I’ve interviewed City Wolves before but a lot has been going on for them lately (Erin Miller joined the band, they’re releasing a full length album, and going on tour) so obviously, I had to interview them again. We sat in Brigdon Markward’s living room, discussed our ideal dates, and some people ate dog treats.

 

Before the actual interview, Brigdon Markward, Watson Meyer, and Forest Molina brought up how good Brigdon’s dog’s treats are.

 

BRIGDON: Oh yeah, her dog treats. Um, sometimes we’ll eat them.

 

FOREST: They’re actually pretty good, I was pleasantly surprised.

 

ERIN: They’re a little gritty.

 

WATSON: Yeah, they’re dog treats but they’re still edible, like, I don’t feel uncomfortable eating them.

 

ERIN: I mean, if you handed them to me and told me they were some weird hippy co-op bullshit cookie…

 

BRIGDON: They do taste like some hippy co-op bullshit.

 

WATSON: If you were handed one and you had it in your hand long enough, you’d be like, “alright, I’m gonna eat it. It’s in my hand I might as well eat it.”

 

EMMA: Okay, now the actual interview? What can listeners expect from the new album? What are you doing different from previous songs?

 

ERIN: Me.

 

BRIGDON: The songs are different, too. Erin definitely took part in the writing as well. The songs are all kinda shorter, they’re all kinda poppier and more upbeat.

 

FOREST: You can definitely expect more clear parts from everyone. It’s not quite as messy and shoegazey as any other live show, I guess.

 

EMMA: Erin, what’s it like being the newest member of City Wolves?

 

ERIN: Oh, it’s terrible.

 

WATSON: Now you know how I’ve been feeling.

 

ERIN: It’s cool, um… I love… “Love” is a word that comes to me sometimes. I like that I feel comfortable with all of them, which is really important for me. They’re all just like… Freaks.

 

FOREST: No geeks allowed.

 

ERIN: It’s cool to be in a band where like, when the vibe is right, everyone’s on their shit. And it’s cool to make music with more than one other person.

 

EMMA: How does it feel to not be a boy band anymore?

 

BRIGDON: Well, I mean, that’s the thing, we were never really a boy band.

 

WATSON: I don’t know who was calling us a boy band but I kinda wish we were a boy band because if we could be Backstreet Boys…

 

BRIGDON: For a long time Clark called us “post boy band” and I was kinda into that for a second because, I don’t know, you could kinda take that in many directions. But, I think we’ve always been kind of a queer band.

 

EMMA: Do you think you’ll ever re-record any of your old songs but this time, with Erin?

 

BRIGDON: That’s something I’ve thought about. Most of our original songs, like the ones we released on that EP, I still haven’t entirely listened to it. I’m just not happy with it to any degree.

 

DYLAN: I think there’s good stuff and bad stuff. It all could’ve turned out differently with maybe another shot at it.

 

BRIGDON: Maybe with someone else, too, I’ve definitely thought about re-recording Restless and Storm with someone else.

 

ERIN: We could definitely re-record those because those are the songs that I know, like from when I was just going to your shows like, “this is such a cool band!” and now I know that you’re like, okay, or whatever.

 

FOREST: Well, at least we’re okay or whatever!

 

DYLAN: That’s all that we played for like three years.

 

WATSON: Maybe with a little push and shove I’ll be fine with re-recording, but right now, I’m definitely in the mindset of moving forward.

 

BRIGDON: I think if it came to the point where we were playing those regularly again live, then I would definitely want a better version recorded.

 

EMMA: There’s been a lot happening for you as a band, you’re releasing a full length album and going on tour, what’s that like?

 

BRIGDON: Hopefully, tour goes well. Before even starting the tour, we’ve learned a handful of things that we could’ve done better. One would’ve been to not go on tour with a band who is also going on their first tour. Another thing would’ve been, probably have one person handle all of the booking.

 

WATSON: It’s been a rocky road, the marshmallows and everything, trying to get this put together. I’m excited about it because we’ve never actually played a decent show outside of Reno. I’m more excited about the one after this, it’s not planned, but I’m more excited about after we’ve been on the road already.

 

BRIGDON: This is our vacation tour, it’s our get out of town, we all need it tour. Our week off of work tour.

 

ERIN: This is my “oh, Tinder is so cool here” tour.

 

DYLAN: I was just talking to Watson about this but like I’ve spent so much time on my phone trying to hit people up or make this connection in preparation for tour. I’m going to spend so many hours in the car, on my phone, doing nothing.

 

BRIGDON: We can watch movies in the car.

 

WATSON: Alright! I have like four movies we need to watch. We have to watch the Talking Heads documentary. Also I’m on episode 5, season 2 of Twin Peaks.

 

BRIGDON: We sampled Twin Peaks multiple times in that EP, years ago, and this is all of their first times watching it.

 

ERIN: I still haven’t started watching it.

 

TUCKER (not in City Wolves, just my brother): Fake gamer girls.

 

BRIGDON: Not me, I’m the real deal.

 

ERIN: There was something I wanted to say about tour, what was the initial question again?

 

EMMA: Just, what’s it like doing all this stuff?
ERIN: Shit, I forgot what I was gonna say. It’s really exciting and energizing and it’s nerve-racking because none of us have ever gone on tour before. The thing I’m most excited for is that we

have a cross-over date with People With Bodies who are going to be in Seattle the same day as us. We’re gonna get lunch together!!!

 

WATSON: We get to have lunch with People With Bodies in Seattle and that’s the reason we’re going on tour.

 

BRIGDON: That’s something we could do any day here. Not once have we ever had lunch together here in Reno.

 

ERIN: I’ve had dinner with them.

 

WATSON: You live with them!

 

ERIN: I also live with them.

 

I didn’t have any questions after that, so, Tucker asked some questions.

 

TUCKER: What’s your favorite farm animal?

 

FOREST: Um, I’m vegan so mushrooms.

 

ERIN: My favorite farm animal is the dog that chases around the–

 

WATSON: I was gonna say that!

 

BRIGDON: I was also thinking that but I was gonna follow it up with “that’s not a very good answer.” So, I’m picking a pig. There are alpaca farms near my parents’ house.

 

FOREST: Dude, alpacas are fucking great.

 

ERIN: Peacocks.

 

BRIGDON: There are a lot of peacocks where my parents live, but there are no peacock farms.

 

FOREST: They aren’t farm animals!

 

ERIN: No, they’re just on the farms. They do that.

 

BRIGDON: There’s an alpaca farm where I grew up. Y’know what, miniature horses.

 

DYLAN: You guys ever seen a real horse? They’re huge.

 

FOREST: Yes, I’ve seen a real horse, they’re terrifying! They’re too big, it’s terrifying! You’re like “I’ve seen how spooked these motherfuckers get, I don’t wanna be around one.”

 

BRIGDON: You drive around and you’re like, “oh, there’s the alpaca farm, there’s the cows, there’s the horses, there’s the little horses,” and then you get close enough to my parents’ house and all of their, like, seven dogs come out and start chasing your car and you’re like, “here we go.”

 

WATSON: C– ahh… Yeah, cows.

 

ERIN: “C– ahh”

 

FOREST: Cat-cows

 

ERIN: Dunununununununuh cat-cow!

 

BRIGDON: Have you seen a draft horse? Those are like twice the size of a normal horse.

 

DYLAN: They’re kinda special to Nevada City, right?

 

BRIGDON: We have the festival, the draft horse festival.

 

FOREST: I’ve heard of war horses, as far as big horses go, but what the fuck is a giraffe horse?

 

WATSON: No, a draft horse!

 

ERIN: It’s like a horse but with a really long neck.

 

FOREST: Okay what the fuck is a draft horse?

 

WATSON: When horses turn 18 they have to sign up for the draft.

 

FOREST: Oh my god, I did, too!

 

BRIGDON: Draft horses were the, um, like the horses that pull logs. It’s a mining town so these big ass horses would pull logs through the mining town, so they’re just really big horses. And every year in Grass Valley they have the draft horse–

 

WATSON: Classic.

 

BRIGDON: The draft horse classic. Which is basically just a festival based around draft horses.

 

ERIN: Hey, here’s a really good question that I think about often, regardless of whether or not you currently eat meat, or have any moral whatevers against eating meat, would you eat horse?

 

WATSON: No.

 

BRIGDON: I think I have before.

 

DYLAN: On this topic, Watson’s favorite thing is bringing up bear meat.

 

WATSON: Let’s not talk about that!

 

BRIGDON: Let’s talk about it.

 

WATSON: Fine, alright! My little brother is like, he’s a sweetheart, but he’s the redneckiest dude in the world.

 

BRIGDON: Brilliant vaper, he’s got his vaping down.

 

WATSON: Just to let you know how redneck he is, he just got his first job in Reno as a construction worker and he’s moving out of my house pretty soon to move into a trailer park. There’s a place in Grass Valley called Greenhorn, if you spent all your time in Greenhorn, you’re considered a redneck because basically, you just go out there and light a big bonfire and drink beer until 4 in the morning.

 

BRIGDON: Greenhorn’s very interesting.

 

DYLAN: I’ve never even heard of it.

 

BRIGDON: Yeah, you have, you dummy. It’s basically like, it’s a river, there is a river there but it’s just like river and rock for huge spans of space. And then you kind of have walls of sandstone and dirt that have eroded away over time.

 

WATSON: So that’s where my brother came from, there was a bear that was attacking his dogs, so they shot the bear and now they have 240 pounds of bear meat, frozen, and they just started handing it out.

 

ERIN: He has so much bear meat, he can’t even bare it.

 

BRIGDON: Have you ever had aardvark? I had aardvark once.

 

WATSON: I had snake once.

 

BRIGDON: My last meat meal was an elk burger that was severely underdone.

 

DYLAN: I had moose once.

 

BRIGDON: Well, you’re from Alaska.

 

DYLAN: Someone actually shot a moose with a crossbow on our property and he was like, “oh, sorry for bloodying up your lawn, we’re gonna give you a cut of this.”

 

BRIGDON: Just a cut? You weren’t like, “no, this is on my land, this dead moose is on my land. This is my moose. My whole moose.”

 

WATSON: Does that answer the farm animal question?

 

TUCKER: Yeah. What’s your favorite Talking Heads song?

 

ERIN: This Must Be The Place.

 

BRIGDON: Do David Byrne songs count?

 

TUCKER: Yeah, sure.

 

BRIGDON: Like Humans Do. From like early 2000’s Microsoft computers, I think it was ‘95 or Windows 2000, one of them automatically had Like Humans Do.

 

WATSON: I’d have to say my favorite Talking Heads song is Once In A Lifetime just because of the music video. It is pristine. It’s so well done, and it’s so inspirational for me.

 

FOREST: Watson Meyer: “it is pristine”

 

DYLAN: I don’t have a favorite Talking Heads song.

 

WATSON: Okay, what’s your favorite Dinosaur Jr song? That was a trick question, you’ve barely listened to Dinosaur Jr.

 

DYLAN: I bought the CD the other day.

 

BRIGDON: One time when I worked at a chocolate shop, we could never find music that we all really liked. I had one co-worker who only listened to country, one co-worker who only listened to mathy emo stuff, and I would always just put on whatever I wanted to listen to. One day, I put on Dinosaur Jr and they were both like, “this is rad,” so in the entire like 8 hour shift, we listened to every single Dinosaur Jr album.

 

FOREST: In chronological order?

 

BRIGDON: No.

 

FOREST: Well then, get out of my house.

 

BRIGDON: No, it was from most recent to earliest.

 

WATSON: This proves that Dinosaur Jr is the overarching connection between all human beings.

 

DYLAN: You’ve got that mathy stuff that Daniel would like, then you’ve got the grungey vocals that Dustin likes.

 

BRIGDON: Oh, Dustin does love post grunge.

 

DYLAN: Ew.

 

ERIN: I do a great Creed impression. “With arms wide open,”

 

BRIGDON: Wow, I feel like Scott Stapp’s in the room with me.

 

WATSON: Scott, is that you?

 

BRIGDON: What’s your favorite post grunge band? Creed, Nickleback, Kings of Leon.

 

WATSON: I’m just gonna look up post grunge bands.

 

BRIGDON: Tool, I would consider a post grunge band.

 

ERIN: Spin Doctors?

 

BRIGDON: Yeah, I would consider them post grunge.

 

FOREST: Oh! Foo Fighters.

 

WATSON: I don’t know if Foo Fighters is technically a post grunge band.

 

BRIGDON: Keep going through the list we all need to say our favorite post grunge band, that’s why we brought it up.

 

DYLAN: The grandfather of post grunge.

 

BRIGDON: Who is the grandfather of post grunge? Wouldn’t that just be grunge?

 

WATSON: Oh, there’s also Pearl Jam.

 

BRIGDON: No, Pearl Jam is a grunge band.

 

WATSON: This is just a Wikipedia page. “List of post grunge bands” there we go.

 

BRIGDON: Post grunge and nu metal, that line is very grey. At one point, I thought that we might be borderline post grunge and in my head I was just like, “if they bring it back, we’ll be the first cool ones.” I would say post grunge is right on the edge of coming back, you guys ever listen to Basement? That’s a post grunge band. They also sound like Jimmy Eat World which is one of my all time favorite bands.

 

FOREST: I’ve listened to two Jimmy Eat World songs.

 

BRIGDON: What? No! You’ve heard more than that.

 

WATSON: In my opinion, it’s Jimmy Eat SHIT! You’re gonna break a bottle over my head over that.

 

BRIGDON: We used to just sit around and bullshit and yell at each other about stuff. To a certain point I would always end up throwing something at Dylan.

 

DYLAN: Shade?

 

BRIGDON: What did I hit you over the head with that one time? Oh, that was donuts, wait who did I hit with donuts?

 

DYLAN: You did hit me with bread once.

 

BRIGDON: Oh, that’s right I forgot about that. I broke a loaf of bread over his head once. He made me really mad and we were partying and we used to go to Walmart and get these long loaves of bread because they were 99 cents and we didn’t have any money because none of us had real jobs. One time I just got mad at Dylan and I took a loaf of bread and broke it over his head. Then we threw it around the room and ate it. It was gross.

 

WATSON: Now you know how violent Brigdon really is with his bandmates.

 

BRIGDON: One time Dylan tried tickling me and we had a box of donuts, he was like, “haha, I’m gonna tickle you,” so I threw a donut at him. It’s just, it was the heat of the moment. His ear was all red because I smashed it right on his ear. I’m sorry. I made you drink ants, I smashed bread over your head, I smashed a donut on your head.

 

DYLAN: As long as you apologized eventually, it’s okay.

 

WATSON: I don’t think he ever apologized, though.

 

BRIGDON: Maybe not explicitly like, “I am sorry,” but I think moments like these where we’re being real and discussing it is, in it’s own way, an apology.

 

FOREST: Is it? Is it, Brigdon? Are you sorry? Are you fucking sorry?

 

WATSON: I’m still waiting on many many apologies.

 

BRIGDON: I’ve apologized for the ants before.

 

DYLAN: You did apologize for the ants.

 

TUCKER: What’s your ideal date?

 

ERIN: I have two, one is very cheesy, it’s just to go to a carnival or a fair together and just hang out and then make out at the top of the ferris wheel. The other date is hanging out really late in casinos and end up at one of each other’s houses and listen to records all night. I’d be really good at dating, someone date me.

 

DYLAN: I took a girl on a date once, we started at the Tea Bar when it had just opened.

 

WATSON: I think I remember this.

 

FOREST: Was it you, Watson?

 

WATSON: No, I served them tea.

 

DYLAN: It was cute. So, we started at the Tea Bar, then a little river walk, then we drove over to The Holland Project for a show there, then a little walk over to Jelly Donut. Perfect Reno, midtown date.

 

BRIGDON: Wait, is this because we just had April 25th?

 

WATSON: What’s April 25th?

 

BRIGDON: The perfect date. Erin, you know what I’m talking about. You’ve seen Miss Congeniality.

 

ERIN: Yes, I’ve seen Miss Congeniality, we should bring it on tour.

 

BRIGDON: We gotta buy it on DVD somewhere.

 

WATSON: While we’re buying that, we gotta buy Triple X, though.

 

BRIGDON: What’s your favorite bargain bin movie?

 

ERIN: Miss Congeniality

 

BRIGDON: That is a good bargain bin movie. Miss Congeniality, Triple X, what are some other good bargain bin movies?

 

ERIN: Pitch Black.

 

WATSON: 50 First Dates.

 

BRIGDON: 50 First Dates is always in there. Big Daddy.

 

ERIN: Every Adam Sandler movie. The Wedding Singer.

 

BRIGDON: What’s that one fish movie. The animated one with all the fish.

 

ERIN: Finding Nemo.

 

BRIGDON: No, it’s the bad one. The one with Chris Rock in it.

 

EVERYONE: SHARK TALES!

 

ERIN: Yeah, and Angelina Jolie is in it?

 

WATSON: I watched that movie 15 times, I watched Forrest Gump 16 times.

 

FOREST: Y’know what, man. I watched Forrest Gump and I was so disappointed I was like, “this is the movie that everyone in my entire life has watched enough to quote at me when they meet me?” Then I watched it again and I was like, “shit, that’s pretty good.”

 

WATSON: Okay, perfect date, umm. I don’t think I have one in mind, but, I will say that my friend Daniel and I pulled off a perfect date for him. It started with, at the time, I had this giant red van that I named Clifford, we took white sheets and covered the back with white sheets so I could see through but they could still sit on white sheets, it was nice and, like, fancy I guess. We went and picked up the girl, then we went back to Daniel’s house, we escorted her into the house, Daniel’s brother was there and he opens up a menu and is like, “what would you like to eat? You have the choice of spaghetti or spaghetti,” so they chose spaghetti. So we made dinner for them and I made coffee for them after. We had music and candles and the whole thing.

 

BRIGDON: Forest, what was the story of Metal Messiah?

 

FOREST: Metal Messiah?

 

BRIGDON: Yeah, what was the story of buying that?

 

FOREST: So, my mom’s high school best friend was just like, “I want to make a metal music video about some kids in high school who just fucking become obsessed with metal.” It’s, like, the best metal B-movie I’ve ever seen. It’s got like 80% on rotten tomatoes or something like that.

 

DYLAN: It’s got a cool soundtrack.

 

WATSON: We’re taking that on tour.

 

BRIGDON: Yeah, we’ll take that on tour. I’ve got The Godfather, Rushmore.

 

FOREST: My ideal date is one that I actually fucking did for someone else. We picked up the girl, took her to dinner at his favorite restaurant, my friend and I went to this golf course on Plumas or something, we set up a blanket, a whole bunch of candles, put his iPod there with a playlist perfectly made, set that out, had speakers. So he just walks around with her and is like, “oh, where did this blanket and mp3 player come from? Oh, perfect.”

 

EMMA: This interview is gonna be really hard to type out, everyone’s talking over each other.

 

FOREST: Yeah, good luck.