If you have already read my review of MARATHON’s S/T full-length, then this band needs very little introduction. But just to review – MARATHON plays the kind of fast, melodic, and intelligent punk rock that I grew up on, and that still holds a very dear place in my life. MARATHON is fuel for the heart and the brain. I knew that sending off a batch of questions to the group’s vocalist, Aaron Scott would result in an interview with meaningful content and I wasn’t let down. Please pick their new album, and see them live should the opportunity arise! This interview was conducted by email in late June of 2005.

Pastepunk: Ok, let’s get right to the point – I can count the amount of relatively new bands playing intelligent, mostly fast mid-90s Epi/Fat influenced punk rock on two hands… how did Marathon’s sound come to “click,” and does it feel like you’re sort of on your own musical island by today’s “popular” standards?

Aaron: We had a major line-up change a year and a half ago, when Emmett joined the band to play drums. Brian moved from drums to guitar, and Brian and Nate started writing the bulk of the guitar parts, which made for a slightly less hardcore sound. In addition, Emmett and I share almost exactly the same tastes in music (we were raised on exactly what you described…fast mid-90′s west coast punk), and though the rest of the band diverges somewhat from that, the five of us all love Propagandhi, NOFX, Bad Religion, and Green Day. So I think it’s no coincidence that that comes through in our music. We write the kind of music that we’d want to listen to. I definitely feel isolated in this style…when I think about bands we could complement well on tour, there aren’t many. As a result, we end up playing with bands that are either much heavier or much lighter than us. It seems like popular music has been polarized between those two extremes, and then of course there’s the bipolar bands that try to switch between the two extremes, depending on whether it’s the verse or the chorus. We like heavy music and we like melody, so we’re combining the two, and trying to communicate some passion in the process. It’s a subtle task these days to appear passionate without screaming, but I think we pull it off.

Pastepunk: More than just stringing together a handful of politically charged lyrics, Marathon ventures into social issues that bands rarely ever approach, i.e. the predisposition to look for a mate with similar religious/class upbringings (“Matchmaker, Matchmaker”) and to yank a phrase from a new song, squaring away “emotional debt” through musical release (“Where We Hide”). Where does the fire come from that causes these kinds of lyrics to be written? Is much of this album autobiographical?

Aaron: It’s 100% autobiographical… specifically, my autobiography, though most of it also applies to my bandmates, and a lot of it is an ethnographic observation of the cultural trends I take part in. I think it’s inaccurate to say that bands rarely venture into these social issues… I think plenty of bands talk about relationships, finding meaning in our lives, etc. The thing we do differently is we approach these issues with more depth. I think most bands take a very one-dimensional look at, for example, relationships. The usual song goes something like this: “You hurt me, and now I’m sad/mad/pissed.” Yeah, that’s happened to nearly everyone, and I have plenty of records already that celebrate that very message, so I think we can depart from the simplicity and explore the complexities of these feelings. I’m not singing about how hard it is to find someone who’s a good match; I’m singing about how hard it is to approach love and romance without automatically seeking someone similar to ourselves in status, be it class, race, religion, age, etc. It comes from my frustrations in dating, which are more varied than just being sad when I get dumped. I’ve had some relationships where my partner’s parents had vocal dislike for the relationship because of religious differences. Likewise, my sister was in a long-term interracial relationship, and people I knew would often comment on “how hard that must be.” We’re taught so many rules about love and romance, and then we internalize them, so we self-censor ourselves, and we put pressure on others to follow suit. That’s just one example of how we try to address a social issue in both an autobiographical and universal context. When our lives are so rich with this depth of internal conflict, why wouldn’t we write about it? Life’s too interesting for the soundtrack to be watered down.

Pastepunk: A lot of our readers might not know that you were previously the singer for a band called DE LA HOYA, who put a pretty rippin’ album on Red Leader a bunch of years back. What did you do in the time between that band imploded, and before Marathon got off the ground? In my own humble opinion, DE LA HOYA seemed to be a band could have carried the torch that KID DYNAMITE was holding before they let it slip away… what happened?

Aaron: De La Hoya was having line-up problems since the summer of 2000, and despite the release of our record, we really couldn’t solidify a line-up that stayed together. So in November of 2001, Oscar told me he was going to stop doing De La Hoya (which left only me as the only member of the band). With no band keeping me rooted in one place, I quit my job, moved out of NYC, and found a good home in Ithaca. During the next four months, De La Hoya wrote, recorded, and released our final EP, “Wipe The Slate Clean.” It’s one of my proudest achievements, because we did it without any help or favors from anyone else, and it turned out sounding great. We released it at our last three shows, to a great response. Those new songs could have really taken us somewhere, but Oscar and I were diverging in our musical tastes, and I think it was the right time. At that point, I took it easy, enjoying relief from the pressures of being in a band. I started to organize the Ithaca punk scene a bit, trying to improve the shows there, and I worked at a vegetarian restaurant. It was only two or three months later that Standfast (Brian, Licky, and Nate’s old band) played their last show. That was the day that Brian asked me to start a band, and though it took months to get off the ground, that’s when Marathon started.

Pastepunk: In a recent interview I did with your label’s honcho, Mr. Ross Siegel (Reignition Records), he wrote that he “pulled out all of the stops,” in trying to sign you guys. It’s my hunch that Ross was not talking about strippers and blow – so tell us, what were these “stops” that Ross so championed, and are they likely to work on other bands?

Aaron: Ross didn’t do anything too outrageous, he was just very persistent, which is one of his most prominent traits as a businessman. Other labels were playing it cool with us, expressing interest but very vaguely. We didn’t want to play the label game… we wanted to go with someone who knew what they wanted. Ross made it very clear from the beginning that he’d love to do a record with us, and when we listened, he offered us a generous deal with a lot of flexibility, so we agreed to work with him. I can’t imagine why a small band wouldn’t want to work with Ross… he’s passionate about his releases, he has great distribution through Suburban Home, he’s well-connected from his days running Law Of Inertia magazine, and he’s willing to put money into promotion. So yes, I imagine that would be tempting to other bands.

Pastepunk: As I’m writing this, you guys are on tour, supporting the new album with NEW MEXICAN DISASTER SQUAD, a band playing the endangered species of music known as melodic hardcore punk. What are some things you’ve learned about them while on tour that our readers should know? Did you have any trouble crossing into Canada – that seems to have become difficult for bands again lately…

Aaron: Similarly to Marathon, NMDS loves and plays a style that isn’t that widespread anymore. I think what’s great about them is that they’re giving us great-sounding recordings of a style that was popularized back when the studios weren’t producing good-sounding records. And they sound great live, every night. I don’t know if I can divulge anything surprising about them, but they’re just straight-up awesome people. As for Canada, it was one of the easiest times we ever crossed over. New Mexican’s booking agent, who is Canadian, recommended that we pay for a working permit, which we had never done before. It was very smooth, but obviously cost a bit more than cooking up a story. We’ve never been denied access to Canada, but I think it’s because their main concern is making sure that we spend more money in Canada than we make, and they can tell we’re not going to make that much. I do want to share this: we met a Canadian band this week who has been denied access to the United States (as a band and as individuals) for the next five years. Their crime was lying about their cargo—they claimed that they had no merch, but they had some shirts with them. The rationale of their punishment was that the US is in a time of war, and “maybe people in Canada don’t realize that.” I think the reason Canadians don’t realize it is because whatever war the border official was referring to (Iraq, Afghanistan, or the broader “War on Terrorism”) is obviously total horseshit. Afghanistan was about scapegoating, Iraq is about oil, and the War on Terrorism is about instilling as much abstract fear as possible on the populace to reinforce political power. It’s infuriating to visit our next-door neighbors and find that the US is denying them the simple right of traveling this globe freely, which should not be a right granted by governments, but simply a right of existence. I know that my embarrassment when traveling internationally is paltry compared to the hell that the people of Iraq are enduring, but it reminded me of how helpless I feel at times to stop Bush’s arrogance.

Pastepunk: Reignition has been heavily promoting the fact that your album is available for purchase on iTunes, MSN.com, among others. As this is a new frontier from most bands, what kind of expectations do you have, if any, regarding digital downloads? Is it frustrating to spend time and effort putting together the artwork for an album and know that a lot of people will buy the songs, but likely never view the lyric insert?

Aaron: We don’t have any expectations for the digital side of things. I’ve never bought a song online, and I don’t know many people who do. That said, it’s clear that the future of the industry is shifting. The popularity of the iPod is totally redefining our ability to share music independently of the music industry. I’m still curious (especially having started a record label recently) how the industry will get people to buy digital files that are so easily shared for free. I think a lot of people have stopped buying CD’s already, and the only way to keep people buying CD’s and records is to put out great artwork. Richard from New Mexican Disaster Squad designed the artwork for their most recent record, and tons of people on this tour commented on how great it looked, so I know that album artwork isn’t obsolete yet. We asked a woman named Soma to do our artwork because we loved what we saw online of her work (www.somavenus.com), and we wanted our art to be something worth buying the record for.

Pastepunk: Marathon co-released its album on its own imprint Art Injection Records (both Reignition and Art Injection are distributed by Suburban Home), and the first signing to the label is a group called FIRE WHEN READY. Who in particular in the band holds domain over Art Injection? Is it the entire group? How did FIRE WHEN READY come into the fold? What else can we expect in the near future with Art Injection?

Aaron: This might get confusing, so stay with me. Emmett, Licky, and I had been talking about starting a record label for a long time. Several months ago, our frequent touring mates and great friends in Fire When Ready had a fully recorded full length, but their label suddenly backed out on them. They were label-less, and we jumped at the chance to start the label with such a great record as the first release. We gave them an offer, they accepted, and Art Injection was born. Around this time, Marathon was working out the final details with Reignition, and Ross offered to exclusively distribute Art Injection through Reignition, and therefore, through his distributor, Suburban Home. This was a huge jump for us, getting such solid distribution right from the beginning of our new label. Part of this agreement is that the Art Injection logo is on the Marathon record, though Art Injection has nothing to do with the actual release of the Marathon record. We have no specific plans for a second Art Injection release… this Fire When Ready album is sort of the test run, where we learn from our mistakes and see how we can do things better. I can tell you that we’re going to keep putting out records that we believe in and that we love. This record cost a lot of money and was a big gamble, but we know that Fire When Ready is a great band and people will realize that once the record is out there.

Pastepunk: Please name five “must hear” releases (old or new, and non-Marathon) from upstate New York area bands that all Pastepunk readers should consider checking out…

Aaron: There’s a handful of solid bands from our area of upstate right now, so I’ll give you a list of awesome releases that came out in the last year or so. In no particularly order: 1. Fire When Ready (from Binghamton, NY) “And The Skies Stared Down With Angry Clouds!!!” Art Injection Records. 2. Another Breath (from Fulton, NY) “Not Now, Not Ever,” Rivalry Records. 3. Achilles (from Rochester, NY) “The Dark Horse,” Hex Records (this band includes Marathon’s first guitar-player, Rob) 4. Long Since Forgotten (from Syracuse, NY) “Standing Room Only,” Rocketstar Recordings. 5. Engineer (from Syracuse, NY) split CD w/ Achilles, Hex Records.

Pastepunk: You guys are playing Hellfest this year, and recently, a huge chunk of the line-up was announced, including reunion shows by YOUTH OF TODAY, 108, GOOD CLEAN FUN, MEAN SEASON, and BOLD. If you could only check out only one of those bands, which one would it be? Why? What are your thoughts on old hardcore bands doing the reunion thing? Do you care whether the shows benefit their pockets or benefit a charity? Isn’t it slightly strange that you can now watch a CB’s Sunday matinee via webcam? Feel free to give both “jaded” and “not yet jaded” responses…

Aaron: I’m going to try to see Youth of Today. They get a lot of respect but I never got into them, so I’d like to see how those songs sound live. And Cappo always put on a good show in Shelter, so I’m sure it won’t be boring. I don’t have an opinion of the reunion thing, and as for the charity vs. personal profit, I try not to give anyone shit for the way they make money (unless you’re a member of Bush’s cabinet). Obviously using your band’s fame to raise money for a charity is honorable, but Marathon has pretty much stopped playing benefits because we simply can’t afford it, so I’m not going to judge anyone else’s financial choices. As for CB’s, I became disenchanted with CBGB’s about seven years ago when De La Hoya played there and they put us on a showcase. The way it works is about eight bands play a night, and the cover charge is simply a two-drink minimum. So a country band played before a rock band and after an electronica band, and all the club cared about was getting those drink sales. I don’t know much about the current state of the Sunday matinees, but I learned awhile ago that CB’s, like nearly every other club in NYC (and in the US), is concerned about the alcohol sales first, the music second. Oh, and anyone who sits at home and watches a webcast of a show instead of being at the show… that’s just bizarre. I can’t think of a better example of people letting technology mediate their reality.

Pastepunk: (This question was contributed by a friend) In 1994 when Green Day broke, the punk world was up in arms about “selling out” and “corporate rock.” Nowadays, it seems like every rock band on the radio is either a) from the punk world and subsequently moved past it to mainstream success; or, b) co-opted punk aesthetics and skipped the DIY stage altogether. Yet, the punk world could care less. As a matter of fact, it seems to encourage mainstream success rather than embracing underground rock and roll that is new, different, and adventurous. How do you feel about this? Does it all come down to dollars and cents?

Aaron: Every artistic movement stays pure for a very short amount of time. Then it evolves, gets bastardized, commodified, mainstreamed, watered-down, and commercialized. And usually some artists in that movement continue to make worthwhile art, despite how marketable the artform has become. That’s just the way things work. I’ve stopped worrying about who’s punk, who’s not, whether punk is being exploited, etc. We play the music we want to play. If a shitload of people like it, then we’ll make money, and that’s fine with us. And if only a handful of people like it, then that’s cool, too. We do this because we love this music. I have a hunch that plenty of bands play their music for other reasons, but that’s their problem, not ours. There are still a handful of bands whose passion shines through the marketing, and those are the bands we respect.

Pastepunk: To end this on a DIY note… what’s been your favorite “Get In The Van” moment since Marathon has gotten off the ground? You somewhat allude to life on the road among the new songs, especially on “Home is Where The Van Is,” – detail an experience that fairly represents why you keep racking up the miles on the open road…

Aaron: I’m not sure if I can call this my “favorite,” but the obvious choice is last summer, when I moved out of my apartment, put my things in storage, and went on tour. Even though our tour only lasted a few weeks, I didn’t move into a new apartment for 7 months… this is what “Home Is Where The Van Is” alludes to. We were on tour and recording some of that time, but other times, I was literally living in the van. I technically had the resources to get an apartment again, but I really enjoyed the challenges of living in such a small space. I don’t want to pat myself on the back for being homeless, since I still had many of the conveniences that a lot of homeless people do not have (steady work, places to stay if it was too cold, transportation). It was, however, fairly difficult at times. I don’t mean difficult like I would get drunk and couldn’t remember where I parked my bed (although this did happen quite a bit). I mean difficult like I never had a place to feel like I wasn’t intruding, like I didn’t have to ask permission to be there. I remember one time, in the week leading up to our recording, I needed a place to finish the lyrics to the record. I ended up sleeping in an acquaintance’s former apartment in Rochester, a one-bedroom space with no furnishings except one lamp, a chair, and a desk. No wall-hangings, no belongings, nothing. I think living in the van and the situations that arose from it contributed to some of the pessimism and loneliness that lies just beneath the surface of some of the album’s lyrics, but also to the hopefulness at the end of the album. I knew I could relieve myself of the situation at any time, and I think that’s frequently true for me (and probably for most people) whenever I’m in what I consider a shitty situation—I usually have the power to improve things for myself if I just look at it the right way.

Pastepunk: Thanks for doing the interview! Any final comments? Questions you feel like asking and answering? Predictions on when we can expect the next Big Bang?

Aaron: Nope.