NIGHTCAP WITH…

A Q&A With Recoi!l

Whittier, Calif.

December 8, 2018

BALDWIN PARK, CALIF. – “Get your dad,” a woman said tersely, rushing out from the VFW Baldwin Park’s backyard.

“It’s over,” one guy standing at the back of the yard said as another could be overheard telling security, “I’m not right in the head.”

Not long after, the story of what transpired was pieced together: Too many kids sneaking in alcohol, being warned not to, ignoring the instructions and then someone getting downright belligerent about the rules, ending the night prematurely and maybe future shows at the venue.

“Fuck that guy whoever said ‘Shit on the owner,’” RecOi!l bassist Ziggy said. “There were little girls there saying ‘Did he really say shit on my mom?’”

Twenty minutes south of that debacle, the members of Harbor Area band RecOi!l – Ziggy, guitarist and backup vocalist Tania, singer Lawrence (a.k.a. Toothpick) and drummer Dirty Eric (previously of Dirty Rebels) – are standing on the driveway of a South Whittier home. It’s 10 p.m. and they’ve deferred to a kickback at a friend’s house.

Rancid’s playing in the background at one point and shots, a guest said as he made his way up the walk, are mandatory.

It will be three years in April that RecOi!l formed, with a name born out of a group backyard brainstorming session in which the only directives were it reference pogo and contain the word “oi.” Eric’s sister Tania came on board this year, replacing Caveman (Deviated State drummer). She had tried unsuccessfully to earlier get in the band jokingly (or not?) explaining Lawrence eventually came crawling back.

“The only thing I regret is not getting her from the get go,” he said.

“Nah, it’s cool,” she told him graciously. “You needed to learn.”

Read on and meet RecOi!l.

It seems as though the Harbor Area bands are all pretty tight-knit and you’re one big family. Fair assessment?

Eric: We’re all close. We’re all about the same age. We all went to high school together. We all started around the same time. It helps that we’re all from around the same city.

Lawrence: We’re all friends, so we’ve always had each other’s backs. It’s not like we’re trying to represent Harbor Area only. We don’t try to do the whole locals-only thing. It’s just, that’s where we’re coming from and we’re showing the punk scene’s not dead in this area.

Tania: We also got into each other’s families. We know each other’s mothers. We go to each other’s holiday parties, so it runs deeper than just the scene.

Eric: There are like three, four bands where we all hang out together – Deviated State, Catacomb Rockers, Alter Boys.

Complete this sentence: “We sound like....”

Tania: We sound like fun. No, not the band.

Ziggy: [singing] ‘F’ is for friends who do stuff together….

Tania: We sound better when you’re drunker.”

Lawrence: We sound pogo.

Tania: Since we were little kids, [Eric’s] always had a melody, so we were very good at the melodies and creating. He’ll think in layers. We don’t even have to look at each other.

What’s the backstory on some of your nicknames?

Eric: Toothpick as a young buck in high school, he was 14 years old. He liked to put a little bit of Murray’s in his hair. He was a greaser. He had cuffed pants, cuffed shirt. Nice, clean cut…. We said “Kick it with us.” The first day he came, introduced himself to everybody. Five minutes later, I forget his name, but he had a toothpick in his mouth and was really skinny. To be dead honest, I didn’t know his name for a long time. We were talking and [my friends] were like “Hey, call this fool over.” I was just like, fuck. I said, “Hey, Toothpick.” He turns around. Cool, and that’s been his name forever.

Ziggy: Mine’s family. I was born in the hospital.

Eric: Were you now?

Ziggy: Hey! I could have been born in a bar bathroom, you know. I was lucky to be born in a hospital.

Eric: Dumpster baby. What the fuck.

Lawrence: Prom night.

Ziggy: The real story is I was stuck in a hospital for two days and I didn’t have a name. My cousin came and saw me. I looked like Ziggy from the newspaper with a big ass nose that you can see. They called me Ziggy and they [later] gave me Vincent. I grew up thinking my name was Ziggy. I went to school in first grade and they were like “Vincent, are you here?” I didn’t raise my hand. I went years not knowing my name was Vincent.

What are your goals for the new year as a band?

Lawrence: I set a few goals in my head, but haven’t discussed with them. I want to go somewhere out of state. We’ve been offered to go to New Jersey, Texas and Denver. So my goal is to just record in January and then somebody hits us up by summer.

Eric: January for sure we’re going to put out a quick EP and then around the same time we’re going to do a music video for one of our songs. We’re in the works for another video, too, with Broken Cuffs and then just playing more shows.

Lawrence: We have a car issue right now.

Ziggy: Yeah, the car we have is too small.