Guttermouth: Wee Problems.

Gusto is in stores August 12.

Interviewing Guttermouth Orange County's self-proclaimed 'party punk' band's front man Mark Adkins is more like talking to an old friend. I inform him how much their new album Gusto rocks and how fun it's sounding.

“No get out... shut up,” he says modestly, almost sounding a little coy. “It's a lot different from past albums. It's just something we had to do. It's fun, that was our goal and we achieved that it in your eyes so that's cool. Our goal was just to make a fun album. We're the party punk band of 2002 that's what we want. We want a party like atmosphere every time we play. Not like angst-ridden anarchy punk crap. It's really uninteresting these days it's been going for too long. We want to spice it up a little bit and go for a little change because we can we're lucky enough to be in that position that we can play something different. Next year if we want to revert back to a total crazy punk record we can do that too.”

I ask about the albums artwork, especially the happy looking groin sniffing dog, apparently Mark painted them himself?

“You like my paintings? I just sold one of them. I've been starting to get offers for people to buy my stuff, which just amazes me. I'm stoked, I'm a two time winner now.”

How will your average Guttermouth fan receive the change in style?

“Well we just played a warm up show in Long Beach and it was really small only 150 people. At first everyone hated the 'she's got the look song' all our core fans but now they love it. Everyone loves it. They reacted a little weird to a couple of the songs and I called them out and said, 'You guys are going to love this next year just like you hated the other record last year' and then most people came up to me after the show and told me they were just following along with everyone else 'cause that's what fans do they love to hate for some reason. Have you ever noticed that? Some of the songs they went crazy for and just ate them up and some were a little shocking to the like the Gusto song and when I say the core fans I mean the really rabid ones with leather jackets, spiky hair and Mohawks. But everyone's come around full circle and having fun with us... boy I didn't explain that very good did I. It was positive.”

One of the songs on the new album is titled Pee In The Shower, I ask Mark if he thinks peeing in the shower is something that everyone does but no one ever admits to it?

“Yeah for sure. I will, I don't care. Here's a little story, a couple of years ago my girlfriend and I was in the shower and you know we were scrub-a-dub-dub scrubbing away... see my breakfast cereal I eat is called Total and I have I have a multi-vitamin I take and I peed and my pee was fluro yellow and it was all over the bottom of the tub and my girlfriend was just really disgusted and appalled. It was a riot. You should do it in the shower with your boyfriend one time he'll freak. Good clean fun, it's safe and sterile so go for it.”

You're on the US leg of Warped this year?

“I'm at my house right now and in about two hours we're about to leave. We're heading to Texas.”

What's Texas like?

“It's full of cowboys and rednecks, but there's no Indians cause they killed them all. Just a bunch of weirdo's with shotgun racks in the back of their pick-up trucks, everyone drives the pick-up truck and there's oil rigs everywhere.”

I heard that once you guys were on tour in the UK and you were on your way home when Fat Mike called and asked you to tour with them through Europe and then on the way home from that Dexter (Offspring) rang and asked you to tour with there too...

“That took place a couple of years ago, but it was brutal because of the sun factor. I only saw sunshine two out of 62 days. I swear I was on the verge of hanging myself... I'm exaggerating a little but I was so bummed out and depressed. You're lucky in Australia it's always sunny and warm.”

So, then will you be venturing our way soon in support of the new album?

“Damn right. We're trying it's so hard right now I think we have a 60-40 shot of getting on the Big Day Out and if we don't get that, whaah (insert baby noise here), we'll be doing club shows in February.”