I was able to get with singer Chris Trashcan for a few questions
recently:
T.M. How did you come up with the band name? Are
any band members actual Mexicans?
C.T. i always liked the name ‘The Chinese Millionaires’.
i just thought that was a great name. so i tried to ape it, but
couldn’t come up with anything. one night i was watching Young
Guns 2. you know how in the movie, billy the kid is duping them
(the regulators!!!) into believing he is taking them to mexico to
be free, when actually he is taking them back to fight? well, the
name of the trail they were taking is called the mexican blackbird.
the outlaw trail to mexico. so i heard it, and was like ‘crap,
that’s also the name of one of my favorite ZZ Top songs ever.’
“they call her a puta, but no one really knows her name.....”
and that’s pretty much it. i thought it sounded cool, and
i have a theory that longer band names are remembered more easily,
kinda the way they roll off the tongue. and no, none of us are mexican,
although our guitar player is married to a mexican gal. :)
 T.M.
I should have known the ZZ Top reference. I feel like such a poser
Texan. That album Fandango rules, I had never made it past the live
side to the studio side before. It’s been in our record collection
for quite a while (one of Amy’s contributions). I believe
the Blackbirds are your first band, right? Jill was in the Valentine
Killers. How about the other guys? Did they play in any other bands?
C.T. Yeah, my first band. Jill was in the Valentine
Killers, and also the benedictions (with Tim Maker) and shit loads
of other bands when she lived in Missouri. Bass player Marty was
in the Mystery Action (with Evan Foster from the Boss Martians)
and Plank (surf band). Guitar player Corey was in Safehouse for
a while when he lived down in Arizona, and some other weird bands.
T.M. How did you get interested in punk rock?
C.T. Dtarted out listening to Circle Jerks and
D.R.I. when I was a kid. Also listened to Misfits, Danzig, and Samhain,
although I wasn’t bright enough to know it was the same dude
singing in each band. Didn’t know what I was listening to
was ‘punk rock’ cause South Carolina didn’t have
much to offer in ways of “subculture” or whatever. Picked
up again by ways of the surf rock explosion in the early nineties.
I always loved the Beach Boys, so my brother turned me onto the
Untamed Youth...then I just progressed from there with fanzines
and shit. The “garage rock” era in the early nineties,
picked up an affinity for Austin bands, etc. Heard Gas Huffer’s
“Hotcakes” 7” and the Motards “to scare
hell out of...” 7” and that’s when I knew I wanted
to be in a band someday. Yay.
 T.M.
What have been the Mexican Blackbirds favorite cities to play so
far?
C.T. Fave cities to play are Portland (Oregon),
or and Austin, Texas. Downey, CA was also a total blast. Seattle
can be out of control on occasion.
T.M. I know you guys record yourselves at your
own studio. What are you working with up there?
C.T. Our studio is a TASCAM 38 (half-inch 8 track),
a TASCAM 32 (quarter-inch 2 track mixdown deck), an older TEAC mixing
board, a early 80’s TASCAM mixing board, and a rock o’
stuff (4 channels of tube preamp, compressor, 2 effects units).
Also have a fine selection of mics, headphones, and other assorted
crap. Nice set of fancy boy KRK monitors. It rules. If you ever
get up here, we’ll make a record.
T.M. Do you book other bands in your studio on
a regular basis?
C.T. Not yet, but soon will be doing stuff for
the Royal Pains (ex-Trots and ex-Stuck Ups) and the Pranks (amazing
power pop band...all in the 11th grade...debut full length out this
year on Screaming Apple Records). Maybe the Toby Marsh Experience
if he ever makes it up here.
T.M. So let your fans down here know about all
your releases so we can complete our collections.
C.T. discography:
Ain’t Got The Time 7” – More Booze, Less Ice Records
V/A – Dirtnap Across the Northwest (“Burn it Down”)
Just to Spite You (CD) – Dirtnap Records (includes another
version of burn it down, and a hidden track—cover of “Over
The Edge” by the Wipers)
Just to Spite You (Split LP w/ Pink Swords...includes live track
not on cd) – Rockin’ Bones Records (Italy)
Thanks Chris. The Mexican Blackbirds can be contacted or their records
and cd’s can be purchased at these web addresses:
www.themexicanblackbirds.com
www.dirtnaprecords.com
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