If there was ever an ideal band to soundtrack a raucous night in the pub, then L.A.'s DIRTY FILTHY MUGS are it. Sounding like the pissed up offspring of The Pogues and AC/DC, they bash out perfect drinking song, after perfect drinking song.
  Despite having only been together for abour 8 months, The Mugs' have achieved a lot already, and it's no surprise, with the calibre of the musicians involved. OVERRIDE caught up with lead guitarist and main songwriter, ACE FACIAL.

(OVERRIDE) HI ACE, THANKS FOR TALKING TO US.
(Ace) Thanks for having me.

WHO ARE DIRTY FILTHY MUGS?
I play guitar, Matt Wedgley-vocals, Timbecile-sqeezebox and guitar, Joey Travers-bass and Conk-drums.

HOW DID YOU GUYS GET TOGETHER?
We've all known each other for years. We came from bands like The Gain and The Force, who played alot of shows together in the 90's. We ran into each other again in May, 2008 at a one-off Gain/Scared Of Chaka reunion show in Reno. We decided that since we all live in the L.A. area, we should get together and jam. I started throwing songs together, just to jam on really, and we started talking about playing shows and recording and all that.

WHICH BANDS HAVE SHAPED THE DFM SOUND?
I don't know if it's obvious at first listen, but believe it or not, it's AC/DC, The Who, and Madness who I draw from the most when I write tunes. The Pogues are an obvious influence, but not nearly as much as those three. Toy Dolls deserve a special mention as well.

YOU PUT OUT THE E.P. 'HALF PINT' EARLIER THIS YEAR. TELL US ABOUT THAT.
'Half Pint' is a 6 song E.P. recorded after only a few rehearsals with Conk (Conk replaced original drummer, Greg Utter, two weeks prior to recording). It was basically all the songs we had at the time, the songs I just threw together to jam on originally. We decided to record and release them on our own label, BRRAPP RECORDS. It made sense to have something to sell at shows, and thanks to good timing, the E.P. was ready in time for our first gig.

I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN RECORDING SOME NEW STUFF. IS THERE GONNA BE ANOTHER RELEASE?
Yeah, there's a new 6 song E.P. coming out soon called 'Another Round'. It'll most likely be another BRRAPP release. It's a good representation of where we are as a band 6 months after 'Half Pint'.
It may seem strange to do these E.P.s instead of taking more time with the songs and doing a full-length, but I think I prefer doing things this way for now. The tunes have a much more spontaneous quality to them when their fresh, and they're new to the band. Playing a tune for 6 months before it's recorded definitely has it's benefits, but it can also dampen the feel a bit. Another practice I intend to continue is to record the band live in the studio. I hate the synthetic, stale sound of recording all the instruments seperately. I prefer a raw, organic live sound... Warts and all!

SO WHAT'S A DFM SHOW LIKE?
Our good shows are punks, skins, phycos, herberts and a mod here or there havin' a good time. It's become a practice to spray silly string at us while we play. That comes from Timbecile's days in the party circus called Dragonfire. Those are the good ones.
We've had shitty ones where we play a bar or pub full of trendies.  I hate watching them try to dance to our music like we're hip-hop.  It's disturbing.  We don't do those anymore.  Punk shows only.

ARE YOU PLANNING ON TOURING HERE IN EUROPE?
Yes.  We want to tour Europe and the U.K.  We've been talking with a European booking agent because we have no idea how to do something like that ourselves.  We will be out that way, just not sure when.

LASTLY THEN, WHY SHOULD PEOPLE CHECK OUT DIRTY FILTHY MUGS?
Because we've got Timbecile!