Heads will roll

Minnesota punk trio Off With Their Heads take over the Windsor as part of North American tour

Three out of five ain’t bad: A pared-down version of Off With Their Heads will play The Windsor on Saturday, November 10. Supplied

The road is where you’ll find Off With Their Heads this fall.

When we reach vocalist/guitarist Ryan Young, he is in Gainesville, Florida getting ready for the Fest, one of the biggest punk festivals in North America.

The band is known for having a revolving lineup and he says it’s currently touring as a trio with Robbie Swartwood on bass and Ryan Fisher on drums.

The plan is to accompany Winnipeg’s Propagandhi for a series of shows in the U.S. before headlining a tour across Western Canada.

“I’m just excited to come up there finally,” he says. “Being from Minneapolis I’m kind of shocked I’ve only been to Winnipeg one time in my life.”

Off With Their Heads formed in 2002, eventually becoming known in punk circles for Young’s extra gravelly vocals and self-deprecating lyrics.

The band’s still touring in support of 2010’s In Desolation, but the guys have also finished recording a brand new record for Epitaph.

There are a couple of songs that are slower and a little less gruff. I actually tried to sing, so we’ll see how that goes.

Ryan Young, Off With Their Heads

According to Young it should be available sometime in March 2013.

“It’s going to be called Home,” he says. “I’ve been out on the road for the last five years without really having anywhere to live, so it’s basically the different meanings of what we think home is.”

The original plan was to record with Epitaph owner Brett Gurewitz in Los Angeles, but he dropped out because he was busy working on a new Bad Religion record.

In the end, the guys recorded at the Blasting Room in Colorado, guided by Bill Stevenson who has worked with everyone from Comeback Kid to NOFX.

“We didn’t really get along with Bill at first, but the end result made it all worthwhile and I’d do it again so I guess that says something,” Young says. “He’d just say things like ‘You’re the worst singer I’ve ever heard in my life,’ but he does that to everybody and I think he was kind of joking, even if it didn’t seem like it sometimes.”

The band spent 25 days recording this past summer and ended up with around 13 tracks in total.

“Especially since all of us live in different cities, it was really cool to sit down and write together this time around, instead of me just writing a song and showing it to them,” Young says. 

“I tried to write a few different things some people might make fun of me for, but that’s all right. There are a couple of songs that are slower and a little less gruff. I actually tried to sing, so we’ll see how that goes.”

Right now the songs have mostly been kept under wraps, but there’s a chance the band will bust one out at the Windsor Hotel on Saturday.

“We’d probably just play Start Walking, which is the opening track on the record and the shortest song. We don’t want to do too many new ones because the release is still so far off.”

Published in Volume 67, Number 10 of The Uniter (November 7, 2012)

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