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Barking Mad's video release "Divide and Conquer

Barking Mad's video release "Divide and Conquer

 

Okay, true story…I’m on my way to Black in Bluhm Recording Studio to meet up with Barking Mad.  They just released a video for “Divide and Conquer” and I want to hear their thoughts on it.  It’s about 8:30ish on a Monday night and no one is on the road.  I’m not even sure where this bitch came from but I’m startled by bright cherry lights of a cop car in my rearview mirror.  FUCK!  I know why she’s pulling me over but when she approaches my window, “Good evening sir, do you know why I stopped you?”  My reply is short and not amused, “I have no idea.”  I know at this point more cops are on the way and I’m going to be pulled out of my car to do a roadside.  She tries to stall with small talk but I’m not in the mood for the games and let her know.  As she ask superficial questions about the band I’m going to interview as if she cares, I cut her off “what’s this have to do with why you pulled me over?”

While sitting in my truck waiting for the other cops to show up so I can give them a hard time also, I start reminiscing about the time Fred Wegener, the Park County Sheriff was shining a flash light in my mouth telling me he could tell I was high by the color of my throat.  How about the time my wasted Dad started a fight with me and I’m the one that went to jail.  The many nights I spent hopping fences evading the cops.  It’s always been me against them. Part of it’s fun but most of it’s real.  The preconceived thought that the cops are always right and the punk is always wrong is fucked and I have no problem telling them.  It was a moment of clarity in my life when I realized my purpose here on this planet is to question all authority.  I’ve done it my whole life, sometimes they win and sometimes I win but it’s something that’s never going to stop.

Oh yeah, I’m quickly reminded that I’m pulled over in a parking lot about to be pulled out of my truck to do a roadside sobriety test.  Officer Stott walks up to my window, “Good evening”, the little prick says.  “Officer Tinsley said she observed you swerving several times and at one point bounced off the curb.”  What the fuck, I swerved once while looking for my sweatshirt.  Yeah, I fucked up but there was no multiple swerves and no bouncing off the curb. I get it, we don’t want drunk drivers on the road but we also don’t want the cops to embellish the truth to create probable cause.  “Have you had anything to drink tonight?” Officer Stott asked.  “I haven’t had any drugs or alcohol in 17 years.”  I replied.  “When’s the last time you slept?”  “Are you on any meds?”  “Do you have any health issues?”  After easily answering a few more questions he had me out of my truck following the tip of his finger with my eyes.  Next, walking 9 steps forward starting with my left foot, making a u-turn and 9 steps back, counting aloud with each step.  After hearing from me how fucked this is and seeing me easily pass his roadside they cut me loose.  To both of their credit they did apologize and Officer Tinsley admitted she never saw me hit a curb.

I’m mad, my adrenaline is flowing, I feel like driving 90 mph, I’m ready for some punk rock music and I just experienced “Divide and Conquer” with the cops.  Let’s go find Barking Mad and see what these guys are up to tonight.  We meet up with them while they were on a smoke break during rehearsal and they introduce themselves… 

  • Bram - Bass and vocals

  • Brooks - Drums

  • Arj - Guitar and vocal

  • JD - Guitar and backup vocal

“You guys want to talk some about the video you just released for Divide and Conquer?”

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Bram jumps in - “Yeah, we just released our video for “Divide and Conquer” which is going to be on our 6 song cassette (Rampage Demo) that is being release by Crowd Control Media.  It took us a long time to get to the point we could do something like that but I think it came out pretty well, we’re really happy with it.”

“So what’s the theme of Divide and Conquer?”

“Just how everyone is divided against each other, nobody can unite to get shit done together, everyone is just fighting each other and letting the rich take over.”

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Every song I’ve heard of Barking Mad has it’s distinct sound.  They don’t all sound the same but you clearly know it’s Barking Mad.  Divide and Conquer has feels of early eighties punk, raw and assertive, a bit of Motorhead aggression in the vocals, a couple ripping ass guitar solos, strong crunchy guitar riffs and fast rhythmic drum beats that would match the beating heart of a man running from the cops.  The song is aggressive and the message is in your face.  If we could step back and see what we’re doing to each other it might not make sense to continue with our Divide and Conquer mentality.

“Tell us about who Barking Mad is.”

Bram continues…”We’ve been playing for a little over a year, we started out with me, Brooks and JD. We played for about 6 months with just the 3 of us and then we got Arj to start playing with us. We started recording shortly after that and then started playing shows a few months later.” 

“Have you been playing a lot of shows”

“We’re just now starting to book some more shows.  It’s starting to pick up a little bit.  We have a show coming up Tuesday October 9th at Bar Bar with Ten Pole Drunk from Washington.  We have another show November 5th at Lions Lair with The Unaccepted and Queen City Sinners.”

“Is it hard to book shows”

“It can be…I mean, it depends if you want to do all the work yourself, if you want to book the whole show then yeah it’s a lot of work, it definitely helps having some other people do some of the work.”

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The guys went on talking about some of the influences that Barking Mad has taken on.  Punk, Oi, lots of rock, metal and of course Motorhead all can be heard in their music.  Bram feels his lyrical theme is Hatred for everyone,  he would say “equal opportunity hatred”.

I do hate the question but I ask all bands “what does punk rock mean to you?”  It’s a cliche question and in many ways by trying to define it is exactly what it’s not.  But I feel when we see a thousand answers to this question we’ll see the diverse individuality punk rock brings to society.  So with further adieu…

“What does punk rock mean to you?”

  • Bram - Individuality, being myself

  • JD - agrees with Bram

  • Brooks - lives it every day, it’s not to be defined

  • Arj - no comment

After hanging outside for a while they invite us and treat as to a kick ass raw live version of”Stone Age”.  Brooks starts with the fast drum beat that would get an old lady out of her chair dancing, followed by the kick ass battle of vocals between Bram and Arj and finishing  with an exchange of shredding guitar solos between JD and Arj.  Before we said goodnight they all shared who their favorite local punk rock bands are…

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  • JD - with no hesitation “The Nobodys”

  • Brooks - “Chemical X” and “The Zipperz”

  • Bram - after saying JD’s pick of The Nobodys was a good one he picked “99 Bottles”

  • Arj - “Bad Engrish”

It was a blast to spend a few minutes with Barking Mad.  I can’t wait to see their next show and I really can’t wait to get “Rampage Demo” when it’s officially released by Crowd Control Media.  Good night and drive safe…and by safe I mean really fucking fast!

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