By Matt Walker, October 2008
With Fest 7 fast approaching, we decided to check in with one of the quintessential Fest bands, Grabass Charlestons. Grabass has been a staple in the Gainesville punk scene for eight years this month, with over 450 shows behind them and still counting. Will Thomas (drums/vocals), Dave Drobach (bass) and P.J. Fancher (guitar) make a point of having fun while playing catchy, smart and energetic punk rock, which makes for some of the best live shows in town. Here, Fancher, who also works at No Idea Records and with The Fest, talks about past Fests and future plans.
How many Fests has Grabass played so far?
We’ve played all six. It will be eight bands this year that have played all seven Fests.
The Fest has gotten bigger every year; Do you think the vibe has changed?
I think a little bit. When Tony [Weinbender, Fest organizer] first moved to town and started doing the Fest he had talked to me and a few other people about what he was planning on doing and I just thought he was an idiot. Fests and stuff in Gainesville had been tried and they were never really all that great. We thought it was going to be a huge mess, seriously, but it turned out really well, he organized it really well. And I think it was after the second Fest when it just became this big deal all over the country and now kind of the world. I think the underlying theme and vibe of the Fest has remained the same. We’re not like the Warped Tour where we have a billion weird sponsors and we’re not selling endless amounts of crap to you. The main thing is to have fun and we want everyone to enjoy themselves.
What have been some of the highlights of the past Fests you’ve played?
For Grabass, we played a house show Saturday night of the Fest 5. It was really spur-of-the-moment, impromptu, we just happened to be there and the person who lived there asked. We played and I remember people saying the refrigerator was about to fall over. The floor was like bowing out. That was cool because we played for a really long time. It was on the floor. It was so unexpected and it was so awesome.
Are you planning on doing any pre- or post-Fest shows or house shows this year?
Speaking as a person who works for the Fest, there are lots of bands that applied that we would have loved to have play but there’s just really not room for them. I think we’re trying to promote that if you are actually playing the Fest, let’s save the house shows, however few there might be, for people who have come to town who don’t get to play the Fest. There’s going to be tons of bands in town that will be wanting to play a house show, so it’ll be good to give them a chance.
Are there any bands you’re really looking forward to?
Leatherface definitely. They’re one of my favorite bands ever. I’ve seen Leatherface before, but not in a long long time so I’m really looking forward to seeing them. I always love seeing Dillinger Four, The Arrivals, Toys that Kill, The Ergs.
You have a new 7-inch coming out soon through Razorcake Records, right?
It’s a sister 7-inch series with The Arrivals. It’s two 7-inches with artwork that matches up when you put them together. It’s two or three originals from each band, then each band covers one of the other band’s songs. Hopefully it will be out late this year or early next year. And we’re going to put out a collection on No Idea of all our 7-inches and splits.
You last few releases were vinyl or online only. Will the collection be in CD format or are you done with CDs?
It probably will be, we’ve never made any conscious decision to not do CDs. But I think every release that we’ve done since our last album has been in 7-inch form and CDs don’t really go with that.  We’re a big fan of the download code thing where you can buy a 7-inch and you can go to a website and download the mp3 and put it on your iPod, I think that’s really cool.
When you guys play live, Will sings and plays drums, Dave does all kinds of crazy things…
Yeah, he does back bends and stuff. (laughs)
You kind of jump around and do your own thing too. Do you guys try to do more since your singer is sitting behind a drum kit?
I mean, it never started off as a conscious thing, but I think it helps. I could definitely imagine that if you watched us and me and Dave just stayed stationary the entire time, it would seem pretty boring. And I can’t speak for Dave, but I know for me at least, that I can’t sit there and play guitar without jumping around and stuff, it just kind of happens. We’re a band that does not and will never have a front man. The person that is singing, which is normally front and center, is hidden behind these drums and cymbals, so it is kind of up to me and Dave to give some kind of visual entertainment, which is part of what a live show is, it’s a visual thing because you’re there. We’re not doing it totally for that reason, but I don’t think it hurts.
You guys just finished a short tour. Do you have any more tours lined up right now?
No, right now we don’t have any plans, which has kind of been our thing. We’ve intentionally never tried too hard and I think that’s a big reason why we’re still together. We’ve never tried to make it or anything. We’ve definitely gone through periods when we’ve done a lot and then periods where we haven’t done a lot. I think we’re smart enough to know when we’re doing too much and to kind of take it easy for a little while. We don’t take ourselves too seriously. I just think it helps to not push too hard. We will tour again but it probably won’t be until next summer, and then once we do that tour we’ll probably take a little more time off. We like our real lives.