Utter Trash--Jacknife Powerbombs

Bombs Away!

An interview with The Jacknife Powerbombs

By Bob Ignizio

The Jacknife Powerbombs are all about having a good time. “It’s just a lot of fun,” says vocalist Matt. “I take it serious to the point that I put a lot of effort into it, but if it gets to the point that it’s not fun then we don’t do it anymore.” With a name taken from the devastating signature move of pro wrestler Kevin Nash and clad in matching orange shirts, The Powerbombs first exploded (sorry, I couldn’t resist) onto the Cleveland area punk scene sometime in the late spring of 2002. Recently Matt and his fellow bandmates Jeff (guitar), and Mark (guitar) braved the snow covered roads to swing by Utter Trash HQ and give me the lowdown on their high energy rock. The less adventurous Max (bass) and Matt number 2 (drums) wisely decided to stay at home.

Although The Powerbombs have been playing together as a band for a relatively short time, the members have known each other for years. Matt says, “Most of us went to high school together; Jeff, myself, and Matt our drummer. We met Max when we were working at Record Exchange, Jeff and I both worked there. Mark is my nephew.” Although now a consistent draw at area clubs, the band’s beginnings were somewhat inauspicious. “The band started as just us getting together and writing silly songs. We started jamming together more seriously, and somebody called us and said, ‘Hey, you guys have a band don’t you?’ That led to our first scheduled show which was for a Black Label skateboard video premiere party. Then we played the Green room a couple of times, and drew about forty people which is near legal capacity for that place. Now I think we’ve played most of the bigger clubs in Cleveland except for the Agora,” says Jeff.

Probably the main reason The Jacknife Powerbombs have moved up the ranks so quickly is because they consistently deliver a solid live show. Although according to Jeff things were a bit rough at first. He says, “We had a lot of friends that came out at the beginning. Unfortunately we started playing shows about 13 days after our first practice. And some of those friends who saw the first show haven’t come out again. But I think in the past year we’ve built a decent fan base. There’s some people we’ve actually become friends with because they’ve come to shows to often.” And then there are the distinctive outfits. “It shows that we’re one cohesive unit up there. So when people see us they’ll think, “These guys are gonna rock us, they’re gonna’ entertain us. They’re not just five guys off the street who picked up instruments and just showed up,” says Jeff. Matt adds, “Some people think it’s lame. Some people have made comments in the negative about it. I like it, so that’s the main thing.”

As for influences, the band displays fairly wide ranging tastes. Matt says, “I like The Supersuckers, The Hellacopters, Rocket from the Crypt, International Noise Conspiracy. I really like Slayer and Motorhead, too. Those are the bands I really like, but I don’t think we sound like any of them. Little touches of all of them, but not really any one exactly.” Jeff adds, “We’re all big Slayer fans. A lot of us have a little bit of a Youth Crew influence, too. We all grew up on straight edge hardcore, and that’s where a lot of the jumps and breakdowns come from in our songs.” Of course Mark, being only 17, has a slightly different background. “They’re talking about straight edge and stuff, but I was about five years old when that came out. So that doesn’t really come through in my playing at all. When I’d be writing songs I’d just start playing a riff and they’d say, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ I like Rocket from the Crypt and AFI, and a couple psychobilly bands like Tiger Army,” says Mark.

Lyrically the Powerbombs try to convey an upbeat, sometimes humorous outlook on life. Matt says, “We have one song called “Spraypaint Don’t Lie”. If someone feels so passionately about something that they would spraypaint it on a wall, like this one bridge in Berea that says ‘Kim Pennington is a snitch’, I figure Kim Pennington must have really wronged somebody along the line. Some of the songs are just about looking at the positive in life instead of the negative. I think there’s always going to be negative things, but they’re outweighed by the positive.”

That positive attitude carries over into other aspects of the band, like how they view the current state of Cleveland punk. Jeff says, “I think for a while it totally died out but it's building now. I’d like to see more shows happen, and scenes crossing over. Sometimes you get a show and its all hardcore bands, or all dirty rock bands are playing. Why not have shows with a hardcore band, a dirty rock band, and a pop punk band? But I think there’s a positive outlook for what’s going on in Cleveland right now.” The band even expressed interest in playing with groups outside the punk genre. Matt says, “I’d love to play with Boulder anytime, anywhere. I think they’re great. Disengage, too. We were fortunate enough to play with them last summer, but we were the second band and they were the headliner. There were a lot of bands in between so it was almost like we didn’t play with them but it was still really cool.”

Although the band has clearly accomplished a lot in a short time, one thing they hope to do in the future is make a definitive recorded statement. Matt says, “We have a couple different demos, but we’re definitely looking to do some more recording in the future. We need that person that will be brutally honest with us. Someone that will help us along rather than just record it.” That will probably have to wait at least a while, since the band is in the process of changing drummers. Matt says, “Our current drummer is going to move to California, so we’ve had to recruit someone new. She came to practice today and her name’s Roseanna. It was definitely tough to replace Matt, but from what we’ve heard of Roseanna she’s really good.”

Summing it all up Jeff says, “We’re a group of close friends who got together and we love to play shows. We have a pretty positive outlook on a lot of things, and I think that’s the only way to go.” Mark adds, “Playing with the band is a good time. I’m only 17 and these guys are in their late twenties moving on to their 30’s but they’ve always welcomed me into the band and I’m a part of it just as much as they are. Another thing that helps me feel a part of it is they all still live with their parents too, except Jeff. So I’m not too far from them.”