Warped interview - The Aggrolites

By Anthony Perucci

One of the slew of bands to hit the stage in St. Augustine for the Warped Tour will be reggae/ska stars The Aggrolites. Drift caught up with lead singer Jesse Miller, to chat about his dream of playing in Warped, dealing with the loss of a band member, and his father’s record collection.

D: Where are you guys at right now? What are you up to?

JM: We’re off tour, home [in Los Angeles] right now. We’re hitting Warped in June. Taking time with our families, relaxing at the house.

D: Is this your first time on the Warped Tour?

JM: Yeah, it’s our first time. Our bass player Jeff [Roffredo] has been on it before, because he was on it last year in a band called Tiger Army, so he’s been kind of preparing us, telling us what it’s all about, you know.

He’s been saying it’s a non-stop barbecue. It’s like Groundhog Day. We’re taking a little RV, so we’re sleeping in the same beds.

I’ve been looking forward to it. I’ve been wanting to play Warped since I was a 12-year-old kid, ever since I first heard of it.

D: What do you like most about being on tour?

JM: Probably the gigs, going every night and playing a different city. The thing that most gets me going is going to a city or a country that I’ve never been to, and they know your songs, that’s a trip. I think that’s what most people like the most, is getting the experience, different cultures, and different people, being someplace you’ve never been.

And doing it in a way most people never do it. We’re doing the nightlife-kinda thing every night, seeing real people, staying at people’s houses and apartments, seeing what it’s really like over there.

D: How has touring broadened your horizons?

JM: Going over to Portugal, I never thought I’d go over there. It’s weird, I never thought I’d be there.

As a kid, I remember growing up and wanting to be in a band and play music. Get to see the world for free. I’d pretty much only been to Vegas, and Cleveland, Ohio. [I went to] Tijuana. That’s about it.

D: What do you hate most about being on tour?

JM: Being away from my wife. It’s hard, you know. The wife, my family. Being gone, when you’re gone for two months, or five, six weeks, you’re back for three, four days, then back out. It’s kind of like being in a time machine.

Getting back home and the people you know, it takes a while to adapt because you’re gone for so long. Getting back to your house and not being able to sleep in your own bed, trying to keep yourself occupied. Or trying to get to sleep at a decent hour.

D: Who are your big influences?

JM: Reggae, definitely, that’s the whole band’s major one. I’m a big fan of old soul music, my parents were big fans of Motown and Stax [Records]. My dad and my uncle were in old soul bands. That soul stuff got me into listening to ska and reggae and so on. Also punk, and two-tone or third-wave ska, like the Hepcats.

It was cool to me because it sounded soulful. I thought ska was this new thing, and then finally find out more and more.

Man, you can put anything in front of me and I’ll find something to like about it, music-wise.

D: You guys have been around for 6 years, what’s been the best thing about being in the band?

JM: Just accomplishing something that I’ve set myself up for since I was about 12. I never wanted to do anything else. I’m not making “the living” but I don’t have a job, and I’m content with that.

A lot of people go to college and they’re proud of what they did, I’m proud that I can play music full time and I’m humble about that. I’ve known for a while that these are the best years of my life.

D: How has the band moved on after the loss of [bass player] Dave Fuentes?

JM: Last year was tough, it was a very hard year. Dave was a blessing, because he came from Hepcat, and that was the band that got me into that old stuff.

Dave was a major player in this band, and it was hard. We had to keep touring, we had obligations, we had to do what we had to do, had to pay some guys to fill in the shoes for a while.

It put us in a lot of … struggle. The good thing is we came out of that, and I think of Dave every day. I miss the guy very much, and wish he was around.

I think anything bad that happens in life can only make you a stronger person, I think that’s the way you’re supposed to look at it.

If you don’t get any wounds, how are you gonna be a real person? If you’re always sheltered you aren’t gonna be much of a story-teller.

I think it’s made us all a lot stronger, made us grow up more. Taught us how to get out of a rut, you know? It was a hard time, dude. It was bad but I think everyone’s getting over it, moving on from it. Healing, that’s probably the best word, I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.

D: Reggae Hit LA has been out for about a year now, has it performed as well as you’d hoped when writing/recording?

JM: The best thing we can do as far as being happy is to be content and satisfied with the album, it’s up to people to enjoy it or not, we did our job, and yeah, I’m satisfied with the album. The fame and all that out of it, depends on other people. It’s not gonna hurt me if we’re not on Cribs next year, I really don’t care.

D: What are you hoping to get out of your appearance on the Warped Tour?

JM: [Getting] more people to listen to reggae, more people to know what we’re about. I’m looking forward to stealing as many fans as I can to jump on this train and support this band, and what we’re about.