by John Bear
Daily Lobo
Warren Oakes, drummer for Against Me!, like most other musicians, doesn't like to pigeonhole his music by labeling it.
"Some people say we are a punk band," he said. "We've been accused of worse."
He said whenever possible they try to avoid sounding like other bands.
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"We don't really have an affinity with any other band," he said. "If we do stuff that sounds like another band, we scrap it."
But if you twist his arm, he said Against Me! could be compared to Destiny's Child, though he couldn't really explain exactly what he meant by that.
"They are trying to realize a vision, and I respect them for that," he said.
As for how they sound, he said they try to come up with different styles, everything from country to straight-up rock 'n' roll.
"We can't pull off rap metal, so we try to shy away from that," he said.
Other than that, he said nothing is really off-limits.
"We play anything we can pull off," he said. "When we are writing songs, we try out different stuff."
The band releases records on Fat Wreck Chords, usually associated with punk rock.
He said the label has been shifting gears somewhat lately, bringing in a more diverse selection of music.
Against Me! hails from Gainesville, Fla. Oakes said the city has an eclectic music scene.
"Tom Petty's from there," he said. "Bo Diddley's from there. There's a great indie label there, No Idea Records. They consistently put out great records. There's been some great bands everybody loves and some great bands no one's ever heard of."
He said the band is going to all 50 states on this tour.
"I got to visit Hawaii and North Dakota," he said. "We played our first show in Delaware. That was really exciting."
Oakes is happy he has the chance to play music full time.
"The food service industry is not going to be welcoming me back any time soon," he said.
He said he was not sure what he would be doing if his music career never worked out.
"It's hard to say, working in the food service industry," he said. "When there's a fork in your life, it's hard to say when you go the other way what would have happened."
He said without music, he doesn't have much else he can do.
"I don't really have any skills or trades or a college degree in my back pocket," he said. "All of my eggs are kind of in this basket."
The band tours about nine or 10 months out of the year. His happiness about being a professional musician notwithstanding, he said it is nice to get home after touring.
"It's nice to have a kitchen to make yourself some food in," he said. "You can't really do that while you're on tour."
Inconveniences of the road don't deter Oakes from wanting to play music professionally for the rest of his life. He said a little less touring in the future would be welcome.
"I'd like to think I will be doing some incarnation of this," he said. "I can't expect to be touring for nine or 10 months a year five or 10 years from now, but I don't really have a backup plan."
Against Me! is playing with three other bands - the Soviettes, Smoke or Fire and the Epoxies.
"The Soviettes write some perfect pop songs, a little ruff around the edges," he said.
He said Smoke or Fire are powerful sounding, thick but catchy.
"The Epoxies have kind of new wave elements - keyboards, keytar," he said. "It's retro new wavy punk. They have a very dynamic live show."
He said the opening bands are good at what they do.
"I am not just saying that because I am supposed to," he said.
He said anyone who comes to the show should expect to sweat, but the lineup offers a diverse mix.
"It's a pretty safe bet," he said. "The full spectrum of rock is represented."
