The Unit Breed is the brainchild of Joe Demaree, an artist/generally insane person from San Jose, California. They just released their third full-length, Walking the Death Watch, on Suburban Justice Records. You can buy it online from New Disorder or Grey Sky Records. I've known Joe for 10 years and have played in several bands with him, including the Unit Breed from time to time, but I'd never thought about interviewing him before. So, here goes. Interview by Alan Kasameyer.

You've been doing this band for over five years and have close to 20 releases (including compilations and CDr only releases), including three full-length albums, and have toured the states several times. That's pretty impressive by anyone's standards. Yet, no one seems to really care. Does the lack of response bother you?

Ugh... Of course it bothers me. But what am I suppose to do? There's no way I can stop doing this. Making music and painting is what I love to do. And it just so happens that I've put myself in a position of making things that just aren't trendy and commercially viable. I couldn't ask for much more than being able to tour with my band and meet so many different people and see so many things. It's what I love to do and something I plan on doing for as long as I can. Seeing old friends at shows across the U.S. is more than worth it. And that one person who keeps helping us set a show up in their town, even though they know we're not going to draw well, understands what it is I'm doing. And that's what counts. I've done my best to stay away from trends. I've managed somehow to keep any sort of genre an arms length away from me. Punk, Emo, Indie, Hardcore, they change in definition with the time that it's impossible to categorize us. And I think I like that no matter how much it might help push others away.

If there's one thing anyone can say about the Unit Breed is that they are definitely not trendy or commercially viable. I'm always a little impressed by anyone who actually enjoys it. It seems that every now and again there will be some person who really, really likes the Unit Breed and won't shut up about it. There's plenty of people who really don't like it either, and can be pretty vocal about it. There are a lot of bands out there who make it their goal to offend the audience with their lyrics, yet you manage to do it just through the music. Were you trying to make the Unit Breed "difficult", or did it just happen that way?

This band has become the most difficult band in the world for one reason. I am very much misunderstood and tend to create things that are not simple ideas to grasp. Was that my plan from the beginning? No. Most of my life all I've ever tried to do is explain my opinions and beliefs to a group of people that think in right and wrong. I'm not a preacher and I'm not a philosopher. I happen to be thrown into the category of "artist", and for the most part I am not happy about that. Welcome to the world of contradictions and self motivated debates with one's self. Yes, I feel strongly about certain matters at the moment. And it's always the moment that seems to push ideas and opposing views around. Difficult? maybe. Easy? no. Confusing? Sometimes. Worth talking about? Sure. Because all we can really do with time is disguise all the little ins and outs of the moment. No matter the utter uselessness any conclusion could ever come. And with that I tend to find many people who believe their time and opinion to be more precious than all sewers in heaven.

One member once told me while leaving "Not everyone wants to play Joe music, they want to play insert your name here music." and I think that was a very nice way to tell me I'm a controlling cry baby that has such unpredictable mood swings it almost impossible to be around.

I think so. The book turned out exactly how I wanted it. I'm actually very happy and even proud of it. The quality of the entire package is beautiful. So who cares about money? I sure as hell don't know how to handle it. I'm a horrible business man. Money comes and goes. I don't even have a savings account. I just get lucky and pay my bills. Sometimes I'm destitute other times I'm rolling high. Whatever. Although it's been awhile since I've seen much green. That book put me in debt for two years. It was either that, or be in debt for the rest of my life for school. At the time I started putting this together I was going to the academy of art in SF. I found out that my grants were going to be dropped my senior year, so I filled up on my major classes and took two independent study classes where I ended up doing most of the paintings in this book. Then I dropped out, worked two jobs and published it. It was not easy but it beats the hell out of finishing up school with nothing but mind-dulling liberal art classes left. What would I do with a BFA anyway? I wasn't going to school to work for Lucasfilm. I went to improvetechnicallyy, and I feel I achieved that.

I suppose its probably easier to finish art school than publish your own book. Has having your own book helped you be taken more seriously in the "art world"?

It's been just as much help as sticking my thumb up my ass. I don't know the art world. I don't know the artist in the art world. And when I try to work any sort of verbal repertoire between myself and the art world I always catch myself slipping away into dreamland and not wanting to return. Being part of the punk scene has put cacophony morals into my being. Ideas that want everything to run like a punk show. The do-it-yourself mentality that makes you feel like a superhero when you put tons of hard work and money into a project. But in reality, as in the art world, the business world, the music world, you're just another one of the faceless geeks trying to work your way into the American know how. Into a profitable society that only those few "stars" are allowed, whether stardom is something you're seeking or not. Self-masturbation is the key. And that's one of the hardest things to accept. Swallow that pride and stroke that ego, because if you don't believe you're the best of the best and follow all the rules, the business you want to be part of has established that there is little hope for making a living in that business.

The day I stop doing the Unit Breed is the day I stop playing music. This is the kind of music I like to make. I'm sure I'll probably play in a couple more things now and again. I'd like to start playing the drums more often, been thinking about answering one of those drummer wanted ads. The reason I played in so many bands was because it was fun to play other kinds of music and get to hang out with my friends more. I think the only reason I'm not in a couple bands right now is because you moved to Portland. You've been in almost every other band I've played with since we met.

Cravis Holdenmeyer is to me what Jesus Christ is to Christians, Jews, Muslims, and all the other factions that follow. He is Gods only son, molded in His image. He is the constant contradiction in a world built on faith. He is the fiction in a world searching for truth. He is the constant reminder that God must eat and shit matter to sustain life. He is the ridiculousness of the human condition. He is the unit breed philosophy.

Cravis's early philosophy seemed to revolve a lot around the destruction of all art in order to save the human race, as art is merely a collection of "useless objects that fill space", yet a few years later we've seen him showing a desire to create art. You've tried, unsuccessfully, to conjure up Cravis in a human form to see what he would produce. What do you think the human form of Cravis's artistic expressions would look like?

I think there's a bit of misunderstanding here. Yes the Jewish faith does not believe in Jesus. Making my point that much more clear I believe. Cravis Holdenmeyer is the tension in faiths so similar but so very different. The yin and yang I suppose. By comparing him to the son of God, by making him the son of God, Holdenmeyer is that tangent of belief. A philosopher, like Jesus, rewriting stories and scriptures to have others later re-write those stories and scripture again and again. But unlike the stories of Jesus which may or may not be true. Cravis Holdenmeyer is reel. He doe's not have super powers. He only has the power of language and the ability to talk about what bothers him with the human race. No different than you and I. I just happen to be a fan of his. Getting to know Cravis's ideas of spatial catastrophes due to the excess of "art" and his own creation of "art" is rewarding to say the least. I can only assume that his talk of becoming an artist and his painting ideas is nothing more than to make a joke at the expense of human selfishness. His art is simple. It is in the spoken word. When he actually plans on solidifying that word it will be that mass of garbage accidentally swept up at a fine art gallery. But it will be displayed on a street corner and Holdenmeyer will mock his creation from start to finish.

Where does Abe Lincoln fit into all of this? I know you share the same birthday as our former president, but it seems that Lincoln imagery ties into your life fairly often.

Abe has become a curse. He is the epitome of the united states government. A corrupt stamp of unity. Where unity is not about the people but the unit a small group of people have created to govern the whole. A deceitful cultural icon that represents freedom. A word that has no absolute meaning. I was taught to believe and love Santa Claus, and Abe Lincoln in grade school. I learned that Santa does not exist and that Abe used the word freedom to control and save the union of the united states. I am forever haunted by Lincoln.

And since we're talking philosophy, explain what the name The Unit Breed means to you.

One is undesirable, the unit is control. Freedom is meaningless in government, body, and mind. As soon as we find ourselves free we tend to look for something to tie ourselves down to. Be it a lover, friends, family, or a group or club of people with similar interest. Vonnegut would call this a grand falloon. The Unit Breed is the pompous belief that love can exist without others. That Freedom can exist without being controlled. That there are no rules in anarchy. One is undesirable, the unit is control.

Not at all. It's one and the same to me. Composition, story telling, and the search for unanswered questions that children ask even when they become adults.

I can't tell you the shear horror I've felt the number of times something got damaged or was thought to be lost. But what can you do. That's the risk you take. It's like owning really nice equipment and not rocking it to the best of your ability because your scared it might get scratched. The paintings I do are there for a reason. There there to tell stories. There there because that's the best way I know how to express myself. And if I can invite the few people willing to fall into my imagery into my mind by lugging crated paintings across the u.s. then that's what I'm going to do. To me punk rock has always meant change and the ideas that come with change. It's accepting the difference in a medium that has become stagnant. The rejection of commercialism. To think! The Unit Breed is not just noise. It's the idea's behind the noise and art. There one and the same to me. So while playing is incomprehensible maybe the paintings will help. It's my zine at a east bay punk rock show. Or my five minute explanation about sexism, racism, political buffoonery, and ideological nonsense that every hard core band preaches before each song. It's my x on the fist of every angry suburban straight edge kid. Or my shaved head and combat boots at an oi show. It's almost impossible for me to begin with explanations when we play. Oh I'll talk from time to time. I'll go on about the human joke just for the sheer joy of enraging a dense crowd. But the unit breed is much more to me. It's getting to know yourself and the world around you. It's something that has loose ends and no truth, and that's a fact!

What can I say, I'm an artist. I like to make things look good. I like playing with packaging ideas. I like doing things that are not part of the norm. I just don't stop and think about the business end of it. And that will forever plague me as an entrapanuer. No, I'd much rather use my time and money to evoke change. And the music and art are one and the same. I love picking something up that has great packaging. Something that has weight behind the product. Something that pulls me in. So when I get the chance to release something I want to put everything I have into it. And when the distributors wont pick it up due to it's odd packaging well who cares. I made something that I like. And I'll just have to work a little harder to get it out there. With our new album I wanted to do another hard bound art book but I've been unemployed the last couple of years. I was fortunate enough to have Suburban Justice release it. But I was also given a budget. I went threw five different layouts until the final still going $600 over budget which I paid for. Even with all the layout changes I'm very happy with the final product. And that's what really matters. It's a little late for me to worry about album sales than it is to worry about the finished product.

The one thing I've learned about life so far is that I have little control over the future. Sure I can make plans but with time those plans are simple outlines of simple dreams that only father time can tell. I've got some plans, In another year or so I'll let you know how well they did.

I would have to say 'Walking the Death Watch'. It's the closest I've come to making an entire album work. The ups and downs over the time it took to release this shows more in the music than ever before. I had some great help making this album. Help in song writing and structure. I got to play with some amazing people, especially Matty. I've never had as much collaboration on an album before. That collaboration has really strengthened my song writing and I'm really looking forward to the new album I'm working on. I think it will be even better than the last. I give much thanks to those that have helped guide the way and inspire me. I can only hope The Unit Breed will not stop progressing.

This website is based on emo fashion, and we receive all sorts of questions from readers regarding fashion. Since you were a founding member of the original EXTREMO band, Emo Summer, its fair to suggest you know a thing or two about emo fashion. Could you help field a couple of questions for us?

The first comes from an anonymous reader who only likes to be known as warrior7892003. He writes:

"Hello, I think your site is cool. Could you possibly be more specific about how to be emo and how to dress emo? Could you possibly explain to me how I could act in school as well? Also, I don't have much of the clothes that web sites tell me to where to dress emo, I do have buttoned shirts and jeans though. Could you please tell me what clothes I could use around my house and how I could style my hair and things like that? Thankyou very much. "

Well Warrior 782003, I would first suggest to read 'Catcher in the Rye' by J.D. Salinger. It would be best to keep this book in your back pocket and re-read until the binding becomes unglued and pages fall apart. Then it would be a good idea to pick the same book up new. But this time read once and then store with things you consider priceless. Once this is done you have entered a portal of emolution. It is up to you to decide how far you are willing to go into this portal. If you are looking for the utmost beauty of emoness than I would suggest to pick up every novel by Tom Robbins and while reading outline all the fuck scenes and give it to the girl you've had a crush on for the past five years. You know the girl I'm talking about. The one you could never approach in high school. The girl who's panties are rose buds. The one in your diary you would like to bake a cake for! And when she laughs in your face and squats and pisses on your hard labor of love. You will cry rivers of emotion. And only then are you worthy of the white belt of the true believer. Only then will you know how to act in school or anywhere. Only then will your sheepish self confidence be made into a blubbering mess of true love. And it will shine threw in your tight pants and retro shirts. Emo will become part of you.

Next we have an email from Jessica, who writes "do you have any fashion tips for the emo gal that is really feminine and girly? What types of clothes to recommend? Thanks, Jessica"

Jessica do not be ashamed of your girly fashion. When you walk by all the eyes on you fill with water. Not out of contempt but out of embarrassment. The true emo boys and girls who find your girly fashion overwhelming have chapters dedicated to you in there diaries. You are the one who needs to show how strong you are. You must encourage the emotional. You must start the conversations. Don't dull yourself down but gloss your self up. Take fashion notes from the boys in tight pants and striped shirts. Scarves are very fashionable amongst the fem emo girl. I would encourage looking into 80's dance clothing. That is the future of emo. Silver glittered pants and ringer shirts. I can see polka dots coming back big time! And let's not forget about stockings. Black fish nets and pink stockings will make any boy cry. A look into Mexican folk art might help. For J.D. Salinger is the staple for the emo male, Frida Karlo is the direction of the emo female. Strong and elegant, striking and bold.

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