Crime is a by product of all societies, and music culture is not immune.  Unjustified cries of “sell out” are echoed throughout all scenes across the indie landscape.  Homegrown punk icons, Against Me!, know this all to well.  At the turn of the century Tom Gabel and his acoustic guitar began a journey that would go on to redefine the boundaries of traditional punk rock folklore.  The project originally began in Naples, but didn’t evolve into its current form until they reached Gainesville, where they currently still reside.  It can become increasingly difficult for bands to make decisions that appease fan bases while keeping their best interests in mind.  This becomes next to impossible when dealing with the DIY punk scene, where young fans quickly become similar to scorned lovers when their favorite acts begin to garner national interest.  Against Me! Has created a sound blending traditional punk ethics, with aspects of southern rock and heavy tinges of folk inspired melodies.  Powerful vocals highlight a truly amazing local act whom are more than worthy of the international buzz they have generated over the past few years.  I was lucky enough to speak with Tom about some of the aforementioned issues, as well as the current state of his band, and music in general.

REAX:  Over the years Against Me! Has grown a bunch and matured a great deal.  Through it all, you’ve maintained Florida as your home.  Is it as simple as not forgetting where you come from or is it more significant than that?
Tom Gabel:  The band technically started when I was still living with my mom, so I really had no choice in the matter.  I wasn’t born in Florida, I moved here when I was 11 or 12.  We’ve lived in Gainesville as a band for the past couple years cause the rent is cheap when we’re touring around a bunch, so that’s nice.  There is also a great music scene here, so we enjoy that.  But, I would like to move out of Florida some day.

REAX:  Can you explain a little bit about the effect that No Idea Records had on your early evolution and maturation as a band?
TG:  They are a great label and they helped us in many ways.  No Idea did a great job helping us put out Reinventing Axl Rose and I can’t thank them enough.

REAX:  Growing up in Tampa, I was a huge fan of punk music.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that, not only would a band come along from my home state that would redefine the genre; but that they would do it by combining punk ethics, attitudes, and sound with folk music.  Explain a little bit about how this combination came into being, and who some of your influences early on were.
TG:  It’s tough to say… as far as when we were starting out, I was into early 70’s and 80’s peace-punk like Crass and stuff like that.  I don’t really know where the folk element came from.  I guess at the time when I was starting out, all I had was an acoustic guitar.  If people see you playing on an acoustic guitar… then it’s folk, that’s just the way it works.

REAX:  In this day and age, it has become a lot more accepted for indie bands to sign with major labels than it was when I was growing up, even in the punk genre.  Against Me! seems to wear their DIY ethic and anti-capitalist stance on their sleeve in a very traditional sense (which I applaud).  What has the backlash within the fan base been like over the past couple of years as you have steadily moved forward and finally signed with Sire Records?
TG:  People were really pissed off when we signed to Fat Wreck Chords and that blew our minds.  We expected them to be pissed off at the Sire thing, but we don’t care.  People are going to have a problem with stuff like that just for the sake of having something to be pissed off about, not because they’re listening to logic.  We are still a DIY band, we drive ourselves around the country, we write the songs ourselves, we play the show ourselves, no one is telling us how to dress or creating an image for us.  There are certain limitations… no band can do everything for themselves.  No band actually physically presses their records; they don’t work in the plant making them.  No one is cutting down the trees to make the paper to print the record sleeves on.  There has to be somewhere where doing it yourself ends.  We aren’t refining our own gasoline or making our own tires to go on tour with.  However, I do change my own guitar strings.

REAX:  Do you think most of the negative reaction comes from younger fans who really don’t understand how things work?
TG:  Yeah sure… I was there, but I grew up.

REAX:  What does it mean to you to be able to work with Butch Vig on your upcoming album and when can we expect to hear it?
TG:  We leave on February 10 to go to New York to mix it and then it should be done two weeks after that.  It usually takes record labels three or four months to when they actually put it out.  So, I’d say at the latest it will be out in July.  Working with Butch was awesome.  He is completely amazing at what he does and added a lot to the process of making the album.  He knows how to get the right sounds.

REAX:  Have you kept in touch with the local scene in Florida and have you noticed anything changing or progressing?
TG:  It seems like ebb and flow, but there is always something going on at a steady pace in Gainesville.  When I was younger, I lived in Naples and there used to be a record store in Ft. Myers called Off Beat where bands would play.  There was a good scene there, mostly hardcore and a lot of it was straight edge hardcore and I really wasn’t into that.  There were still a couple punk bands and I would go see them.  We were like, “Holy crap, Ft. Myers is amazing.”  Then we started going to shows at Jannus Landing and the State Theatre in St. Petersburg and that was mind-blowing. We were like, “Holy crap, this is a Mecca.”  I saw all my first big shows there like Rancid, Green Day, and Fugazi.  Lately though, I haven’t heard about anything really going on in Tampa and St. Petersburg.  On the tour we’re doing in March, we’re taking out the band Fake Problems who are from Naples.  They are an awesome band and no awesome bands ever come from Naples.  I get really happy about being able to support bands from Florida, specifically not Gainesville bands.  There seems to be this idea that if you’re a band that’s from Gainesville people should listen to you.  No one would necessarily listen to a band that said they were from Punta Gorda. 

REAX:  There is a lot of variety going on in the punk scene around here that I’ve noticed recently.  What advice can you give people that are just getting started?
TG:  Just keep doing it.  Don’t listen to whatever anyone else tells you… as cliché as it sounds.  If people say that you suck, who cares, just keep playing.  Be willing to play for anyone, anywhere, any type of situation.  Be willing to sleep on floors, not get paid, because you should be doing it… because you love playing.  If it’s what you want to do, do it at all costs.  You’re going to break a lot of gear and vehicles, but just keep going with it.