THE PROSTITUTES

 

By Tyler Vile

 

Punk Globe: Tell us a bit about you and your band, The ProStituteS.

 

Kevin Prostitute: Currently we are based out of Long Beach Ca., have a new release coming out “Kill them Before They Eat” on May Cause Dizziness and Sonic Jett Records. 

The band was originally formed in 1996 in Harrisburg, PA. Shit hole of the universe. We were 5 guys who enjoyed raw rock n roll, punk rock, and hardcore punk. We did lotsa cheap speed, coke, tons of drinking, prescription drugs, component cooler, whatever, and dug getting kicked outta the same bars together. What brought us together was that we were all very individualistic people in a very conservative place that really wanted the typical resident to be as fuckin'''' average as possible. The band has been through a number of line-up changes with me being the primary member and songwriter.

Personally I’m a pretty fucked up individual with a taste for the unknown and a lot of nihilistic tendencies. My main passion in life is being true as possible to my subversive deviant romantic self at all costs. Material things have never appealed to me, it’s more like what I need out of necessity for my existence. I hate conservatives, I hate phony music, I hate scenesters, I hate trend followers. 

Pretty much 80 percent of the human race. But I think I’m an alright guy who gets along with most people I just hold true to what I believe in and dispose of things I find to be insincere and controlling. I find insincerity to be the highest crime of all. I have accumulated a lot of nasty habits along the way that I’ve had to kick too. I have an awesome girl in my life, the one I’ve waited years for and the best band ever I’m playing with. I’ve lived from one side of the country to the other.

 

Living was based pretty much on nothing monetarily, with bouts of homelessness and deep depression. Things I think you sometimes gotta go through to really get to the core of life which is rock n roll for me. I have a hard time settling for less nowadays and love meeting real individuals with real passion and real balls. Those are the kind of people I respect. I’m not a big fan of accommodating other people’s mental illness and unhappiness due to the fact they thought their life/upbringing should’ve been some delusional scripted feel good Christian right Disney piece of crap some capitalist pig screenwriter dreamed up in Hollywood to give kids an escape when they came to the realization that their own parents and the American dream were a bunch of shit. 

Fabricated and vicarious existence is the second best thing to suicide if u ask me. 

 

Punk Globe: Have you been in any bands besides The ProStituteS?

 

Kevin Prostitute: I was in a band called Mainliner in like 1990-1992, we put out one 7” called “Rock n Roll Animal” which I still see pop up from time to time. The Inversions, which was pretty much the ProStituteS under another name 'cause I was whacked outta my head and thought the name should change. One of those sporadic insecure over thought things. I was the singer for a band called the Cheap Dates but we kind of disagreed on musical direction. I’m more of an aggressive singer and wasn’t that keen on doing Real Kids/Flaming Groovies kinda tunes, cool shit to listen to but not what I prefer to perform.

 

Punk Globe: Coming up during the '90s where "punk" commercialism was at its height and bands that ruled the airwaves like Green Day and Sum 41 represented this white-washed perversion of punk at its hardest was it difficult to gain an audience?

 

Kevin Prostitute: I would say yes, but we weren’t into merchandising or really giving a shit. We wanted to play our rock n roll, piss off motherfuckers, and be left alone, so we all formed bad habits and aligned ourselves with no one. Period. HAHA. But it was difficult in the fact that we wouldn’t kiss anyone’s ass. 

All these fly by nighters that are like a CEO nowadays of some fuckin'g mortgage company but at the time pretended to be passionate and into “punk rock” and it turns out in the end to be just another fuckin'' actor/actress who’s receives a nice weekly allowance from their guilt ridden parents. It kind of killed the scene and great magazines like Punk Globe, MRR and Flipside, all of a sudden it was merchandise and whose record cost more to make. Like all the hair bands from the 80’s cut their hair and bought a Green Day record. 

It just contaminated the whole camaraderie DIY ethic with people wanting to “make it big”. Nothing to do with having something relevant to say or inspired music. Paint by numbers cheerleader and ex football player looking for the next train to hop in fear of their waning high school glory days. 

So I think a lot of bands like us ended up breaking up or getting too fucked up. It’s kind of like catching the woman of your dreams in bed with John McCain and she’s loving every minute of it. If you put anything on this planet through a filter it’s a good day if 20% of it is worth a fuck. 

 

Punk Globe: Who are your main influences?

 

Kevin Prostitute: Definitely that got me into playing in bands like when I was 14 would be The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Generation X (I love "Valley of the Dolls"), The Stooges, AC DC, Hanoi Rocks, and 70’s Aerosmith. 

 

The types of records that are a big influence on me would be like Iggy’s unpopular solo stuff, total fuckin' genius ("Zombie Birdhouse," "The Soldier," "New Values"), Legal Weapon – "Death of Innocence," X – "Under the Black Sun," The Wipers – "Is this Real?,"  Wire–"154," Chairs missing, plus I love early 80’s new wave, 60’s bubblegum, sleazy 70’s hard rock. 

Reading wise, I’ve also gone to Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and Hunter S Thompson for inspiration. Anything can inspire me, meeting younger kids today who dig the band, go to school in drag, write awesome poetry, are creative and don’t fall for the PlayStation myspace passive existence, who are out there forming bands, making friends, creating their own tangible world are an influence to me. fuckin'' rock n roll soundtrack and ideas that provoke, disturb, and inspire. 

 

Punk Globe: How long were The ProStituteS on hiatus for until the recent reunion?

 

Kevin Prostitute: About two years. We were rehearsing in Rhode Island, we had Jami Sleazie as our drummer and some other sordid characters in the band. Nothing much came of it. The chemistry was off or I was, sometimes things look better on paper. Nothing was recorded. The I journeyed from New England, to the Midwest, and eventually shipwrecked in Long Beach. An existential mission that I embarked on spaced out, spun out, and a little fucked up, but definitely worth it, and wouldn’t take back the experience of being transient for so long for anything. No regrets. It takes a while sometime to figure out where you really wanna be in life or how bad you want your sanity still intact, haha. 

 

Punk Globe: Tell us about the new album, Conley said it was really solid, one of the best reunion albums he'd ever heard. He'd better be right

  

Kevin Prostitute: I think it flat out smokes, a great rock n roll record filled with really solid songs and playing. I had 10 songs written over the past couple of years and wanted to record them perfectly and met my guitar player Issac James who helped produce the record I've always wanted. Sometimes in the past the band wasn’t able to play what I had written so they were like altered versions of songs. 

Not like we’re prog rock or stylistically that much different then before it just sounds like the ProStituteS should sound in 2008. But the fucker sounds like it was recorded in 1978, raw, no frills. The fans I've played it for are completely stoked on it and I m real excited about it as well. The current rhythm section we have of Noal Brown and P. Mo is the baddest ass rhythm section in the US of A. We’re playing old tunes in our set too, so live you’re just getting more bang and debauchery for your buck.

 

Punk Globe: Have you ever toured and do you plan to tour with this incarnation of The ProStituteS? 

 

Kevin Prostitute: We’ve just started booking shows for the release of the new album and have about 6 lined up so far. We wanna tour everywhere we possibly can and see all there is to see. If we can go across the US that would be awesome or Europe which we’ve never been too. It’s a matter of financing and expenses. You know the drill. Playing live is where it’s at. Where we have the most fun.

 

Punk Globe: I've heard you're looking to add a rhythm guitarist to your band, have you found your person yet and what do you think it will bring to the band?

 

Kevin Prostitute: On the recording, there’s a second guitar, so basically live it just would fill out the sound more and be a little more powerful and in your face. We have a few options we’re currently investing but we’re still open to anyone interested.

 

Punk Globe: Do you still feel the same sense of anger that was the center piece of that magnificent self titled album?

 

Kevin Prostitute: Definitely, some things never change; it’s more like the enemy evolves. I’m still pissed at the world and what passes for rock n roll nowadays. I definitely have total hatred for insincere individuals or groups who misrepresent themselves and poison authenticity with their own delusional power hungry fucked up sense of “values”. 

I’m not mister politics, but throughout the years I’ve always found 2 things 2 be true, everyone has an ulterior motive and it’s always “the finger pointers”. Condescending assholes reproduce at an astounding rate. That’s just me man. I just don’t like herd mentality and fuckin rules set to make others feel comfortable in their rotting skin, ya know. 

 

Punk Globe: Do you feel you've evolved musically and lyrically as a band?

 

Kevin Prostitute: I definitely feel some evolution in the fact for the first time the songs sound the closest to what I hear when I compose them in my head. The musicianship is definitely stepped up a notch but in the sense it gives the tunes more bite and dynamics. I’ve always just tried to write what I would wanna hear and perform what I would wanna see, whether I’ve succeeded at it or not, only time will tell. But then again there’s two types of song, a good one and a bad one.

 

Punk Globe: You have a couple of shows coming up, correct? How does it feel to be performing again?

 

Kevin Prostitute: Yeah! Quite a few! I’m totally stoked to be out playing again with a kick ass band and look forward to meeting new people and putting on a killer show people can dig.

 

Punk Globe: Any last words for Punk Globe readers?

 

Kevin Prostitute: Yeah I wanted to thank all the ProStituteS fans for their support mental and physical throughout the years to keep me going. I wanted to thank Jackie for helping me out getting this new record together in the crazy fashion we did it in. 

Thanks to Nate Dizzle, Matt Coppens, Joel Jett, Conley Chlamydia, Jay (LFR), Mike, many people I forgot, anyone who’s checking us out, our awesome graphic artist designer Jillian Fulford and the cool people and punk rockers I’ve met so far in Long Beach! Stay true to yourself and fuck the rest. Long live rock n roll and thanks Punk Globe and Tyler.

 

Check us out at www.myspace.com/thefuckinProStituteS.

Punk Globe: Thanks for doing this interview Kevin! I also can't thank you enough for that hell of a debut album, I scream along to it whenever snobby kids piss me off (a lot).