DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Bridge The Gap
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil's Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's not your average desert island and we'll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil's Island we find Bridge The Gap sat on the beach. The island is far from their home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil's Island?
Find out now...
Welcome to The Razors'e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don't worry about it's name I'm sure it's not as bad as that would suggest.
You're marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn't live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Jeff (Guitar): I have a wide range of musical interests, but I listened to No Use For A Name’s Leche Con Carne back in my high school days. I love the guitar sound with the drums. I would rock it until it the CD got cracked. That one is timeless for me.
Shon (bass): Pennywise’s Pennywise was the unmarked tape that changed my life. I listened to it relentlessly not realizing there was a genre in the world that was such a gateway drug. I would have to say that without that album, I probably never would have been in this band.
Ryan (drums): Rancid’s And Out Come The Wolves. It was one of the first punk albums I owned on tape and I skated to that ALL THE TIME as a teenager. It was a soundtrack to my life back then. I still LOVE it every time I listen.
Chad (vocals): No singular album had more of a life-changing impact on me than Pennywise’s Unknown Road. It’s still a compass in my daily life. Any time I need a little direction or motivational talking-to, I turn to Uncle Jim, Uncle Fletcher, Uncle Jason, Uncle Byron, and Uncle Randy.
Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to stay in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose?
Jeff: AFI’s The Art of Drowning. I loved this artwork. Just the spooky feeling it had and all the shading in the trees, and on the grass are little faces, if you look close. Just a cool piece of artwork.
Shon: Bad Religion The Process of Belief
Ryan: Misfits Box Set with the Crimson Ghost skull because I still love it and it could potentially scare away any unwanted visitors.
Chad: Bad Religion Suffer.
There's also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What's your tipple of choice?
Jeff: Of course, I would have to choose WATER to stay alive, but if you're talking a pleasure drink, then probably a nice Captain and Coke would hit the spot on that tropical island.
Shon: Singapore Sling
Ryan: Liquid Death — Convicted Melon
Chad: I don’t drink alcohol. So I’d either choose water or green tea. But being shipwrecked, I might take up drinking again to escape.
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?
Jeff: I would have to grab a shirt, cause I'm so pale white, I would burn to death in five minutes on this island, so I would need to cover up a bit. But probably a Social Distortion Mommy's Little Monster shirt. I used to wear mine so much back in the day.
Shon: Flatbill Scary Kids Scaring Kids hat.
Ryan: Pennywise OG throw blanket. Always gotta have a blanket on a beach and it can serve as a towel.
Chad: I’d have to choose a hat to protect my bald dome. Misfits.
You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
Jeff: Funny question, and I'm just recently divorced, so my band mates sound perfect, and then my twin boys, of course. It would be cool to hang with them forever.
Shon: My wife, Elizabeth.
Ryan: Your mom.
Chad: Emily. I wouldn’t be able to sleep without her beside me.
There's a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
Jeff: Decendents Milo goes to College. I saw the Decendents in Vegas in like 1997 or so, I can't remember exactly when, but it was an epic show at The Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel. I was right in the front and Milo handed me the mic to yell "I'm not a Loser." Then after the show, I drove 10 hours to Havasupai, Arizona, and hiked 13 miles through the desert to a waterfall to camp for a week. A hardcore weekend.
Shon: Primus.
Ryan: Last year’s Punk Rock Bowling when Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, The Interrupters, Bad Religion, and Rancid played, among other great bands.
Chad: It would be my first punk show. Huntridge Theater in Las Vegas. Summer of 1995. Pennywise headlined with The Joykiller and DFL. At 15, I was a huge Pennywise fan and it was before the internet, so outside of what images punk bands put in their album sleeves, you never really knew what these people looked like. I remember being stunned by how big Fletcher was. That show left an indelible mark on me. Like Pennywise’s music, that show changed my life. My friends and I, including my cousin Jimmy, got on stage for the customary set-closer Bro Hymn, and after the song ended, the band disappeared backstage and we just followed them. No one stopped us. We ended up backstage in the green room, munching Pennywise’s food on their rider. Still, no one interrupted us or tried to throw us out. Finally, Fletcher comes into the room after being out back for a while, sees that his tortilla chips have been decimated, and yells, “Who the hell ate all my chips?!” My friend J.D. was the true culprit and tried to melt into the background. But pretty soon, Fletcher came over and started chatting us up. We ended up kicking with him and the band til like 3 o’clock in the morning. As a parting gift, Fletcher gave each of us backstage passes to the following night’s show (it was a back-to-back night in Vegas for PW) and as kids who lived 90 minutes away in Southern Utah, he said, “If you guys can find a way back down here tomorrow, we’ll hang out again!” One of us managed to talk a parent into making the trek, and once again, we got to watch Pennywise rock the stage and hang out again. Yeah, that night ruled. Having a recording of PW’s set for my figurative eternal stay on a desert island would be rad.
You're getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
Jeff: I would write my letter to Bill Stevenson of the Decendents, just because he is so capable and smart. If there is anyone that can figure out that Bridge the Gap is stranded on some island it would be Bill. The guy is amazing and extremely smart.
Shon: Brian Barbara of Deviates because he’s a man of his word.
Ryan: Joe Sib (22 Jacks). He knows all about a message in a bottle.
Chad: I’d hope for the best, and address my message in a bottle to Jimmy Buffet. The dude knows how to make the most out of island life.
You've been stuck here for a while and food supplies are running low. There's only one thing for it... which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
Jeff: Oh shoot, this is hard, but unfortunately Chef Shon would get a closer look. He’s the big guy to feed us, haha, but really, I’d try to probably try to eat, bark, leaves, or catch seagulls to save the Chef.
Shon: I’d volunteer myself as tribute. I'd feed the most.
Ryan: Shon — but only after he provided us with the recipe.
Chad: This is messed. Lol. I definitely wouldn’t choose Shon because he has the culinary wisdom and knowledge that could probably help us survive on a delicious form of proto-gastronomy involving ingredients such as sand, crabshell husks, and sea salt. Shon would have to be removed from the equation. If push came to shove, I’d bite the bullet because this has suddenly turned into a hellish prospect. I’d want out.
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
Jeff: Mike Ness of Social Distortion. I was way into that band, and just the full vibe of the songs and the struggle. His songs are all so classic and have a heart-felt meaning to each. You can feel the struggle in the music. Then Chuck Biscuits joined the band and they did a tour for White Light, White Heat, White Trash, and he killed it on the drums. It was so cool to see the drummer from Danzig play with Social D, and he just ROCKED.
Shon: Honestly, the first person that came to mind is Chad Jensen because he is one of my closest friends. He has taught me a lot about passion and drive. I'm blown away daily by his creative abilities and am grateful that he chooses to share them with myself and the world, but since he is already on the island with me, I'll go with the late Jason Mathew Thirsk from Pennywise. His melodic punk songs created a road map for taking charge of your life and making a difference.
Ryan: Greg Graffin of Bad Religion.
Chad: On one hand, I’d have to concur with Shon about JMT because if the requisite is the musician who shaped my way of thinking, he stands at the top. Well said, Shon! And thank you, bro. But in the interest of keeping it interesting, I’ll go with Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion. There are many songwriters whose music changed my life and helped shape my outlook/mindset, but Gurewitz did so in the most artistic and inquisitive way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pulled out the dictionary (remember, I’m a kid of the ‘90s pre-Google) and looked up words and phrases from Bad Religion lyrics. The literal search for meaning in Gurewitz’s lyrics was symbolic of Bad Relgion’s music and the influence it had on me. I’m sure I can speak for man BR fans in that respect. I’ve learned so much just by listening to BR. Definitely a hallmark of my own curiosity about life. Gurewitz has written some of the best songs of all time, let alone punk rock. Infected, Do What You Want, Generator, I Want To Conquer The World, Sorrow, Better Off Dead, the list goes on.
