Tag Archives: MC Rut

Middle Class Rut

Impermanent Vacation • After a Brief Hiatus, Middle Class Rut is Back with a New Album and a Headlining Slot at Concerts in the Park

It was late 2007 when Sacramento local Zack Lopez mailed his band’s three-song demo to KWOD 106.5’s Andy Hawk. His fledgling band was Middle Class Rut, and among those three tracks was “New Low,” a catchy staccato rock song with an anthemic chorus that resonated with Hawk from the moment he spun the CD. He added it to KWOD’s rotation of local bands and the fanfare mounted almost instantly.

By the end of that year, it was among the top requested songs on the station, not just for locals but across the board. MC Rut, which consists of Lopez and drummer/vocalist Sean Stockham, had just been dropped from their major label, Island Def Jam, which was sitting on that same recording of “New Low” when they cut the band loose.

“It just kind of did what you hope a song will do,” said Lopez, who has a deep respect for Hawk’s insistence on giving local bands radio time. “I’ve always thought that was the coolest thing because it gives normal listeners a chance to hear locals.”

Middle Class Rut quickly became a Sacramento staple, headlining sold-out shows and supporting established touring acts as they passed through Northern California. They also booked international tours and traveled the United States with the likes of Social Distortion and Alice in Chains. (I caught them at a KWOD show alongside Alkaline Trio, Pennywise, Anti-Flag and the rapidly ascendant MGMT in 2008.)

As the band’s popularity swelled, they built toward their 2010 debut album, No Name No Color, anchored by “New Low.” They followed it up in 2013 with Pick Up Your Head, which saw the band fleshed out to a five-piece after years as a duo.

Those two album cycles kept them on the road for years, but it all came to a screeching halt in 2015 when the band’s gear was stolen from their trailer right before their final hometown show. Already burnt out from years in motion, they took it as a sign to pack it in.

I recently caught up with Lopez to talk about the ensuing few years, including the demos they released in early 2018 and the new record they currently have in the can, Gutters, which was funded entirely by Kickstarter donations from their fans.

In early 2018, Middle Class Rut released a collection of old demos called Strangler Days. How did it feel to revisit those songs so many years later?
They were from the first two years we started playing music. We were writing so much then that we couldn’t even release the songs quick enough. It’s a time and an energy that we’ll never have again. It would be lame to let those songs die on a hard drive, and it was a good way to see if people still gave a shit about the band. We figured we could put this weird shit out before we go make an album.

What happened when the band parted ways after touring behind the second album?
You have a band account that keeps you going, but when you’re not playing, the money drains quick. Three or four months afterward, Sean was like, “I gotta start working.” Sean does carpentry work in Boise, and I’m a contractor in Sac. I just jumped right back into that. It felt good to kind of get back into that, but that’s short lived, too.
I hit up the label and put out two records on my own and built a rad studio in Sacramento. Having a studio makes a huge difference. It’s somewhere I can go for as long as I want and record undisturbed.

You all parted ways in 2015 after your gear was stolen. If that theft never happened, would MC Rut still have shut it down?
We were supposed to go into the studio. We were renegotiating a contract and were pretty much set to do the cycle again, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to commit like that. It just felt like the last thing in the world we wanted to do. It didn’t feel right. We weren’t inspired, so we hit our label up and said we’re gonna step back. The gear getting stolen was just another sign to fucking relax. Listen to the sign … We’ll just go our separate ways.

What did the label say?
We were with Bright Antenna out of Oakland. They have a ton of bands now, but we were the first band they’d signed. It was more like family than any other label we’d been on in the past. They’re just endlessly supportive. They said, “Whenever you want to come back and get at it, we’re here for you.”

Sean no longer lives in Sacramento. Where does he live now and how does that work for the band?
He lives in Boise, Idaho. He moved there right before we made the second record, but it didn’t matter. He’d fly to where we’d start the tour and we’d all take off together.

What spawned the new album and the Kickstarter that funded it?
It was Sean’s idea. If we could do it ourselves, our obligation was just to the people who funded it. Now we’re looking at a few options. Doing it yourself is rad, but there’s a limit. It’s paid for and we own it 100 percent.

Did you set out to create a specific sound with the new record?
We didn’t. Our second record was so focused and loopy with percussion and hip-hop beats. I don’t know how well it went over, but people didn’t seem to respond to how excited we were. I knew I wanted to do the loopy stuff [on the new one], but we couldn’t help but just bash out rock music in a room, too.

We turned the band to a five-piece on the second record. Everyone’s like, “Man, you guys are way better as a two-piece.”

You recorded the main instruments live in one room. Why did you do the vocals on your own at your home studio?
It’s just about being a control freak and having a budget. We knew as long as we got drums down in the studio, anything else would be extra. I’m so used to recording myself. If I have to sing something more than three times and I still don’t get it, I just pretend the song doesn’t exist and revisit it later. I can’t stand punching in stuff.

Your upcoming tour will include Concerts in the Park in Sacramento. How did that come to be?
We’ve played it twice. Andy [Hawk] and I are always talking and he’s like, “Dude if you ever want to play again, let me know.” He does so much cool stuff for the city. Everyone you know can get in, it’s a free show, they treat you well, and you get paid to do what you do. Why would we not do that?

Middle Class Rut will headline Sacramento’s Concerts in the Park for the third time on July 20. Also performing will be Black Map, Dark Signal and Blackheart. This show is free and will take place at Cesar Chavez Plaza (910 I St., Sacramento) from 5–9 p.m. For more info, go to Godowntownsac.com. You can order copies of MC Rut’s latest album, Gutters, at Mcrut.com.

**This piece first appeared in print on pages 18 – 19 of issue #270 (July 18 – Aug. 1, 2018)**

Music Junkie

Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix is addicted to bringing the rock

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, there is no denying that Papa Roach has earned their rank as one of the most successful bands to come from the Sacramento region. They’ve sold upwards of 10 million records worldwide, have toured the globe for over a decade playing venues packed with adoring fans and have truly lived the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. But for every high point, there’s been a low. Be it battles with their record label or battles within the band itself, Papa Roach has shed its fair share of blood, sweat and tears, most notably when they parted ways with long-time drummer Dave Buckner in 2008. It wasn’t a smooth split. Buckner, who in the early ‘90s co-founded the band with vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, filed suit against the band saying that they owed him money. They ultimately settled out of court. Papa Roach has since continued on with new drummer Tony Palermo of the San Diego rock group Unwritten Law.

Through all the ups and downs, there have been a number of things keeping P-Roach pushing ahead, Shaddix explained during a recent interview with Submerge. “I would say our relationship with our fan base, the kids that are coming out to the shows being affected by the music,” he said. “We’ve just got that drive inside of us as a band. We’ve got this heart that just fucking pops. It’s all we got and it’s all we need. We all are living this dream, which sometimes can seem like a nightmare, but I’d sound like a bitch if I were to complain. We just love it.”

As for the incalculable hardships that always seem to creep their way into the picture, Shaddix said that after a career like theirs, he and his crew are ready to take on anything. “It’s always a challenge. You’re always up against a challenge,” he said. “But the members of this band are always up for it. I think it makes it easier for us as time goes by too because we’ve just seen so many genres come and go and so many trends come and go.” He chuckles. “We almost came and went.”

In the following interview, we chat with Shaddix about his band’s deep Sacramento roots, how making music is like a drug, their plans for a new full-length record and more. Be sure to catch Papa Roach live in Sacramento for their first time in years when they headline Ace of Spades two nights in a row on Feb. 25 and 26, 2011.

What are some of the first thoughts that come to mind when you think back to Papa Roach’s humble beginnings when you were gigging in and around Sacramento all of the time? Do you ever trip out on how far you’ve come?
For me it’s a daily kind of realization, more so when I’m home around the people that I was with. Not only am I with my band on the road, but then it’s like we’ve got sound guys and light guys, a whole crew, you know? I never had that back in the day. Then I come home, and I’m back around my wife. She’s been with me since I had Papa Roach in the very beginning. We’re old school. We go through our old photos, and we see pictures of me and my wife and my band from way back in the day. My band was in my wedding way back. It’s a trip, you know, especially when I come back home.

I used to go watch you guys in the late ‘90s at this little club near where I grew up, the Gaslighter Theater in Gilroy, Calif. Do you remember that place? That was right on the brink of when you guys were getting the major label deal and whatnot I think.
Fuck yeah, dude! That was a really cool time for P-Roach.

I tripped out when talking to Eric Rushing, longtime Sacramento music enthusiast and promoter, the other day about that era of P-Roach because he was like, “Yeah those were my shows even down there. I was at most of those shows!”
Yeah for these upcoming shows that we’re doing in Sacramento, just to interject on that point, it’s kind of a full circle for us 10 years later. Eric and Brett [Bair] have been very successful. Brett used to manage Papa Roach; we split the sheets, we’re still OK, and we’re friends and such. But it’s cool to see that people who started in Sacramento are all still around here killing it. That’s even kind of why we wanted to put the type of bill together that we put together.

Yeah that’s cool. It’s all Sacramento cred-bands.
Yeah, bring it on home!

So the first night it’s Track Fighter, Will Haven and you guys. The second night it’s Lonely Kings, MC Rut and you guys. So many good Sacramento-based bands! I’m especially digging MC Rut lately. They’ve got a crazy work ethic. Are you familiar?
Fuck yeah, dude. That record is one of my favorites. I mean you’ve got to work hard in this business no matter what. If you want to make it, you’ve got to go in and slug it out in the trenches and build a fan base by playing rock shows. That’s the proving ground for rock music is touring. If you come with a hot song for a minute, that’s all good, but can you go out and tour and pack houses and rock audiences throughout America? Not just like San Francisco and New York, I’m talking, like America, you know what I mean?

Bringing it back to Sacramento for a second, don’t you guys own a studio space downtown? What’s that space all about?
Yeah right now it’s just pretty much essentially a demo studio for Papa Roach, and we’ll have some bands go in there. Like Dance Gavin Dance is going in a few days. They’ll be in there making some noise. Michael Rosen, he used to run out of J Street Recorders, Brian Wheat’s studio, he’s been bringing down some of his gear. He’s got really good gear, and he’s pretty much running it like a proper studio at times with bands. So that’s cool as well. We just don’t want it to collect dust while we’re out on the road.

Must be nice to just to get new riffs and song ideas recorded fast?
Yeah, exactly. I just got a new jam from Tobin [Esperance, bass] today actually. He programmed it on his computer, did the beats himself. There’s no guitar on it yet. It’s just keyboard sounds right now, but it’s like Papa Roach meets…I don’t know, it’s real good though.

So it’s sounding like there’s going to be another full-length ready for release sometime when? Next year?
Pretty much what we’re doing is this, Doomsday Radio, 2012, Papa Roach.

Oh really? I didn’t see that anywhere in any of my research! Is that a working title?
Yup. Working title, Doomsday Radio. There you go, print it.

Throughout the years Papa Roach has morphed quite a bit musically; it always seems like you’re progressing your sound. Can you talk a little about the many phases of your band?
I think for us it’s always been, “Go where the music takes us.” That’s the goal with Papa Roach: If it moves us, we think it will move our fans, and sometimes that’s true and sometimes it’s not. I think more times than not it has moved our fans. That progression that you speak of, we’re still in it. The track that Tobin just sent me, I was like, “Oh shit here we going again, we’re flippin’ it up.” But I’m into it, man. Music is this drug, and you want to try all different types of them. It’s like sex, you know, it’s like you do it the same way over and over and it just gets boring, so you’ve got to flip it up, put a wig on her, hit it doggy style. Switch it up.

What sort of vibe does the new song that Tobin sent you have? I read somewhere that Jerry [Horton, guitar] said the new record will have more electronic elements or something like that?
Oh yeah, for sure. It’s like somewhere between Prodigy meets Nine Inch Nails meets Papa Roach. It’s still got our sound to it, though, like when you hear the groove and the vibe, it’s still us, it’s just sometimes we want to use that texture in the music. I think we started to dabble in it with songs like “Burn” and “Kick in the Teeth” [off of 2010’s Time for Annihilation…On the Record and On the Road]. I think that it’s fun and our fans are receptive to it, and we like it because it opens up a whole new floodgate for us. I think it can make our music more beat-driven at times, which will be fun.

What’s one big goal of yours for the next record?
I don’t want to make a record that sounds like I’m a 35-year-old man, because I am a 35-year-old man, or I’m going to be, but I’m an exciting motherfucker when it comes to making music. I don’t want to make music that sounds compromised. That’s the goal for the next record is to kind of–and we’ve discussed this together–is to make a record that’s a little bit more experimental at times and a little bit more progressive. The last couple records have been song, song, song, etc. If you look back at one of our first releases, Old Friends from Young Years, there was a whole concept behind the way the record was laid out. I think we want to do something like that again.

Like as far as flow and transition tracks and whatnot?
Exactly, just to kind of dig deeper and make it more of an experience this time around. Not really a concept record, but something that is more than just song, song, song, song.

Even to the way that we’re going to do music videos in the future and the way that the band is imaged as well. For us, it’s a goal to kind of evolve all elements of what we do just a bit.

You might be getting older, but I sense that you are just as hungry as ever to succeed.

Yeah, look at the Chili Peppers. You don’t think of it that way. You think it’s just timeless. That’s what we’re going for. We’ve got a long, long road ahead of us. This is just another step in the path for us.

Papa Roach has heavy staying power in the music business, doesn’t it? It’s been so many years, but you guys remain relevant.
We definitely don’t take that shit for granted. But the fight is not over, dude. You look at a band like Green Day, they made that record, you know what I’m saying? For us, we still feel like we have that record in us. We still feel like we haven’t made the record of our career. Maybe it’s just that junkie inside me.

Papa Roach will play live in Sacramento for the first time in years at Ace of Spades (1417 R Street) on Feb. 25 and 26, 2011. Tickets are available at Dimple Records, The Beat, Armadillo (in Davis) and online at aceofspadessac.com. Grab their latest album, Time for Annihilation…On the Record and On the Road, a collection of nine live renditions of P-Roach hits and five newly recorded tracks, at record stores everywhere or through any major online retailer.

Loving, and the Times We’re In

Middle Class Rut Ready Their Full-Length Debut

Guy Debord, the pivotal member of the French art collective known as the Situationist International, once graffitied Paris with the slogan “Never Work.” In his book Lipstick Traces, Griel Marcus ties the SI as the real precursors of the punk-anarchist tradition. In a related way, Middle Class Rut embodies an angst that directly confronts the conditions of our world. Zack Lopez (guitar/vocals) and Sean Stockham (drums/vocals) use their songs to take swings at the monotony of the working class experience. It’s imbedded in the lyrics of songs like “Lifelong Dayshift” where both members double down on the chorus to create a throat-thick hook reminiscent of Filter: “Your life/It ain’t worth wasting mine on. I won’t accept that every day/Will just be thrown away.” A sentiment that anyone who’s ever had a miserable job can identify with. Lopez and Stockham don’t stop with lyric sentiment; they crank up their sounds to ear bleeding and make sure that their message gets loudly through to the audience. That message isn’t directly anarchist but is closely related via the spirit of DIY. Angry at the prerequisite struggle built into DIY, MC Rut’s debut full-length album, No Name No Color, becomes an example of a hard-wrought self-made body of work. Operating independently (self-recorded, self-produced), MC Rut is succeeding at making things for themselves and that ever-elusive ability to be happy doing it.

MC Rut met with Submerge at a Starbucks on Madison. Without an interior for customers to sit in, it was a fitting example of our service economy. We drank coffee over the squeals and rumbles that signify our ever-fluid social relations, and here we discussed their jejune flirtations with a major label, family and their recent tours with Alice in Chains, …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Them Crooked Vultures, The Bronx and Social Distortion.

“It’s cool to go out and support a band like Alice in Chains, just for the opportunity to do it,” said Stockham.

“And that was huge for us,” added Lopez. Thankful for the opportunities, MC Rut is ready to branch out on its own. Anxious to reap the benefits of their own labor, Lopez gets adamant about headlining. “We’d rather headline basements,” he said, “and have everyone there for us than go out on another support tour. We’ve been an opening band our whole life.”

“When you’re 16 or 17 you get so excited to just get out of your hometown,” said Stockham. “The first couple of tours we did when we were younger, it wasn’t about how many people showed up or how much merchandise we sold, it was about the fact that we’re in a van driving across the world. Then we got a little bit older and had kids, and we didn’t want to do that shitty van tour anymore.”

“And we still did,” nodded Lopez. “We were thinking we just got to pay our dues. It’ll happen.”

Their previous group, Leisure, disbanded in 2004 after years of hype and little to show for their efforts. “It wasn’t until we got honest again that we started going anywhere,” said Lopez. “Getting in a record deal and being in a certain situation, you think that you can fool people. It just doesn’t pan out that way. Money was a joke then. If you knew the right person, they were just handing it out.”

Stockham added flatly, “The industry has been flipped over.” While things have changed dramatically for both major labels and bands, MC Rut is still able to take advantage of their connections to the majors. “[Our label] Bright Antenna still gets to operate the way they want to. They hire their own radio person, we hire our own artwork, together we pay for everything, but ILG and Warner make sure [our stuff] gets out everywhere,” said Stockham.

And, in case our readers haven’t been paying attention, MC Rut has been everywhere. They were getting radio play on KWOD 106.5 before the station changed formats, and their CD release Oct. 8, 210 at the Boardwalk is getting attention as one of Radio 94.7’s $9.47 shows.

Yet despite this recent success, MC Rut is doing something a little different than many of today’s popular bands. Embedded into their songs, into their angst, is the late ‘90s feel of Jane’s Addiction, Rage Against the Machine, Filter and a punk rock attitude.

“You’re kind of discouraged nowadays from even being a heavy band,” said Lopez. “Especially with the indie scene how it got so big. I couldn’t be less cool showing up to the club with the rig that I have. That’s just who we are at heart. We’ve always just loved really honest, energetic, really heavy loud music.”

“We can easily feel outdated,” seconded Stockham. “Depending on what part of the world or what show we get thrown onto at the end of the night. Heavy music is still really big. Active rock, Disturbed, Godsmack–that shit is huge in the middle part of America. But when you go to London and you’re playing the hip cool place, we’re not playing to Disturbed fans. We’re playing to people who like Vampire Weekend, and that’s the scene we’re talking about. We feel like we can’t relate to them, and they can’t relate to us.”

“We wish that this band could be in the old Sacramento scene,” said Lopez. “You couldn’t beat that scene back then. Now there’s no central place, the downtown scene is totally different.”

While the places have changed, the lifestyle hasn’t; and MC Rut is a testament to the difficulty of overcoming the systemic necessity of day labor. Both members have kids and homes to support; yet they constantly sacrifice family time for music. “If you love what you’re doing that should be what you’re doing,” said Lopez. “It was a lot harder for me personally, working and existing as a normal guy, being someone I wasn’t. I was building houses in Los Angeles. That was way harder for me than it was to leave my family and go out on the road to do something that I loved. If I’m home and I’m miserable because of my job, I’m just treating everyone like shit anyways. You can burn months, years even, in a certain routine. Just stacking time against yourself.”

“I didn’t even get my high school diploma,” revealed Stockham. “Like, ‘I’m going to be a rock star at age 19.’ When that didn’t work out and you’re forced to get a job, it’s factory work. In a funny way we want to have the stability of a 9-to-5, just playing music. Health insurance would be dope.”

Like too many Americans, MC Rut has to juggle their work with their livelihoods, sometimes at the consequences of self-preservation. When it’s not weighing down their bills, this tension manifests itself in the track “One Debt Away.” The chorus is a simple affirmation: “Be glad/To be home.” The first half is belted out with all the angst discussed above, the second half declines into a less tenuous space, the melodic thought of domesticity.

“We haven’t been to the doctor or the dentist in like 12 years,” laughed Lopez.

“There are times where it’s just an emergency, and it becomes this really expensive thing,” said Stockham. “My credit is fucked, because I went to the doctor one time and didn’t have the money to pay the bill. Hopefully things will change.”

For MC Rut things have changed; they’ve finally put together an album full of momentum. It’s time to reveal it to the people. “It’s nice to have officially put out a record,” said Stockham. “Now we can just move on, go out and play as many shows as possible.”

It Takes Two

Middle Class Rut

Cesar Chavez Park – Friday, June 19, 2009

Last Friday’s Concert in the Park Series at Cesar Chavez saw the triumphant return of Middle Class Rut, another long-awaited addition to the short list of bands that have found mainstream success beyond our county lines. This success is partly due to the overwhelming response to their 2008 single, “New Low,” that was played almost nonstop on the now-defunct KWOD 106.5. The stoner-friendly, alternative radio station was a huge proponent of the band. In fact, one year ago on the same exact stage, KWOD DJ Andy Hawk announced them before they hit the stage to a much smaller crowd.

MC Rut, as they are referred to in short, consists of Zach Lopez on guitar and vocals and Sean Stockham on drums and back up vocals. That’s right, they’re a duo. But before you make up your mind based on all the preconceived notions of what a duo can and can’t do, hear me out. They aren’t the White Stripes and they sure as hell aren’t Hella. The energy that is harnessed by these two is stadium caliber, as was witnessed by a huge crowd at the Rock-am-Ring festival in Germany last June. Cesar Chavez Park isn’t exactly a stadium, but it isn’t The Press Club either, and I’ve seen the boys murder that tiny venue to a crowd of 20 on a Sunday night. The point? They’re a versatile band that owns any crowd, and Friday night was no different.

A chant of “MC Rut!” welcomed the two onto the stage; each of them casually settling in to their instruments. Lopez jabbed at his guitar like a child taunting a beehive, the feedback buzzing like angry bees. Stockham adjusted his well-worn orange drum kit and removed his shirt to reveal his “For Sale” tattoo that was inked across his chest in bold red letters. “What’s up, Sacramento?” said Lopez in a classic rock star moment. “How you guys doing?” A loving Sacramento crowd that was clearly there to support their hometown favorite answered back with an eruption of applause.

MC Rut opened their set with “Busy Being Born,” their most recent single that began with one of Stockham’s signature rim tap grooves that Lopez overlaid with slow melodic chords that scraped and dragged while he sang, “The days keep dragging on”¦“ Anticipation mounted until finally the chorus exploded wide open, Stockham punishing his cymbals on each downbeat. A cloud of dust from the stampeding mosh pit was carried toward the stage by a much-welcomed Delta breeze. This would continue for the whole length of their set that would only build in intensity as Lopez and Stockham galloped through song after well practiced song.

During what seemed like the crux of the set, a murder of crows flew overhead to the wafting soundtrack of Lopez’s guitar that melodramatically pulsed in synch with the beating of their wings. “Hold the person you love tight,” Lopez instructed the mesmerized crowd who were eating out of his hand at this point. “I like the way your shirt’s unbuttoned,” Stockham joked with Lopez. Their humor on stage is evidence alone that these two have been friends and bandmates for over a decade now. They seem to be enjoying every moment of their second chance at success after their previous band, Leisure, was signed to and then dropped from Dreamworks.

Before their final song, a white tank top was hucked onto the stage, landing at the feet of Lopez, who remarked that he’d rather they get some bras and panties. And, like clockwork, a black strapless bra made its way to the stage. Stockham was pleased and proceeded to strap the bra on himself with a little help from Lopez, who was all smiles at his bandmate’s cross-dressing showmanship. The familiar metallic percussion that opens “New Low” began, and at that point the whole crowd was in it. They sang every last word of the tune with fists pumping and heads nodding.

MC Rut Gives Sacramento Something to Scream About

Great Expectations

Crank up the volume and feast your ears on a musical smorgasbord that definitely requires a full concert hall. The native Sacramento band MC Rut combines the talents of singer and guitarist Zack Lopez with drummer and backup vocalist Sean Stockham. Lopez’s angsty lyrics explode on a canvas of poignant guitar riffs, for a full sound that is raw and edgy. MC Rut doesn’t tiptoe into their songs—they give it all they’ve got, musically and lyrically.

Who would have known a two-man band could rock this hard? This dynamic duo has been playing together since they were only 12 or 13, too young to even understand that music could be a business. “It was great,” says Stockham. “You played music because it was fun. Some kids were skateboarding. We were playing music.”

In 2000, when they were still in their teens, the guys were involved with a band called Leisure, which was appropriately named considering that neither Lopez or Stockham identifies very strongly with the band. “It was just an outlet to play shows with and be part of the scene,” Lopez remembers. It also allowed them that first taste of life as musicians. Living in Los Angeles and having a record deal straight out of high school. Lopez recalls, “We felt like we beat the system or something—but we definitely didn’t.” When the band dissolved in ’03 and it was time to join the real world once more, it was a disheartening experience. “It all fell apart and it forced us to join the club, so to speak, of what everyone else was doing,” Stockham says. “We came back tails between the legs and everything.”

In a sense, forming MC Rut was an organic decision to go back to their roots, to what music started out as for them. “That’s what we knew music as,” Lopez explains. Stockham adds, “We got sidetracked for seven or eight years. That’s what we consider that period of time in between the beginning and now.”

These boys are now so close that they virtually finish each other’s sentences. Although there are only two of them, the talent of the band is in no way compromised, and each member has settled into his niche. They relay that Lopez’s specialty is “playing loud guitar and singing” while Stockham’s specialty is “playing loud drums and singing.” Oh, and did they mention playing loud?

The pair played as an official band for the first time at the Capitol Garage in December ’06, and have made quite a stir since their debut. So far, they’ve released two EPs, which they simply refer to as “The Blue One” and “The Red One.” “These are our mix tapes,” Zack laughs. Although their second EP was just released in May, it was met with applause and a cry for an encore throughout Sacramento and beyond. The song “Busy Bein’ Born” is a hit in the UK, and the guys feel that it’s a much better representation of their style and musical capabilities than “New Low,” the catchy and more straightforward US single. Lopez explains, “We’re a lot heavier and a lot rawer and a lot more aggressive. [New Low] just kind of came out the way it did, but “Busy Bein’ Born” encompasses everything we do—it’s heavy, it’s soft, it’s melodic, it’s got lyrics, it’s got melody.”

Yep, it’s got melody, but don’t think that MC Rut is just screaming for no reason. Woven in with the powerful vocals and bad ass guitar riffs is a very honest fear of the ordinary, of struggling to make it in a life you don’t even want—as the name Middle Class Rut implies. “We’re goal oriented people, and the thing about the 9-to-5 American dream middle class is there’s really no goal—there’s just an end,” Stockham says.

They’re riding the coattails of fame now, but understand the fickle nature of the industry and that a 9-to-5 job could be just around the corner—although they continue to evade that world like the plague.

Amazingly, the fame doesn’t seem to have gone to their heads. But, they do admit that it’s a much more friendly world when you get to be the headliner rather than the opening act. Stockham recalls playing at the Boardwalk multiple times as an opening band, and generally being treated pretty badly. “Now when we roll in there and throw a show and it’s our show, we’re kings for a night,” he says proudly. With the reception they’ve been getting recently, it looks like they’ll get to be kings for more than just a night.

When it comes down to it, though, MC Rut is just two guys doing what they love. Public attention comes secondary to the music. “It just so happens that people are starting to listen in and recognize what we’ve been doing,” Stockham says.

Submerge catches up with MC Rut in the interim before they hop a plane to London—an interview that appropriately takes place at the Streets of London bar.

Can you tell me a little about the projects you’re working on now—the new album and the upcoming tour?
Sean Stockham: We’re always playing and writing music whether it’s an album we’re writing for or not. We do what we do. We get together five or more days a week and play music for as many hours as we can. Right now we’re getting ready to go to London in November. Obviously we’re really excited about that

Have you guys ever been to London before?
SS: This is the first time. It’s definitely something we’ve dreamt about doing since we started playing music. At some point we had stopped dreaming about it, and it didn’t even seem realistic.
Zack Lopez: Now it’s reality.

When do you think the new album will be realized?
ZL: We don’t even know really what the new album is. We’ve never written a song for a specific project.
SS: Out of what we have now we could probably put together maybe four to seven projects.

Why did you make the decision to release EPs instead of a full album?
ZL: They are full albums essentially. We’re just scared of the word “album.” Once you commit to saying “album,” that’s your first album.
SS: It’s just like not committing to marriage”¦ There’s something very scary about marriage and there’s something very scary about a full-length record.

So people have described your lyrics as being kind of aggressive. Did you write these songs during a dark period, or are your lyrics pretty consistent?
ZL: It wasn’t a dark period; it was just a normal life period. You don’t necessarily have to be depressed, you know? Most people aren’t happy with their lives as it is and I think that’s a big part of this band.

Your songs express a general dissatisfaction about middle class life. Would you say you have a fear of the 9-to-5 lifestyle?
SS: It’s different than like the fear of death, because none of us have actually experienced death”¦ The 9-to-5 thing is something that’s always right there.
ZL: I feel like some people are down with what they do and that’s great. It’s all about being happy with where you’re at. When you come to the point where you’re struggling to be somewhere that you don’t even want to be in the first place, that’s when you’re bummed.

Do you think that’s an artist thing?
SS: I don’t want to say that. You can say that, but yeah, that’s probably exactly what it is.
ZL: We expect a lot from ourselves. And if we don’t get it, then we’re miserable, and we keep chasing it till we get it.

You guys have high expectations, then?
ZL: From the first time we played music, we expected everything”¦ But at least we’re on the road to hopefully getting there. We’d rather be trying to get somewhere than never try and never be anywhere.

How do you think living in Sacramento affected your lyrics, or did it?
ZL: It definitely didn’t. It was more living in L.A., living on a failed dream that affected our lyrics.

In one of your songs, the song “I Don’t Really Know,” you write, “We’re never going anywhere, just circling around.” Do you still feel that way at times even today, even though it seems like your band is really taking off now?
SS: I think everyone feels like that, generally stated. For us in the band, its such an exciting time right now it would be really hard to not feel like shit was improving at least.
ZL: You’ve got to understand, five minutes of your life where you could feel so strongly about something you could write 10 songs, and you have to express what you felt at that point. It doesn’t necessarily express how you feel all the time”¦it represents who you are at that point. And we’re really good at writing songs about moments.

So if you wrote a song about right now would it have a more positive spin on it?
ZL: It would sound like 311. And we’d be bummed on it.

How has your music evolved between the last songs you released and the new songs you’re working on now?
ZL: The vibe is the same, but we feel like we’re better songwriters. If we don’t consistently keep writing better songs, we feel like we’re not doing our job. Every time we’re writing something, the only reason we ever move on something is because it’s better than what we’ve already done. If its not, it gets left behind, and that’s where it deserves to be.
SS: At the same time, if what we’re doing now doesn’t at least have something in common with what we’ve done before, then it’s not even us.

MC Rut