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y. I did so much of the shit on my ownthat it made me realize that I reallyneeded someone else to play with. I’venever really considered quitting becauseyou’ve got to eat; you’ve got to play.KB: Speaking of low points, howdid Ralph Ameduri’s death affectthe band, and how much did hematter to you and Orlando?Oh my god; yeah, when Ralph was killedhe and I were the only people in the band.I was so excited to be starting over withRalph, and then to have that violentlyripped away, it was a shocking loss. Itwas probably the most depressing thingI’ve ever experienced, but it was also amoment of inspiration on a musical andartistic level because I knew that losingRalph only meant that his presence wasgoing to be even more significant becauseof what he meant to everyone in Orlando.He played in and recorded numerousbands of all sorts of genres. He’d alsorecord young kids who were in punkbands. His tastes ran in every directionand he was so generous. He was all overthe Orlando music scene from everyspectrum. He was a little older than me.He was in his early forties when he died,and it was inspirational to have someonethat was a little older who was so wrappedup in making cool shit. I recorded inhis house many times. He wasn’t like asuper gifted studio guy, but he alwaysworked his way through problems. He wasphenomenal. A real special guy, it’s crazythat it’s been over a year now.KB: I Couldn’t Sleep musicallymixes some really danceablepoppy tunes with some somberdirges, but is predominantly dark,lyrically. Yet, when I think of MikeLevin the person, I think of a verycheery, positive and likable guy.Is this contradiction the result ofour natural male tendency to notwant to burden others with ourproblems, or is it just that thosemoments of struggle breed ourcreativity?I’m usually not shy about burdeningpeople with my problems. [laughs] Ichannel a lot of [my problems] into themusic, so it gives me the opportunity towork shit through like that. I’ve alwaysseen the music as my therapy. It allowsme—when I’m playing shows andworking on songs—to feel just fuckinggreat about my life because it becomes sofocused on this creative process that otherpeople can listen to and just to satisfymy own needs. I haven’t found a lot ofjoyful type of inspiration in my writing,even though it’s always there too. Evenin the gloomy ones there is an awe oramazement at what living is all about evenin its darker moments. The number onething that I like to consume in terms ofculture is dark comedy. I don’t really get alot of humor in my songs for some reason.I’ve always wondered why I don’t, butinstead I go for darker amazement. It’snot suicidal, it’s mixing in the gloom withinspiration…as represented in Ralph’sdeath: the horror of it, the sadness andmisery but also the re-recognition of thecraziness and beautifulness of everythingthat’s around us.KB: Being a liberal Jewish guy whocut his teeth in the punk sceneand still spends his nights andweekends playing gigs in bars—while spending your days teachingin a conservative Christian school—what kind of issues have arisenfrom this duality?The school views me as this cuteexception. The kids like my rebelliousspirit, and because it is a private school,as long as the kids and parents are happy,the administration is happy. I have beentalked to a couple of times by my bossesabout the “socialist” maybe, “antipatriotic”rhetoric that I purportedlycould be espousing. Kids are freethinkers;I don’t care if they are conservative ornot. They shouldn’t just accept thingswithout question. There has been a littlebit of conflict and maybe I sometimesfeel a little too free to speak my mind, butwe all have to censor ourselves to someextent. I do feel relatively free to questionauthority and run my own show in theclassroom, so I have to give my schoolcredit for putting up with me.KC: When you were working onthe record, you told me aboutthe School of Rock club you hadstarted. Is that still going on?Yeah, we meet during the last 40 minutesof school on Fridays. We’ve been doing itfor four years now and it has really builtits own momentum. It’s our own littleJack Black, School of Rock deal. We playon the stage in the chapel, which is prettyhilarious. We play a lot of Black Sabbathand Ozzy and whatever the kids want todo. It’s tons of Green Day. We do a show,which is amazing because the whole middleschool is jammed into an area wherethese other middle-schoolers are freakin’putting on their rock‘n’roll routine. It’s abig gift; it’s a big ego boost. It’s straight upsheer pleasure for all of these kids that justget to stand up on stage and play for theirpeers. We usually have three to five bandsthat get formed with interchangeablemembers. I let the kids choose what theywant to play. It’s their club, but I have putmy foot down for one song despite theirconstant complaining about it and that is“Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down. [everyonelaughs] That is the only song I’ve ever shotShysterdown. I mean, we have to listen to eachsong about 120 times while they learn toplay it, and I just can’t go there.KC: Do you think much of theimportance of that class is tohelp them get over some of theirshyness?Totally. It’s the end of the year now andI just received a note from a student thatsaid, “Thanks for your English classesit’s been cool, but mostly thanks forencouraging me to get in front of myclassmates and sing because it was a reallyimportant and memorable thing for me.”So that’s really cool. We started this fouryears ago and this is an 8th grade club, sonow we have kids that are seniors in highschool who are alumni of the program. Ireceived a text message from one of myex-students who said they were playinga show. I went to a venue in Orlandoand saw two of my School of Rockersplaying in two separate bands and theywere both really good. This one kid thatI had just taught some bar chords to wasjust shredding like Yngwie [Malmsteen].To be able to pass on inspiration like that,it’s fun. It’s really cool. That’s anothergreat thing about that school: whileit is conservative, wealthy and mildlyChristian, they let us do this School ofRock thing and they don’t wonder whatwe’re singing about. I don’t need to cleara set list or anything.KB: If you are involved in anycreative field there will always bea moment when you hear or seesomething created by anotherartist that makes you wish you hadthought of it. What is the momentfrom any song that gives you thebiggest “I wish I had written that”feeling?I know it’s so outside of my ability orculture or whatever, but the Wu-TangClan and their brilliant wordplay,it’s just—how do they do that? It’sstaggering; I wish that I had some of thatability. Wu-Tang has a way of playingwith words that seems often on the edgeof inventing new language. In that senseI’ve always greatly admired the album AllMost Heaven by Will Oldham. On that EPhe just invents words from sounds like Ido with songs before I’ve written lyrics,but he holds them up and writes themout on the insert: “All day so they bogeand doh boh/ when they call the nameof they sing and they/ I mahl bahl/ hopethey leave and fall again.” It’s ridiculousand liberating and fun to sing becauseusually meaning sucks. I had formerstudents in a band—a duo synth popoutfit called Cherry and Marmalade—and they in their infinite youthfulwisdom and naïveté had a song called“Song with a Meaning.” I thought thatwas brilliant. Also to add other heroesinto the mix: Blake [Schwarzenbach],“I lost all my thoughts of angels in anaspirin billboard.” And later in that song[“Housesitter”], “I keep creating errandsto talk to people to talk to me/ but stillnothing human, money changes hands isall/ this life’s a broken record skipping onthe carpet no response.” And the way thesong builds a momentum and catharsiswhile peddling in impotence and futility.That’s my jam. Smoking Popes makeme jealous with their unique mannerof using irony and humor to approachwhat’s really real, in ways that make mysincere articulations seem silly. “Not thatkind of girlfriend” when he exclaims“I don’t want to fall in love ‘til I’m 35!”His send-up of modern love has addedmore than anything to my [momentsof] hopeless romanticism. The wry wayin which the Popes satirize and love thesame idea in the same lyric is open andintimate on a level that boils my noodle.It’s the most sincere irony I’ve heard in apop punk band.The New Lows will play the Circle BarSaturday, July 6th with Lovey Dovies,BLCKBLT and the Self-Help Tapes. For moreinfo, check out thenewlows.bandcamp.com19