirts we end up selling at the end of the night?" he muses.
"How the human brain works! I guess you need to be the heel so you can be your own hero, and I guess we're good at playing the heel. We know our role, and that lets everyone else – both in the crowd and on the bill – be their earnest selves."
Slawson is chomping at the bit to bring the Gimmes back to Australia this November, which is a given, considering it's only been 18 months since they were last here.
The band have a longstanding relationship with the country, having been here a dozen times and even enlisted two Aussies – The Living End's Chris Cheney and Frenzal Rhomb's Lindsay McDougall – as ring-in Gimmes over the years. "They served very admirably!" Spike adds.
"Aussies seem to appreciate the weird and the trashy just like we do. That's why the rock & roll from there is so convincing! We're sort of like brethren, I've found."
Joining them will be the infamous Dwarves, who will return to the country after seven years. "'Blood Guts & Pussy' is a perfect record!" enthuses Slawson. "'Sugarfix', too. Their shows were f...ing notorious back in the day – just these absolute orgies of violence. San Francisco was a different place back then, man!"
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes 2024 Tour Dates
Wed 30 Oct - The Tivoli (Brisbane)Fri 1 Nov - Miami Marketta (Gold Coast)
Sat 2 Nov - Bar On The Hill (Newcastle)
Sun 3 Nov - The Baso (Canberra)
Wed 6 Nov - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Fri 8 Nov - Torquay Hotel (Torquay)
Sat 9 Nov - Forum Melbourne
Sun 10 Nov - The Gov (Adelaide)
Wed 13 Nov - Astor Theatre (Perth)
