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Strung Out with Rufio, Mute and We Are The Union
Republik
Wednesday, September 1 - Wednesday, September 1

More in: Rock / Pop

When it comes to hitting the stage with everything it’s got, Strung Out leads by example.

Eighteen years into its cacophonous collaboration, the Cali-punk quintet is still as edgy and over-the-top as ever. A well-worn cornerstone in punk label mainstay Fat Wreck’s house of rock, Strung Out has slogged through seven LPs and as many EPs in pursuit of skate-punk glory, attracting countless admirers in the process.

Faced with the inevitable accusations of “selling out,” despite its career-long independent streak, the band who birthed 1996’s Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues — and its subsequent tech-y sub-genre — is more than content to continue feeding of off such An American Paradox.

“Show me a band who says they don’t want to be rich and famous and I’ll show you a bunch of liars,” drummer Jordan Burns laughs. “No one goes out there and puts that much effort into something to see it fail. But there’s a fine line between promoting yourselves to as big an audience as possible and compromising your core values as a group.”

“Who’d want to waste their hard work, sweat and tears performing for 50 people in basements when you could draw crowds of 500 or more every night?” Burns continues, noting he does plenty of Strung Out’s booking solo. “Artists don’t always make the best business people, but I seem to be the one amongst us with a head for it . . . Whatever and wherever I book for the band, I do what I can to make things easier on the guys. But just try telling them that. I’m constantly abused!”

No slouch in the musical talent department either, the enterprising percussionist, who also co-owns and operates Moto XXX motorsports with NOFX drummer Erik Sandin, was voted second in the “Best Punk Drummer” category in Drum! magazine’s annual Drummies readers’ poll awards. Remarkably humble about his third Drummie nomination, Burns places the credit squarely on the shoulders of his band mates — singer Jason Alexander Cruz, guitarists Rob Ramos and Jake Ira Kiley and bassist Chris Aiken.

“I think the fans know that we’ve stayed true to the same sound we had when we started out. I don’t think we could have made it this far if weren’t all friends to begin with,” he says.

Riding high on the wave of adulation following the release of its 2009 stunner, Agents of the Underground, Strung Out has also adopted a slightly less politically alarmist tone in addressing the issues of the day. Refocusing its fun-loving-meets-hard-living mentality like never before, the band utilizes its remarkable elasticity to propel itself into a new decade — and the consciousness of a new generation of listeners — with whiplash-inducing results.

“I love having fans that you’d never think would listen to us and I love it when they come running up to show off all their Strung Out tattoos,” he says. “I’m not the one who writes our lyrics, but I know how important they are to people and I’m constantly amazed by it. There’s no job like it on Earth, and right now, there’s nothing the five of us would rather be doing.”