What to do when you're two sets of brothers living in a twotraffic light town located in the middle of Michigan to stave off boredom?Well, in some cases they would most likely torture small animals, shoot at roadsigns, knock some girl from their church their made to go to up and develop ameth habit. In the People's Temple case though-they went a completely differentroute by digging in to their parents record collection then digging deeper andforming a rock-n-roll band.
One part the Byrds
Fifth Dimension, one part Spacemen 3's
The Perfect Prescription and lots ofother parts consisting of the Rolling Stones, The 13th Floor Elevators and evensome 80's UK raincoat rock to name a just a few the band, after recording ahandful of 7inch EP's on several different labels, released their debut album
Sons Of Stone on the Hozac label this spring. Guitar player/singer Alex givesSmashin' Transistors a little bit of the lowdown. (
-Interview with by Dale (Editors note: This interview originally appeared at the old Smashin' Transistors site in early 2011)Favorite ever member of the Rolling Stones?
Alex : Keith RichardsYeah, that's always a given it seems. What about Mick Taylorthough?
A: Mick was cool. That's about it. He never really didanything to put himself in the spot light. He's truly second underrated RollingStone following Brian Jones.Name your moment with the Stones, and this coming from ahuge Stones fan, where you thought "Man, this is some superlameshit".
A: Honestly I really haven't had a moment like that with theStones. They are the greatest rock & roll group ever.C'mon! Not even
Dirty Work or Mick Jagger's solo albums?
A: Well, some of the solo Mick Jagger stuff is gay.Are there any track you skip over on Exile On Mainstreet?
A: No that is one of my favorites along with Aftermath.Not even "I Just Want To See His Face" ?
A: Well, yes. I have at least once.What's it like being in a band of siblings? Are there a lotof fighting like brothers?
A: It has its positives and negatives, yes lots offistfights, screaming, arguing and so on, BUT there is a psychic dynamic thatwe have when we play.What's the biggest blowup you've guys have had while playingin front of a group of people?
A: On time early on. It was like are 3rd or 4th show and wewere playing terrible. I think we stopped midset and knocked a bunch of shitover and started yelling at each other. After a few minutes we continued andfinished the rest of are set. Then we knocked a bunch of ceiling tiles out onare last song too.If Lou Reed and Wayne Kramer got in a fist fight who do youthink would win?
A: Ha !! Thats easy Detroit always wins in brawls so WayneKramer.Lou's till got some hair though. Wayne had cool hair onetime though. How important is cool hair for rock-n-rolling?
A: Lou's hair is defiantly cooler. Its cool if you have nicehair. If not that sucks.Listening to what band makes you feel like you're on drugseven though you are not?
A: Spaceman 3When I say cheese what do you think of?
A: RichardWhat song do you thing Richard Cheese would do the People'sTemple justice?
A: Jim JonesIs it safe to assume that you guys chose the band name ofthe teachings of the Reverend Jim Jones then? Or is it in tribute to JayReatard's old digs in Memphis?
A: Its a throwback for Brian Jonestown Massacre, so I guessmore Jim Jones.Speaking of the Brian Jonestown Massacre what kind of notesdid you take from the movie DIG?
A:We took a lot of things. Their guitars and amps were themain thing.What other rock docs have you found inspirational?
A:The Stones doc. about the Altamont Speedway gig .Growing up in a county where the largest population is thetown of Owosso with 15,000 or so did you ever think going there was a trip to"the big city"?
A: No, Lansing was always the big city. But funny you askthat-we actually played are first show in a battle of the bands in Owosso andit sucked!What sucked about it?
A: Owosso is a shithole of a town and filled withhard-corers and Screamo wannabees. We played with like 6 other hardcore/screamofags and they all hated us.It's like that over in my part of the state too. How did youguys end up playing the type of music you do?
A: My parents grew up in the 70's so he listened to theStones, Kinks, and others. I just dug deeper into the 60's cause that's whatinterested me and the sound appealed to me more so then new music when I wasgrowing up.Speaking of your area-Shiwasee county and all that-what'syour take on Durand, Michigan? Does everyone there quote Rush Limbaugh on aregular basis or does it just seem like that?
A: HA ! Durand is even shittier than Owosso. I had agirlfriend once who had relatives that lived in Durand and they were all abunch of weirdo conservatives.Living out in the sticks where was the place you went toparty that the "cops don't know about" even though most likely thecops partied there decades before?
A: Never had a spot like that. Were not that far in thesticks, man. Lansing is like 15-20 min. away and i always had friends who livedin Lansing and on campus. I work at a restaurant in East Lansing, so I startedpartying with MSU students when I was like 17. It was awesome ! Just imaginethe scene from Animal House when they throw the toga party and that what youget in Lansing, especially when you party on campus!Did you ever try to lift cassingles from the mall"record store" when you were young?
A: Nope. I think cassingles were a bit before my time. I didget caught shoplifting in the mall once though?What went down?
A: It was during my adolescent juvenile skater days and Iwas Lifting a shirt or something at this Sporting good store and the managerturned the corner, not just a employee but the manager of the whole store, andbasically scared the shit out of me and my friends and let us go. What topping should NEVER go on pizza.
A: AnchoviesWhat's the most messed up thing that has happened to youinvolving fire?
A: Man ...I almost burnt my house down. I have lit myself onfire before. I have almost burnt my car to the ground the list goes on!What effects pedals would the People's Temple endorse?
A: Any Wah pedal, the Ibenaz Tube Screamer or any of theBoss pedals.What type of cash would they have to dole out to you to getyour endorsement?
A: We would take any money, man.Now that you have released one of the most bad ass album of2011-Which one of you is now to most likely do a solo album of Yoko Ono coversand what special guest musicians would they want to play on it.
A: It would be George and he would sing and play all theinstruments himself.Who in the band is most likely to pull a Brian Wilson?
A: WilliamWho do you have on your wish list for a producer of one ofyour future records?
A: Anton NewcombeWhen it comes to playing rock-n-roll which ranks higher init's fringe benefits-The chicks or the free party favors?
A: As of right now I wish I could say the chicks, but partyfavors for sure!
Find out more about People's Temple here.
People's Temple will be playing the Roche Bar in Port Huron on September 29th. Go here for more info.
.jpg)
With it being as sweltering, nasty, sticky hot as it has been this Michigan summer the idea of a beer filled with sticky hops or just a general thickness have not been on the top of my sipping list. 
The problem was though the directions of when to defrost them were written down wrong and the band stayed in their icy tomb for much too long and the aforementioned fakers, old farts and dinks seem to think they have won decimating any thick and greasy mashed potato and gravy comfort food groove (thank you Mr. Rick Hall for initially making that observation) thought they won the battle. 
This is probably for the best.
But the quote leaves off the end of Obama's sentence: "at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody's got a shot."Obama was actually talking about the role of government in providing services, but also criticizing ineffective forms of government. For instance, Obama says in the audio, "[W]e do have to be innovative in thinking, what are the delivery systems that are actually effective and meet people where they live?"He was talking broadly about pooling resources to make sure that everybody has a fair shot.Transcript of the YouTube audio:
