Volcom’s Cartoonish Rockers Support Beer and Friendship

Last weekend I had a chance to catch up with Volcom’s Goons of Doom moments before they went onstage to rock the San Diego Convention Center at ASR. Singers Vaughan Dead and kamikaze aerialist Ozzie Wright let me in on a few secrets from their new album, their current US Tour, and where they came from.

I feel like there’s a little sarcasm going on in the title of your new album I Hate My Hair and I want to Die. Your hair isn’t all that bad.

It’s about having a good time…I don’t know. I think I’m going grey and Ozzie’s going bald. Everyone has a bad hair day, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s meant to be funny.

With the name of your band and your new album, you guys seem like pretty colorful characters.

Yeah, if people who go to see us want to be serious, they’re going to leave and feel pretty disappointed. We’re a bunch of cartoon characters…there’s no doubt about it.

Ozzie, your section in BS! Makes it seem like you’re on a mission to hurt yourself. Is that how every session is for you?

Blakey: He surfs like that all time.

Ozzie: Yeah, I was in a good mood that day, just running on the beach, diving on the sand, diving on the rocks…I don’t know, it’s just like the ocean is a playground and I try to have fun. The happier I am the better I surf, definitely.

Where was that? It looks like a good place to get hurt.

Barney Barron got us in there up in Santa Cruz, because he knows one of the guys that owns the land and it was kind of like a special privilege to get in there…

You started out playing music as a mock-band in the surf movie Doped Youth.

We were pretending to be a band and we didn’t even play instruments and we made that movie and were like this is so fun…

Who in your band is the most cartoonish character?

Cowboy for sure…the drummer. He’s made out of rubber. Ozzie’s pretty cartoonish. I think everyone is equally cartoonish. We got a ten foot Samoan in the band now too…so he’s pretty cartoonish.

Do you have a favorite song on the new album?

The one I enjoy playing the most is probably Pirates, because it’s about sleeping with sisters and it starts off mellow then gets pretty crazy. We go into a psychedelic mode for a bit, and it’s probably got the most character of our new songs.

Tell me about the song Beer Money. The chorus goes, “It’s true. I stole your money. I spent it on beer and friends…”

I wrote that about my ex-girlfriend because she kept accusing me of stealing money out of her wallet when she wasn’t looking. So I wrote this sorta sarcastic song that said, “Yeah, it’s true that’s what I’ve been doin!” Even though I didn’t. We were playing it one night downstairs in the garage and she got so pissed off and totally lost it on the band screaming, “If you play that song one more time I’m leaving you!” and flicked off the light and left us in the dark there. Then we couldn’t play it at clubs if she was around. But she’s gone now so we get loud on that one, mate.

You guys just kicked off a US Tour. What can people expect?

If people want to come and get drunk with us, that’s probably the best thing you can do. If you want to come and be critical there’s plenty of holes in our act, but if you’re looking for a party then come on down! We just want to meet everyone and have a really good time.

Go check out the Goons of Doom at a city near you::

9/18/09 Costa Mesa, CA – La Cave
9/19/09 Laguna Beach, CA – Laguna Surf & Sport – FREE, 5:00pm All Ages
9/19/09 Laguna Beach, CA – Sandpiper (Dirty Bird)