"Man, there should be more bands around here." That phrase has ping ponged back and forth forever in Humboldt County. Well, BlackBall has formed out of Arcata and are ready to help inspire other musicians to come and brace the world. Seven months in the making, they've found themselves loaded with motivation and are ready to record and tour in the near future. They're taking it step by step though, and are paving the way for a long road ahead.

Michelle: So do you want to do the general introductions....
Tom: I'm Tom Arrow, the singer and founder of BlackBall.
Steve: I'm Steve.com, bass player.
Max: I'm Max M Um, that's middle name M.
Tom: Oh and our drummer is Joel-O.
Michelle: So the band is constantly changing their names, or are these sort of alter egos?
Max: I wouldn't say they are alter egos, but when we have publicity we change our names around. They are always the same first names though.
Tom: Yeah, our drummer isn't here right now because he got grounded. He's a goofy guy.
Michelle: What was he grounded for?
Steve: He wouldn't tell us. He was like "I'll tell you when you're older."
Max: He probably just got into an argument with his parents.
Michelle: Well, I've never seen you guys live, so could you give me a brief take on the band?
Tom: It was Heavy D's 16th birthday. We were all at is house and I was complaining how there weren't any good bands around. So I decided to form a band. Devon was playing bass with us back then. We didn't have a drummer in the beginning. So on the last day of school last year, I met this guy named John. He's this big muscular guy that played drums. I asked him if he wanted to play drums and he said, "Sure, call me." Well over the summer I lost his number. Never found it. Then I saw him again and told him he had to play drums for us. Then after that our bassist was hit by a car and broke his arm.
Steve: That was the best thing that could have ever happened.
Tom: Yeah.
Steve: Yeah, the truth of the matter is that if Devon hadn't broken his arm, I wouldv'e never started hanging out with these guys.
Michelle: So it was fate.
Tom: Oh definitely. So that happened, and we were like, "Shit, what are we going to do?" On the first day of school, I met Steve.com.
Max: Steve was wearing an Anti-Flag shirt.
Tom: And I was wearing an Anti-Flag patch. He was like, "Hey you listen to Anti-Flag?"
Max: They are probably biggest influences. We cover three of their songs.
Michelle: On that note what would you say you sound like?
Tom: The Clash, the Sex Pistols...
Max: AKA Nothing. Dropkick Murphys.
Michelle: What is the one local band around here that has given you the most personal inspiration?
Max: Easily Super Slugfest.
Tom: They inspired me to start a band because they had a message and were doing a really good thing for the community.
Max: And they were really good and great to see live. You wonder why there isn't more stuff like that here?
Steve: Yeah, another thing about Humboldt County is that when we came up here to visit before we moved up here, I noticed the political scene up here is really strong. People will complain about issues and actually do something to change them as opposed to bitch and bitch and bitch and whine and not doing anything in the long run.
Michelle: In your lyrics do you brace any sort of issues?
Tom: Yeah, corporate America and anarchy as a corporate label.
Max: We have two songs with the chorus is "Fuck Anarchy" which often confuses people. It conveys our ideas that anarchy being marketed by a) companies selling patches that say "anarchy" that were made in China and they're selling for $6/patch. We're against that. And b) things such as the anarchist cookbook that promote making car bombs and explosives. That's not anarchy at all. It isn't a form of destruction.
Steve: And Anarchy Cologne.
Michelle: What did Anarchy Cologne smell like?
Max: We didn't smell it, it was all packaged up.
Tom: It's got to be rebellious. (laughs)
Steve: Yeah, it's the rebellious cologne because it smells like shit.
Michelle: What's your personal defintion of anarchy?
Tom: Anarchy is the freedom to do what you want as long as you don't invade the personal rights of other people. People say that if we had anarchy in America that someone could just walk into your house, shoot you in the head, and steal your tv. That's not true. They are totally wrong because by coming into my house and doing that you're taking away my right to live and to own property. So you're totally invading my personal rights which is not anarchy.
Michelle: Yeah, well most people think anarchy means complete chaos.
Tom: It's not though.
Max: It's corporating without a definite form of government.
Steve: Yeah, originally the definition is something lacking government.
Michelle: How do you want to have an effect on the community around here?
Steve: A positive one.
Max: I want people to think about anarchy as what it is. There are a lot of people that want to be punkrock, call them a "poser" if you will, but they'll be like, "Oooh, I'm going to write an anarchy sign with a sharpie on my t-shirt" or go to Hot Topic or Spencer's Gift and buy a $6 "anarchy" patch. If they here us, I want them to decide if this is a system they really believe or if they are just doing it because they want to be punkrock. Also we're against drugs.
Tom: I don't think drugs are the answer for anything. People say "Oh, it's fun." Well, yeah it's fun but it also fucks you up.
Max: I think you can still live while taking drugs, but there's always the chance. We have some really good friends who spend all their time smoking weed. One of them was just kicked out of school because of it.
Tom: Out of every situation that I've had to deal with involving drugs, its ended badly. No one's ever quit and actually quit. Everyone's just gotten fucked up and kicked out of school and sent to rehab, or arrested or ran away from home.
Michelle: Yeah, it can become a cycle.
Steve: Yeah, I didn't know when we were moving up here, but there is so much pot up here!
Michelle: So what's the personal satisfaction you get from this band?
Max: Being a band that works hard. Like my previous band whose name I won't mention, we practiced very infrequently. We almost never wrote new songs. Now BlackBall's set is already longer than their set ever was. We write new songs really easily, but granted it is much easier to write punk music than ska. But, punk lyrics are much harder than ska's. It's much easier to get things done, and we have more fun. I'm getting better feedback after our shows.
Steve: For me the band is the embodiment for everything I really promote and care about like individuality and commitment. I think we illustrate both of those. I have so much respect for these guys in the band. We all do our share, equally hard. We all feed off each other so to speak.
Tom: We're not just going up on stage and playing our songs, we actually have a message. Hopefully kids will come to our shows and get something out of being there like a sense of commitment in the community and that they can do their part. Maybe leave the show feeling a little more educated.
Max: I have a funny store. Our original drummer, John played our first two shows with us in Manila. He was a really good drummer and really burly. Well he was sort of right-wing which I kind of liked even though I didn't agree with the same things. It was a nice to have both political aspects in the band. Never let it be said that just because you're a right-wing you're a bad person. The funny thing is that he quit the band because he got a job as a butcher. How right-wing is that?
Michelle: (laughs) So why do you think it's so hard for bands to stay together around here?
Tom: I think its a lack of commitment and also people just want to leave this area because they think it sucks.
Steve: Or maybe they're just not good. I mean if you play a thousand shows and no one ever comes out, there would come a point where you wouldn't want to do it anymore.
Max: Yeah, I might want to still play music but maybe not actually have shows. One of the main reasons is people leave. They graduate from school and leave. Luckily Tom will be going to school here.
Steve: We'd like to tour in the future.
Max: The thing about being high school students is that we have to work around schedules and wait for a break and organize how we're being driven.
Steve: Or we could scoot around everywhere we go.
Max: Yeah, if we didn't have equipment.
Michelle: Do you all have scooters?
Max: No, just me, but I'm not a mod.
Michelle: Yeah, those things are becoming quite the fad.
Max: It's so much cheaper. It gets a hundred miles to the gallon and insurance $160 for six months which for a high school student is astronomically low.
Michelle: Ok are there any misconceptions about the band, you want to clear up?
Steve: That we just want to light the flag on fire and run around screaming about shit we don't know about. We really are up for making a positive change.
Tom: If you question our views totally come talk to us. We'll straighten you out one way or the other.
Max: (laughs) We'll straighten you out or agree to disagree.

Contact: BlackBall Hotline: 707-826-0143