Colorado Springs' Oi! band 99 Bottles are in the middle of rounding up their first full-length record. I have heard an unmixed and unmastered version of the upcoming album and it already sounds great as it is! Stoked to hear the final version, but first an interview with drummer Sebastian!

 

Okay Sebastian, first of all thanks a lot for doing this interview! How are things going?

 

Mano, we appreciate you taking some time to talk to us. Things are going really well, 2014 was a slow year for us but, we are making up for that by hitting it hard this year.

 

First things first, could you introduce yourself, the rest of the band and give a brief history on 99 Bottles?

 

Well, I’m Sebastian, the drummer and guy-who-takes-care-of everything for 99 Bottles. I’ve been with the band since we started back in 2008. Our current lineup we are working with consists of Mario (singer), Zeb (lead guitar), Steve (rhythm guitar) and Damon (bass). 

 

99 Bottles was started by Mario in 2008 when he moved here after getting out of the Navy. When he became involved in the scene here he wanted to put together an oi band to play alongside the rest of the punk bands that many of us played in at the time. Over the past seven or so years we have gone through a lot of lineup changes, some good, some bad. One of the big turning points for us was when our original guitar player Alex quit the band and Zeb took up lead guitar.

 

Is this the first band you guys are playing in or is there previous experience in other bands?

 

With the exception of Mario, we have all played in other bands. You’ll probably laugh when you here the names of many of them. Zeb and I played in a streetpunk band called the Gutterrunts, Steve and I played in a punk band called Stab Crew, Damon was part of a ska/punk band named Murder Hat and Zeb, Damon and I played in Justice Blocc up until this past November.

 

So far you guys released two split EP’s, with Piss And Vinegar in 2011 and with Total Annihilation in 2014, can you tell how these 7 inches got together?

 

The 7” with Piss and Vinegar was our first release. At that time the only two active Oi bands in Colorado were P&V and 99. They were the ones who took control of that whole process (thanks Brandon!) and with some money from us and what they had saved it was released DIY style by both bands. 

 

Our second split with TA was released about a year and half ago. Growing up in the Colorado scene we’d all come to know and love Total Annihilation. They played tough as nails Oi! and when they broke up it was a huge loss. After I bugged and urged Jimi for nearly a year to get TA back together they reformed, dusted off some old unreleased recordings and gave them to us to put on the split. I approached Todd and Brett at Rebel Sound and asked them about releasing the record, they agreed. The guys at Rebel Sound were to work with and they are releasing one more 4-way split 7” of ours that will include tracks from the Potato Pirates, Court Street and The Bad Engrish.

 

There is a lot of time between you guys forming (2008) and your first and second EP. How come?

 

It’s mainly been financial. We’ve never had the backing money of a record label so everything we’ve done has been on our own dime (recording/touring/merch wise). When 99 Bottles started we were 21-22 years old and let’s be honest you aren’t the best with your money at that age.

 

Since I am only familiar with the Total Annihilation split and your contribution to the “Voi!ce Of America” sampler, I was wondering if these periods of time inbetween had any effect on the band’s sound?

 

The biggest change in sound came when Zeb replaced Alex on guitar. Zeb brought a faster streetpunk style to our sound.

 

But now the ‘three year cycle’ seems to be broken, because you are in the midst of rounding up your first full-length album! Can you give our readers a preview of what they could expect from these new recordings?

 

The new recordings cover a lot of what we’ve written over the past several years. We’ve gone back and re-recorded everything from both of our splits, a few tracks from our Rip Roarin Drunk EP and we’ve also included several other tracks that we’ve never released. The reason we went and re-recorded everything was because we weren’t satisfied with the quality of the old recordings. The old adage “you get what you pay for” really rings true when it comes to recording. These new tracks sound much better, are tighter and are something we are finally satisfied with. Bart at Motaland (he recorded The Bad Engrish, The Potato Pirates, Total Annihilation and many other Colorado bands) really made the recording process go smoothly.

 

You guys came up with a title for the album yet? When do you think it will hit the streets?

 

This is going to be a self-titled album. We threw around the idea of naming it 2008-2014 but that makes it seem like we are done playing and that definitely not the case. Right now we don’t have a date for when it will be released, we head back in to mix and master everything March 15th. We are still looking for a label to help release this and if that doesn’t happen we will just have to save up and release this ourselves.

 

You sent me an unmixed/unmastered copy of the record and it already sounds great! There’s a lot of short, fast-paced songs with a lot of melody on this release, what would you say influenced you guys musically?

 

I think every member has their own personal influences that come out in their individual playing style. When you add all of those influences together you get 99 Bottles. We aren’t a straightforward Oi! band nor are we a streetpunk band. We fall somewhere outside of that. Our top two influences per member are: Me-The Crack, Patriot…Mario-Anti Heroes and Frank Sinatra…Zeb-Perkele, The Virus…Steve-Smut Peddlers and The Dead Kennedys…Damon-Thin Lizzy, DRI

 

Lyrically I don’t really have to ask, besides violence and skinhead subculture a lot of the songs involve the topic of heavy drinking! With lyrics like that and the band name 99 Bottles I obviously have to ask, what is your favorite beer and liquor?

 

For me, it’s cheap beer still (Hamms) and a lot of Gin and Rye Whiskey.  With the exception of Mario, we all drink cheap beer…and rum, Steve and Mario love rum.

 

You guys are from Colorado Springs, not too familiar with the scene or the bands from over there. Besides you I only know Justice Blocc and The Nobodys from when I was a teenager. How is the scene over there? Any recommendations?

 

Colorado Springs has a relatively small scene compared to other cities we’ve visited, it’s steadily growing though. We all grew up on the Nobodys and have had the pleasure of playing with them quite a few times over the years. JJ Nobody owns the only punk rock bar in Colorado Springs (The Triple Nickel) and you can pretty much guarantee you can find Mario there every day after work. Several of us were in Justice Blocc until a few months ago when we split due to issues with the singer. Colorado Springs is very close to Denver though, it's like a second home to us. Besides the obvious bands (The Bad Engrish, Total Annihilation and Potato Pirates) Denver has some great bands. I’d suggest checking out 4-Minute Warning, Straight Outta Luck, Speedwolf, Criminal Mischief, Spatgasm and The Kaotix.

 

Okay man, I am about to round this up! Thanks again for your time! If there’s anything you would like to add or think I have missed, feel free to say so!

 

Thanks for the interview Mano. The only thing I would add is make sure to not miss us at Midwest Live & Loud 2015 in Milwaukee. The guys who are putting that on have worked their asses off to bring some really great bands together and it’s a show to definitely not miss! Oh, and keep an eye out for our music video “Working Drunk” we just finished, we are releasing it when the track gets mixed/mastered.