Baton Rouge Advocate (feature article / interview)
"Get Full Service Saturday at Click's"
by Samantha Morgan
June 14, 2007

Where most bands become trapped by the motto of “Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll,” the Austin-based reggae metal band Full Service lives by “Sports and playing good music.”

Their fun-loving and free-spirit attitudes are reflected best with their names: Bonesaw (vocals, guitar), Hoagman (drums, vocals), Twinky-P (bass) and Smellman (rhythm guitar).

“Can I print your real names, our would you rather I use your stage names?” I asked Bonesaw during our phone interview.

“Let’s go with our stage names,” he said. “Sometimes people think it’s really weird, and some people think it’s totally normal. I do kind of get a kick when people call me and say is ‘Bonesaw there?’”

So why exactly do they have these names? In reality, they were acquired before even forming the band.

“The whole ‘saw’ thing became the basis of the album. Everything that is kind of hardcore or cool, we would add ‘saw’ to it. Like a skillet would turn into ‘skilletsaw.’ Our tours are called toursaw,” he said. “People I know in Austin only know me as that.”

Bonesaw and Hoagman are brothers as well as the founders of the band. Originally hailing from Philadelphia, Bonesaw was the first to move to Austin four years ago after completing college.

“I really didn’t like L.A. and I didn’t want to go to New York,” he said when explaining why he chose Austin. “I had one friend [from college] who told me I had to move to Austin. I took him on his word and moved here by myself. I love it! It’s perfect because it’s so competitive.

“It’s very, very, hot here right now, though,” he added with a laugh.

One year after moving to Austin, Hoagman graduated college and decided to join his brother. Instantly the two decided to start a music project.

“All of our friends from college are all bankers and doctors now, and I just always grew up playing sports and playing music,” Bonesaw said. “I always wanted to be a professional athlete, but Plan B was to be a musician.

“My brother and I grew up jamming every day, and we do everything together. Basically, we’re doing the same things that we did when we were 16.”

Once in Austin, the duo recruited Smellman.

“He really wasn’t much of a musician when we met him,” Bonesaw said. “He was just this really cool dude, and we wanted him in the band. Then we just figured out what he could do. He’s just one of those guys you want around.”

The story of Twinky-P, however, is a bit in opposition to Smellman’s.

“He was a fan of our music and was just dying to be in the band. He wanted to play guitar,” Bonesaw recalled. “He just showed up at our house with his guitar one day. We thought he was really annoying, actually. But then our guitar player couldn’t tour, so we called him later on and asked him if he could play bass. As it turns out he’s an incredible bass player.”

All the members are currently sharing a home as well as their profession. From the stories Bonesaw told me, that house sounds a bit like summer camp all year round.

“We play music and sports all day,” he said. “Playing music is fun! We’re not the kind of band that is ‘oh woe is me,’ and doing a lot of drugs. We’re not depressed angry people.”

“When we were in high school we named our first album “Sports and Heavy Music,” and that’s what we’ve been trying to do since then.”

Bonesaw told me that their reputation for being sports fanatics has earned them a bit of a reputation around town. So much so that the night prior to our interview, another local band challenged the guys to a game of soccer, which Bonesaw told me is their preferred sport at the moment.

But living together not only affords the band the opportunity to play sports all day, it also gives them ample time to write and develop songs.

To date they have independently produced five albums. Their latest album, “Recess,” was released eight months ago. Stewart Sullivan, who worked on Sublime albums, helped produce “Recess” and one of their prior albums, “Sawangs.”

“People always ask us, ‘How can you say you’re reggae metal?’ And we always say, ‘Awesome music is awesome music,’” Bonesaw said with a laugh. “We’re a good band to hear on record, but it’s even better to hear live. It’s a really energetic and exciting show.”

You can have your chance to experience Full Service on Saturday, June 16, at Clicks Billiards. Full Service will open for Hydrovibe. Tickets to the show are $5 for individuals over 21, and $7 for 18-20.

For more information about Full Service, visit their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/fullservice.