George Hanna - Vocals/Bass
Yuji Kasuya- Guitar/Vocals
Steve Mason-Drums/smoke
LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Unko Atama: We started (as many punk bands did) out of boredom and we wanted something to do. We were all friends, we all played in other bands before, and we all liked the same kind of stuff so we started writing songs together.
LB: How did you find each other??
UA: About 5 years ago I met Yuji, and former members Marcus and Darren at a show. They were playing in a band called Overdrive A.D. We all hit off right away. We met our current drummer Steve Mason when he tried out for the band after Marcus and Darren quit a couple of years ago.
LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
UA: One of our most memorable moments was when we were invited to perform on a television show called "Creepy Kofy Movie Time" on KOFY TV. It was exciting for us because they had all of this cool horror movie stuff at the TV studio like the masks from the movie "Killer Klowns from Outer Space". We are all pretty big movie geeks so we had fun. They also had tons of free beer which we were also excited about.
LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
UA: We practice at Soundwave studios in Oakland. Being the primitive creatures that we are, Unko Atama usually like to quench our thirst on a cheap beer of some kind. PBR and Tecate are a couple of favorites and we also like the occasional whiskey drink. When we are not practicing we are usually drinking and smoking and talking about stupid shit.
LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
UA: The hardest thing about being in a band in 2009 is being broke all the time. A couple of us our currently unemployed and being in a band aint cheap. This economy really sucks ass right now and it gets hard to pay for band shit let alone non band shit.
LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco?
UA: San Francisco and Oakland have a lot of good bands a venues. We are proud to be a part of a good scene.
LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
UA: Despite all of our mental problems we are a hard working band that love to play and have fun. We are geeks for 70's punk rock and want to give people that experience. Next we plan to do some more recording. Our friend Danny Dee has a little studio called Gimme Danger, we did our last EP with him and plan to add onto that. We are also working on a Ramones cover band with Danny which has been fun since we worship the Ramones.
LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it??
UA: As of right now, our CD can be obtained at our shows. We don't have any label or anything so we do everything ourselves. We make our own CDs and shirts and we sell them cheap at our shows so come and get em'.
LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
UA: A memorable show that we played was at the Elbo Room in SF with the Vibrators on 4/20/09. We are huge fans of theirs and it was awesome to play with them. They were really cool guys.
LB: Favorite venue to Play??
UA: We like to play at Annie's Social Club, Knockout, and El Rio in SF, Stork Club in Oakland. There are other places we like as well.
LB: Have you played at the Thee Parkside before, what do you like about it?
UA: We've played there a bunch o' times, thats another place we like. All the times we've played there they've treated us well. The food is also good and we like the patio. Boom, who books shows there, is good friend of ours.
LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
UA: Haha. Not often
LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
UA: We all tend to be pretty smelly after a nice sweaty gig. Our drummer Steve is bald and he actually steams after we play. You can see the smoke rise right off his head.
LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
UA: We usually go for pizza or Japanese food. We also love Mexican food, when we are in the Mission area its a must.
LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
UA: Stupid scenes and trends will come and go but live music will always be around. People will always wanna be entertained no matter how bad things are or how advanced technology gets, people will always wanna see live music and Unko Atama will be there.
LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
UA: Unko Atama downloads stuff for free all the time. We don't offer free downloads of our stuff but we don't really care if people download it. We've noticed most people want the CD anyway. I think people like something they can hold in their hands and look at. Speaking of which, I just wanna add that our guitar, Yuji Kasuya, does most of our art and fliers. He makes the best punk fliers in town so if anyone needs art, fliers, ect. you might wanna check him out at myspace.com/ugposter. See you all soon!
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