Drummer tells of life in Quicksand

By Noah Lopez

Arizona Daily Wildcat

If there was ever a band poised to take advantage of the current mainstream fascination with punk rock, it would have to be Quicksand. After touring with such seminal mediocre "hard" bands as Rage Against the Machine and White Zombie, the New York four-piece has landed the opening gig for MTV legends, The Offspring.

The band, which boasts former members of such other New York bands as Gorilla Biscuits and Beyond, is touring in support of their humorously titled new album, Manic Compression, which offers up more of the same pseudo-Fugazi imitation shlock.

The Wildcat got the opportunity to talk with drummer Alan Cage, who was surprisingly eloquent as he talked about life and love.

Wildcat: Do you cover Gorilla Biscuits songs?

Alan Cage: Nope.

WC: Tell me about the new album. Did you guys try to have a different focus than your debut album Slip?

AC: We just tried to make as good of an album as possible.

WC: What do you have planned for this year?

AC: A lot of touring. Tons of it.

WC: How are you guys celebrating the year of the pig?

AC: I don't think we are.

WC: Who's the tallest guy in the band?

AC: I am.

WC: What's that like for you?

AC: It doesn't really matter that much.

WC: If you could be a state, which one would you be, and why?

AC: Hmmm ÄAlaska.

WC: Why?

AC: I'm not quite sure why.

WC: Oh, c'mon Alan!

AC: It, uh, seems like a cool state to be?

WC: Why did you quit Burn [Cage's other band]? I thought they rocked!

AC: I was doing two bands. You can't really tour and do two bands. That's the main reason.

WC: Yeah, I guess that's a problem for John Reis [from Rocket From the Crypt and Drive Like Jehu] and others. How has your band's sound progressed?

AC: I don't really know ... It's really hard to tell. There's so much distance between the two.

WC: What's the Quicksand live show like?

AC: A lot of energy. We do our best stuff live.

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