Jen from SD Music Matters was nice enough to put us on the cover at a late date. Instead of doing the usual article, she wrote a flattering intro and then asked us questions which we answered via e-mail. Luckily, she edited our responses. Unfortunately for you, we give you our rambling unedited answers....

1. How did it feel to win the SD Music Award for best pop act in San Diego for 2004?

Nas: It was fun because not everyone was at the bar yet, so we got a lot of crowd response. Troy Johnson's definition of the category really set a nice stage for us, because 'Pop' is such a weird term, as it carries a lot of un-favorable connotations. But that's just because few people have done it well. And anyways, what was punk is now pop, simply by virtue of it's longevity and legacy. No one's scared of The Clash anymore, but the music is still revered.

Dylan: It felt nice. Really, Really nice.

Adam: Super popular. We won the popular vote and everyone knows that the most popular bands are the best. By the way, thanks to all 5 of our friends who came to our M-Theory instore.

Kevin: It was comparable to winning citizen of the month in elementary school for the month of June and finding out that I won out of pity only because my mom made the best cookies at the PTA meetings all year. I'd actually prefer the bumper sticker over the SDMA.

2. What pop bands have influenced your music?

Adam: There's too many to name and, honestly, I really wish they'd stop influencing me. It's so ingrained in my brain that it's hard to try to write something that doesn't have a hook. What most people consider pop music is not my thing anymore. I get a lot of newer pop music recommended to me because of bands I used to like and I rarely like it. I don't really mind being labeled pop because that just means we write good hooks. We're really more hip-hop, yo, but I still love me some Redd Kross, Bee Gees, New Pornographers, Zombies and Big Star.

Dylan: Tony Orlando and Dawn. The Carpenters. 10cc. Starship. Air Supply.

Nas: Pop Now or Pop Then? My biggest influences would have to be Weezer, Nirvana (who BECAME pop via radio play and such) and Pearl Jam. I was loving the 90's, but a lot of that stuff rubs me wrong now. Just reminds me too much of my goofy High School years, when I took myself waaaaay too seriously, and so did the bands I liked.

3. What bands and/or musicians in genres other than pop have influenced each of you?

Adam: Popsongs can be dressed up in all kinds of music and that's what we try to do. Country music is the most obvious non-pop influence in Rookie Card but I'm a poseur because it's a fairly new interest for me. I love stuff like Bob Wills, Old 97's, Hatchet Brothers and the entire Country Bear Jamoboree catalog. I also like a lot of old jazz and ska. That reminds me. I bought a t-shirt at a rock shop in Mexico recently that had a big picture of Elmo on it and said "SKA". I told the store owner that it made no sense and he said, "Yes! Mexico! Makes no sense!"

Dylan: Beatles, GBV, The Police blah blah blah.

Nas: I was really inspired by local bands LOAM and Dryve back in their day. The part of me that appreciates country rock (I know this is true for Kevin, too) was brought out by those bands. I never saw Americana for what it was until I saw LOAM doing Johnny Cash covers, and it really moved me away from "the metal years" of my teens. I mean, up until then, I was looking at Queensryche, Iron Maiden and Def Lepperd as the pinnacle of music genius. I seriously don't want to say "I'm over it, cool me", but I'm glad my horizons have been broadened. And these days, being in Rookie Card is a huge influence. I just found out who Alex Chilton is, and I want all of the Big Star catalogue. Thanks Adam.

I also wanna say that I was heavily inspired by a guy named Shawn Papiro I played with in a band called Revelation, right before I joined Rookie Card. We played a kind of hardcore/classic rock thing. Very experimental and very much fulfilling. Shawn inspired me to push myself on the drums, to get better and really go as far as I could. My whole time with that band, those guys, inspires me to this day, even though the music RC plays is very different.

Kevin: I probably would never have been receptive to ROOKIE CARD'S style if it wasn't for the profound influence of the local country rock sound of the Hatchet Brothers, whose members includes local legend Gregory Page, Frank Lee Drennen, as well as Jack Reynolds and Charlie McRee who front our fellow nominated and far better band, Momma.

4. Your band name is Rookie Card and your new cd is entitled Near Mint. Why all the baseball references?

Adam: That's from my youth. I was a fiend for baseball history when I was a kid but I quickly let it go to obsess on music. Luckily, I never bothered to throw out my baseball cards or drawings I did when I was growing up. I haven't really followed baseball since the 7th grade but I still love catching a game.

Dylan: You gotta reference something.

Nas: I actually came up with the name Near Mint as more of an homage to our geekery. I mean, we're not a new band, but we're just getting our groove. Near Mint, which collectors use a lot to describe something that's been kept in good condition but certainly handled and appreciated, is kinda how I view us and our music. We're just getting to a place that more and more people can appreciate, I hope.

As for the baseball references, it's all Adam, but I see it as kind of deconstructionist. We're an American band, Baseball is an "American" sport, and that's really the only connection. It's funny, because we spent time on tour staying at a house in San Francisco with some really gracious guys, all of whom were EXTREME sports fans. The whole band had nothing to say about the games being watched or the teams being commented on, other than maybe what we used to see when we were kids. To me, the baseball stuff represents any facet of our individual fanaticism with anything pop-culture. For me, I couldn't tell you more than three of the current Padres line-up, but I CAN tell you the names of every character to ever appear in a Street Fighter videogame.

5. You brought THE chicken famous for antics on sport fields across the nation to your SDMM photoshoot. Can you please explain to SDMM readers why the chicken is significant to Rookie Card and how you managed to get him to come in for photos with Rookie Card?

Adam: Kevin and I both did college radio at San Diego State University's KCR and they recently had their first ever alumni reunion, which we actually played. Ted Giannoulas was at the evening reception and I was cajoled into approaching him to see if he'd come down for the photoshoot. Kevin dared me and called me chicken ("Bock bock bock." that's an exact quote). I told Ted how we'd played Jack Murphy Stadium last year on the same night he was performing. We were told that they'd show video of us on the Jumbotron around the 4th inning but all we got was that damn Chicken. When I got up to get ice cream in the 8th inning, they showed it. I also told him the true story of my 3rd grade substitute teacher Mr Maas bitching about how HE could've been the San Diego Chicken but he didn't fit in the suit. Ted thought it was so funny that he agreed to do the photoshoot on less than 24 hours notice FOR FREE. For a guy who's performed to MILLIONS of people and probably gets paid a truckload of money to do personal appearances, he had absolutely NO ego. He couldn't have been any nicer. When I told him that, he said "Hey, I'm just a guy in a chicken suit!" For real, yo. I kept talking into the Chicken's eyes even though he sees out of the beak. We all just kept laughing at the absurdity of being there with him. Think about it. Name a more recognizable celebrity from San Diego. You can't. Thanks Ted.

Kevin: The Chicken is the ultimate representation of what Rookie Card strives to be. He's made our lives fun by adding humor and music to baseball, while we make fun of life by adding baseball and humor to music. After the KCR reunion, I suggested we do the photoshoot in animal costumes. Then when Adam noted how cool it would be if we could dress up like team mascots, his friend Andy told us that THE mascot was actually there at the reunion. Once we cornered him, it didn't take much to convince him to join us. He's quite possibly the coolest chicken I know.

Dylan: He's just someone we grew up watching. He showed up because The Card has just that much clout around here. Celebrities hang with celebrities after all.

Nas: Go, Adam and Kevin.

> 5. Where is your secret show on November 13th, 2004 and why is it secret?

Nas: Secret Show?

Kevin: It's a mystery to me.

Adam: If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret. It was hard enough trying to not tell our friends that we hung out with the San Diego Chicken. We're trying not to ruin a surprise for someone who might be reading this magazine but drop us an e-mail at rookies@rookiecardthemovie.com and we'll tell you. It's going to be a VERY cool setting for a show. (this was actually a surprise birthday party for a friend at Limbo, a really cool Hillcrest art studio.)

> 6. Rookie Card has been called a group of “pop culture sluts” in prior press. How did the band react to this? Do you consider yourselves sluts?

Adam: I talked about sleeping with people to get our SD Music Award in our acceptance speech but it was always one person at a time. Part of my day job is to market and promote my business. Selling yourself is pretty gross, so we find things to get the word out that are fun so it's not so bad. If a great band plays in the forest and no one is there to hear it, they're still great but it'd be more fun if they could get a few hundred sluts to come and rock out in the forest with them. What was the question?

Nas: I was a bit...put off by the term. I think we certainly try to connect to people through pop-culture, but there's nothing we shill that we don't in some way like or respect (except, I'm not too fond of the Playboy rookie cards we've handed out as of late. A little much). I really make it a point to not say things that aren't true, and I've felt in the past that when we say we like someone or something, that some think we're just saying so to get "cred" with them; to namedrop or whatever. I can tell you: I really mean it when I say I like this or that. I'm super-enthusiastic about other people's creativity, refined or not, and wish more of the "scene" was too. Whatever the "scene" is.

Dylan: I'm more of a Ho than a slut. I must be paid for my services.

Kevin: While in the band? No way, unless you count the whole audition process.

7. The first time I heard Rookie Card I thought “Damn, these guys make almost as many pop culture refernces as the Beastie Boys!” What do you think is the most obscure pop culture reference you made on your new cd Near Mint?

Adam: It's probably because I'm a Jewish guy named Adam. If you're obsessed with Press Your Luck, Pole Position, C&C Music Factory or Xanadu, we might not seem so obscure. I make a reference to a beautiful Big Star song written by Chris Bell called "Watch The Sunrise". It's probably my favorite line on the record.

Nas: I like the last riff in "After the Beep". A little Poison never hurt anybody. Also, our record "label", Blanco Nino, is a reference to some videos floating around on the internet that we all love. Really too much to explain. Just Google it.

Kevin: I wouldn't catch them anyway since they all pre-date me.

Dylan: We reference ourselves in "Got No Time". We really are out of control.

> 8. What do you consider to be the high point of the band’s history to date?

Adam: Doing a photoshoot with the San Diego Chicken. I'm still shaking.

Nas: I really, really enjoyed playing the SDMA afterparty this year. Sharing the stage with so many great guys is the whole reason I want to play music and love this band. It's a serious honor to have vets like the Dragons feel confident enough in our backbone to jump up onstage with us and rock out. Plus, there's always a danger of something going wrong, so when it goes well, it's magic. Even if it doesn't, it's still an experience I wouldn't trade. The whole afterparty was magic.

Dylan: When Dylan "Tex" Martinez walked through the door. The award was also good.

Kevin: When we organized planes to fly directly overhead to start and end "Back In The USSR" outside of the Casbah at our album release show.

> 9. You’ve been together for approximately 3 years? What have you observed about the San Diego music scene in that time? Has it changed? If yes, in what way?

Adam: I think there's more good bands in San Diego than there's ever been. Even better is that they're all so different and yet a lot of them are friends. There's still pockets of "cooler than you" but if you don't like Rick Astley, then don't come see us play.

Nas: I'd say it's become a lot more eclectic. There's something for everyone in San Diego, and the quality and strength of all the bands is amazing. But San Diego has always been a diverse town; just now, the music is following suit in a major way. Of course, I think the lower costs of recording and quality are going a long way in furthuring that across the country.

However, I also think that a lot of the bands that people have always thought of as "San Diego" bands are going away, or just moving out of the general consciousness as "local". Success seems to breed resentment, which is a ridiculous shame. And it just perpetuates itself. Don't hate Blink cuz they're beautiful, y'know?

Dylan: It's the same 'ol thing night after freakin' night. I love it.

Kevin: It's seen the emergence of a few great music publications that are dedicated to supporting...wait, how much did you say you'd pay me to say this?...Nope, nevermind, as far as I can tell, nothing much has happened.

> 10. How does Rookie Card intend to “Bock You Like A Hurricane” in 2005?

Dylan: One word. SPANDEX. Tons and tons of spandex.

Nas: Prepare for Rookie Card Mark 2. Experimental Jazz Fusion. Our bassist wrote this one...

Kevin: In an attempt to further our appeal, we're in talks about releasing a whole line of products including lunch boxes and a new fragrance.

Adam: We were hoping that this covershoot would lead to more poultry related shows but judging from the pettiness of the manager of the KFC at 4140 Convoy Street that wouldn't even let me BUY an empty classic style bucket even after I bought $8.00 worth of chicken, I think it's unlikely. By the way, someone told me that they knew someone who made a huge KFC bucket sign into a hot tub. How cool is that?!