Kevin Seconds is someone who needs little introduction having been the frontman for the legendary 7 Seconds for 30 plus years now as well as being an artist and always accommodating interviewee. Now in his early 50’s Kevin still embodies that “Young Until I Die” spirit that he and his band started singing about so many years ago. Check out the new 7 Seconds album “Leave A Light On” which is out now. Interview conducted June 2014.
1: Where are you right now?
Kevin: My favorite local coffee shop. My wife Allyson just came by to visit me on her break from work and the staff has classical music turned up way too loud. It’s beautiful outside, here in Sacramento. You can smell both the springtime and the indifference.
2: Which album are you looking to play out with more…the new 7 Seconds or your acoustic solo album “Off Stockton”… and why?
Kevin: New 7 Seconds album, of course! I just finished up both a U.S. and a European solo run supporting the new solo album so I’m taking a break and relaxing with a full-blown hardcore punk rock van tour.
3: Whose dog is on the cover of “Leave A Light On”? What’s his (or hers) name and how did this come about as the cover shot?
Kevin: That is Lulu, Allyson and I’s 6 year old girl dog. She’s amazing. She thinks she’s a human or at least we think she does. Allyson took the pic of her one day when she was letting our dogs (our other one is a boy dog named Hank) run around the American River. I saw it and it nearly broke my mind. I love it, completely.
4: If you have a day off at home with nothing to do what do you like to do to kick back and relax?
Kevin: I’ll be honest. I get irritated kicking back and relaxing. I’m not good at it. I like to either be awake and active or just sleeping because I never feel like I get enough sleep in my life. There is always something to do. I never get bored and I can’t stand people who do.
5: The record you have played on that you are most proud of?
Kevin: Ah, now you’re asking me to pick my favorite child, you son of a bitch. I can’t pick. I wish I could. I’m sorry for failing you.
6: Three things about Sacramento, CA that rock?
Kevin: Trees, being dissected by Interstates 80 and 5 and Allyson.
7 Seconds at the 2013 Rockfest in Quebec, Canada. Photo by: Tim Snow
7: Outside of Reno and Sacramento where could you see yourself living and enjoying if you had to move?
Kevin: I’ve considered New York City, Washington, D.C., Austin, Portland, Asbury Park, Berlin and Brighton (England). If I can’t have homes in all 8 places, I don’t want to live anywhere.
8: What would 50-something Kevin Seconds say to 20-something Kevin Seconds if they were to meet?
Kevin: “Sorry Kev. Your penis is never going to get bigger as you grow older”.
Kevin w /7 Seconds @ This Is Hardcore Fest 2013. Photo by: Anne Spina
9: Three things that scare the crap out of you?
Kevin: The loss of the ability to create stuff. Also, enormous, dark empty interior spaces (auditoriums, theaters, etc. etc.) and Sarah Palin.
10: On “Leave A Light On” how old is the oldest song written and how new is the newest one?
Kevin: Oldest song is probably “30 Years (And Still Going Wrong”) which I wrote (you guessed it) when we had just hit our 30 year mark as a band. I wrote “Upgrade Everything” around the same time. I believe “Leave A Light On” is the newest one. At least in its current form. I wrote that sometime late last summer.
11: Name some things your good at cooking.
Kevin: I steam broccoli and asparagus like a non-smoking, non-meat-eating Anthony Bourdain.
12: The worst punk rock related injury you ever had was…?
Kevin: A torn calf muscle, incurred on a stage in Montibello, Quebec, Canada, in front of several thousand enthusiastic fans. It was the first time I actually thought I might be seriously injured enough to have to stop touring and doing what I love doing the most. It was horrible.
13: What kind of car do you currently drive?
Kevin: When I’m not driving around North America in my Ford Econoline van, I drive a 2003 Honda Civic (second most stolen car in Sacramento County….YAY!). Oh, and I also have a crappy looking scooter.
14: Three albums that changed your life?
Kevin: “Slider” by T. Rex. Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Graffiti”. First Ramones album.
15: If you never found punk rock music what do you think your life would be like?
Kevin: Non-existent. I wouldn’t be here.
16: If you could go back in time where and when would you want to go?
Kevin: It might have been fun to be a young adult in the Fifties because of the Beat Generation stuff. Or maybe be in my late teens in the late Sixties because of the music, political activism and crazy hedonistic shit.
17: Most embarrassing moment on stage?
Kevin: I tend to wear really baggy shorts when I play live and awhile back, it became the thing to do to reach up my shorts leg and grab my balls. I’m not sure why that ever started and it didn’t last long. I mean, what the fuck, what do you think you’re going to get putting your hands into someone’s gig pants? That was always a little embarrassing, especially if I hadn’t showered that day.
18: What’s the most people 7 Seconds has ever performed in front of?
Kevin: I’m sure it was at some European festival somewhere. Or the Warped Tour. 10,000 people? I don’t think much more than that. I could be wrong.
Kevin with 7 Seconds at the This Is Hardcore Fest 2013. Photo by: Danielle Parsons
19: Best food city/country you have visited?
Kevin: Gosh. Despite my appearance, I really don’t focus on food much. I suppose I’d say Italy because of the pizza and espresso.
20: What is the worst job you ever had? What were your responsibilities?
Kevin: Being a change person for a Reno casino. It was so impossibly depressing and meaningless, I felt like I wanted to kill myself just about every night. Seriously. There is nothing worse than watching people - mostly old and angry ones - sitting at a slot machine for the entire 8 hour shift you’re working, and just pouring money into these things. It was awful.
Bonus Question 21: If you became the president of punk rock what immediate changes would you make? Who would be your vice president?
Kevin: I would ask Kate Hiltz (Bouncing Souls) to be my vice president and then I would trade places with her because she would handle everything much better than I ever could. I suppose my first order of business would be to make having a sense of humor mandatory. Everything else could be negotiable.
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