Interview with Roger Chouinard, drummer of

Despite it's NYHC inspired abrasiveness, surprisingly all 4 gents who make up Drained surprisingly hail from a small tigh-knit community in Massachussetts. With a sound that combines the upbeat old school flavor of Agnostic Front, Warzone, Minor Threat, etc. with the hookalicious fury of 90's sensibilities, the band has undoubtedly made a name for itself in it's own hometown, no doubt in part to it's newest offering entitled Suspension of Disbelief. However, it seems that with the enormous abundance of bands assaulting the ears like a squadron of angry hornets, Boston's Drained have yet a long, long way to go. Secondly, considering its rushed approach and poor production quality, obviously the band has set itself back somewhat, something drummer Roger Chouinard adamantly feels needs to be addressed before they can progress further. In fact, during a recent interview by phone, I immediately detected a sense of disillusionment on his part which is understandable. However, as grim as it seems, Roger is far from giving up, especially after all of the hard work and effort he has put into this project and therefore he remains determined to overcome any and all obstacles big and small. Read on and find out for yourself.

Interviewed by Envenomed. All pics courtest of the official Drained web site.

Q: So tell me, what had happened to you that made this day go so sour on you? Anything involving the music industry?

A: Well, we just came back from touring and everything went great. I don't know, it's just life sometimes 'cause it just hits you at the wrong time. It just adds upon everything and makes for a bad day at work (laughs).

Q: Well, I take it that the music industry can be quite disheartening at times, especially for new bands who tend to have all of these expectations right before the first album is released. Then, once it's out there it usually turns out to be not what you expected, I guess.

A: Yeah, I mean with our album and stuff... I am glad it's out but when they (the record company) told me they were going to put it out, that's all I ever wanted. It wasn't like, "Oh, I want it here and I want it there," I mean we are a hardcore band and we're not going to make a million dollars off of this but I don't do it for that reason. I do it as a way of making new friends and seeing different places. So the money just isn't there.

Q: Right, I understand but I take that sometimes all the hard work and effort you put into promoting a record can be a bit overwhelming to say the least, especially if you happen to find the opportunity to tour places like Europe. I mean, over there it's like a big culture shock at times.

A: Oh yeah, I am sure. We haven't gotten over there yet but hopefully someday, someone will actually hear the disc and enjoy it and then we will see what happens. However, we have been getting a lot of mixed reviews. A lot of people really liked it and this band has been through a few changes and it's always changed for the better. So with the next disc, things are going to be really, really intense. I mean, I find myself becoming a fan more of the new music than the old music but I still get excited when I hear it on the radio nonetheless.

Drained on MTV's "The Grind" - April 12, 1998

Q: Of course, the name of your band is Drained so what I have been meaning to ask you is, what does the name signify or rather what is it do you feel that perhaps you're being "drained" of?

A: Everybody always asks me what the name means but we just thought it was a cool name to have. I mean, everyday it really takes a lot out of you. When we play, we kind of push our music not onto people, but just enough to maybe get people listening and maybe get them to ask questions about us rather than just let it pass them by. It sounds silly but it's something that we try to do, which is to drain our music into people's ears.

Q: But do you feel that, despite being such a relatively new band that you've managed to reach out to an overwhelming amount of people who are into this music?

A: Uh.. I hope to think so. This band has been around for 4 years now and has done 3 tours, and will be doing another one soon. We do what we can. This band really doesn't get much help and we get a lot of slack in the Massachussetts area. Let's just say that we don't get enough people into the shows that we do. I mean, we get them into a lot of shows but the only reason why is because I happen to go to a lot of shows and I meet people, I become friends with them more than just business associates. I have friends in Virginia that book us. We talk business for about 5 minutes and we talk wrestling for the rest of night. So that's the type of wavelength I like to think of us being on, more of a friendly atmosphere than anything.

Q: You mentioned the Massachussetts area which at one time or another, had such a healthy vibrant scene going on. However, I understand that as of late it's been dwindling down a bit due to the closing of several nightclubs. How has that affected you guys?

I fucking hate long lines at the bathroom.

A: Well, the Boston scene is weird. If you really took all of the clubs in Boston, you could probably visit them all in like 10 minutes. There's not too much of a heavy scene left in Boston. There's only a few shows every month in the area that we're from. The bigger music scene is actually more towards the Cape Cod area. It sounds corny but the only HC/Metal bands you'd find over there are maybe Leeway and Biohazard but over here the only HC a lot of the kids are seeing are bands like us. So it's kind of good in a way because should we decide to do a big reunion show someday, I know that the kids would definitely come down to see us just as I saw Leeway a little while ago.

Q: The term "hardcore" has always been defined as a certain kind of attitude. With that in mind, what do you feel that legitimately defines you as a hardcore band? Is it the music, first and foremost or is it a certain set of ideals that one needs to uphold?

A: This is another one of them good questions. Let me think now... to me, HC means that things don't come easy. Being in a HC band, you always, always no matter how big you are, still have to grab some things. You have to make an attempt. There are bands out there like Sick of it All who've been around forever and they're still not at where they should be. However, the thing is they're enjoying what they're doing and they do it very, very well. They're one of my favorite bands. Then there's a band like us who, for 4 years, driven to places like Alabama just to play for 20 minutes which took us like 13 hours. And it was one of the best shows we ever done on tour. I think it's more of an ideal mindset. The music, hardcore, metal, thrash, are all pretty much the same thing. I think it's the people in the band that make it all happen. As far as HC attitude is concerned, you have different types. You have the unity types, you know the ones who give up everything just to help one another out, like 25 ta Life for example. That's what me and my friends are all about. However, then you have the tough guy crowd in HC and that's what I think hurts the shows because people don't want to have that there and as soon as they hear hardcore music they automatically assume nothing but fights going on. Then there are the emo-based hardcore bands like Reach the Sky who are really reaching the kids' ears as far as music is concerned. The problem is, there aren't too many HC unity bands anymore because a lot of the kids have turned to the more metal, very riffy type bands and I think hopefully, that's what is going to make us stand out in the end.

No manhole covers were harmed during the creation of this photograph.

Q: Absolutely, and I think a lot of what you have just related to me has a lot to do with what's going on here in New York City, where I am from. Back in '92, the heyday of HC music, you had a lot of bands like Madball, Bulldoze, Crown of Thorns, 25 ta Life, Maximum Penalty, etc. who were all doing their part in keeping the scene alive but then what ruined it, was the lack of inspiration. I mean, now it's become nothing but gangsta rap inspired nonsense.

A: Yeah, it's tough. It really is tough, especially when no one will give you break. And what kills me, and I am sure it kills a lot of other bands, is when bands come out of nowhere that have never ever paid their dues are automatically signed to a label that barely even push them. That hurts too and it has happened a lot here in the Massachussetts scene. The radio station out here promotes these bands through listener-friendly airplay and forces them upon these people's ears until they could just no longer stand it anymore. They make these bands so popular that finally a big label winds up signing them and making them into the next Alice in Chains. I know it hurts us because we have played with these bands before and there was just no comparison. It was horrible. I won't mention any names but believe me (laughs).

Q: Judging from your band's sound, however, it's obvious that the 5 of you are inspired a lot by the NY scene of all scenes. You can hear it in the mosh style breakdowns and overall heaviness. Then again, it seems that a majority of the nation's bands have at one point drawn some sort of inlfuence from the NY scene. Now what is it about the NY sound or rather attitude that has drawn the attention of so many other up and coming bands, including yours?

A: Well, it's the atmosphere I think because no one really knows where supposedly HC really started. I mean, there's west coast, there's east coast... we didn't even know there was a scene down south til we actually went down there and found some really great bands down there. However, I think NY is where it all started. I went to a show there a few years ago. You see, I'm friends with Downset and they put us on the list. So we went there and like Freddie Madball was there, the guys from Dog Eat Dog were there, and so were the guys from Fear Factory. It's kind of like a star struck area. It's just so fast being that it's such a big city and I think the music kind of fits the area more than anything. However, we're all from a small town and we never portray like we're from the city. When people ask us where we're from, we tell 'em were from the southern end of Boston. So people should be proud of where they're from but if I was from the NYHC scene I'd be pretty proud because it takes a lot to get out of that scene. I mean, there are just so many bands up there and a lot of them are good because we played with a lot of them.

"Gotta put your big pants on!"

Q: In that case, how will Drained manage to separate itself from all of that and create an identity all of its own?

A: Well, I know for a fact that we still have a long time ahead of us to actually come close to those type of status bands (i.e Madball). We have to play more, we have to be more out in the crowd, but each band in my eyes is more of an individual. I mean, 25 ta Life you automatically think of Rick (Healey, the vocalist). With Madball, you automatically link them with Agnostic Front. They're all known and they're great guys. With Drained, however, what I want people to think about is that they know all 4 of us. I want people to know that were all from a small town in Boston and that we're very proud of that. If I had to compare us to all of those other bands you mentioned, I couldn't let's put it this way but I'm a fan of those bands nonetheless.

Q: Well, what could you say that perhaps you were striving for overall on this record? In other words, what was your biggest intent in making such a record?

A: Well, when I listen to an album, every song has to have a hook to it. You know, I have friends that are into Death Metal and Doom and stuff like that but the problem I have with that kind of music is that it doesn't have a hook. Going back on the Leeway thing, I know every riff on those Leeway albums because I look for it. My goal when I started Drained was to make every kid in the front row ready to go whenever a riff came up. That's how I am at shows. Like there's only certain bands I will actually jump up onstage and sing along with or get up front and really dance to. Leeway was one of them. Same thing with My Own Victim, a band we played out with in Kentucky, and then there's Biohazard of course. With the Biohazard style or rather the whole NY style, the bands out of that area always had hooks in each song. Take Agnostic Front, for example. If you listen to an Agnostic Front song, you'd know what's coming up at those hooks and that to me, is the most important thing about music.

Q: Is there anything Drained would like to do to make it an even more cohesive unit in the future? Any ideas for the next album perhaps?

A: Well, for one we want to record at a better studio (laughs), because originally we really didn't have that much money. We had a lot of problems with that recording, we had to mix it down a few times and master it a few times. I'm still broke because of it. The new stuff is more upbeat and more aggressive. Our vocalist Bob has gotten a lot more stronger vocally. All I can say is that if you love the first one, you'll love the second one even more. I love it myself. The material is definitely a lot more tighter. We had more time to relax, get to know each other better, and sit down and actually write good songs for a change. This time it required the input of all four of us than just say, two people being the main songwriters. So there's definitely more diversity to the new material. Yet, it's still some of the heaviest stuff we have ever done.

Q: I take it that the newer stuff is perhaps a lot more metal-oriented from the sound of things, however, there has been an awful lot of criticism surrounding the whole crossover movement as of late. For instance, I understand that there are quite a few HC purists out there that would be quick enough to label you as a sellout, should you God forbid, start incorporating the use of guitar solos in your music.

A: Yeah, but I personally think that it's all the same scene. I mean, you can probably ask a group of kids if they like Anthrax and they'll probably go, "Oh yeah!" Then ask these same kids if they like Agnostic Front and they'll probably say the same thing again. It's almost the same music. I just think it all depends on the vocalist definitely. I mean, if you were to take Evan from Biohazard and put him in front of a Metal band, it would definitely sound HC but if you take let's say, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and put him in front of Biohazard then they would definitely be Metal. So I think it's more on the aspect of the frontman and how the crowd reacts to it all. I've met a lot of cool bands. In fact, I've played with almost all the biggies and they all treated us really, really cool. And that's the big thing about HC. Those bands don't forget where they came from. They themselves remember when they used to play all the small little VFW halls and shithole nightclubs. In fact, I was talking with Joey of Life of Agony recently and he was telling me how they once rented a Hertz rent-a-truck and went off the road because heel asleep behind the wheel and woke up in a ditch. I mean, what really makes these bands HC in my eyes is that they can still dwell upon the past and not be like, "Oh no, we used to tour on a bus all the time," and this and that. When I talk to bands, they treat me on the same wavelength. So to me, Metal and HC is almost the same exact thing.

"Whoah, man!! Who the fuck farted??"

Q: I'll agree that musically, the two styles are almost the same to a certain degree but what about the two different ideologies that exist in HC and Metal? I mean, certainly each scene's crowd has its own individual mentality. Thus, could you really see both crowds getting together in the same atmosphere?

A: Well you see, I have all types of friends. I have metalheads, I have pencilpushers, I have a little bit from every different crowd. I think fans of music are just simply fans. You have 12, 13 year old kids that love us. Then I have some friends of mine who are 30 and 40 who actually wear our t-shirts. My biggest thing with Drained is that I want to reach everybody no matter if they're a radio-friendly audience or the HC and Metal kids with nothing but patches and leather jackets, studs, and all that stuff.

Q: Glancing at the lyrics, it appears that one of the biggest unifying themes throughout the whole album is perhaps finding within yourself the strength to carry on no matter what the obstacles are. Now whether or not this is from a negative or positive viewpoint, I'm sure not so sure so I'd like for you to clarify for me what it is that you and/or the other members have been trying overcome personally before or while being in this band.

A: Well, the problem is where we're from, we never get a chance. We're all from a small town and it's tough just to break into the NY scene, or even the Boston scene for that matter. It's very tough to be taken serious. When Maria (head honcho of Martyr Music) took us under her wing and signed us, I told her, "Don't expect us to get a lot of breaks," and the problem is I have four other guys that really believe in the music of Drained so that's why we push, that's why we tour, that's why I'm on the internet sending out e-mails... it's just that a big part of being in Drained is a responsibility. I've put a lot of things in front of myself just to make this happen. I'd rather pay for a t-shirt for a kid to wear than eat because that kid wearing my t-shirt means a lot more to me than having a cheeseburger. That's how Drained is. We will really, really push until everybody knows us.

Q: Since the webzine I'm currently doing this story for happens to cater to fans of both heavy music and porn altogether, appropriately enough there's an actual photograph of you with porn actress Alicia Klass inside the CD booklet. So I take it you're an avid follower of porn as well?

Here we see the bird in its natural habitat...

A: Let me tell you a little story about Alicia. We were at a little local rundown bar in my hometown. She was out here with a band doing promotion. We've all seen here movies and well, we all think she's really good (laughs), I won't take that away from her. However, the really cool thing about her is was that she was talking to me and my guitarist all night and the thing was we weren't going up there saying to her, "Oh yeah, we'd do this or do that to you." She's a person just like anyone else and meanwhile a friend of mine had too much to drink that night. I sat him down and I couldn't find his keys because he had hid them. He decided to leave so we're outside and I see him going towards his car. Right then and there, I told Alicia, "look, I really don't mean to be rude but I have to get going. My friend's gonna drive and I can't let him do this." She wasn't like, "okay, I'll see you guys later." Instead she ran over there, stopped the car and she was like, "hey, these guys really care about you right now. Don't drive!" She could have been just like, "Alright, take it easy. See ya later" and go back inside to hang out with people but she actually took the time to help me stop my friend from driving drunk. So that's why we put her in the CD booklet, because she was real cool.

Q: That's amazing, and I'm glad nothing drastic occurred that evening. However, getting back to the musical element, when Drained performs live, is there anything you happen to notice taking place that perhaps you would've never imagined while in the recording studio?

A: Well, my singer is one of the best frontmen that I've ever worked with. Til this day, I think he's the best out of this whole area and he knows how to grab people. I mean, he could perform in front of bikers, schoolkids, etc. and he knows how to act. He knows his limits and the best thing about him is that he makes the people not really come up front, but get drawn to us. The guitar player and bass player both do the same thing. They just go nuts. I mean, they put a little extra into the songs. Of course, we screw up like anybody else but the thing is, people tend to notice that we always have smiles on our faces when we're performing live and that's the main thing. You have to have fun. Another thing is, you have to include everyone in your show. You're not just up there for their fun, you want to be up there for your own fun.

Q: One final question, with the onslaught of the millenium only a mere few months away, what will you be doing differently to adjust all of the changes? Have you ever been apprehensive about this at one point or another?

A: Well, nothing lasts forever, that's the main thing I have learned. I lost a lot of important things in my life because of this band and I know when this band ends it's going to be an important thing in my life. I don't really see it ending for awhile but the main thing I look for with us in the new year, a better album, more availability definitely because this album we have now definitely needs more distro but the thing is we only published like 4,000 copies. The next disc for us is going to be a new beginning and open up a lot of doors and it's going to make more crowds be into Drained than ever because it's going to be our 4th release and best to date.

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