(This is an interview with Noah of the band Hoppin Mad. I'd like to thank him for the time, and read it and then go check these guys out.)

Josh Nacho: Who are some of your influences?

Noah: I guess some of my biggest influences would be Screeching Weasel, The Broadways, The Vindictives, Common Rider...I could really go on and on.

J.N.: Who are bands that you would like to tour with?

Noah: Man, I don't know! Never actually having played a tour, I'd be happy to tour with basically anyone. But I guess a couple of cool ones would be the Teen Idols or the Queers.

J.N.: What CD is in your CD player right now?

Noah: I have a 10-disc changer in my car, so... 1. "Pump Up The Valuum" by NOFX 2. "New Mansions in Sound" by The Fastbacks 3. "Broken Star" by the Broadways 4. disc one of "When Everything's Been Said" by Operation: Cliff Clavin 5. "Less Talk, More Rock" by Propaghandi 6. "The Side Effects of Thinking" by Moral Crux 7. The Clash's self-titled CD 8. "Hush" by Fifteen 9. "How to Make Enemies and Irritate People" by Screeching Weasel 10. "Destroyed" by Sloppy Seconds

J.N.: What do you do outside of music?

Noah: I'm a student at U of M in Dearborn. I also work part-time at a publishing company.

J.N.: What is your favorite part of playing live?

Noah: I love the rush you get after you've played a great set, and I also never get sick of seeing people that I've never even met singing along. I also really like it when the venues give me free beer!

J.N.: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?

Noah: really fast paced and hyper-active, and really melodic at the same time

J.N.: Who are some bands in the scene today that you think deserve recognition but may not be getting it?

Noah: Is this locally or nationally? Well, nationally speaking, two that come to mind would be the Vindictives and Moral Crux. The Dillinger Four deserve more attention than they get (even though they do get a good amount), and the Fastbacks deserve infinitely more attention than they get, even though they're not necessarily a punk band.

J.N.: What do you think of the current music scene of the "mainstream" on a whole? Do you ever forsee a time when Mtv could be dominated by real music, as opposed to teenage constructed faces?

Noah: No. In fact, it's only getting worse. Proof: just look at the growing number of boy bands and obnoxious doo-wopping female pre-fab R&B groups. Now there are boy bands that are trying to be "punk." For example: Blink 182, Eve 6, The Ataris, Lit, MXPX... The "mainstream" has its pre-fabricated watered down versions of every kind of "real music" and they sell shit loads of records with that watered down mindlessness. And I'm not just talking about punk. Today's "young country" is the mainstream's version of Hank Williams, Guy Clark, and Uncle Tupelo. Today's mainstream R&B is just non-stop recyclying of music that actually had merit in the 60s and 70s. Of course, there is always the odd truly good band that will slip up through the floor cracks of the mainstream and be successful, but that's extremely rare. Mainstream music is not a "scene." It's a business. People interested in listening to good music will avoid it.

J.N.: What are your future plans- CD releases, tours, etc?

Noah: Ummm...you'd have to ask Bill about that. I know there are some tentative seven inches in the works, but other than that, I really don't know.

J.N.: What are your thoughts on the Detroit music scene?

Noah: stagnant, dead, unaccepting, elitist.... There are a lot of bands around here that don't deserve half of the shows they play. There are a lot of bands around here that deserve twice the shows they play. Honestly, I think there's a lot of potential in the area, but for some reason, things are kind of in the shitter right now. It's incredibly hard for bands who are not so well-established to get shows. There used to be Pharoah's, and while their closing could be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing, that was only one of two places anywhere around here where a band who was just starting out could get a worth-while show. The other was the Wired Frog, but that place has really gone to shit in the past year or so. So what do you do now if you're starting a band and need decent shows? Tough shit. Getting booked at the bigger venues in town is virtually impossible unless you've been around for a while. And then there's the fact that punk rock is virtually dead in Detroit anyway. What is big around here now is emo and hardcore. That's sad to see, especially since I know of a few awesome punk bands around here that will probably never get much of a chance because there's no audience for that in Detroit anymore. I mean the Teen Idols don't draw for shit around here, and the Queers didn't even sell out the 7th house!

J.N.: Final comments... ?

Noah: rock and roll, oochie coo.

For more info, visit: Hoppin Mad