The underground music scene in New Brunswick, I’m sorry to say, is a feature of the city I’m not all that familiar with. Excepting a few momentary and inebriated sidetracks down to basement parties sporting live bands, my experience with that particular underground has been limited at best. Enter the Screaming Females. Over the weekend, I was afforded the opportunity to be educated on the matter by two members of this three-person punk ensemble: Marissa Paternoster and Jarrett Dougherty. Third member King Mike wasn’t able to make it. What follows is the complete interview.

Profiling the Band Members: Jarrett and Marissa stroll in, not too late, and in reasonably good spirits. I learn that their time with us is limited; they will be catching up with King Mike (the youngest and tallest member of the group) later tonight at a show. Marissa, the loudest member of the band onstage, is actually quite a bit reserved in person…at least she was this evening. I got the impression that she doesn’t really like talking about herself. That might make it tough for an interviewer, but as a person, you’ve just gotta respect someone who’s not caught up in themselves for a change. Jarrett, the oldest member of the band, is smiley, light hearted and deferential. He doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that I clearly don’t have the faintest clue what I’m doing during the interview, and willingly fills in the embarrassing gaps in my knowledge about New Brunswick’s music scene. Neither member smokes; and Jarrett limits himself to a single beer (Marissa declines; I think she was driving).

Alex: Well, I want to start out by asking you guys a couple of profile questions, so we can get to know you as individuals first before we move on to questions about the band and stuff you’ve done in the past. So first, can you guys tell me your names, ages and the instruments that you play?

Jarrett: I’m Jarrett, I’m 25 and I play the drums.

Marissa: I’m Marissa, I’m 23, and I play guitar, and Mike is 21 and plays bass.

Jarrett: Yeah, and despite what you’ve read there is no Rickenbacker in his name, it’s just King Mike. There was an article where someone, years ago, put Rickenbacker in his name because that was the kind of bass he played, and people have just been citing off it for years.

Alex: When did you start playing your instruments?

Jarrett:  I started playing when I was nine.

Marissa: I was fourteen.

Alex: Did you play any other instruments before that or did you have a musical upbringing?

Jarrett: My family, both my parents, play a ton of instruments. I mean, my mom plays like eleven instruments, and my dad was a semiprofessional folk musician for a while…

Matia: What’s his name?

Jarrett: Dennis Dougherty. He sang and played guitar mainly, but he plays the saxophone and keyboard and all kinds of other stuff

Alex: What about favorite colors, favorite bo

oks?

Jarrett: Favorite color is blue, favorite book though… I most recently finished reading I Can’t Go Home Again by Thomas Wolfe, that’s really good read. That’s his last book and I read his first book Look Homeward, Angel and their both like, seven-nine hundred pages long. They’re really good.

Alex: Damn, so you’re a reader…

Jarrett: I try to be.

Marissa: Yellow, yeah. I read a lot of comics…

Alex: Comics, really? Which ones?

Marissa: I don’t know…

Jarrett: Yeah you do, you read graphic novels

Marissa: Yeah, they’re just comics… I mostly read comics and I doodle

Alex: Are you an artist?

Marissa: Yeah, I guess…

Alex: What are some influences on your instrument—who would be a guitarist that you would consider an influence?

Marissa: Um…Billy Corgan, I grew up listening to the Smashing Pumpkins a lot, Joey Santiago from The Pixies, other than that, even like, Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead. I guess those are just some guitar heroes, but other than that, I mostly just like bands, I don’t really care how good you are, it’s not important to me

Jarrett: I grew up listening to a lot of hip-hop, um, Rage Against the Machine, and funk music and stuff like that, newer jazz stuff…my favorite drummers are the guy from RAGE, Brad Wilik, Questlove from the Roots, Dave Grohl, and probably Billy Martin, from Medeski, Martin, and Woodward, the guys that I copied to play, to learn how to play. I don’t necessarily listen to all that stuff anymore, but that’s probably where you can find my style of drumming

The Band’s Beginnings: One thing about the Screaming Females that made me really want to interview them was how New Jersey the group really is. Marissa and Mike started out jamming, of all places, in a basement, in Elizabeth, NJ—not, mind you, in a garage. In many places in Jersey, and certainly at least in New Brunswick, the garage is just not an option; there simply isn’t enough space. The group ended up at their local state college, like so many of us, because it is so much cheaper than most other institutions. It turned out to be a good choice, leading them to meet and pick up Jarrett. And the band actually lives down the block, over on Louis Street. Who hasn’t partied down there? It really doesn’t get more Jersey then the Screaming Females…

Alex: Jarrett, you knew Mike growing up, right?

Jarrett: Marissa did

Marissa: No, I did.

Alex: OK my bad, when did you guys start playing together?

Marissa: We played together in high school. Mike was in high school and I was in college, when we started our band (called “Surgery on TV”) it was me, Mike, and another friend who was still in high school and then a friend who was also going to college. We all grew up in the same neighborhood in the Elizabeth area in NJ, so we would practice in my grandmother’s basement and that band lasted like, a half year, and we played like ten shows, which was a lot considering. Our keyboard player in that band went to college and then we broke up.

I met Jarrett here at Rutgers and Jarrett invited me to come over and play, and I did, and I told him that he was in our band and that he really didn’t have a choice

Alex: Mike came to Rutgers with you two, eventually, right?

Marissa: Yeah, he did

Alex: Was that a coincidence?

Marissa: No, I think he came here because he’d been hanging out around here for two years at that point and he knew where all the cool stuff was…

Jarrett: He came here more to play music and go to shows than to go to college, which became pretty evident pretty quickly, with his lack of interest in college…

Alex: But you all graduated, right?

Jarrett: No. Marissa and I graduated; Mike didn’t graduate. He graduated from the school of punk rock.

Alex: How did the two of you pick up on Rutgers?

Marissa: It’s affordable. Out of all the schools I got into, it was the only one I could afford.

Jarrett: Yeah

Alex: I was going to ask if your choice had anything to do with the scene here…

Marissa: No, I didn’t even know it existed.

A Tale of Two Cities: The New Brunswick Underground Scene: The band talked about how the music scene in New Brunswick has shifted from being mainly bar based to predominantly basement oriented. They explained how and why this shift, or rather break, occurred in New Brunswick, and why the city remains a largely hostile place for such unofficial venues. Still, that hasn’t stopped the music. They talked of a vibrant music scene, one that has had to evolve and adjust to account for the ever changing nature of its environment. And they remain confident in the strength of the scene for the foreseeable future.

Alex: So you guys found the scene after coming to Rutgers?

Jarrett: I kinda knew people. I came here and started hanging out in New Brunswick when I was like, a junior and senior in high school ‘cause my friends were in bands. It was a different thing at the time than it is now. There used to be a big bar scene, like really big. In a couple block radius, people will tell you there were like six or seven bars that had bands playing pretty much every night.

Alex: Wow. What happened?

Jarrett: They just closed down, some of them stopped doing music…I mean the really big one was Melody Bar, people made documentaries about that place. It was on Plum Street, right where Plum and French Street meet and they used to do really cool punk-rock shows there. It was a bar at night, but then, when they had bigger bands coming through, they would do matinees that were all ages during the day. A lot of the people that I know that were around my age and playing in bands in this area remember that spot—they remember going to see At the Drive-In play there.

Alex: So that was like, four or five years ago?

Jarrett: No, more like eight or nine years ago. And then, right when I got here, Melody bar closed, a few of the other bars had closed a couple years before that, and so all those people in that scene, were just all like “we’re out of here” cos this town really didn’t have much left for them. So when I started first hanging out, my friends’ bands were starting to do basement shows, which had always happened, there were always people playing in houses, but that kind of became like the only…

Alex: The only venue available to the students and people playing your kind of music?

Jarrett: Yeah, so it took a while for that stuff to get more organized, so they were pioneers—not pioneers, but forerunners, in that they didn’t have any other options. So I came and started seeing that happening, and I thought it was amazing, but it took me a while before I personally became really invested in it.

Alex: That’s one of things I really want to get into. I wouldn’t say I know much about the basement scene, but it’s something I’d want to know more about. You’re telling me the scene was flourishing with a set of venues and then as they disappeared they just moved into the basement organically.

Jarrett: Well, I think it was more like a breaking point. There’s a guy doing a documentary right now kind of comparing the New Brunswick he knew where there were bands playing in bars all the time to the bands that play in the basements all the time. And for him and his friends, when the bars started closing down and stopped doing shows, there was no reason to be here anymore so they left. So there’s a big breaking point in the bands who were involved before and after that kind of thing happened over that course of two or three years. So it was organic in the sense that there was no where else to go, but it wasn’t like the same people just moved into a different spot, it was like a big break.

Alex: Is there a still good sized scene here? Are there people still playing in the basements like that?

Jarrett: Oh it’s huge, especially with hardcore bands, they run like 3-4 shows a week, and there will be anywhere between 20-100 people in the crowds

Alex: Who’s doing the organizing?

Jarrett: Just, people, bands. People who live in houses who want to run shows, all kinds of people. I mean there are bands coming from all over the world to come play in New Brunswick basements.

Alex: How did you guys break into the basement scene? I guess you guys said from knowing people and going to shows and finding people who wanted to host a party?

Jarrett: Our first show was a basement show, and whenever people that are in band ask me about touring or playing at different shows, I always just tell them to get involved in their local scene because there is no way you’re getting shows without just being involved. It’s a scene for a reason, it’s not like you come and play and get paid at the end of the night and you leave. Most of the local bands never get paid for the basement shows, they collect money and give it to whatever touring band is playing so they have gas money, and money for food and everything. So it’s a completely different idea than what a lot of people think of. So you just start going to shows and you go because you want to see bands and you want to hang out with people—it ‘s a way to get together. This town doesn’t provide people with a lot of ways for people to get together other than, like, if you’re going to a bar.

Alex: Seriously, that’s one thing we’ve been talking about amongst ourselves: how New Brunswick really lacks a good performance venue open to students and bands to play.  And actually, when we talked about where such a place would go, we imagined it over on French street somewhere, and so it’s hilarious to hear you tell me that that’s where Melody Bar used to be.

Jarrett: It’s funny because they knocked it down, and put up a parking garage and a building around it, but they left that spot where it was, as just a plot of grass. So people who were really connected to the venue when they were younger, going to the all ages matinees, they’re just like “not only did they knock it down, but they left it empty!”

Alex: Now it’s mostly a Hispanic area of town, bordering on the hospital…

Jarrett: There are some Hispanic punk bands that play shows occasionally around here…

Alex: I was actually wondering about that because it’s a big constituency in the town. Can you name me some good local Hispanic groups?

Jarrett: There’s one Mexican band, Ke=Chucha, I think…

Marissa: I don’t know why…it’s like something equals bitch…

Alex: Anyone else? Maybe in general?

Jarrett: There’s this band Mattress who’s amazing and they’re getting ready to put out their first seven inch, and go out on tour. Those dudes run a lot of shows, they’re really great. There are some bands that are forming out of other bands that have broken up recently. There’s this band the Ergs and they were pretty huge, did a bunch of big tours, and they played some big shows, and they played some basement shows and now they have some new bands.

Matia: They’re on the label right, Don Giovanni? Do you associate with the bands on the label a lot?

Jarrett: Definitely, the label is DG records, and it’s really based out of new Brunswick even though Joe doesn’t live here anymore. They’ve got a lot of New Brunswick bands and some Brooklyn bands, but it’s bands who are really involved in coming here.

Matia: Did you guys know the guys that started the label beforehand?

Jarrett: They were trying for a long time to put out something from us, but I kept telling them no because we had put out everything ourselves for a long time. And then when we left for our fall 2008 tour, Joe was at our kickoff show and he was like “if you don’t let me put out  your next album I’m going to kill myself!!”. We were just like “hahah, whatever”, but then he showed up in DC when we had three or four days left to tour, and just hung out, and was like “tell me everything you’re worried about putting this album out on a label because I have to do this album, and we’ll do everything you want to do”, and he convinced us over the course of three days.

Alex: Sounds like a great deal…

Jarrett: It was a great deal, and definitely worthwhile.

Matia: Are there particular houses in NB that stick out to you as venues that people play at?

Jarrett: Yeah, it’s really weird with the cops here so we can’t really talk about it. But there are houses that regularly do shows. The cops have made a point of it to investigate a couple of times this year, making fake myspace/facebook profiles and getting people’s phone numbers on the internet and calling them and calling their landlords when they found the address of a house, trying to arrest the tenants and everyone at the shows.

Marissa: The cops are the reason why basement shows are a secret. There are a lot of illegal things happening at these shows, like underage drinking and fire hazards. I’m not saying I don’t love underage drinking or fire hazards, because I do, but that’s why the cops want it to stop. Of course, there’s clearly a double standard between frat houses and basement shows, for example. But if you really want to figure out where these shows are, you gotta work for your leads.

Jarrett: It isn’t that hard though. Before the whole internet phase, you just called people up. And it’s just kinda going back to that. And since internet advertisements have stopped, for whatever reason, there are many more people coming to the shows. A lot of word of mouth and making handbills works.

Matia: So you guys gained your popularity through word of mouth?

Marissa: Yeah, I was a big fan of making flyers. We made a whole bunch of flyers, handed them out to people.

Jarrett: I would just have them in my pockets and hand them out all the time. I was walking down the street one time and I handed one to Tom, who now plays bass in Mattress, because he looks like a weird rockabilly punk dude. I was like “here’s a flyer, you have to come to the show” and he was just like “Thank God! Finally!” He thought he was gonna have to spend another night walking up and down College Ave.

Alex: I guess that’s how it should be. How would you guys feel about bringing a new venue to New Brunswick?
Jarrett: I mean there are a lot of cities where that’s not that hard to do…but this state is one of the hardest places to do that. The fact that the only venue that is all ages—there’s only two in this state that are small sizes, Maxwell’s in Hoboken, which has been around for 30 years, and started that when Hoboken was a shit hole and then the other is Asbury Lanes, which is currently a shit hole, and even they get trouble, they’re only allowed to do all age shows once a week…you go to other cities and it’s just “whatever” and the cops are just like “Everything okay here?”

Alex: What are some good states?

Jarrett: California, Bay Area.  You go out there and people will be throwing just a huge warehouse show. They have this thing, Gillman Street, it’s like a community run punk venue that’s been around for like 25 years and just as long as you preserve it and clean up after yourself you’re fine. And there’s this sign that says “drink at least three blocks away from Gillman St. so we don’t get shut down”

So if you tried to do something like that in NJ you’d get shut down so quick. You need lawyers and a ton of money.

It’s very obvious that the people who run this city have a very defined vision of what they want the city to be. And unless you have a lot of money behind it, until you have that kind of power, I don’t think it’s going to happen.

Alex: Do you think the scene in New Brunswick has staying power?

Marissa: It just changes a lot since people graduate and leave and there’s a turnover. But I know a lot of people who come to Rutgers to go to shows – which is the wrong reason to choose a college…

Alex: Your bassist chose his college for that reason…

Marissa: Yeah, well he made the right choice, but everyone else…

Jarrett: New Brunswick already has a long history of being a breeding ground for interesting bands, so I don’t think that’s going to go away anytime soon regardless of what the situation ends up being, as long as there isn’t some kind of crazy shit where people absolutely cannot ever throw shows. It’s like that in providence Rhode Island.

Alex: You guys still play the basements?

Jarrett: Yeah I mean we do some basement shows.

Alex: You got anything upcoming?

Jarrett: Yeah, well we’re doing a show… well … we can’t really announce the shows we’re doing yet, because we’re doing a show with the Bouncing Souls at end of December in New Jersey, so we can’t publicize the shows we’re doing within the month until that show is over. We’re doing a basement show in January, but we can’t talk about it until the Bouncing Souls show is done. We’re doing the Arctic Monkeys tour at the beginning of December.

Alex: That goes out to where, Chicago, right?

Jarrett: Yeah, Chicago, and then back

Matia: You guys are going to be in Boston, too?

Jarrett: Yeah

Matia: And you guys are playing at that House of Blues there?

Jarrett: Yeah, we played there with Dead Weather over the summer, with Jack White of the White Stripes

Tours, Albums, and Other Thoughts: Whatever else this band is, they are well put together. They come off as community-minded, level-headed, and down-to-earth, characteristics that bode well for the continued success of the group.  They’re good people, plain and simple. Buy their album.

Alex: How’s the tour circuit been treating you? When did you guys start touring?

Jarrett: First tour was summer of 2006. I had tried to book it myself and failed miserably. We booked one show in North Carolina which we went and played anyway. But then I asked around and got some help from some guys, mostly in the Ergs, who had booked tours for years. They pointed me towards towns that weren’t really on the maps. Kind of how New Brunswick is—a lot of bands will end up in a show in NB on their way between New York and Philly, and they’ll be coming from the West Coast and they’ll just have played in New York and had a shitty show. And then they come to NB and play a great show and will be like “I can’t believe it!” So there’s a bunch of towns that are just really punk rock towns that aren’t on the maps; NB is definitely one of them. Also, Bloomington Indiana, Carbondale Illinois, Gatesville Florida, a couple of other places. We put together our first real tour with Joe’s help at the end of the summer of 2006. It was like, two weeks, and some fourteen hour drives that we would never put ourselves through now.

Alex: You guys like traveling?

Jarrett and Marissa: Yeah, definitely. We’ve done a bunch of 2-3 week tours, three national tours, another west coast tour…

Alex: We’re running out of time, but before you guys go, tell me a little about your album.

Jarrett: Two things—our last album came out in April, it’s called Power Move, first album on a label, first album with distribution, first album with a publicity cycle, and it went really, really well. It’s been quite a crazy time since that album came out, lots of touring and interviews. We had done that before, but not to this extent. And our new thing, which is so far unannounced but should be announced next month is a singles collection CD, which will included songs from some seven inches we have (four of them) on one CD together for the first time. That’s coming out in February and we’re going to be doing a tour for that.

Grace: Any hopes for the future, ambitions?

Jarrett: I just want to keep playing, I think that every decision that we‘ve made with this band has been about whether it’s been sustainable or not. I mean there are a lot of people who have promises about making us big or what not, but our focus has always been sustainability

Grace: You’re definitely enjoying it all, no regrets?

Jarrett: No regrets, but enjoying all of it is hard to say. It’s a lot of experience. People, when you come back from tour, are like “well, that must have been fun”, but it’s like,  I was gone for two months, stuck in the same van with the same people almost every hour of every day. The reality of the situation is that there are some tense moments, but we love it.

In Conclusion , the Screaming Females are just getting started down a promising road. If they can keep the vibes as clean and professional as they did in this interview, I can’t help but feel they’ll continue to play and improve for some time to come. But for now, they can already lay claim to being one of New Brunswick’s own success stories. For me, the entire interview turned out to be a learning experience. It served to open my eyes to an entirely new and yet unexplored scene in New Brunswick, one I hope to use this publication to delve into further in the future. In the meantime, check out their site: http://www.screamingfemales.com/.

Out thanks to the band for taking the time to talk with us, and for supporting a local New Brunswick publication. For what it’s worth, you have our support.

Peace and Love,

Alex Giannattasio

Editor in Chief