Music

OFF! speak about being arrested for stealing vegetable oil

by Nicole Villeneuve

As we mentioned briefly in a previous OFF! story, the band was arrested in Arizona for taking vegetable oil from a restaurant to fuel their eco-friendly tour van while making their way to Austin, TX for SXSW. Today, guitarist Dimitri Coats spoke to Prefix Magazine about the incident.

“It’s the companies that have contracts with the restaurants; they’re getting really precious about this oil. It’s kind of the end of an era; it used to be a lot more wide open and fun, but now it’s just getting to be a pain in the ass […] we might sell the van to a younger band whose only alternative is to travel this way. It’s a shame, because when it works it’s pretty bad ass.”

The band will indeed have to return to Arizona for the court date. Coats says that “no one has ever had a problem with taking the oil, and even in this case the cop wanted to let us go.” The band’s great hope is that the charges are dropped and they can move on with their non-criminal lives.