Garage Anthems
Interview with Broken Cuffs
Palmdale, Calif.
It has to be over 90 degrees in Palmdale, a little over an hour outside of Los Angeles's downtown core.
It's the day of Halloween. Shit's hit the fan. Drummer Adam Vega had his laptop stolen that morning. And on the less important, though still worth mentioning front, is the fact that they still haven't decided on Halloween costumes for their show that night at the Elks Lodge in San Bernardino—20 bands, a mix of ska and punk, on two stages.
Vega wants to be Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Bassist Coby Sill is contemplating Roy Orbison. Guitarist Anthony Gomez, possibly a droog, and Ricardo Ramos—guitarist and singer—said he has a lederhosen getup that he'll make scary with Halloween makeup in a twisted version of the Ricola guy or kid from the Toaster Strudel commercial.
"You guys are so boring," Vega said. "I want you to be a hot dog. I want you to be like a penguin or something and I'll be a fucking penis."
"No," Ramos said. "You've got to dress up like something you're not for the rest of the year. You can't be yourself for Halloween."
The four are here for practice.
All of them hail from the Antelope Valley, although Ricardo now lives four hours away on the Central Coast near Paso Robles. Vega and Gomez both have jobs working mostly graveyard shifts more than 50 hours a week. Sill is in school.
There's lot of things—life in general—that present obstacles to practicing and being in a band, but they wouldn't have it any other way.
Broken Cuffs originally started in 2005. Their infectious music—the kind that makes you want to raise a fist in the air as chorus lines are blared out—is adrenaline-pumping, sing-along anthems. But make no mistake, this isn't pop punk. It's moody, melodic bass lines at times with charging drumbeats that set off the tone of songs tackling anything from anti-government and anti-war to living on the streets.
The band eventually fizzled in 2006 and everyone went their separate ways.
"Pretty much it was me by myself," Gomez said. "This fool [Ramos] is going to be a family man. Adam kept messing up and getting into trouble. Our bass player didn't have his equipment and our singer had to step up and become a dad. It was just me by myself. The band was my main focus. But, fuck, to teach everyone to play the drums. To teach everyone the lyrics, the bass—I was like no. Too much work."
Nine years passed and it was Gomez who ended up suggesting to Ramos earlier this year that Broken Cuffs be resurrected.
Ramos agreed but only if it was the original lineup—a tough feat to pull off considering the two, who are cousins, had lost contact with everyone else.
They ended up sending a message in May to Vega's sister through Facebook and he responded that same day.
"That second, I responded to him," Vega said. "I hadn't talked to him in years and I was like, what? Fuck, yeah. I had my answer right then and there. I didn't even have to think about it. I work 60 hours a week, but I'll find time for this. I missed that band."
Within a matter of hours, Broken Cuffs was back.
The original bassist, who lives two hours away from Palmdale, ended up not being able to commit due to lack of time and money and that's when Sill came into the picture, in September. "Coby," Vega said, "he's probably the best musician out of all of us."
The singer situation is still up in the air. Ramos picked up vocals two days before their comeback show because of work scheduling conflicts with the original singer and it's unclear where they'll land with the permanent lineup.
In the meantime, they've come back louder and heavier.
"We do more shows," Vega said. "Back then, money was an issue. We couldn't drive out to downtown L.A. to play a show 'cause we were all younger. Our parents were not going to drive and I'm not going to take a drum set on a bus. We were limited, but we did everything we possibly could. Now we're older."
They've been playing shows at least every other week and the response has been positive.
"There was people there that had never even heard of us and right away they caught onto the chorus," Gomez said. "They just started singing along with Ricardo on the mic. These people just barely found out about us and within a minute they already knew our chorus and they started singing along. That's fucking awesome."
They were close to playing Canada more recently, but past run-ins with the law ("I like to draw stuff," Vega said by way of explanation) got some of them banned for life from the country—unless a permit is obtained.
They'll figure it out they say. The point is that they keep going.
They're playing up a storm and have multiple shows lined up through the end of the year.
The goal is to get into the studio in January to record an album, but they'll have to figure out the singer situation first. They just haven't had the time between shows and practice.
A good chunk—about half of the material—was written by the old singer, or at least started by him and finished off by the rest of the band, and a lot of the songs will have to be re-recorded. The sound, while they continue to play their version of punk, will hopefully evolve, they said, given the amount of time that has passed and the perspective that comes with age. What they wrote in the first iteration of Broken Cuffs was when they were teenagers. But the intensity of what they're singing about—racism, unity, equality—none of that will change as they write new material, they said.
"People say 'Oh, you're still into punk?' Well, yeah," Ramos said. "Why am I ever going to say 'Yeah, I'm OK with the government oppressing me and shit. Why am I ever going to change?"
They play their instruments as best they can—some would say very well, but they're much more self-deprecating. None of them took lessons, although Sill is currently getting a certificate in audio engineering.
"It's DIY. It's punk rock and that's what punk rock is—that anyone with some instruments, throw them in a garage and they can create their own sound," Ramos said. "We're not playing in an orchestra. We're not talented musicians. We just play what we play, what we like to listen to and what moves us. When we're playing live, I'm always thinking if I wasn't playing now I'd be in our circle pit.... We're going to play what we play, not what's in style. And if people like it, great. And, if not, then I'm sorry. We were at the wrong show."
Back at their practice, they've set up their instruments on the driveway, breezing through their set list. There's three more hours until they leave for the San Bernardino show when Vega suddenly realizes he has to drive an hour out to Van Nuys, while Gomez—operating off scant sleep from work the day before—says he'll probably take a nap. Their call time is 12:30.
Hours later, they find out the promoter for the punk bands assembled for the show went M.I.A. They don't get to play after all. But they did figure out their costumes.
Ramos dubbed it the worst Halloween ever and that assessment counts what little candy he had: one tootsie roll. Rough. But it hardly matters. They've got shows lined up through the rest of the year. It's just on to the next one because, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if they're without a singer, running on low sleep from work or a promoter dropped the ball on a show. They're determined to keep Broken Cuffs going this time around.
"I work 55, 60 hours a week. Same as [Vega]," Gomez said. "I told Ricardo when we first started, I work a lot. I'm stressing. Let's do something fun. This is a hobby, not a career."
News, Band Updates:
Upcoming Shows:
Nov. 14
The Britisher
849 W. Ave. I; Lancaster
W/Thoughtcrime (EP release) and Dr. Party
Nov. 27
102 Dickerson Ave.; Los Angeles
W/Skeptical Youth, The Dictions, Corrupted Youth, Politikal Dekline, The 40 Ouncers, PTSD, FinalBloodSpit
Dec. 12
El Pueblito Bar
Tijuana
W/Evakuate, Corrupted Youth, Cartucho, TJ Suicida, Verbal Desecration
Dec. 19
Double Down Saloon
4640 Paradise Road; Las Vegas
W/Three Rounds, Vatican Assassins, Devil McCoy, Thoughtcrime
Jan. 8
Lancaster Moose Lodge
44545 Division St.; Lancaster
W/The Briggs, Civil Evacuation, Bad Samaritans, Tartar Control, Sloppy Titty Freaks, Informal Society, DJ Bootleg