Six questions with Alkaline Trio, Cursive frontmen

By Laura Davis, Deanna Rilling

Thursday, April 1, 2010 | 12:26 p.m.

Alkaline Trio lead singer Matt Skiba and Cursive frontman Tim Kasher discuss their bands and touring together before playing Saturday at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

Skiba, on references to other musicians in the band's work

There's an homage to Ozzy Osbourne on the album that I'll let people try and find on their own. There's been homages to Steve Albini, more specifically Big Black. There's a Naked Raygun reference, there's a U.S. Maple reference — one of my absolute favorite bands.

Skiba, on why he mentioned heroin on the new album, This Addiction

Because I do other substances. Heroin was something I could use [in the song] safely and my mom could hear and know that I'm not shooting dope. [Laughs.] Not really, I mean that's partly accurate, but no, I think heroin is just ... heroin has a stigma to it, that it's heavier and it's deathier than a lot of other drugs. When people OD, it's usually heroin.

Skiba, on non-mainstream belief systems (such as his previous identification with Satanism)

I think people hear the words "transcendental meditation" and "paganism" and that's almost worse because it's real. Those are real things, those are absolute energies; Satanism is like Halloween. Transcendental meditation and having a realization of how we really are — whether we want to be or not — we live in a pagan culture. Look at your calendar. That's based on paganism, that's not based on Christianity. Jesus was not born on December 25th. There's carbon evidence of it. That freaks people out. It's real. I go with what I know and what I see, and I believe in reality.

Skiba, on how the band has evolved

We had some lineup changes and we've had the current lineup for about 10 years now. I think the key to us still doing what we're doing and being fairly successful at it is that we're all friends and that we have a really good time doing what we're doing. You know, the Ramones all hate each other and they did it for decades. I wouldn't be able to do that. That would be like working at the bank or something. If you're not happy and you're not having fun, [it's] time to switch jobs.

Skiba, on being an Ani DiFranco fan

I was a really big fan of hers when she was playing to maybe two or three hundred people. I still see her name all the time. ... I love her. It sounds weird, but I'm proud of her. ... I'm stoked for her for that and how the success of [her label] Righteous Babe ... Ani's pretty radical and really beautiful and a great songwriter.

Skiba, on touring with Cursive

We love Cursive as a band and as people. It's important for us to tour with our friends. We're always into making new friends and the Cursive guys, we really didn't know that well, but were introduced a couple times and I've been to a bunch of their shows and you can just tell when people are cool, good people and those are the kind of people we want to tour with and, on top of that, we're big fans of the band. It really is an honor to have them out with us.

— Deanna Rilling

Kasher, on the proceeds from new single "Discovering America" going to the American Indian College Fund

I became really inspired by the Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota, about 15 miles south of Mount Rushmore. The shame about him is he was a great Native American warrior who was shot anonymously in the back during the war. Nobody even knows who killed him, and that type of story is common for Native Americans.

Kasher, on his lyric "I spent the best years of my life / waiting on the best years of my life"

I guess I loosely see the storyline thread of that album [new effort Mama, I'm Swollen] to be about kind of this lone quest that this character goes on to try to settle some of life's greater questions, and coming up with nothing at the end of it all. And that was kind of the very damaging ending to it. I think it's relatable to myself, but it's not that it's necessarily me.

Kasher, on his favorite writers

Trying to read a lot, you go through different writers and get excited about different ones, but with Mama, I'm Swollen, I was reading a lot of Cormac McCarthy, and was just really excited about his general philosophy on humanity — I think he's great. And I've been reading a lot of Philip Roth and John Updike — those, I think, kind of informed this next record I've been writing. I really get pretty heavily influenced by what I'm reading at the time.

Kasher, on his instrument of choice

I came across this old Gibson Melody Maker that I just love. I'm hoping to play [it] for a long time. It's pretty old and beat up. I was playing a Les Paul for a little while, and I just hated it. It was the most boring guitar I think I've ever played. I'm a bit sentimental about my Gibson Epiphone Acoustic. It's my first guitar and probably 98 percent of my songs I've written on that guitar.

Kasher, on his new eponymous solo project

I was going to use another moniker, but I've already used a couple and it was just time. It's just exercising a little more freedom. It's a pop record for the most part, but the response I've been getting is that it's also maybe some of the nastier lyrics I've written. It's a little bit unkind. It's called The Game of Monogamy and it's a little unapologetic.

Kasher, on touring with Alkaline Trio

I think we come from different genres, but we still have similar backgrounds from like the Midwest '90s and what not. We've had friends of friends over the years. We feel pretty good about getting to run around with them, and it makes sense to us musically and as far as our pasts are concerned.

— Laura Davis

— Originally published on LasVegasWeekly.com