WEEKEND NACHOS: CANADA, KILLING RECORD FLIPPERS, THE GOOD SIDE OF HARDCORE, & MEXICAN COLA.
BY MATT DIXON, DECEMBER 2011. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF HOLLY | FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/PHOTOCORE_HOLLY

MATT: Alright John from Weekend Nachos. Let's do this. Two Canadian shows ever. Are you serious bro? Let me get this straight... you just toured Europe, you're about to kill it through the eastern US in January, you have plans to do the west coast in April and May, talks of going down under.... and yet you have only played two shows in Canada. Weekend Nachos, why do you hate us? Please say it ain't so.

JOHN: Haha of course we don't hate Canada. To be honest, I don't know why we haven't played in Canada more, it seems like a great place for hardcore and always has. We actually had plans to do an 8-10 day tour of Canada a few years ago but we had to cancel due to two members' schedules and it was a bummer. Some day I think we should organize a big Canadian tour just to show you guys some love..

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MATT: Any Canadian connections to speak of?

JOHN: Hmm, not very many, I know some of the guys from Born Bad and I have a friend or two in Toronto, that's about it. Unless I'm forgetting somebody...regardless, this dude Greg booked us an excellent show in Toronto and I'd like to go through him again cuz he rules. Ben in Montreal hooked us up too, but apparently it was raining too hard for the Montreal punks and they all stayed home...either that or Weekend Nachos just sucks. I'm open to either of those possibilites.

MATT: You guys love putting out records. They're rad as hell, big full artwork, music as it's meant to be heard, the whole punk 7" culture. But what about the ugly side of vinyl. You know what I'm talking about. The flippers. I have to ask you about your incredible super limited 8" and how to makes you feel to see those things going for hundreds of dollars online when everyone involved in the creation of it made it with love and care and probably didn't make a cent off of it all said and done.

JOHN: Truthfully, I think it's one of the saddest things in underground music. I don't care how bitter it makes me sound...when I see people making a buck off of something that means more than money to a true fan, I want that person to get beaten with weapons. It's not cool, it's not fair, it's not right. I have never "flipped" anything in my life, and I would never accept any more than what I originally paid for a record. Those Nacho 8"s were something we knew would sell out in a matter of minutes...but we didn't know that the majority of the people buying them would be snipers without a soul. I've intentionally ruined a few of those auctions whenever I could. My blood and sweat shouldn't be making anybody an extra wad of cash, not even myself. It's dirty money if you really think about it.

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MATT: Weapon of choice against a record flipper?

JOHN: I think I'd probably pull whatever record was worth the most money from their collection, break it, and slit their throat with it. An ironic end to a vulture's life.

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MATT: Is hardcore too serious these days? Correct me if I'm wrong but you guys seem pretty goofy at times. Your music is aggressive and cathartic but it seems like you guys don't take yourselves too too seriously all the time. There's definitely a balance there. Your thoughts?

JOHN: Nah, if I said hardcore was too serious...that would imply that I care how anybody else chooses to express themself, and I don't. It all depends on the individual and if I'm not feeling a band, I simply won't listen to them or watch them again. As for Weekend Nachos? You are absolutely correct, we are pretty goofy and don't take ourselves too seriously. There's a valid reason to express the things we express with our music...shit pisses us off, shit gets us down, shit isn't right all the time. It feels good to make negative music in a negative world. But on the flipside, how are you supposed to get through this life being angry and shitty all the time? The best place for us to express that is through music so we can enjoy our lives otherwise. We just try to stay positive and have fun off stage. Then, when it's time to play, it's a prison style riot for 15 minutes and people get wrecked. It's a beautiful thing when you can destroy 10 people during a band's set and then get a burger with them afterwards like it never happened. That's one of the things I love about hardcore.

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MATT: Alright, I gotta ask. Maybe it's my own ignorance coming through here and if you say it's just Coca Cola from Mexico I'm gonna be pissed. In a recent interview you described your ideal meal as <<slab of ribs with french fries, corn on the cob, and an ice cold bottle of Mexican Coca Cola.>> What is Mexican Coca Cola and how does that shit differ from its American & Canadian cousins?

JOHN: Mexican Coke comes in a giant glass bottle and is made with cane sugar, not corn syrup. I know a lot of people are going to pretend like there's no difference in taste... but there is. And to me, it's a wonderful difference. I have no idea about Canadian Coke.

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MATT: Thanks for chatting!

JOHN: Anytime, my friend. Stay cool.

Feeling down in the dumps in his second year of university Matt Dixon took things into his own hands and started to interview bands, put on little shows throughout his native Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and started this little webzine that could. He likes to listen to rad records and watch films at Charlottetown's only art-house theatre, the beloved City Cinema. Current Listening: Buried Inside, Q & Not U, Tallest Man On Earth, Lucero, The Transit.

E- MATT (AT) JUNNNKTANK.COM
H- JUNNNKTANK.COM/MD

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