MPTY ZINE: Hello, Darin! How did the year start for you?
SD: pretty good! thanks! 2010 was kind of a hard year so its nice to have a fresh start for sure! 2011 should be a great year!
Tell me a few words about you, for the ones that don’t know you.
SD: well i live in mesa arizona, sing in a band called out for revenge on westcoast worldwide records (which is owned by mikey hood of hoods), and i like to cook….hahaha. my favorite bands are probably agnostic front, terror, hoods, north side kings, donnybrook, and madball
How did you come up with the name Spyderdog?
SD: i actually didnt. i have a dog named spyder, and a like 9 years ago i used to work at this car dealership installing alarms and stereos and shit, and the guys that i worked with started calling me that. my dog is super small and girlie and they thought it was funny i guess, and it just kinda stuck!
In an interlude on Gladiator Academy, Boston Eric said, joking or not, that he doesn’t know what good does it make to have another band that sings about the same things: loyalty, friendship, work…what does OFR bring as a novelty?
SD: honestly that whole thing was kind of a joke. eric is a great friend to the band, an awesome dude, and a total character, and we just kinda gave him the mic and turned him loose. our previous record gladiator academy was really different from our new record black market status. at that time we really were reflecting what life was like here in arizona, (food folks and fun…..as much as being broke allows for anyway) and although we are still doing that, the tone around here has changed a lot for the worse. i dont really think we were ever really trying to create a novelty or anything, but at that time thats what life kinda was. we all were kinda keeping sane by goofing off. now, since all the problems have happened with the economy and our crazy state government, i think people are a lot more pissed off then they were a few years ago, and the new record really reflects that. arizona has really turned in to the political and economic wasteland of the united states, and we decided that now wasn’t really an appropriate time to joke around. things have gotten really serious here, and were a lot more serious then we used to be because of it, and the new album reflects that i think.
Congrats for the Black Market Status! It’s an awesome album. How did the listeners take it and also tell me, what are your plans for 2011?
SD: thanks! so far the response has been great! its selling really well, and all the reviews have been super positive! if you wanna check it out you can go to www.westcoastworldwiderecords.com and find out more about it, and hear tracks, get free ring tones and all kinds of other good stuff not only from us but all the other westcoast worldwide bands. were really lucky to be on a label that has so many good bands. honestly, i have basically every cd to ever come out on westcoast worldwide, and they are all good! as for 2011, the idea is to just keep working hard, and tour as much as possible, and above all else, have a good time!
You’ve collaborated with many great people like Rick Ta Life, Mike Hood, Roger Miret or Danny Northside. When will you be making a split CD with Bon Jovi?
SD: hahahaha! as soon as they decide to not suck anymore i guess! yeah, we like the guest spot thing a lot. i think one of the coolest things about hardcore is how accessible it is. i mean people you grow up idolizing become your friends, and whats better then sitting down and doing a track with your friends! plus i really think it always adds that extra dimension to a song too. its something we certainly wont stop doing any time soon
Tell me a couple of words about the Mesa scene (AZ).
SD: well, mesa is located in the same general area as phoenix is, and its hot (hahaha). arizona as a whole actually has an exceptional scene. we got some great venues, and theres a ton of great bands from here. we got north side kings (iscream records), run with the hunted (panic records) , redson, dead life, reasons, bloody roar, spill my blood, and of course our label mates and good buddies in beg for life (westcoast worldwide records). every single one of those bands is worth checking out, and backing. nobody around here really sounds the same which is great too. we have a very diverse scene here. with that however brings a lot of division with in the kids themselves, which is totally wack. it seems like if you like run with the hunted, you arnt allowed to like NSK or us, or if you are all about redson, or landmine marathon (an awesome death metal band from here) you cant be into beg for life or bloody roar too, which is really stupid. theres also a tremendous amount of hipster punk here too, and those kids pretty much hate on everything non stop, and really dont do anything good ever for anybody. death metal is also huge too here (job for a cowboy, knights of the abyss, and a lot of those types of bands came from here too). hardcore is hardcore as far as im concerned, and if you have the desire and thinking ability to dig a little deeper and make it to ANY hardcore show you have more in common with a kid on the other side of the scene then anybody just walking around listening to 50 cent or limp bizkit or whatever crap is on the radio right now. thats really the only drawback to the az scene. a lack of locals supporting locals, and thats really a shame considering what we have here, and how lucky we are to have it.
Ok, we spoke about Mesa, now a couple of words about Romania. What do you know about our country?
SD: i actually work with a guy thats from there (he also lived in hungary as well), and hes really big into like british punk rock stuff. he said he used to go to lots of punk shows over there, so i know theres a scene which is awesome. its really amazing how worldly hardcore has become. i think its really a great thing too! theres so many good european/non american bands right now, and i really think it speaks to the power of music and message like we got in hardcore, and thats something really special. other then that i kinda know the basics about Romania. 25 or so million people live there, stuff like that. from what my friend paul says its pretty nice over there.
What else do you do besides OFR?
SD: i work for a promotions company as a day job, and i chase my dog and my girlfriend around….hahaha!
Darin, thanks a lot for this interview and I hope we’ll soon meet at a concert in Romania. If there’s anything else you would like to say, please do.
SD: i just wanna say thank you to everybody thats supported us, and comes to/books/plays/photographs/writes about shows and stuff, cuz thats what its really all about. also thanks to the independent media (like you!) who takes the time to support bands and get the word out in as unfiltered a way as possible. that shit is really important to the scene, and really helps keep things going. so thanks man! hope to get over there soon!
Mirceone (MPTY ZINE) vs. Darin Spyderdog (OUT FOR REVENGE) – january 2011
all pictures used for promo.