Do you really, honestly, genuinely need a fucking reason to come party with Crossfade at the Stage tomorrow night?
OK, fine. Here's a bunch: (1) It's totally free; (2) I thought we were friends; (3) What the fuck else you gonna do on a Thursday?; and also (4) Furious Dudes!; (5) Bulletproof Tiger; and (6) Secret Arms. Plus, everybody loves anarchy, rock 'n' roll, and booze, right?
And if a half-dozen reasons still aren't enough, let the men of Secret Arms convince you. See the cut for a Q&A about strange noise, kicking it with Crossfade, and satanism.
Crossfade: Who, what, when, where, why is Secret Arms?
Louis Salgar (Guitar): The drummer of Secret Arms, Mike, and I were in a band called Clocks Are Devils, and my friend Tyler from high school was in a band called Run Like Hell. We played a bunch of shows together and kind of disbanded around the same time in 2008. But we didn't want to stop making music, so we got together and it felt right. We wrote a few songs, just gathered momentum, and didn't play our first show till after about a year of writing music, editing , rewriting songs, editing.
When can the world expect a Secret Arms slab?
Salgar: Our friend ryan haft from Capsule and Psychic Mirrors is helping us lay down some thunder. He's pretty much a musical/recording genius.
Mike Rodriguez (Drums): The process has been pretty scripted so far. But we have been working on an extra track with a traditional persian instrument called the santur, which is pretty much like a dulcimer. We plan on recording that song like Miles Davis would have recorded a jazz take -- just enter the studio and see what happens.
Salgar: We've got nine tracks plus the experimental one. So it will be an LP. We should be done in about a month.
You mentioned yours, Mike's, and Tyler's old bands ... Clocks Are Devils and Run Like Hell. Those are three-word band names. How and why did you decide on Secret Arms, a two-worder?
Salgar: Haha. Just a coincidence, man. Initially, we had a diffrent name, and I gave it this intricate meaning and purpose. And then we found out some pop-punk nerds in Iowa had the same name! So we changed it to secret arms.
Mind telling me the different name ...
Salgar: Flight patterns.
Ah ... And how did you dream up the phrase Secret Arms?
Salgar: My drummer just got the Grails Acid Rain DVD. We were watching the live segment and the drummer is pretty much from outer space, so I made a joke about him having "secret arms." And mike suggested, "Hey, why don't we call the band Secret Arms?"
It's open to interperatation. To us, it's an inside joke. But it can mean a number of things -- a refrence to the hindu god Shiva, hidden weaponry, phantom limbs, dormant anger. We are into paradoxes.
I noticed that the official Secret Arms email has a "666" appended to it.
Salgar: Yes!
Is there something satanic about your band?
Salgar: Haha. Well, the thing about satanisim is that it's so much like anarchy. Or, at least, so I have noticed in conversations with my drummer. I read alot of anarchists propaganda from crimethinc and he reads everything he can get his hands on, and we have very hedonistic ideas.
I use satanic imagery to pester people and simultaneously make them questions their beliefs. Who doesn't love the original Omen or watching Rosemary's Baby with a girl and some hot cookies?
So does that stuff bleed directly into Secret Arms' sound and lyrics? Or is it just a hazy influence?
Salgar: Our music is an immediate response to the world around us, whether we like it to be or not. It's like a reflex. It's our outlet. We write about a lot of different things, mostly self-actualization and government corruption, realizing one's potential to do good and being an altruist, and indulging in ones vices. Like I said, we dig paradoxes.
OK. With anarchy and satanism and vicious behavior in the mix ... What is the Secret Arms sound? Basically, if some maniac put a machete to your throat, how would you describe the noise you make?
Rodriguez: This question sucks ... We have so many influences that it is hard to pin it down for us. Basically, it's punk ... But it is many things. We listen to hardcore, metal, jazz, classic rock, classical music, and just about everything else except country and pop and techno garbage.
Our music encourages people to respond immediately with immense energy and child-like flailing.
Crossfade presents The Local at the Stage with Bulletproof Tiger, Furious Dudes, and Secret Arms. Thursday, June 30. The Stage, 170 NE 38th St., Miami. The show starts at 9 p.m. and admission is free. Go RSVP for the Crossfade Music Series via Facebook and invite all your fucking friends, enemies, and ex-lovers. Call 305-576-9577 or visit thestagemiami.com.
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