Tampa Bay, Florida’s Victims of Circumstance aren’t strangers to unfortunate timing. Last January, after two years of recording, the band dropped their latest album, Five. Just as it came time to start promoting the album, the pandemic hit, and it was over. They’ve been able to do a show or two, but that’s it. Instead of taking their instruments home and moping, they got to work.
Showing the same level of tenacity when they self-funded past European tour, the band started working on live streams. This helped get the word out about their new album and stay connected. As the pandemic went on, the ska-punk band leveled up their capabilities.
Livestreams and Five
Their first live stream of 2021 is coming up on Saturday, January 30th. It promises good times all around.
I strongly recommend checking out one of their live streams or seeking out their new album Five. The album is one of the best kept musical secrets of 2020. The album is so good, that I want to tell everyone about it though! It’s filled with 12 songs that run the gamut from ska-punk, all the way to swing, and pop. There’s a lot of variety and diversity in the craftsmanship of the songs included. There’s a little something for everyone on Five.
Fronted by lead singer Michael Smyth, you’ll immediately draw comparisons to the likes of Chuck Ragan and Tim Barry. Smyth’s voice has a smooth, gravelly tone to it that just adds a unique sound to the songs. For old ska heads like me, listening to his voice also brings back memories of The Skoidats.
Saxophonist Jason Atheney sat down to talk to us about several topics. Aside from the new album, you’ll also hear about being in a band during quarantine. Also, since Jason has an epic beard, he offers up some pointers for our bearded readers. Enjoy what he had to say about all of this, and more, below.
Your new album is almost a year old now. Since last year doesn’t really count, we can act like it’s coming out this month though. So, tell me a little about Five.
Five took us three years to write and nearly two years to record. We were, and are, very proud of how it turned out and were very excited to get it out there and start promoting it. I mean, we’ve done what we can do online as far as getting some people to review it. We got a song (“Sober”) on the official Spotify ska playlist, things like that. But as you mention, yeah, I think we played a whole two live shows right after the release date, one of which was opening for Teenage Bottlerocket, so that wasn’t exactly the time to jump up and down and talk about our new album.
We’ve been around now for 15 years. From the beginning of writing what would end up becoming Five, we didn’t set out to write a ska-punk album. Previously, we would consciously say, “Ok, let’s make this verse ska, and this pre-chorus punk, etc,” but that wasn’t the case this time. It just ended up being something along the lines of “Let’s try this” or “I like the way THIS sounds” and the songs just evolved from there.
You’ll hear ska-punk elements, but you’ll also hear some pop-rock, pop-punk, and even swing. It’s our fifth original album, and because we’re super creative we called it Five. We do feel like it totally got lost in the shuffle, though it’s gotten some great reviews and some nice feedback from fans. Considering COVID hit the US hard about a month later, it almost feels like it never happened.
Had we known what was to come, we probably would’ve held out for a late Summer 2020 release or something like that. We even joke around that we should just re-record and re-release it as new.
What’s the story behind “Sober?”
(Guitarist and Lead Singer) Mike wrote the lyrics, so I asked him:
For me the key to “Sober” is really in the bridge:
“Since you’ve been around I found a reason to stay strong / I haven’t had one for so long”.
He’s hanging his recovery on this one person in his life that’s there for him now, but what’s going to happen when that person is gone? If the only thing keeping him sober is his relationship with this person what happens if they die, leave, start using? He’s not really on the road to recovery.
The addict in the song lacks the ability to see the substance abuse itself as the problem. He’s ready to quit, he wants to stop, but he’s waiting for that “rock-bottom” moment.
“What’s it going to take / to clean this mess up, anyway” and “What’s it going to mean / If I cannot get out of this scene”.
He has no ownership. It’s the “scene” that he’s in, it’s the town, it’s the people (it could be the band he’s in or living on the road – but it’s deliberately vague so it’s as universal as possible). From his perspective, it’s not his fault he drinks/uses, it’s just the environment he lives in. He’s waiting for some external intervention instead of owning it and getting real help.
Ironically, the next song on the album is about raging, and having a blast at a weekend gig. What was the thought about putting those songs back to back on the album?
I asked (Drummer) Glenn this question because he decided what order the songs would go on the album. He put those songs back to back because they were completely different from each other. “Sober” is a harder song with more desperate lyrical content, and “Tonight We’re Getting Loud” is “bouncier” with lighter lyrical content.
Florida has been one of the states that hasn’t shut down as much. Have you been able to actually promote the new album and do some shows at all?
Florida basically opened back up in early October if I remember correctly. Meaning, there are no state-mandated restrictions, so in theory, a business can fill the rafters with people and they don’t have to even wear masks. The state has left it up to individual businesses to make their own decisions, so that being said, there are some venues that are putting on maximum capacity shows, and some that are, in our opinion, doing things the right way with drastically reduced capacity, masks, seated, etc.
I think we have played a total of two shows in that time, and right now we only have two booked for all of 2021. Some of this has to do with our own personal thoughts on the matter, but also because there just aren’t a ton of places to play original music in this area anymore. We appreciate the venues that still exist, and hope they will still exist after this mess is done because we can’t afford to lose any more places to play.
That’s why when this all started, I pushed the idea of live streaming from almost day one because it was going to be about the only way to play music for our fans. So again, in the realm of “promoting the new album,” besides the release party, we did for it in November of 2019 (yes it was a few months before the full release, long story) and doing things online, we haven’t been able to get out there and promote the crap out of Five.
Speaking of live streams, you’ve done some already, and have one coming up towards the end of the month. Is it weird doing them?
Ah, live streams. We are fortunate to have a very nice studio to rehearse/record in. It’s 100% ours, we don’t share it with anyone, so we’ve been lucky to have this nice space to use. When we launched the live streams, we literally used a single Zoom camera and microphone. It worked, but that was about all we could say about it.
We spent a decent amount of money to upgrade the setup, including a huge mixing board, multiple cameras, and a camera switcher and lighting. So at this point, the quality of the stream is limited only by internet compression and our own sub-par musicianship.
But, yes it’s weird! It’s like a rehearsal in a lot of ways because we finish a song and there’s just complete silence. It can be challenging to maintain high energy for an hour playing in front of a camera, we have just had to realize that believe it or not people are actually watching, and we need to treat it like a real live performance. But again the silence after a song is deafening! Until things go back to normal, whenever that is, what else is there to do?
What can viewers expect from the upcoming live stream?
I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but probably the biggest thing to understand about us is that we do not take ourselves too seriously. We love to do dumb shit as much as possible and keep things light. So, while what we’re going to do isn’t revolutionary, and in the grand scheme of things isn’t going to change the way live streams are done, we think it’s going to be fun and really stupid. I think the world could use “fun and really stupid” right about now, honestly.
How have you changed as a person, and as a musician in the last 15+ years of the band?
I joined the band in early 2008, so it will be 12 years in February that I’ve been here. Personally, I’ve changed a lot. I can’t speak for the others of course. I know I have grown tremendously as a musician in that period of time, mainly through determination and hard work, plus some guidance from an amazing mentor I’m lucky enough to have. To see the evolution of the band’s sound has also been really fun to be a part of, and also to be involved from day one in shaping how these songs have come out has been very rewarding.
I’ve been involved in four albums of original music, and two EPs of covers that we put our stamp on. I sometimes forget how cool that is. One thing though, when I joined, we were MUCH more ambitious. I remember we were working on touring with (insert bands here) and working really hard to get Warped Tour interested in having us. Warped never happened. We threw a lot of stuff against the wall, trying to get the attention of the right person or people. But we never did get that shot though. We have toured Europe three times, all of which were self-financed and largely self-promoted. We feel we embody DIY, mainly because we haven’t been able to get someone with connections to do it for us (laughs).
What are your expectations for the bands these days?
These days our expectations are much more tempered, and we’re just playing music because we want to. There’s no agenda, there’s no “OMG, let’s try to tour with these guys, or get on this tour, or play this festival”… not just because of COVID. Don’t get me wrong, IF anyone reading this is interested in doing cool stuff with us PLEASE reach out! But I’m not going to stay up at night dwelling on it anymore.
Where do you see the ska scene going as we enter 2021 and beyond?
The last two years seem like there has been a growing interest in the genre, and there have been some amazing albums released from newer and older bands alike. It feels like a great time to be a ska fan, even if mainstream attention is lacking. I mean we’re used to that, considering in my opinion, the worst time to start a ska band was when we did.
There were a lot of bands that started and died between 2005-2010 that were great, but it was just the wrong time to be playing ska if you wanted to try to make something out of it. This goes back to my previous response about expectations vs reality. At this point, it would be great to be recognized for being around 15 years and still putting good music out there. Sometimes I feel like we get overlooked a bit because we’re not “new” and we’re not from the ‘90 if that makes sense.
Where “the scene” goes will be interesting. Let’s see how many smaller venues survive COVID, and what the opportunities for playing live shows are. Online will continue to be huge for this, and online content is everything. Some bands are taking advantage of this, and some aren’t.
What gets you excited to be in a ska band after all these years?
For me, it’s just about playing music with friends. The five of us have been constant since 2011, so nearly ten years now, which is amazing to think about. We all love the genre, and we all love playing it together. I know it sounds corny as hell, but it’s true. We miss the energy of a great live show, and I know that’s not unique as I see a lot of bands and fans talking online about how much they miss it. I look forward to when live shows can start back up again. There’s going to be some crazy pent-up demand for it, and I can’t wait to be a part of that.
Since this is for Bearded Gentlemen Music, any beard care tips and tricks?
This would have been a great time to promote my beard care company, but sadly we went out of business at the end of 2020. But yes, here is what I’ve got:
Don’t use shampoo or a regular bar of soap to wash your beard. It strips oils from your face and dries it out. Get a wash made specifically for that purpose. Ours was a nice foaming paste that had a carrier and essential oils in it. And then follow that up with an oil or beard balm to keep things nice and healthy. What people don’t understand is that a good beard starts with healthy skin. And if you have issues with keeping the beard under control, get one of those blow dryer brushes when you get out of the shower, they’re amazing!
If you had to pick one Victims of Circumstance song to hook someone, which one are you choosing, and why?
Tough question. I sent it to the rest of the guys and they were all kind of stumped too. Five albums of originals, so around 60 songs to choose from. Mike said our cover of “Footloose,” which is hilarious, but I think I’ll go ahead and say “Sober” from the latest album. As to why I think it encompasses all of the great parts of what we’re about. It has some heavy guitar, ska verses, harmonies, horns, a bighorn solo in the middle, and I truly think Mike’s lyric writing is severely underrated and not talked about enough.
Any last words?
First, just thank you for your interest, it means a lot. We can’t wait for this COVID shit to be over with so we can get back out there and play a tiny venue packed with sweaty people running around in a circle. In the meantime, we want to encourage all of you to be safe and patient. Enjoy your favorite bands’ online content, and support them financially, if you are able to, by buying their merch and music directly if possible. Fan support means everything. We don’t take our fans for granted, and we do the live streams to keep that connection going.
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