Minivan Halen by Matt Dixon, August '09

All Photos by Paul Hammond

General Tao from Minivan Halen 7"

1. Please introduce Minivan Halen and give a brief history of the band, how you came together and what the band means to you.
ger: MVH is Mark, Jim, Kevin, Myles and myself. It had been 4 years since I'd been in a band because I fucking hate being in bands, so I of course decided I wanted to be in a band. I had a bunch of songs written and had approached Myles previously about doing something and then he came up to me one night and asked if I had any songs he could play drums for. Being a glutton for punishment, I said yes and got excited. We practiced just the two of us for like 2 months then added Jim because he made me add him. Mark and Jim lived together and Mark was always insanely jealous whenever Jim hung out with other dudes so Jim started bringing Mark to practice. We never actually asked him to be in the band, it just happened. Kevin is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery. He lives in his van, plays his bass, writes poetry and does odd jobs to get by.

2. You're a relatively new band, but individually you are no strangers to the punk/hc scene. What are your thoughts on the current state of punk/hc in Halifax and Eastern Canada in general?
Mark: I am not sure how to answer this. It's divisive and insular as usual and I doubt that will ever change. There's some really great bands (Fear of Lipstick, Tongan Death Grip, Last Laugh) that are criminally underrated and overlooked. The all ages scene seems to be in better shape than it was a year ago. There's a lot more house/basement shows and alternate venues being put into play which is a huge improvement. The Obey Convention this year was awesome, especially the record and zine fair and it really had a festival atmosphere to it all. We played in a VLT room during our Obey after-party show with Metz and Rumours from Newfoundland. People are doing fun and creative things here. That's exciting.

3. I'd like to pick up on a point you made about house shows. You mentioned on your official website that you prefer to play house shows. In this regard do you feel an active house show community is essential to the growth of a punk/hc scene? What are some of your favourite house show memories (either of playing in a band or just being in the crowd)?
Mark: Aside from the obvious fact that it's a lot cheaper and less shitty than going to a bar and drinking, it's also just alot more friendly and fun.

There's not the same bullshit that you face at a bar, maybe someone would call it professionalism, but I think of it as bullshit. It's awesome inviting strangers into your house to see great bands in a cramped environment with dozens of people of all ages. It's just such a great equalizer. By the end of it, everyone in that room have become closer in some way. I don't know if you can say the same about bar shows.

Seeing Risky Business play to a packed room of straight edge teens and beer swilling degenerates in a tiny apartment and everyone getting along was awesome. So was covering the Beastie Boys in a room full of punks. Being able to have bands like the Brutal Knights, Pig, Fear of Lipstick, Statues and Black Ships throw down in your basement makes having a terrible landlord pretty much ok. I am not sure it's essential to the growth of a punk/hc scene, but I think it's contributed positively to our sanity.

ger: Yeah, it's just nice. It's a really nice thing to be invited into someone's home to do this kind of thing. You know, like, there is no stage. You are having a conversation with your friend while you are setting up your gear, literally until you play your first note, you're just hanging out and having a party and either getting to know people or spending time with the people you already do know. There is that divide in a bar. Once you get on stage, you are "On Stage" and it's near impossible to escape the trappings of being there. I also really love the idea of playing in non-traditional places. It's really creative and exhilerating in a way to go into a room full of furniture and start thinking "Ok, how do I turn this into a place to watch a band play in the next 2 hours." It's really my favorite way to watch or play in a band, and it always will be.

4. You have a number of dates alongside Buried Inside during their Eastern Canadian tour. How did this come about and what do you take away from playing with a band like Buried Inside night in night out?
ger: I've been friends with those guys since I first toured roadying for the Plan who played shows with them in early 2000 and Jim's old band The Holy Shroud did quite a few dates with them on their tour a few years ago. When they come here we all hang out and party and laugh and have a great time. I asked them if they wanted to play a show or 2 with us, and they in turn invited us to do this whole eastern canada tour. We can't do all of the dates, which is a bummer, but doing 5 is going to be awesome. Playing as many shows as you can with people you enjoy being around just makes sense to me. When they come here and leave, It's like one of those things where you see someone every few years for a day and you're legitimately sad when it's time to say goodbye again. This year we get to spend the better part of a week with them, which is really exciting to me. As far as what we will take away from playing with them, I'm guessing an all encompassing sense of inferiority is imminent. And probably a fucking hangover.

5. From one important element of any punk/hc community to another... you guys have a 7" out now and as I understand it you'll have some with you when you roll through Charlottetown for those lucky kids in the crowd. I'm wondering what made you decide to put the work into putting out a 7" rather than go the quick and easy way and do a cd? In this age of digital music do you think the dirty punk 7" still has its place?
Jim: I think the 7" will always be the preferred delivery method for the punk bands. CDs are disposable. What do you do with CDs? I buy a CD if there are no other formats available, listen to it in my car and/or burn it onto my girlfriend's computer. Then I toss it in a bag, never to be seen again. At least holding a 7" I feel like it's something substantial in my hands, something that took some actual work rather than holing up in my room and burning a bunch of CD-Rs. It is more work, definitely, but that is something we as a band and individually have never shied away from. Too many bands want to burn that demo CD-R and go on tour for the summer, when they haven't played a basement show, or put up their own posters, or done any other work yet. Computers/internet/Myspace have made alot of things easier, and that's great, but it can make for some very shitty, lazy bands.

ger: It's true. I just have little to no interest in the CD as a format. To have gone so far as to start my own record label releasing almost exclusively vinyl, and publicly shit all over the CD format only to put out a CD with my band would make me feel like an asshole. Which will happen anyway, but not for this reason in particular.

6. "Minivan Halen doesn't play bar shows, only casino shows." That's a quote from Halifax's The Coast following your set at the Obey convention last spring. Just how did you end up playing among the VLT's at Gus's that night? Are there any other weird places you'd like to play?.
ger: When we started this band we said we wanted to play shows that were fun and exciting to us, and that we wanted to shy away from bar shows as much as possible unless it was something we really, really wanted to do. The idea of us playing in Gus's that night came up and I said I'd only do it if we could play in the aquarium (the VLT room). I'm pretty sure Mark pitched it to Dimo who said it was ok, and it was awesome. As far as other weird places I personally would like to play, there are tons, but time is running out. I've always wanted to play on a boat.

7. We touched earlier on the vinyl vs cd debate and the issue of myspace and its popularity among bands was brought up. What is your take on the effects of the internet on the punk rock community? Is the growth of sites like myspace, blogspot and message boards a good thing or ultimately does it take away something precious from the scene?
Mark: I guess "back in the day" you went to a show to talk shit, now you don't even have to leave your bed, you can do all the shittalking (and shit taking) you want from the comfort of your bedroom. There wasn't less haters back then, it just took a little more effort to be one. People feel like they can participate in a scene and interact with others through a computer...I do it all the time...there's less of a need to go to social gatherings. You can act like a know it all and a real prick job via the information super highway, it's great for the anti-social types that are attracted to punk rock in the first place. You never have to interact with people face to face. It was great to get 60, 70, 80 anti social teens in a room back then and have punk rock be the soundtrack to their awkward and cynical interactions, now you can do it all over a messageboard.

I don't know, I like blogs that host mp3s and albums that I can download. I am not even sure what I am talking about. Are the tools the problem or is it the people who use them? I like using the internet too much and sometimes that's detrimental and sometimes it's positive.

8. Is there still a place for the printed zine?
Mark: Was there ever a place for the printed zine? I think there is. Things change, people find new mediums and ways to exchange ideas. There'll always be a place for good zines, whether that place is the internet or in printed form, I don't know. People just have to stay creative and take advantage of what's available to them. If you make a shitty zine, no one is going to want to read it, it's simple. You need to make something people care about, it's the same with any thing you create. Maybe your audience has shrunk, but if comic books, books, magazines and newspapers can still have a place, then there's still a "market" for printed zines.

9. Apart from the shows you'll be playing with Buried Inside over the next few weeks what future plans do you have as a band?
ger: I'm actually moving to Toronto in a little less than 4 weeks and I've written most of the shit, so after these shows (and maybe one or two unconfirmed things at home) we will at the very most not be playing any shows for a while and at the very least be completely broken up.

9.5. I've gotta ask, where did the inspiration for the band name come from and who deserves the credit for coming up with it?
ger: I really want Jim to field this one.

Jim: It's the least stupid/offensive from a very long list of stupid, offensively juvenile names. Gerry and Mark take great pleasure in getting me riled up, suggesting ridiculous band names is one way to acheive this. I demanded veto power on the band name. I am no fun to be in a band with, too serious. The list included The Gay Corkys, Young Tighteys, Flintstones (yes, we would dress like The Flintstones), N-Bomb, ZZ Bottom, I could go on...

10. Any final words?
Mark: I don't think I've packed more fun into such a short time. I got to play in a band with two of my best friends (Jim and Gerry), become better friends with Myles and made a new friend in Brian. I have never played in a band with a group of people as funny, as nice, as reliable and as talented as these four. I've had a rough week and I couldn't ask for four better people to be around during this time.

It's sad that we're finished, but I am really happy with what we've done and how we did it. We did so much on our own and accomplished what we set out to do.

Listen to Minivan Halen:
myspace.com/mvhmvh

THE GOOD ONES DIE YOUNG, AS WAS THE CASE WITH MVH
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