Real People Interview (Connor)

^^ photo by @scumverga

One of the loudest and rowdiest bands in all of Florida and my personal favorite

"Real People". Connor, Michael, Syd and now Joss as well, bring the fucking heat every single show with Connors insane madman vocals and guitar, Syd beating the fuck out of those drums , Michael bringing the heaviest fucking bass lines and Joss roaring on guitar and a lot of the times them doing it pretty fucking faded. Every single one of their shows feels like absolute destruction in the best way possible.

I still remember the first time i saw them at the Fuzz Baby warehouse back in January of 2019 and completely being blown away and being like who the fuck are these people just cause they were so loud and crazy and the songs were so good even tho their set was a complete mess; over the years they've just gotten better and better and their sets gotten tighter while also getting wayyy fucking rowdier and its sooo siick to see.

^^ @blo09te

^^ @artistorkiller

^^ @artistorkiller

They've put out 3 EP's, two of which have been put out on the No Deal youtube and they're all fucking insane. My personal favorite being "Real People Give Guns To Hong Kong" that one makes me wanna fucking ram my head through a wall. Specifically being at their shows and hearing the first two seconds of The Hollywood Gimp is enough to send everyone into a fucking frenzy, it feels like as soon as the song starts you're about to go to war or some shit and its fucking amazinngggg, everyones running around all cracked out screaming those words right back at Connor "I AM THE GIMP".

Their shows have been some of the most memorable shows that have gone down in Miami in the past couple years from the commemorative Wyatt Show at O'Malleys to the Real People Tape Release show at The Corner warehouse (that got shut down by the cops cause of some stupid Miami bullshit and then got moved to a house in Allapatah) and the fucking LEGENDARY show/skate event with Twompsax in Wynwood and so on and so forth. (Honorable Mention: the stage coach show in the Churchills Parking Lot where there was a bunch of technical difficulties and Michael just started taking off all his clothes and ended up screaming the rest of the song into the mic in just his underwear, that shit was hilarioussss). They've managed to get shit going in South Florida after everything being dead as fuck cause of the Pandemic and even got to hop on a tour with Gee Tee and Research Reactor Corp and in doing that brought some well needed attention to South Florida.

^^ photo by @elvis_akbar_

^^ photo by @elvis_akbar_

After they got back from their tour with Gee Tee and Research Reactor Corp we got a chance to talk to Connor about the band and their tour and plans for the future.

1 – Whats your name and what do you do in the band?

My names Connor and I play guitar and sing

2 – How did you guys become friends with Gee Tee and get the chance to join in on some of those shows they’re playing in that east coast tour?

We were asked by Billy from Research Reactor Corp which is another Sydney based aussie band. We’d been kinda talkin a bit back and forth for a while on Instagram after the new tape came out, just shooting the shit or sending videos of us throwing back beers haha. Eventually he told us that RRC and GeeTee were gonna hit the states in the fall and asked if we wanted to play. I think they all dug the new tape so that’s what put us on the radar.

3 – How’d you guys get your music on the No Deal youtube? Did they hit you up? Did you hit them up? ??

That’s a secret!

4 – How did you guys all meet each other?

I met Syd when I was like 14. We played in the rhythm section of our schools jazz band together. I met Michael our bassist through a mutual friend who thought we’d get along. The first song we ever played was Beyond the Wall of Sleep by Sabbath and I was really excited someone down the block from me was hip to that stuff.

5 – What’s that pedal you use for vocals and howd you find it?

I’ve gone through a few. The one I was using the most up until now is an MXR Flashback II delay pedal. Problem is it’s a guitar pedal and ended up being more trouble than it was worth whenever mixers or any set up that wasn’t mine were involved. Half the time it didn’t even work or would just end up pissing off the sound guy so I bought a Death by Audio echo master, which is a delay pedal made specifically for vocals. XLR inputs and everything!

6 – What pedals do you use for guitar?

None usually. Sebastian who was playing with us for a while had a bunch of cool stuff like phasers and flangers and delay etc etc. I might throw a delay on or something now that he’s not playing with us anymore.

I wanna start getting into using pedals though. Back when I started Real People I had an attitude that was very anti pedal for some reason.

I think it was a rejection of playing guitar-solo oriented music and metal to something more bareboned and raw. I wanted to reflect every aspect of that simple and quick punk attitude and the best way (I thought) to do that, guitar-wise, was just plugging straight into the amp.

Looking back on it now, it just feels like a silly limitation to put on myself.

7 – What ever happened to your guys van?

Rear end took a shit. I tried changing the axle bearing seal cause it was pissing gear oil out of the brakes and I think I fucked up the housing for the axle or whatever it’s called when I was banging in the new seal. Gonna try to get her mobile again, I’m pretty attached to that machine.

8 - Who draws the Real People album covers? They’re siick

The first one was me, second was Syd, third was Michael.

9 – Whats been your favorite show you’ve ever played?

That’s a tough question. As of now I don’t know if I have a favorite show, they kinda all stick out for different reasons. The old Fuzzbaby warehouse shows were sick, especially the 4/20 show, which at the time was the biggest turn out I had at a show I booked.

It was also when I really met and got to hang out with a lot of the people we play shows with today. Savannah was our first out of state show and that whole two day run was some of the most fun I’d had in a long time, we also played really well which felt awesome. I also remember a time we played at Rosas and the crowd knew the lyrics to Psychic War, thats a night that sticks with me.

10 – What is Slovenly Recordings and how did you guys get the “Life Without A Head” EP out with them?

We met Pete the owner of the label when The Cavemen from New Zealand came over to tour Florida before their shows in Cuba. They’re a cool punk label that focuses more on garage stuff than what we play so it was cool they wanted to work with us.

I guess he liked us and we shmoozed him up enough to do a tape!

11 – How did you guys first ever meet Sesha from Dead South/Power Clash Records/Fuzzbaby (rip) ?

She was at our first show ever! Came right up to us afterwards and introduced herself and we’ve known her as a friend ever since. It was at this old venue/recording warehouse called the museum of shit. It was the first time I’d seen Zig Zag play as well.

12 – Who are some of your favorite local bands to play with?

Ruffans, Headfoam, Deformative, Creature Cage, all the boys!! We got some sick bands down here

13 – How would you describe Hollywood, FL to people that aren’t from around here?

The way I’d describe it is probably more how I remember it growing up than the way it is today. Just a weird spot that has a pretty unique identity compared to what’s going on in Miami and Ft.Lauderdale.

Crazy crackheads, drunks, miles of cool neon colored motels, old sunburned boat guys, droves of annoying Canadians, and comfy bohemian neighborhoods. It’s a special place to me but it’s kinda losing its soul. I feel like 10 years from now it’ll be just like sunny isles or Ft.Lauderdale beach.

14 – Do you have any dream venues that you’d like to play some day? Or maybe venues that aren’t around anymore that you wish you could’ve played?

Dream venues no. I’d like to play in Australia and Berlin though.

15 – What are your favorite bands?

Black Sabbath, Thee Oh Sees, Lounge Lizards, RMFC, GeeTee

16 – Heineken or PBR?

Heineken

17 – Whats your favorite beer?

Modelo

18 – What are some bands you wish would come down to play in South Florida?

Every band I like, nobody comes down here!

19 – What was the first show you ever played?

5th grade for a Christmas show in a park.

20 – When did you start making music and did you start with guitar or did you learn another instrument first?

I tried to learn drums cause my dad is a drummer but couldn’t multitask at all so I ended up playing guitar. The first time I picked it up I tried playing it lefty and my dad made me learn righty so I never had to worry about having access to a left handed guitar if I was jamming with friends or whatever. Pretty practical thinking there.

I don’t know when I started making music exactly. Maybe when I was in 6th or 7th grade with my friend Sebastian. I might still have some of the recordings we made on an old computer somewhere.

21 – What are some albums that have changed your life?

Minor Threats first two 7” on YouTube was the first punk music I listened to. Before then I had this idea in my head that I was gonna hate anything that wasn’t heavy metal for some stupid reason haha. But by the end of the first song it was like I finally discovered a sound that truly resonated with me and how I was feeling at the time. I think it actually changed the direction my life was headed in, for better or worse!!

22 – Whats your favorite song to play from your set?

Psychic War

23 – Whats happening next for Real People in terms of shows or music or tours?

Next year we wanna hit a big tour and make more tapes! I wanna start getting weird with it cause I feel like I’ve hit a bit of a wall when it comes to playing more straight forward punk music, not that we ever really did that anyway. I think we’re all itching to expand our musical horizons and come up with some really interesting and fun stuff. We’ll see how it goes!

Me personally I’m planning on going to Australia for a couple months next year so I’m saving up for that right now. As soon as my lease runs out on the place I’m staying at right now I wanna bounce, it’s time to get out of Florida for a bit.

Next Real People Show is gonna be fucking siick:

PRISON AFFAIR, REAL PEOPLE AND THE RUFFANS

LIVE AT GRAMPS WYNWOOND

IN MIAMI ON MAY 26TH

!!! PRE SALE TICKETS HERE !!!

Show brought to you by: Breakeven Booking

more REAL PEOPLE:

^^ @blo09te (Sandbox 11/26/22)

^^ photo by @sexiest.grandma (Outside the Twompsax show 11/23/21)

^^ photo by @scumverga (Churchills Pub 12/31/2019)

^^ photo by @scumverga (Churchills Pub 12/31/2019)

^^ photo by @sexiest.grandma (house in Allapatah 3/18/23)

^^ @artistorkiller (Commemorative Wyatt show at O'Malleys 11/12/23) (RIP Wyatt <3 ) (This show was fucking legendary, all the sets were rowdy as fuck and there was only mad love and good vibes that day and it was all for Wyatt)

^^ photo by @sexiest.grandma (At a show at the Auld Dubliner 11/19/23)