Taken from Big Bang fanzine issue#1.... The Pink Lincolns have been around for years (ten of them, to be exact) and have been
knockin' people out all along the way. They have two albums and three seven inches on Stiff Pole, and tour often. Missing their live show or their album
would be a serious mistake. Interview by Ben Interbang. Ben:First of all, it seems like you fuckin' love Cleveland after watchin' the show tonight. What did you think of the show?
Chris:This was a way rad show. I had a blast. The people were fuckin' great. We've been coming up against crowds who've been really good lately, and it blows my fuckin' shit away. We love it.
This is why we do it, ya know? To have fun, and people have fun with it. That was a fuckin' blast tonight. I had a great time. That's why we're doing this, so that people have fun, and it worked tonight.
Ben:How long have you been together?
Chris:Just a month or two short of ten years.
Ben:In that time, you've been pretty active with the band, touring and stuff. You've had the opportunity, I'm sure, to see all the changes over the years.
Chris:Yeah. The biggest thing is that punk rock is way trendy now. A lot of kids are comin' to the shows, and that's cool; I have nothin' against that. But, I think it's hilarious- when we first started out being a band, if you were punk, that meant, guaranteed, you would get your ass kicked. And, if you're punk, these days, that means you get laid. That's the biggest thing I've noticed about punk.
Ben:Would you say, because of, I don't know, the MaximumRocknRoll readers, you have to be too fuckin' serious to have fun anymore?
Chris:I think most bands are too fucking serious anyway, and that ruins it for me. I don't wanna go see anybody make speeches, I don't wanna go see people espouse political views, I wanna see fuckin' people rockin' my shit. And I don't see that much. It's like everybody's hung up on "saying something". It's just like this- just fuckin' hit me as hard as you can and I'll love you. That's what I like about bands. Most bands these days sort of just go along
with MRR ideology, because it's safe to do that. It's not that it's bad. It's just that's what everybody's doing.
Ben:So you just kinda shy away from political correstness, etc.?
Chris:If somebody's doing something, we try to do something else. We just try to be a band, basically. We've got no big fuckin' thing we're trying to push; we're just trying to be a band.
Ben:You've toured all over several times. What's your favorite place to play?
Chris:Atlanta and Chicago. This place is a new favorite place. DC. Birmingham on and off. People are the same all over, it just depends on how they get together and what they could do. It could happen anywhere. You could pick a shit city within a shit state and it could be a good show.
Ben:What's your worst tour experience you've had over the years?
Chris:Less than a year ago in the Southeast of Texas. It was miserable for many different reasons. This touring is making up for any past bad memories. It's better booked. We're having a blast. There's people there that are having fun. This [Cleveland] is cool. We try to think of the better things, not the worst things, but there's been alot of worse things over the last years. We've had alot of shitty shows.
Ben:So it's getting alot better?
Chris:Overall, yes.
Ben:What do you think of the scene locally?
Chris:Alot of clubs are closing down, which is sad. A lot more kids are coming out. That's the trend- a lot more kids are coming out. We have fun. We've had good shows, we've had bad shows. I drink alot when we do shows.
Ben:You guys are always hittin' the East Coast, is there a reason you're staying away from the West Coast?
Chris:Yeah, cuz it's California. If they wanna see us, they can take buses over here and see us. Basically, it's more realistic. The cities are alot closer together. Whenever we go out on tour, it's a short period of time- two weeks, three weeks. You can't make it over to the West Coast and they have enough bands going over there, doing that shit over there, and California's the cool trend. Fuck that. It's more functional for us. We do the East Coast, we know it, and we have fun here.
We'd probably have fun over there, but you have to drive through Texas and the desert and then you're playing for fuckin' Californians, ya know.
Ben:Do you think that big seperation between East and West coast is why music from the West coast sounds so different from music on the East coast?
Chris:Yeah, probably so. I mean, California has its own sound. New York, around 85-ish, had their New York hardcore thing goin'. We just kinda do what we do. We don't worry about East coast/West coast. We just do our shit.
Yeah, there's probably a difference between East coast and West coast but I can't fuckin' specify or whatever.
Ben:What do you guys do in your off-time, like when you're not touring and stuff?
Chris:Three of the guys are cooks. I trim bushes, I plant bushes, I pull bushes out of the ground.
Ben:You're a bushman!
Chris:Yeah..... I'm a shrubber. I'm busy in the summertime, and the cook guys are always busy in the wintertime cuz that's when all the Yankees go down there and fuckin' eat at all the restaurants and clog up our streets and shit. We stick to a Fall/Spring schedule- twice a year, short tours.
Ben:You've been around for about ten years and only put out what, like two albums and three seven inches? What do you think keeps you guys moving so slowly as far as putting out records?
Chris:We were old when we started the band and we're not any younger now. We've always had our pace-
Alex(from Submachine walks over): Not to butt in-
Chris:We're not like these guys and churn out crap for record after record. We really care about what we do.
Ben:What do you think about when Ben Weasel was hyping you up and I'm sure you're record sales went up and everyone was wearing your t-shirt and shit?
Chris:People creep about our shirts, and you know, it's totally insignificant. Our t-shirts don't mean shit. We do music. We're not a goddamn fashion store, ya know.
People wanna wear our t-shirts cuz Ben Weasel wears our t-shirts. It's like what-the-fuck-ever.
Alex:Ya know what sells? Cameos and porn. That's what sells.
Chris:See, one day, Ben Weasel will do a porn movie and he'll magic marker "Pink Lincolns" on his dick.
Alex:If it could fit.
Chris:"P."..... People won't wanna buy our t-shirts anymore-
Ben:Yeah, they'll wanna get "Pink Lincolns" tattoos on their dicks.
Chris:That would be creepy..... Ya know, all they could fit on my dick would be "P-i."...... And "Submachine Rules Pittsburgh" or some shit.
Ben:When are you guys going into the studio or have anything come out?
Chris:We're going to go into the studio whenever the fuck we're ready. We don't work on a time schedule. We're not racing anybody. I don't know what to say about that.