Full Service - University of South Alabama Interview

Full Service, a reggae/rock band from Austin, Texas, that frequently tours Mobile area bars and restaurants, recently held a show at Fabacher's.

With Hoag on drums and vocals, Bonesaw on guitar and vocals, Twink on bass, and Smell on percussion and rhythm guitar, Full Service delivers a truly unique sound, blending diverse lyrics with heavy guitar and reggae undertones.

The band has released four albums - "Sawngs," "Irie Love," "3 Will Ride Forth" and "Recess" - in the last two and a half years, with another slated to release at the end of this month.

Brothers Bonesaw and Hoag began the band after graduating from college - Bonesaw graduated from Amherst College with a history degree in 2000, and Hoag graduated from Yale in 2003 with an African-American cultural expression degree - and also write most of the band's lyrics. Some older college-day albums can be found online, but to hear the full effect of Full Service as it is today, listeners should pick up the "Recess" album, which features the brother duo and Smell and Twink.

I had an opportunity to interview these quirky but fun guys before the show. Here's a taste of what they had to say.

Vanguard: Describe Full Service's sound.

Twink: Crunchy reggae groove metal.

Hoag: Crunchy is in the distortion. Reggae is in the rhythms. Groove is in the riffs, steady grooves. And the metal is for when it gets pretty hard.

Vanguard: What makes your band different?

Twink: We are not any one genre. We are all over the place.

Hoag: If you go to a Full Service show, there's going to be like hip-hop guys in the crowd, black people, white people, skaters, preppies, maybe a housewife or two because they like some of our slower stuff, punk-style people, people who are just too cool and they just kind of stand there and nod their heads, and even kids. It's a stew of humanity.

Vanguard: What role do each of you play in the band?

Bonesaw: Smell does nothing but show up for the shows, and he gets us where we need to go.

Twink: His superpower is his river sense, which means he just knows how to get us there.

Smell: I don't know where I am sometime, but I'm never lost.

Twink: My superpower is night driving. I once had a five-hour drive in the fog after a show at like 6 in the morning. I was going like 30 the whole way.

Bonesaw: [Hoag] is the creative force behind the band.

Hoag: They also voted me "band a**hole."

Twink: We voted on that? I don't remember voting on that.

Bonesaw: Hoag can also park the van anywhere. He's great at that.

Twink: And he has a quarter million dollars worth of information in his brain.

Bonesaw: My superpower is lifting heavy stuff and packing the van. I also manage the band.

Vanguard: What shapes your sound as a band?

Hoag: Animals, athletes, nature, sand, and salt water influences the sound. We sort of look at it like a lifestyle and not just a band.

Bonesaw: We play sports before every show. We'll play a game of soccer in the yard then jam. We like to be outside a lot.

Vanguard: How has your sound changed over the years?

Smell: It's kind of quieted down a little bit and isn't all over the place.

Hoag: It's more dynamic. We used to have soft songs and heavy songs, but now they are more mild, with softer and heavier parts within each song.

Vanguard: Where do you see your sound going?

Hoag: To outer space. A new planet. I'm not straying from that answer.

Vanguard: What's your opinion on groupies? Do you have any? Do you want any?

Twink: We definitely have some groupies, but we've never even been laid before as a result of the band.

Hoag: Groupies are great! I'm not going to sh*t on groupies.

Vanguard: What's your trademark?

Bonesaw: I think people will say it's playing with our shirts off - lots of skin and hair.

Smell: We got new shirts that say "No shoes, no shirt, full service."

Hoag: And then on the back it says "This shirt will take itself off in 10 seconds." Yeah, we are clever!

Vanguard: Do you have any advice for those trying to break into the business?

Twink: It's a business. So don't ever think it's anything less than that.

Hoag: You've got to promote and get creative in how you promote.

Bonesaw: I would say that you should never expect things to come to you. No one owes you anything. And find a place to jam.

Hoag: It also helps to have a Bonesaw in your band.