By Austin Kaus
For more than a decade, The Copyrights have been spreading their brand of infectious Midwestern punk rock across the nation. With a new single out on Fat Wreck Chords and upcoming tour dates in Rapid City and Sioux Falls, the band’s bassist and vocalist Adam Fletcher talked with our own Austin Kaus about the band’s history, goals, and impressions of a Fat Wreck party.
AK: Break down the history of the band for me.
AF: We started in 2001. It was kind of just an extension of the previous band Luke and I were in during high school. We’ve released five full length albums and a bunch of 7″s and singles through the years. We have a new album coming out on August 26th which will be our sixth album.
AK: Have you played here before? What are you expecting?
AF: We’ve never played Sioux Falls! We have TWO South Dakota shows on this tour! We’ve traveled all over the U.S and Europe but this will be some uncharted territory for us which is always exciting.
AK: Are there things about playing the Midwest that you look forward to?
AF: We’re from Illinois, so we’re Midwest guys too. We love the Midwest! Honestly, we’ll probably be looking forward to going home. This is the end of our first month long tour with 7 Seconds. Then we fly to Europe for another month on September 2nd.
AK: What’s the best punk rock record ever?
AF: Mikey Erg says it’s Naked Raygun’s “Throb Throb,” but it could be the Nubs’ self-titled 7″. That’s up for debate.
AK: In terms of record labels, you’re on Red Scare Industries but you have a 7” out on Fat Wreck Chords (the label owned by Fat Mike of NOFX). What’s your relationship with them?
AF: We’re not exactly signed to Fat Wreck Chords. They were interested in working with us and did us a big favor by putting out our new 7″ single … for which we will be forever grateful. We’ve been friends with the guys that work there as well as several of the bands on Fat, so when we got the chance to release a record with them, we were excited.
AK: Are Fat Wreck parties as legendary as they sound?
AF: Not really. It’s more like an evening of Dungeons & Dragons with a shitload of blow.
AK: What’s the future of the band?
AF: I’m not really sure? I doubt any of us would have ever thought we would have gone this far. Hopefully we keep making music and playing shows. If not, we’re going to “break up” and then get back together two years later and charge a big guarantee for our reunion shows. That’s what bands do, right?
The Copyrights will play at the VFW in Rapid City on Aug. 20 and Total Drag in Sioux Falls on Aug. 21. For more information, go to www.redscare.net.
