Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Known for their Vandals-ish wit and "nothing’s sacred, poke fun at all of it" mentality, SoCal pop-punkers Nerf Herder has been around the block a few times. They may be most known for giving TV show Buffy The Vampire Slayer her cool theme music and tearing up Van Halen in a song of the same name but when it comes down to it, they’re still a decade into the punk rock game.

Not that we up here in the Great White North will be dealing with it for too long. The band’s recent Canadian stretch lasted little more than a few shows, barely enough time to influence those throngs of impressionable minds, right?

"I beg to differ," says drummer Steve Sherlock. "If you’ve ever really seen Parry get wound-up, you know that the crowd won’t be the same afterwards. He’s been getting completely pissed-drunk every night and inviting people to sit on him while we’re playing. At this point, he’s considering building some contraption that will just spray a fine mist of vodka on him throughout the show. You’d be surprised how much influence you can dish out in an hour or so good or bad."

As conversation winds around, the inevitable discussion of dealing with the border comes up. Crossing into Canada and back in the span of two or three days means putting up with a lot of hassle. To the truly strange Nerf Herder though, it’s their favourite part, a complete contrast with the virtually every other band ever.

"I love dealing with the border. Man, your country has the foxiest custom agents in the world. They’re like, ’Have you got any drugs on you?’ I’m like, ’Drugs? I certainly do, but you gotta find ’em on me, baby! I’m hiding something... and you know where it is!’ I was practically begging for the White Glove Treatment but they wouldn’t go for it."

Looking forward to crawling into their own beds eventually, Gripp and Sherlock shrug off the idea of working towards a new album just yet. With their latest, American Cheese, barely out of the gate, they feel that it has a lot of time to ferment in the stores before something with shiny new packaging is necessary. Then Gripp’s sarcasm gets the best of him.

"We don’t like to plan ahead too much. It’s punk rock. You don’t need some kind of big chart to tell you where you’re going and we’re not the most prolific bunch. Three albums in a decade? C’mon. I guess it’s hard finding stuff to write about that the kids relate to. They get it when we sing about playing with your wee-wee or masturbating into your socks. They’re like, ’I’m not the only one who does that?’ Some of the pop culture references go right over their heads though. Our next release? It’ll be Nerf Herder’s Greatest Hits... on 7" vinyl."