Exclusive: Watch the Eradicator's new video for I'mma Be Me, you pussheads.
The other day I received a mysterious letter in the mail from a figure known as The Eradicator. After some research, I concluded that the message, which came with an ominously skull-adorned rubber ball, was a formal challenge to a game of squash, the racquetball-esque court sport. Although I found very little about my opponent’s abilities within the game itself, I discovered that The Eradicator, who sources tell me is named Andy Slania, moonlights as the leader of a rambunctious punk band.
The Chicago-based outfit has apparently written an EP and two LPs about The Eradicator’s own experiences on and off the court, which all stem from his brief feature in the first episode of the heralded late-’80s sketch comedy show Kids In The Hall. The latest record, Peak Eradicator, out October 4 on Say-10 Records, features ramped-up production and catchier songwriting than their 2017 debut, while still occupying the boisterous middle-ground between bands like Fucked Up and Drug Church.
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I was admittedly intimidated to contact the masked man to set up our squash match, but he was surprisingly difficult to track down for a game. When I did eventually get ahold of him, in a subdued state that more closely resembled his alter-ego Andy Slania, we had an illuminating and earnest conversation about his band, the themes he explores in his music, and his hysterical live show.
Today, Kerrang! debuts the album’s first single, I’mma Be Me, and its accompanying music video, which sees The Eradicator enacting some of his day-to-day tumult as a yet-to-be recognized legendary squash enigma. Before that, though, we chatted to The Eradicator about squash, The Kids In The Hall, and being a masked outcast.
What attracted you to making music as The Eradicator?
I kind of fell into it, honestly. I was in a smaller band just playing around Chicago and it was more serious, it was more of a hardcore band. And that band essentially fizzled out and I was left without a band and I still wanted to play but I wanted to do something a little more light-hearted… I was trying to think what would work and for some reason in the original Kids In The Hall sketch, The Eradicator scream just stuck out to me as a chorus. So I decided to write the first song, which was called Eradicator. And then I wrote another song and I didn’t have any other ideas so I was like alright I might as well keep going with this and continue writing songs from the perspective of this one character. And that was the first EP.
And for the first LP, there’s only so much content that you can take from that three-minute sketch. So I just decided to come up with random things from the perspective of the character. It’s been an evolution of paying homage to the original character and then taking it on a completely different absurdist lane where it’s like, Okay, what if this person was actually a person? How did this person get to this point where he’s running into squash courts with a ski mask on and taunting people? What things happened in life to get that person to that point?
What do you add to his story on your second album, Peak Eradicator?
I tried to do two angles to it. One, to keep going on the absurdity of the character. But then two, to approach it from an angle where I feel -- me, as an individual -- elements of the character in my own life. So it’s like exploring that angle a little bit. Because I’ve been doing the band now for a couple of years. And when you do a character for that long there’s elements of you that get molded in with the character, so it’s trying to go down that path as well.
What elements specifically?
So for example, in the first single [I’mma Be Me] I think it’s this concept of isolation and going through life working at a job where you don’t feel like people are aligned with your views. And being true to who you are and your views and kind of sticking with it. And then we just did a video for the fifth song, You Know Too Much About Me Already, and that’s kind of the difference between me in my job not wanting my coworkers to know about this band that I do because I feel like they just wouldn’t get it. And then also from The Eradicator’s perspective, he’s a masked individual and he feels like he has to shield his identity from the rest of the world through the mask.
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Why do you see The Eradicator character as a raging misfit punk rocker? What about him strikes you as someone who’d make loud, raucous punk?
I think it’s just the abrasiveness of the character in the sketch. He came out screaming, he came out wielding a squash racket, he went into this unfamiliar territory and didn’t back down of who he was. And I think elements of that, subconsciously, probably came about as I thought of the idea of doing the band based on the sketch. The Kids In The Hall were definitely, in their day, pretty out there and it was pretty compelling for anyone who just started watching them at that time. So I think that character specifically had this internalized anger behind him that would resonate more in a loud band.
The Eradicator sketch is 30 years old now, so I’m sure that a lot of people who’ve come across your band aren’t familiar with Kids In The Hall. How many of your fans and listeners do you think actually know that sketch? Do you see it as a required watch for people to fully appreciate your music?
I would say when I started before my first show I thought it was going to be the best ever because I would’ve thought 90 per cent of humanity knew that sketch. And then I started playing shows and quickly realized that maybe five per cent? Maybe 10 per cent actually know, not only Kids In The Hall, but that sketch specifically. So it’s this element of when people know about it, especially when I play, and they see others in bewilderment wondering what the hell is this about. It’s this kind of internal, 'Oh I know what this is about, this is awesome.' And then for everyone else who doesn’t know it they don’t understand, but I’ve played a lot of shows and have had these opportunities I think because people don’t get it but then they are intrigued by it and they try to dig in more.
I’ve actually heard a lot of people saying they saw me, not knowing anything about the sketch, and went and saw the sketch and seeing the sketch after watching the band gives a new angle to the sketch. But it also gives a brand new angle to the band as well.
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So are you fully in character when you perform?
Oh yeah. The way every show starts out is that I come onstage as the character, do the set and then my last song, the last line I say is, 'Don’t try to follow me, I have a cab waiting.' And I run out of the front of the venue and quote-unquote get in a cab and take off. So your last moment of the character is him running away.
Do you people ever follow you?
Twice. The first time I was on tour in Australia and this guy ran around the building to go catch me and then he said, 'I got you.' And that was an interesting thing. And that interests me personally [because], like, the show isn’t over when I go offstage. It’s kind of like there’s another interesting angle to it.
For example, I played in Toronto and before I went on I was changing in the bathroom and I realized that I didn’t have my squash shorts with me. So I had to play in my underwear. And then I ran out of the front of the venue down a street in Toronto, not realizing that they don’t have alleys in Toronto and their streets are a quarter mile long. So I had to run for almost a quarter mile in my underwear, with a mask, wielding a squash racket, and then turn the corner and change in someone’s front yard.
Watch our exclusive stream of The Eradicator's I'mma Be Me below:
The Eradicator's new album, Peak Eradicator, comes out September 30 via Say-10 Records, and is available for pre-order.
August
22 - Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club"
October
04 - Madison, WI @ The Wisco+
05 - Minneapolis, MN @ Palmer's Bar+
27 - Lexington, KY @ The Green Lantern*
28 - Knoxville, TN @ Bearden Brickyard*
29 - Charlotte, NC @ The Milestone Club*
30 - Athens, GA @ TBD*
31 - Gainesville, FL @ Boca Fiesta
November
11/02 - Gainesville, FL @ The Wooly (Fest 18)
" w/ The Lillingtons
+w/ The Brokedowns
*w/ Dollar Sings, Devon Kay & The Solutions
