Carina and Deb, the dynamic duo of defyUnlearn.com, got whisked into a back stairwell with Freddy Herrera and Scott Stevens of The Exies after their acoustic set at the Bull Moose Music Store in downtown Portsmouth, NH for a little chat. We have to make sure that we give full credit to the ever so gracious and chivalrous Freddy, who held Deb’s jacket for her – for the entire interview – And who said that chivalry was dead? Read on to find out about their peanut butter fight with The Nixons, what they told us the song My Goddess is NOT about and of course, their love of rock n' roll!

Carina: Hi – we are here with Freddy from The Exies

Freddy: Hey – How’s it going?

Carina: Great, thanks!

Deb: You guys just played a FANTASTIC acoustic set at the Bull Moose record store, and I can’t wait to see you at the Muddy River Smokehouse tonight.

Freddy: Thank you.

Deb: Your sophomore effort comes out on Tuesday, INERTIA.

Freddy: Yeah, we are excited.

(Scott enters)

Deb: (to Scott) So, to get you caught up…

Freddy: Scott just walked in.

Carina: Yes.

Deb: Say hi.

Scott: Hello.

(Laughter)

Carina: Awesome set. You guys sounded great acoustic.

Scott: Right on, thanks!

Carina: Well I know you’re co-hosting The Rock Show on MTV 2, – which I am going to watch tomorrow… That’s an awesome show

Scott: Abby is really cool too.

Freddy: She is a beautiful person.

Carina: I’ve also seen “My Goddess” on MMUSA quite a bit!

Freddy: Yeah, they play it a lot.

Deb: And in the last week or so, you guys have had a ton of ads on MTV.

Freddy: Oh really?

Deb: Yes, promoting the release of the record…So, without further delay, let me ask, if you could have someone cover one of your songs, which song would it be and who would you want to cover it?

Scott: I would love the Foo Fighters to do “My Goddess”

Freddy: I would love to hear Radiohead’s take on “Creeper Kamikaze.” That would be amazing.

Carina: And what kind of music are you guys listening to now on the road?

Freddy: We’ve been listening to a lot – I have the new Queens of the Stone Age, that and Coldplay, I think Coldplay is really good too. I don’t know… (to Scott) what have you been listening to?

Scott: A lot of old Nirvana.

Freddy: He found some AMAZING stuff…

Scott: Yeah, stuff that you can’t get anywhere… I’ve been listening to The Used record, I like that a lot. They are really good live too.

Carina: Yeah, they were fun. I’ve photographed them too…Now when you guys do these types of interviews, is there a type of question that you get asked a lot - that you really don’t like and you wish they wouldn’t ask? And I’m not going to ask that question – I’m just curious.

Freddy: Are you from the “LA Glam Scene”? – No, we’re not.

(Laughter)

Carina: What’s a question that you wish someone would ask you, that you don’t get asked and that you want to talk about?

Freddy: Something we want to talk about? That probably would be… hmmm, well we don’t get asked that many questions, I mean we’ve done a lot of interviews but it seems like everybody spreads it out.

Scott: It’s pretty well covered.

Freddy: We haven’t done THAT many…

Deb: Oh, you just wait! Now I’ve read a little bit about the theory behind the name of the band and existentialism as well as the whole philosophical movement in 1960’s. How much of that philosophy do you think is a part of who you guys are, as a band, or is it more like…oh, it’s a cool name and yeah, they were sticking up for what they believed in…

Scott: A lot of it was pretty cool, just for the name, and it fit with the music and stuff, but I suppose, just on an existence level, you know? And the human condition and I definitely agree with it as far as nothing is pre-planned. We are in charge of our destiny. We are responsible for our own actions. So, yeah, I guess so.

Freddy: Some parts apply, some of the really gnarly stuff – some of that stuff is just too deep.

Deb: Right. I was actually on your message board trying to see what your fans are into and they were talking about the meaning behind “My Goddess” and how it could have been a drug or maybe a bad relationship – something that you know isn’t good for you, but you keep going back for it because it’s like an addiction almost.

Freddy: Uh huh.

Deb: And is that sort of right on?

Freddy: Well, it’s definitely not about drugs.

Scott: It’s not about drugs.

Deb: Alright. Good to clarify that one!

Scott: I don’t really want to say exactly - I mean, we’ve said it in a few articles, so I think it’ll probably get around in time. But…

Deb: I think maybe there were some contradictions, that’s why I wanted to clear it up.

Scott: Yeah, I mean it can be what it means to you, you know? It has the same concept as your defyUnlearn thing – it’s the things that we’re spoon-fed and you come to realize as you get older, maybe you question it a little bit.

Carina: Right.

Scott: Whether it be religion or school or something else…this is how you do it, when you are a kid. And when you get older, you can start to look at these things and decide whether or not you believe in the way that it is.

Deb: Right, and I think that’s exactly along the lines of our philosophy.

Scott: Yeah, totally.

Deb: Sort of an open-mindedness and being open to different experiences– I think that’s one of the reasons I was so excited to see your show and get to sit down and talk to you guys – because we do have a lot of the same philosophies.

Scott: But “My Goddess” is actually just a metaphor for whatever it is…

Deb: Ok, onto some fun stuff… do either one of you want to tell us a childhood secret?

Freddy: Umm, I stole ten bucks from my mom one time.

(Laughter)

Deb: But, now she’ll know about it!

Scott: I lied on my report card?

(Laughter)

Deb: Favorite booze drink?

Scott: I really like tequila.

Freddy: I like Stoli.

Deb: Stoli Razz – or regular Stoli?

Carina: Vanilla

Freddy: Vanilla!

Scott: Tequila is good for me.

Deb: Do you want to tell us about your first kiss? I’m sure that a lot of your fans are going to want to hear about this one!

Freddy: Very awkward, very wet - it was very scary.

Scott: This girl shoved her tongue right down my throat. It was very weird.

Deb: How old were you guys?

Scott: 14 or 15

Freddy: I think I was probably about 15.

Deb: Song that’s best to drive to.

Scott: Depends on what kind of mood you’re in…I really like “Everything In It’s Right Place” by Radiohead, off of Kid A. That first track is really great for when you’re driving at night in the desert.

Deb: Alright, favorite band when you were 13.

Scott: AC/DC

Freddy: Probably DEVO, I really liked DEVO.

Deb: Song that’s best for sex or reminds you of sex.

Scott: “Let’s Get It On” Marvin Gaye.

Deb: What makes you feel sexy?

Freddy: A beautiful woman, paying attention to me.

(laughter)

Scott: I don’t know what makes me feel sexy.

Deb: Alright, biggest guilty pleasure.

Freddy: Probably watching bad movies.

Deb: Totally! I get sucked into those really bad movies too!

Freddy: Yeah, bad movies.

Deb: Favorite 80’s hair band.

Scott: Probably Motley Crue.

Freddy: Yeah.

Scott: I mean, nobody did it more than those guys. They were just over the top.

Carina: OK, it’s time for a more serious question … If Ben & Jerry, the ice cream guys, were to make a create an ice cream in your honor, and allow you to name it and choose the ingredients, what would you name it and what would you put in it?

Scott: The last ice cream that I ate that was really amazing was this stuff called Deep Dish Apple Pie and it was so good! Let’s see… The Exies -Crushed -Swirled… I don’t know.

Freddy: Something about a swirl in there…

Scott: Crush -Swirl -Crunchy -Brittle -Euro -Electric -Sugarbites!

Deb: That’d be the longest running named Ben & Jerry’s titled Ice Cream ever!

Carina: Electro- Euro- Sugarbites?

Scott: Yes!

Carina: Now, where does the Euro come in?

Scott: I don’t know –

Freddy: because we have, well everybody thinks we have a European influence, in our programming and what not, so programmers added a European flavor to our music.

Scott: A lot of people thought that we were actually from England, when we first came out. Not so much on this record though…

Deb: (in a poor attempt at an imitation of a British accent) and then you spoke and they just knew you were an American!

(Laughter)

Carina: Now how many different tours have you been on? I know you toured with 30 Seconds to Mars…

Deb: SR-71…

Scott: Yeah and we did a few dates with Filter and we’ve done a couple on our own and…

Freddy: We did a few festivals… we did some with Everclear and Seether, The Used and OK Go, Saliva – so a lot, kind of sporatic things.

Carina: Can you think back on any one of the tours and tell us about a funny moment ?

Scott: When we ended our tour with The Nixons – that last night was amazing! They egged and whip-creamed our van and put peanut butter all over it. And then we proceeded to grab the peanut butter and do their van and then all of a sudden it was in everyone’s hair and all over everyone’s clothes and faces and we had all these other people with us and then they started chasing us…. It was good.

Freddy: It was fun.

Deb: So maybe peanut butter should be an ingredient in your Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream then…

Freddy: Yeah, better in that, than in your hair.

Scott: What was it? Euro – Electric – Peanut Butter – Sugarbites?

Carina: So can you tell us any kind of a cliche moment, out on tour?

Scott: Every night after that!

(laughter)

Freddy: Probably doing the radio thing. We did a promo thing where we went to different radio stations and we didn’t even play on the air, we just played in their lunchrooms and some people, you could tell, liked it but for most people, we were just taking up their lunchtime. I think most of them ended up…

Deb: Digging it.

Scott: Yeah. They liked it.

Deb: Now, who do you want to go on tour with Next?

Scott: Foo Fighters

Freddy: or the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Deb: What do you think your involvement with this band has taught you about yourself and your self exploration – as far as who you are and who you think you’re meant to be? How has it helped you see yourself and the evolution of you?

Scott: Well, I’ll tell you, that’s a hard question. It definitely taught me to open up to people in general and just to become more open and let people in and listen to what they have to say. Letting them become a part of my life as well as me becoming a part of theirs. So, that’s been something that I’m still working on. It’s also something that seems to be teaching me how to try to, as one of our songs says, to just forgive myself and let the moment go when it’s gone. For example, if I do a bad show, not to dwell on it, or this or that. So, I try to get better at acceptance. I think that’s about it for me, just learning acceptance, forgiveness and letting people in and listening genuinely to what people say and trying to just be in the moment.

Freddy: For me, I think it’s definitely learning how to enjoy what’s going on. Sort of really enjoy, and not just sitting back. Actually Scott taught me this, before we go on, just take a deep breath and go – ok, now is now. This helps a lot and also talking to everybody. I totally appreciate all of the attention because there’s been many years where we didn’t get any.

Scott: And there will be a time in the future, where we won’t get any anymore…

Freddy: And just really appreciate everything – everything that’s going on. It makes me a better person if I can do that….That and just being able to share what I can add to this band, with the other guys and what they give me. I mean, I have learned so much – and not just musically – just as a person.

Scott: We learn more than musically together – it’s more about our relationship together, than it is playing the music. The music is what comes from it – it’s the fruit that comes from it. The relationship is more important than the band.

Freddy: We are truly friends and a lot of bands aren’t.

Deb: Yeah, and that makes it a lot harder, when you’re on the road and you’re with each other all the time…

Scott: You see somebody and you’re like – you get to the point where you’re like - I hate the way that guy eats.

(laughter)

Deb: Can you tell us the coolest thing a fan has done for you?

Freddy: Yeah, for me – it was playing a show and having this guy – and I always appreciate it, I mean, I love when women come up – but I always think it’s harder for a guy to come up to another guy – so I know he must really feel it – and he just said, “Hey man, your music just moved me” and that was amazing because all my favorite bands did that to me. You get goose bumps – so that was the best thing.

Scott: I also think some of the best things that we’ve also gotten is people, like yourselves, taking an interest in us at such an early time and helping promote it. And Shannon, who does the Exies Universe, and Jennifer who took an early interest – and so, just what they’ve done alone, as far as keeping the band alive, is amazing.

Deb: So, if you guys couldn’t be doing this – what kind of profession do you think you’d attempt?

Scott: You know, that never even crosses my mind, what I would be doing besides this.

Freddy: I never let myself think about it.

Carina: So, tell me about your musical influences going back to your childhood.

Freddy: My grandpa was a musician. I didn’t know it but he was this amazing saxophone player, but I didn’t find that out until after he was gone which is a drag... But music was always playing at my house. I’m the only one in my family who plays it, but my mom was always listening to music.

Deb: Now didn’t I read you were the one who when you first started – and they were like – we need a bass player. And you were like – I don’t play bass. And they were like – that’s fine, come on in.

Freddy: Yeah, they bought me the bass and an amp and everything. They were so into it and I was like, yeah, it’ll be fun.

Deb: So, it stuck?

Freddy: Yeah!

Deb: What do you like to do in your free time?

Freddy: Listen to music – I mean for me, there’s no other hobbies or anything - it’s just all music.

Scott: I like to read.

Carina: What’s the last book you read?

Scott: The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle.

Deb: What’s it about?

Scott: About being in the moment, living for now. I like to watch videos, I like to go for walks and stuff and just be with my cat and shit like that.

Deb: What’s your cat’s name?

Scott: Cricket. I just lost my other cat – she died. I had her for 14 years.

Deb: So, someone’s taking care of your cat for you – because you can’t just take your cat on the tour bus?

Scott: Yeah, can’t bring the cat on tour.

Deb: Someone might be allergic.

Scott: Cricket would not like that. My brother takes care of the cat.

Deb: So is there anything you collect, like some people collect guitar pics or baseball cards?

Scott: Lint.

Freddy: I don’t collect anything.

Scott: Except for stuff on us, little blurbs and stuff.

Deb and Carina: Thank you for your time! See you at the show tonight!



Interview by: Carina and Deb