Their music has elements of almost every genre thrown into the musical blender and set on frappe, concocting an enjoyable montage of rock, rap, jazz and blues. Tony C. and the Truth's Lava Records debut Demonophonic Blues hits store on March 23, 2004!

Popular Underground Magazine: Where are you calling from?
Tony C: Outside of a bar in Manhattan.

Your music has a lot of different styles to it, there's rock, classic rock, harder tones, some hip-hop, blues; what sorts of bands or types of music seem to influence you the most?
All those kinds.

Specifically, who you grew up listening to or what you're listening to right now?
Awe man, that's a long ass list.

Just a couple examples maybe?
Elvis Presley, John Lee Hooker, The Ramones, Frank Sinatra, Wu-Tang Clan.

What does the title of your upcoming album, Demonophonic Blues mean exactly?
Demonophonic; means the sound of the demon.

And why did you choose that as your album title? What's the story behind that?
There's not not really a story behind it. It's just the name of the record. We made a demo and the demo we called Demonophonic Blues.

Tell me a little bit about the compound. That's where you guys recorded the new album at. What was it before it was a recording studio?
It used to be a barn. Then my grandmother turned it into a house. Then she passed away and I lived there for a while and then when we got a record deal we turned it into a recording studio slash house. We had couple campers, a converted barn, horseshoes and a fire pit. The tour bus parks there and what not.

So it's kind of like your home base?
Yeah, we do all our rehearsing and recording up there.

You guys toured with Sugar Ray last year. What was that like?
That was amazing. That was a lot of fun man. Their crowd is just right for us. Even though they didn't know who we were and didn't know any of our songs, by the second or third song they [the crowd] were really digging us. Our tour bus was parked right behind theirs, and you'd come out after the show and [there's] all the people by the bus waiting for you to sign shit and talk to you and what not. You feel like a rock star for five minutes.

What did you learn on that tour?
Well, touring in general, we learned that you've got to make sure you have the right people all around you so that you don't kill each other because you got eight or nine guys living on a bus together and if there's friction, you've got to make sure you've got the right people involved. Learn how to live with each other and no matter what circumstances, get to the show on time.

How long has the band been together?
I don't know, probably about a year and a half or so.

What are some of your goals as a band?
Keep touring, tour more, tour more places, meet more people and play, play, play in front of a lot of people.

Do you have any phobias?
I don't like flying so good, but I did it. We had to fly out for the Jeep's King of the Mountain in Colorado and fucking flew six people in a seven person plane. I kept thinking of Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper and shit. I ain't so good at flying, but I ain't scared of anything else.

What's your favorite drink?
Whatever's available. You know how some people are like "I'll never drink gin again because this one time I got so sick and now I can't even stand the smell of it," I think I've gotten sick off everything there is and I can still drink it all. I'm not what you call choosy. I'll eat any-damn-thing too.

When was the last time you got sick from drinking?
I do remember [the situation], but I don't remember when it was. I was in a cab and I puked in my hat. It was probably like six or eight months ago?

Any last words of wisdom?
You've got to see us live man. We're a lot of fun live. That's what it's all about. I say it to everybody and I'll say it to you man, if you come see us live and you just fucking hate it, come find me after the show, I'm easy to find, and I'll give you your ticket money back. We work hard and we play hard and we make sure everybody has a good time.

By: Adam K. Zakroczymski III - Senior Editor / Founder

January 26, 2004