Up all night

Interview By Cardboard Boxer

Photographs By Rick Perez

Los Angeles punk band Strawberry Fuzz opens up to San Diego punk band Cardboard Boxer in a comical band-on-band interview. Strawberry Fuzz talks about growing an organic fan base, forgetting lyrics, and the story behind their latest album, “Strongs Dr.”.

Los Angeles, USA

Strawberry Fuzz: So are we supposed to come prepared with questions?

Cardboard Boxer: I think we are questioning you haha

SF: Oh thank god, I thought we were supposed to be doing something ahah

CB: Ya ahha. What’s the story behind Strawberry Fuzz? How did you come together?

SF: We got our name from an amp called Strawberry Blonde, it was this old vintage fuzzy amp. We were trying to figure out names and I said, “Strawberry Fuzz, man, it’s this old amp! It sounded so sick.” And I went back to my buddy’s house and remembered, ‘Fuck, it was called Strawberry Blonde!” And by then it was too late.

CB: Strawberry Fuzz is a sick name.

SF: It sounds way more intense than you would imagine. Strawberry Blonde sounds a little too sexual.

CB: I like it though.

SF: How we met was I (Colby) met Andy as a full time producer and he produced a song in my old band. We realized that we lived a block away from each other and I started to go over every Friday and just get hammered.

SF: Every Friday would turn into every Wednesday and every Wednesday turn into every Tuesday and ever Tuesday would turn into every Sunday.

And the Fuzz took its core and it was pretty instantaneous. Then we met all these other homies: Andy has been a good friend of Alex’s for forever, Dash and Chris through house parties in Venice.

But what the fuck do you guys do? Can we hear your band’s story?

CB: Oh no, they’re turning on us. We’re interviewing YOU!

The story goes is we were stoned in our parents living room when we were in high school. We just finished this metal band and wanted to get another band together and were thinking of names.

There was a box in the living room and Evan said, “Cardboard Box” and we giggled, stoned, and Shea said, “Box-ERRR”. It was the best play on words we could come up with at the time and every other name sucked so we decided to go with Cardboard Boxer. The best of a bad situation of disdain.

We try to get over the band name as fast as possible because it’s such a nightmare. It’s so arbitrary. Like it’s the most important thing but also has no effect.

SF: Do you know who the worst band name ever in my opinion is?

CB: The Foo Fighters!

SF: The Beatles. The name doesn’t matter. Music is what really matters.

Colby’s high school name was Iron Hymen. From Iron Hymen into Strawberry Fuzz. Physically.

CB: That sounds very sexual. It’s better than from the Iron Hymen into the Strawberry Blonde.

SF: (Alex) Strawberry is the Iron Hymen.

(Andy) How do we eject Alex from the conversation?

CB: I have an 007 red button right here.

SF: Okay, next question!

CB: How has the growth been? What have been some exciting things and things that have been a struggle?

SF: We put ourselves in a very comfortable box in Fuzz Tapes Volume 1 and made that record really fast. There was no concept of making anything, it was just fun making those demos and fucking around. All of those lyrics were freestyle, we never wrote them, we would just loop it and get on the mic until something sounded cool. So all those versus you hear were on one take and then “Frankensteined” together.

We’ve become a lot more self aware and wanted to be better on this next album. We want to take our time.

CB: How’s being a band in the L.A. music scene?

SF: We started playing just around Venice Beach. We have a huge circle of friends and we would play their backyard parties. That evolved into playing the Venice West, which is the only real club on the West Side. Then we started to play in the Downtown and Hollywood area, which is what we want to do more. We are still very much a West Side band.

Since we are a new band, we’re meeting lots of new people and making friends. The Venice scene is locked in but we want to expand and meet other musicians.

CB: What sets you apart from other bands?

SF: Nothing! Ahah.

If you listen to the album, it’s nothing like the live show. Our shows are a lot more punk and mosh pits happen even during the slow songs. It’s the energy of a punk show.

CB: We’re similar in a way. Our live shows are where it’s at, it has its own energy.

You recently released your album, “Strongs Dr.”. What is the album about? What kind of themes does it focus on?

SF: It’s the name of the street our buddy Chris lived on. It was where we would spend late nights and were always at his house. Since all the lyrics on the album were about partying and staying up all night, and Chris’ house was where we would be doing that a lot during the making of the album, we knew that album had to be named “Strongs Dr.”

CB: You guys sold out the Troubadour? Congrats! How was that show?

SF: It was dope, such a fucking legendary venue. We knew it was going to be a good show but weren’t sure if it was going to sell out or anything. It was cool to see our West Side homies and Downtown homies come together and see a whole bunch of new people in the pit and singing the words.

CB: What was the capacity?

SF: 500

CB: Oh that’s wild.

SF: Ya and we only have 2,000 followers on Instagram. It’s interesting how streaming works in relation to getting shows, but people can have 20,000 followers and only have 40 kids come to their shows. We only have 2,000 and the whole neighborhood shows up.

It’s this wonderful organic growth to everything. That show made it clear that it wasn’t just the homies but random people we never met. We don’t buy followers or anything so its all happening very naturally.

When we first started it was the Venice scene that went ape shit at the backyard shows destroying stuff and throwing beers. We then get to the Venice West and it’s still that same energy with even more people. Now at the Troubadour its become a thing to spray your beer everywhere because our friends have been doing that for so long.

CB: Fuck ya that’s punk rock.

SF: Ya, big shout out to the homies for going crazy at every show cause now it’s a thing.

CB: It’s always good playing with the homies but it’s always crazy to see new people in the crowd singing the words and everyone is going hard.

SF: Ya that trips us out the most. I was like handing people the mic and they were singing out and thought to myself, “Wow, this is crazy”.

CB: I love that because its like we wrote that shit and I wonder if they know what we are even talking about. Especially when we are on our stage and I barely know the lyrics.

SF: Ya, you’re telling Colby! Sometimes he has to look at one of our homies mouting the lyrics so he can remember.

CB: What’s next for the band ?

SF: Playing shows in LA, West Side, tour a little. We’re already back in Alex’s studio apartment making more tracks; we have a lot of ideas. Some of the old songs we played but still havent been recorded, so we’re gonna keep on moving. Touring and taking over the world.

CB: Awesome, we’re gonna have to catch up with you guys in real life sometime.

SF: Hell yea, rock on!