“It’s so aggressive and obnoxious I can’t even describe it.”- Roxie (bassist)
“We want to write [what will amount to] our own Ramones self-titled album I want to record a massive fucking record, whether a label is behind it or not.” - Jesse (singer guitarist)

“There are kids just going completely ape shit. That’s fun. It makes we want to jump around an act crazy, because I look out there and I’m like yes, this is awesome.” Jesse

”It takes more work to have a scene in Vegas, and that way when you do have one, you appreciate it a little bit more.” Gilbert (Drummer)

If there is one thing that can be said with certainty about music in the first decade of the new millenium it is this: Nothing is off limits. We are barely four years into it, but for those of us who love music, there could have hardly been a more eclectic introduction to a new era. Garage rock became mainstream, hardcore is thriving, hip-hop is alive and well, there’s even a revival of ska.

And rather than being loyal to any one genre, it seems a lot of us are enjoying, ”a little bit of everything”, which naturally follows, because after all, is this not the most common response to the question, ”what kind of music do you like?”

But more than being a good season for music freaks it’s also a good season for up and coming bands. It means new groups have more freedom to be themselves without the cumbersome tags of style or type. For the Las Vegas based band The Loud Pipes it means all of this and a little bit more. The group formed in 2002 under the aegis of playing “slow and seedy rock ’n’ roll,” but not long after, found itself with a loyal fan base, widespread critical acclaim and one unstoppably monstrous sound. Yet any way you slice it, The Loud Pipes’ take on rock ’n’ roll remains hard to pigeonhole. In many ways this works to their advantage, as The Loud Pipes songwriter/guitarist Jesse observes: “ When we play with a hard core band our guitars crunch hard enough for their fans. When we play with a punk rock band, everybody can look at us and say, ’Yeah, they’re punks,’ and they can slam dance to us. And there’s enough rock ‘n’ roll stuff so that dudes who listen to like, the Seeds can get off on it too.” Summing it up , The Loud Pipes other guitarist, Pit offers, “We’re just a bunch of punk kids playing in a rock ’n’ roll band.”

Looking back and taking it all in, Roxie, The Loud Pipes’ bassist and ringleader says, ”God it’s like two different things, now it’s so aggressive and obnoxious I can’t even describe it. “It’s like (screaming like a heavy metal singer and cat clawing at the air) you know what I mean, it’s All and then nothing. It made me a better bassist. That’s for goddamn sure!”

Changes and the DIY Ethic
Another thing you can be sure of is that The Loud Pipes have undergone some personnel changes. (Roxie and Jesse are its only remaining original members). Its most recent roster switch came less than six months ago when singer Brain Novello was replaced by So.Cal emigrant, fan and friend of the band, Tony. Unanimously, The Loud Pipes are quick to point out there is no bad blood with Brian Novello, or any of its former members. Rather, the departures have all been amicable, the result of a natural evolution toward a faster leaner, more punk rock Loud Pipes. It may also have something to do with the fact that being in The Loud Pipes is a full time job and perhaps demands more time than most people are willing to commit to.

“This is what we do every day. If we’re not doing something related to this band. It’s weird,” says Tony. And then there’s the band’s numerous goals, as Jesse explains: ”We’re pretty stoked on finishing the CD/EP. We recorded it all ourselves, did the packaging ourselves, and everything else ourselves. Now we’re going to do a 3 song 7”, mostly because we are all vinyl nuts.” Later he adds, “We want to write [what will amount to] our own Ramones self-titled album. I want to write a massive fucking record, whether a label is behind it or not.”

The Loud Pipes really are a D.I.Y band, handling everything from recording and producing, to booking, web design and screen printing- all from their central Las Vegas studio dubbed “The Clubhouse.” If you want things done right, exactly the way you want, sometimes you just have to…

A Band For All Ages
If you think The Loud Pipes are zealots about their do-it yourself-ethic, they’re even more fanatical about playing (almost) exclusively for all age audiences (they’ll only play at bars if it’s to support other bands.) But given their ability to win over the most diverse crowds, this may be one of the few stubborn stances the band takes that can work against it. “We’re probably shooting ourselves in the foot by not playing bar shows,” confesses Roxie.

“We get offered bar shows all the time, and they’re really good shows. But we have to weigh that against the fact that most of our fan base would not be able to get in and they would have to watch from a window outside. I just like to look out when we're playing, like at the show we just played at Balcony Lights. There are kids just going completely ape shit. That’s fun. It makes me want to jump around an act crazy, because I look out there and I’m like yes, this is awesome.” says Jesse.

On being a band in Las Vegas
Jesse Getting It Said: “In Vegas, you always hear people talk about how there is no scene, but I think It’s because they are looking in the wrong places. Most of the time people won’t go to an all ages show because there is no alcohol. And those are the same people who say there is no scene here. Yet you can go and see a band like Curl up and Die or Absent Minded and there are tons of people there. So there is a scene. It just gets overlooked because it’s not at the bars where everyone is so programmed to think, ‘this is where you go to see music, this is the cool place to be and where you go to be seen.’ ”

Gilbert, the drummer, further explains: ”It takes more work to have a scene in Vegas, and that way when you do have one, you appreciate it a little bit more. You can go to Seattle, San Francisco, New York and jump into the scene in five minutes and go to all the cool clubs where all the cool people hang out and talk. But you can’t do that here. Everybody is so weary, so close knit with their friends. Like I said, you got to work a little bit harder to keep the scene going in Vegas.“

Tony has lived in Vegas for just over six months and coming from the environs of L.A and Santa Barbara Ca., you might think he’d be dismissive concerning the Las Vegas scene. But you’d be wrong. “Everything is easy in Vegas,” says Tony, “ If you want to be in a rock ’n’ roll ba… well if you’re me, and I can only speak from my own experience, if I’m into music, I’m in a rockin’ band. If I want to go out and get into trouble, I can. If I want to be a good boy and go to church, I can. If I want to get a good job I can. Everything is just really easy here.” By the way, Tony now writes most of the lyrics for The Loud Pipes.

It’s hard to argue with observations like that. But still, the problems Vegas is having with its all ages venues is undeniable. Yet it seems The Loud Pipes relish having to rise to the occasion, to their particular situation. It may have even made them a better band.

“I don’t think we would be The Loud Pipes if we weren’t in Vegas,” says Jesse, ”We get a good response when we go out of town, it’s not like that, but I mean, It’s just the whole vibe of being in Las Vegas. It’s just such a weird place to live.”

Las Vegas is a weird place to live. But it’s a good kind of weird, and it seems the Loud Pipes wouldn’t have it any other way.

Visit www.theloudpipes.com for more info on the band.