PM: Do you still skate?
Johnny Witmer: Yes I still skate. I try to do it as much as possible. I can still do pivot to fakie on any ramp.
PM: You gotta day job – how ‘bout the rest of the folks you play music with?
JW: No. Most of the guys are professional drug addicts. We all hustle, though. 2 of the Stitches guys are professional sober guys now.
PM: What prompted you to start The Crazy Squeeze?
JW: Johnny Sleeper (original Stitches drummer) and I had another band, about 2 years ago, called the 10ors. We had Jimmy Greco (pro skater) and Francois from Motorcycle Boy in the band. We did some recordings and played some gigs, but then it fizzled out. Sleeper & I had a bunch of rehearsal time booked for the 10ors, so we just started writing new songs. We got a bass player, and second guitar player & called it The Crazy Squeeze.
PM: Is this the first tour with that band?
JW: Yeah. We had some tour stuff booked for last November, but we had to cancel. We ended up getting rid of the 2nd guitar player at that time, and we had to find a new one. That's when we got Frankie from The Teenage Frames.
PM: I really like some of the Teenage Frames releases – how’d you meet Frankie Delmane? And why/when’d he leave Chicago?
JW: I’ve known Frankie for about 10 years. I met him through a mutual friend. The Frames played a show in Hollywood, and the door guy left his seat open. I jumped into his seat and started charging people money. We were able to buy tons of drinks with the cash. This cracked Frankie up, and we’ve been friends ever since. Frankie had to leave Chicago, because he got the reputation as being a sexual predator. Plus he hates cold weather
PM: Describe the musical differences between the Stitches and the Crazy Squeeze (apart from the fact that your new group is more Dollsy)?
JW: The Crazy Squeeze can actually play their instruments.
PM: What label’s the new single on, when’s it out and how’d you settle on the two tracks that are gonna be on there (how many songs you guys got at this point/what’s your set like)?
JW: We’ve had a few offers from labels to put out the 7”, but they all fell through do to everyone being broke/ bad economy. We’re gonna put the 7” out on the Stitches label Vinyl Dog records. We’ve had the 2 songs recorded since last year, and it should be out this summer. We have about 15-02 songs (including a few covers). We usually do about 10-12 song live set. [CON’T]