13Even was nice enough to sit down with me before their show at The Ground Floor in Delaware on July 17th. These guys have a rock solid heavy sound and the crowd always loves them!
13 Even:
John Buzzuto, guitar
Greg Thompson, drums
Kevin Healey, voice
Jack Wood, guitar
Aaron Huntsberry, bass
Jo: How long have you guys been together?
Greg & John (in unison): 4 years
Jo: Where did you guys meet? In school? How did you get together?
Greg: Me & John have been in bands for probably what? 10 years now.
John: Yea
Greg: Then we quit college, because we didn’t like school (laughs)..we got Jack next, then we got Aaron and Kevin. That completed the project.
John: All of us went to the same high school except for Jack.
Jo: So are you all the same age?
John: No, different ages.
Greg: From 22 to 26.
Jo: How did you come up with the name 13Even?
John: We consulted the bones.
Greg: Just put that, because we don’t know.
Jo: How often do you guys practice?
Greg: A lot, 3-4 nights a week.
Jack: At least.
Greg: For like four hours.
John: Unless it is the month of July.
Jack: The month of July we tend to slack off a little bit.
Greg: Yea, we just practice 20 hours a week.
Jo: Where do you practice?
John: Prospect Park.
Jack: In a trailer.
Greg: We got a new practice space, we got a garage.
John: Yeah, we got a nice big garage, it’s cool.
Jo: Who are some of your musical influences?
Greg: Uh, Journey (pauses, then laughs, group laughs)…Jessica Simpson
Jo: Britney Spears
Greg: No..
John: Everybody has different…
Greg: Everything from fuckin’ RadioHead…the whole genre, you know what I mean? Everything.
Jo: Who writes the lyrics and the music?
John: Kevin writes all of his own lyrics.
Greg: We all write together, but we all bring…
Jack: different shit to the table.
Greg: Nobody will solely take credit..you will never see “songs written by…” everything is written by 13Even.
Kevin: K. Healey (group laughs)
Greg: Solo by J. Buzzuto
Loud train noise in background as I ask the next question
Jo: Describe your music with one word.
John: Fresh
Jack: French?
Everyone says: FRESH!
Jack: I thought you said french.
Jo: Well you got the train in the background.
Jack: Locomotive, yea, it’s like a locomotive.
Everyone starts screaming!
Jo: Good old Delaware!
John: We’ve all got trains by our house.
Jack: Yea, that train passed our houses like 25 minutes ago.
Jo: Are you back in the studio yet?
Kevin: We are in the writing process right now.
John: We’ve got a lot of things on the table right now. We’ve got about 6-7 songs that are kinda there. But we wanna write about 5 more and then go from there and make a new record.
Jo: Playing any new songs tonight?
John: Yea
Greg: Little Red Lie, that’s it right?.
John: We are lucky we are here. Our average show has been 5 minutes. Shit just happens, people getting into fights.
Jo: Your favorite song to perform?
Greg: Right now?
Jo: Yes.
Greg: My favorite is Little Red Lie.
John: I like Faceless.
Jack: Yea, Faceless is my new favorite. That and Little Red Lie.
Greg: They all kill.
Jo: I know the answer to this question, but how do you feel about the Ozzfest show?
John: It’s fuckin’ awesome.
Jack: Very excited.
John: It will be the best 15 minutes of our life.
Greg: It’s fuckin’ awesome, I am serious.
Jo: I know I heard somewhere that Sharon Osbourne is really into you.
John: That would be great. I hope there is truth to that.
Kevin: Yea.
Jo: Have you done previewed for any labels?
John: We have done a bunch of different showcases, but nothing ever really that major.
Greg: We are too different.
John: We don’t have radio singles and if they don’t see the next Hoobastank, then don’t come looking for us, that is not us. We go by Kevin’s DIY method. As long as we are playing shows, we are cool. Kevin is booking like a madman.
Greg: Do It Yourself.
Jack: Like Dick in your ear.
Greg: Yea.
John: Kevin is friends with bands all over the place so it is just working out.
Jo: If I could grant you three wishes, what would they be?
Jack: A piece? Or as a band?
Jo: Sure, a piece.
Greg: A career, that would be the fuckin’ wish.
Aaron: Record deal.
John: Record deal.
Jack: You can lump that in with career. Let’s not waste wishes here fellas. (everyone laughs)
Greg: A million dollar record deal, that’s good.
Kevin: Stability, happiness and a golden retriever.
Greg: And a house with a white fuckin’ picket fence.
John: I think I would just like to have a big enough career that we could all buy a house that normal people can live in.
Jo: (laughs) That normal people get to live in!
John: Well we don’t want to live in the ghetto. Houses that cost a couple of dollars.
Greg: I would take a fuckin’ apartment.
Kevin: Yea, really with a working toilet.
Jack: A sink.
Jo: Well since you are going down that road, what are you guys doing now? You know, in your lives?
John: This is it.
Greg: We like to take long walks on the beach, stuff like that. Nah, what do we do? Nothing.
John: No really, we wake up, collect unemployment and go practice.
Jo: Really
Kevin: I’m couch surfing, not really a success story.
Jo: Hey, you know you are dedicated to making it work, right?
Kevin: Yea
John: You’ve gotta give it a shot.
Jo: Ok, a funny one. If you were a cartoon character, who would you be and why?
John: (laughs) That’s an Ozzfest question.
Jo: Really?
John: Yea, they asked me a weird question like that.
Greg: Yea, John said Wang Man.
John: Well that was for superhero. (group laughs)
Jo: An actual cartoon character.
Jack: A cartoon character…
Greg: Jack would be Scooby. I wanna be SpongeBob.
Jo: Jack would be Scooby?
Greg: Yea, do the Scooby.
Jack giggles just like Scooby. (everyone laughs)
Jo: That is pretty damn funny actually.
Kevin: It is awesome.
Jack: the mystery machine is right there (points)
There was an exact replica of the Mystery Machine van in the parking lot of the club, it was too funny!!
John: I wanna be a TMNT.
Greg: Who Raphael?
John: No, Donatello, he has the big staff. (everyone laughs)
Jo: I love it.
Jo: How about you (to Kevin).
Kevin: Captain Universe, no wait…
Jack: Captain America?
Kevin: No, the Green Lantern. He has the ring that changes things and shit. Why not, you know?
Everyone starts talking about different actors that played the Green Lantern. Totally hysterical.
Kevin: Actually, I change that I would be Voltron.
Jo: Who is Voltron?
Kevin: You don’t know who Voltron is?
Jack: The guy that had the different lines that all draw together to make the big fuckin’ puss.
(Everyone roars laughing, but Jack stays serious)
Greg: Big fuckin’ puss.
Jack: No, you don’t remember Voltron!!??
Greg: He resembles a puss?
Jo: Maybe I am too old.
Jack: No, like a pussycat, you know. (everyone is laughing)…no, you can’t be too old. Voltron was like 20 years ago.
Greg: I was like 5 years old.
Kevin: I had Voltron sheets.
Jo: Voltron? I need to look it up on the net.
Greg: Voltron, what the fuck was the other one.
Kevin: Thundercats.
Jo: Thundercats, I know that.
Jack: Lino
Kevin: Lino, yea.
Jo: Oh my god, you guys are funny.
Jack: Lino’s cool.
John: We’re geeks.
Jo: Are you into collecting anything?
Greg: I fuckin’ love sports.
Jack: Video game junkie.
John: I like guitars, I would like to collect them, but can’t afford it.
Jack: I have a large collection of guitars in my mind. I pull them out and strum every once in awhile.
John: I would put them on the wish list, but there are too many to fuckin’ name.
Jack: Gibson endorsement, that would be another wish.
John: Yea
Jo: Put that on the wish list.
John: Free Gibbies.
Jo: If you could tour with any band, right now, tomorrow, who would it be? Favorite?
Greg: Faith No More, if they were back together.
Kevin: Yea, that would be cool.
Greg: I would probably wanna fuckin’ tour with Korn.
Aaron: I would wanna tour with Pantera.
Jack: They are on the same page as FNM, they don’t exist.
John: I’ll be cheesy and say Metallica. I would give my left ball to play that show. It would be great.
Greg: There are a lot of bands we would open for, we couldn’t open up for Slayer. That would never happen.
Jo: Never say never.
Greg: I would love to.
John: I would rather be able to go hang out and be hammered on stage, but to open for them and have people throw shit at us, that wouldn’t be fun.
Jack: We are clearly not as heavy.
Jo: Who has been the most supportive of your careers?
Jack: Ourselves (laughs) Our parents.
Jo: Really?
Jack & Greg: Our parents
Kevin & Aaron: Yea
Jo: Message for your fans?
Greg: You fuckin’ rock.
Jack: Thanks for the support.
Greg: Keep supporting, spread the word.
Kevin: Yea, if you got it, burn it, give it out, talk about it, you know.
I agree, spread the word. These guys are very talented!! If you have not seen a 13Even show, be sure to check them out. Visit their official website for all things 13Even.
~jo~
