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Psychostick: Music that breaks all the rules
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Posted by Jen1180 Tue Nov 27, 2007 18:58:10 MST
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These guys get paid to sing about beer, broken cars and ex-girlfriends — and love it

Josh, or “The J,” gets to play guitar, goof off, and throw piñatas shaped like cars into crowds of fans. Sound like a dream job? Well, it is, especially for him.
    Josh is the drummer for the comedy/rock band Psychostick. Thanks to the convenience of myspace and the willingness to be interviewed by yours truly, I was able to ask him a few questions about the band, its music, and what makes them so darn funny.
    Do you remember the class clown in high school? That one kid who always had something ridiculously funny to say, that goofed off constantly and yet even all the teachers loved him? Well, take four of those guys, put them in a room together with musical instruments and the ability to play them, then tell them to write 20 songs about whatever they want. Then you’ve got Psychostick.
    Psychostick consists of Rob on vocals, Josh on guitar, Alex on drums and Mike on bass guitar.
    Their first album, called “We Couldn’t Think of a Title,” features the now infamous “Beer” song which can sometimes be heard on KBear 101 FM if you’re lucky, or if you call up Howie, Piper, Dusty or Hammer and request it.
    Josh said that when the guys set out to make music, their desire to make humor-oriented music was not immediate.
    “It started out like more light hearted, but it wasn’t initially that funny, but it was very unclear, but then we decided that we had to go all the way with it for people to get what we are doing. We can’t have a song that people could take even halfway seriously,” he said, “I like doing this because it really hasn’t been done before and I always wondered why.”
    Josh and Rob met each other when they were in high school together in Odessa, Texas. They eventually moved to Phoenix where they met Alex through a  newspaper advertisement and Mike at a concert.
    Although they all come from very similar musical backgrounds, Josh says it is the laughter that keeps them together.
    “What makes us work is that we all have a very similar sense of humor,” he said.
    And their sense of humor is what “We Couldn’t Think of a Title” is all about. As the name suggests, the guys had a heck of a time thinking of an album title and their struggle to come up with one is documented through intermissions on the CD.
    At one point, someone suggests naming the band “Sevendust,” then they realize, that, oh ya, that name is already taken. This was a bit of a tribute to the band Sevendust, whom the Psychostick guys are big fans of.
    Josh said that at a recent show in New England, Lejon (lead singer of Sevendust) approached them after the show and told them that he was a fan of their music.
    “Lejon loves us, that is a great experience. They have been touring for years, I really respect them. They still hang out with fans and stuff after shows,” Josh said.
    Speaking of shows, these guys are going to be playing at Club Vegas in Salt Lake on Nov. 24.
    “Our live shows are very high energy. We pride ourselves on being a live band. We do everything we can to make the audience break out of their comfort zone,” Josh said.
    He also said that their live shows tend to involve a lot of audience interaction. During the performance of the song “Two Ton Paperweight” (an ode to Rob’s broken down car) they throw a piñata shaped like a car into the crowd to be demolished.
    And what about that crazy name? Apparently, the name “Psychostick” came to Rob one late night. Josh said that they had thought up some other names, but “Psychostick” had that “Yep, that’s the one,” feel to it.
    The guys of “The Stick,” as they are often called, recently released a Christmas album, entitled, “The Flesh Eating Rollerskate Holiday Joyride.” (If you have heard “We Couldn’t Think of a Title,”  the name will make sense. . . kind of).
    If you want to hear some of the songs from the Christmas album or the infamous “Beer” song, check out their myspace page at www.myspace.com/psychostick.
    Oh, and if you ever get a chance to talk to Josh, make sure you ask him about the burritos in Odessa, Texas. He’ll tell ya a great story.

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