From a cowboy bar in beautiful Kimberly, Idaho to The Troubadour in L.A., a venue that has hosted the likes of Elton John and other legends when they were up-and-comers, Andrew Jackson Jihad has certainly not done bad for themselves. The band that started in Arizona has now hit the big time – or at least is taking its first step into it; their “Guilt: the song” featured on the soundtrack of documentarian and general rabble-rouser Michael Moore’s latest film has gotten them more exposure than any basement show could. Even with all the buzz around these DIY mavens, Ben and Sean still seem like two regular guys you’d like to just shoot the shit with while sipping a beer. They recently sat down with FUN Artists to plug the book Our Band Could Be Your Life, give Mike Park a shout out for running a successful record label out of his (large) garage, and tell people that they’re pretty damn punk – but still have meaningful jobs.

FUN Artists: Introduction and history?

Ben Gallaty: I am the original flip-flop Ben Gallaty and I play upright bass in Andrew Jackson Jihad.

Sean Bonnett: My name is Sean Bonnett – it’s actually Sean Claude Vincent Bonnett, I play guitar and I sing, for the most part, in Andrew Jackson Jihad. Our band started in the summer of 2004 when Ben and I were both working at a coffee shop. I had started writing songs—learning to write songs rather than just being in a band and making up lyrics to music I didn’t write. And Ben’s dad had just given him an upright bass so we decided to start playing together; not really thinking about forming a band but just kind of jamming, whatever that actually means … I don’t know, that sounds really pompous.

Ben Gallaty: I don’t know man, unfortunately jamming has a negative connotation; it brings to mind all those “jam bands” – we need to take the word back.

Sean Bonnett: After our first show it became apparent that we should probably be a band because it was really fun and we’ve been in a band ever since. We went on our first tour about a year later and put out our first record, self-released. And somehow it has led us here to the wonderful Troubadour.

FUN Artists: So you guys release a lot of your own stuff and kind of that DIY attitude…

Ben Gallaty: We originally, as most bands do, released our own stuff because nobody was willing to release our stuff for us…

Sean Bonnett: We didn’t really try to hard either. We never really asked anyone to put our stuff out for us…

Ben Gallaty: I was in punk bands when I was younger and we did try and it was really disheartening but it was really empowering and fun to release it ourselves. You don’t really get much distribution, you have to distribute it yourself – you know, it’s all on you. But it was really a good way to do it financially as well because we just made the actual CDs and then we’d make the packaging as we sold them. And at that point in time, when you’re like a starting band you have time but not much money, whereas later in your career, hopefully, it gets to the point where the demand of music exceeds your the amount of time you have to actually hand make stuff. But we did, and DIY is great and it’s really good to be in control of the distribution of your music and your merchandise. A lot of the stuff we’ve done DIY is because we had the time and it’s cheaper to do it that way. Ya know – do it yourself or do it with somebody that shares a similar mindset, or at least follows similar ethics to you; someone you trust.

Sean Bonnett: We were really lucky to have a lot of the templates to follow with do it yourself touring and stuff. There’s an amazing book that I hope everyone reads one day called Our Band Could Be Your Life. It tells the story of some of the first DIY bands: Minor Threat, Black Flag, The Minutemen, Fugazi, The Replacements … it shows the different routes that each band took, with the different—well, not the same set of rules but kind of with the same attitudes – not even the same attitudes – like: The Replacements had a manager and Fugazi totally didn’t. But it’s pretty much an awesome guide book to give you ideas on how to record and release music and go on tour without anyone really helping you. Actually, it teaches you how to get help from people who can help you in other towns.

Ben Gallaty: I think it’s unfortunate when bands get criticized for not following really strict DIY methods. There are so many different elements of being in a band and we’re getting to a point where we really can’t do every single thing ourselves, so we can use our best judgment in working with good people we trust. However, there are a lot of bands too that could do it themselves but they relinquish control over the whole process early on and never get it back. As long as you can develop a comfort zone and be realistic about what you are and aren’t capable of doing – outsource it to someone you trust when you can’t.

FUN Artists: Is your label, Asian Man Records, responsible for the current tour?

Sean Bonnett: Not this one.

Ben Gallaty: He did book our last West Coast tour for us, and also, Mike Park [owner of Asian Man Records].

Sean Bonnett: He’s definitely helped us in many ways, immensely.

Ben Gallaty: Mike Park has helped us so much. It is a label run out of his mom’s garage; it’s a pretty good sized garage, but still it is run out of the garage. And they may not be able to have publicists in-house or really great promotions and stuff like that, but they do their best and a lot of people really respect them and a lot of people are going to check out Asian Man Records bands because of Mike Park. And he’s helped us so much along the way and no matter what we end up doing in the future we’re gonna maintain a relationship with Mike Park because he’s always been so helpful.

Sean Bonnett: He helped us by our van. He fronted us the money and we’ve paid him back. So Mike Park, thank you very much for the van.

Ben Gallaty: I booked the first tour, which was hard. I helped booking in the earlier days but Sean’s definitely done most of the booking in the last couple years. I made a good amount of the shirts, I’ve always done a lot of shirt making and stuff like that. So we still follow the DIY stuff when it makes sense.

FUN Artists: You guys have a very kind of punk way of playing live and interacting with the audience, there is not much of a dividing line between you and them.

Sean Bonnett: My favorite shows have always been like that. I really like it when bands get to heckle back. It makes it more like a show rather than just like playing a room where you are lucky enough to watch. Even if I don’t necessarily like a band’s music, if I like the way they interact with the audience I’m going to like that band.

Ben Gallaty: It’s really great to be able to have dialogue with the crowd, and a crowd that brings energy to the show. There have been shows where we’ve been exhausted from long drives and we get up there and we’re haggard and were really not enthusiastic about the show, but then the crowd comes and they bring a lot of energy with them. So in that kind of scenario it’s important to not really have that many barriers. Unfortunately some times there are too many kids for the living room that we are playing in and in that respect sometimes it can be great and kids can be super respectful and the show can go off without a hitch, but sometimes it really makes the show not as much fun as it could be for everyone involved. So it’s great – finding that balance where you have the most intimate show you can possibly have where everyone can have a good time.

FUN Artists: Where do you see yourselves going, what would you like to see happen?

Sean Bonnett: Straight to hell. I don’t know, Id like to see our band get bigger, I’d like more people to listen to and connect with our music.

Ben Gallaty: I’d like everyone to connect with our music. Well, how do I put this? Our music is available at Hot Topic, and some people have a hard time with that. But we know the guy who buys the music for Hot Topic; he’s a great guy; he’s a really great friend of ours, and he likes our band and he buys stuff from Asian Man Records and of course Asian Man is going to sell Hot Topic a whole shit load of CDs … So you know some kids don’t really have access to the really hip clubs or hip scenes and so maybe that’s going to be their introduction to a really cool culture they would otherwise be oblivious to. I’m just using this as an example, I want kids to be able to get access to our music if they like it. I don’t want it to be shoved down their throat or anything, but I want it to be available, so we do our best to make it available online and we work with people we trust and like so hopefully kids can hear it and like it and enjoy it.

Sean Bonnett: I want to add that I want to keep writing songs that make me feel good; that’s the biggest reason I write songs, is because it lifts a huge weight off my chest when I’m feeling sad or lonely or stressed out. And I’d like to really keep in touch with that part of myself that can alleviate that stuff through writing music I like. So that’s what I really want to see happening; I’d actually like to see that more ‘cause I’m a really stressed out guy.

FUN Artists: Anything else to say?

Sean Bonnett: Go to school to be a social worker. Thats my fuckin’ agenda. Instead of being so punk that you refuse to have a job, get a job where you can make a difference in the world.

FUN Artists: Do you support yourselves in other ways besides the music?

Sean Bonnett: I work on call as a suicide hotline supervisor for teenagers. Its a peer run program which is really cool so teenagers can call in and talk to another teenager who is specially trained to talk to teenagers in crisis and they are next to a masters level clinician who can oversee the call and make sure everything runs smoothly and then be there for them afterwards to process the call if it’s a particularly rough call. And it benefits pretty much everyone involved from the callers to the peer volunteers and then to me – I really love doing that work; I’ve been doing it since I was fifteen when I was a peer counselor myself. That’s what I do for a living and I’m really, really stoked on it because I can do it on call so I can do it on tour if I give them enough notice.

Ben Gallaty: I’ve been working pretty much coffee shop and record store jobs for the better part of the last ten years, but I just got a new job working in education, so I’m really excited about it. It seems like a really great organization and I just started there a week ago. Everyone there seems really nice and it seems like something that’s going to be really fun.

Sean Bonnett: It’s a Montessori school that yields Stanford Graduates

Ben Gallaty: Yeah, I’m just gonna be a substitute. Actually, I don’t have to say “just;” I don’t have to qualify it.