Riddlin Kids are a very talented band. Originally from Chicago, they now reside in Austin, Texas. If you like Simple Plan or The All-American Rejects, then you'll love Riddlin' Kids.

For the new fans reading this, why don't you tell us a little about yourselves?
Dustin: We're just a rock band from Austin, Texas. We got really lucky one day, got our stuff on the radio, and then we got signed with Columbia which is AWARE records.

Clint: From Chicago.

Dustin: From Chicago, actually. We've just been working really hard and touring ever since. We're almost 2 years out on the road, now.

What are your names, and what instruments do you play?
Clint: My name is Clint, I play guitar and sing.

Dustin: I'm Dustin, I play guitar and sing a little bit, too.

How long have you been playing guitar?
Dustin: I've been playing guitar 9 years.

Clint: I've been playing guitar 7 years.

When/how did you guys decide to become a group?
Dustin: Clint and I were working together at the same Pizza place, and we were in different punk rock bands. We moved in together. He needed a roommate, and I needed a place to hide away from my band. Our bands eventually broke up, and our bands drifted apart. We were good friends, and Clint and I started jamming together, and started this band.

How did you guys decide on the name, Riddlin' Kids?
Clint: We used to be called Igmo, which was short for "ignorant mo" [laughs]. Our first bass player, my brother, left the band, and we decided to change the name. Dustin and I were kicking the name around, and we're really hyper, and we're really active on stage, so it was kind of fitting. It was originally called Ritalin, like the drug. It was like, "Hey, somebody give these guys some Ritalin". But, then later we were going to get sued by the pharmaceutical company that owns Ritalin, because it's a brand name. So, we changed it to something that wasn't connected to the drug Ritalin. We changed to the word "Riddlin'". We sort of beat the system, and kept our name.

How long have you guys been performing together?
Dustin: 5 years.

Clint: We've had a lot of line up changes. It's been a solid line up for about 3 years.

Do you have any role models? If so, who, and why?
Clint: Oh gosh, Dustin?

Dustin: Me? I can say my dad.

Clint: Yeah! For real, my dad has always done what he's wanted to do. Done it his way and worked really hard. People have told him that he can't do stuff and he consistently proves people wrong. He raised me with the idea that I can do whatever I want to do, and to not listen to what other people have to say about me. So really my dad is my biggest role model. He's always supported me, and not cared what I was doing. I didn't go to college, I dropped out of high school, and my dad, instead of being "What are you doing?!", was "Why'd you do that?". I was like "Well, you know what? School wasn't doing me any good, and I just wanted to go to recording school anyway. I could just get my GED and go straight off to school, instead of wasting time here". He's like, "Hey! Sounds like you know what you're doing!" He always supported what I wanted to do. When I was in trouble, he helped me out. So, I'd say he was my biggest role model.

Have you ever had any embarrassing stage performances?
Dustin: One time we didn't have a bass player, we played a show. Just us playing guitar. Somebody came up from the audience that knew our songs and played bass for us. That was really embarrassing. One time I was singing the song and I messed it up so bad, the whole band stopped and Dave threw his sticks at me. That was probably my most embarrassing moment.

Clint: There's been a bunch of times, too, where I've fallen off the stage. And, in fact, I did it the other day in Seattle, or somewhere. I fell off the stage and whacked some kid in the head with the top of my guitar. I was so scared that I had cut their head open or hurt them or something. And one time Mark tried to spin his bass around his body, and threw it out, trying to do these metal rock and roll moves and he spun his bass around his back, and it never came back around [laughs]. It went behind him, and hit his bass amp, and stayed back there and for a second he thought it flew off into the crowd. We've had a bunch of those. We've all fallen down off the stage, because we run around. Instead of just standing there, we're always running around acting stupid. So, when you do that, you put yourself at risk for embarrassment.

How would you describe your music?
Dustin: Aggressive, melodic.

Clint: Energetic, I would say. Some people call us a pop-punk band, some people say we're more rock.

Dustin: or power pop.

Clint: Yeah, power pop, whatever. We don't really try to categorize it. People like to do that, categorize music. But, we're just a rock band, and we just play what we play. We just put our heads together and this is what comes out. We'll say we're really energetic and pretty loud, but we've got a lot of melodies, too.

What can fans expect to find/experience at your shows?
Clint: Fun! That's the bottom line. That's the most important thing, if fans are out there having fun. If kids are out in the crowd, and not having a good time, we can tell. It kind of bums us out, and we stop having fun. We go up there and try to have a good time and everybody in the crowd does. And it turns into a big ball of fun.

You're currently on tour with The All-American Rejects, Home Grown and Wakefield. How does that feel?
Dustin:It's amazing. They're really good friends of ours. Home Grown is one of the first bands that took us out, our first major tour ever. It was Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger, Home Grown, and Movie Life. And they took us out and kind of hazed us, kind of like the seniors doing it to the freshman. Now they're taking us out again and we've gone out on other tours with them. It's just really good to be back with our friends and touring, and having a good time, and playing shows.

Clint: And the Rejects are all very nice and Wakefield is really nice, and we had a band called Flashlight Brown that was on the tour half the way and they were really cool, too, from Canada. Just pretty much, this tour has just been the fun tour. Every band has been straight up really cool and there are no egos, nothing like that. Everybody just has a good time. And I think for the money right now, out on the road, I think we have one of the best packages that's out right now. All the bands that are on the bill, really bring something to the table, and I think for kids that are going to go to the show, I think it's a good way to spend your 10 or 12 bucks, whatever the ticket price is.

When a show is over, are you all hyped up? Or are you guys exhausted?
Dustin: We're hyped up. You know we're hyped up, but we're physically probably just a little bit tired. But I've come off of shows just totally adrenaline rushing, just like having a really good time.

Clint: Yeah, I've played shows, too, where I felt sick and felt terrible, and got up there and played, and after we played, I felt perfect. And, we tour a lot, we drive a lot, we don't sleep very much, we eat crap, and when you do that all the time, it's physically exhausting. Most of us in all the bands have been sick for most of this tour. And when you're sick and not sleeping and not eating right, it's hard to get over it. So, sometimes we don't feel good, but when we come off stage, we feel like a million bucks, just because you had a great time.

What are your goals/hopes to accomplish with your music?
Dustin: Just probably to continue playing, continue recording albums and always getting a little bit better each time. You know, hopefully, eventually having a family, and be able to have some estate, something to show for it at the end of it all. I think everybody who works really hard at what they're doing wants that.

Clint: Big mansion. Fancy cars.

Dustin: You know, a crib.

Clint: We just want to be able to do what we love. You know, we're not making anything right now. We don't make anything. After we pay our crew, pay all our expenses, we really make almost nothing. Sometimes nothing. So, we're definitely not in it for the money, we just want to do what we love and sell records, so we can keep doing it as long as we can.

You are still normal guys, so what do you do for fun?
Dustin: Go to movies, hang out.

Clint: Still normal guys, what do you mean? What do you mean still?

Stacy: You guys are still normal, even though you're in a band.

Dustin: Oh yeah, yeah.

Stacy: You know what I'm saying?

Clint: As opposed to abnormal?

Stacy: No [laughs]. Instead of being rock stars.

Clint: We like to go sky diving, and sometimes sailing in the Atlantic. No, I'm just kidding [laughs]. We go to the movies, and just hang out. Rent a movie.

Dustin: Go out to eat.

Clint: Just sometimes go see shows. We'll get tired of seeing shows, because we're out on tour where we see bands all the time. But, you know, we go home and go support our friends' bands, and usually it's like, "Hey, what are you doing?", "Oh, not much", "Hey, let's go to the guitar stores!", and we'll go around looking at the different guitar shops for stuff, just like we used to do when we were at home all the time, go see movies, do whatever, just hang out with our friends.

Since being a singer is hard work, do you consider this your full-time job? If not, do you have other jobs?
Dustin: No, right now this is our full-time job. Actually, you work more than a full-time job, and you get less sleep than you do when you work a full-time job.

Clint: And you get way less pay than when you work a full-time job.

Dustin: And you have a lot less free time. But, luckily, it's something I love to do anyway, and I would be doing this, even if I had a job. I think both Clint and I count ourselves very lucky for being able to do this.

Clint: Oh, definitely. You give up a lot. If you get a normal job, you have time for a normal life and a girlfriend, and hanging out with your friends, and stuff like that. We don't have that. We go home, we leave for 7 weeks, and we go home for a week, two maybe, and then we leave for another 2 months, and stuff. It's hard to have a relationship with a girlfriend, so you sacrifice that, you sacrifice getting to see your family. We only see our family every few months, because when we go home, our families aren't even from Austin, so it's like we rarely get to see our families. It's like it's a lot of sacrifices, but fortunately all of us in the band are really close friends. We're touring with our good friends, so it helps us get through stuff.

Do you have any tips for aspiring bands on how to make it in the music industry?
Clint: Don't let anybody tell you you can't do what you want to do. And, just work really hard. If you put everything you have into what you're doing, it doesn't matter if you're a singer, or you want to be a dentist, or a lawyer, or pro football player. As long as you try and always do your best, and just figure out what steps you need to reach to be where you want to be, and do those steps, you can do whatever you want. That means, if you've got to finish college and then go to law school and go through all that, then you do that. If you want to do well in a band, you've got to try and think and be resourceful and figure out what you think you need to do to make it in a band, and just go out and do it.

If you had to do EVERYTHING all over again, would you change anything?
Dustin: I'd change a few things. But I think we'd do a lot of stuff the same.

And last, but not least, if you could say anything to the fans reading this now, what would you say?
Dustin: Thanks for everything. Thanks for helping us get to where we are, and for supporting us from the very beginning. And without you guys, we wouldn't be able to do this. Thank you very much.

Clint: Yeah.

That's it! Thanks for your time!
Dustin: Thank you.

 

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