A Blue Heaven Chat with Riley Breckenridge of Puig Destroyer

It sure seems like the past couple of weeks has been all about Yasiel Puig.

And, why not?  The Dodgers have been in the dumps, so anything that can divert our attention, even for a little bit, would surely be welcomed.  As it happened, Puig ended up being much more than a temporary departure from our losing ways.  He has become the "next big thing".

Heck, Yasiel Puig's greatness even spawned a new band called Puig Destroyer, and last week the very first track from their first recording went live.  Listen to it at the very bottom.

Well, being an aging metalhead myself, I decided to reach out to a band member for a fun interview.  So, a big Blue Heaven thank you to Riley Breckenridge for taking the time to answer some questions, via email. As you'll notice, I tried to be funny, but that's just not my forte.  Anyway, check out the chat below.  BTW, bandmate Ian Miller also gave an interview to Decibel Magazine that you can check out right here.  You can also get a Puig Destroyer T-shirt here, follow them on twitter here, and as proof of their Baseball fandom bona fides check out their Baseball blog called Productive Outs.

Now, on to the interview.

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions regarding your new band, Puig Destroyer.

Q:  Obviously, as a die-hard Dodger fan the idea of a Puig inspired band makes so much sense.  I wonder, though how did this entire concept come together?

A:  It's silly, really. The name "Puig Destroyer" came up, in passing, during a discussion of Puig on an episode of the weekly Productive Outs podcast that I do with my good friend Ian Miller. There's an awesome grindcore band called Pig Destroyer that we're both fans of, and I said something along the lines of "There should be a grindcore band called Puig Destroyer". Nine days after that utterance, we are that band. I sent Ian the drum track for "One Man, Five Tools" the next day, he wrote a bass line for it immediately, I enlisted my good friend (and Giants fan) Mike Minnick from Curl Up and Die to do vocals, and Ian pulled Jon Howell (his bandmate in Kowloon Walled City) to play guitar. We'll have an EP done fairly soon.

Q:  I saw that you just released the first track of your EP and noticed the lyrics.  It's so concise and direct.  A line stuck out to me.  It was "F*** the Walk".  So, what do you have against a high on-base percentage?

A:  We love OBP, that line is just a playful nod toward Puig's tendency to swing at almost everything. The guy almost never walks. It's uncanny.

Q:  Next thing you'll tell me is that you hate the bunt.  Heck, one of your songs should be about the day Puig bunted and the universe collapsed on itself.  (I guess this really isn't a question)

A:  We do hate the bunt. Giving away outs is never a good thing ... even if said outs move runners into scoring position. You have a finite number of outs in a baseball game, giving them away doesn't help. I know there's a stat out there that proves that. I'm just too lazy to dig it up. Trust me on this one. The bunt is entirely overused and almost always unproductive.

Q:  When will additional songs be available?  Can you tell us a little bit about future recordings?

A:  We'll have the EP done within a week or two. Who knows if this will be a one-off, or something we do for a while, but given the overwhelming support we've gotten and the amount of fun we've had making these songs, I'd guess that the latter is probably more likely.

Q:  I understand that you are a Angels fan.  Since the Dodgers and Angels are both in the cellar after spending big dollars this offseason, do you see any light in the tunnel for either teams?

A:  Sadly, no. The Dodgers seem to be harangued by injuries and poor managing, while the Angels spent a boatload of cash to "improve" their offense, when their starting pitching and bullpen were actually the problem. And the Halos' minor-league system is widely regarded as the worst in baseball, so not only are they lacking in depth, but they have virtually nothing left to trade for MLB-caliber help.

Q:  I also understand that two of your bandmates are Giants fans.  Is there any chance you can do a Ian Kennedy and throw at their heads for us?

A:  I can't do that. I actually enjoy watching the Giants. They're a fascinating group of characters/players and as a baseball fan first and a single-team fanatic second, I just like watching compelling baseball. The Giants are compelling to me.

Q:  BTW, how are Dodger fans supposed to know if their participation isn't some sort of mocking gesture on their part?  As you can tell I'm a little distrustful of the boys in Halloween colors.

A:  I can assure you that it's not mocking. We're all enormous baseball and music fans at our core. This project is the perfect marriage of the two, and more fun than anything we've ever done musically. This is all coming from a happy place, regardless of allegiances.

Q:  Will there be any live performances in the future?

A:  It hasn't been discussed. Logistically, it might be tough (because two of us are in the Bay Area, one of us is in Chicago, and I am in SoCal and we all have jobs and responsibilities and such), but I wouldn't say that it's entirely out of the question ... just ... uh ... mostly unlikely.

Q:  Finally, As I'm sure you've noticed Puig recently heard the first track at the MLB FanCave today and said, "That's Very Good".  Any initial reactions?  Do you think Puig's a metalhead?  What instrument do you think he'd play?  How do you think Puig would do if a slam pit started up?

A:  We were blown away. That this thing went from a joke on a podcast, to recorded music, to available to the public, to Yasiel Puig's eardrums in less than two weeks is a testament to how amazing (and horrifying) the Internet is. When that Vine clip hit the Internet on Monday, I about crapped myself. And the internal dialogue between band members today (Monday) has been more of the same. We're beyond thankful for the support we've gotten. We're so grateful for all of the links and retweets and coverage we've gotten from music and baseball media outlets. It's been overwhelming. I mean, obviously we hoped people would like it, but we figured it'd be a pretty niche project. You know, posted, appreciated by a few diehard Dodgers fans, Productive Outs fans, fans of our respective bands, etc.  That it's gotten as much attention as it has is just crazy. It's so surreal.

Again, a big THANK YOU to Riley for taking the time to respond to my silly questions.  I definately look forward to hearing more from Puig Destroyer and will let you all know when new songs come about.

In the meantime, if you haven't heard the first track from them yet then listen to it below:



Pic Credit at Top: Earn it Yourself:

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