STRUNG OUT frontman JASON CRUZ has seen his share of bands come and go during the past two decades. From growing up in the SoCal skateboarding scene to being in one of the first bands signed to Fat Wreck Chords, he and his band still carry the same old-school attitude they always have in a new-school era. While Strung Out prepare to celebrate their 20th year together with the release of their seventh studio album, Agents Of The Underground, Cruz spoke with LUCY ALBERS about what initiated his interest in a music career, and what helped Strung Out get to where they are today.



What are your earliest memories of music?

Well, my mom used to listen to a lot of Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley and, like, old country stuff. I remember when I was a little kid, she listened to really sad music. I guess as a kid and growing up, that had a really big impact on my sense of melody and mood. I’m a big Hank [Williams] Sr. fan. I got into Jimi Hendrix and Hendrix got me into Bob Dylan and Dylan got me into Hank Williams and that stuff.



What other influences did your home and family have on what you listened to?

It had a huge influence. I certainly believe that when you’re a baby, the things that you’re around all the time have an effect on the way you develop, and I think that has an effect on what you do when you get older.



Did that influence how you discovered music growing up?

I don’t know. I just always loved music; it was always something that was just a part of me. When I was a little kid, I could never fall asleep, so I’d always listen to music before I go to sleep. I’d always get busted for staying up all night and listening to music. It’s the only thing in life that really meant anything to me. I knew when I was in fifth grade that I wanted to be in a band and I did everything in my power to make that happen. I always felt fortunate that I knew what I wanted to do at such a young age while people around me never knew what they wanted to do with their lives or where they wanted to go.




How was the scene like growing up in southern California?

I moved around a lot. I lived in a kind of rough neighborhood when I was younger: I heard a lot of Mexican music and stuff like that. And my mom is German, so listened to a lot of strange German music, too. When you’re a teenager and you move around a lot, punk rock kind of finds its way to you because you need something to latch on to and you need a support group. Skateboarding always got me friends. Moving around a lot, it opened up a whole world of music. I would say skateboarding is the one thing after my mom that really opened up music to me. Anything was possible and anything was cool. Punk rock, hip-hop, jazz: everything was acceptable. But I especially got into punk like Bad Religion and the Misfits. Later on, I got into hip-hop a lot. I grew up with kids who were in to graffiti and tagging and stuff like that, then I got into some of the club music and that got me in to all kinds of stuff. I started playing guitar, and then I got in to country music. To me, limiting yourself to one kind of music is just kind of silly. I think it was really the music that had something to say that got to me.



Are there any artists that automatically revert back to a younger age when you hear them?

Lou Rawls. Whenever I listen to Lou Rawls I just get back into all that old soul stuff. And Patsy Cline does that to me, too. My mom used to stay up all night listening to Patsy Cline. That whole scratchy country sound, like Hank Williams, I love that. Music doesn’t really do that anymore. Now it’s so polished and digital, it doesn’t have that weird touch that music used to have.



As a kid, were you usually more focused on the lyrics or the music?

It was the stories. The best things about that kind of music were the stories. That’s what drew you in. The melody catches you, but then when the melody has an actual story behind it, it’s like a novel. It’s like they have a tale or a moral behind it. Some songs are incredible poetry, and that’s the great thing about some of the old country stuff. I always say that Jesus Christ–if he existed–is a rock star. He’s just a guy that made up stories and told them to people, just like modern day poets and musicians do. They tell stories that connect with people and inspire people. Everybody talks about divinity and being divine, and I think it’s all bullshit. I think that divinity is inspiration, and to be so inspired by something that you go and act upon it. Bad Religion touched my heart at an early age. They were smart guys who could back up their thoughts with intelligent verses and ideas. As far as Strung Out, Bad Religion were the band that brought us all together. It was the band that we modeled ourselves after; that was our starting point.



What have you been listening to lately?

I listen to all kinds of stuff. I like Jack White’s new stuff a lot. I like a lot of old guitar music like the Black Keys and stuff like that. I still listen to Hank Williams every day. I used to listen to a lot of Dylan, but I’ve kind of moved on. It’s always different. I love Kanye West and all kinds of stuff. I’m down for whatever. Oasis are sort of a guilty pleasure: I love those guys’ melodies. I love the way that Gallagher brothers write.

STRUNG OUT WOULDN’T EXIST WITHOUT:

ELVIS PRESLEY

BOB DYLAN

JIMI HENDRIX

BLACK FLAG



They just all knock you on your ass. There’s just something about their sound and the rawness of it. I like music that’s raw and more based on emotion than technique. That’s something I identify with and something that comes across in my style. When I write, it’s emotion over technique, and I think all those bands have that in common. Jimi Hendrix was an incredible guitar player, but kind of sloppy, and I love that. It’s jazzy and progressive but crazy. You didn’t know if they were going to explode at any moment. That’s what I love about Elvis and Bob Dylan. They’re all rough around the edges in their own way and I love that. People can identify more with music when it’s like that.