While they like to joke that they are rip-off artists, In Defence purely does things like nobody else. Other bands eat pizza... In Defence prefers tacos. Other bands fear the law... In Defence thinks The Police are rad. (Well, technically they are referring to the band, The Police.) Other bands encourage moshing, In Defence coaches the the circle pit method. Most bands spell "Defense" with an "S"... In Defence uses a "C."
The show on Tuesday night promises to be a night to remember, and frankly, the kick in the teeth that Des Moines severely needs. Other acts on the bill are Ghostbusters, Nancy Grace Death Squad, Dark Mirror and Traffic Death.
I was able to chat with Ben Crew - the man in front of the band - and ask him a few questions.
Do you believe in the mental trick of spoon bending?
Yes. I believe in the power of the mind and the power we have to bend spoons and shape our reality. This is a very deep subject. I'm surprised you started out by asking it. If I took time to elaborate I'd never get to the other questions so I'm gonna move on now. But we can talk meta physics and perceptions of reality later.
Rumor has it that you gave Fat Mike a tattoo once?
Um... I think you've might have heard several different stories.... I was on tour with Dillinger Four and NOFX. The guitar tech for NOFX had a tattoo gun and gave me a tattoo at the last day of the tour. I am also in the NOFX video for "Seeing Double At The Triple Rock" but that has nothing to do with tattoos... but one time In Defence played a tattoo parlor in Texas. It was wild. I ended up naked. This guitar tech dude whipped my ass with a studded belt. It bled. He was so amazed that I took it like a bad-ass that he made me give him a tattoo right there at the shop. I should let you know I'm not a tattoo artist. I never gave a tattoo before or since. But it sounds cooler to tell people I gave Fat Mike a tattoo so lets keep spreading that rumor.
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| Tattoo given by Ben Crew to Guitar tech dude |
Tell me another punk rock story.
Oh shit... There are so many but now that you asked my mind is blank. Oh... I made out with the singer from GWAR once! We'll... We kissed... ok I kissed him... but he wanted me to. Ok it's really not that exciting. In Defence was playing a show in Richmond. Gwar lives there. I was told that they might be at the show but I didn't know anybody or what they looked like with out their costumes. So I was getting nervous. I didn't know what to do. I'm like if Gwar is here and everybody else here has seen Gwar and Municipal Waste and Lamb of God and all these other awesome bands from Richmond there is no way in hell we are gonna impress anyone. Cuz once you get to taste the best everything else just tastes bland ya know?! So I'm like ok fuck this! My new goal is to make these people unimpressed as fuck. I want to underwhelm the shit out of these people. I want them to leave and go "that was terrible... the worst show I've ever seen... wow that band stinks". So I get up on stage as we are about to play and start taking off my clothes. Not in a sexy way. Kinda like the way an out of shape depressed middle aged man would... Then I start talking to the audience about how depressed I am. How my life was a failure. How I had no real family and this band was just a way for me to try and get some attention. Try to get someone to love me.... I was really trying to weird these people out. Then a voice rang out from the audience "I'll love you!" So I walked into the crowd and started kissing him. He came up to me after we got done and introduced himself as Dave Brockie (Orderus Urungus) lead singer for the band Gwar. He was like "our bands should tour together sometime! I think it would be fun."
What's the most interesting experience you have ever had that involved a cop?
The most interesting experience I've had with a cop was when In Defence was playing a house show in Kansas City. The police came to shut it down. Then somebody gave them a copy of our record and told them we had a song called "The Police Are Fucking Rad!" and they were like "we'll I guess we can let you guys play". So they left and show was raging!
If music didn't exist, what would you be doing?
Sitting on the couch watching the TV show "Its Always Sunny" over and over and over again.
I wanna live to be 100. Got any advice for me?
I have no clue. I just turned 40 this year but I still feel like a kid inside and I do stupid shit a teenager would do just cuz it's fun. My mom died when I was 13 years old. I learned at a young age you never know how long you got so you gotta make what you got count! Apparently I just do stupid shit.
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