Codefendants seem right at home in Las Vegas, which seems appropriate as it’s where their “compound” is located. A city glamorizing sin, late night and unlawful activity, “This is Crime Wave,” the debut album from Codefendants plays like a soundtrack for Vegas.
The supergroup – consisting of Sam King of Get Dead, hip-hop folk singer Ceschi Ramos, and producer/occasional bassist Fat Mike formerly of NOFX – combines elements of punk and hip-hop with outlaw themes often depicting the uglier side of life. The band just released their latest single and video, “Right Wrong Man,” which features vocals from all three members for the first time.
OC Music News caught up with King and Ramos as they gear up for a slot on this year’s Punk Rock Bowling, a pool party, guided tours at the Punk Rock Museum, and a set at the Pennywise Garage.
KG: So, first off, happy belated birthday, Sammy.
King: Thank you, man. It was on Cinco de Mayo.
KG: You posted on Instagram that if the fans sold out the last of the “Living Las Vegas” prints you would bungee jump off the Stratosphere…
Ramos: It was only good for that day!
King: The deadline was 11:30 p.m., and wouldn’t you know it there were still four left.
Ramos: And they sold the next day. (laughs)
King: I want to jump, something inside of me tells me to jump. I think that’s people’s inherent problem with death; it’s the anticipation that gets you. So, that’s how I deal with heights – just jump, just get it over with.
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KG: What can you tell me about the new single, “Right Wrong Man?”
Ramos: It was a song we started when we were living with Fat Mike. It started off with his riff and he did all the music for that song, and we built it from there. We’ve been working on this new album for like two years now.
KG: Does this mean we have an album in the works?
Ramos: After this interview we’re going to his house to finish one of the last parts of it. We’re probably 85-90% finished.
King: Before the album is finished, we’re going to be coming up with a bunch of songs beforehand. So, there’s going to be new Codef releases throughout the summer.
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KG: On 2023’s “This is Crime Wave,” you had some killer collaborations with D.O.C. (N.W.A.), Stacey Dee (Bad Cop/Bad Cop). Do you have any collaborations on this next album?
Ramos: D.O.C. is on a new song with us, and it’s pretty sick. And he’s also coming out to do Rhyme Fest with us August 16th at the L.A. Coliseum. Fat Mike, too. I’m doing stuff with R.A.P. Ferreira, and I got something with Factor Chandelier. And then my friend, Pat the Bunny is back after a decade with a new project called Friends in Real Life, that I’m a part of.
KG: Ceschi, am I correct that last year you said you were doing the last of the Ceschi Ramos solo shows? What was the reasoning behind that?
Ramos: Yeah, I have my last European tour about to start next month. I did 20 years of a discography, and I just wanted to wrap on my own terms. But, I have so much in the works.
KG: For your shows at Punk Rock Bowling and the pool parties, will it just be you two performing or are you going to have a band backing you?
Ramos: This is going to be the new thing right now. We have Chino Sandoval on drums and Tony Pereira on bass (both from the band Zeta), myself on guitar and Sam and I singing.
KG: Sam, you’re going to be doing some tours at the Punk Rock Museum this weekend. What do you have planned?
King: On Tuesday, we’re going to be doing a Codefendants set at the Pennywise Garage in the Museum, and I’ll be DJing. I’m probably the least historical music person on the planet, but what I lack in actual knowledge I make up for in experience. So, if you walk through the Museum, I’m fortunate enough that just about every band hanging up that’s alive I’ve played with in some fashion.
KG: You guys are hosting a party/show at the Codefendants Compound Friday night? What can you tell me?
Ramos: It’s not competing with Punk Rock Bowling because it’s all hip-hop. Our homies Pigeon John and AWOL One will be playing.
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King: And I’m going to be doing a solo set as Lewee Regal, which was my solo project before I even started Get Dead, 20 years ago.
KG: Sam, any news on a new Get Dead album?
King: We’re in the middle of full-blown ready to start recording. In fact, our guitarist Kyle (Santos of Get Dead) just sent me like 10 demo songs he just wrote. I haven’t heard a bad one yet. So, he might have just written the entire new Get Dead album, single-handedly.
KG: What’s next for Codefendants?
Ramos: We’re building our own label called This is Crimewave. So the 10 inch for “Right Wrong Man” will actually be coming out on This is Crimewave. The full length, we’ll be shopping around because there’s so many things going on with Fat Wreck Chords being sold.
King: We figure at this point the people who fuck with Codefendants fuck with us pretty hard, and we have a connection with them. We’re confident that if we put it out on our own our fans will be there to support it.
Ramos: We’re also a lot more hip-hop than some of the other Fat Wreck bands are, so we want to find a label that represents us all the way around. We really want to focus on making Crimewave a full-on active community.
SUNDAY MAY 25, 2025 | MONSTER STREET PARTY STAGE
Codefendants will be playing the main festival of Punk Rock Bowling this Saturday on the Monster Street Party Stage at 4:10 p.m.
Catch them earlier that same morning, as they play the free Punk Rock Bowling official pool party at the Citrus Grand Pool Deck. Doors open at 10:10 a.m.
The guys will be doing a guided tour at the Punk Rock Museum on Tuesday, May 27th at 2:30 p.m. Codefendants will be playing the Pennywise Stage there later that day.
