By Tyler Smith

It was the morning of October 26, and I wasn’t waking up. I was still up. I had a bus to catch at 8:40 AM, and I knew if I fell asleep after my friend left at 4:30, I would surely miss the bus, this show, and the opportunity for this interview.

After the bus and ferry, I arrived in Vancouver, making my way southwest of downtown, where the Hollywood Theatre is located. I arrived early and posted up at the bar across the road, The Fringe. The Wi-Fi Password is Dweezilzappa, so you know someone cool is in charge. Over a couple of vodka OJs, I went through my notes and sorted out my camera equipment.

When the doors opened, I made my way across the street. Peering down the line outside the door, it was readily apparent this was an all-ages show. Despite what you think about kids and their cellphones and never getting outside, yadda yadda yadda, the kids showed up for this one. Many were adorned in costumes because the 31st may be Halloween, but October is a spooky season, so why not, eh?

I filed inside and contacted the manager as the countdown to 6:30 PM for the interview was on. They wanted to do it on the tour bus as it would be too loud in the green room while Chokecherry and Teen Mortgage were on the stage. I eyed the tour bus a half block away before making those arrangements. Inside the venue, I got in line for the merch table, which had a lineup circling right out the door before the first band. When Chokecherry finally hit the stage, the line thinned out a little, but many were clearly there FOR Destroy Boys. I was in line to grab their available records, as acquiring them here has proven challenging. More on that later.

At 6:20, I was next in line for the merch booth, but the person in front of me was having card troubles.

6:25, I’ve got the records Sorry Mom and Funeral Soundtrack #4 in my hands, and I was racing to the bus.

6:29, Knock knock knock.

The band’s manager greeted me. I was notified that the interview would feature both Vocalist/Guitarist Alexia Roditis and Bassist David Orozco, as the details of who would be partaking were never fully fleshed out. They cleared the garbage from dinner, asked me how I started into this, and the interview began once all were settled and the gear was set.

Right off the hop, I inquired about how Canada has been treating them. They had a smooth border crossing, bought clothes, and sat with a box of Timbits. All in all, it was pretty good.

Alexia brought up an observation about “colder cities” and referenced Seattle the night before, posing that “people don’t seem to move around as much” in the mosh pit. David chimed in, “We’ll see tonight, I guess.”

He added that they’ve played up here before but tend to forget specifically what each city is like. Speaking of playing here before, I asked what had happened to cause the cancellation of their show opening for Mother Mother at the Rogers Arena on June 15. They explained their guitarist was facing some medical challenges and needed the time to recuperate. “We’d rather not fuck around find out,” is how David put it.

I quipped, “Yeah, and if you guys fuck yourselves up here, it’s not like you can cash in on that free health care.”

Aside from discussions on this great white north, we also touched on their feelings about rising stardom. Alexia said they are happy with the amount of control that comes with that regarding set times, stage design and the inner workings of touring. David, remaining ever so humble, said, “It’s weird thinking people may be intimidated to meet us, but that’s because we ARE us.”

Alexia chimed in, saying they keep an open line of communication with fans, including a Discord through which they actively chat with fans. Finally, they shrugged. “I’m not a cool guy, ya know. I’m not going to act like I’m hot shit.”

As if fronting a badass band all around the world wasn’t cool enough, I told them that their shirt, which reads “Fuck the Police Means We Don’t Act Like Cops To Each Other,” says they are, in fact, a cool person.

They also spoke in great detail about coming up in Sacramento and the bands and venues that left an impression on them. When asked about their thoughts on a list of bands from their area, there were a few they didn’t know, to which David jokingly said, “We’re getting put on blast for being the biggest posers right now.”

One band that stood out from my list was the 2005 band Trash Talk, with David calling them “Fuckin’ Gnarly” and describing them as punk meets hardcore. When I asked them what bands they came up with that deserve more attention than they’ve got, there was no room for hesitation. At a rapid-fire pace, Alexia spits out: Dog Party, RAD, Ess Eff, Buzzed Lightyear, Juicebumps, Grumpster, and many more before turning to David concurred, “I think I covered a good amount.”

On the topic of venues where they got their start, Alexia mentions plenty of house shows back in the day but cites two venues as staples: Café Colonial and The Colony. They turn to David and ask if there were any standout venues from his days before Destroy Boys. He chuckles before exhaling two words, “Parking lots.”

Two years before this interview, Violet Mayugba told another interviewer they couldn’t believe they opened for the likes of Taking Back Sunday and Alkaline Trio, so I asked who had been added to that list. Again, without hesitation, Alexia lists Blink 182, Turn Style, Pierce the Veil, PJ Harvey, Deftones, and Fontaines DC.

On another note, I asked them about their thoughts on the term “California sober,” and they both laughed almost in synchronicity. David said, “That’s so good,” and while still laughing, Alexia added, “That’s so fucked up.” Alexia talked about how it seems the younger generations are falling out with booze and hard drugs and are more into psychedelics, which, in terms of  Harm Reduction, is great.

The subject turned more personal when asked about their experiences with Psychedelics.
As David chuckled, the chuckle of an experienced veteran in the fields of Psychedelia, Alexia stated, “I think Psychedelics have given me wonderful experiences that I continuously look back on.”

They detailed their experiences with Psilocybin Mushrooms from home in bed to the beaches of Italy as well as DMT before asking, “Can I say this on TV?”

I tell them it’s the internet. A place where you’re seconds away from viewing body cam footage of Police murdering the innocent to the most debaucherous acts human beings can do to one another. Surely, an honest and positive discussion about one’s own experience with Psychedelics can’t cause that much uproar, can it? It’s then David jokingly compares this moment to the interview where Paul McCartney was asked about LSD.

When Alexia shares their experience with “Molly,” David buckles over the table and laughs.
They both ended by saying they don’t encourage drug use to other people; it’s a personal choice, and they don’t condone it…. but if you’re in Italy.

The subject changed to bootleg products. I told them that I found Destroy Boys Buttons on [CENSORED—DON’T BUY CHEAP SWEATSHOP ITEMS] for $1.38, to which they both exclaimed in shock, in total unison, “NO WAY.” before laughing.

Then I brought up a quote from the great and wise Nib Arcola of the legendary Chachi on Acid, which he shared via Facebook, including a link to a bootlegged shirt of his band. “You can measure your success in how much bootleg merch you can find of yourself.” They both laughed, saying they love the idea of a fan making a T-shirt for them and their friend or something along those lines, but the people outside a concert selling bootleg shirts are pushing it. Alexia struggles with this a moment as they recall a Melanie Martinez show in Mexico where the streets were flooded with merch, admitting, “They looked sick.”

Regarding bootleg recordings, Alexia said, “I don’t care, just put it up on YouTube and make it free.”  David has a harder time with this idea: “That’s more of a shame to me because I feel like that’s something I want people to experience physically.”

After picking the old, reliable festival port-a-potty as their worst venue bathroom experience, David shares a story about a liquor store bathroom while they were on tour that left him utterly embarrassed. Alexia, as any good bandmate does, shows their support through laughter.

We wrapped the interview; Alexia told me I have beautiful hair; I blushed, shook their hands, got my records signed and got the FUCK out of their hair because, as I noticed when turning off the cameras, we went about 20 minutes over, and it flew by. Laughs were had and time enjoyed, but they’ve got to get ready, and I’m on to round two. Shooting the show.

I returned to the venue and caught the last two or three songs of Teen Mortgage. They’re immediately sonically different than the other bands on the bill. I had not heard of them before, but I’ve been hearing them since. They’re a duo from Washington, D.C., with hard-hitting drum lines and fuzzy rippers of riffs. I immediately set up my camera and went to town. I’m not two shots in when security asks if I have a press pass. I tell him I don’t because there’s no media pit tonight, pointing out the lack of barrier between the crowd and the stage. Before he finished telling me I couldn’t have my camera, I told him I had shot an interview with the headliners tonight and was writing an article and needed the pictures for that. I showed him a screenshot of the confirmation I had in my e-mail. He nods, and we’re off to the races. I was taking a couple more photos when another security guard approached me, and before he said anything, I babbled out the information I had just shared at four times the speed. The guy looks around, confused before his co-worker taps him on the shoulder and gives him the thumbs up. Just like that, they were done.

Shortly after, Destroy Boys came out to thunderous applause. I’d say it’s a safe bet that most of the crowd there that night had been waiting since the cancellation of the Mother Mother show to see them and were 80 times happier that they could touch the stage and connect both verbally and physically with the band. I noticed a new guitarist is touring with them, whom I’ve never seen or heard of before. Eyes fixed on her guitar for most of the set; she appeared to be no taller than 5 feet, 100 pounds with bowling balls in her shoes, yet had the fattest, meatiest guitar tone on the stage, an absolute mammoth sound. She’s been hired on for the tour, but perhaps there’s room for something more official.

They opened with “Bad Guy,” a song from their newest album, Funeral Soundtrack #4, which included 8 of the 15 songs in the setlist. The song perfectly complemented the spooky nature of the season and the stage setting, adorned with gravestones and other Halloween ornaments.

The number of costumes in the crowd also added to the Halloween atmosphere. I saw one person in a big blocky white costume, and I hadn’t a clue what it could be until they turned around and had the word “FLORIDA” written down the side of it. The band also noticed this costume, pointing it out and laughing, saying, “That must be a Canadian thing.”

The next costume to get a mention was a young woman in a big Strawberry hat with matching red clothes. It wasn’t long before she jumped on stage, diving into the crowd, kicking off the first crowd surfer. It’s a good time to point out that the mosh pit had been ACTIVE the entire time they’ve played. Any questions they had about people moving about were laid to rest early on. So much so that after the third crowd surfer led to flustered security on stage, Alexia asked the crowd not to continue crowd surfing, pleading they didn’t want any concussions. After that, not a soul jumped on stage. As I navigated the pit to keep my camera gear safe (and moshing in an all-ages show heavily attended by obvious minors isn’t my bag anyway), it was easy to spot the camaraderie among those in the pit.

By the time they went into the powerhouse that is “I Threw Broken Glass at My Friend’s Eyes, And Now I’m On Probation” from their first Album, the crowd was in full swing. After this song, a friend of mine came out of the pit with make-up, running to their navel, and they were shimmering WET; it appeared like a bucket of slime had been dumped over them. They told me it was undoubtedly the craziest pit they’ve been a part of, saying they felt scared when they fell to the ground but were promptly picked up by those around them in a second. Others fell in the pit and were brought back to their feet immediately.

Despite violent titles like the abovementioned song, The Destroy Boys might be the most smiley punk band I’ve ever seen. I’ve not seen many others smile so widely so often. There was also a very sweet moment when multiple crowd members gifted the band with homemade bead jewelry.

After playing “You Hear Yes,” the band waved goodbye and walked off stage. Alexia came walking back out, buttoning up their shirt, which had come loose by the end of the performance of the last song. Alexia explained they would do a deep cut for the fans tonight. They played “Piedmont” solo, just them and their guitar. The slower, chilled-out pace of the song (It has always reminded me a little of Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River,” if that stresses the change of pace from the rest of the set) saw the crowd pull out their phones and light up the room. The kids all vape these days, and nobody has a lighter. After that, the band came out for their last hurrah, picked it up, and ended the show with “Crybaby.”

The lights came on, and the road manager handed a few setlists to fans eagerly waiting by the stage. As I walked out, it was apparent everyone there had an amazing night. There was tear-streaked eye makeup and smiles as far as the eye could see. I didn’t see anyone having a bad time, and there was no ugliness or negativity in the pit.

Destroy Boys have made a name for themselves, and it’s easy to see how. Some badass music accompanies their socially conscious and relatable lyrics. If you’ve listened to them and thought their sound was too clean or polished, I implore you to check them out live.

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