The Strange Times Is (Band Members & Instruments They Play): Aaron – Bass, Vocals; Sean – Guitar, Vocals; Jeff – Drums.
We Formed In: December 2012
We’re Based Out of: New York, NY
Any new music coming out: We just put out a new EP last month called Eat Your Leaders. It’s available for free here. We’ll also be recording another EP next month.
The Story of Our Name: It’s a reference to the title of a book by Hunter S. Thompson. I dig his work.
You’ve seen us before [in other bands]: Aaron played in No Rights Reserved, Sean played in The Cheapshots.
Our sound has been likened to: Dead Kennedys, World/Inferno Friendship Society, Anti-Flag.
You guys are doing a small run of shows with InCircles – talk about going on the road with these guys.
The whole plan got pretty fucked up. I’ve been denying god’s existence for over 10 years, so now she decided to get revenge on me by summoning a blizzard, sending the cops to shut down venues, etc. Most of the shows didn’t happen. But InCircles are awesome! Great people, great music.
What is one of your favorite and/or most outrageous moments you’ve had performing with The Strange Times?
We played at Punk Island last summer and as a protest to the NYPD’s “Stop and Frisk” policy, we made up hundreds of stickers that say “FUCK STOP AND FRISK.” It turned that there was a pretty sizable police presence at the festival, so we got to blast out a bunch of overtly anti-cop songs to an audience of cops, then proceeded to cover the place in those stickers. It was a cathartic experience.
What do you love about being in The Strange Times?
It’s cool to put our own spin on punk rock, while shouting lyrics which deride the status quo.
If someone read this interview and never heard you before, but decided to check you out, what song would you recommend they listen to in order to understand what The Strange Times is all about?
“Price On Your Life”
What do you have planned for the rest of 2015?
Next month, we’ll actually be returning to Asbury Park to record an EP with Pete Steinkopf from the Bouncing Souls. We all grew up listening to the Bouncing Souls so we’re extremely psyched! Plus more shows of course. We were just booked to open for World Inferno Friendship Society on April 26th at Revolution Bar on Long Island. Another amazing band and huge influence for us.
The Strange Times performs tonight at Happy Mondays at Wonder Bar along with InCircles and Gravity Well. Admission is free.
==============================================================================================================
