A Chat with Voice of Addiction (16.08.22)
Described as a refreshing slant to modern-day punk rock scenes, Voice of Addiction is a US-based trio with a lot of attitude. We speak with frontman Ian Tomele (aka JohnnyX) about their new album Divided States, inspiration, future plans and much more.
OSR: How did Voice of Addiction come about and how did you choose the band name?
JohnnyX: I moved to Chicago in the summer of 2002 to join a childhood bandmate (and four others) in a house in the then not-so-trendy Humboldt park. One of the roommates I didn’t know was a drummer and amongst us three we were the first incarnation of V.o.A.
It took us a bit to settle on a name (being the generic “niche” for some shows). Voice Of Addiction was actually the name of one of our songs at the time that somehow never got recorded live or in studio. Basically, the idea is that we all are addicted. Whether it be to the usual suspects such as (drugs/sex/rock n roll) or religion, Fox News, CNN, greed, oil, Ikea, fast food, soda, coffee, etc. We all have the American disease.
OSR: What and/or who inspires you to make music?
JohnnyX: Inspiration is everywhere and you never know when it may strike. Personally, I always keep a small notebook in my back pocket at all times. It may be just a jingle, melody, lyrical line chord progression or harmony, but I have always written down everything. Now don’t get me wrong, when I revisit most of it it is trash but you never want to lose that one golden morsel. I also believe there are two universal languages: music and math. No matter who you are and where on this floating blue and green sphere, we can all appreciate, relate and connect through music. Playing and touring live and seeing the immediate emotional reactions on people’s faces is a high I can never explain to someone who hasn’t created on stage. Punk rock is the worst drug I have ever done.
OSR: What can you tell us about your album Divided States?
JohnnyX: We were finishing a month-long southern tour when the pandemic hit and until the last few days, we heard almost nothing about Covid. Our last show was in Louisville, Kentucky on 3/15/20. We drove through the night and arrived in Chicago as the sun was rising and they issued the stay-at-home order. This album is a direct retaliation to how I have seen my fellow sisters and brothers treat each other over the last couple of years. We went out to Denver to record this with Kyle Tilev at Black and Bluhm and the rest is history.
I fear not being judged by my words and standing by everything. I am always open to discourse if you want me to elaborate or exchange ideas. The fact that no one will have a civil discussion featuring a difference of opinions is the whole reason we exist in the echo chamber.
OSR: If you could change anything about Divided States, what would it be and why?
JohnnyX: You always wish you had more time when in the studio, but time constraints are real and so are the themes of this record. I wish we did not have to be out here pummeling the pavement searching for a form of clarity but here we are. If the people are divided the rich will always prosper and stay in power. As one line on the new record states “we are 99.9 percent identical.” Yet, they fear monger us into thinking we are so different over superficial issues that do not really matter at the end of the day. We all breathe the same air and need food, water and shelter. The rest is all a construct of control. We must reduce, reuse, resist.
OSR: Which are your favourite and least favourite songs on the album?
JohnnyX: My favourite songs are always the last songs I write on an album. In this case, it is the first track ‘Division Complex’. I always feel like the new songs are the most exciting and the sign of the direction we are heading. I believe music is a constant evolution. We are not only products of our environments but a mouthpiece to the struggles of our times. A reaction to the reactionary. The revolution we all started inside ourselves. In the same respect, I would say one of the oldest songs I had written that are on this record would be my least favourite, ‘Darwin’ (note I am super happy with lots of cool shit in this song, just always excited on that new new).
OSR: If you could spend the weekend with any person (not necessarily a musician), who would it be and why?
JohnnyX: Alive or dead? I just finished that Judd Apatow production of George Carlin’s Biography. I am a lifelong Carlin fan as my Dad also was. I grew up listening to his records and still have some of my dad’s originals, but I found at least a handful of things I constantly quote that I never attributed to him. A true classic that ages finer with time and somehow is more relevant today than ever.
Alive is trickier. I would maybe say Ian Mackaye. I have been obsessed since I was a young boy. Not only with him and his music but how he handled and operated in the world. The true D.I.Y. aesthetic. No gods and no managers. We can do it better and more efficiently ourselves. What he built in DC was a model for all of us, and he has always been accessible if you wanted advice on how to follow suit in your own town.
OSR: Where do you want to be three years from now?
JohnnyX: As we are headed for a recession and our friends and families are dropping like flies, the future seems scarier and less attainable than ever. I want to be in a better place both mentally and physically. I want ALL of us to still be here and be in a better p[place mentally and physically. I want to be exploring new frontiers in music and reaching for new horizons beyond my own country’s shores. As cool as putting out a rad new record is, it has always been about the live shows and the connections with the audience for me. About breaking the form and creating something of our own outside of their laws and rules. Amongst the rest of us misfits, just looking for a connection.
OSR: What is your favourite pastime?
JohnnyX: Art, music and politics have always been synonymous to me. If people were going to actually pay attention to my lyrics I wanted to have something better to say than the usual themes of girls, cars, and bubblegum. This has always been core to V.o.A. since the beginning. The short-hand answer is music but really it is music that matters. Music that can transform and change ideologies. Music that is life and creates life.
OSR: What is something you’d be willing to stay up all night to do?
JohnnyX: As much as I love playing in a different city every night, the late nights are something I have dearly missed during the pandemic. I often say if you stay up all night with someone after a show talking about everything, you can become lifelong friends closer than people you have known for years. As you keep touring and coming back these become almost like repeated family reunions and it humbles my black heart. Life is extremely depressing these days on social media but getting back out there with actual people makes you realise that is not how most people actually are. You only hear the loudest, most extreme voices in the room when most people exist in the grey area. Touring re-instils my lost faith in the human race.
OSR: What future plans do you have for Voice of Addiction?
JohnnyX: As we release this album we have spent the pandemic on, we just want to get these songs in front of as many people as possible. Broaden our shores. Embrace our familiars. Hope the world doesn’t implode and we can get overseas. Just try to be kind and decent human beings because that is literally the least we can do.
Many thanks to JohnnyX for speaking with us. For more from Voice of Addiction check out their official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
