Interviews

Interview by Brian Spiegel

    Josh Hagquis, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the band The Beautiful Mistake, is a smart man. I'm not talking rock-star smart, either, I'm talking "sit back and talk politics
smart." It's interesting to watch a man play his hardcore heart out on stage one moment and the next express his love of poet e.e. cummings. But, then again, The Beautiful Mistake are not your average "hardcore/metal/punk/etc." band. Hagquis, along with bandmates Shawn Grover, Armin Chami, and Johnny Minnesota, lay down a level of raw, beautiful melody accented by a hardcore edge that makes the band one of the better live acts Orange County has to offer.
When I sat down with Josh to do a quick interview in the parking lot after a great show, it was apparent it had been a long day for the band. After doing a show the previous night in Phoenix, the AC on the band's van went out, leaving the band (and several others) to drive through the Arizona desert in sweltering heat. Still, after putting on a truly enjoyable show,
Josh granted me some time for the interview.

SKRATCH: So how does it feel driving through the Arizona desert with no air conditioning?
JOSH: It was horrible. We were with the band Tokyo Rose. They were out here from Jersey, and we were sharing equipment. There were eight of us in the van. It was
hot. We went through like 20-30 bottles of water. We bought bags of ice, we were putting ice on our backs...It was just terrible. I think the wind blowing through the van actually made it hotter.

SKRATCH: How did the shows in Phoenix go?
JOSH: It was awesome. We ended up playing really late because a couple of local bands wanted to play, like, two hours. It was their time to shine, I guess. They played really long, so we ended up going on at like midnight. But it was really cool. A couple kids came down from El Paso to see the show. The crowd gave us a really good response. It was our first time in Phoenix.

SKRATCH: Was this your first time out of the state?
JOSH: No. In March we recorded our full-length in Kansas City, and then we did a national tour for like a month, hooking up with different bands.

SKRATCH: On to the obvious: identify yourself.
JOSH: My name is Josh, and I do lead vocals and rhythm guitar for The Beautiful Mistake.

SKRATCH: How did you and your bandmates hook up?
JOSH: The guitarist, Shawn, and I were in another band together that broke up in December of 2000. We had played together for a very long time and got along well; we were friends outside the band. We wanted to do something new and fresh, and write our own songs. In the old band the singer wrote all the songs, so we just wanted to express
ourselves.

SKRATCH: So you guys share writing duties?
JOSH: Yeah. For the full-length me and Shawn did all of the writing. But we're starting to jam more stuff out at practice, which is cool; and the guys are [providing] input on arranging. But he and I write all the lyrics.

SKRATCH: You guys are from Riverside?
JOSH: Yeah, we started in Riverside. Two of us live in Huntington Beach now.

SKRATCH: How did you guys come up with the name "The Beautiful Mistake"?
JOSH: I like literature and stuff, and I was reading this e.e. cummings poem, "him and me"—and [in it] he makes a reference to a "beautiful mistake." We had a list of like 400 or 500 band names that we were trying to choose from. We really hated most of the names, so I brought it (the poem) to practice—and everyone was really sold on it.

SKRATCH: I was looking at your guy's Web site, and I noticed that each of you guys list your favorite literature. I thought that was really cool. What is, like, your favorite book of all time?
JOSH: Um, there are a lot of books I really enjoy. There is this author named C.S. Lewis. He was an early 20th-century philosopher, kind of existential, but he talks a lot about faith, art, and politics, and how they all tie together. He talks a lot about going through painful experiences...A lot of really cool stuff, I really like him. I really like stuff like Steinbeck, THE GRAPES OF WRATH—I really like the classics. I'm a huge Howard Zinn fan. He wrotePEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. [He's] a fairly liberal historian, but very well-spoken.

SKRATCH: So are you really into left-wing politics?
JOSH: Yeah, I am. As a band as a whole we are really not political; it's something we really don't want to get involved in. But as for myself, I would consider myself a liberal. Like, I lived in Canada for a while…. I don't know. I think that some of the things that are looked at that way [i.e., liberally] I agree with.

SKRATCH: Describe your music.
JOSH: I think it's rock with a lot of different influences. We definitely have a hardcoreinfluence, because that's what we grew up listening to. I think we also have a lot of '80s sound: U2 were a big influence, and so were The Cure, New Order, and stuff like that. We're all children of the '80s, so we were in high school in the '90s. We had the first musical wave of hardcore coming through, and we really attached ourselves to that. I guess emo, too. Some people call us emo. It doesn't bother me, though.

SKRATCH: I was actually going to ask
you about that. I've noticed lately that emo is sort of becoming the new "pop," where everyone is sort of shying away from being called it. My question was: Would you beat up somebody for calling you emo?

JOSH: No, no. I think everyone has a need to classify music for themselves. If somebody
says "Oh, The Beautiful Mistake is an emo band"...I think the word doesn't really annoy me, because I think in the true sense of it it's not a fashion thing: it's an emotional thing. All the bands that came out of D.C. in the '80s..."Emo" is short for "emotional"—and they were just punks who didn't sing about politics; they sang about breaking up with their girlfriends.

SKRATCH: Is that what your songs are about?
JOSH: All our songs are about life experiences. When I write the lyrics, they are about the past—and they're not too specific, because there are things I don't want people to know. I guess we try to be positive. We go through hard times, whether it's death or love and life, in general it can really suck; but there is hope regardless of who you are or what you believe. There is always hope.

SKRATCH: Are there any bands right now that you really like or associate with?

JOSH: Coheed and Cambria. They're from New York. They're incredible. They're kind of a cross between Rush and Bad Brains, if you can picture that. [Laughs] There are some really cool bands out there whom we admire, like Casket Lottery and Further Seems Forever, stuff like that. I like bands who are honest, like...whatever. If it's your daily routine and you're singing about it, as long as you're passionate about it...I think that's what strikes a chord with us.

SKRATCH: Do you listen to a lot of mainstream stuff?
JOSH: Sometimes. Personally I listen to everything from Dido…. I'm a huge Peter Gabriel fan. I like Natalie Imbruglia and Counting Crows—I'm a big Counting Crows fan. I know some people don't think mainstream music is very good, but I think you should just be true to yourself and like what you like. And you should never be closed to liking new things, whether it's Hole or Bruce Springsteen.

SKRATCH: Do you think
it's ridiculous when certain bands will talk badly of others? Like Rancid seems to have a problem with every band that makes it big. Do you think that's bullshit?
JOSH: Yeah, I think it's hypocritical. I think it's kinda a narrow way to look at things. There are thousands of bands who can look at Rancid and say that they sold out—even though they are still on an indie label. I think if a band is on a major label and is making music that they love and no one is telling them what to do, I don't think they should be blamed for that. I think people talk crap a lot of the time. I think that they should stop being so competitive and support each other. I think without competition we would all be much better off.

SKRATCH: Do you think there is such a thing as "selling out"?
JOSH: I would say you would be selling out if you weren't making music that you believed in or could stand behind fully. If you were making music that other people wanted you to make, I think that would be selling out. I don't think it has anything to do with labels or how much money you make or anything like that. I don't think anyone would say that if you loved music and that's what you love to do and someone offered you millions of dollars, I don't think your gonna turn them down. Same thing with art. [At this point in the interview, a security guard walked by and asked us if we were ready to go.] You'll do your art for free, but if someone's gonna pay you to do beautiful paintings, then do it—as long as you can do it the way you want to do it and the money's not controlling you. Does that make sense?

SKRATCH: It makes perfect sense.
JOSH: Cool.

SKRATCH: Anything you want to say to your fans or the audience?
JOSH: We have our album coming out September 24th on the Militia Group; and we've also got a totally brand new song on the PLEA FOR PEACE compilation that's coming out in August. If people are interested in that, they can check that out. We have a Web site if you want to know more…. I don't know. We're all about being positive and being ourselves and supporting others…. I think Orange County and Southern California are very "cliquey." I think people are more interested in which Paul Frank jeans they bought, or what Gap they shop at than their music. But music…I would drive, like, three or four hours to see Strife or see the Voodoo Glow Skulls because I love music, and I think people need to get back to that. Just being supportive and being positive and not talking crap about other people—whether they are in a band or not. Being in a band doesn't mean anything. People need to treat others with respect, whether they are guys or girls. The Beautiful Mistake's new album, LIGHT A MATCH, I DESERVE TO BURN (out Sept. 24th on the Militia Group) is a rock record disguised as a hardcore one. Filled with hooks, screams, and emotion, it's both catchy and consuming. I implore you to catch them live when they play the Deuces in Riverside on August 16th—you won't be disappointed.

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