We have three goals with this feature: to share good music, to learn new things about some of our favorite bands, and to capture the Fest vibe. Because while there are a million festivals these days, The Fest is truly unique.
In this segment we chat with MakeWar to learn what's new, what they've been up to the past couple of years, and why they personally love The Fest.
Scene Point Blank: Your last record came out in 2019. Are you working on a follow-up?
Jose: Oh we are! All the songs are written. We just have to spend some time with them and learn them, haha. We’ll probably go to the studio in November.
Scene Point Blank: Will your next record be with Fat Wreck?
Jose: Hell yeah!
Scene Point Blank: Maybe you just answered this, but how did you manage through the height of COVID challenges?
Jose: We just went on tour with A Wilhelm Scream all over the US and Canada and no one got covid. This was when every band on tour was getting covid. Maybe we were lucky? Maybe just maybe the vaccine and boosters work, haha. Or maybe it’s because we all had covid already. Who knows. I’m just really happy we didn’t have to cancel any shows. That run was so much fun!
Scene Point Blank: These are challenging times for a lot of people with COVID, Trump, insurrection, the Supreme Court, ICE atrocities, and more. How do current events influence your writing or artistic process? Does it feel different in 2022 than it did when the band started?
Jose: I feel like we were really angry when we wrote Get It Together and I think it shows. With this new record I’m back at writing about mental health. We all had a pretty harsh couple of years and I think it really affected our mental health. At least for me. I had so many down days and panic attacks. I feel like I have to write about that again. It’s the way I cope with it. That, and talking to my therapist every week and taking Prozac like my buddy Tony in The Sopranos. I’m also taking pills for high blood pressure. And for hashimotos (a thyroid thing) so I think I need to try to heal myself and write about it before I can write about anything else.
Don’t get me wrong. I am so incredibly mad about everything that has been going on. The fact that women can’t have abortions now: it’s totally insane. And it’s all because everything in this country is run by people who think there’s a god and that god gets mad every time an abortion happens. But it doesn’t care if you buy many guns and go shoot a school. Fucking bullshit. But before I can write about those things, I need to heal myself from inside out. I’m dealing with my own wars first so I can deal with the rest after that. That’s what MakeWar is all about.
Scene Point Blank: You sang in English and Spanish on the last record. Was that because it fit a particular song, or is it something the band is exploring more of, moving forward?
Jose: Edwin writes the Spanish songs. We are all from South America but I have never written lyrics in Spanish before, even though it's my first language. I really want to try to push myself to do it. But, yeah, we want to keep writing more and more Spanish songs. This new record will have more than a couple. I grew up not knowing any English and I didn’t understand any of the lyrics of some of my favorite bands. If my favorite bands had any songs in Spanish I would’ve been so stoked! So maybe this can happen to someone else.
Scene Point Blank: How much have you been playing live in the (for lack of a better term), "post-COVID" environment?
Jose: We went on tour last summer thinking that covid was over: pre omicron. It was a beautiful thing, playing for the first time after covid. [It] made us all so emotional -- and then shit got even weirder.
We played Fest last year too. And everyone was masked and it was rad. But Fest to me is about friendship and hugs -- and we couldn’t have that. This year seems like everything is working out. I really hope it stays like that and we don’t have to talk about covid anymore on interviews, haha.
Scene Point Blank: Are you touring to Fest 20?
Jose: Sadly we are not. No more tours for us until the new record comes out.
Scene Point Blank: You played Fest 19 as you just said. How did it feel given the pandemic challenges leading up to it (and causing Fest to skip a year)?
Jose: Last Fest was a weird one. But I’m really glad it happened and I’m glad we played it. I feel like it just made Fest stronger.
Scene Point Blank: How many Fests have you played so far?
Jose: I think this is gonna be Fest 7 for us, counting the first one we played as Sad And French. Maybe 6th? I don’t know. Do you know?
Scene Point Blank: What is the most memorable moment or year for you at Fest (as a performer)? Do you have a memory that stands out about a particular crowd or otherwise striking moment?
Jose: I think it was Fest 17. We did really well at Fest 16 and were excited for 17. But we didn’t expect to sell out the High Dive! That was crazy. We were all so hungover from the day before but all of that went away with the first chord. Everyone was so fucking stoked. In the middle of the set we released some inflatable orcas. And people went fucking nuts. Part of the ceiling at the High Dive came down. People tried to stage dive with the orcas. It was bananas. Favorite Fest show ever. I will never forget that night.
Scene Point Blank: Do you have any Fest traditions?
Jose: I feel like our tradition is to always book our hotels last minute. I just remember we haven’t done that yet. Shit!
Our first Fest we all got cigarette burns on our arms and said we were gonna do that at every Fest. I’m glad that didn’t stick.
Jose: I sang a song with Arms Aloft at Fest 17. Maybe that could be my tradition: to sing a song with a friend’s band.
Scene Point Blank: How do you feel the festival has evolved since you first attended?
Jose: I actually don’t think it has. It feels the same and that’s ok. I love Fest.
Scene Point Blank: What bands are you most excited about this year?
Jose: I’m really stoked to see the Flats. They haven’t played in a while and I fucking love them. I know our friend Dallas is super stoked that AAA is playing. Cobra Skulls are playing Fest and that rules! I really hope they keep playing forever. The Menzos playing On The Impossible Past is going to rule. I really love that record.
Scene Point Blank: I want to close with a "lighting round" interview. This is email, but try to give quick answers without thinking about them too much:
If you could choose, what band would you like to share a stage with this year at Fest?
Jose: Flats
Scene Point Blank: What is your favorite Fest venue to see a show?
Jose: High Dive
Scene Point Blank: What is your favorite "non-Fest" thing to do while in Gainesville?
Jose: Eat burritos at La Tienda.
Scene Point Blank: What small or "lesser known" band should people reading this make sure they go see?
Jose: Lone Wolf from Netherlands. We saw them once at Pouzza Fest and they blew our mind. We are playing our prefest show at Loosey's with them on the Thursday before Fest.
Scene Point Blank: Who had the best set at last year's Fest?
Jose: Pass Away. It was their first Fest. It was so sick to see them rock Fest.
Scene Point Blank: Should we expect surprises at Fest 20 from MakeWar?
Jose: We might bring the orcas back.
Scene Point Blank: Anything you'd like to add?
Jose: So stoked for Fest this year!
Let’s party!
