THE EXIES INTERVIEW with FREDDY HERRERA Summer 2008

Lena:  What is it like working with an indie label as opposed to a major?

Freddy:  With a major label there are so many people that have to hear everything and it takes forever. With the indie label we didn’t have anyone breathing down our necks and wanting to hear everything.  They totally left us alone to just create and write and when they put a lot of trust in us I think we proved them right by the way the record came out.

Lena:  Definitely!

Freddy:  Thanks!

Lena:  Who came up with the idea for the video, THESE ARE THE DAYS?

Freddy:  That was done out of kind of necessity.  We didn’t have any money for a video and this company had filmed a concert of us so we figured we could use that for the live things and then since THESE ARE THE DAYS has such a memories type vibe to it we thought why don’t we get some kids to get involved.  We put up a post on myspace and we got so many responses, at least seven to eight hundred of them and we just incorporated that.  We shot their quotes in different places like people’s hands or stuff like that and Chris, our guitar player, he’s the one that edited it and put it all together so that’s how it came about.  It was a necessity but then something cool.

Lena:  It’s a great video, it reminds me of the cool 80’s videos with the concert footage in it.  That’s a good thing!  

Lena:  Who or what inspired the song, UGLY?

Freddy:  That was Scott’s deal, it was kind of taken from his perspective of  being satisfied with yourself and wanting to be a better person and all the things that we are not really happy about.  It was just an honest moment when he was writing it.  Are you ugly like me?  Everybody whether they want to admit it or not has had a moment where they do something a little ugly or mean and it’s not until later where you figure out that’s not the way to be.

Lena:  If only everyone in Hollywood felt that way.

Freddy:  Yeah, exactly!

Lena:  There are a lot of interesting people there.

Freddy:  Oh, yeah.  Oh, yeah.

Lena:  It must be difficult being a band in California since you have a lot of competition?

Freddy:  No, we’ve never looked at it that way.  Some bands are pretty cutthroat but we never wanted to be that way.  The songs keep us enjoying the music.  I think the competition thing comes from guys that are too worried about their status and we never were.  We were more concerned about writing songs we were not one of those kind of bands that just went out and hung out to just try to be cool and whatever.  That competition thing never really came into play for us we were just in competition with ourselves. 

Lena:  That’s good.  That’s how it should be.

Freddy:  Yeah, everybody should help each other.  We are all in this together it’s not like there is not room for ten bands.  If you are good you are going to find your way. 

Lena:  Do they still have a lot of clubs in your area or have a lot of them closed down?

Freddy:  A lot of stuff has closed down like a club that THE EXIES played at a lot called the Martini Lounge, that’s not there anymore.  There are some clubs still open like THE ROXY, THE WHISKEY and THE KEY CLUB.  There are a lot of clubs that have come and gone but there seems to be a resurgence of rock clubs.  There is a really cool club called SAFARI SAM’S which we are hoping to play.  It’s really cool because it’s all ages and they still let proper aged people drink.

Lena:  That’s cool because in certain clubs here if it’s all ages they gate off the twenty one plus crowd and you can only drink at the bar.

Freddy:  Yeah, and where you can drink is way far back from the stage and all the kids are in the front which is cool but it would be nice to have everyone enjoy it together in front of the stage.

Lena:  I know a lot of clubs have closed down here so I figured I would ask if it was the same in your area.

Freddy:  Oh, really.

Lena:  Yeah, all the really good rock clubs are gone and I think we have only LUPO’S left. 

Freddy:  Where are you at?

Lena:  Rhode Island.

Freddy:  Wow, you guys had that really bad fire. 

Lena:  Yes.

Freddy:  That sucks.  That really sucks.  I don’t think we’ve played Rhode Island, unless  we played at LUPO’S.  Oh, wait we did play there with BREAKING BENJAMIN.       

Lena:  I saw you at THE WEBSTER THEATER in CT when you played with DROWNING POOL.     

Lena:  You’ve shared the stage with so many huge acts, who has surprised you by being nothing like their stage persona? 

Freddy:  Oh wow, that’s hard because everyone’s got their own thing that’s good.  The most recent stuff that we did with PAPA ROACH, BUCKCHERRY and HINDER those guys brought it every night.  I think for all time it’s kind of hard to top MOTLEY CRUE.  They are just so out there.  We did a whole summer with them in 2005.  It’s so hard to tell because there are things that are better then other things but it’s different.

Lena:  Well, that leads onto my next question.

Lena:  How was it touring with MOTLEY CRUE?

Freddy:  It was just amazing.  We got treated so well and they were so cool to us.  We didn’t see the guys very often and we probably saw NIKKI the most and he was just really cool.  We hung out with TOMMY.  Scott did a song on the 6 AM record, he helped write it with NIKKI and TOMMY.  It was just really cool hanging out with them on the bus.  A funny story when we were recording on TOMMY’S bus and we got NIKKI and he had VH1 on and we looked up and TOMMY was on it.  It was one of those shows and I was thinking, wow, this is a trip.  It couldn’t of gone any better.  We got treated so well and the catering was amazing.  That’s always a plus.       

Lena:  What is your favorite BEATLES song and why?

Freddy:  My favorite BEATLES song?  Can I just say all of them?  I don’t know sometimes it will be NOWHERE MAN and then it will be I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND.  It will change and honestly they didn’t really write a bad song.  

Lena:  I know your song, UGLY, was featured in a WWE event so are you a wrestling fan?

Freddy:  I just watched it when it was on.  I think it was the biggest thrill for us but none of us really followed wrestling but people in our different families really liked it so just the excitement from them was great.  My little nephews loved it.  I think everyone has that excitement from someone in their family.

Lena:  It’s good publicity for you, too.

Freddy:  It was really good and I think it was one of the biggest things we got outside of the band.  

Lena:  Do you ever play any of the games that your music is featured in?

Freddy:  I wish we could say we did but we are so terrible at it.  We were never that big of gamers and the first time we played GUITAR HERO was at the studio when we recorded this last record.  We walked in the studio the first day and the manager was in their playing our song just for a joke.  We were like, What the hell is that?  We heard about it but we did not know that it has gotten on so big so we tried it and we did terrible, just terrible. 

Lena:  So you failed at playing yourself?

Freddy:  Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely!

Lena:  That’s not good!

Lena:  What was it like working with JAMES MICHAEL?

Freddy:  What a great guy.  He was the perfect fit and the way that it all came about was that Scott wasn’t even working on a record.  He was in just working on stuff and then I met JAMES and we just hit it off so well.  He had some free time and he’s a songwriter and he had that outside ear and was also a fan of the band.  He can make you work really hard but you will do it in a way where you don’t even realize that you are doing it.  He was really great and hopefully we will see him again.  It been awhile and he’s been working on some other project.  I couldn’t speak more highly of the guy. 

Lena:  He definitely has an impressive list of credentials. 

Freddy:  Yeah.

Lena:  He’s done MOTLEY CRUE and pretty much everything else.

Lena:  Who has gone the longest on tour without showering?

Freddy:  Ha, ha, probably me.  I think I went about four days during a tour and then everyone told me that I have to take a shower. 

Lena:  Four days isn’t that bad!  I’ve heard worse.

Freddy:  No, when you sweat as much as I do and you’re playing on stage every night that is pretty gross.   

Lena:  Now, do you take off your tour clothes and put them in a bag and not wash them?  I know a lot of bands don’t wash their stage clothes until the end of the tour.  They don’t want to ruin their mojo.  Is that what you guys do?

Freddy:  No, no we got to wash.  We have to go to the laundry mat or use the hotel laundry whenever we can.  We usually try not to go too far for too long.

Lena:  I know ANDREW WK used to put his sweaty stage clothes in a plastic bag and put them on the next night.

Freddy:  Oh my, that’s really gross.  How rancid.

Lena:  Yeah, he must of smelt really bad on stage and I’m sure his clothes would develop mold after awhile.

Freddy:  Yeah, you would not even be able to stand yourself.   

Lena:  Does anyone in the band have any pets and if so what?

Freddy:  Yes, we do!  Scott had some cats and slowly one by one they died so just this last weekend he got a new cat.  We don’t even know what to call it yet.  Believe it or not, last week I found a dog.  She was in my backyard and she was just a miniature pincher and had a collar and I saw her again.  I went to the store on Easter and I saw her and she came right up to me and I thought I had better do something so I let her in the house.  I made up flyers and put up ads for a found dog and I put posters up all around the neighborhood and nobody even called.  Not one person so I think I will definitely keep her and call her Easter. 

Lena:  That is so sweet.

Freddy:  Chris has cats but I don’t know their names.

Lena:  Little dogs are easy to tour with. 

Freddy:  I don’t know if I could take her because she’s a little crazy but smart.  If she got loose she would be gone. 

Lena:  I googled you and found out that you are a big time boxer in Mexico and a soccer star in Cuba.  How do you find the time to do all that and music?

Freddy: Well, it’s tough!  I don’t get to see home much but my soccer is improving.  Boxing is just kind of a hobby.  I’ve never googled myself but I’m tempted now to check it out.

Lena:  You should do it.   It’s pretty funny!

Freddy:  What about you?

Lena:  I’m nothing.

Freddy:  Oh, really.

Lena:  Yeah, I’m nothing exciting.

Lena: Are you planning an extensive tour? 

Freddy:   I’m not sure exactly when but we are planning on staying out forever. 

Lena:  Are you doing a worldwide tour?

Freddy:  I don’t know yet but hopefully.  We’ve never been to Europe but we’ve been to Canada.  We’ve pretty much just done stuff above the states in Canada.

Lena:  That’s not bad and hopefully you come around this area. 

Freddy:  Yeah, I’m sure we will.  The East Coast has always been good to us. 

Lena:  As long as you are not an 80’s band you are ok although it has been better here now for 80’s bands but after the fire with great white it was really rough for them. 

Freddy:  Well, that’s good.  It’s like they say time definitely heals. 

Lena:  That is all of my questions.  Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me.

Freddy:  Cool, Lena, it was fun.  Let us know when you put it out.