Leo Ulfelder gets to have it both ways. As the singer for young bucks Terezodu and a guitar player in old-dudes-play-with-kids band Poop, he gets to play with fellow young punkers and the old guys who started the whole mess.
What does Terezodu mean?
To us it means, “rise up.” We want to make an impact on the music for this decade. I want people to look back and say that this decade was the one that blew people out of the water. We were just trying to go with something that wasn't so generic, that wasn't a generic punk name.
What language is it?
The language is Enochian. It's some dead language that we found in some book and we thought sounded cool.
Who spoke Enochian?
We didn't research that part.
Since Terezodu means “rise up,” are you a political band?
No. We try to stay away from politics because it's hard to keep track of. They're always changing. We try to write about other things.
What do you try to write about?
A lot of the stuff is about suburban life in Orange County—what we see and what we experience around here.
Like your song “Fuck Orange County”?
Yeah. That was just one of our rants. You look around and you see all this stuff. This place is all right, but some of the people here have their heads up their asses. Orange County—it's a love/hate relationship. I wouldn't move anywhere else. That's how it is anywhere. People like living there, but they point out the things that piss them off.
Do you get different reactions to “Fuck Orange County” in Orange County versus outside?
Yeah. When we play outside of Orange County, people don't really know what we're talking about unless they're huge fans of that Fox show. Inside Orange County they see people walking around with trucker hats, driving trucks that are 10 feet tall. They can relate to that. They're fed up with that too.
As a band, do you feel like you're part of Orange County?
I've always considered us an Orange County band, but I don't think we have the same sound as an Orange County punk band. People have told me we sound nothing like an Orange County punk band, but I still feel part of it. I think we've got more of a metal influence. We've got these huge metal solos in most of our songs.
There's a local resurgence of hardcore punk bands inspired by the early 1980s bands—bands like Tipper's Gore, Rabies, Terezodu.
I don't know what inspired those bands. We're good friends with them. We're just in the same place at the same time. When we were kids someone would pop in a Dead Kennedys CD and that's probably just what sparked it. We just wanted to make that same impact that happened in the '80s.
How is playing with older punks like Rikk Agnew in your other band Poop?
Most of them have already gone through that scene, but I think they're still putting out great music. Me and the drummer are around the same age—20, 21. Rikk's a great guy. He's real laid back. He's a nice guy all around.
As a musician, do you have any favorite local venues?
The Galaxy has a great sound system. The stage sound is great and the people there are too. The Doll Hut is the best bar I've ever played. The crowd there is older, but for some reason it's always a blast to play there.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TEREZODU AND POOP, VISIT WWW.TEREZODU.COM, WWW.EVILBROWNCOILER.COM, WWW.MYSPACE.COM/TEREZODU AND WWW.MYSPACE.COM/OURPOOP.
