The Points

The Points play vigorous three-chord Cro-Magnon rock in a city that, as of late, has been all about clean guitars and delicate introspection. In fact, everything about the band--formed in 2005 by former Poser Bill guitarist Geo White and drummer Travis Jackson, with Rebecca Dye, their favorite bartender, on keyboards--seems a little down-and-dirty, from the short, aggressive songs found on its recent self-titled debut to its current bare-bones tour setup. Drummer Travis Jackson spoke with The A.V. Club about Dye's recent departure, writing songs in a skate park while drunk, and why The Points aren't really a fighting band.

The A.V. Club: The Points practice in a skate park. How did that happen?

Travis Jackson: It's owned by this guy Dan Zeman. Geo and I have known him since we were teenagers. He's always lived in Blagden alley. Our truck broke down there and he helped us out. We started practicing at his old warehouse with Poster Bill. It's a trade-off--we book all of the bands for the parties, he makes a good cut from that. He's like a dad, he takes good care of us.

AVC: What were you doing in the alley?

TJ: We went to go see a show. Foo Fighters or something stupid like that.

AVC: How did you guys hook up with Rebecca?

TJ: She was a bartender who used to give us free pitchers. We used to bring her cool comp CDs, she was into them, so she started playing with us.

AVC: What were you putting on those CDs?

TJ: The Saints, old punk rock, stuff like that. There was one band--I can't remember, they just played here--that would just drive out all of the customers. I can't remember who they were. I've had 500 beers in four days.

AVC: Why did Rebecca leave right before the tour started?

TJ: I don't know. She was like, “Book the shows, book the shows, I can do it.” Then all of a sudden things started to get a little bit weird. She was getting distant. She dissed the art, dissed the master, then quit.

AVC: So you guys have some new people touring with you?

TJ: We have two dudes with us now, but we haven't thought about a full-time replacement. We've known these guys forever. Chad [Middleton]'s in the band VCR from Richmond. Danny [Darko] was in Murder Skit Corpses--we taught him all the songs in a day.

AVC: How are you getting around on tour?

TJ: We had a van, but it was Rebecca's. Right now we're touring in a Honda… something. We're borrowing bass rigs at every club. Geo has a small vox amp. I play a three-piece drum set. It all fits.

AVC: Does the car get really smelly?

TJ: Oh yes, it smells like shit right now. We're sweaty dudes.

AVC: Do you guys collaborate on your songs or does one person write the bulk of the material?

TJ: Me and Geo are the main songwriters. We would all meet up, get drunk, and write songs.

AVC: What does the drinking do for it?

TJ: Um… there's really just nothing else to do. Plus, being in a warehouse is pretty boring. It helps get the brain rolling.

AVC: Do The Points have a preferred beer?

TJ: Whatever's free.

AVC: Do you guys drink a lot on tour?

TJ: That's one of our favorite things about touring. We go places and they've got a shit-load of beer.

AVC: Have you guys ever gotten into trouble, fights, that kind of stuff?

TJ: There's never really been fights in the band. Once, we went on tour with our friends The Spins. They always fight each other. In New York we got really drunk on whiskey and I threw myself in just to see what it was like. I think I got a broken finger out of that. On our last tour at Virginia Beach, Geo got choked out by some guy.

AVC: What do you mean, “choked out”?

TJ: This dude with, like, a 300-pound arm grabbed him from behind and choked him until he passed out on the floor. Later on he got me, but friends pulled him off before I went unconscious. It looked like we had hickies all over our necks, you know, from the bruises. But we're not big fighters--we're tiny dudes.

AVC: What did you do to warrant the choke out?

TJ: I think Geo was just drunk and threw a beer bottle against the ground. And then, I guess I jumped on top of the table and started doing push-ups. This was before we even played, our friends Mas Y Mas were playing. He wasn't even the door guy, he was just some marine asshole. We want to get Tazers for next time.

AVC: But they let you back in to play the show?

TJ: We still played the show. The first half hour was just us talking shit. Then we played three or four songs and left. --Aaron Leitko