Joanna: Hi.

Rob: Hello.

Joanna: It's very nice to meet you.

Rob: Nice to meet you.

Joanna: Um, ok, so this is a messy van.

Rob: Yes – yeah.

Joanna: It's cool though; I like it. It's got character. Is this your van?

Rob: No, we rent it.

Joanna: Oh, you rented the van.

Rob: It's the 3rd or 4th van we've had on this tour 'cause they've been breaking down.

Joanna: Did you get insurance on it?

Rob: Yeah...I mean they keep fixing it, and giving us new ones.

Joanna: Well, that's cool. As long as you have insurance, you can keep doing whatever you want to it.

Rob: Yeah. Oh, we're very kind, it's the vans themselves that have the problem. Joanna [Laughing]: Oh!

Rob: It's not me, it's them. [Joanna laughs]

Joanna: Um, I brought you some coffee.

Rob: Ha. That's been there for...that's been there awhile.

Joanna: Alright, well tell me what your name is. I mean, I know your name, but none of these kids do.

Rob: My name is Rob. And I play in a band called PINBACK with my partner Zach.

Joanna: And, uh, how long have you been in PINBACK?

Rob: About nine or ten years.

Joanna: That's a pretty, like, a long time to be in a band.

Rob: Yeah.

Joanna: Were you in another band before that? Oh, were you in -

Rob: Yeah, the other guy Zach was in Three Mile Pilot and I was in Heavy Vegetable. And I'm also in a lot of other bands: ...[he lists a million bands].

Joanna: You're in a million bands!

Rob: Yeah a lot of bands. So I'm real busy. [Joanna laughs]

Joanna: With music. What do you play in Pinback?

Rob: I play everything that Zach doesn't play. We both play everything on the album and record it ourselves. And live, we play whatever, it depends on the song. And we have three other guys that play whatever, depending on the song.

Joanna: Where are you guys from?

Rob: San Diego.

Joanna: Yeah. There's a lot of bands from San Diego.

Rob: Theres, yeah, theres a lot of bands from everywhere. There's a lot of bands from...Saskatchewan. Joanna [Laughing: No, but particularly from San Diego. I think there are more bands from San Diego than anywhere else in the world. Actually, the last band I interviewed was also from San Diego.

Rob: Who was the last band you interviewed?

Joanna: Louis XIV. Did you ever beat them up?

Rob: No, but we played - they played a show with us the other day and they...never mind. Joanna [Laughing]: They were bad kids.

Rob: No, they were very nice. They were mad at me though 'cause I was making fun of people that dress funny, like dress like rock stars. And they thought I was making fun of them directly. But I wasn't.

Joanna: Yeah, well usually people get their feelings hurt when somebody's saying something that's true.

Rob: That's totally true, yeah!

Joanna: Yeah. So I don't know. You struck them where it hurts!

Rob: But we got along famously.

Joanna: Did you?

Rob: Oh yes.

Joanna: Well, that's good times. So in one of the videos I shot for my website, there's a guy wearing a Pinback T-shirt and usually I tell people to not wear clothes with labels on them 'cause you can get sued. Although the day he showed up - I mean, I never met you before until today - but the day he showed up with a Pinback shirt, I told him he could leave it on 'cause for some reason I got the feeling that you guys wouldn't want to sue me...you seem like really nice people for some reason. [Rob laughs]

Joanna: So do you mind...like do you mind that a guy wore a Pinback shirt in a porno? Do you think that, like, sends the wrong message about Pinback?

Rob: Um, you can spread anything you want, so that's fine with me.

Joanna: Yeah. You don't care?

Rob: I don't care.

Joanna: It doesn't offend you at all?

Rob: No. I'm a big fan of free speech.

Joanna: That's good. You know, a lot of guys...there was like a guy I knew awhile ago and I think he kinda used Pinback as a tool to like get chicks, you know? I actually found out about Pinback 'cause this guy made a copy of his Pinback CD 'cause he was trying to be romantic with me. Did you intend to be that kind of band, that men use to woo girls?

Rob: Well, I would like it more if there was more positive energy expended through music than negative energy.

Joanna: Oh, you think there's a lot of negative animosity...

Rob: But I love music with negative energy too 'cause for me it's usually positive. [Joanna laughs]

Rob: I think it's necessary. I think it's great when things are great. People like to be great, that's great. [Joanna laughs]

Joanna: Are you drunk?

Rob: No

Joanna: But it's your birthday, right?

Rob: Yeah I had a beer. No I had ¾ of a beer before I walked in here.

Joanna: Were you trying to un-drunk for your interview then?

Rob: No, I was watching my son and I didn't want to be drunk while I'm watching my son.

Joanna: Oh. Well that's cool. So what are you guys up to; you just put out a new record, correct?

Rob: Yeah, AUTUMN OF THE SERAPHS.

Joanna: What is it called?

Rob: Autumn of the Seraphs.

Joanna: I listened to some of the songs online.

Rob: Thank you.

Joanna: I read in your bio that this album is going to take over the world. [Rob laughs]

Rob: That's not a bio that I wrote.

Joanna: Well, somebody thinks that you guys are going to take over the world or the music world. I don't remember the exact quote.

Rob: Someone was hyperboling.

Joanna: You don't think this record's going to take over the world?

Rob: I don't think it's going to take over the world. But I like it! But most of the music I like, most people don't like, so...

Joanna: Aw. Why are you so down?

Rob: I'm not down! I enjoy the things that I enjoy and I'm not afraid to admit. That's a, uh, pretty safe thing to say. [Laughs]

Joanna: Yeah, that's safe. Have you been on tour for this record?

Rob: Yeah. Pretty much since early September. We just took a month off, we took a month off and then we've been on tour for 2 ½ weeks or so and then we have a day off and we go to Japan for a week. And then six months off 'cause I'm having another kid and I want to be able to be awake for a little while.

Joanna: That's cool. Um, I know that you are a good man with a wife and kids but...maybe with your wife, when your kids are not around, do you ever watch porn? [Rob laughs]

Rob: Um, my main kink I've discovered - 'cause I think every kink is awesome and I think people should feel free to do whatever to whoever, whenever as long as everyone's having a good time. And I was trying to think about what my kink was, 'cause everyone seems to have a rad kink to talk about. And I was like, I think my kink is that I don't like talking about my kinks.

Joanna: Really? Are you sure?

Rob: I think that's my kink. I think my kink is that I don't like talking about it.

Joanna: So I guess your kink is that you're kinda shy?

Rob: But thats not a kink, that's just being shy. I think it stems from when I was a kid, all the guys who would talk about sex were the biggest scumbags in the world and I still don't want to be anything like those people. So I don't really talk about normal sex with anyone.

Joanna: Normal sex? So what kind of sex do you talk about? Like abnormal sex, like sex with...midgets?

Rob: Why is that abnormal? And they're called 'little people'. [Joanna laughs]

Rob: No, I don't really talk about any sex. I just have fun talking, using language.

Joanna: Do you feel repressed?

Rob: No, I don't feel repressed. I don't feel repressed at all.

Joanna: Have you ever watched a porno in your entire existence?

Rob: Of course!

Joanna: Have you ever watched one of my pornos?

Rob: I don't think so. [Laughs]

Joanna: That sucks! You're watching the wrong stuff.

Rob: Thats what she said!

Joanna: Ba-dum-bump. So um, I've been like a porn actress and director and producer in this industry for a long time. And I've shot a lot of scenes, and I've directed a lot of scenes, and I'm kinda starting to run out of ideas and I'm trying to get help or inspiration elsewhere. If there was just like – if I was going to make a porno for you... [Rob laughs]

Joanna: - it could have as many girls or guys as you want in a scene, it can take place wherever you want, and you can pretend like budgets or anything is not an issue. What would be in that scene? It could be one person, it could be 10 people, it could be 5 people, it could be no people...

Rob: I would need a pen and paper and a couple weeks to think about it.

Joanna: Really?!?!

Rob: Yeah.

Joanna: You can't think of anything?

Rob: No. It's kinda like a magic genie; you don't want to say the wrong thing. You don't want to waste your one wish. [Laughs]

Joanna: On the wrong thing?

Rob: Yeah. So you have to think about it. But it would be pretty funny.

Joanna: It would be funny. Could I be in your little movie?

Rob: Go crazy. My wife not being mad is definitely part of the fantasy, so you'd have to discuss that with her.

Joanna: She won't. Oh, nobody's wife is going to be angry at me. [Laughs] I'm harmless.

Rob: Goody.

Joanna: I mean well. Are you sad?

Rob: No, I'm not sad.

Joanna: Okay.

Rob: I'm just quiet and shy. And I'm not trying to be all emo or anything at all. Don't get that impression.

Joanna: Do you hate when people say that to you? Do you hate when people use the word “emo” around you?

Rob: I hate it when they misuse it, and even the way I learned it is probably a misuse. To me, emo music is Rites of Spring and Fugazi and amazing shit like that. It's not some guys with just a little too much hair over their eyes, going [makes groaning sounds].

Joanna: Right. It turned into something else that it wasn't supposed to be.

Rob: Yeah. It's like indie rock. Most things that people consider indie rock are not independent. Or rock. Joanna [Laughing]: It's fine. People get lost in, like, categories I think and it doesn't really matter, you know?

Rob: I have this old saying that things that can be categorized deserve to be categorized. But when people call us “emo”, I do get upset just because I think it's incorrect. It's an incorrect assumption.

Joanna: And you don't like -

Rob: Oh, because we're not cool enough to be anything like Rites of Spring! [Both laugh]

Rob: And we're not stupid enough to be...those other guys.

Joanna: Yeah. Thats okay. It doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing.

Rob: I work really, really, really hard to have an emotional attachment with the people that might listen to the music that I'm making or go to the shows to see us. And I try to make sure that they understand that we understand that there's no such thing as “rock stars”. We want to be like, “Hey! How're you doing?”...like, walking down the street, “Hey, how're you doing? I saw you the other day. Oh, thanks, I think I saw you too. That was a really fun moment we had.” Or anything like that. It bums me out when people really appreciate assholes for being assholes. That's why I hate shit like the Rolling Stones. You know? Bummer.

Joanna: They're sending the wrong message.

Rob: I don't know about that, but it's just...lame! [Joanna laughs]

Rob: Ask somebody why they like the Rolling Stones. “It's 'cause they're the Stones!!!” That's not an answer. [Laughs]

Joanna: I understand. It's gonna be okay, man. Um, well, I was going to try to give you some kind of birthday lap dance or something. [Rob laughs]

Joanna: I mean, is that going to make you happy or is that going to make you sad?

Rob: Uh I, um I..

Joanna: I'll just give you, like, a birthday dance. And if you want me to turn it into a lap dance, I can. And if you don't, you know...

Rob: See, I've never really had the discussion about what was and what wasn't okay with my wife...

Joanna: Oh. Well next time I'll give her one too. When it's her birthday...

Rob: Oh, she's up there. You can still give her one. [Both laugh. Joanna stands up and starts to dance]

Joanna: I can...I'm giving you a birthday dance, alright?

Rob: Yea!

Joanna: [Singing] Happy birthday...[Laughs]

Rob: This is exciting. [Motions to the camera] Are you guys llike seriously turned on right now by the fat guy and the small chick? [Laughs]

Joanna: Well, they would be if I showed boobs. [Shows her boobs to the camera...you will get to SEE this interview later...promise!] Now everybody's turned on, okay? Are you uncomfortable?

Rob: Awesome.

Joanna: Your wife is a lucky woman.

Rob: I just don't want to make her upset 'cause nothing is worth that.

Joanna: Now it's a porno 'cause there's boobs.

Rob: Ah! They're still out!

Joanna: [Joanna laughs] I'm gonna make them touch your jacket. [Puts boob on his leather jacket] Well, is there anything you might want to say because this video is going to be either on a website with porn on it or on a DVD with other porn on it, and people are going to take a break from watching porn to listen to or read this interview. Is there anything you want to say to these people?

Rob: Um, have a great time. [Laughs] Go nuts! Yeah...go nuts. Go nuts all over the screen. I don't know.

Joanna: To this interview?

Rob: To whatever you want! [Rob laughs and gives the camera the thumbs up]

Joanna: Anyway. Thanks for your time.

Rob: Thank you, man!

Joanna: And good luck tonight.

Rob: Thank you very much.

Joanna: Peace out.