Some time after dancing around our office to their music (it warrants such antics, trust me) and quite a few declarations of “you have to hear this band”, I set out to speak with someone…anyone from 2* Sweet. I had a strong feeling that these are the guys to watch out for and I was all over it. I get excited anytime I come across a band that is not getting the proper amount of attention. It gives me a chance to promote a band that deserves it and maybe find a few new fans for them, that’s pretty much as sweet as it gets.
Dave Cronin was kind enough to speak with me in betweens the bands tours, having just returned from trekking through the winter weather of the East Coast. The conversation that took place between us was rather fun, honest and light-hearted. As such, I decided to take the interview a step further. Not only do I truly believe in this band, but the entire time I talked with Dave it was apparent that this band has heart, determination and spirit. No, really, it’s true.
And so, I give you: 2* Sweet, the first ever Icons of Punk Unsigned Band of The Month. I hope you all enjoy the interview and make sure to check out 2* Sweet via MySpace or whenever they roll through a town near you. - By Kristin - 3/08
Icons of Punk : You guys just got back from being out on an East Coast tour for about two weeks. How did tour go?
Dave Cronin : It was fun. It’s always cool to see a lot of kids come back at out of town shows. There were good shows that we played where there were about two hundred people there and there were shows where there were twenty people there, but they we all good. There were good times. We were out with Chris [Gutierrez, author and spoken word artist] and it was fun, it was successful.
IOP : I read that it was a bit of a challenge touring with Chris in regards to the fact that he is a spoken word artist opening up for a band, but that it went better than expected? |
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DC : Definitely, it was hard because I book the tours and when I was doing that it was hard to explain to promoters. They’re used to dealing with all bands and I had to tell them that with this tour we are going out with our friend who is an author and a spoken word artist. And a lot of people were just like, “Wait…what’s he do? Does he play an instrument?” I had to explain that he kind of just talks and it was hard for a lot of people to understand exactly what he does. But it worked out well. He did really well. He did better than I thought he would actually. When you’re waiting for bands, waiting for music, people don’t usually want to hear a dude talk for twenty five minutes, but he did a good job.
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IOP : After battling an East Coast Winter tour, you’re gonna get a bit of a break in the weather it seems. You’re touring the West Coast soon, correct?
DC : Yeah, we’re leaving soon for our first stop, which is Tulsa, and then from there we are heading down South through Texas, then over to New Mexico, over to California, then we work our way back. We’ll be out for about two and a half weeks. |
IOP : Are you guys going to tour with anyone specifically or are you just going to meet up with some bands when you’re out West?
DC : We’re gonna be out on our own, but when we get to California we’re gonna meet up with some friends of ours in a band called This Time Next Year who we toured with over the summer. That will be really cool because we haven’t seen them in a long time and they’re good friends of ours.
IOP : And don’t forget the warm weather. You guys haven’t had that luxury in a while either.
DC : Yeah, we are definitely welcoming that. It will be a nice change. |
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IOP : Due to there being little information on you guys available, I am wondering if you would mind giving us a background on 2* Sweet?
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DC : Sure. It started in 2003 as sort of a side project. We were all playing in metal and hardcore bands at the time and that’s what we were all super into. But we were also into bands like New Found Glory and Saves the Day, so we wanted to try a new band and see what happened with it. We were kind of on and off with it for a while, then in 2005, we started it up again and started taking it more seriously. We put out a new demo and started playing a lot more shows, ended up recording and self producing an EP that we put out in October of 2006. Since then we all dropped everything that we were doing previously (like school, jobs, whatever,) and we have been touring across the country since then in support of this EP. We have a full length coming out in April that we just finished recording. |
IOP : Yeah, I am looking forward to that. The correct album title is ‘Sleep Without Dreams’?
DC : Yes.
IOP : You guys must be amped for that. |
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DC : Yes we are very, very amped for that; It’s been about a year in the making. We went to the studio in NY and worked with producer Mike Watts, who also worked with the bands As Tall as Lions, The Chariot and The Junior Varsity. We first went to him just about a year ago, when we recorded our first three songs, then we went back over the summer and recorded three more. And finally got back there this past December and finished up the rest. So it’s been about a year of song writing; which is awesome, because we took a lot more time with the songs that we are putting on this record then we did with the EP. I would just like to get it out so we can start playing these songs live. The songs on the EP are cool and they’re good, but we have been playing them for the past two years straight, at every single show. Sometimes you get tired of playing the same song and want to start playing new stuff. |
IOP : Is it a collective experience writing, both musically and lyrically?
DC : A lot of the time Andy, our guitar player, will come to practice with either a song completed in his head. Or he’ll come up with a bunch of riffs and we will play them out. He will have something in mind and we just build off of that. Everyone will pitch in their ideas for transitions and stuff like that. It usually starts with either Andy or Justin [Lead Vox] coming to practice with a bunch of ideas and we build off of them. Lyrically, Justin and I write all of the lyrics. I don’t usually write lyrics with the song in mind. I could write song lyrics now, then we end up writing a song two months from now and I just give Justin the lyrics then. He will put the words to the music. |
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IOP : How often does the name ‘ Danzig’ get brought up to you guys? (E/N: Justin sounds an awful lot like Danzig. True story.)
DC : Not as often as we would like, but more so now that we have these new songs. We have definitely gone more in a rock direction, steering away from the whole pop punk thing. Around Halloween we recorded a cover of a Danzig song and had it up on our MySpace for a while.
IOP : Yeah, I was not happy when I went to listen and I saw that you guys had taken it down. I believe my exact statement was “Blasted!” Anyway, literally the first time I heard you guys I said “Dude sounds just like Danzig.” Even the bass tone is quite similar to what you would hear with Danzig’s music. I’m surprised you haven’t heard that more often. Maybe it’s because of the younger kids not being as familiar with Danzig but…
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DC : That’s awesome. The reason it doesn’t come up is because…well, you’re right, a lot of the younger kids who we play to don’t really know about anything that came out before 1998. That’s where we draw a lot of our influence from, the kind of bands that are under the radar. A lot of bands are ripping off other current bands and it’s just getting so watered down. We’re taking our influences from bands like Danzig and Black Sabbath, and melt that it into this kind of pop punk-esqe sound that we have. |
IOP : You said that Danzig and Black Sabbath have influenced you guys, but I’m wondering what other bands or musicians have influenced you, either growing up or more recently?
DC : As far as song writing, I know that Andy always says that one of his more modern influences is Queens of the Stone Age and I think that comes through, especially in our new stuff. Personally, I am a huge Morrisey and The Smiths fan. He influences me lyrically and I think that his lyrics are genius. And the way he delivers them is off kilter and very unique. To me, he’s just awesome. |
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IOP : I recently watched an acoustic performance of ‘Miss You’ and was really impressed by it. I don’t think I am the only one to think this, but I believe that many bands won’t do acoustic performances, mainly because they can’t. It seems to be okay to just strum and record a few chords, and then let computers do the rest of the work. Because you guys nailed that performance and it sounded amazing, I am wondering if you have ever thought of recording an acoustic EP?
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DC : Thank you. We originally did record acoustic versions of ‘Miss You’ and a song called ‘Funeral Moon’, which is also going to be on our new record. The last time we did an acoustic show was about four years ago on Valentines Day in 2004 and it was the worst night ever. It was awful and we sucked and it was terrible. We hadn’t touched acoustic guitars since then, until recently. We did this interview and acoustic performance in NY, and it went over really well. We just recently did an acoustic show in the suburbs of Chicago this past weekend, and that also went over really well. I don’t know about an acoustic EP, because the way that we write, I don’t think that a lot of our songs translate very well, simply because they are very riff orientated. But, we did the best we could and I think it came out better than I expected it to be. We will probably feel more inclined to do more acoustic performances now that we know that we can do it without being as super nervous about it as we were. We might be putting up the two songs that we did acoustically as a preview to the record. Those will probably surface sometime within the next month or two online…somewhere…in some form. |
IOP : How did you guys come up with the name 2* Sweet?
DC : Back when this band started, Justin and I were in a hardcore band called Not Enough Gold. We had kind of an eccentric, but really hilarious lead singer who we are still friends with today. He would always joke about WCW wrestling and the nWo Wolf Pack. Kevin Nash was always saying “Too sweet” and he was joking one day about how we should call the band Too Sweet. When it came to actually naming the band, we figured we would just call ourselves 2* Sweet until we thought of something better. Obviously, we never thought of anything better, so the name just kind of stuck. It came from our creepy friend Ben back in 2004. |
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IOP : What compelled you guys to add in the asterisk?
DC : You know, I think it just came from if *N Sync can do it, why can’t we? To be completely honest, that’s the best explanation I can give you on the asterisk.
IOP : [laughs] Alright, I’ll take it. You all seem to be big on DIY, so I will ask what the DIY and punk ethos mean to you guys specifically?
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DC : Basically, it just comes from us growing up and being in these hardcore bands and these punk bands, that the only way those bands would be able to tour would be to do it yourself. Go city by city and contact promoter by promoter, asking them to take a risk and do a show for a band who nobody knows about or has heard of. Between all of us we’ve all played together in previous touring bands; we’ve done some fairly sketchy tours in fairly sketchy areas, but that’s just how we do it so we carried that over into this band and when it came time for 2* Sweet to start touring it was kind of like, we’ll this is all we know, so lets just take what we did for these bands and do it for this band. It’s been working so far. |
| It’s frustrating at times because a lot of people, especially in this scene, are less willing to take a risk on doing a show for your band because were not on a big label and we are not a huge hunted band, we’re not going to bring in five hundred kids and we’re not going to make them a lot of money. A lot of times, I will send out forty or fifty emails to people in the same area, and maybe I will get one or two responses. And maybe, maybe, one of them will follow through. So, it’s definitely frustrating, but at this point it’s all we got going on for us. It’s either that or we sit on our asses and do nothing and that’s not good for anyone’s mental health. We’re just gonna keep doing it until someone comes along who wants to make it easier for us. |
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IOP : It’s hard not to respect bands that work against that and go out there to achieve their own goals. Isn’t it crazy how the music industry is represented today? One label signs a new band with a somewhat different sound and then the rest of the labels scramble to find similar artists because they don’t want to lose out on the cash cow.
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DC : Oh yeah, I agree. I think bands are spoiled these days and some hype band will come out and sell a couple thousand records, their label will give them a bus…at shows a lot of the younger kids say that they can just get a bus and that it will be so easy. I’ve heard bands complain about being on tour and about playing in front of hundreds of kids every night because they’re not on a bus; because they’re in a van and their life is so hard and they’re playing in front of five hundred kids every night, which is something that anyone in our band would fucking kill for. The tours that we do are fun and they’re all learning experience’s, but sometimes we get bummed out when were playing in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania and there’s only five kids there. |
It really irks me when I hear bands talking about how much they hate touring. If you’re gonna start a band but you don’t want to tour, don’t start a band…seriously. Again, I think that kids are spoiled and they take a lot of things for granted. I see some of the bands not having to work for anything. So when nothing is handed to them they just complain and don’t actually do anything about it.
IOP : As far as current bands go, what are you listening to? Are there any bands that you think are doing something right?
| DC : There’s a band called This Time Next Year; they are from the Bay Area, California, and they’re awesome. They’re a faster pop punk band who sound like The Movielife, Lifetime and older New Found Glory. They are really good dudes and they help us out a lot. We just did a tour with a band called fireworks from Detroit. We actually did our very first tour with them on a whim. I found them on MySpace and I just fell in love with their demo. I messaged them asking them if they wanted to tour together, they did and it went really well. |
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This band from Jersey, The High Court, they are really awesome. The stuff they are writing is kind of weird. It’s not straight up pop punk. They’ve got some heavy riffs and that definitely appeals to us. Those are a few bands in this scene that I think are doing things right and who are solid dudes in my book.
IOP : Harder question: What about mainstream bands? Are any of them doing it right in your eyes?
DC : Honestly, I think a lot of bigger bands have been disappointing me lately with their newer records. I really liked the first Cartel record, but they totally blew it on their new one. I was stoked for the new Motion City Soundtrack record but that thing was very mediocre. I’ve stopped getting excited for bands putting out new stuff. I just kinda assume that it’s not going to be good. As far as bands in this scene, in this genre, that’s how I feel pretty much. |
IOP : It sucks to see bands test the waters and fail miserably. There aren’t many who seem to have the capabilities and experience to do so and succeed anymore. I love to see bands evolve and thrive off of that challenge. You know?
DC : Yeah, something like that is key. Evolution keeps people interested in whatever genre of music it is. If every band keeps sounding the same, then everything will just get stale and watered down. Eventually, people will catch on and everyone will stop caring. No one wants to go to a show and see five bands that sound exactly the same. I support any band that takes the road less traveled when it come to song writing.
IOP : What’s up with all of your names on MySpace? They’re definitely not your real last names. |
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DC : Ha! Those all come from bands that we used to be in.
Justin Gold: Not Enough Gold
Dave Called Sting: Man Called Sting
Left Hand Pete: Left Hand Path
Dan Tomorrow: Undo Tomorrow
Andyzarian: Gozarian |
IOP : Well, that makes sense. Though, I was kind of hoping that you were going to tell me that you’re all super spies or something.
DC : [laughs] I hope people don’t think that, or get what those are from…though I am sure that very few people get where those are from. I hope people don’t think that we’re assholes and giving ourselves stupid stage names.
IOP : [laughs] If you could have provided the soundtrack or score to any film, which would you pick?
| DC : Man, I don’t know. That really hard because any movie that I would say I wouldn’t want to touch it because I already think it’s perfect; like Star Wars, I think that the score is amazing. It’s one of my favorite movies of all times...I have multiple [Star Wars] tattoos on my body. I know myself, Justin and Andy are big fans of Moulin Rouge and we listen to that soundtrack when we’re driving in the van. I’m a sucker for older Disney movie soundtracks, like I love the soundtracks to Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and stuff like that. I honestly wouldn’t want to go back and touch anything. That might seems like a boring cop out, but if George Lucas came up to me and told me he wanted the band to rewrite the score for Star Wars I would tell him no, thanks…I would be honored, but I couldn’t do it. |
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IOP : Let’s talk about awesome Star Wars tattoos.
DC : [laughs] I have Darth Vader’s mask on my left shin and on my left calf directly behind it I have two Storm Troopers with the Imperial logo between them. Those are some of the first tattoos I ever got.
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IOP : In honor of all the touring you guys seem to be gearing up for, if you guys could pick other bands to share the tour, who would you pick?
DC : It depends on whether or not we would be looking at it from a personal level with bands that we would want to watch every night, or a professional level and what would be best for our career. With what would be best for our career and getting to play in front of thousands of kids who also might be interested in us, I guess bands like My Chemical Romance or Fall Out Boy. Bands that I would want to tour with just so I can watch them every night would be bands that we probably wouldn’t even fit on the bill with, like Slayer or Hatebreed; just a bunch of metal and hardcore bands that I like. |
IOP : Slayer? That’s sick. If you could play at any venue in the world and have as many bands as you want to play - and this does not have to make any sense at all - who and where?
| DC : Oh man. Alright, it would definitely be in NY at CBGB’s. The Cro-Mags would be playing and right after that, Bad Brains. We would bring Quicksand in…we might need a time machine or something to help with this. Add in Slayer circa Reign In Blood, and have The Smiths headline, but from right before they broke up when then they kinda hated each other and you can feel the tension…like, you can tell that Morrisey and Johnny hate each other, but they’re still playing and it’s kinda awesome. Man, we would get bashed at this show. People would storm the stage and kick us off, but I wouldn’t even care because I would be stage diving it the whole rest of the night and that would be fine with me. That would be my show in a nutshell, except I would probably have Minor Threat play, too. |
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IOP : That’s an incredibly interesting, yet solid mix. Alright, that’s pretty much all that we have. Thank you, Dave.
To the 2* Sweet fella’s: Congratulations, guys…thanks for being awesome.
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