Sexy New Interview with Rob from Sex Tapes: "I sing less, scream more."

Readers, the Lawrence Field Day Fest kicks off this evening at the Bottleneck and it looks like a fine Friday line-up that begins with our buddies in Sona (read a nice story about them over at I Heart Local Music ).  Also on tonight's bill is Radar Defender (check out a new track at their site ), the terrific ACBs , Panda Circus (recently signed to Sarcastic Magicians Records which is operated by 13 year old  LFK hipster genius Drew),  the Mouthbreathers (obviously), and the debut of a mini-rock opera by organizer Cameron Hawk's band Many Moods of Dad.  Prepare to rock.

But save a bit of energy (and boozing money) for Saturday as well and make sure to hit the Fest early  because the day kicks off at 4:00 with a much-anticipated set by Sex Tapes, a new project from Spook Lights' Rob (you may also know him as Scary Manilow and/or other identities).  The prolific Rob also has an even newer project, Pale Hearts, which recently played something called the 'Merica Pool Party over on Ohio Street, an affair that ended with Dennis taking over the microphone and the cops shutting things down.   Enjoy this vulgar chat with Rob which covers celebrity sex tapes, snuff films, "straight-camp whackoff parties," Replay bartending stories, and even a little bit about Rob's music.



Chip:   I’m already in love with Sex Tapes based on the boner-inducing name alone.   Two questions:  (1) will you be projecting actual sex tapes on a screen during your shows? And (2) will you be making live sex tapes during or after the shows?

Rob:  I like to think our music directly projects a sex tape into the listener's mind.

Richard:  How does Sex Tapes' sound compare to your previous band, Spook Lights?  And what the hell happened to Spook Lights anyway?  Is there a debauchery-filled breakup story?

Rob: I sing less, scream more. It's really bass driven, as opposed to having no bass at all. I'm singing about stuff I wasn't really allowed to sing about before-- straight-camp whackoff parties, having boyfriends on death row, getting high on shoreline medical waste. The one thing I don't miss about The Spook Lights is seeing all of the bands we influenced locally getting huge and blowing us off. Credibility is fucking dead in this scene.

Chip:  Do you have a favorite celebrity sex tape?  I think the John Edwards one is really underrated.  Also, which celebrity would you like to see in a sex tape?  I’m going with Mila Kunis.

Rob:  I'd like to see a sex snuff of ScarJo getting choked out with a noose made of shit links. Man, do I hate her.

Richard:   Tell our readers what to expect from the Sex Tapes set at Lawrence Field Day Fest?  Also, what other bands should we make sure to catch during the Fest?

Rob:  I have no idea what to expect from us. Like I said, our whole schtick is that we don't ever practice. I was going to jump out of a cake but couldn't find anyone to make one for me. So maybe I'll just cover myself in cake instead, get funfetti in my asshole.

Chip:  I just saw the teaser for your new short film “Teenage Troubles.”  Tell us about that.  Also, what’s it like playing a woman on screen?  Do you ever give yourself a boner?

Rob:  My girlfriend Emily came into possession of a stack of old 1960's teen romance comics. We're adapting a few stories from them with a bit of a spin to make them more relevant to our tastes... Basically, more sexy, more camp.  Dressing up like a woman onscreen isn't much different than doing it on stage, which I've been doing for years now.  I'm a really ugly woman, so anyone who gets a boner from this clearly has questionable taste. That being said, I give myself boners all the time.

Here is a link to the teaser and a link to the movie stills, which are constantly being updated as we shoot.

[And here is Rob as a woman.  Did Chip get a boner when looking at this pic?  Yes].

Richard:  Tell us a classic Replay bartending story.

Rob: I saw a guy slinging rocks on the corner outside our front door. Broad daylight. Without saying too much, I'm a guy that knows what slinging rocks looks like. So I says to the guy, "Hey! take those fucking rocks and sling them elsewhere!" Which he responds to by pushing his way through the door and making a huge scene in front of my customers. It's 4pm on a Monday and I got a guy threatening to knife me in the face for "profiling" him. He won't leave, he won't leave, he won't leave.  I holler and push and call his mama horrible names. No dice. So I have this golf club behind the bar-- another great story, I'll tell you about it sometime-- and I come out with it.  I figure if he's got a knife, I at least need to defend myself, right? And he says, "What, you think you're gonna fucking hit me with-- OW!" I got him right up side the fucking head. Then I pushed him out the door and slammed it-- but not before he stuck his arm back inside, which had a cast on it. I slammed the fuck out of that cast.  Which, of course, only fueled his rage. Now he says he wants to get a cop down there. I tell him good luck, and off he goes. Fucking finally.

Twenty minutes later, he was back. With a cop. With a cop who says, "Did you hit this guy with a golf club?" I told the cop NO WAY did I hit that guy with a golf club, I only THREATENED to hit him with a golf club.  The cop explained that it was okay to hit the guy with the golf club, that if I'm at work it's considered defending my property. Then he searches guy and POW! Crack rocks. The guy goes to jail, I'm back to pouring drinks. Life goes on.