What inspires you to play music?

Michele: Dreams of stardom and being dirty,

rotten, filthy, stinking rich. Thank you, Warrant, for instilling these values in me!

Tom: The possiblility of clothing endorsements.

Kelly: Being surrounded by talented musicians.

Cindy: The voices in my head...

Chris: Twisted Sister. I was 5 years old when the "We're Not Gonna Take It" single came out and I knew instantly when I heard it that I wanted to be a rockstar. I remember trying to start a band as early as the fourth grade. I think we had three keyboard players, a bass player (who didn't actually know how to play bass - we thought it was a guitar - not that he knew how to play that either), a drummer, and a trumpeteer. We only had one practice - I think I kicked everyone out after that - but my parents thought it was cute and they made us sandwiches. Needless to say, my parents don't think it's very cute anymore. What inspires me to keep going is the feeling I get on stage. I'm a pretty introverted person - I've been somewhat forced out of that by the need to promote - but all in all, I am pretty shy in social settings. But the second I'm on stage, any insecurities I have disappear. It's the only time I ever feel truly alive. And when the crowd sings along or moshes or just cheers real loud, it's more addictive than any drug in the world.

Dan: I love music, always have, always will, it’s a part of me.

Do you guys have a political message?

Dan: Not that I’m aware of.

Kelly: If female angst is considered politics, then yes.

Chris: Our only "political" song deals with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which enabled companies like Clear Channel to buy up multiple stations in the same market. Corporate radio has destroyed the music industry, allowing one program director (usually a lawyer or number cruncher) to institute a single playlist for half the fucking country, which makes it nearly impossible for bands to make it these days. It used to be that if you got your single in the hands of a DJ who liked your stuff, you'd get spun and if people dug it, you'd get signed. But that is no longer the case. Now 3rd party promoters (read: lobbyists hired by major labels) essentially pay radio stations to play songs. It isn't payola - the payments are made in the form of station donations, like concert tickets and other schwag, but I think it's essentially the same thing. It's really just a legal loophole. I wish we could go back to the days of payola, cause I'd gladly shell out a couple hundred bucks for some coke and some hookers for the local DJs, as I have no doubt that we could win people over if we were played during prime hours. But that's not an option anymore. I think the mainstream public would have a much more diversified taste in music if they were at least exposed to different stuff, cause your run-of-the-mill person does not actively seek out new/underground music. They roll with what they hear on the radio because they simply don't know any better. We didn't write the song, however, to convey a political message. It was really just a chance to vent some of our frustrations. And although I'd love to have the song played on DC101 (we're working on it) for the irony factor, I'll be the first one to admit that we'd happily sellout in a second.

Michele: If, by political, you mean we have to read periodicals other than The Onion, I think you’ve got the wrong band. No, not really. I think that bands these days that are considering themselves “political” these days are generally sucky (i.e., Incubus, which is one I’ve heard of lately. I have no idea if they really are political.). Here’s some politics from the Manic Street Preachers: Cool Groozy morning fine Tipper Gore was a friend of mine i love a free country the stars and stripes and apple for mommy There's too much white in the stars and stripes There's not enough black in the union jack compton, harlem a pimp, fucked a preist................etc. etc.

What legacy do you want to leave on the music scene after youre dead?

Kelly: I don’t really care if people remember me a part of the music scene, I just want to have fun while I am doing it.

Chris: I don't really care about our legacy. I'm more concerned with what's going on at the moment. As long as people are into what we're doing now or at least respect it, that's all I can really ask for. And none of us are disillusioned or egomaniacal enough to actually think we'd have some sort of really profound impact on the scene, world, etc. We just want people to have fun at our shows and we really want to do it for a living.

Michele: I would personally like to have my own Barbie Doll. One that would kick ass and chop vegetables in one swift move.

Dan: I want to leave all of my shoes and all of my glasses, so that people can have them.

What can people expect at one of your shows?

Cindy: Lots of action on stage, maybe a few power outages, mullets in the audience, 15 year old trying to get your number...you never know what you might find. I'm kind of stuck behind the keyboards, but the rest of the band is flying all over the place.

Chris: Insanity. Lots of guitar tricks, stage acrobatics, and silly antics - not to mention well delivered songs. I guess the girls are pretty hot too, but no one ever brings that up.

Tom: Bee costumes. (Think Stryper).

Michele: Hopefully, not much. But seriously, think pyro-gel, flaming (literally and figuratively!) tight leather pants, spitting fire and anything fire-related. And hopefully lots of guys staring at us, screaming, “You’re SO HOT!”

Dan: People moshing to symphonic death pop, crazy girl on girl action, some of the hottest dudes you’ll ever see in your life, etc.

Kelly: A lot of energy.

What do you think of the national music scene right now?

Tom: Couldn't be worse.

Michele: Is there one? I can’t stand listening to the radio right now and there are very few national acts I’d pay money to see these days. So I guess that means I must not think much of it.

Chris: "National Music Scene" is awfully vague. If you mean mainstream music, I naturally think it's terrible. But I wouldn't hate it nearly as much if radio stations and MTV would simply diversify. Bands like Limp Bizkit and Staind have the right to be heard, but so do most of the unsigned bands in DC who are far better. I really wish that local radio stations across the board would take a greater interest in their local music scenes. I don't see how this could hurt them. If a radio station built up a couple area bands, they could use those bands at promotional events for $0. But I guess they aren't interested in symbiotic relationships. If you're talking about underground music, I even think a lot of the underground music scene has suffered. Indie is pretty booming at the moment, but try as I might, I can't get into it. I think the punk/hardcore stuff that's been coming out recently is really sub-par, so I've been exploring metal a lot more. There are an increasing number in kick ass chick rock bands, however, which I think is cool.

Dan: I don’t go to many out of state shows so it’s hard to tell.

Kelly: I don’t really concern myself with it.

What do you like best about being in a rock band?

Chris: The blowjobs. Which reminds me . . . Dan, watch the teeth bro!

Michele: Doing coke off the asses of whores. Just kidding. Seriously—I’d have to say meeting people. I’ve met some great friends as a result of being in this band, and I’m not just talking about my bandmates.

Dan: The fun I have with my band mates, all the nice people I meet, etc.

Cindy: Those random people in the audience who scream, "You better not SUCK!" right before we play. That always makes me happy. But then they shut up after hearing us, so i can only assume we did alright. We aim to please.

Kelly: My band mates.

Tom: The Benjamins!

Whats the most fun show/tour/recording session you’ve ever had?

Michele: I think the most fun was putting Kelly, Cindy and I into a little room together with a mic and headphones. We all of a sudden turned very girly and giggly…it was one of those things where you’d have to be there, though. Right, ladies?

Kelly: All of our shows are fun so it would be too hard to pick one, but I have to agree with Michele that the three girls in the booth was hilarious, followed closely by all six of us crammed in the booth shouting.

Cindy: We have had a lot of fun but my favorite tour (and only tour, but hey, it was really fun) was when we played 3 shows in 24 hours, in 3 different states. It was insane but the next day we went out to a nice brunch and I got drunk on champagne at noon so it was worth it.

Tom: The 3 shows in 3 states in 24 hour thing. That was pretty ridiculous.

Chris: Even when times were bad, all of my experiences in bands, be they in this one or the ones before, will always be the most fun I've ever had in my life. FMHg has had many (mis)adventures, but a couple moments that stick out are (and naturally, only the band and a select few will understand what I’m talking about – sorry, guess you had to be there): 1. 3 shows in 3 states in under 24 hours. 2. The Velvet Lounge amp incident. 3. “Fuck you bird!” 4. Dan struggling to get the keyboard stand in Tom’s truck and the “good game” that followed. 5. Dan and his bling on the NC/SC tour. 6. The roar of the crowd at the Lion’s Den. 7. Opening for Dokken/LA Guns and having tons of people ask for our autographs. 8. Are we okay? If you want details on any of the above referenced incidents, sign up for our messageboard at http://www.fullminute.com/forum and ask us.

Do you have any big projects coming up?

Tom: My production company is working on Full Minute's first music video for "Left for Dead." Should be finished with it within the next month or so.

Dan: We’re taking some time off to hopefully write and record a full length; we’ll see how that goes.

What do you hate most about sound guys?

Chris: 9/10 of them don't know what the fuck to do with us, which seems to indicate to me that while they may know a lot about sound, they know nothing about music.

Dan: Most are cool with me, I’ve had some bad experiences with a few here and there. The ones that I hate are usually cocky, and immature.

Cindy: Oh, I know that we all have one sound guy in particular that we hate, and that's our little secret... I hate it when the sound guy treats you like you are animals and don't know anything about your instrument. I mean, even if I don't know anything about the keyboards, so what? You don't have to tell me.

Kurt Cobain, genius or hack?

Kelly: By all means give the man credit, but there wouldn’t have been a Nirvana without Chris Novacelic and Dave Grohl.

Cindy: A little bit of both.

Michele: Hard to say. I’m gonna go with “genius”. But then again, I haven’t listened to any Nirvana since 1991 or so.

Chris: I'll always despise Kurt Cobain for almost single-handedly destroying the hair metal genre and ushering in a new era of "woah is me - daddy didn't pay attention" marble mouth rock. But I guess in order to do that, he had to have been a genius.

Dan: He was good in my opinion.

Tom: Never was a big fan.

Who are some of your favorite unheard of bands?

Cindy: I don't know, i haven't heard of them yet...

Michele: Is this a trick question? If I answer this, they will be heard of.

Dan: At least one person has heard of all of the bands that I know about, so I don’t know any “unheard of” bands.

Tom: I don't know about unheard of, but here are a few of my favorites. Minus the Bear, Cursive, Pilot to Gunner, Blah, blah, blah...

Chris: Check out our links section at http://www.fullminute.com. They're not only good bands, they're good people too.

How much experimenting are you willing to do----will we ever hear rap or country on one of your albums?

Chris: I've always thought that we were the kind of band who could take any genre and make it our own and we try to do that in our song-writing. On top of that, our song-structures and genre shifts are very experimental. We try to make them seemless, however, which is why only a few reviewers have actually picked up on it and said something about it. If we wanted to, we could play ska, or rap, or country. But I don't see that happening, cause none of us like that shit. But stranger things have happened. We've already started exploring electronica and techno a bit.

Dan: Rap, Country??? Absolutely not. I would like to experiment with some more techno perhaps. I like the electronic sounds.

Cindy: Oh that would be really funny. You never know with us, it's hard to describe our sound as it is, so we might as well throw some rap/country into the mix.

Kelly: I wouldn’t put it past us…our line up changes so often it is only a matter of time before our sound does too.

Sammy Haggar or David Lee Roth?

Kelly: Oh come on…David Lee Roth

Tom: Hagar. Michele: David Lee Roth. Hands down.

Chris: Apparently this is blasphemy, but I like the Sammy Hagar era songs better - therefore, Sammy Hagar. DLR had way much more presence and was a better frontman, but in my opinion, Sammy had a better voice.

What is your impression of the DC scene?

Dan: What scene?

Michele: It’s kind of splintered, to reuse a word I used in another interview. It’s hard to pinpoint any one “scene” because it’s so all over the place. Physically and philosophically.

Cindy: I think it mostly exists within the small group of musicians in the area. You mention a local band to anyone not in a band, and chances are they probably haven't heard of them. Very sad, but true.

Kelly: Pretty diverse and accepting…there is something out there for everybody.

Tom: A lot of potential. I think there are a few bands who are really going to explode soon.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in the industry?

Dan: Go to college.

Kelly: If you can't have fun doing it, don't do it.

Cindy: Do what makes you happy.

Michele: If you suck, get a really good gimmick. Play a lot of shows. Get your name out there, promote yourself, promote other local bands. Make friends with everyone. You may be surprised at who will be most supportive in times of need…

Tom: Don't quit your day job.

Do you feel Rock music is an appropriate vehicle for promoting social change?

Kelly: History would suggest yes.

Chris: I don't know. It technically should be, but I think a lot of the political bands out there are full of shit, know nothing about politics, and use the whole "political" scheme to sell records to impressionable kids who think they're being cool by being some checked out straight-edge, vegan, anarcho-leftist SHARP. Most of these kids don't even know what a fucking W-2 form is, yet they're polishing up their octave chords and whining about the government. This is ludicrous to me. That being said, Propagandhi lyrics did play a major role in my acceptance of homosexuals. But I think Propagandhi are one of the only exceptions. When I promoted a show for and played with Anti-Flag in 1999 (before they blew up), as much as they may have raised a strong fist against capitalism, they asked if I would pay them money out of Digger's guarantee, even though I had met theirs. If that isn't capitalism, I don't know what is. Personally, I think Anti-Flag is one of the most brilliant marketing moves ever made by a band. I don't think they believe one word of what they're saying. I could be wrong and I did think they were very nice people. I'm just sayin . . . that was my impression. It's kinda like Black Metal bands who sing about Satan and then a week later, you catch Golgath, aka Aloitious T. MacNamara, in his Sunday best, praying in tongues and taking Communion at the local church. Michele: I don’t think I can answer this completely seriously, but I’ll try. I don’t think music can be the sole vehicle for change…it can be a way of getting word out, of spreading a message, or of mobilizing the “troops”, so to speak. I think that music can play a role in promoting social change, but…yeah. Did I finish answering that yet?

Whats the biggest mistake up and coming bands make when they first start out?

Kelly: If I were in a position to give advice like that I probably wouldn’t be filling out this survey.

Michele: Sucking really hard and not breaking the band up immediately.

Dan: Play too many shows in the same area.

Whats one thing you would change about the music industry if you could?

Chris: Besides what I made reference to in question 2, I would break the glass ceiling when it came to female rockers. I’m not talking about pop princesses, country starlets, or R&B divas – I’m talking about chick rockers. It is very difficult to get the attention of folks that “matter” in the industry and very difficult to be taken 100% seriously when you are a rock band with girls in them. Case in Point. DC101 Local Lix/Chili-Cookoff. While I appreciate Roche and DC101’s efforts to support local music, many of the District’s female fronted/female featured bands are largely ignored. I know for a fact that they won’t even touch the single of one of the bands we’re friends with. In the history of the show, to my knowledge, only one female artist has made an appearance and instead of being interviewed on the merits of her songwriting like everyone else, all she was repeatedly asked about was “how does it feel being a girl in rock n’ roll?” – which from her own mouth, was fucking insulting. One is lucky if you hear more than one token female featured band on Local Lix every given week (often times us). I don’t mean to bite the hand that feeds and I feel fortunate to have been played as much as we have, but that is bullshit. And when the DC101 “Last Band Standing” contest was announced, not a single female featured band was picked as a finalist, despite Roche’s assertion that his “crack team” of producers listened day and night to pick a “diverse variety” of bands representing “all aspects of the local scene.” Again, bullshit! If that were the case, that would mean there were NO female featured bands in the area, and as you and I both know, there are actually more in this market than in most. Where was Viki Nova? Where was Waking State? Where was Juniper Lane? Where was Exit Clov? Where were a number of other female featured local bands who are straight up making more noise than most of the bands picked, outdrawing most of the bands picked, playing more prestigious venues than the bands picked, getting better press than many of the bands picked, etc? I’ll stop there for fear of being dubbed a sore loser, which I’m not, cause the simple fact remains, we submitted to the contest knowing full well in advance that they wouldn’t pick any female featured bands. And that’s fucked up. That’s what’s gotta change. And it looks like we’re going to have to do it the old fashioned way.

Michele: I’d change it back to the way it was in the 80s, when just about any band could get signed. We might’ve made it onto the Transformers the Movie soundtrack back then!!!

Dan: The shitty music that gets big.

Kelly: I would make Full Minute of Mercury the biggest band in the world!