THE MEMBERS of Undergone are preparing themselves for a very busy summer. Made up of two sets of brothers—vocalist Pat Hopkins, bassist Greg Hopkins, drummer Paul Carr and guitarist Evan Carr, along with non-brother guitarist Mike Duell—the San Jose alt-rock band is releasing the EP Devil in You this week, with a CD release show at X Bar in Cupertino. Meanwhile, their music has been featured on several MTV shows and in the rugby documentary A Giant Awakens. The band took some time away from practice to talk to Metro.
Metro: You guys have been playing together a while now, what’s the secret to your longevity?
UNDERGONE: We’ve all been friends since we were 4 or 5 years old and have been living on the same block our entire lives. We used to pretend we were a band when we were kids and we still enjoy doing the same things such as sitting in Evan’s room laughing at Bloodhound Gang songs. We’ve been through the ups and downs of each others lives, which only brought us all closer together.
Being in a band with two sets of brothers is an interesting dynamic. How does that work?
It has its ups and downs. It makes it easier to yell, name-call and critique each other, but it’s comforting to know that at the end of the day that we’re still family and that’s what matters most. We’re really good at bringing out the immaturity in each other. Ultimately we think we’re a strong band because of our unique circumstances.
I see you recorded with legendary South Bay punk rock producer Bart Thurber, how was that experience?
Let’s just say when we asked Bart “Who’s the most annoying band that you’ve ever worked with?” and he answered “You guys,” with a straight face followed by an awkward silence, that kind of sums it all up. It was still a fun experience, though.
How much did you lose when your trailer was broken into in broad daylight last year?
The burglars took most of our merchandise and a decent portion of equipment. With the help of our dedicated fans we were able to raise $3,000 online that was going to go towards recovering our stolen equipment. However, [due to] a series of unfortunate events on a Friday the 13th trip down to SoCal—which you can see on our YouTube page—we ended up needing to buy four new tires and paying for RV towing because we had a trailer. We are currently still recovering from all of this.
What’s the band’s plan for the future?
Same thing we do every night. Try to take over the world.
Saturday, April 30
Cupertino
