Now that Spring is here and your allergies are back in full swing, it’s time to bust
out the happy, poppy, sunshine-y punk rock! Or better yet, check out something new for
2013, like Tony Molina’s album Dissed And Dismissed. Molina truly has the knack
for what makes guitar-heavy pop music great: the hooks are memorable and bountiful, his
singing is tunefully simple, the guitars explode with confetti at just the right time,
and no song ever overstays its welcome. As his group Ovens has been dishing it out for
years, Tony Molina proudly contributes to the Bay Area’s wellspring of catchy, anthemic
punk music both on his own and with the variety of groups he claims membership. I was
able to catch up with him while he was working his night job (movie theater projectionist)
and we talked about music, of all things.

You just released an album under your own name. Does that mean you played all the instruments,
or just wrote all the music and lyrics, or what? Was it weird having your own name instead of
a band name on the front cover?
Yeah, I wrote all the songs and played all the instruments on that record. It was very weird,
because none of my bands have ever done an LP, this is my first one, and it has my full name
and a big-ass picture of my face on it! I was a little bit nervous about doing that at first,
but now I don’t really care.

Who had the idea? I presume you are more than just business partners with the Melters folks…
Did you have the record done, and they asked to release it, or was the idea established before
you recorded it?
It was my idea. That record was originally going to be an Ovens record, but since half of that
band is scattered around the country and doing their own thing, I decided to do it by myself.
The Melters dudes are my friends and hit me up about doing an LP of my earlier solo stuff, and
didn’t know that I had recorded Dissed And Dismissed yet. So I played it for them and they were really
stoked on it and wanted to release it.

Will this forever be a studio-only thing? Have you gotten together some folks to play
these songs live, and put together a Tony Molina band?
I finally started to put a band together with Andrew from Ovens, Spencer from the band Baader
Brains and my friend Anthony who does a project called Swanox. Right now it’s just me and
getting the riffs down. It’s going to be awhile, but I do plan on playing shows and touring
and whatever. I am nervous about playing this shit live though.

You’re playing in other bands too, right?
Yeah I sing in a hardcore band called Caged Animal. And up until like a week ago, I was playing
guitar in this band Violent Change. Both bands put out records this year. My main band Ovens
isn’t very active anymore, but that band will never break up. We actually have two records
coming out this year!

Why’d you do these songs under Tony Molina instead of Ovens, then? Is there any fundamental difference?
It’s only because those guys didn’t play on the tracks. The music is pretty much exactly
the same, but those dudes are my best friends and we’ve been in that band for like eleven
years or something now. If they didn’t play on it, it can’t be called an Ovens record.

So about the record: the title Dissed And Dismissed, along with some of the lyrics… do
people really not want you around? The lyrics can be kind of a downer, especially when compared
with the upbeat melodies and poppy riffs.
All I can say is the last couple of years was a pretty rough time in my life and I think some
of the lyrics describe how I felt at the time. The title is a Breakdown song though.

You’re really into heavy, thuggish hardcore, for my lack of a better term right now. Does
that have any influence in your solo material? Are they just two very separate entities in your brain?
I think it influences my guitar style/tone a lot. Most of the ideas I have for my guitar
playing come from heavier, more riff-oriented bands, but it probably doesn’t influence my
songwriting very much.

What does influence your songwriting? Is it annoying when people say you remind them of Weezer?
Probably just a lot of the bands I listen to. I think Thin Lizzy, Guided By Voices, Big Star,
Teenage Fanclub and The Fastbacks are bands that are a big influence. It doesn’t bother me at
all when people bring up Weezer because they are one of my favorite bands. I get a lot of
guitar ideas from bands like Crowbar, Obituary, and heavier stuff like that.

What kind of ideas?
Just like, how those bands approach writing riffs and the tones they get is what I also
try to do myself. I want my music to be very riff oriented like those bands, even though
I play pop music.

Isn’t pop music riff-oriented? Or is that hook-oriented? What’s the difference anyway?
I think it can be both, but I guess I think hooks when I think of pop music, and when I
think riffs I just think of Merauder. Or something.

Which matters most? If you were exiled to an island and allowed only hardcore/metal or
pop, what would you grab on your way out?
That’s a really tough question! I’d probably grab my Big Star and Teenage Fanclub albums,
and then be very sad knowing I could never jam E-Town Concrete or Suffocation ever again.
It’s bumming me out just thinking about that right now. I really hate this question.

Thankfully that is a fictional situation that will never exist. I’ll change the subject…
what’s the Bay Area scene like these days? From my East Coast point of view, there’s a bunch
of cool bands springing up, doing skewed takes on indie rock and punk and hardcore and what-have-you…
is it really just like, five different people in a handful of bands and a bunch of internet
praise, or are there really lots of different bands and cool things going on?
There’s lots of different bands doing cool shit in the Bay. I’ve seen a lot of cool hardcore
bands, and made a lot of friends from playing shows with Caged Animal. I’m still mourning the
loss of the great bands like Ecoli, Yadokai, Sopors, and Jump Off A Building, who are important
bands for me. Thankfully I can still see Violent Change, Synthetic ID and Culture Kids though!

That’s great. What’s next? More Tony Molina records? Something by Ovens? Caged Animal
double LP on Lockin’ Out?
For the solo stuff, I got an unreleased eight-song EP from 2009 that I want to come out as a 7″.
I’m also going to the studio soon to record four songs for a split 7″ with Swiftumz. There are
two Ovens 7″s that are coming out on Melters and Catholic Guilt, both were recorded years ago.
Caged Animal is going to the studio soon to record our second 7″, which is going to be released by
Video Disease. Also I’m starting a new hardcore band with Blaine from Violent Change that’s going
to straight up sound like Biohazard. I think that’s everything, haha.

Of all the great noise / noise-influenced groups to come out of the early ’00s, how many
are not only still kicking, but still getting better? The best (and probably only) group
to fit that bill is Sightings, a gifted guitar/bass/drums trio that has dismantled the
connotations of rock music and re-purposed its pieces into something else entirely. The
only thing that appears to be off-limits in Sightings’ world is predictability – starting
off with garage-crusted Harry Pussy-style rock assaults, Sightings have proven to be masters
of eerie tension, ambient soundscapes, proto-techno repetition and neo-industrial clank,
through the course of nine albums and a handful of singles. Their tenth, Terribly Well, is slated
for release on Dais Records next month, and if you’re not getting excited about it, go buy
some Green Day opera tickets or something. Sightings is what it’s all about.

Sightings have been a group for over a decade now. What has kept you from breaking up?
Jon (drums): I think there’s been a sort of mission to the group and a lot of common interests
musically, and then I think we’ve all been pretty happy with the music we make, so the
musical element probably drives the desire to keep playing together.
Mark (guitar, vocals): Yeah, we still like the music, so I guess that sort of helps with the
longevity. And while on occasion we might get on each other’s nerves like any other band
(or family), we generally still get along well after slogging it out in the rock wars for all this time.
Richard (bass): Short answer, beer. Longer answer is I think some of the music we have put together
in the last couple years is among our best. If we were doing mediocre shit we’d definitely stop.

What would you say the group’s “mission” is, that Jon references?
Richard: Beer. More serious, we all hated post-rock and emo. Really serious… from the start, I
wanted to have a ‘heavy’ band that wasn’t just rehashing hardcore and metal. Early
industrial was in the mix. But we definitely wanted to play instruments and not just
tweak knobs. I think the defining thing at a certain point was we were all interested
in exploring our instruments and really making them our own. Being players, while kicking
ass. Maybe Jon had another mission in mind?
Jon: When I mentioned some mission, it wasn’t all that specific, but I was thinking of when we
started out and we’d be listening to records and wanting to capture maybe a feeling of
tension or some musical idea and play it as a band with the instruments (and playing
ability) we had, and over time we developed our own vocabulary. And we could write songs.
And like Richard mentioned, we can still put together some good tunes, so we keep doing it.

You often get tagged as “experimental”… do you see Sightings that way? Do you feel any pressure
to keep pushing forward, to never do the same record twice?
Jon: In the sense that the conventional approach to guitar, bass and drums is replaced with
a more open architecture in the way we play songs and the sounds we use, it could be
called “experimental”. But it’s rock music in the end.
Mark: It’s a fairly loaded term, and I tend to avoid using it unless the subject of the band
comes up at a family Thanksgiving dinner or a job meeting. I definitely put pressure
on myself to keep on changing and developing my playing and don’t want to feel like
I’m repeating myself. That being said, it’s often a counterproductive mindset, and
sometimes the best shit just comes out of relaxed “let’s see what the hell happens”
situations in practice.
Richard: I think very little music counts as experimental these days. Within Sightings, we all
have pretty pronounced playing styles, so there’s only so far from a certain core
sound we are going to get. I don’t think our latest record – and there’s a second
record we recorded at the same time – is really Earth-shatteringly different from
the last couple records, but it might be an improvement in overall quality, and
definitely closer to the sound we want from a record right now.

Are there any records or tracks in particular for older records where you can listen
back to it now and be like “we absolutely nailed that”? For me, one of my personal favorite
Sightings memories is the first time I heard your debut LP. The opening track “Two
Thoughts” just kinda shocked me, that a band could allow such a song to happen after
such a casual “one two three four”. It felt really triumphant.
Richard: The song “Michigan Haters” was a one-off jam that sounded like perfect music to me.
That was the moment I knew we were really hitting it. “Guilty Of Wrecking” is off the
chain. “Anna May Wong” (that’s how it should have been spelled) on Absolutes fulfilled some
other higher order, we’re-not-stuck-playing-rock-music desire. Those were all recorded
in the same late summer/early fall, 2001. As far as the first album goes, still love
“Cuckoo”, but Mark hates it!
Jon: Every record has a few songs that I think are pretty amazing – good songs, well played, well
recorded and mixed. “Two Thoughts” would be one of my picks from that first record. Michigan Haters
and Absolutes are pretty solid all the way through. “Carry On” from End Times and “The Knotted House”
from Future Accidents are favorites.

How do you know when an album is “done”? Do you have a specific set of songs you go into
the studio to record usually, or is there a lot of improvising/jamming?
Richard: We love improvising in the studio and now seems like a good time to shill for Mr. Pat
Murano (ex?-No Neck, current Decimus) who has jammed with us on the last two studio
sessions. 3/4 of the new record includes him on synth. Some pieces we have worked
on previously with him, and some are improvs. Otherwise, we always go in with a lot
of songs, usually a mix of stuff that’s been vetted pretty hard live and some new
stuff we can have some fun trying out. And then some straight improv. I think City of Straw is
probably the only record that doesn’t have a one-off jam on it since the first one.
Jon: City Of Straw and Future Accidents were recorded at the same session and the improv tune is on Future Accidents.
As far as a record being “done”, we run out of time or money.

How much input do you guys have in each other’s performances? Like, will Jon ever recommend Mark
try a different guitar sound, or does Mark ever give Richard advice on what riffs he
should play along with you?
Jon: Once we have a song idea we’ve been playing, there is some talk about how to refine the tune,
and occasionally there are suggestions, but generally I would say no.
Mark: I’m often not too keen on telling other people what to do, and even recommendations strike
me as fascist when I’m in a certain mood (was I born this way or did my family do this
to me?). But, advice/input does happen, and the most heard refrain throughout the history
of band practices is, “Hey man, try to play less or keep it simpler”. Another fairly common
thing is someone will play something that he thinks is stupid, clichéd or ,and another
member of the band will say they like it.
Richard: We have been doing it for so long, there’s not a lot we need to say to one another. Even
if I have a negative opinion about, say, how Mark is approaching playing on a given night,
it’s pretty common for him to express the same opinion afterwards without me saying anything.
We do try to encourage each other to work with certain ideas or sounds when so inspired.
Positivity is always helpful, because it’s easy to get caught up in an attitude that nothing
you’re playing is new or different or good enough… maybe that also answers the last question.

Is your favorite Sightings record always the last one you’ve released, or is there one that you’re
just particularly proud of?
Jon: The Michigan Haters / Absolutes era (2002-3) was a good time for the band, so those two records
stand out. Those are 4-track records we recorded ourselves. As far as the studio records – Arrived In Gold,
Through The Panama, City Of Straw, Future Accidents and the new one, Terribly Well – yes, Terribly
Well sounds the best to me right now.
Mark: I would echo the Michigan Haters / Absolutes sentiment. I’m pretty sure though that
Terribly Well is the most consistent LP so far, but I’ll have to check back in a few years.
Richard: I would say definitely Michigan Haters and maybe Absolutes are the only records before this
new one that doesn’t have a glaring problem that makes me wince every time I think
of them. Mostly track choices. So much compromise of so many kinds goes into making
records, it’s hard to be satisfied. I laugh when people talk about records as if every
detail was intended by the artist… is it ever like that for any one? Sometimes the
accidents are happy ones. Sometimes the decisions are poor. Sometimes you run out of
time, sometimes money. Michigan Haters was the moment when I first felt like we were making
a real statement. It’s definitely my fave and the one I am most proud of.

Since there really aren’t many (any?) groups out there that sound like Sightings, you’re often put
on bills with rock bands, or with improvised noise… are there any particularly bands you
feel a kinship with, either for touring together or playing shows with?
Jon: We’ve often been labeled a “noise” group, which none of us would really agree with, but we
played the Minneapolis Noise Fest in 2010 and the audience was really frenetic. The group
before us was dragging metal around the room on concrete floors while we were setting up,
and when we played there was a lot of tension in the crowd, in a good way. People were
really engaged through the whole night of groups. One of the best nights of that tour for
me. My point being, the “rock” vs. “noise” thing doesn’t really matter to me, but that show
was an example of when the noise tag can be good. We played with Sword Heaven a few times
and that was always fun. More recently, we’ve played with Fat Worm Of Error and Bill Nace’s
groups, both out of Northampton, MA.

How did collaborating with Tom Smith come about? Was there a friendship prior to Sightings, or something
that came about afterward? Are future collaborations possible?
Mark: I met Tom when we were both working at Mondo Kim’s in ’99. We had some mutual friends and I had
certainly heard a lot about him through them. I’ll never forget reading his resume which
went back to like, ’76 or something, and it had pretty much any job you could conceive
of on it, all of them only lasting for four-to-five months. At the very end of it, he wrote
something to the effect of “As you see, I can do anything so you should hire me.” Hire him we
did, and I think the first time I met him there he was wearing a fucking Mark Ecko sweatshirt,
and I thought that about it in two ways: 1) this guy is fucking insane (he was in his mid 40s
rocking that shit) or 2) perhaps trying too hard to offend the more stylish denizens of the
East Village then. Or both. Either way, I was amused, and we hit it off real well and have
been friends ever since. He eventually met the other two guys; we did an aborted recording
session in 2000 (I think), recorded the Gardens of War album together, and have played a few shows
together here and there over the years.

You’ve all lived in New York for as long as Sightings has existed, right? Do you see yourself as a New
York band, or just a band? I’m wondering if you have any New York pride, or possibly see it
as a condition that has helped inspire Sightings.
Jon: We all met in New York and have existed as a band here, but none of us are from here. I don’t
personally have any sense that we’re a “New York” band.
Richard: On one hand, I don’t feel like there’s anything particularly New York about Sightings. The
bands I most loved and idolized growing up weren’t NYC bands, and other than a couple years in
the early ’00s, I haven’t felt much a part of any of the hundred or so NYC music scenes. On the
other hand, I think it’s disingenuous to say living in New York is not a part of who we are as
a band. We’re intense people, it’s an intense city, we’re an intense band. We choose the grind
of the city to make non-commercial music that can’t possibly get more popular. We have made this
choice for almost fifteen years. It’s all intertwined, but I can’t give you a pithy line about
the relationship.

Is there anything you still really want to do with Sightings that you haven’t done yet? Touring with a
certain band, playing shows in a foreign place, a gatefold triple LP of cover songs… anything?
Mark: I’d love to visit Australia or South America, go back to Japan or maybe play Tehran. As long
as we can continue to get on planes to play shows and not lose a ton of cash, I’m happy.
Jon: I would agree with Mark. Australia and New Zealand would be cool.
Richard: Still hoping for that album I am completely happy with… but maybe not being satisfied is
a big part of the band.