Overflowing with fun: The Symbolick Jews

Band name: The Symbolick Jews

Personnel: The core remains Adam Healton and I, with the recent addition of Christopher “Burd” Quines on bass, guitar, and vocals. That will be the lineup for this string of shows, however we also have Paul on synth/guitar and Vanessa as a second drummer/vocalist when we play in San Francisco.

Your new video looks like it could be from one of the sleazy media companies I worked for when I first moved to L.A. What was the inspiration?
Adam: Pee is liquid gold.

Next show: Pehrspace, Monday, November 29—that’s tonight.

So how did you Symbolick Jews end up making a pee video?
Brian: It was pretty spontaneous. I didn’t know we were shooting a video until our friend Brian Woods, the director, showed up at my house with Adam and Burd and showed me what they had filmed earlier that night. After that they just kept coming up with great ideas for shots we could do and we filmed it over the course of a few hours.

Who in the band thought up the concept?
Adam: I had originally envisioned two guys getting in a piss battle and then we just kind of went wild with the idea. I’m glad everyone was so willing to participate. Something about video cameras…

Please describe the scenario.
Adam: Basically we begin with our new bassist trying to hula hoop and from there everyone pees on each other. Brian Woods was incredible to work with, it ended up looking like David Fincher does golden showers.

Brian: Basically a fetishist’s wet dream and a prankster’s paradise.

You must’ve gotten pretty wet, eh?
Brian: I came out unscathed but B definitely got soaked during the epic 3-way scene, which we did about 3 or 4 takes of, and Adam had to borrow one of my shirts afterwards.

Adam: It was a cold night, too, and we were filming in our friend’s basement/party room. We were truly suffering for our art. Also, we primarily used apple juice for the pee, so things got pretty sticky.

There must be outrageous outtakes, huh?
Adam: One great shot that didn’t make the final cut was my roommate peeing in the toilet and then, noticing our bassist lying on the bathroom floor, he kinda guides his pee from the toilet bowl into Burd’s mouth. Like Brian said, that 3-way pee triangle at the end was so difficult to capture, we must have attempted that at least 3 times. What a mess!

Are you worried that you might meet people, like on tour or whatever, and they’ll be taking a squirt in your stuff?
Brian: Haha, if they did that would be pretty cool because at least that means they watched the video and were affected enough to do something like that. That would be kind of an affirmation of our powers.

How would you describe The Symbolick Jews’ musical style?
Brian: Confession rock.

Adam: I like repetitive rock and kinda dadaist stuff as well so we kinda go with whatever sounds good between the two.

What do you listen to more: new music or old music?
Adam: I’ve been on a major James Brown and Ol’ Dirty Bastard kick myself. And INXS. I like how that INXS album, Kick, sounds like they just kinda jammed stuff out in the studio ad then had Michael Hutchence just kind of do his thing over it.

Brian: Mostly old music lately, been on kind of a funk kick. Recently discovered a love for Prince I never thought possible for me through listening to his earlier synthfunk/R&B albums, which led me into a Sly and Funkadelic frenzy. Other than that I still can’t get over the awesomeness of Pere Ubu‘s synth players, the ability of Emeralds to lull me to sleep practically every night, and the rawness of Rudimentary Peni. New music: The Sandwitches, Excepter, The Bitters, Denny Denny Breakfast, Planet Booty…

What’s your newest music and how can people get it?
Brian: Our third full length album, God Is You, came out Nov. 28th on our Bandcamp for whatever price you deem fit!

Do you have anything special planned for Monday?
Adam: Some great new music, and a sexy new bassist! Other than that, I’m just hoping my new station wagon doesn’t break down on the way there.

Watch The Symbolick Jews’ “He Got The Job”