Let’s face it, studying for the upcoming slalom of exams is no fun. It’s stressful and often mind-numbing. That’s why on April 20, students can forget schoolwork for a few hours and enjoy a rush of excitement. A sugar rush that is.
However, it’s not all fun and games when Santa Barbara punk outfit Sugarcult takes the stage. They’re preparing an exam of their own.
“Tell people to bring their pencil and paper because they will be tested,” joked Sugarcult guitarist Marko 72. “When you come see Sugarcult you’re required to write a 40-page thesis on how you felt about the show.”
But before they got a doctorate in rock, Marko and his band mates, Tim Pagnotta (vocals/guitar), Kenny Livingston (drums), and Airin Older (bass) were just a group of Californian youths looking to have some fun.
“It was the singer’s scheme to [meet girls], and the rest is history,” said Marko. That history includes a number of successful releases including 2001’s Start Static and 2004’s ode to So-Cal, Palm Trees and Power Lines. They have been featured on MTV and other prominent media outlets with singles like “Pretty Girl,” “Bouncing Off The Walls” and “Memory.”
So, what’s the best part of this success?
“Besides the free beer, steady flow of hot Eastern European supermodels, and millions of dollars,” Marko said, “it’s also pretty fun to play shows.”
Sugarcult has played in an array of different settings. These include gigs in cramped and sweaty clubs, large stadiums while opening for Green Day, and they just recently got back from touring in the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka.
“Talk about a rush,” Marko said. “Not only is it a thrill to play a show period, but to play in front of a large group of people, and people that are from another culture, another country, basically another planet, it’s just a neat feeling.”
While the band loves to play the big shows, they also enjoy the jamming in smaller venues (like Fisher’s Student Life Center).
“It’s an intimate feel, we feed off the energy and the body heat of the crowd,” he said. “The intimacy is awesome. It’s something a small show can do that a big show can’t.”
However, there are some downsides to life on the road. “You’re away from home for so long that you forget where home is,” Marko said. “You lose your sense of gravity, feel like what it might feel like to be an astronaut or deep sea diver. You’re so far removed from the real world that you almost become an alien.”
He added that even when returning to California, things would still feel slightly askew.
“When you do come home, the rest of the world has moved on, and you’re kind of in this bubble,” he said. “Or it’s like (you’re in) a state of arrested development.”
“That can be an asset too,” he added. Being in Sugarcult has other assets, like successful albums and having the opportunity to entertain fans while on tour. All of that couldn’t have been accomplished if they didn’t accomplish one of the hardest obstacles that a band faces: coming up with a group name.
Sugarcult’s name came courtesy of a group of women that used to live across the hall from singer Tim Pagnotta.
“The name comes from a group of lesbians,” said Marko. “These girls were really tough, like aspiring body guards and they called themselves ‘The Sugarcult,’ and they got the name from a lesbian group in the 60s.”
Marko used a unique analogy to describe how “The Sugarcult” forced their name on the band. “It’s kind of like when your parents name you something bad, but you get stuck with it. That’s what happened with Sugarcult.”
Aside from playing the show on campus, Sugarcult will be spending some time hanging around the neighborhood. And what exactly are Marko and the rest of the band looking forward to about their trip east?
“We want everyone in Rochester to know that Sugarcult will be taking down some garbage plates.”
By Scott Pukos
sap7242@sjfc.edu
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