Gayrilla Biscuits is the most exciting thing to happen to hardcore in a very long time. The band who is currently pioneering the “Gay Edge” revolution, is one of the most popular local bands in the West Hollywood scene. In a scene dominated by sexist macho jocks, Gayrilla Biscuits is out to boldly make a difference. Their “demos” 7” was recently released on Slowgun Records and has already sold out. The buzz on these guys was amazing, so we finally tracked them down and were able to get an interview with the entire group. Ray “Gay” Cappo, Mike Fudge, Dan “Homo” Mahoney, and Zach Gay la Rocha were some of the nicest people we’ve ever had the privilege of interviewing. Seeing how their 7” is already sold out, the group kindly gave us permission to include mp3’s of it here on Buddyhead. Get Gay!
Interview & photo of Walter by Travis Keller
Buddyhead - First off, tell us your names and what you play in Gayrilla Biscuits.
Ray - I’m Ray “Gay” Cappo and I sing.
Mike - I’m Mike Fudge and I play guitar.
Dan - I’m Dan “Homo” Mahoney and I play drums.
Zach - I’m Zach Gay la Rocha and I play bass.
Buddyhead - Ok… can you explain exactly what Gayrilla Biscuits is?
Ray - Gayrilla Biscuits is a Gay Edge hardcore band.
Buddyhead - Gay Edge?
Dan - Yeah, we’re fuckin hardcore, and the only thing we’re straight about is the edge.
Buddyhead - I see. Is everybody in Gayrilla Biscuits a homosexual?
Mike - Yeah, we’re all queer… and we’ll still kick your ass.
Buddyhead - How were you all able to find each other… being gay and into hardcore… was that tough?
Ray - We’re all from LA and have been going to shows for years. Just like everybody involved in the scene, you start to notice certain faces after awhile. Myself and Mike used to hang out at a place in West Hollywood called “The Male Box”. The first time I noticed him there, I was just hangin out peepin all the hotties, when suddenly there was this hot young stud standing in front of me with a Chain of Strength shirt on. He was just staring at me with my bandana on, and it was love at first sight… it was amazing. We both recognized each other from going to shows, and it was like, “oh my god, you’re gay too?!”
Mike - It was a beautiful thing.
Ray - Then to my complete amazement, Mike knew another gay hardcore kid, Zach Gay la Rocha.
Zach - After we all started hooking up… literally… we knew we just had to start a band. That’s when the problems started…
Mike - Yeah, we’d try to start things up, and we’d always run into the same problem. The other kid we’d always try out just didn’t seem to click with us or what we were about. I mean, hardcore is about getting your frustrations out and speaking your mind! How could we honestly do that with a straight band member who didn’t share the same enthusiasm for the gay lifestyle as we did?! We were gay and proud, so we actually put an ad in the local alternative lifestyle mag. We said how we were looking for another queer hardcore kid to round out the lineup.
Zach - I mean, of course we got a lot of calls from old men who wanted to get hardcore sex from 3 young kids, but then finally Homo called…
Dan - I shrieked like a girl when I found that ad! Finally! I wouldn’t have to hide my love for hardcore and boys!
Ray - That’s when the band and the Alleygay Crew formed. We could finally go to shows and mix it up with all the cute sweaty boys in the pit and not be afraid of being beat up… we had our crew behind us! Some people are really amazed when they hear about gay hardcore kids, but to us everything just came natural. I mean, when you go see Ignite and there are all these sweaty boys taking their shirts off in the pit, it seems pretty gay to me. I don’t want to sound like a pervert or anything, but hardcore shows are full of a lot of sexual tension.
Mike - After we started the band, it was almost impossible to get shows. We would tell the promoters the name of our band, and they’d just laugh at us. Finally we realized we should just try and get shows in West Hollywood. We realized we should just try and play to the gay community and maybe we could actually make a difference and spread this so called message that every hardcore band is always talking about.
Dan - Yeah! Fuck all those hardcore sxe bands playing to the same old crowd. That’s preaching to the converted! By playing gay clubs, we’re bringing hardcore to people who have never been exposed to it! It’s great!
Buddyhead - What do they do when you play?
Ray - It’s amazing. We’ve taught them a few traditional dances, but they’ve already thought up of plenty of their own.
Mike - The “cocksmoker” is all the rage on the dance floors these days in West Hollywood, thanks to us!
Buddyhead - If somebody wanted to catch the band live, where could they see you?
Ray - We’re pretty much the house band at the Male Box. We play there just about every weekend if we’re not on tour.
Buddyhead - You guys go on tour?
Mike - Sure. We’ve played the gay club circuit across the entire nation! We did that this summer, but we all have jobs and school and stuff, so we normally only make it up to San Francisco and back every couple months.
Buddyhead - Yeah, I heard you guys are huge in San Francisco.
Zach - Yeah, the shows there do really well. The response is always great.
Buddyhead - So what inspired you to start a Gay Edge band? You could’ve just started a normal hardcore band…
Ray - But that wouldn’t have been true to hardcore!!! That would have been living a lie.
Buddyhead - Who are some of your influences?
Mike - We’re into all kinds of hardcore. New school, old school whatever. Of course we’re into bands like Pansy Division too…
Ray - Rob Halford is a big idol of ours…
Buddyhead - How do you feel about the current state of hardcore?
Zach - It’s stale. Nobody is taking any chances or taking it into any new direction. Positive, gay hardcore is the future for this scene! There are some great old school sounding bands coming out of LA, but nothing is really breaking new ground. I really hope that some gay kids will start new bands and we can create a new scene without the jock-metal that is all the rage.
Mike - I am kind of scared about the recent rise in popularity of Christian hardcore, if you want to call it that. What does Christianity have to do with hardcore?
Ray – Homophobia and narrow minds.
Mike - I saw this kid at a show with a patch that said “Straight Edge for Jesus.” Dude, Jesus drank wine. He needs to listen to a little Chicano Christ.
Buddyhead - Tell us about your 7 inch…
Mike - Excuse me?! You know damn well it’s more like 9 inches!!!
Ray - He’s talking about our record.
Dan - Oh…we did a record of classic queer-core anthems. A lot of people think the songs are funny, and they are to most people. To me they are an example of our militant homosexual feelings. We are angry about our society that represses sexual expression. It’s very limited, only a few hundred made. We are also big record collectors.
Ray - The songs are funny, but they represent how we feel. Gay hardcore pride is here to stay!
Buddyhead - Do you guys plan on releasing anything else soon?
Mike - Of course. The “demos” 7” is not a very good representation of what we sound like at all. That was recorded after we had only been a band for a few weeks. The sound quality is obviously very “demo-ish”, but after having so many requests for a record of ours, we finally decided to release it for the fans.
Ray - We plan on releasing a bunch of 7”s and a full length in the near future.
Dan - There’s another great local band called Fagwagon that we are contemplating doing a split 7” with. They’re really great. They are totally breaking new ground for new school gay pop punk. Perhaps the release will be on their own Fag Wreck Chords.
Buddyhead - Anything else to add?
Dan - Yeah, I’ve been a Buddyhead fan for a long time! I got into your site when I first heard about it, cos I immediately thought that it was a gay website… you know, we give buddy head all the time!
Buddyhead - Ahhh… anything else?
Zach - Don’t let anyone else tell you what to believe, be yourself.
Ray - And if you like men, don’t be afraid, there are other kids out there like you. Hopefully, we will be playing some more “mainstream” shows, so we will see you in the pit!
Dan - Yeah, I’d also like to add that we don’t fuck around, we’re serious about this!
Mike - Yeah, Gay Edge Revenge!!!