Janiak To Pull Double Duty In BOB Finals
7-21-02
Interview by Steve Hayes
Devil to Pay & Pub Sigs to play in BoB Finals, Aug 1st @ Vogue
It really is the classic Hollywood story. Boy starts band. Boy builds reputation of band. Band wins 'drunkest band' contest. Boy takes time off from band to go back to school. Boy gets band back together much to delight of townspeople. Boy starts second band on the side. Boy enters bands in big talent contest. Boy stares death down to get both bands in finals of talent contest.
OK, so it's more complicated than 99% of the movies ever made. Nonetheless, Steve Janiak has pulled out a pretty amazing comeback after taking some time off from performing. In the short few months since bringing the Pub Sigs out of seclusion, he's also debuted a second band, the doom stoner-rock combo Devil To Pay, and managed to land both groups in the Battle of the Bands finals. In the meantime he's also spent some time in the hospital fighting blood clots in his lungs, started an independent music magazine, and created about a dozen other side projects. That's not bad for a guy on a steady diet of blood thinners.
As we all wait to see whether the Janiak chronicles will end more like Hoosiers or Rocky, Steve answered some questions via e-mail to give his insight into the battle and his bands' success in it.
IMN: What were your goals/expectations for your bands going into the BOB and have you met them?
Steve Janiak: Our main goal was to get the Pub Sigs back into gigging action. We had one show to prepare for, the X103 BOB, so this Patio thing has really exceeded our expectations entirely. We were glad to play the semi-finals after getting whooped on mercilessly by the Hooligans.
Honestly, because of (Pub Sigs' guitarist) Larry's injury and our time slot, we all thought we couldn't win. Two members of our band actually went home before the night was over. But we left them both a message saying we came in last with only 12 votes for added suspense.
I didn't expect Devil to Pay to be able to pull off our first show ever in the first round, much less make it to the finals. It's a warm feeling, to say the very least, kind of like a rash but not so itchy.
IMN: Did you expect the Pub Sigs to win back public acclaim so quickly, especially considering the long layoff you took from playing shows?
SJ: I would still argue that there was or ever will truly be any public acclaim.
IMN: Why did you choose the BOB to debut Devil To Pay? What was the band doing before that first show?
SJ: I wanted to get the ball rolling. We had lots of unfinished songs when I signed us up and the guys in the band weren't showing up for rehearsal. So I said, "Hey, we have a show in two weeks. You wanna play or not?" Then we called Matt to play bass and 4 straight days of rehearsing and arranging later, we showed up and ruined it for Gogglesphere, unintentionally.
IMN: Are you at all surprised by the response Devil To Pay has gotten via the BOB?
SJ: We were all surprised, pretty much. People just want doom in their lives, if rappy-nu-metal isn't the death of us all. Stoners relate to the riffs, and it's funny how many stoners are out there; not that I would know. Personally I like to stand really still and get pummeled by giant evil riffs from hell, courtesy the Keep, of course.
IMN: What are your overall feelings about the BOB? Has it really helped out the bands and scene?
SJ: It's caused a raised awareness of local bands that only free viagra could provide.
IMN: Do you think the BOB should be an ongoing event or does it need a rest?
SJ: Ongoing, after a well-deserved break, somewhere in the Florida Keys.
IMN: If they have another BOB in the near future, are there any bands you'd like to see get in it that skipped this one?
SJ: Mab Lab, the Keep, the Gates of Slumber, Mandrake, and all the rest of my new projects.
IMN: Do you have any plans for the van or other prizes if you win?
SJ: Actually, someone told me to turn it into the Mystery Machine, but I imagine I might paint the Benchmark Records logo on one side and the IMN logo on the other and tell people I'm Josh Fecher or Matt Baker depending on what side they're seeing.
IMN: Excluding your own bands and based on the way the contest is judged, who would you say is the favorite to win?
SJ: Loretta is a truly gifted bunch of fellows, I think they're just super great, but all the bands are too good for me to pick a favorite. There's just no band you can say "aw they suck" about.