Exclusive Interview with Mike Blanx of BLANKS 77

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CARPAZINE: What's your opinion on the current state of music these days?

MIKE BLANX: Ya, know… Punk Rock is sooo much fun. Like since it started, there's always something new and exciting. Whether it's the sound or a cool stage presence or just the atmosphere, Punk Rock is alive and well. Lately, I'm listening to Amyl and the Sniffers a lot… 

They are new but sound old which is great. Billy Batts and the Made-Men, they are newer from Atlanta. They are all under 20 years-old currently and they started a few years ago. It's good to see young bands cuz now I know I will have something to do when I'm retired.

CARPAZINE: What's your favorite go-to local pizza place?

MIKE BLANX: Ummmm, I thought I liked Lodi Pizza, Lodi-Home of The Misfits… but it was better the first time I had it. Got a place up the block from me which is good… they are always good for a slice or two with all the funky toppings and stuff. But, actually, I’ve been a fan of DiGiorno for a while now, it's kinda good and we always throw extra toppings on it to make it better… and Ranch dressing, that's a killer topping as well. As a kid, we would get Ellio’s all the time. I was such an idiot cuz I'd bite into the Elio’s, burn the roof of my mouth while the tongue was ice cold...

CARPAZINE:  What was the first album you ever bought?

MIKE BLANX: Well, I guess it was Christmas 1983 and my mom got me the Annie soundtrack… I was like, really?... Annie? and my mom was like,"You like Annie, don't you?" So anyway, luckily she kept the receipt, so I took the record back to the Melody Records in Union Center and exchanged it for Cyndi Lauper’s She's So Unusual cassette. I played the shit out of that thing. Still prolly my favorite album and still go to see her now and then.

CARPAZINE: Do you think bands will continue to release vinyl or is vinyl going to die because of all the streaming music services and downloading?

MIKE BLANX: Bands wanna do vinyl. It sux right now because sooooo many records are waiting to be put out and there aren’t enough pressing plants to get it all done. Blanks have two things in the works, we were told it will take six months or something. Anyhow, we got a Blanks-ska inspired song coming out, split with Sniper66 out of Texas. And we are releasing our half of "gettinBlasted" onto 7 inch. As far as streaming and downloading, it's all good but some of us like to hold what we're gonna listen to in our hands.

CARPAZINE: Who's your favorite live band?

MIKE BLANX: Prolly Ramones. Seen ’em a buncha’ times in my formative years… then it was the Dwarves in the mid to late 90s.

CARPAZINE: Is Blank 77 going to record a new album anytime in the near future?

MIKE BLANX: No. I really don't see us getting together and nailing down 12 or more songs. Maybe split 7 inches are more our speed.

CARPAZINE: When you started going to shows and hanging out downtown, did you ever experience any static for being from NJ?

MIKE BLANX: Not really… NYC always had a good scene in the early 90s. Used to goto ABC No Rio on saturdays...CBGB Sundays, Pipeline in Newark, NJ on Thursdays. PunkRock started getting pretty big in the mid 90s due to Offspring and Green Day on the radio. It brought a shit ton of kids from the suburbs into the city. But, no static.

CARPAZINE: Heard you love NASCAR. How'd you get into that and who is your favorite driver?

MIKE BLANX: Oh yeah! Jeff Gordon #24… unfortunately he’s retired and now I just root for the team that he pretty much owns: Hendrick Motorsports. That's the 5 car of Kyle Larson, 9 of Chase Elliott, 24 of William Byron, and the 48 of Alex Bowman. Got into NASCAR as a kid watching Richard Petty when he ran good.

CARPAZINE: If you could only drink one alcoholic beverage for the rest of your life what would it be?

MIKE BLANX: No brainer---Vodka. Mix it with Seltzer and a tad bit of lemonade please. Renee would do Vodka Seltzer Cranberry. Chad changes it up now and then, he was doing Lemmys for a while and Timm likes beer as long as it's not Bud or Coors or watered down piss.

CARPAZINE: There seems to be a trend of punks over 40 turning into conservatives and even embracing politicians' conservative opinions. What happened to these people?

MIKE BLANX: Haha… yes! I dunno… I see some folks grow up and they "used to be into punk"... I mean what the fuck does that mean? Either you are into it, or not. Maybe the Punk Rock idealist views they once had no longer pertain to them and it's time to move onto a different genre altogether, like Bro-bands. As for the conservative opinions and stuff, I’m sure that was always there and I guess when you get older and maybe successful, you kinda wanna keep whats yours and fuck anybody else.

CARPAZINE: If Blanks 77 was a sexual-position what position would it be?

MIKE BLANX: Well Sham 69 took the best one but we’d hafta be a 7-7… picture it! Works great for boys, girls, gays, straights, and even antelopes.

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