PULLEY (interview w/ Tyler!)
Pulley
Scott Radinsky – vocals
Mike Harder – guitar
Jim Blowers – guitar
Tyler Rebbe – bass
Tony Palermo – drums
Pulley live in Europe
Pulley is known for straight-forward, hard-edged melodic punk rock, making their first appearance in 1996. Since then, they’ve churned out seven albums, their most recent being Time Insensitive Material, released this year.
Recently, I had the pleasure of asking Pulley’s bassist, Tyler Rebbe, a few questions. As always… enjoy!
Tyler Rebbe, bass
1.) Pulley debuted in 1996; what brought the original members together in the first place?
The band got together after Scott had been kicked out of Ten Foot Pole; Matt (the original bass player) had been kicked out of Face to Face. Jim Cherry (the original guitar player) was the bass player for Strung Out but had a bunch of songs on guitar that Strung Out wasn’t interested in. They guys started working together with Mike Harder who was in Scared Straight on guitar and Jordan from Strung Out to play drums. Everybody except for Matt was from Simi Valley and had known each other for a long time. They did a three song demo and got signed by Epitaph.
2.) Did Scott’s major league baseball career interfere with your music at all? Seems like that would be time consuming enough as it is!
We’ve all had jobs or other bands at times that were our main deals going on, so Pulley has always been more of a part time band when it comes to getting together. It works because the band never becomes a drag. We always have a great time with it. It’s all for the love of music and fun.
Scott Radinsky, vocals
3.) Tell me about the meaning behind the title of your new CD, Time-Insensitive Material
We were just talking about how people have so much free access to all kinds of music these days. It’s so easy to just download a CD or song and it’s kind of like in one ear and out the other. Back when I was growing up, you would save your lunch money for a month just waiting for that new tape (that’s right, tape) You’d spend the whole day dissecting the inlay card. Reading all the lyrics. Checking out new bands just because they were thanked in the booklet. You couldn’t skip right to the next song if you didn’t like the one you were listening to at the time. By the end of the week you knew the album word for word. So, for the title, we are talking about how there’s just so much music out there and all the anticipation and appreciation is practically gone. By Time-Insensitive Material we are trying to say that we hope this album is not so disposable, and it’s more like a timeless Pulley album. When you listen to us you pretty much know what you’re going to get.
4.) What is your favorite track from the new album?
It’s tough to choose between your babies, but I’m pretty happy with how Rattling Rust came out. It’s one of those songs that didn’t start out as much of a great song but by the time we finished it came out really good.
5.) Did you ever think you would be on a big label like Epitaph?
When I first started playing bass, all I wanted was to find enough friends to figure out how to play Rush and Metallica songs. To go from that to actually putting out music on a label and touring the world would have seemed like an impossible dream at the time. Epitaph wasn’t really a big label back in 1995. Punk rock was a totally different thing than what it has become now. Just look at who is on Epitaph in 2009 and in 1995.
6.) What gave you all the idea to form your own label, X-Members?
There’s nothing wrong with Epitaph. We just don’t need to be on a label to release music anymore, and putting out music is our main priority with Pulley these days We decided to do everything ourselves this time. Bands don’t need record labels anymore. The first album I was a part of cost about 40,000 to record, there was a huge studio with giant rolls of tape and all that. We did this one on our friend’s computer in a back room of his house for about one tenth of that cost. I would argue that it sounds just as good if not better than the older album. Why pay a label back that $40,000 at a tiny royalty rate before we see a dime, when we can just put this out on itunes and interpunk and do it all ourselves?.
7.) Are there any older bands that don’t play together anymore that you wish would put out a new record? (Uh, can we say 88 Fingers Louie, much?? Ha ha, that’s my pick!)
As far as the punk world goes, I really miss Staring Back, Dynamite Boy and Whippersnapper.
8.) I know this is from Pulley’s first album, but what in the hell does S.F.B.I.H.Y.D. stand for??
Stupid fucking bitch, I hope you die
9.) If you could only listen to three albums for the rest of your life, what would they be?
I dread trying to answer these kinds of questions because I like so many kinds of music and love so many bands! I’ll pick classics from three different genres.
Bad Religion – Suffer
Iron Maiden – Powerslave
Pink Floyd – Animals
10.) So the band has survived the industry this long; can we expect to see you all around for the next 13+ years?
Well, now that we know how to do all this stuff on our own, we plan to keep recording and releasing music more often than in the recent past. I don’t know that I’ll be able to play as fast when I’m 48. Hopefully we’ll all still hang out and try to keep creating some sort of music.
And last but not least…
Thanks to everyone who has checked out our band and supported us throughout the years!
***
And there you have it. Pulley is a band that I believe truly deserves all the success that comes their way. I love it when real, down to earth people put out great albums, and that’s exactly what Pulley has done. If you aren’t familiar with them or just want to learn more about the band, visit:
http://www.x-members.com/
http://www.myspace.com/pulleymatters
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pulley/7510999690
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulley_(band)
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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