PULLEY
Interview with Tyler Rebbe (Bass)
By Jeff Takacs
For some bands, being together for nearly 17 years would be impossible. Not so for California punk stalwarts, PULLEY. Since forming in 1994 and putting out their first album Esteem Driven Engine two years later, the band continues to release hard-charging yet melodic punk rock, including their new EP The Long and the Short of It. AMP had a chance to catch up with the band’s bassist, Tyler Rebbe, about the new EP, the secret that has kept PULLEY together all these years and the bassists that have inspired him both in and out of punk rock.
I want to dive right in and talk about your new EP The Long and the Short of It, which rips, by the way. Can you talk a little bit about the songs that are on it and how the recording process went for the EP?
We only get about three or four months per year to work on PULLEY stuff. Scott, our singer, is coaching Major League Baseball, and our drummer Bob is on tour drum teching for bands all over the world, so the five members of our band aren’t all in the same place very often. We had a few song ideas lying around last winter and we weren’t sure we’d have enough time or ideas to do a full-length record. We were in contact with Andy at When’s Lunch Records in Edmonton, since he put our last EP Time Insensitive Material on 12-inch vinyl last time around. He and I got to talking and we decided to take a few ideas PULLEY had and put out a 7-inch to tide the fans over until we could do a proper full-length record again.
We sorted through a bunch of ideas the band had, and settled on a few that we thought were the best. Those ideas became the songs “The Long and the Short of It” and “No Man’s Flute”. Also, since we were doing a 7-inch we felt nostalgic about the 80′s punk scene and decided to record “Which Way to Go”, a cover song of an 80′s punk band from Texas called THE BIG BOYS.
The recording process was very similar to our last release. We worked with our friend, producer Matt Hyde for the third time. We have become very proficient in getting in and out of the studio quickly and have such a good relationship with him. I think the entire band is very satisfied with the results this time around. Really the only difference between this 7-inch and the last EP was that we have a new band member, Metal Bob behind the drums. We worked out of a little studio in Hollywood for tracking the drums, bass and guitars. We did the vocals in a little room at Matt’s house. It’s kind of hilarious and awesome at the same time to be working with a guy who has a Grammy and recorded SLAYER and NO DOUBT and you’re making this music with him in a bedroom and yet it sounds just as good or better than what a major label probably paid millions of dollars for.
With all of you guys being so busy with your lives away from PULLEY, how are you guys able to find the time to keep the band going and moving forward?
We all have full time jobs outside of the band. Therefore, whenever it’s that time of year for us to get together to jam, write songs, or play shows, it’s purely for the love of music and friendship we have. There is no ego or financial reason behind any of it. So we just cruise along. We aren’t signed to a label. We have no contract, no manager, no booking agent. It’s just us having fun and hanging out. Our band has always been a part time band. It was originally started when Scott got kicked out of TEN FOOT POLE in 1995. He was just over the bullshit that went with being a full time band. He wanted to start a band that was based only on having a good time and wasn’t concerned with making money or becoming the next GREEN DAY or whatever everybody was trying to do at the time. We’ve always just had that attitude going forward. This band is not our job. We don’t live in a van and Motel 6 together 24/7. We don’t have to worry about selling enough t-shirts to pay for gas and somehow pay our rent. I think about that sometimes. If we had done this full time, maybe we wouldn’t still be a band in 2011.
Good friends having good times playing good tunes. Thinking about outside jobs, it seems like a lot of people focus on the fact that Scott was a former Major League pitcher and now is the Bullpen Coach for the Cleveland Indians. Does that ever get to the rest of you in the band that people would focus on that and not the music that you guys are making? You all seem like good dudes, but I would imagine it could get annoying, even to Scott himself.
It’s not very annoying at all. People ask us about it from time to time, but you’d be surprised. Most of our fans have no idea he’s involved with MLB and most baseball fans have no idea Scott has a band. Maybe it would be different if Barry Bonds was our singer. Scott was playing in punk bands in the early 80′s long before he threw a pitch. It’s not like he’s Shaq, famous athlete and all of a sudden he’s a rapper and a movie star. Scott has never used any fame or whatever clout he had to promote the band.
Man, imagine if Barry Bonds WERE your singer. Crazy stuff. Getting back to your new EP The Long and the Short of It, the artwork on it is really rad. The cartoon-like image definitely has a throwback feel to it, which is really awesome. Who did it for you guys and did you give them a concept for it or was it totally up to them?
Since we were doing a 7-inch record this time and one of the songs was a cover song from the early 80′s we really wanted to give the cover a look that would fit the vibe we were going for. The guy who drew it is Brian Walsby. He’s pretty well known for doing covers of zines like Maximum Rock and Roll and Flipside as well as album covers for the MELVINS and 7 SECONDS. He does t-shirt designs for bands like the DESCENDENTS and VALIANT THORR. But anyways, he grew up with Scott and Mike out here in Simi Valley, CA and was actually the drummer of SCARED STRAIGHT with those guys way back in the day. He used to draw all the old NARDCORE flyers back then. So it made perfect sense to ask him to do the artwork for the new PULLEY 7-inch. We just suggested that he incorporate all the characters from our previous album covers into the artwork. I think he did an amazing job.
PULLEY has been around for roughly 17 years. What do you think is the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your time in the band?
I think I’ve mostly learned how awesome our fans are. They have been so supportive to us for 17 years or whatever it’s been. We don’t tour anymore. It’s next to impossible for us to do these days. We are lucky to get out for 10 shows a year, maybe we fly out to some place crazy for the weekend and play here and there, but when we do…I mean, we show up in Costa Rica a few years ago where everybody obviously speaks Spanish and yet the entire audience is singing every song word for word and going completely nuts. It’s a very powerful and re-affirming feeling and it’s why we keep our little band together and we keep going and doing what we do. As long as the fans care, we will keep making music together.
Speaking of continuing to make music together, you mentioned earlier about a new full-length. Can you give any more details about it like when it’s being recorded and possibly released?
Well we have a whole batch of songs or at least song ideas lying around. Scott’s gone until October and the rest of us are in and out of town. For the past three or four years we have had sort of a patchwork way of getting our ideas down, Maybe Mike, Bob and I will be around and meet up to work on some ideas. Maybe Scott has an idea and calls and sings the riff over the phone. Maybe Jim and Bob go and make a 4-track demo. So we will work on songs for the next four or five months and then once the five of us are all around we will really nail them down and hopefully record the full-length by the end of this coming winter.
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