Anything Box

Why did you choose Anything Box for the band's name?

Claude: It comes from a book called The Anything Box. The book was written by Zenna Henderson, a woman who writes these Twilight Zone type books. This particular story was about this little girl who whenever she put her hands together she saw the world exactly how she wanted it to be. Her dad was going to jail. Her mom had a bad reputation, and the girl envisioned her life far different from her parents'.

What made you move Anything Box from Jersey to Southern California?

Claude: We had promises that were made to us by a record company. I met this manager who said we'd have a better chance of success if we moved to the West Coast. I agreed, feeling that if I were always in his face as opposed to being 2,000 miles away, our needs would be better served. As well, I really felt the band was in need of a shakeup, and the move would force us to decide if this was the life we wanted. One band member decided this wasn't what he wanted, but that gave us the opportunity to add Paul, who we met when we came to L.A.

Why did Paul leave Anything Box a couple of years after joining it?

Claude: When he left it wasn't a personality conflict or anything, it was just that Paul was tired of playing keyboards and wanted to go the acoustic-guitar route. When he left, that reduced the band to two, with Dania [Morales, a founding member] and I, and we really felt a void. That's when my brother came on board. We needed that third person to give Anything Box more depth.

How tough has it been to see band members come and go?

Claude: When Dania decided to leave Anything Box it was really tough on me. She was at a point in her career where she was more interested in staying in the dance-music route and wasn't interested in playing rock 'n' roll. It took me a long time to get over her leaving. We had been together for so long and had developed really good chemistry. I have to say, though, that Dave has done a great job at filling her void, because the two of us have picked up where Dania and I left off.

How do you know when you guys have made it ?

Dave: I honestly feel we've reached that point. For me, as a newer member of the group, I have found a group of guys and I am really picky about who I play with, and not because I feel I'm better than everybody else, but I have a tough time clicking with people. But when I met these guys I knew it was right. So from my standpoint I've made it. I get to play music and travel around the world with people I thoroughly enjoy being with.

Paul: I think it's hard to define when you've made it, because for some it's when they have the big house or that amazing car or you play the big concert. I think for the artist you know you've made it when you produce an album or song that you are so proud of. That's when you feel the satisfaction that you've actually done something worthy. Your success amongst fans is more a measure of popularity.Have you ever considered modifying your music somewhat for a fu-ture album to see if you can reach a greater audience?

Claude: It's hard being a pop group like we are. I think that if we were prepared to give up some artistic control to a music company and allowed them to modify our music, that in turn would reach a larger audience, then we might have more financial success. Call it stubbornness or what you want, but it's just not something that we are prepared to do. Some people in this industry are just singers. They have people write their music and they sing it. That's great, and I have no problem with that, but that's not what Anything Box is all about. I firmly believe that one day we will have our own empire. Ultimately we'll make our own records and have our own record company.

Dave: I could easily write a successful hip-hop-style or heavy-metal album, and I know we could cash out, but it's just not worth it. The ride is not worth it to me if we have to conform to a record company's wishes and in turn compromise our beliefs.

How would you describe your fans?

Claude: We have a weird bunch of fans. They are very pop oriented. We've got hot, sexy chicks, we've got punk rockers, people ranging anywhere from 18 to 50.

How would you define your music?

Group: Loud! It's a modern rock 'n' roll.
Claude: I write music that I hope has a positive effect on people and that I hope will make you look at life differently. For me, the Beatles have always had a great influence on me, and I know when you hear our music you'll hear that Beatles influence. When you listen to our albums, though, some will have that Beatles- or Kinks-type sound while others won't be anything like it.

What kind of music do you guys hate?

Paul: I want to go on record for saying this: There might be one song that I like and I may try to remix it out of spite for them. But basically, all the chords that Steely Dan played just give me the hives. I know they are great musicians, but that is exactly the type of music I'm trying to avoid.

What is the best part about living the rock-star lifestyle?

Gary: It's when you go on tour and get to see different places. But nothing is better than when you hear you've had a positive effect on someone's life.

Dave: For me, it's like when someone comes up to me and says, Man, I had a horrible week, but your show just made this a great week. Once in Chicago this girl came up to me and said, You guys have really inspired me to want to play and write my own music. I know it sounds kind of sappy. But to me, if you can help someone have a better day, then that's great.

Paul: What's weird is that when you're in a band, every month, every week you have a story that you could tell a friend. It seems selfish to think this way, but your friends would die to have one of those stories, one of those weekends, or one of those events. It would satisfy them for ten years. We had a chance to go to the Penthouse mansion. That in itself is pretty awesome. We've been to places like Brazil and Germany.

Claude: What did I say last night when we were having coffee? We were sitting in the coffeehouse, and I turned and looked at the band and said, Do you know we're the only four guys in Southern California who are going to be talking to Penthouse tomorrow? [Everybody laughs.]

What did your parents say when you told them you wanted to be rock stars?

Dave: You're dumb. You can't make money doing that. Then when they saw that we were performing around the world, they changed their tune.

Paul: My parents were supportive, but you could tell they didn't like the idea. When they heard us on the radio for the first time they completely changed their tune. They realized that my career path was viable.

Gary: Our mom was cool about it. My dad was hoping for something else. Our dad was a soccer player, and he wished that one of us would become a soccer player. He was like, You can't read music. No one is going to take a band seriously if you can't read music, and you can't write either, can you?

Claude: I can write it in my head. I just can't read sheet music. He kept trying to push me into soccer, but after 20 years I think I made the right decision.

What do you think about these packaged bands like the Backstreet Boys?

Claude: It is simply a definition of character. If I was just a singer and couldn't write, and just wanted to perform, I could feel perfectly at home with someone handing me a song and going onstage and singing it. I have total respect for them. My thing for us is that we write it, record it, and produce it down to the very last letter, so it's hard for us to have someone tell us it would be a hit if you had so-and-so to come in and do this. We're like, Screw you. It's the four of us. Could you imagine the record company saying to John Lennon, Hey we don't like the way you sing Twist and Shout'? We have this guy who screams really well, so we're going to have him do it. It just wouldn't work.

Who stays in better hotels you guys or the Backstreet Boys?

Paul: You have some promoters that really treat you like gold and get you a three-room suite in a Chicago high-rise and it's totally awesome. Then other times you get stuck in some place that you wouldn't even let your dog sleep in. We stayed at some place in Texas that was frightening. Half the place was for the general public and the other half was an old-person's extended-stay place. When I got to my bed there was a stain on the comforter. I was like, That's not so good. I pull back the comforter and I see a pubic hair. Fantastic! Then I pull back the sheet and see a cricket. I felt that crickets were better than stains or hair, so I slept on the cricket level. When I opened my bag in the next city, it was filled with crickets.

Are there any Hollywood moments you want to share with us?

Claude: Here's a story for ya. Paul and I had a meeting in Hollywood with Billboard. The guy from Billboard calls me and says, This is where we are meeting, and if you get lost here's the phone number, and write down Sin ad. I'm like, Sin ad? He says, Yeah. It's going to be at Sin ad O'Connor's house. So Paul and I are driving, and we're like, We're going to Sin ad O'Connor's house. Talk about trippy. We get there, she walks out and says, You guys must be Claude and Paul. The guy you're meeting is not here yet. I'm going shopping, so just go in and make yourselves right at home.

Paul: I went to the bathroom, and sitting in the bathroom is all of her gold and platinum records stacked against the toilet. Here I am taking a leak, trying to be careful not to pee on them. The last thing I wanted to do was to splatter on these platinum records.

What were the biggest roadblocks that you've had to face on the way to success?

Claude: Money.

Dave: Team of people to push our band.

Group: Money is definitely the main issue.

Claude: I think in the past we were very strict with our needs and wants. What always seems to keep us from the mainstream is that we are not prepared to compromise. We are very anti-music industry, so when record labels ask us to conform to what may be popular, we wouldn't do it if it meant to compromise.

Is that what led to your split from Epic Records?

Paul: I'm sure we could have had a longer, greater relationship with them if we would have sacrificed artistic control. But the artistic control they wanted us to sacrifice went right against the grain of our soul. As the artist, you want to make the albums that suit you. If you allow the record company to remix the album or promote it or redo it a certain way ... We're not a boy pop band, where someone can hand us a song and make us sing it. We're the one's that make the music.

Dave, you seem to be a lot younger than the rest of the band. How did they stumble into you?

Dave: I was working at a music store that they used to come into. The guys invited me to the studio to check it out. I thought the music was rad, and the rest is history.

Who gets the hottest women?

Group: [All laugh hysterically.]

Claude: Let's just say I've woken up and knocked on Paul's door and there were women everywhere. Although I think Dave is about to overtake him in this category shortly.

Dave: C'mon, I'm so boring I just get tired and go to sleep after a show.

What's it like when you meet people who at first don't realize you're in a band?

Dave: One time I was at a friend's house, and she had some people come over, and I didn't know any of them. Long story short, I was playing the guitar and this guy comes over and says, I can play guitar and he basically ripped it out of my hands. I'm like, whatever. He asked me if I was in a band, and when I told him I played in Anything Box, he was like, Are you serious? Do you know Claude? Do you know Paul? Yes, I know them. Then he starts playing one of our songs, and that was pretty weird. It was kind of freaky. Then he turns to me, and he's kind of drooling, and says, How do you play that song? It was nice.

Paul: I had this poster of our first album up on a wall in my apartment. This girl I know brought a friend over to my place, and she's looking around and sees the poster and starts going crazy. She goes, That's an Anything Box poster. I can't believe you're into Anything Box. I don't know many people who know them. Don't you like them? Aren't they amazing? I'm like, Yeah, they're cool. I'm just going along with it. I thought my friend had put her up to this and was playing some practical joke. She started rattling off the songs. Finally I told her that I was in Anything Box, and that freaked her out.

What's it like to hear another band play your music?

Paul: There is a band called the Echoing Green. They do a great job of covering our song.

Dave : Yeah, it sucks when they do it better than we do. Honestly, they do a great job covering our music, and they're a great bunch of guys. It's very flattering.

Paul: I don't know how happy they're going to be being mentioned in this interview, being a Christian band. [Everybody laughs.]

What's it like hearing your music played on radio stations?

Claude: It is the weirdest feeling in the world. Here's a great story. We were playing in Texas and my wife decided to surprise me, so she drove from California to Texas. She realized after doing so that the only thing worse would be to have to drive home. So I gave her my plane ticket and drove back. I heard our music throughout that drive home on the radio. It was so weird. I'd be switching stations and it was like it's me again. It's me again. It was a freaky feeling.

Are there any quirky demands that you've asked of promoters when you go on tour?

Gary: I always ask for comic books, and to this day I've never gotten one.

Dave: The only thing I want is to have an abundance of Snapple to drink. They'll give us beer to our hearts' content but no Snapple.

Paul: We'll ask for two pizzas before a show. It's 50/50 if we get them.

Dave: It's not like we're asking for only green M&Ms take the other colors out.

When was the last time you trashed a hotel room?[Everybody laughs hysterically.]

Claude: We tried the rock-'n'-roll thing. First we get into Houston. We take all the furniture out of the room and stick it in an elevator, plants and all with the four of us in the elevator. We would hit the buttons randomly, the doors open, and we would say to people, C'mon in and have a drink. People are looking at us like we're nuts. One of the guests tells the hotel manager what's going on so he started chasing us around. The manager comes up to me and says, Are you guys ... and before he could say anything more I said, I'm glad you found us. There are these crazy girls that are doing these crazy things. You have to protect us. He takes us back up to our rooms through the service elevator, and when he leaves we start all over again. This is how pathetic we are. We tried to throw a champagne bottle out of our hotel window and it bounced. It didn't break. It bounced. It hit the concrete and bounced.

Finish this sentence: I got so drunk that I ...

Gary: I picked a fight with a bouncer at a nightclub after fooling around with this girl to this day, I don't know her name and they practically had to pull me off her. One minute the girl and me are talking, and the next I'm in dreamland with her. I had no idea what was going on around me. I didn't even know if there was anyone else in the club.

Dave: I sang karaoke, and I hate karaoke.

What does it take to get a backstage pass at an Anything Box concert?

Gary: Just make one [laughs].

Paul: I just have to be honest about this. If there is a hot girl and I'm absolutely single and she comes up and smiles, you just hand her the pass.

Why is it that rock stars get to date hot models?

Dave: I can't figure it out. I've been trying to learn how to do it.

Paul: Why wouldn't they? I'm sure mechanics want to hook up with models. I just think it's an attraction to the lifestyle.

Dave: If that hot chick from 40 Days and 40 Nights is reading this, I'm very available.It always seems that actors want to be musicians, musicians want to be actors, and athletes want to be musicians.

Have you ever wanted to make the crossover into acting?

Paul: I've had the opportunity to be an extra on the Drew Carey Show and Melrose Place, and what I found out from my experience is that I can definitely see why actors would want to be musicians, but I can't see why a musician would want to be an actor. Those guys have these 14-hour days sitting in a trailer, and when they finally have their scene to do, they are living someone else's life. That's not so much fun. I'd rather work for three hours a day and sleep the rest.

What clubs have the best pussy?

Paul: Any lizard lounge in the state of Texas. The best-looking girls you have ever seen.

Have you ever caught people doing it in the audience?

Claude: Yes! In Chicago. Remember that chick getting it on with her boyfriend in the back?

Paul: Oh yeah. The Congress Theatre. There was some overambitious lap dancing going on.

Claude : We ran into them in a diner after the show, and they came up to us and said, We were fucking during the show, and I said, No shit.

What was the most unusual place you've ever had sex?

Paul: It was in Texas, and one of the few times we shared rooms. Well, Claude's wife had come to the show, so her and Claude were in the bed next to me and this girl who I had met the night before. I was 19 and I had only been with one girl before, so I wasn't going to blow the opportunity. Well, the next morning the phone rings, and Claude's wife turns to answer the phone and at the same time my girl rolled over to answer the phone. Now they're kind of staring at each other, and Claude's wife rolls back over pretending she was sleeping. It's the first and only time I did another girl with both he and his wife watching.

Claude: For me it was like watching an entire porno. I had told Paul I never saw a thing that went on with he and that girl. Well, I lied! [Everyone laughs.]

What are the toughest cities to play in?

Dave: New York, because if you're bad they'll tell you. In L.A. they're too cool to clap.

Interview by Jonathan Davis for Penthouse Magazine.