MORGAN Y. EVANS: So the new album, Universal Freak Out is your
third LP and the first in a few years. Quite a lot has happened to you since then , I gather, with family and other obligations delaying the LP. The new songs sound really massive and yet accessible even though they seem genuine (not "fluff" accessible, which you wouldn't do anyway). I guess, how does it feel to be back on the scene and also how did you get involved with new drummer and my old friend John Bongiorno replacing Iann Robinson? How was the integration process with John?

JASON DIAMOND: Johnny B. had booked us, (he's a booking agent), on the West Memphis 3 Irving Plaza show Rollins was doing with his band as Black Flag and Keith Morris. Johnny B. was a fan of our band prior to meeting us, which is why he booked us, and we became friends after that, playing shows with his previous band Dodgeball Bullys. When we needed a new drummer, we were bullshitting with him about it, and he said he was looking for a new band since Dodgeball had just coincidently called it quits. We had a few practices to try it out, and it felt really good so we stuck with it. We're really fortunate to have found a drummer so quickly, as we've all been in other bands where it was years trying to find the right person, much less a person period. So, we were excited to not only have found him, but that he's a great drummer and compliments all of our interests perfectly.

MYE: I just saw you guys play at a Joey's Throwin' Elbows reunion show, a notorious underground Upstate, NY punk band that John used to also be involved in for awhile. You guys punished the small room with Sabbathy goodness and then people were throwing beer everywhere for Joey's. It was one of the best shows I've seen overall in a long time and was really inspiring. Then the next night you opened for Clutch! That's dope because I have always thought Bongiorno had a somewhat similar style as Jean-Paul Gaster, real precise but loose on the kit as well. How did that go and what have been some other live highlights of touring again?

JD: We were stoked to do those Clutch shows. Unfortunately, I got the chicken pox at the age of 36 right before Xmas so we were forced to cancel 2 of the Clutch shows which totally blew for us, but the Joey's show was amazing and we had a great time! I'd never been at a bar where they ran out of beer! We did a few dates with CKY a while ago and that was fun as well. It's nice to be able to do dates where the headliner is really driving the ticket sales and we can just enjoy ourselves and play for a large group of people and hopefully make them like us.

MYE: The album art on the new LP is pretty crazy, kind of cartoony yet humorously apocalyptic with the Earth eating UFOs. How did you come up with that one?

JD: That’s all Jim (Starace), our singer. He had an idea and ran with it and we all made our comments and criticisms, but it was mainly all him. The front/back of the booklet and the CD are paintings, and the inside is a Photoshop collage of stuff he found. We freaked immediately, and I think the only thing we really debated on was the name of the record. But once we settled on what we have, it was perfect.

MYE: What was it like, working with producer Andrew Schneider (Cave In, Pelican, Scissorfight, Milligram), and how did you know Andrew was the right guy to go too after three years between records?

JOHN BONGIORNO: We were looking for someone who had a cute dog that we could play fetch with and Andrew's dog fit the description quite well.

JD: We had done 2 songs with Andrew prior to the record. One for the Sucking the 70's (The Osmond’s - "Crazy Horses") and a redux/rearrangement of a song off our first record "Goddess of the Metal". It was sort of a test to see how well we work together and also how well we worked with John since playing in a band is only part of the equation, recording is such a different mindset sometimes you don't get both. But he was just as easy to work with in the studio as he was otherwise. He is very self-critical of his playing which a lot of people aren’t necessarily, so it was good all around, since the rest of us are pretty self- critical as well.

MYE: How do you feel the band has expanded conceptually, in your own words, since the Revenge Is Easy debut, and at the same time what have you tried to keep consistent about the Puny Human sonic identity?

JD: Our main goal is to have fun. Whether it’s the song, the lyric, the intent or whatever. We all do a lot with our time, be it family, work or whatever so we just want to have as much fun as possible hanging out and playing what we like. We all also like so many different kinds of music we really try to branch out but keep the same intent so it sounds like us.

MYE: Have you guys ever thought of putting your music to animation? The album cover sort of suggests it for the new LP but also listening to the tunes I can't help but imagine some of the riffs over a HEAVY METAL magazine barbarian chick or Richard Corben art scheme. I've read you like the Hulk, right?

JD: Jim is an animator and did a stop motion video for "Jesus Has My Leg" from our first record.

MYE: Oh, no shit? I didn’t know that.

JD: It’s on YouTube. I always loved HEAVY METAL: The Movie, not so much the sequel.

MYE: What was the songwriting approach like for this record, especially with line up changes? Did you just kind of try and get to know each other and kick out the jams or what? Also, I can't say I really hear the Devo influence you mention on your MySpace too much. (laughing)

JB: At first we focused on playing the older Puny Human songs because we wanted to get out right away and play some gigs. It also gave us a chance to learn to play together especially since the twins were sort of used to playing to Iann's specific style, and I was always in bands where the music was generally faster. It took some time for me to learn to slow it down a notch or two. We had written a handful of the songs early, but it was few and far between because of upcoming gigs or crazy scheduling. The breakthrough, if you want to call it that, was when we went into a 24/7 rehearsal facility sharing a room with one other band. That allowed us to practice whenever we wanted and not have to worry about fitting our life schedules around strictly Tuesday's and Friday's from 8-11. I moved all my recording gear into the new space, and at that point we really got down to business. I think the DEVO influence is more in the attitude. We are a heavy band with huge gear, but we don't take any of it too seriously, and almost everything we do is tongue in cheek but not overtly so.

MYE: Is it hard spending so much time together or do you generally remember to love one another?

JB: We don't spend much time together and half of it is spent talking about the latest gadget or the latest episode of Dexter.

MYE: What, ideally, would you like to accomplish with the band in 2008? Now that there is a new line up in place, how much touring do you expect to do?

JB: We are not quite sure what we want to accomplish in '08. We were focused for so long on writing, recording, and releasing this record and now we are kind of in a "now what?" phase. We can't tour really, for obvious reasons, and we are always very selective in the gigs we play. Between the 4 of us, I would bet we've played well over 2,000 gigs collectively, so playing random nights with random bands isn't a movie we want to watch ever again, but at the same time, it's not easy pairing up with other bands for various reasons. So, we just take it as it comes

MYE: What are some other bands and art in general that keep you guys inspired and motivated to follow the difficult path of "the rocker"? Especially these days when people have no sense of history anymore in the mainstream and everything is more flash in the pan and disposable than ever, how do you keep fighting a constant uphill battle? I mean, that's how it feels to me as a musician and journalist, but seriously? You guys aren't Beyonce, here.

JD: I think it comes back to the fact that we really can only play in the band for fun and even though we have a few records out and we play shows it’s mostly about getting together and having fun. That’s not that hard to do since we all like each other and have a good time hanging out whether it’s at practice or with each others kids or whatever. The music is a great by product of our general interests and desire to make music.