Courtesy of Dirty Tactics
Punk rock has always been known for taking raw, sincere emotions and fusing them with energetic songs that collectively speak to the human condition. While a visit to your local mall may convince you that punk rock has “sold out,” a band like Dirty Tactics may just further prove that honest music has not gone the way of the buffalo. Lead vocalist and guitarist Gary Viteri, guitarist Chris Ross, bassist Dan Zimmerman and drummer Carlin Brown create edgy songs that make punk seem a little more dangerous, but still accessible enough for anyone with an open mind to enjoy. The group will be releasing an EP entitled The Divine Middle on May 3 that was recorded by Pete Steinkopf of The Bouncing Souls.
I recently was able to have a short phone conversation with lead vocalist and guitarist Gary Viteri. The Philadelphia-area native discussed bands, life on the road and punk rock.
Buzzlegoose: How as the Philadelphia music scene influenced you?
Gary: I think growing up so close to [Philadelphia] we kind of grew up coming down to the city almost solely for music. The city was like a hub for music. Philly definitely had that effect on me where it kind of was like what motivated it us to get involved with the music scene in general. We experienced the punk scene here in Philly in the late ‘90s and early 2000s when it was still really vibrant, before the Internet and all that. I feel lucky to have experienced that now. I kind of respect that old school mentality of having to find bands through you know flyers or mail orders or any kind of secret info you can find. We still kind of maintain that in our band.
B: What sort of bands and what sort of music influenced your songwriting?
G: When I was first getting into music, I was really into like the first wave punk stuff…like the Stiff Little Fingers, the Clash or the Jam. I like the way it sounded more than the newer stuff. I was originally just interested in a lot of that early stuff. And you know the first incarnation of Dirty Tactics was kind of more of that street punk, Clash rock and roll stuff. But as we moved on, we still like to incorporate that, but we’re all big fans of the Replacements and the Pixes…I’m really into the ‘60s psych bands and mod bands, like the Kinks and stuff. I feel like you can grab pieces of all of that into what we sound like now. I feel like that’s kind of what taught us how to write songs, was listening to all those records.
B: Which song do you think best characterizes the band?
G: I really like the “Process”…it’s off of It Is What It Is. Every time it has ever come on, it kind of gives you a positive feeling, even though it is kind of about how the process of songwriting and being in a band and making it all work is kind of overwhelming. It has all of our voices on it separately…we each take a lead vocal. I feel like that was the first solid representation of the new wave of Dirty Tactics.
B: How did you get to work with Pete Steinkopf of The Bouncing Souls?
G: We’ve known Pete for a while. He DJ’d a show we did in New Jersey a few years back and Chris has done some touring with Pete. We decided to work with Pete because he’s close to Philly and he backs the band.
B: What is the overall message of your songs?
G: It’s almost very pinpoint as to what we want to say with each song, as opposed to an overall message of every song. We don’t really have an outline of, you know, say we’re a working class band or we’re this kind of band. I feel like with each topic we do kind of choose, it really just comes back to not conforming really, finding your own way and questioning everything really.
B: How has music impacted your life?
G: It keeps suprising me more and more. I always grew up being a fan of it…I went to college when I was 17 so when I left college, I was still a freshly young, 18 yr old snot-nosed kid. Right after that, I just never stopped touring…immediately. That first tour when I was 19, we were in a tour bus supporting the Real McKenzies in Europe. Just crazy stuff like that you would never even fathom in your head when you were a kid. It definitely changed my life….just to even know that’s a possibility. You really can just pave your own way. I never would have thought that my only responsibility for any extended period of time would be to play in a different city every night and all I have to do is play guitar. It’s almost re-instilled our confidence in what we do.
B: What do you love/hate about touring?
G: I like to travel. I like knowing your time is very limited in whatever place you’re in. It adds that level of excitement, especially when you start making friends every place you go. You get to see your friends and hopefully make some new ones. What sucks is there is so much legwork and unnecessary bullshit. Having to deal with that whole internet world, there’s the whole social network of these people…instead of calling your friend up and saying, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if we did this?”. It’s become so much more complicated than it needs to be.
B: What is the status of punk music today?
G: I think it’s probably more constrained than it’s ever been as far as a “genre.” There are a lot of unspoken rules to follow with a lot of punk bands, but a lot of people forget that that particular term wasn’t around in the beginning of the punk era. It was just a lot of different groups of people that were doing their own things that were completely different. They found each other and made a scene where bands like The Talking Heads and Television were playing the same show as The Ramones. They knew they didn’t fit in with other genres of the time, especially with a lot of the over-indulgence in the late ‘70s. I think identifying the spirit of that scene as punk is something that is very alive…there are bands that are doing things very differently than other bands, and doing it themselves most times and try to find like-minded individuals…not for greater gain, but as a creative outlet and a way to travel the world. If you want to call that punk, then I guess punk is alive and well.
