Civ

Civ/vocals * Charlie Garriga/guitar * Sammy Siegler/drums * Arthur Smilios/bass (1994-1997) * Cache Tolman/bass (1998- )

This album really came from our hearts, says CIV drummer Sammy Siegler, describing the impulses behind the new “THIRTEEN DAY GETAWAY.” Ask any one of us this is the album we’ve always wanted to make. I think it shows.

“SET YOUR GOALS,” CIV’s 1995 Lava/Atlantic debut, came together in what seemed like one explosive moment. The instantaneous nature of the band’s fortuitous formation mirrored the frenzied fast pace of their first recording sessions. At that early stage, everything was ruled by immediacy. However, when it came time to record their second album, all four were agreed that time would be on their side.

It was after the New York City-based group had completed the marathon “SET YOUR GOALS” tour that kept them criss-crossing the globe throughout ’95, ’96, and even into ’97 that work could begin on “THIRTEEN DAY GETAWAY.” Songwriting sessions took off in earnest last spring with all manner of sounds and styles making it onto the sonic drawing board.

There was a lot of give and take on the record, says the group’s vocalist, Civ. We were all willing to give each other the room to suggest new ideas.

By late last summer, Sammy, Charlie Garriga, Arthur Smilos, and Civ had gathered at the venerable Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York with producer Steve Thompson (Madonna, Blues Traveler, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rollins Band, Mick Jagger, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica).

For CIV, the enthusiasm and sense of artistic discovery that pervaded the recording sessions were dramatically fueled by the addition of keyboards into their uptempo rock aesthetic. It was a sound that, from the start, had been echoing through the band’s new work as they continued to draw energy and inspiration from such forever-favorites as Elvis Costello & The Attractions, the Buzzcocks, and “SANDINISTA!”-era Clash. The guys brought the keyboards idea to brilliant realization throughout the album’s A-side, notably with the Hammond organ-meets-punk perfection of “Itchycoo Park” (not the Small Faces song). Applying an open-ended agenda to the proceedings, the group was hot to test all variations of sounds, arrangements, and tempos.

“At the beginning, it was really hard for us not play everything revved up to 10,” says guitarist Charlie with a laugh. “It was even weird to play slower tempos because we’re just so used to getting on the horse and going balls-out crazy.”

Bearsville proved the perfect place to bring a focused effort on the material ” the guys lived the album every minute.” “I’d go to bed at night, every night, listening to tapes of what we’d done during the day, thinking of ideas, y’know. We were totally obsessed.”

The three weeks spent in such idyllic environs was a definite change from the home turf of their New York City streets. “The surprise was that being in Woodstock made me want to record a reggae album,” says Sammy with a smile.

For that same reason, Civ decided to cut his final vocal tracks at Sorcerer Sounds back in Manhattan. “… Got a better vibe for the vocals in the city,” says the singer succinctly. “It was nice to be home and be able to get in the right frame of mind for recording. It gave me an edge.”

Mixing sessions continued at Sorcerer with Thompson and renowned studio vet John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Mary Lou Lord, Unwound), with additional mixing by Michael Barbiero (Blues Traveler, Ric Ocasek, Anthrax). The resulting “THIRTEEN DAY GETAWAY” is a rollicking collection of CIV-penned originals that range from the anthemic “Shout It” to the break-filled adrenaline pop of “Secondhand Superstar” and “Big Girl,” to the cool melodic poise of “Everyday” and the half-minute hardcore bark of “Owner’s Manual.”

Lyrically, the album finds the band exploring themes of self-reliance, coming-of-age, and working through the politics of friendships and relationships. Civ takes it back to his youth in Jackson Heights, Queens with “Itchycoo Park.” “That’s about where I grew up and spent most of my childhood and early teenage years,” he says. “It was a place we called Itchychoo Park and we had a park football team called Itchycoo Chiefs. It’s just about a memory, a time in my life. It’s a good title even though it’s been used before.”

As part of another first for the band, Charlie and Sammy each contributed lyrics to a number of the album tracks further underscoring the degree of collective contribution that defined the project. “I wrote a song once when I was 12-years-old,” says Sammy, recalling the last time he’d taken on such writing duties. “It was a song called ‘Look Back.’ It was all about reflecting on my whole twelve years of life serious stuff, y’know.”

Another album highlight is the set-closing “Little Men,” an acoustic number written by Sammy and Charlie with Quicksand’s Walter Schriefels, Civ’s former Gorilla Biscuits bandmate and a “SET YOUR GOALS” co-producer (who also performed in the “Can’t Wait One Minute More” clip).

“At first we tried a real rock version of the song and it just didn’t feel right,” says Charlie. “Then we tried a ‘That’s Entertainment’ kind of vibe y’know the Jam song so there was just the melody with the vocals and the guitar. We played it back and knew we’d found the perfect fit.”

The work that went into “Little Men” is perfectly indicative of the band’s patience and ability to imagine one song from many angles. “We really pushed ourselves making this record,” says Sammy. “Compared to the rollercoaster of the first album, this one was all about taking the time to work as a unit and bring every song to its highest level.”

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After completing work on the album, Arthur Smilos stepped away, leading to the eventual recruitment of new four-stringer Cache Tolman. The young bassist plays with such bands as Iceburn and Lion and made his CIV debut on March 1st before a sold-out crowd at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom, when the group supported the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. “It was a wonderful experience,” says Cache, a Salt Lake City resident. “It was a great time… a unique kind of high.”

This summer, the re-configured quartet along with keyboardist Guyora will embark on the much-anticipated Vans Warped Tour. The outdoor festival’s itinerary kicks off June 30th in Phoenix, Arizona and runs through August.

In other CIV news, the band has provided in-game music to Electronic Arts new “Road Rash 3D,” the combat motorcycle racing game for the PlayStation. CIV also contributes their otherwise unavailable “Worm’s Eye View” to Atlantic’s “ROAD RASH 3D: THE ALBUM” companion soundtrack, along with “THIRTEEN DAY GETAWAY” tracks “Owner’s Manual,” “Living Life,” and “Big Girl.”

“We took some tracks that had never made it to the album and, and geared ’em towards the video game,” says Sammy. “It was cool cause the pressure was off; the album was done so we could experiment even a little bit more. I think it worked perfectly for a motorcycle gang, Road Warrior-type thing.”

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With their formation in the summer of 1994, the goals CIV set out for themselves were relatively straightforward. “We were just gonna do some 7-inches on our friend’s Revelation label and that was about it,” says Sammy.

Within the first two months of their being together, the band had more than nineteen complete songs. They recorded the “Can’t Wait One Minute More” b/w “Et Tu Brute?” 7-inch for Revelation, shot a video, made up some T-shirts, and hit the road with for a half dozen U.S. dates. By that time, they were already in the studio recording the album they never quite expected to make. They knew they were on to something right.

Punk prodigy Sammy had drummed for many of hardcore’s most preeminent straight-edge outfits. In addition to Gorilla Biscuits, he’s been a member of Youth Of Today, Judge, Bold, Shelter, Side By Side, and Project X. Following a longstanding family percussion tradition, he took his place behind the kit at age 12 and by age 14 was touring the U.S. with Youth Of Today.

A Cleveland native, Charlie had played guitar with Outface and went out on the road with Quicksand during one of their first extended tours.

From 1986 to about 1992, Jackson Heights own Civ was the man on the mic for Gorilla Biscuits, whose influential “START TODAY” remains one of the best-ever selling releases for Revelation Records.

Charlie, who was living in Ohio during the late-80s, remembers, “I met Civ around ’87, when Walter Schriefels was playing bass in Youth Of Today and Civ was their roadie. I became friends with them, and then my band Outface ended up opening for Gorilla Biscuits and Youth of Today at some Midwest shows.”

After the release of “SET YOUR GOALS” in August of 1995, the band hit the road with Quicksand, hosted three nights of Alternative Nation, and saw their self-produced video land in ‘Buzz Bin’ rotation on MTV.

Over the course of their extensive roadwork around “SET YOUR GOALS,” the band toured with No Doubt, the Vandals, the Toadies and Sick Of It All, and shared festival bills with the likes of Rage Against The Machine, Radiohead, and Sepultura.

In the summer of 1996, the band was tapped for the gig of the ages, the kind of show that any kid who turned a tennis racquet into an air guitar dreamed of opening for the original Kiss at Madison Square Garden.

“It was just the sickest thing,” exclaims Sammy. “I mean, if we stop playing tomorrow, I’d be cool with it because of that moment, that one night.”

Outside of North America, the group traveled to Europe on five separate occasions, beginning in May, 1995, for an extensive trek across the Continent. Following a European festival tour that ran from May to June of ’96, CIV launched their first tour of Japan and Australia that September.

For the guys, who had come together so immediately around “Can’t Wait One Minute More,” it was touring that defined their relationships and made them a real band.

“The road will either bring you together or just tear you apart,” says Civ. “We were on the road non-stop and had to become accustomed to living together 24-7 for months at a time. We jumped in with both feet and, luckily enough, really came together.”

Offered the chance to get on stage for the first time in a while, Civ joined his Pennywise comrades late last summer at the Randall’s Island, New York and Asbury Park Vans Warped shows for a rendition of the punk anthem, “Minor Threat.” Also in the guest star role, Civ can be seen in the new H20 video, shot in front of the former site of the Dom on St. Mark’s Place.

This past winter, CIV (with special guest Schriefels) performed at one of two CBGB’s benefit concerts for the late Ray Beez of NYHC legends Warzone (to whom they’ve dedicated the new album). “Ray was totally important to all of us,” says Sammy. “He was always around; always downtown; always at the shows.”

Since completing the new album, Sammy has taken on the mantle of scene-supporting entrepreneur. Together with Schriefels, he’s started the independent Some Records label. The sense of purpose and respect for the music that informs Sammy’s work with SOME similarly defines the efforts CIV as a whole put into their work.

In recounting his own reasons for being in a group, Civ is straightforward and thoughtful: “I think it’s important for bands to realize that they have a particular window of time to say something genuine and get a point across. You have to take advantage of that. Entertaining people is important but a stage is also a like little podium to speak out from. People do listen so you can’t mess around and deliver the wrong message.”