I interviewed Chris Applegreen of Lookout! records and The Peechees fame in a white tile coffee shop on Shattuck Avenue. I had a Latte, he had some green tea and biscotti. The sterile whiteness of the cafe, coupled with all the tiles and stainless steel fixtures, reminded me of something medical, a clinic or a dentist's office perhaps.

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me: So, how have things been going this year?
Chris: Right now, everything has been going well. I think I had a lot of issues to work out this last year, and I'm happy that everything's been working out so well. For a while I felt as if I had bitten off more than I could chew, but I think it's all better now.
me: what sort of issues are you talking about?
Chris: Well, some personal ones, and some things to do with the label. There was that whole screeching weasel thing...
me:Yeah, I read your comments about that in some zine or something...You know, I was wondering if being a bigger label opened you up to more problems than a smaller label who could use their anonyminity as a shield.
Chris:I'm not certain what you're getting at.
me:well, the naked picture of the aformentioned band on the back of their back cover. Did you get in any trouble with that?
Chris: Oh, no I never heard any complaints. I really like that picture, because they're so young, and they have such great smiles. The album cover doesn't really show it, but they have really nice smiles. I think people don't think about the fact that they're naked when they see that they're having so much fun.
me: I'll have to look at it again. What do you think about the direction lookout is taking? Do you feel that the trend has been away from harder punk rock and towards more easily accessible music?
Chris: No, and I think that's completely mistaken. We put out records of bands we like, and that's it. We have a range of all sorts of bands on the label. At the lookout 10 year aniversary, we had the criminals and the phantom surfers playing together. I think that kind of contrast is nice. I mean, the criminals aren't crusty, dreadlocked kids with rotting teeth, but they are a lot less poppy than a lot of stuff. In fact, Jesse has very good teeth. You'd be suprised at how few kids in the punk scene take care of themselves, but he's got no cavities. Considering the sort of punk-rock lifestyle those people live....I mean it's just surprising.
me: Are there any plans at the label that people might not know about?
Chris: You were talking about the more hardcore stuff earlier, so this might make you happy. We've been talking to the Donnas about their new sound, and they're very excited about moving on into the mid-80's sort of thing. They're thinking about doing an album of Crucial Youth covers. You should hear them play "positive dental outlook." It's really good, and they do it all in a sort of surf style.
me:I never thought about doing joke straight-edge hardcore with a surf style.
Chris: Exactly! That's the sort of diversity I was talking about!
Me:ok...How about your band? Anything interesting going on there?
Chris: We just started playing again after a really long break. It was starting to get on my nerves. I get tense if I don't feel like I have some sort of creative outlet. I was just sitting around all day grinding my teeth. I have a bad habit of doing that. My dentist said that I would crack them all if I didn't relax.
Me: I grind my teeth a lot when I'm stressed too. Like when a zine has a poetry page or something.
Chris: Yeah. We're going to be playing a lot of shows now that Molly's better. I'm looking forward to it.
Me: What was wrong with her?
Chris: She had some complications with a root canal, and just couldn't play the drums while she was recovering. It had something to do with the bass vibrations. We're going to England on tour this summer, and that will be a great time. I love the English. They have the worst teeth in all of Europe, but they're really great people.
Me: Has having such success as a label brought any major changes in your life?
Chris: I really haven't done that much, but it is nice not to have to worry about some stuff, and I have the ability to treat myself to extra luxuries once in a while.
Me: such as?
Chris: You know how I was talking about how punks never seem to take care of themselves earlier? Look around next time you're at a show. Take a look at people's teeth, they all have really bad teeth. That bothers me, because if you're not taking care of your teeth, you're not taking care of yourself. When I was younger, I just didn't care about it enough. Now that I can afford to, I go to the dentist four times a year. He's a great guy, everyone at the label uses him. I got this hella old record player at a yard sale in berkeley, and I bring in records to play when I get my teeth cleaned.
Me: So you're getting you're teeth cleaned to the Mr T experience? doesn't that build up some strange pavlovian reactions to the music?
Chris: ha ha, No, I usually listen to classical. Brahms or Mozart. Wagner if there's some extra work he has to do.
Me: Oh.
Chris: I forgot to show you these! (pulls three toothbrushes from his pocket) See? Here's one with the label logo, and one with avail, and here's my favorite, the filth toothbrush! We're going to start packaging these with all our mail-order stuff. We want kids to take good care of themselves, and especially their teeth.
Me: Yeah. I think that's all the questions I have. Thanks a lot for taking the time....
Chris:no problem at all. Here. Have one of the toothbrushes.
Me: Thanks.

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