INTERVIEW: 3FF

On August 5, 2002, I interviewed Cory Brat over the internet about his band 3FF that he plays guitar for. 3FF is a local 4-piece punk band hailing from sweltering Sacramento, California. Their sound is more of a pop-infected punk sound with minimal "old school" hardcore inflections. They've built up a small following in the greater Sacramento area since their beginnings and were definately be a force to be reckoned.

This interview was posted on my old LOSER! website. Interview by loser!

Editor's Note: Gregg, singer for 3FF, sent me his answers to the questions for this interview.



Give me a brief history of 3FF:

Cory: I think 3FF formed about 3 years ago? As Gregg, Rocky, Alex and Dustin. Then Alex and Dustin left the band and I joined and we looked for a drummer and found Scot. Scot and Rocky left maybe 5 months or so later. Then we got Kiel on drums and Armondo on bass, Kiel left soon after to join Under Fire and Armondo stopped comming to practice so we found Andy (ex-Section 8 & Under Fire drummer) and Matt through an ad in the News & Review. That brings us up to the current line up and we have been playing shows at different bars and such that whole time. We also put out a CD with the Gregg, me, Rocky and Scot line-up called "Blood, Sweat, Beers and Tears" and we are now going to be recording a new CD.

Gregg: Getting to where we are now has been a long tough struggle. I wasn't sure we were going to make it this far for awhile but now that we have I am glad we / I stuck it out.


Would you say that the current lineup is the best one so far?

Cory: Yeah except for our drummer...kidding! But, yes it is, totally way better then we have ever been.

Gregg: Hahaha? Yeah without a doubt this is our best lineup. Everybody is actually into the band and taking active parts? for the longest time I felt like I was the only one who gave a shit. It feels nice to have support. NOW if CORY would stop being so lazy and doing what his jobs I would be on cloud nine!!!!

That's good.


Who exactly plays what in the band?

Cory: Gregg sings, I play guitar, Matt plays bass and Andy plays drums.

Gregg: Cory sings too now? well kinda.


Tell me how you exactly came to being in 3FF?

Cory: Gregg emailed me and asked...that was it. My first band and i'm still here.


Wait a minute, weren't you in the Bondage Brats?

Cory: Yes, why I was. But this is a 3FF interview (laughs).

Gregg: (sings) 10,000 hot dogs a day!!! (laughs)


What other bands were the other members in?

Cory: Yeah. Well, Gregg was also in Crawlspace, Andy was in Section 8, Matt was in a few bands from NY (the names escape me).

Gregg: Don't forget the Bondage Brats, Cory!


Do you enjoy playing in the band?

Cory: Yeah a lot. Especially, when we can actually play.

Gregg: Now if he would just make the flyers that I asked him too 6 months ago. So we can promote when we actually play!!

When it all comes down to it...what does 3FF mean to you personally?

Cory: Hmm. Well, like I said its my first band. So i would love to see us succeed at rocking people to death, which we have come close to at Daddy O's. It is a type of music that even my mom likes. So that actually means alot to me too.

Gregg: It's my baby? I get to let my emotions out so its kind of like therapy in a way. Its also the first band that I put together on my own initially rather than collaborating or joining a project that was already formed. I am proud of how far we have come. I hope we can stick it out for years to come.


By the way, what's does 3FF mean anyways. I mean if the term "3FF" (3 Finger Fiasco) was in a copy of Webster's Dictionary. What would the definition read?

Cory: (laughs) Well...this guy who shall remain nameless got drunk at some party and used to 3 fingers to do something naughty on a fat girl and, Gregg thought it was a fiasco. So, there you go. (laughs)

Gregg: Hahaha, such a great story thanks Shawn? Ooops!


Adj: a 3-digit interlude turned very nasty.


Nice story? Any others you'd like to share?

Cory: No! Welll...no!

Gregg: There was a story about a friend of mine that got felt up in a van? Ahh another time perhaps.

Alright...shucks.

Cory: Andy likes to fight...and I like to eat...that is all.

Gregg: Matt is a homebody and I like young girls. There I said it!!

(editor's note: Is there something wrong with liking young girls?!?)


How would you describe your sound? What other bands would you guys compare yourselves to?

Cory: Umm I guess, melodic pop punk but we also have a lot of sorta hardcore sounding songs....and a lot of covers. We basically play really fast most of the time but with melody. I'd say we sound most like no one...or every other pop punk band...kidding.

Gregg: I don't think we fit in the pop punk style of today at all? We don't sound like any of those bands. However, we do incorporate a lot of melody and dynamics in our sound. If singing with melody makes you pop punk than in that regard yeah we are. Other than that I think we have our own sound. If I had to say bands we sounded most like I would say The Queers, Dwarves, Less than Jake (minus the ska part).


Are you saying that would be a bad thing to be like every other pop punk band?

Cory: Yeah...I guess we may sound like other bands, but since I hear the songs so much they are different to me.

Gregg: I would much rather not be in a band that people said "oh they sound just like." I'm not saying we are ground breaking?but I think we have our own lil niche.

Yeah, I see what you mean.


Do you think that the current "pop punk" trend is a good or bad thing?

Cory: I think its cool that some type of punk gets to be heard by more people. But some bands just shouldn't be called punk.

Gregg: I personally enjoy a lot of it? I like songs that are well written? I never really give a shit if people think its not cool to like something.


Yeah, there's a lot of bands that I don't consider to be punk bands at all. But then again I'm one picky bastard when it comes to music...hehe (laughs)

Cory: Yes YOU ARE! (laughs)


Speaking of music, what are your songs about? What are the basic themes of certain songs?

Cory: Ok...(laughs)....girls, suicide, hitting "rock bottom"...umm man I think thats it. I mean they all have different meanings. But I mean they might just be about the same thing. But in a different way if that makes sense.

Gregg: They are about life experiences, we have a our serious moments? Like on "Parting Words" which was written about a rough time in my life when I just didn't feel like I should be here anymore. We also have our not so serious moments like "She Said Size Doesn't Matter...That Bitch." Which is about? Well its pretty self-explanatory.


So there's no basic underlining message or theme in 3FF's lyrics?

Cory: Yeah what I said (laughs). Alright, girls mostly and love, then the exact opposite.

Gregg: That made no sense at all? It's about life.


Your basic love-hate pop punk band themes (hehe).

Cory: I guess you could say that.

Gregg: Your mom.


You mentioned you guys play a lot of covers? What songs do you cover?

Cory: As of right now, "Tainted Love," "Dope Man," "Ball and Chain" and we used to cover "What's So Funny?," "Suger High," "Gum" (The Secretions) and i'm sure that i'm forgetting some. Oh yeah, we also do "He Stopped Loving Her Today".

Gregg: For me, personally it's just fun to take a cover that I like and make it our own.

"He Stopped Loving Her Today?"

Cory: Yes, a George Jones song.


Oh ok, that's right. Couldn't place it for a second. That's kind of strange song to cover. Any particular reason for it?

Cory: Gregg likes it? (laughs) I dunno. It's a good song though.

Gregg: Ok, call me sappy, but I think it's the purest love song ever written? She didn't have anything to do with the guy and he loved her still till the day he died? Now that's love!!


"Dope Man" is another odd choice.

Cory: Yup, but fun to play.

Gregg: NWA, cant fuck with NWA.

(laughs) That's good.

Cory: Yeah.


Yeah, you mentioned the Secretions earlier. How do you like the Sacramento punk scene as it is today? Any particular bands you like?

Cory: Yeah, it's a decent scene. But it used to be a lot better. I personally like Red Tape, Final Summation, Data, Whiskey Rebels, etc.... but when Mynock was around it was the best.

Gregg: Lots of bands are falling by the wayside for sure. And I wish it didn't feel like it was so clique-ish. I choose not to mention the bands I like for fear they will get a swelled head.


How did the scene seem better? I know what my answer on it would be. But what's your personal view or perspective?

Cory: Well for one thing, the Guild was still around. That's like 50% of the reason.

Gregg: Even when Bo Jangles went under it affected the scene a great deal. Its very rough for a band to make a name for themselves these days. Get their foot in doors and stuff.


Yeah, the Guild was a great place indeed and sorely missed.

Cory: Also, just I dunno. Seemed like bands didn't care about getting payed and shit. Not like that is a bad thing. But that has all changed just within the last 3 years or so. A lot. I wish that 3FF could have been around at that time to play there. But oh well.

Yeah, it seems more bands are into getting something out of it other than the fun in just playing...kind of a rockstar syndrome or something.

Do you guys play out a lot though?

Cory: Yes, maybe 3 or 4 times a month. That's a lot to me.

Gregg: Not near as much as I would like to. I want us to branch out a lot more.


Do you guys prefer all-ages shows or 21+?

Cory: I prefer all-ages shows but I can't speak for everyone in the band. But i'm sure they would agree that all-ages shows are great.

Gregg: Our music is more all-ages oriented. But I like to play anywhere. So if it's a bar, then we rock it, just the same. We get a good response from both types of venues. Which is nice.

That's good.


Why i'm asking is that I know you guys Daddy O's (local bar) a lot? What's up with that?

Cory: Well, Gregg's the booker there. Hence, we get put on a lot of shows. But we have been trying to cut back.

Gregg: It's just nice to have place you can turn to when the show offers don't come in . But yeah we try not to overplay it anymore.


Yeah, that could be a problem after the while. But that's cool nonetheless.

Cory: Yup.

I've heard that you once had a solo project or something going on? Want to tell me about that?

Cory: Nope...(laughs)...yeah.. Cory Brat solo. Songs about death, blood and destruction. Rahhhhhhhh!.....acoustic.


What was it like?

Cory: Hmm, it was fun for a second.


Any plans to pick that up again?

Cory: Hmmmmm...no!


What would ya say is 3FF's "Five Year Plan"? What would you personally like to see come of 3FF?

Cory: Maybe get signed to a small label, be able to tour different states, possibly Canada and Mexico, record another CD and I don't know what else.

Gregg: Fuck that, I want to be rich. But honestly, either way is just fine as long as were playing and not killing each other.


Is touring something you would like to do?

Cory: Yes, very much so!!!

Gregg: I don't think I could ever tour enough!

Touring is fun.

Cory: Yup I bet, but I wouldn't know.

Gregg: I love playing shows in a different place every night.


What does 3FF have as far as merch goes? Recordings?

Cory: Hmm, right now we have stickers and buttons. That's about it. CD soon.


What were your old releases?

Cory: We recorded a CD at Enharmonik with Chema and it was 12 songs I think. But we need a new recording. It was called "Blood, Sweat, Beers and Tears."

Gregg: We grew to hate it, and it doesn't really represent where we are now member-wise or quality-wise either.


Are you going to record at Enharmonik again?

Cory: Hmm, we are going with "The Exiting Scott's Bedroom On Computer" for the demo and then we may either do Enharmonik or the Pus Cavern.


Current plans?

Cory: Like I said, play out of town shows, tour, release a new cd, get shirts.

Gregg: Force Sacramento to notice us and realize how much we kick ass--in other words--continue to grow.


How can the public at large reach you?

Cory: They can reach us at www.3ffrocks.cjb.net. All the info is there. Including MP3s of our last CD if they wish to here us.


Well, thanks for doing this interview with me. I appreciate it. Thanks.

Cory: No prob, Bob.

Gregg: The pleasure was all yours.

Grr!!! (laughs)

Gregg: One last thing, I would like to thank all the people, friends and bands that have supported us over these past two years? And to you Ken for always being there. And to all the "Rock Stars" FUCK OFF!!

Aww! (chuckles)


PHOTOS BY CHELSEA. USED WITH PERMISSION.