September 16, 2022

Elsa's Doghouse: James Pligge

I have been a huge fan of Harm’s Way for years now and I was so stoked when their vocalist (and my personal xXx gym-spiration) James Pligge let me know that he was down to do an interview with us. We thought it would be funny to talk about fast food instead of music or Terrier Cvlt so here goes nothing.

First off James let’s get down to the nitty gritty. As a touring musician, What are your thoughts on Buc-ees & would you consider it the best gas station on planet earth?

I absolutely love Buc-ees. Now I don’t believe I remember how good their fountain drinks are, but for a gas station it is hard to beat. The pulled pork sandwich there is actually incredible and I laugh every time I have it because it’s a gas station. That being said it has everything you need, it’s clean and is of the highest quality!

Tacos or Pizza? 

This is actually a tough answer, but I am going to go pizza actually. People always view Chicago style pizza as the deep dish capital with places like Lou Malnati’s, Pequods, Giordano’s. However, the real Chicago style pizza will always be the square cut bar style pizza. I love thin and crispy pizza, that comes in the traditional Chicago bag. People will criticize it because the  middle pieces don’t have crust, but if you didn’t grow up around Chicago, you just wouldn’t understand.

Whats your favorite fast food spot & do you get why people love Chick-Fill-A so much? I don’t get it but I do value your opinion.

My favorite fast food spot is a hard question. In the Chicagoland area, this is more of a fast casual style restaurant, but Portillo’s is probably the best. There you can get hot dogs, burgers, chicken sandwiches and then top it off with delicious chocolate cake or strawberry shortcake. It’s consistently the best Chicago area fast food establishment and also a place I always recommend out of town people to go to. Now I think a Chick-fil-A is good and clean and the service is great, but I have become more of a Popeyes chicken sandwich type of guy.  

Greatest road snacks for a touring artist?

I am pretty sure every tour I spend $500 on snacks at gas stations, but it all depends on what diet you are trying to achieve. If you do not care about nutrition or health, then it’s chocolate covered pretzels, Gardetto’s, whatever local area chips, gas station hot dogs, Reese’s, sour patch kids and gas station hot dogs. But if you are trying to be more health conscious for me it’s a lot of jerky, protein bars/drinks, almonds/trail mixes. 

Dogs or Cats?

Dogs 100%, I hate cats. 

When can I expect to be jamming out to some new Harms Way tunes while I’m at home designing stupid t-shirts.

Just keep an eye out, we are hard at work. 

Favorite type of Coca-Cola?

I mean I think glass bottled coke is super delicious, but it’s expensive and the accessibility is usually lower.
 
Here are my favorite ways to consume coke by rank:
1. Can
2. Glass Bottle
3. Fountain 
4. Plastic 20 oz.
5. 2 Liter (the worst)

I have to ask this only because we are an antisocial dog company; I've had many pets in my life but I’ve never had a true friendship with one of my animals until I met my Boston Terrier, Elsa. Our bond is so strong that she became my muse for Terrier Cvlt and continues to have an influence on most areas of my life. Has there been an animal that’s made a significant impact on your life & can you tell me more about that relationship?

Well to be honest I never really liked animals too much or dogs because growing up I never had them. One of my ex-girlfriends got a standard poodle puppy named Oliver about 11 years ago at this point. That dog forever changed my life and how I viewed a relationship with a dog. I realized that animals are loyal and lovable and they can teach you about what it means to truly love something unconditionally. I currently have a Newfoundland Poodle named Dolly and she is  1 years old. I also love her very much. 

James, Thanks so much for your time & i’m stoked to hear some new tunes & to see you guys on the road again hopefully in the very near future.

Check out the Harms Way album POSTHUMAN.
It is seriously one of the greatest hardcore records of all time!