Once upon a time there was Wet-Nap. Now there is The Cost. But it is not the same band. And they only let three of their four members answer the following questions, which is funny only because it took the band roughly an entire year to complete and return this e-mail interview. But, once they did, they also supplied us with some swell photos so we have decided not to wage the smear campaign we had all set to go and will, instead, tell you that The Cost do indeed rule.

Names, ages, instruments, birth state of each member.
Shaun: 20, bass & vocals. I was born in Mt. Shasta, California.
Steve: Steve, 20yrs old, guitar and a little bit of vocals, born in Oakland, CA.
Sean: Sean, 23, baritone guitar. (Editor's Note: Mikey is also in The Cost; we have no idea what these three did with him during the interview.)

Why did you change the band name from Wet-Nap to The Cost?
Steve: Well I wouldn't say we "changed" the name, because we are really talking about two different bands, not a name change. Everything is different, including the lineup: Galen and Laird of Wet-Nap are not in The Cost, and Sean was never in Wet-Nap. The sound is also very different, The Cost plays music that I actually like whereas Wet-Nap was a way to poke fun at stuff by playing music that sucked. I would never even think to compare the two.
Shaun: Wet-Nap was a fun silly thing we did in high school. It was a big inside joke that went too far.

If you had to describe your sound using only one word, what would that word be?
Sean: Avuncular.
Shaun: Rock.
Steve: I can do it in one letter: "M".

Is recording a hard process for the band or do you glide through it?
Shaun: Recording is fun for us. We end up spending most of our time in the "naked go-go dancers and cocaine" room... but hey... what's recording all about anyway?!
Steve: I love recording. I have a lot of fun in the studio, just getting naked and rocking out, y'know. It can be very frustrating at times and sometimes I have to murder people but it's definitely worth it in the end.

How do you feel about how the self-titled CD turned out?
Shaun: Great. We have grown a lot since then and are working on more stuff that I am more proud of... but the reviews we've gotten from the CD have been amazing.
Steve: Well it's been a while and I'm still very proud of the 8 song CD on New Disorder/Bad Monkey. I'm also very excited about the stuff we're working on now which has taken a very different direction than most of the songs on the CD. I think that now that Sean has joined the band on baritone guitar, we are creating The Cost's best material yet.

Have you been in other bands/are you currently in other bands? Which ones?
Shaun: I've been in Wet-Nap, Cup o' Grind and I am currently working on a project called Pillow Biter.
Sean: My last band before this one was called End of the World, and I am starting a side project right now with Johnny from American Steel. The working title is Sumo, so keep yr ears open.
Steve: Jack Mackerel, Bob Crane's Finger, Dirt Nap, Wet Nap, Drop Time, Energy Expenditure, and Uncle Junk. Most of these bands never managed to play out or even practice, despite all members' uncanny ability to stay drunk most of the time - go figure. I'm not in any other bands right now, but I am looking for four other young attractive male vocalists (besides myself) to form a teen pop singing sensation with a black metal twist, sort of like N'sync meets Emperor, and every song will be about Y2K.

What was recording with Ryan Massey (from American Steel) and Andy Ernst like?
Shaun: Ryan is one of the sweetest guys in the world. He gets kind of frustrated with us in the studio sometimes... and if we don't get takes right by the 3rd time he starts making us take off our clothes. He's such a hoot. I wouldn't know about working with Andy Ernst. When they mastered the CD I was seeing Motley Crue play.
Steve: Recording with Ryan was great. I was the only one who actually made it to the mastering session with Andy Ernst, he was very cool and professional, nice guy too, and that studio he's got is amazing, it's really pretty.

How did you come to "hook up" (as I guess they say) with Bad Monkey and New Disorder?
Shaun: Both Mike from Bad Monkey & Ernst from New Disorder wanted to put out what would become the last Wet-Nap 7inch. They turned out to be great guys so we went with them for The Cost CD.

What is the East Bay scene like?
Sean: Mild climate, fairly sunny....
Steve: Oh, the scenery? The scenery is beautiful in the bay area! We have the mountains, the ocean, and the forests all right here at our fingertips. Not to mention the picturesque scenery of the wine country.

Do you plan to tour for the new record?
Steve: We weren't able to really "tour" for this CD. We are going to do a short tour in summer of 2000, and hopefully soon we'll have enough material for a full length CD/LP, at which point we'd think about doing a more ambitious tour.

Do you scare people live?
Steve: Sometimes, like once this kid knocked over one of our mic stands, and Shaun just kept waving a broken gin bottle and screaming "You want a piece of me, you dirty little French bastard!?! I'LL KILL YOU!" The kid was pretty scared I guess 'cause no one's seen him at a show since then.

Do you scare people in general?
Shaun: Well, Mikey scares me on a daily basis, Steve scares me when he's angry... and I dunno how anyone could be scared of Sean. He's so cute and fuzzy.
Steve: People are often stunned by my radiant beauty and swan like grace, but scared...? Yes.

What is in your tape deck/CD player/eight-track player/turntable right now?
Shaun: In the tape deck is a mixed tape my boyfriend made for me, CD player is dbs' Some Boys Got It, Most Men Don't, and my record player is spinnin' Reversal Of Man This is Medicine.
Sean: On the turntable I have Shellac At Action Park, in the CD player I have a Darla records comp, and in the tape deck I have a Mountain Goats bootleg.
Steve: Record Player: Slint - Spider Land; CD Player: June of '44 - Four Great Points; Computer: mp3s of dbs' soon to be released CD - If Life Were a Result We'd All Be Dead; Tape Deck - Mix tape of sad songs by sad people

Who writes the lyrics? Is there a flow of underlying themes and mysterious stories to them?
Sean: We do, and no.
Shaun: We all try to have creative input in lyric writing. Writing lyrics is hard.
Steve: We have lyrics?

Is the Cost trying to convey a message?
Sean: Yes.
Steve: My personal focus is mainly the composing of the instrumental music, and not so much the lyrics, so if there is a message in the music itself, and I think there is, then I believe it can only be conveyed through the music and not with words.

What are your feelings on the approaching upswing of music being banned by the government because of the opinion that people will get the wrong idea from a band?
Sean: Stop talking all crazy! Wait, is this a hypothetical question?
Steve: Well, I'm firmly against censorship of any kind, so naturally I'm opposed to banning music. "If guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars!"

Who did the artwork for the cover?
Steve: All the artwork on the CD comes from a series of etchings by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes called "Los Caprichos". The front cover is called "El sueno de la razon produce monstruos" or "The sleep of reason begets monsters". I picked it because I felt that the statement the artist was making about creativity without discipline relates to our music in an interesting way.

Would you take a big chunk of cash from a major label? How about from a Christian label?
Shaun: Yes. I doubt it would ever happen with the type of music we play but yeah. I would.
Steve: Hmm, well I have no qualms about selling out if that's what you mean. We all talked this over a long time ago and we all agreed that we would definitely sell out to a major label if offered. I think we owe it to ourselves, we all have to work 40 hours a week to afford to live and play music, if we got paid to play music we could be doing so much more. As far as a Christian Label, well I doubt that they would be interested in us, but I think we'd consider it. I don't think it would make sense to turn someone down who wanted to put our music out just because they happen to be keen on Jesus. Basically I want to write and put out as much stuff as we can, and anyone who wants to help with that or even pay us is doing us a big favor.
Sean: We have talked about turning the band into something of an institution, but personally, Catholic school ruined Christians for me.

Who was the first band you were ever a fan of?
Shaun: Motley Crue
Sean: The Beatles.
Steve: Run D-M-C and Jam Masta' J!

Sum up your childhood in two words or less.
Steve: I can't.
Sean: Grass......dirt.
Shaun: In trouble.

Were you spanked as a kid? If so, why?
Sean: None of your business, but I did have it coming to me I'm sure.
Steve: Only a couple of times. My mom spanked me when I was little and I did stupid things that endangered my life, like running into the middle of a busy street.
Shaun: I did. I always talked back.

What is your favorite book and why?
Shaun: Weetzie Bat
Steve: HuckleBerry Finn, because it's one of the books my dad read to me as a kid.