[Editor's note: This Q&A previews The Spits' concert in Omaha at Slowdown tonight. The show starts at 9 p.m., and cover is $12. Coaxed and The Dad open. RSVP here.]

Sean Wood wants his band The Spits to play Omaha. He wants this even though he might hate his booking agent for a run of Midwest shows he's set up twice in less than six months.

"It’s a hell of a fucking drive: Denver to Omaha to St. Louis to Austin," Wood says. As The Spits prepared to play Denver for the first time in 10 years, after the punk band's concert in 2004 drew only 20 or so people, Wood talked about the risk it takes to play concerts around Nebraska: If people don't show up, the "hell of a fucking drive" just isn't worth it.

The Spits play Slowdown tonight with Coaxed and The Dad opening the show, which starts at 9 p.m. Cover is $12.

Read on as Wood tells why fans need to go to tonight's show in order to keep The Spits coming back, lists the "cheesy, dumb, really cool" tattoos his brother and bandmate has given him and the evolution of his gear.

Hear Nebraska: The Spits make “punk for the people.” How would you describe those people?

Sean Wood: Bright, intelligent, they’re a different breed than any other music fans. They know more, and hell, they’re more witted than other fans, I would say. Shit, they’re pretty much some of the best people around (laughs). How would I describe the people I'm playing for? They're smart 'cause if they like us, they must have good sense.

HN: Now, talking about the band, tell me about the tattoos your brother (bassist Erin Wood) has given you.

SW: Erin has given me tattoos, yes. We used to live in an old band house in Seattle when my brother thought he was going to be a tattoo artist so he had a gun and all the machinery and everything. We used to sit around and drink beer and give each other tattoos.

HN: What kind of tattoos did he give you?

SW: Nothing cheesy, it was all cool. I got a jack-o'-lantern with a lightning bolt through it. That was my first that he did. He did a pumpkin. I got an outline of a chicken, a snake, Battlestar Galactica, and what was that show? Hell, I can’t even remember. But yeah, just cheesy, dumb, really cool tattoos. We’d just sit around, drinkin' malt liquor.

HN: For sure. I ask because I'm curious about your relationship with your brother. How do you manage spending so much time working with your brother?

SW: You know, at times, it can be very difficult and other times not. My brother, I love him, but fuckin’ sometimes, I hate him and wish he was dead (laughs).

HN: I've read you’ve fought Erin onstage before also. Is that true?

SW: We got in a fight, like, once, maybe twice onstage. It's not something that happens all the time. It's just, you know, something that happens between two brothers. I mean, look at The Kinks. Shit happens. 

HN: Is there anything about your brother you don’t know at this point?

SW: I’m sure there’s shit I don’t know. There’s stuff I don’t know about me. You never know anybody to the fullest. You don't know what anybody’s thinking.

HN: Tell me about the gear you have now and why you chose which kind of guitar and so on. 

SW: Well, it just started out with an issue of money, not having money for real stuff and not being real musicians. Then it’s kinda cool, too, to have shitty gear. It sounds good, sounds different. I didn’t want the Marshall Half Stack, and the Gibson Les Paul.

But eventually, I worked my way up to making money and being able to afford some nice gear. It’s a Frankenstein Les Paul Epiphone. I think Epiphones and Gibsons are the best.

So that's why. It started out as an issue with money and then sound. We wanted to sound different. Everybody had the same sound then with big, loud guitars. I wanted mine to sound shitty and raw, so that's what I got.

HN: And as you've been able to buy nicer gear, do you try to replicate the sound from the past?

SW: You know, kind of. We just try to sound different. I’m always looking for cool American-made gear: Peavey, Carvin, that kind of stuff. But you can't really replicate that sound too much. You have to go and find the cool, shitty and weird gear.

HN: You’ve worn various costumes onstage, so when you were packing your bag for this tour, other than the essentials, what did you pack first?

SW: We packed, let’s see, fireworks, handguns, fake blood, chainsaws and hot chicks.

HN: OK (laughs). You played Omaha, St. Louis and Austin last fall in that order. What do you learn from playing the same cities like these three again?

SW: I learned that I hate my booking agent (laughs). It’s a hell of a fucking drive: Denver to Omaha to St. Louis to Austin. It's like, "Wow, really, dude?" But these are considered secondary towns, not a lot of bands do them. We’re trying to build up a repertoire here.

We haven’t played Denver in 10 years, and there's a reason. Last time we played here it was 2004. There was maybe 20 people here. We're like, "Fuck it, it's not worth our time." We’re trying to get back and see if we can make this a regular stop. The same with Omaha, the same with St. Louis. You know what I'm saying?

HN: Definitely. Since we're based in Nebraska, we know how fortunate we are when bands decide to come here. So with that in mind, what can places like Omaha do to make you come back?

SW: Just have people come out. It’s not about what the venue can do. We can always find a place to play. If there’s no fans, there’s no reason to come back. It’s not anything against the town at all.

Our hometown in Michigan, there's these three promoters, and they all compete get these smaller shows. I'm like, you need to make this a bigger stop with bigger bands. They each have their own little scene and they don’t advertise with everybody and promote with everybody.

I don't know. Just get people out there, and we'll be back.

HN: That's all for questions. Anything else you'd like to add?

SW: Yeah, just that Omaha rules, and somebody bring me a Nebraska beef steak to the concert please.

Michael Todd is Hear Nebraska's managing editor. He hopes The Spits spit like Chris Webster. Reach Michael at michaeltodd@hearnebraska.org.