Interview with Andy Malchiodi (ex-Caught Inside)

Ive been friends with Andy for about 12 years. While I dont see him as often as I used to I still consider him a very dear friend and I was happy that he took the time to do the interview for us.

• First off introduce yourself and what bands you have been in.

My name is Andy Malchiodi. Aka Andy Treehorn. I’ve pretty much only been in 3 bands. The first band I was ever in was called Forehead. That pretty much morphed into Caught Inside. And I was in a band for a while in California called Forget the Jones.

• When did you first start attending shows?

My first “show” was Primus and the Melvins at the edge in Ft. Lauderdale in 1993. Prior to that, I had seen Guns n’Roses at what was then Joe Robbie stadium. I saw Metallica the following year at the Miami arena. I started going to shows regularly in 1994.

• What bands were you into when you started going to shows?

I got introduced to a lot of bands via surf videos. Bad Religion, Black Flag, NOFX, Pennywise. At the same time, my cousin was introducing me to Inside Out, Rage Against the machine, Youth of Today, and Sick of it All. So from the get go, I was exposed to different sub-genres of punk, and I’ve always felt fortunate in that sense. I enjoy all of it, and from there I just connected the dots, taking in everything from gorilla biscuits to operation ivy.

• What do you feel your biggest accomplishment was as far as the South Florida scene goes?

That’s a good question. I suppose it would be just helping to inspire our peers and making a valuable contribution to punk rock in south florida at the time. It’s hard to say that we “did this” or “did that.” I think anything we’re responsible for is a lot more intangible. Our drummer Shane told me of a story a few years ago when someone recognized him and said that Caught Inside had changed his life. That’s pretty amazing to me. If there are others out there who would say we even had an impact on their lives, I’d be proud of that. That’s a pretty big accomplishment.

• Can you remember anything specific that made South Florida different from other music scenes?

The diversity. I feel very fortunate to have grown up in such a mulit-cultural, ethnically diverse city. That was definitely reflected in our scenes. Beyond that, it wasn’t unusual to see hardcore kids at a ska show, or punk kids at a subliminal criminal show, etc. I don’t know that its real common to see those things in a lot of places.

• Can you tell us a story or something memorable that you remember from your time attending shows in South Florida?

I booked a show for the ataris at Fantasy land in cutler ridge. The booking agent looked at whitepages.com or something and thought that fantasy land was some kind of day care facility. He called me all freaked out, thinking I was booking the ataris at an after school center. I said, “oh no, don’t worry, it’s a big warehouse in cutler ridge.” As it was coming out of my mouth, I realized it didn’t sound all that much better, haha. Anyway, this was long after cheers had closed and most of the all-ages shows had been taking place outside of Miami proper. I gave this rousing speech during our set about why I booked the show at this particular spot, which was in deeeep south Miami. I got a little carried away and said something to the effect of “the south will rise again!” It was very well received, but I laughed to myself wondering how that might be misinterpreted.

• How old were you when Caught Inside started?

16, almost half a lifetime ago, haha.

• You guys did a record on Evil Ash right?

Yep, our second 7-inch, “Siegel for President” came out on Evil Ash Records, which was operated by my cousin, Manny Malchiodi.

• I liked that you guys would always did hardcore covers. I remember at a house party you covering Gorilla Biscuits and Twisted Sister. Was the crowd pretty diverse when you would play or was it mainly punk kids?

We strived for diversity, but I think more than anything, it was just our friends, hahaha.

• Eventually you guys signed to Drive Thru Records and then broke up. What happened?

This question could be an interview unto itself. Long story short, we spent a month recording the album, they didn’t like it, they weren’t gonna put it out. There was talk of them helping to shop it to other labels, but that never happened. We were essentially dropped from the label, so we tried shopping the completed album around ourselves. The response was really positive, but no one wanted to do business with drive thru. Drive thru had earned themselves a shady, untrustworthy reputation, and no one wanted to touch them with a 10 foot pole. We were without a guitar player (again), living 4 hours apart, and in a lot of debt. Some of us had a lot of personal stuff to deal with and some of us wanted to finish school if we weren’t gonna be on tour full time, which had previously been the plan. The whole ordeal really took the wind out of our sails, and it was tough finding any motivation to continue. The three of us decided it was best to let it go at that point.

• It’s a bum out because the material you guys did for them I felt was your strongest.

Many, including myself, would agree. This made it all the more frustrating. We were signed to the label based on old material. We write and record new, better material, and its like “ehh, we’re not really into it.”

• At what point did you move out to California?

I moved to California in October of 2001. Caught Inside had broken up and I had graduated from college at the same time in December of 2000. So it was time to move on out.

• Are you currently working on musical projects?

Not really. I tried to start a new band early in the summer, but I found I just didn’t have the time it would have taken to get it off the ground. I play my acoustic guitar a lot if that counts. I play lagwagon songs for friends I have out here. They have no idea what I’m talking about.

• Tell me about Drunky The Bear

Drunky the Bear is a character conceived by a friend of mine, TC. In the beginning, I kind of assumed the marketing of drunky the bear. We shot funny sketches and we eventually made 2 pornos revolving around drunky the bear. It’s not as weird as it sounds, but almost. Only the first one got released. All of the second one, minus the sex, made its way into my DVD “Counterparts,” which is collection of stunts, pranks, short films, etc. In the meantime, TC, as drunky the bear, found a slot on the “monsters in the morning” radio show in Orlando. He’s been doing that for years now and is doing really well. You can order “counterparts” at drunkythebear.com.

• Thanks so much Andy for the interview. Any shout outs or last words?

Props to everyone who keep things alive in south florida. Can’t end the interview without shouting out to our partners in crime, Foolprool and Milkshed. And don’t worry Chip, I have plenty of straight edge friends in California….they’re called recovering alcoholics, hahaha. Thanks for the interview!