Nearly four years after forming, Tempe hardcore/trashrock quartet Casket Life has no money, no booking agent, and no record label. But they're still having a blast — touring the country, getting drunk, and writing great songs that end up sounding somewhere between Sick of It All and the Murder City Devils. Guitarist/vocalist Milky recently offered us a little glimpse into the Casket Life.
Kristen Wright
Casket Life: Want to take them home?
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scheduled to perform on Saturday, January 27
The Clubhouse Music Venue in Tempe
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New Times:You guys don't seem to be playing around town as much as you used to.
Milky:Yeah, we played a lot at first and people were diggin' it, and then as soon as we started touring around the country, I think people forgot about us or something, but whatever. They probably think we're too drunk to play anymore. But it's cool, we play like once a month or once every other month, and we're working on a new record now.
NT:So for a struggling, up-and-coming band, what's the bottom line? Why do you do this?
Milky:Basically, we just wanna have fun and meet people. You have so many adventures . . . It's good, too, 'cause sometimes when we're touring, we don't have anywhere to stay, so what we do is we just find a bar and get really drunk and make friends with whoever's there and find someone to take us home.
NT:How often does that work?
Milky:It works almost every time! Like, we were in Corpus Christi and after the show there was nothing to do. We didn't meet anyone there 'cause there were only like five kids at the show, so we were gonna go sleep on the beach. But then we found this bar right across from the beach, so we went in and started drinking and playing pool. Finally, these two girls were like, 'Do you guys have a place to stay?' And we were like, 'Nope, can we stay with you?' And they go 'Yeah! You looked like you didn't have any place to go so we figured we'd come talk to you.' One girl, she lived with her parents, so they let us stay in one of their bedrooms. And I woke up because her sister didn't know we were there and she came in and turned on the light — and by that point on tour we were lookin' pretty crusty and gross — and she had the funniest look on her face and walked right out. But the dad, he thought it was hilarious. He didn't speak much English, but he talked to us. We got some pizzas and watched a movie with him, and then we hit the road.
NT:I get the feeling that some of these scenarios aren't always quite so innocent . . .
Milky:Well, I guess we meet those kinda people and we make some time, but not too often. We're not exactly ladies' men.
NT:So it's not like a Mötley Crüe thing?
Milky:Nah. We either have ladies, or we're just not that cool. Definitely not as cool as Mötley Crüe.
