Good Luck Schleprok
Gym Class Heroes, one of the few hip-hop acts familiar and
accustomed to rock audiences, took part once again in this year’s Warped Tour.
The group hit Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver and Band of the Day was able to
take advantage of their short stay. Read on to learn a lil’ bit about GCH
vocalist Travis
"Schleprok" McCoy
in…
- by Mattias and Dave-Os -
1. How did you get the nickname “Schleprok”?
T: I picked it up when I was in college and getting into a lot
of trouble - not necessarily illegal stuff, but in my own life. There’s a
character from an old Flintstones cartoon. It’s actually the Pebbles & Bam
Bam Show, when Pebbles and Bam Bam grew up. The character’s name was Schleprock
and wherever he went there was a cloud over his head and it’d rain on him. He’d
walk by flowers and they’d wilt. That was kind of synonymous with my life
because I felt like there was this rain cloud above my head. Kids started
calling me Schlep and it turned into Schleprok. It started making sense. It was
like, “Wait a minute. This is kind of relevant.” But now, everybody just calls
me Travie. I’m kind of over those dark days.
2. How do you like being on Decaydance Records? Any perks for you
guys?
T: Well it’s more of a family thing. Pete Wentz runs it and it’s cool because I feel, in a sense, we’re like the modern day Roc-A-Fella. We’re definitely not that gangster but it’s just like a really strong family element. We all collaborate with each other and it’s cool; it’s not just a business thing. We talk to each other; we call each other on the phone whenever there’s problems.
Mattias: Everyone in Fueled By Ramen or…
T: Fueled By Ramen, Decaydance - It’s all a tight-knit family.
Mattias: Were you in the Fall Out Boy video?
T: I was in “Dance Dance” and “Sixteen Candles.”
Mattias: Nice. How was that like?
T: It was awesome. Like I said, that’s the thing. That just goes to show you that it’s not just a business thing. The fact that we’re around each other as much as possible - to actually show that to the public eye. This IS a family thing. It’s fun.
3. What kind of students were you guys back in high school?
T: I was a terrible student. I went to summer school every year of high school. I spent all my classes drawing and writing songs and…it paid off. *laughs*
4. How do you think you won MTV’s Direct Effect MC
Battle and how did you feel after?
T: Well here’s the thing: it was my first time actually being on something as big as that. It was kind of whimsical. I had all my family and friends watching back home and there was no way in hell I was going to let a dude embarrass me in front of all those people. I wasn’t concerned about what the world felt about it, I was more concerned about what my friends and family back home thought. I did it for them. It was a fun situation.
5. What was your favourite gym class activity in elementary
school?
T: I would definitely go with table tennis. Me and our drummer, Matt, are just disgustingly good at table tennis. I don’t know where it came from. I think I’ve inherited this weird gene that made me awesome at ping-pong, but I’m really good.
Dave-os: You played ping-pong in gym?
T: Yeah, we did three week units and played ping-pong for three weeks every semester.
Mattias: We had dodge ball and square dancing.
T: We had square dancing in elementary school.
6. If you could rap battle anyone, who would it be?
T: I would rap battle Keith from Every Time I Die, just because I know I’d win.
T: It’s definitely a scene – don’t be scared of the ‘s’ word. The ‘s’ word’s become a weird thing. I feel like we never catered to this scene or changed who we were to be accepted and I think kids respected that. We were just this weird band that kids were confused by in the beginning and then kind of got into. I feel like that’s one of the major reasons why kids are into it. It doesn’t hurt knowing Pete Wentz.
T: I have no idea how many bands there are. I definitely left
out a lot of bands. That song was almost an accident. I was just looking at the
names of all the bands that were popping up and thinking “Why the hell didn’t
anyone else think of this before me?” I could tell you this: there is a band
that a lot of people miss. There’s a line when I say, “She played games but she
took ‘em too far.” Far was a band Jonah Matranga from onelinedrawing was in and
a lot of kids miss that one. So for all of you kids out there that thought you
knew all of the bands: I bet you didn’t get that one, sucka!
9. In the “Things-That-Suck-Spectrum,” what’s a
little bit worse than getting a paper cut?
T: Losing your [T-Mobile] Sidekick. It’s been a test to my end for the past 2-3 years. When I can’t find that thing, I can’t breathe. It’s terrible, but true.
Mattias: I thought you meant like Batman and Robin, or Conan
O’Brien and Andy Richter.
T: Every Time I Die.
Mattias: Two mentions. You must like them a lot.
T: I love those dudes. We’re from Upstate New York and I think we both have a mutual love for each other’s bands.
Travis may have gotten his nickname from an unfortunate character,
but nowadays it seems like he’s anything but. Thanks to “Travie” for the
interview and thanks to you for reading. Keep updated ‘cause our little beast
of a website is growing into a full-fledged mongoose.
Use sunscreen,
The BotD Team