...Whatever That Means ON TOUR!

Hailing from Seoul. "....Whatever That Means" is rocking around the states so be sure to catch them on one of their upcoming dates. We chatted with Jeff Moses, lead vocalist and guitarist in the band, about their upcoming tour.

Hammer Records: So we've got to ask, what’s the origin of the band name?

Jeff from …Whatever That Means: Well, as you may or may not know, Trash and I are married. On our wedding day, we had a big punk rock show as the after party for our wedding reception. At that point, Trash was still playing in her old band, BB Lucky Town, and I didn't have a band of my own yet in Seoul, but there was no way I was going to book one of the best shows of the year and not play. I was in the middle of putting together what I planned to be a one-off project when my buddy was finishing up the poster for the show. We still didn't know exactly what my band was going to be, so he just listed all the bands playing and then at the end of the list wrote, "and Jeff....whatever that means." Once we had a lineup set, we just decided to call ourselves ...Whatever That Means so we could pretend our band name was on the poster.

Hammer Records: What differences do you find between Korean crowds and North American crowds?

Jeff from …Whatever That Means: That's a really tough question to answer. How do you generalize North American audiences? I've toured all over the West Coast of the US, and most towns are really different from each other. I can tell you that even though Seoul is a huge city, most shows feel more like small town punk shows. Tens of millions of people live in Seoul, but it can be really hard to get more than 40 or 50 people out to a show. With that said, the 40 people who come out are the right people. Everyone is always ready to have a good time, jump around, and sing-a-long with the bands.

Hammer Records: Interesting to list GOB as one of your influences, many of the members are now producing Vancouver bands and working with the local music scene. If you could meet them, what would you want to say to them?

Jeff from …Whatever That Means: All the Canadian punks I've ever talked to love their early stuff, but I have got to say that "The World According To Gob" was such a killer album. The first time I heard the intro to “For The Moment,” it blew my mind. I think you can hear a lot of that album and "Foot in Mouth Disease" in our writing. I'd put it right up there with some of the best stuff Face To Face put out.

Hammer Records: What is one of your favourite venues to play on your previous tours? Any that you are looking forward to this tour?

Jeff from …Whatever That Means: My two favorite stops on our first US tour were The Interzone Cafe in Corvallis, Oregon and Nemesis House in Tacoma, Washington. We're going back to Tacoma this year, but unfortunately, the Nemesis House is gone. I'm stoked to play at The Interzone again though. I'm actually tour managing another Korean punk band, Full Garage, on their US tour right now. They just played in Corvallis, and it was every bit as rad as I remembered. ...Whatever That Means will be back there on our tour in a few weeks, and I can't wait!

Hammer Records: Which is one of your favourite songs to play live?

Jeff from …Whatever That Means: "Sixty-Eight, Twenty-Two" is always a lot of fun to play because lyrically, it's a song that I really believe in, and it's also our best sing-a-long song. A lot of the time when we play it at home in Korea, the crowd overpowers the mics. That's an awesome feeling. We also just released a new Korea punk compilation album that we'll be giving away for free on tour called "Them and Us 2." We have a new track on there called "The Inside." It's kind of my punk rock midlife crisis song. We've only played it a few times, but it's a lot of fun to play, and Trash sings lead so I can just enjoy actually playing my guitar and singing along with her when I feel like it.

Hammer Records: Besides the tour, what’s on the horizon for the band?

Jeff from …Whatever That Means: People keep asking that, and I don't really have any specifics to offer. We've spent the last six months planning for this tour, working on the "Them and Us 2" compilation, and running our World Domination, Inc. record label. It was a ridiculous amount of work, and I've only recently realized that we don't have any real projects planned for after tour. We've got some new song ideas that I'm hoping to work on during tour, and hopefully we can get back in the recording studio again before year's end. We've also got our annual "Still Alive" Halloween show coming up in Seoul in a few months. Beyond that, it'll be more of the usual. Play lots of shows around Korea, and hope for the best.

Hammer Records: Where can people find your music? Social Media links?

Jeff from …Whatever That Means: You can find our music on Bandcamp at http://whateverthatmeans.bandcamp.com and we're on Facebook at Facebook.com/whateverthatmeansmusic. To keep up with other music coming out on our label, World Domination, Inc., go to Facebook.com/wdikorea and if you're outside Korea and would like a copy of the "Them and Us 2" compilation, just email me at wdibooking@gmail.com and I'll send you a free digital download link.

Here are the band's US tour dates:

July 23 Las Vegas, NV @ The Double Down Saloon
July 24 Fresno, CA @ TBA
July 26 Corvallis, OR @ The Interzone Café
July 27 Seattle, WA @ The Kraken
July 28 Tacoma, WA @ Real Art
July 29 Portland, OR @ Foggy Notion
July 30 Reno, NV @ PB&J's
July 31 Berkeley, CA @ 924 Gilman Street 
August 1 Los Angeles, CA @ The Redwood Bar

Music video for "I Can't Take It" (it was just released last week) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl_4FqbMyi8
Music video for "Asian Prodigy" -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTxYRWzl81I
Music video for "Sixty-Eight, Twenty-Two" (Jeff mentioned this song in his answers) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahC2WuwSD1g

The band’s music can be streamed here: http://whateverthatmeans.bandcamp.com/.  And their new "Blowing Minds & Melting Faces" split 7-inch record with Seattle's Burn Burn Burn can be pre-ordered and streamed here: https://burnburnburn.bandcamp.com/album/blowing-minds-melting-faces