#convulserecords

Dirt Sucker…. Like a vacuum? How did you come up with that name? I remember there being a reference to something but I don’t remember.

Dirt Sucker. . . . like getting as close to the earth as possible, living in the dirt (but yeah, also a vacuum :P)! Calling something a "piece of dirt" was an old bit Evan and I had back in highschool because it was a way to say something wasn't great, but was also somewhat socially acceptable! In the past few years I remember trying to bring it back and thinking "Dang, that really sucks dirt"; and then thinking "Dang, dirt is actually really tight, it shouldn't be an insult" and then "Hey, I suck hella dirt, we suck the most dirt!" and then voila! Dirt Sucker is born! We are all SUPER passionate about climate issues and the name lends itself well to that! After the name was solidified, we started looking for a bass player; it turned out that the perfect fit for the band (the GOAT Ruben) just so happened to be a PhD student in soil science! The universe is wild! While the name didn't come from a vacuum, the first idea I had for lyrics was about eating the dust and grime out of a vacuum (dirt is just so awesome)! -Madison

Madison- how the heck did Wired get a hold of you to do that piece? Also, how unreal was it to do a photoshoot like that? Does this mean you had to turn in your punk card? How did that feel?

The writer of Wired found me on the NJCAAE coaching website and thought it was cool that there were no other Community College Esports programs near LCCC! I think he just wanted to check out Wyoming, it was totally random! Kinda crazy! Doing that photoshoot was really weird (because idk, yeah it's weird to get photos taken of you like that), but the photographer Shawn Bush (he teaches at Casper College) was freaking amazing! While doing a shoot is weird, at least Shawn was awesome! I turned in my punk card a decade ago when I became a dad :P, I'm not punk and I'm telling everyone! It felt weird, but again; it's hard to say no to an opportunity when you don't know what it's all about! -Madison

My familiarity with Madison and Evan (outside of babes and waves) is through more emo stuff, although there was always a hardcore vein in everything i’ve seen you guys do… was there a catalyst in starting a project that was more straightforward hardcore? Or did it sort of just flow naturally?

Yooo Evan and I know the members of babes & waves, but we were never in that band! B&W was actually from Orange County, CA but they did like to come rip it up in the Mountain West region! I think Dewey owns his own Subway now and has like 6 kids (he really got around on tour)! No one really stays in touch with Risto, I think he moved to New Zealand or something (I know he wanted to leave that life behind)! Blaze now owns a "dirt to dispensary" model marijuana farm / store in California, I hear he's rich! Unfortunately, Chad passed away a few years ago :(, he loved surfing (even during high tide) and I'm glad he went out doing what he loved! As far is the band Dirt Sucker, it's a totally natural flow! We all love so many styles of punk that we wanna mash in as much as we can! I usually write one lil riff before practice and we flesh out like 90% of the songs together! All the lyrics are fully collaborative, while we pretty much all write our own lines, we share ideas and work extremely well together! The writing process for us in both music and lyrics comes very naturally and we all feel extremely lucky to be working together! We're really proud of the lyrics we write! -Madison

Madison, you recently got engaged! If the Wired article didn’t take your punk card away, surely this will take your punk card away! It’s not like your fiance plays in a sick punk band too or anything!

YES I DID :D!!! IT'S THE BEST THING EVER! Again Mr. Dad, I turned in my punk card a long time ago! Would you like to reinstate it for me (jk I don't want one :P)?! Kelsi is the most spiritual, wise, talented, intelligent, and kickass person in the universe and I'm unbelievably thankful to spend the rest of my days with her :D!! She is the brainchild of Prowler (named after Kelsi and Ana's Father's band from the 80s) which is the most "give no fucks" melt your face off rock ever \ m / !! Also the Wired article was TOTAL SHIT! The writer (Brendan Koerner) used my tragedy (which honestly shouldn't have been included) to sell a story about my esports program (which should have been the focus). The article was EXTREMELY disrespectful to women in general (didn't mention my female athletes at all) Katherine (he mocked up an autopsy report; YIKES!) and Kelsi (not mentioned more than one line and not named), chalk full of half-truths, focused on me instead of my students (LIVID about this), and really just made me look weak and stupid by making up his own narrivate to sell the pieice. My program was great, that was the story! He never let me read the article before it came out (I never even read one of the 4 drafts he supposedly wrote) and never told me the title before it was published. The whole article was unbelievably unethical! The man is trying to get a Netflix movie and legitimately wrote that article the way he did so he could make a movie (I told the people at Conde Nast that I would never support a movie EVER)! He kept telling me he wrote the article to help me get a job, but he wrote it so he could make a movie! THERE WILL BE NO MOVIE! I could say a lot more, but just know I hate it and I think it's a 0 / 10, shit a -1 /10 ! -Madison

How did you guys meet Ruben? He is a delight! Do you wake up every morning and practice self-reflection and gratitude that the universe has brought him into your lives? (Ruben, feel free to answer this for Madison and Evan)

I met Ruben at the Green House in Laramie, WY in 2020 (right before COVID)! He was there vibing and we instantly hit it off! He told me about some of his time growing up in Tacoma, WA and the bands he was in back in the day (Red Hex was his favorite)! When it came time to find a third member for DS I reached out and it was like a match made in heaven! Evan and Ruben and I linked up so well on the first day it was kind of freaky! Ruben is unbelievably talented and creative and can play anything he wants anytime (he's too GOATED)!! Yes, Ev and I wake up every morning and thank the universe for gracing us with the greatest person (and bassist for that matter) ever!! RUBEN IS THE GOAT! -Madison

The 7” fucks! So good i had to buy two. I know I’m out of the loop with the greater Denver scene, but Convulse Records seems to have come out of nowhere- do you know anything about the history of that label? Is it a homie who(mst) runs it?

Thanks dad! You're two ;P sweet! Convulse has blown up like crazy! We were just doing our Midwest tour and nearly every band we played with was like "DUDE YOU'RE ON CONVULSE THAT IS SO SICK THEY ARE THE COOLEST AHHH" and honestly, they were right! Adam Croft was the brainchild of Convulse, but we also know James Reed and a couple other Wyomingites were critical in getting it started! Adam and James are both from Sundance, WY (tiny town near Gillette)! In 2012 the now Convulse crew lived in this house called Babe Haus in Laramie, Wyoming and that's where everything really took off! We have been playing music with Adam, James, Cloe, Amos, etc. for over ten years, so we were so freaking excited to see the success of Convulse! No one deserves it more, the label works so hard and is so ethical! Great people, great bands, great ethics, Convulse 11/10! -Madison

 Have you guys been writing any new material? If so, any plans for a follow up?

We are 7 songs towards a full length! We got big plans, update at the next Dreyfest :)! -Madison

Anything in particular you are looking forward to doing this year at Dreyfest?

I'm really looking forward to seeing Idaho Green, that band is kooky and I haven't seen them in like 4 years (there was a band called the High Plains Drifters last year that sounded like them, but without Dr. Tightass it was a lil different)! -Madison

Over/Under - yes, we all hate pitchfork, and yes, this is like… “their thing” but dammit! It’s too much fun not to play! I will give you a word/thing/idea, and you just have to say if you think it is underrated or overrated, and feel free to expound on your reasoning as much as you’d like, or not at all!

PT Cruisers

- Overrated, people still drive them -Madison

Video keno

-Overrated, people still play video keno -Madison

Taco John’s

-Underrated, IT'S GOOD OKAY WYOMING DID A GOOD JOB! -Madison

running/jogging

-Underrated, fitness is lit! -Madison

Rush (the band)

-Underrated, literally the greatest band of all time -Madison

HBO’s Succession

-Unrated, hardly even heard of it :(! -Madison

American Spirits

- Overrated, I like marlboros better! -Madison

Peavey amps

- Overrated, everyone has owned one at some point, but doesn't own it anymore! -Madison

Casper, Wyoming (is this a potentially dangerous question to answer?)

- Underrated, great local spots to play, eat, and drink! Would not live there though! -Madison

Bridges (the musical structure)

- Underrated, critical infrastructure! -Madison

Bridges (the physical structures)

-Underrated, critical infrastructure! -Madison

Bridges (the plural form of the card game Bridge)

-Underrated, ashes to ashes we all fall down! -Madison

Nash Bridges (the police procedural television series)

- Unrated, I'm a pop culture pleb :(! -Madison

Steve Nash (the basketball player)

-Overrated, retire my guy! -Madison

You can catch Dirt Sucker during this year's fest at Craft Local on Friday, August 5th at 8:45pm!