Originally when the LocalZine first started one of the first bands to be interviewed was The Muckruckers out of Mountain View, CA. Since that time the entire lineup has shifted and the band has changed. This is the second interview with the band here on the Localzine. Rather than the usual interview questions the band decided to have fans from their website e-mail questions in, those questions along with a few from The Localzine are answered here.

LocalZine: Who is everyone and what do you play?
The Muckruckers: Nick - Guitar/Vocals, Zach - Guitar/Vocals, Doug - Bass/Vocals, Jon - Drums/Screaming

LocalZine: Where are you guys from?
The Muckruckers: Zach lives in Hayward, Doug lives in SF, Jon and Nick both live in Mountain View... so we call Mountain View home.

LocalZine: What was the last cd you bought?
Zach: I'm not sure but the last one I remember buying is The Secretions - Til Death
Nick: The Distillers - Sing Sing Death House
Jon: Cat Stevens' - Greatest Hits
Doug: Lasgo - Some Things

LocalZine: Whats spinnin in your CD player right now?
Zach: The Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady
Nick: ummm, The Necromantics - Night of the Loving Dead and the new Solemite teaser
Jon: The Used - Self Titled
Doug: T.A.T.U. - 200 km/hr in the Wrong Lane

LocalZine: What are your Favorite bands?
Zach: The Ramones, The Groovie Ghoulies, The Briefs, Dillinger Four and a ton of others.
Nick: ya theres so many I would have to say The Groovie Ghoulies, The Distillers, and uhh I dunno The Briefs
Jon: Britney Spears,Blink 182, all the newer generic pop punk type bands.
Doug: Chick bands; pretty much any band with chick vocals that sounds hot. Also GlassJaw, Thursday, and a bunch of eurodance stuff that no one's ever heard of over here.

LocalZine: What are your Least favorite bands? (be honest)
Zach: I dunno... all the newer generic poppy type bands that go for the punk image are pretty bad, I won't name names.
Nick: ya agreed theres no certain band I dislike its just the sound I can't handle.
Jon: J.D.M.E.
Doug: I can't stand all the new corporate rock. The Hives, The White Stripes, The Strokes, etc. They're the record industry's conspiring attempt to take away what little unique music kids have left. People like semi-underground material so they bring out these indie/grunge/retro acts and try to force them on everyone. Fuck that. Listen to whatever you want. Go buy our record.

LocalZine: Whats the real deal on the lineup change and the new band? Why did the change happen?
Zach: Oh boy... long long story. So originally Nick was the drummer and Eric played guitar and sang. Things weren't working out with that lineup and it was getting kinda stale and no one was motivated. So Nick and I started a new band with Jon called the Uglies... we were working in that and Eric decided he didn't want to be in the band anymore and he was going to move to New York so we just decided that we would just bring Jon in and use some of the songs we had already written as The Uglies. The Uglies was gonna be good too.
Nick: Yeah
Doug: That's one story...

LocalZine: With Eric leaving, how do you feel the new lineup has changed The Muckruckers?
Zach: Well now we have Jon on drums and Nick on guitar and singing...
Nick: I think we all get along a lot better and have more fun playing
Jon: Well now that im in the band, we're better, and more girls like us.
Doug: Jon says it best.

LocalZine: Do you feel that your music has grown at all with the change in lineup? If so, how?
Jon: Yeah , I think im a little taller than Eric.
Zach: Our lyrics are more personal, a little more serious. The music is more complicated.
Nick: Yeah and the music has just gotten a notch more serious I mean we still have our sense of humor but at the same time we're starting to bring some real shit to light thats been on our minds and putting it into words.
Doug: We're not forced to be as locked in stylistically. I don't think we ever would have played songs like "Wasted", "This Year", or the tentative new single (Put Me Out) we just wrote with the old line-up.

LocalZine: When do you plan on recording with the new lineup? What can we expect from the record?
Zach: We record at the end of November, and we'll release the album soon after.
Nick: You can expect a full album of songs we're proud of, not so much quantity and more quality.
Doug: You can expect damn good artwork.
Jon: You can expect a Vh1's Greatest Album worthy cd.

LocalZine: Will there be a theme to the new album?
Jon: There's a music theme to the new album.
Doug: I think the theme's still in the works. Think 50's. Pretty 'n' pink.. or not so pretty..

LocalZine: How would you describe your sound?
Zach: Punk Rock.
Nick: Yep, just straight forward punk rock.
Jon: I'd say were a mix of Cat Stevens and BB Mak plus a little R&B.
Doug: Again, I have to agree with Jon. If only we could get Nick and Zach to see that.

LocalZine: What's your favorite song to play live and why?
Zach: My Girlfriend's a Clone... its fun, or L.A.C.B.
Nick: I would have to say either Dressed to Kill or Enemies
Jon: Osama - Energetic
Doug: L.A.C.B. - It's a crowd participation peice.

LocalZine: How do you guys get along with other local bands from your area?
Zach: We don't get along well with most bands, only bands we like. A lot of bands want to have their asses kissed and we don't and that rubs them the wrong way.
Jon: I love all the local bands, except The Muckruckers
Doug: Yeah, Fuck the Muckruckers!

LocalZine: Do you guys ever feel that being from the Peninsula affects your punk cred?
Jon: No, because our music kills it! We do what we do and thats good enough.
Zach: We'll just be the only good punk band from the peninsula.
Doug: I don't really think about it. The way I see it, that kind of info doesn't mean shit to some kid who got our cd burned without even so much as a name on it from a friend of a friend of a friend whose younger sister came to one of our shows once a while back. Music speaks for itself.

LocalZine: I`ve noticed that you don`t play a lot of songs from your previous records, why?
Zach: Cause the new stuff is better.
Jon: Because I write all the new ones, and mine are better.
Doug: A lot of the songs we're Eric's songs, drinking songs, or both. I think we've progressed from that point. Now we write drinking songs that aren't about drinking. tricky, huh?

LocalZine: How do you feel about the Bay Area music scene? If you could change anything about it, what would it be?
Zach: Things are ok, more all ages venues would. A lot of the bands around here sound the same, just Blink Clones, so alittle variety would be nice.
Jon: A lot of people that go to the shows dont really seem to be there for the music. But for the most part the scene's pretty rad.
Doug: Kids are mindless drones that'll listen to anything that the right people tell them to. Musically, hardly anyone takes any chances anymore. Those that do or try to get shut out most of the time. It's not a music scene, it's local pop culture.

LocalZine: What can you guys be found doing after a show?
Doug: You don't want to know.
Zach: Packing up our stuff and trying to trick people into buying our merch.
Jon: You will usually see me and T-Money(our roadie) packing the Super Mom van, with some help from Nick and Zach. Then we go our seperate ways, cause we all hate each other.

LocalZine: How do you guys pick who sings what song?
Jon: Straws.
Zach: Shortest one sings.
Doug: Not quite, but it is fairly open to anyone, especially because everyone's going to end up on every song some way or another. Except Jon. Who ever heard of a drummer singing anyway?

LocalZine: Where do you get the insiration to write your songs?
Zach: I dunno, mostly from things that piss me off or amuse me.
Nick: Personal shit, my family, life, and friends.
Doug: I've withheld writing for the band, but I see that changing in the near future.
Jon: Drumming's a science, I dont need inspiration.

LocalZine: Who's the pimpest in all the land?
Zach: Eric Rosales