punxrukus by Roya Butler

Roger Waters The Wall Live

2011-01-15T21:59:00.001-05:00

Roger Water’s ‘The Wall Live’ left me awestruck. His show was easily the best conception, production, and execution in rock and roll history. Even behind the scenes I received such kindness and respect from the tour manager who made me feel like royalty. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

The deluge of emotions one feels in the audience is indescribable – every sense is ignited, lit with pleasure. “Sensory overload” is an understatement. The most prominent theme that impacted me was a return to innocence through the breaking down of barriers. Although we are taught to build walls for our ‘protection,’ it is not until we break down those walls that we can truly evolve.

Waters asks the question: “What are the walls surrounding all our lives that prevent us from getting at the truth to the extent that we’re willing to sacrifice young men/young women under the guise of ideology?” As the show began, a wall was erected on stage, brick-by-brick, slowly obstructing the view of the band. As it grew, it took on a life of its own though the use of projected images perfectly set to each beat. An ever-shifting horizon extended across the stage of fantastical spectacles rising and falling, as the audience journeyed through a dark but hopeful world together with the music.

At one point the Wall became alive with the spirits of the victims of war. The faces and names of soldiers and civilians alike were remembered as a testament to the unjustifiable nature of warfare. Witnessing this on Veterans Day gave it particular poignancy, which still gives me chills to recall. As Waters performed “Us and Them” the audience swayed lighters – each flame representing a soul lost to war. Water’s explained his position as, “There is no them. We are them and they are us.” How many more lives are to be lost before we stand up and unite?

“There are lots of walls surrounding the world today. There’s a wall between the rich and poor, the first and second world, the new world and the old world. There are walls that divide people due to different religious affiliations or other ideological questions. And so we live in a world where we are separated by one another by these differences, not necessarily in good ways,” Waters explains.

Sadly, in this universal narrative, as old as the birth of the nation state, the many must die for the greedy few. Water’s bold symbolism projected on the Wall unflinchingly points out the motivators behind the monstrous machine of warfare through the images of Bomber planes dropping religious and monetary symbols, such as Crosses and Dollar signs. He states: “The beef is always about power, geography, and cash, always. I actually think religious ideology is used as a tool to develop the means for those ends.”

Such tools, and even people, are used for ill-gotten gains, as illustrated by the use of puppets throughout the show. A school master puppet descends from the darkness somewhere high above the Wall as a symbol of authority to frighten the children into submission and quell their bold declaration of “We don’t need no education—we don’t need no thought control.”

The puppet of “Big Mother” is used to condition the children to trust a “higher” protective authority from birth, instead of trusting themselves. The projected image of a mother’s protective arms around a baby, during the song “Mother,” transformed into walls surrounding the now grown man by “Big Brother,” reminding us that: “Of course Mamma’s gonna help build the wall.”

The show was truly a transformative experience that causes reflection upon its symbols long after the final song. For example, no Roger Waters show would be complete without giant, flying remote-controlled pig. The pig hovered above the stadium with slogans and graffiti across its body. Stenciled on its side was a symbol of a man holding a gun to another’s head captioned by ‘CAPITALISM,’ representing the rise of Corporatism still flying under the anachronistic banner of the glorious capitalistic mythology of First World nations. Most prominently printed on the pig was, “Trust us. Everything will be okay. Just keep consuming.”

A homeless man pushed around a shopping cart of junk through the audience, illustrating how we are all caught up in the rat race of conspicuous consumerism. We become obsessed with our attachment to these objects and imbue them with a power so great that our very identity becomes dependent on their possession. This obsession causes us to forget about our true selves so that we all become as spiritually haggard and destitute as the old man pushing his shopping cart of sacred totems.

Yet there are hopeful notes in this dark world created by the Wall. It is this hope that fuels the revolutionary spirit of the show with such symbols as a brilliant red moon hanging over the Wall inscribed with: ‘Believe.’ Waters expressed his optimistic view of the future rooted in the growing globalized nature of our world via internet technology: “Maybe that because of Facebook, Google, YouTube, and all the other machines for communication, it just may be that we stand on the brink of having a chance to say: ‘hey hold on, there’s something wrong with this picture.’ And maybe we (the Us and Them, who are the same people) may at some point get a chance to approach a benevolent truth– we derive more pleasure from building than from destroying.” In reference to his song ‘Nobody Home,’ it is through these channels of technology that we can replace the ’13 channels of shit on the TV’ with new forms of information transcending the confines of each nation’s ‘Big Brother’ and truly have a destination to where we may ‘fly.’

“We get more pleasure from love than from hate, I know I do. Because, I’ve done my share of fussing and fighting, as John Lennon had it, it sort of brings you nothing but grief,” Water’s further stated. “Whereas if you find it in your heart to help somebody, to build a bridge, or to see from somebody else’s point of view, then hey–what a surprise–suddenly you feel better, about not just about yourself, but about everything. ‘So you may say I’m a dreamer’ (to quote the great man), and maybe I am, but I sense suspicions of some of Lennon’s and Gandhi’s dreams beginning to have possibilities and coming true.”

It is the bridges built by the experience Waters creates that force one to remember that one is a part of something bigger than one’s self. The incendiary messages of the show lit the fire of revolution in the hearts of the audience as they shouted out the lyrics “Tear down the wall!” The chanting swelled into a primal beat driving the destruction of the Wall as it came crashing down in a haze of fiery red at the end of the show.

With the fall of the Wall came an end to the spectacular fantasy, as the band emerged from rubble and dust, formed into a united front. The basic white stage lights fell upon the troupe of revolutionaries, banjos, trumpets and other instruments in hand, bidding thanks in a humble acoustic farewell.

The show left me longing to jump a plane to the following tour date just to experience it again. Look for tour dates in Europe 2011 for Roger Waters, The Wall Live, and check out a preview of the show at http://www.roger-waters.com/.

Written by Roya Butler

Interview with Slayer guitarist Kerry King

2010-04-24T16:40:00.007-04:00

Slayer formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Known for their distinctive musical traits, involving fast tremolo picking, guitar solos, double bass drumming, and screaming vocals, Slayer quickly gained recognition with their 1986 release Reign in Blood, which has been called “the heaviest album of all time”. The band is credited as one of the “Big Four” thrash metal bands, along with Megadeth, Metallica, and Anthrax.

Criticized by religious groups (which consequently generated album bans, delays, lawsuits and, most importantly, publicity) due to their outspoken lyrics and creative album art, Slayer’s lyrics cover topics such as serial killers, Satanism, religion, warfare and the Holocaust.

Selling over four million albums in the United States alone, since their debut record in 1983, the band has released two live albums, one box set, and ten studio albums. The band has received two Grammy nominations, winning one in 2007 for the song “Eyes of the Insane”, and headlined music festivals worldwide, including Ozzfest and the Download Festival. Roya sat down with legend Kerry King to catch up on their Christ Illusion tour.

Tell me about your 666 tattoo?

King: I got it in June 6th of last year. We were supposed to tour then, but our plans changed, and my buddy Paul Booth who’s a tattoo artist was supposed to come out to the Show in San Diego and do it there, but the show got canceled so I just said, hey why don’t I go out to your place and get tattoos.’ So me, my wife, him, his girl, and his apprentice all got 666’s on that day.
All in the same place?

King: No, all different *laughs*.

What does it signify?

King: Just the day. It was the day The Omen came out, and it comes around once every hundred years; I thought it was pretty cool.

How was it working with Tony Petrossian (Killswitch Engage, Slipknot, Stone Sour) on the Eyes of the Insane music video?

King: I’ve never met him/Never talked to him–It’s just one of those things. He had a treatment, and we all dug the treatment so we just turned him loose. After we saw the first draft we gave a couple suggestions and that was about it.

Tell me a little about that video and your political/religious views related to this video as well as to your new album.

King: The entire video is just shown in the reflection of a soldier’s eyes; so you’re seeing what he sees in war everyday. It’s pretty cool–I thought it was neat idea–very different, especially for us, because we usually do performance based videos.

How is it with Dave Lombardo back in Slayer?

King: It’s awesome. He’s been back with us for five years now, cruising along–Slayer sledge hammer.

How is this tour with Unearth going so far–what have been your favorite cities to play?

King: We’re coming up on NYC. That’s always a good one. I think we did Ottawa. I think for the first time. It’s such a long career and when we hit some place only once or twice I tend to forget, but I don’t think we’ve been to Ottawa before, and that was a really good show. We did three in Hamilton, London, and then Ottawa– Ottawa was the best Canadian show so far. We didn’t do LA. San Diego was good. House of Blues in Vegas is always off the hook.

Did you like playing Salt Lake City?

King: I don’t like that venue. *laughs*

Why not?

King: It’s just, you know, it’s fucking in the middle of no where. Kind of a dump, but backstage they’ve gone… I don’t know if they’ve gone out of their way, but they’ve finally started dealing with the amenities…making them a little nicer in the backstage area, so that was cool.

What’s it like playing for so many years and still selling out shows?

King: It’s cool, man. If they stopped coming I wouldn’t have a job, right? *laughs*

In your mind, what’s been the progress in the metal scene?

King: I think it’s a good time for metal right now. Because there seems to be a lot of new bands out there right now contributing to what we’ve been contributing to for so long. It takes new bands to get more people interested and revitalize the movement.

How’s married life treating you?

King: Awesome, my wife is going to be in New York, so I’ll see her day after tomorrow–counting down the days!

In the past 5 years, I’ve noticed an increase in your marketing efforts (merch and exposure).. has your wife influenced that?

King: She’s good at that. If I’d never met her, I’d probably would have never done my own t-shirt line. All the endorsements from all of the music people keep me more focused.

What inspired the Christ Illusion cover art (by Larry Carrol)?

King: The album cover… we just told the artist, who we hadn’t worked with in fifteen years… we uncovered that dude and we said to him, “here are the lyrics which we have so far, and go.” I think it’s cool when you can just let an artist be free and go do there thing with out telling them what to do…let them be free, like we are when we make music.

Wait, so you hadn’t seen Carrol in fifteen years?

King:No, didn’t know if he was still doing art of any kind.

What album did he do before?

King:He did Rain, South, and Seasons.

And so what inspired you to try and get in touch with him again?

King:Because the last one he worked on with us was the last one Dave played on. So when Dave came back, I thought I’d be really cool if we uncovered the guy that did the last cover that Dave was on.

And how do you think this album compares to God Hates Us All?

King:I like it better. I like both of those two. I think they’re the two best records we’ve done since Seasons of the Abyss. So when God Hates came out, that was my favorite one we’d done in a long time. Then when Christ Illusion came out… I think it’s more complete than God Hates… I think it’s just a better record. We did ten songs, which is very old school, as opposed to doing, you know, whatever’s popular — thirteen, fourteen, filling up a disc with stuff you’re not as comfortable with. So we went into this one knowing that we were only going to ten or eleven songs, and I think we really streamlined the hell out of them.

And Carrol didn’t have the album name when he was doing the artwork?

King:Nope.

How did you come up with the name Christ Illusion?

King: Well, we had to call it something, and Tom suggested that. It was a line from the song Cult.’ That was the one that was out already, so it kind of linked in reference to the EP we put out, and it worked well with the art itself, I think.

Does it signify anything going on right now politically or religiously?

King: Not really. As far as an album title goes, it was just something that was in our songs already. It’s not like we had to make something up… It already existed.

Is Christ Illusion an overt outcry to shake people into realizing that organized religion is a legalized form of mind control (as is TV)?

King: For me it is. But I know that Tom and Dave both are religious people. Just goes to show you that grown people can be in the same band and have very different views.

How many guitars do you take on tour with you?

King: I think there might be ten. But I don’t play them all. Some are back ups. In any given set… I’m playing six right now.

And why do you switch it up?

King: Different tuning for one thing, because during out set we play three separate tunings. A lot of times if we play a set, I’ll switch because I just want to make sure to stay in tune.

Rick Rubin (who has been with Slayer since the 80s) is credited as executive producer of Christ Illusion. How is it having him on your team? How has he helped you through the years?

King: I didn’t even see him on this record. Executive producer means “guy on the record label.” And what he does for us is listen to our mix and throw in some suggestions when we are essentially done with it. He has an idea of what he thinks it should sound like–it might be something minuscule like “turn up the snare drum just at three minutes ten seconds into the song”, or “just for this one hit”… quirky shit, you know.

Please clarify this long term misconception that Slayer is a bunch of Nazi fascists.

King: I can say anything you want, but… *laughs* I haven’t joined the Hitler youth in any recent times, so nothing’s different… just Scott hating king.

Has your family been supportive of your career?

King: Yeah, my dad was stoked on the Grammy. I didn’t really care, but I knew that my dad would, because it gave him something to be proud of.

Were you inspired in any way by the hardcore movement–did you see American Hardcore?

King: I don’t think I saw that. But Jeff was totally into hardcore around the first album. And it took me a while to get into it, because I was into singers, and I didn’t understand the punk screaming thing for a long time. So at that time I was all into Dickinson and Halford–real singers. But once I figured out that it was the angst part of it that made it cool, then I put the two together.

I heard you’ve had some intense fans, like the guy who had ‘Slayer’ carved into his back that you had in one of your EP covers a while back. Have you met up with any recent fans that have made you step back and smirk?

King: Not at dramatic as that. You see the cool back tattoo or something that people put big pieces of art on themselves of my band. That’s kind of cool. But that one guy, I think he was in Sacramento and his buddy did it with a broken beer bottle.
*laughs*

I hear you love horror movies. What’s your favorite one of all times? Do you plan to produce a horror movie in the future?

King: No, I don’t have the vision or the patience to do anything like that. That’s a hard question – favorite horror movie of all times. There are tons of good ones – Silence of the Lambs, Seven, Exorcist 3, all kinds of good shit.

By Roya Butler

Interview with No Use For A Name bassist Matt Riddle

2010-02-12T00:57:00.007-05:00

No Use for a Name (sometimes abbreviated NUFAN) is a punk rock band from San Jose, California, United States formed in 1987 by Chris Dodge (guitar), Steve Papoutsis (bass), Rory Koff (drums), and Tony Sly (vocals). The band's sound has evolved considerably through its career, taking on a much lighter brand of melodic punk as the years passed.

The original line-up of four added Ramon Gras as a second vocalist and Doug Judd as a second guitarist. The band was first featured on Maximum RocknRoll's 1987 Turn it Around compilation, with the song "Gang Way." A year later the band's self-titled debut EP was released on Woodpecker Records. Their second EP, Let 'em Out, was released a year later through Slap A Ham Records. Chris Dodge, Doug Judd, and John Meyers left the band after the release of "Let 'em Out". Soon after, Tony Sly entered the band.

NUFAN's debut album, Incognito, was released in 1990 through New Red Archives. Chris Dodge rejoined on second guitar, and they released their second album Don't Miss the Train in 1992 before signing up with Fat Mike's label Fat Wreck Chords in 1993. During this year Chris Dodge left the line-up, and was replaced with guitarist Robin Pfefer, who took over on lead guitar so Sly could concentrate on singing and stick to rhythm. No Use for a Name also released its first record on Fat this year, The Daily Grind, which turned out to be a highly successful album.

Ed Gregor replaced Robin Pfefer on lead guitar soon after the release of The Daily Grind. In 1995, after the release of Leche Con Carne, their fourth full-length, Chris Shiflett and Matt Riddle joined the band to play guitar and bass, replacing Ed Gregor and Steve Papoutsis respectively. With the punk music breakthrough in 1994, No Use for a Name received a larger audience after releasing this album, compliments of their video for the song "Soulmate" which was played on the MTV show 120 Minutes. This was the first video on Fat Wreck Chords to ever be aired on MTV. In 1997, after the success of Making Friends, the band went on a worldwide tour through the U.S., Europe, Australia, Canada, and Japan.

After releasing More Betterness!, Chris Shiflett left the band in 1999 to join the successful Foo Fighters, being replaced by Dave Nassie. Two years later, the band contributed to Fat Wreck Chords with the release of their live album, Live in a Dive: No Use for a Name and during the following year in 2002 No Use for a Name released its seventh studio album Hard Rock Bottom.The band released their 8th full-length studio album titled Keep Them Confused June 14, 2005. It takes a more political position than earlier releases. Roya sat down with bassist Matt Riddle to hear stories about the band and their new album.

Tell us about your new album, when did it release?

Matt: The new album, named Hard Rock Bottom, came out June18th, first day of the warp tour.

Where are you guys form originally, and how’d you start up?

Matt: California. I was in this band called Face to Face. We did the first warped tour together. That’s how I met NUFAN. When I got out of that band, NUFAN called me up and asked me to be in the band. The band has been around since 1987 with line-up comprised of singer/guitarist Tony Sly, guitarist Chris Dodge, bassist Steve Papoutsis and drummer Rory Koff. They weren’t really serious, it was kinda a joke, hence the name NUFAN. Shiflett is with the Foo Fighters now. The Line-up has changed a lot, and Sly and Koff are the only original members left. It’s pretty serious now.

How long have you been doing this?

Matt: About 10-12 years now. Before this I was in mainly heavy metal bands. I was a little metalhead.

How have you noticed that the punk rock scene has changed since the first Warp Tour?

Matt: Well when your on the Warp Tour, its so different, you have so many radio bands out here. Its really weird with bands like us, that aren’t really radio friendly. Some of the kids are really into us, and some don’t really know the songs but are into it cuz it’s energetic. So it’s fun, we love it.

What have you noticed from the first tour in 1995 to this one?

Matt: The Catering is a lot better. Heh. More stages…There used to be one or two stages, now there’s six or seven stages. There’s 40-50 bands a day. It’s huge. I really like the Warp Tour. The only thing is, If you’re not on it, it’s really hard for a band to tour in the summer, cuz you’re up against something really massive, and it’s really hard to do.

Do you think you get new fans

Matt: Yea, we definitely get lota new fans this way. Some kids just come for the radio bands, and they see us and they like it, and they come to our merch booth and we get to meet them, and it’s really great for us to be able to come in contact with our fans.

So what bands have influenced you; more Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, or Sex Pistols, The Clash?

Matt: Iron maiden is my favorite band of all times! Seriously, I just watch them and I’m blown away. They were the reason I even started playing bass, I saw Steve Parris and would try to play along with the guy listening to it or watching it or whatever. I even try to look like him stylewise, when I’m on stage. But, I don’t like any of that glam metal. I’m more into Hardcore Goth Stuff like Black Sabbath and Norweigen Black Metal like Meyhem. The Punk Rock I like is weird, like old English punk rock: Toy Doll, The Addicts, Rudementary Peni. They are so adamant about what they say. There’s so many cool bands out there that a lot of people are not familiar with.

Have you noticed the difference between the perspective between old and new bands?

Matt: Yea. The bands that are influenced by Green Day--they know like 3 chords! These kids are going to their guitar teachers and they wana learn a Green Day song--like ‘these three chords is all I need to know’. But they’re not asking to learn a Led Zeppelin song, which is far more complicated. And that’s what new bands are doing now. But it’s not an insult, cuz it’s whatever makes you happy. If they like playin it, and kids are appreciating it, then who am I to complain about that. But yea, a band like us is influenced a lot differently, we understand harmonies and melodies and that’s just how we’re influenced. Like I said, one of most commercial bands I listen to is Bad Religion. I love Bad Religion.

Are you glad Bad Religion is back to the original line up?

Matt: Yea it’s pretty close to the original line up. Their drummer is friends with our guitar player. They were in Suicidal Tendencies together. It’s pretty cool.

That’s insane you got the Suicidal Tendencies guitarist on your lineup now!

Matt: Yea.

Do you think that the Warp Tour is going to go back to what it first started as, or become more Punk Rock?

Matt: I don’t even wana guess at the future. I don’t wana even guess what’s gonna happen. But, you know the minute it drops off and it’s not fun anymore I’m so out of here. This is all for fun, that’s why I’m doing it. That’s what makes it so high energy. I don’t wana ever just be goin through the motions. I don’t wana live my life like that.

Discography:

Hard Rock Bottom, 2002
The NRA Years, 2000
More Bitterness, 1999
Making Friends, 1997

Official Site:http://www.nouseforaname.com/

The Ramainz interview with Marky Ramone

2010-02-12T00:51:00.004-05:00

Marky Ramone, longtime Ramones drummer was born in New York City on July 15, 1956. Marky Ramone joined the Ramones in 1978, recording Road to Ruin. Born Mark Bell, he adopted the name Marky Ramone and played with the band through 1983. He took a break for four years, returning in 1987 and playing strong until they broke-up in 1996.

This year, Marky Ramone, along with DeeDee Ramone and his wife Barbara Zampini recorded a live album “The Ramainz.”
Roya: What is your favorite song on the ramainz album?
Marky: I like Chinese Rocks because the Ramones did it, and so did the Heartbreakers with Johnny Thunders—that was the original Heartbreakers, before Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. I like the way Dee Dee interpreted it. Dee Dee wrote it, and Joey sang it on one of the Ramones albums. The way Dee Dee sang it was the way he wrote it, which comes across on the Ramainz live album.

What was your inspiration to make the Ramainz album?

Marky: We were talking about doing a fun show in New York, so we picked a club with a good soundboard; we did a tight sound check, and wired everything up so that the mix would have high-quality, and we could take it into a studio and mix it the next day. So the inspiration was to have a entertaining night with good fun. We just wanted to get a bunch of friends packed in really tight, close to the stage—which we always like to do. This live album is just an aftereffect of the fun we had that night. Dee Dee was fantastic—he was really very terrific, playing guitar and singing—everyone was just having a great time.

Was there any press there?

Marky: We didn’t invite any press down, but maybe there was. We just wanted to have a really fun night. It was initially for us and some friends. We played at The Continental—they advertised it, and it was oversold, so we said “great so let’s just do this and record it.” We were really happy to do it at that club, since it’s a small venue—it holds 350-400 people.

How did Dee Dee meet Barbara Zampini?

Marky: Dee Dee married Barbara 2 years after he met her in Argentina, where she was originally from. She was 21 years old when she recorded that album with us. Dee Dee lived in Argentina for a year.

Was making this album a natural progression for you?

Marky: It was natural, yea--two Ramones doing Ramones songs. So hopefully after so many years of doing them, it better come natural or you better just give it up, you know.

What do you feel is evidence that the younger punk fans are able to fully respect and appreciate what pioneers like you have done?

Marky: It’s evident by their influences in music, which I’m extremely grateful for. You hear it everywhere in bands like: Greenday, Rancid, Offspring, The Donnas, and The Queers, to name a few. It’s wonderful. I mean they could have gone the other way and been influenced by WASP, White snake, you know, bands like that. Everyone has their own taste in music genres, but The Ramones have left a pretty big legacy in the punk scene.

Were there plans for a studio album? If so were there any songs completed that might get released eventually?

Marky: With the Ramainz, no, unfortunately. At that point, I was asked to join the Misfits as a guest, and I couldn’t really do anything with Dee Dee at that point, he was doing his own thing. When we got into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I saw Dee Dee there, and he was in great shape. I was going to bring up to him the possibility of recording a studio album, but unfortunately he passed away a little bit after that. But I’m totally grateful that that album was made. It was his live legacy.

What’s your favorite Ramones album you recorded and why?

Marky: Road to Ruin. The first song I recorded was: “I wana be sedated.” And I really liked the production on “Mondo Bizzaro,” which was one of the last albums we recorded. And “We’re Outa Here” with Rock and Roll High School. It’s tough to pick just one…

Tell me about your upcoming tour with the Misfits.

Marky: That’s going to go through the United States. We’re playing about 30 shows, starting in Ohio, all the way through Chicago, and on Halloween night in New York at The World on Broadway. Then we travel back to New Jersey, to Boston—all around the US—Washington. I just got back from a 30-day tour with my other band that I play with out there, so I’ll be coming back on the Misfits tour. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I really enjoy being around them. They’re dedicated and they really love their fans/friends, and it’s going to be a great tour. We’ll be playing on November 2nd in Reading at The Silo. We’re doing an in-store signing at J&R Records in NYC on October 30th at around 2:30pm. We look forward to seeing our friends/fans there.

By Roya Butler

Full Blown Chaos Drummer Jeff Facci Interviewed

2010-02-11T16:24:00.004-05:00

Hailing from Queens, New York, Full Blown Chaos is a Hardcore/Metal band well known for their songs of inner-strength backed with riffage that hug hairpin turns and a dynamite-triggering rhythm section.

Touring with bands such as Hatebreed, Sick of it All, Terror, Madball, Himsa, Napalm Death and many others, Full Blown Chaos commands insane mosh pits with their intense stage presense and connection with their fans.

I had the chance to sit down with Jeff Facci, drummer of Full Blown Chaos; as he told me about his background, about the band, and their new album Heavy Lies the Crown released June 2007 on Ferret Music.

Tell us how you got your new bassist.

Jeff Facci: Our old bass player was basically a real piece of shit. I’m going to say it on record: If Ed Conroy ever comes in my presence, I’m going to beat the shit out of him, cause I hate him. You can put that in the interview--please, actually. Basically, we were touring with Agnostic Front and Ed had to step out of the tour for back surgery. So we had our crew guy, Mike, fill in. We toured Canada, and then went to Maine and New Hampshire. In New Hampshire I called up our manager and said, “Listen, we can’t have Ed in the band anymore.” Within that week of playing with Mike in the band, instead of Ed, everything was just so smooth and stress-free. That’s how Mike joined the band, and Ed was kicked out.

Tell us about your tour so far.

Jeff Facci: Tour’s been great. I think this is day six, or seven maybe, I don’t even know. But it’s been going really good—the fans have been really cool. I don’t what else to say about a tour. It’s the same thing over and over again, everyday.

How’s the food on tour?

Jeff Facci: Eating habits on the road are very poor. As you can see band dudes are big most of the time. Lately there have been really skinny dudes, but mostly they’re big guys, because on the road you can’t eat anything really healthy. And if you can, you must have more money than the other bands. Because it takes more money to buy shit that’s good for you, than to buy dollar menu shit at McDonald’s, or wherever else. So be prepared to eat like a fucking disgusting animal while on tour.

Tell us the difference between your fans in Philly and your fans in New York.

Jeff Facci: What fans in New York? *laughs* No, I’d say that the fans in Philly just care a little bit more, because we’re not a local band. Like in New York it’s not fans, it’s more like friends. But in Philly we actually have people that come out that don’t know us in everyday life. It’s cool; I like it.

Tell us a little bit about your new album.

Jeff Facci: Well, it’s heavy. *laughs* It’s angry. There’s not much positivity on the record. Lyrically I don’t really know what to say about it, because it’s mostly Ray Mazzola’s stories and what he wants to tell, and I don’t really write lyrics. But I know he’s pissed off at a lot of people and he wrote songs about a lot of those people. Musically it’s probably the most metal album we’ve ever done, but we still have hardcore aspects to it. Some people beg to differ, but I say that the record is pretty well balanced between hardcore and metal. It was produced by Billy from Biohazard. I mean that right there is enough in the hardcore world to have the hardcore touch in your music. It was really a lot of fun to write and make, and I’m really happy with the way it came out.

How does it compare with your past records?

Jeff Facci: Like I said, it’s more metal than our past records. It’s more similar to our older stuff than our last record before this one. That one was really rushed, and a lot of songs weren’t finished the way we wanted them--it had to be put out in time for Ozzfest. I think, personally, our new album is comparable to our older stuff. There will always be people saying, “No, it’s not like you older stuff. Play the old stuff!” But I don’t want to play the old stuff. I like the new stuff.

So tell me about the rest of your tour and what you plan to do after your tour is over.

Jeff Facci: We worked our way from Chicago, to Detroit, to Cleveland, now we’re here in Philly. Then we head down south into Florida, and then we work our way up through Texas and into and through Cali for a few days. They we work our way back through the Midwest and end up with our last day in Boston on December 22-- a few days before Christmas. So it’s going to be a long, cold run, but its fun--It’ll be good. And what I plan to do when I get home is nothing. Sit around and sleep and watch movies. That’s about it, really. Hang out with my family. Maybe write some more music. I don’t know. Maybe get a job. I never know what I’m going to do after I get home from a tour.

So you don’t have any tours scheduled after that.

Jeff Facci: Not after this one, no.

And no plans to record anything else?

Jeff Facci: Not any time soon, no.

Let’s talk about your video.

Jeff Facci: It’s almost done; we did it a while ago. It should be airing on Head bangers Ball soon.

Tell me a little bit about it.

Jeff Facci: It’s for Halos for Heroes. It’s kind of like a mafia movie in a way. We had a bunch of actors come out and we filmed it in New Jersey in some abandoned mental facility--some haunted joint. Basically, the story is that this one guy was with the mafia boss’ daughter, and he fucked her up, beat her and what have you. The two hit men then find him, rough him up, throw him in the trunk, and bury him--it kind of goes with the song which is “don’t fuck anyone over, or you’ll get yours.” It’s a pretty cool video. I’ve seen it, and it’s going to be pretty sick.

Do you believe in karma?

Jeff Facci: I don’t know. The song’s written by Ray, so it’s what he believes. I just play the drums--and I play them good (scratch that out of there *laughs*).

Tell me about Rev Ray.

Jeff Facci: Ray’s the reverend. He took a course online and got a certificate. So if he wanted, he could marry people. It’s kinda pointless in a way. It doesn’t really serve any purpose for the band, or him I imagine. I don’t see the big hooha in Ray’s being a Reverend. It’s kinda funny. He did it because he wanted to help people. *laughs*

Come on, tell us the truth! Was he tryin to get with a girl who'd only get with him if she was married? *laughs*

Jeff Facci: Yeah, we can go with that, too. You can put your imagination to it. Ray being a Reverend is blank to you. What does it mean to you? That’s what I want to ask you people.

Thanks, Jeff, this was a fun interview. Do you have anything to add?

Jeff Facci: Buy our new cd now. It’s good. And you’ll like it. It’s heavy, and it’s moshy, and it’s…. I’m trying to make the interview fun here! *laughs* Yeah, just go buy the record. It’s on Ferret Music. It’s called Heavy Lies the Crown. Just check it out. Don’t down load it. Or do, I don’t really care. Just come out to a show and have a good time.

by Roya Butler

Anti-Flag Interview with Justin Sane and Chris 2

2010-02-11T15:55:00.004-05:00

Hailing from Pittsburgh, PA, Anti-Flag is known for their outspoken views on American government and activist movements.

Anti-Flag was formed in 1988 by singer/guitarist Justin Sane and drummer Pat Thetic. During the band's early years, various guitarists and bassists moved in and out of the band, including Justin's sister, Lucy Fester (aka Lucy Geever-Conroy) formerly of Chicago band Toothpaste. The band failed to solidify, and it fell apart after playing just one show. In 1993, Justin and Pat reformed the band, now with Andy Flag on bass.

Anti-Flag have been involved with activism throughout their musical career. This has included starting the activism groups The Underground Action Alliance, Military Free Zone (A group to protest a clause in the No Child Left Behind Act, which gave military recruiters automatic access to student's personal details) and The Bright Lights.

They have been involved in performing at multiple protests, these included two in support of Rage Against The Machine.
The most recent protest they performed at was outside the National Republican Convention in 2009, they were supposed to be the last band to play but they had been touring with Rage Against The Machine and had decided it would be a good idea to get them involved since they had a long history of getting involved in related events. When officials found out they were going to perform, they shut down the stages power and the band performed two songs using megaphones.

They also regularly support political organisations which include: Democracy Now! the latest headlines from which can be found on the band's homepage. PETA,whom are one of the sponsors of their 2010 'The Economy Sucks Let's Party' tour. Amnesty International, whom the band donated money from the sale of The People And The Gun to and who are one of the sponsors of their 2010 the Economy Sucks Lets Party Tour. Greenpeace, whom the band worked in conjunction with in order to persuade world leaders to attend the climate conference in Copenhagen and whom are one of the sponsors of their The Economy Sucks Lets Party Tour.

The Gun Star is the symbol for the band Anti-Flag, designed by Anti-Flag guitarist Chris Head. It was first used on the cover of the album Mobalize. It was later used on merchandise. It is made up of a number of broken M-16 rifles in the form of a star shape. It is not infrequent for fans of Anti-Flag to get a Gun Star tattoo. Also, they used the O & X superposed symbols on Die for the Government LP frequently.

What are your name and instruments you play?

Justin: I’m Justin Sane and I play guitar for anti-flag.

Chris: I’m Chris (number two) and I'm the bass player for Anti-Flag, and I like baby carrots.

How did you guys start out?

Justin: We’re from Pittsburg, PA. Basically the drummer and I started the band ten years ago—we were just a couple kids with nothing better to do. Most of the other kids were just doing drugs and getting fucked up and being idiots, and we wanted to do something different and play music.

So you guys are straight-edge?

Justin: I wouldn’t classify us as straight-edge. I don’t use drugs or alcohol, but it’s a personal choice; I just chose not to do those things.

Chris: I mean you gotta do whatever gets you through the day, as long as you’re not causing harm to anyone else. But we feel a lot of negative energy gets attached to labels, but yea, we do what we need to do to get us through the day...
Justin: …and for us that basically is just staying straight.

How did you conceive the name of your band?

Justin: Well the idea behind Anti-Flag is to bring down the false barriers that are put in place by people in power around the world. We think that Patriotism and Nationalism—they’re imaginary boundaries that are being set up by the people in power that divide the masses. We want to break down those barriers and bring people together. Instead of having different flags around the world, to have people united under one flag.

Chris: Again its one of those things where it’s open for interpretation. The way I see it is everyone should be anti-flag. Everyone has a part of what the band is. We could end it tomorrow if the world chose to view human beings for what they are, and treat human beings the way they should be treated. At that point, there would be no necessity for anti-flag. Until that day comes, we’re going to use our music and our ideas to reach people Anti-flag is not a name, it’s a value.

Justin: It’s the idea of seeing people as human beings—not as a religion, or as nationalities—not as cowards or hero’s, that’s the idea behind anti-flag

I know a lot of your songs are politically based, why is that so?

Justin: Well, to me it’s like any other political publication, except with music instead of print. The reason behind the political lyrics is that there are more social issues around the world that effects everyone’s life—not only everyone’s life, but the world as a whole—psychologically, so I think its important that we are in control of what’s going on around the world, and move things in a positive direction. I don’t think the leaders of this world rather, people in power (I don’t really like to call them leaders because, they don’t lead by example, in fact, I don’t think they lead at all) abuse those powers, and I believe they use the masses of the world to keep themselves in power, and to gain more power. So with these abuses in place, we defiantly want to make a statement against those kinds of obscenities and offer an alternative solution or resolution.

Who has been an influence on you, past or present?

Justin: Someone who I really look up to is Billy Brag. I really love Billy Brag. One of the things he really advocates is humanitarianism; that’s something I’ve learned from him and try to make conscious in my life. I try to treat people how I would like to be treated; when I see something wrong, I take the side of right, make a statement and try to make an impact.

If you could influence your fans, with one statement, what would it be?

Justin: Well if there’s one main message it’s treat people like human beings—act like brother and sister, and discard any adversarial thoughts of hatred due to differences (be it nationality, religious belief, or sexuality).
Chris: I think that right now the Government and the businesses of the United States don’t view people as individuals, but instead, as a group. I believe that thought process is a profound problem; we hope to convey that.

Tell us about the album you're currently working on?

Justin: We’re working with Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine. The new CD will be released soon on Fat Wreck Chords.

Tell us about Mobilize, your new full-length CD.

Justin: Well Mobilize is a new release on our label, AF Records (http://www.a-frecords.com/). Mobilize contains a free sampler with A-F bands. Included on the sampler is my solo project, Justin Sane: Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Justice—it’s along the lines of Billy Brag, lots of love songs. The sampler also contains two songs from #2’s band Whatever it Takes: “Stars and Skulls”.

What has been your best tour thus far?

Chris: I would have to say this tour with the Bouncing Souls and The Mobilize for Peace Tour. That was a really great tour to do because it was right after September 11th and we weren’t sure how the world would look at Anti-Flag. We went out and basically had the best shows we ever had. It was refreshing to see people uniting and thinking about the world as a whole verses just crime for bloodshed. It was heartening to see people asking why September 11th happened versus trying to blow people up or go over and kill someone due to outright hostility...

Justin: …not only asking why September 11th happened, but resolving the problems at hand, as well as deep-rooted problems. The anti-violence movement was really very exciting to witness. We didn’t know what it was going to be like. There were a lot of kids who thought that George Bush was not doing a good job, and that violence was a horrible solution to violence. It was really magnificent to go out there and find others like us, and to feel the unity of people that were feeling this way.

Chris: Every time you turn on the TV, there were messages of retaliation—of let’s go bomb them…

Justin: …Which is pretty much how it is now—it’s still that way. Kids went to the shows and saw that there were a thousand kids who felt the same way they did; they recognized that they were not the only ones who saw the hypocrisy in bombing Afghanistan. So at that point, yea, it was very exciting.

Why do you take that stance?

Justin: I think we are all connected and that we come from the earth. We are all a part of the earth. It is important to have respect in the way we treat the earth, and in the way we treat each other. I think it will all come around indefinitely.

Interview by Roya Butler

Animosity interview with frontman Leo Miller

2010-02-11T15:45:00.003-05:00

Animosity is a deathcore band from San Francisco, California.

Their debut album, Shut it Down was released on Tribunal Records in 2003. In 2005, they released their second album, Empires on Black Market Activities and toured the United States with Origin and Malevolent Creation.

Animal was released October 2007, and produced by Kurt Ballou of Converge.

I had the chance to sit down with singer, Leo Miller, before their show at The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia.

I heard you guys started out in the industry at a young age.

Leo Miller: Yeah, we started out at around fourteen--about seven years ago. I met two guys right before we started high school; they were the only guys around my age that were into metal, so we started jamming together. Since then, we’ve added a few more people and played a lot in high school and locally. When I turned 16 and got my drivers license, we started hitting other states. Right when I graduated high school we did our first full US tour. We’ve been on the road ever since.

How did you get discovered/signed?

Leo Miller: I just sent it out to all the record labels, and they were interested in us, and put it out for us. Our first record, ‘Shut it Down’, is on Tribunal records out of North Carolina. It was a pretty cool deal; no strings attached--they just put the record out for us, and that was it. So it gave us a good head start, and from there we were able to hook up with Black Market Activities, which is our current record label. They put out our last two records, including ‘Animal’, which we put out three weeks ago.

It has been rumored that there is some Deicide influence on your new album,‘Animal’.

Leo Miller: All sorts of bands influenced us; I don’t think at this point we have any main influences--It’s just an eclectic mix. Death Metal as a whole influences us. We listen to a lot of different Death Metal bands, so it’s not just one band like Deicide that’s changing our sound, but a lot of our influences come from other styles of music. Just individually each player has a different history with a different kind of music. I’m really into Latin Brazilian music and seventies music: Jimmy Hendrix, Frank Zappa. Our influences are really broad, and that’s what makes our sound somewhat unique.

How do you feel that your sound has changed from your first album to ‘Animal?’

Leo Miller: We’ve matured a lot; we’ve moved away from genetic sounding trends and song structures. Most of the songs on our first record were written when we were fifteen years old. And so naturally six years later the songs that we write are just more mature. Everyone’s grown as a musician and as a listener. We’ve never consciously made any changes, like contrived a new sound or anything. But as a whole we’ve just become much more extreme, technical, and proficient in our playing.

Any plans after this tour?

Leo Miller: Right after this tour we’re going to go home for two weeks, and then spend a week in Mexico--we’ve got a couple shows down there. After that, we really don’t have anything planned. We’ll be looking for some new tours. I’m sure we’ll still be out on the road. Hopefully we’ll have a little more of a break this time, though. We’ve literally been on tour for years. So looking forward to a little down time, but we’ll see what happens. *laughs*

How much time do you have in between tours and recordings?

Leo Miller: The most time we’ve ever had off, was like three months--and we used that time to write our new record, and practiced nearly every day during that time. The normal break is about a month. Between three to six weeks is decent break for us.

So it took you three months to write and record ‘Animal?’

Leo Miller: I mean, some of the songs took two years to write, but we had a couple songs. When we buckled down and stopped touring to write a record, we had three and half months off to do it, and we got it done. It could have taken forever if we hadn’t had a deadline, but we were in a little practice room everyday trying to make music.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Leo Miller: Check out the new record if you can get it. It’s online. It’s in stores, and it’s pretty fierce.

Interview by Roya Butler

Horse the band Interview with keyboardist Erik Engstrom

2010-02-11T15:33:00.002-05:00

An experimental metalcore band, HORSE the band is well known for their achievement of an 8-bit video game-influenced sound, resulting in them often being referred to as "Nintendocore".

Their keyboardist, Erik Engstrom, uses the Korg MS-2000 and more recently, the Roland Juno-D synthesizer and LSDJ Gameboy cartridge to create their trademark sound.

Horse the band’s songs include Cut Man from Mega Man, although the song is spelled "Cutsman"; Birdo, one of the bosses from the NES game Super Mario Bros. 2, in the song "Birdo"; and the rabbit-like nemesis from The Legend of Zelda in the song "Pol's Voice". The song "A Million Exploding Suns" refers to the Marvel Comics character Sentry, a schizophrenic hero with this abundance of power.

2007's A Natural Death featured significant lyrical evolution into the concepts of nature and mortality while moving slightly away from the Nintendo metaphors. The song "Murder" is inspired by the Western novel Lonesome Dove, in which a Native American named Blue Duck stalks and kills white settlers on the plains.

HORSE the Band is known for their tremendously energetic live performances; their Halloween show at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia was filled with props and costumes.

I met up with Horse The Band in their van before their show, to listen to what they had to say about their tour and the new album.

So tell me about how you started the band and how you got together, and such.

Erik Engstrom: We were in high school; we had no friends. It was me and Dave, our guitarist, and *laughs* I don’t know, we just started playing music. We didn’t go to any shows, we didn’t know anything about the scene--we didn’t even know it existed. We just wanted to have a band, and we just started writing the most horrible music you could ever think of, and now eight years later, here we are *laughs.* That’s about it. I mean we got a lot of new members along the way who knew how to play their instruments, and we learned how to play our instruments. So, that was good.

So you started with a keyboardist and a singer?

Erik Engstrom: No, we started with a keyboardist, a guitarist, two singers, a French horn, a bass player, another keyboardist, and a drummer.

And now it’s just come down to…

Erik Engstrom: Keyboard, guitar, bass, singer, drums.

And does it sound a lot tighter. What’s the difference in the music?

Erik Engstrom: Yeah, you can’t even compare the two. The sound is tighter…the songs are better, I don’t know *laughs.* If you took where we are now and where we started, you could have eight different bands in between that sound completely different.

What kind of genre were you before and how has it changed to now?

Erik Engstrom: There was no genre before *laughs.* Cause we didn’t know any bands, so we didn’t even know what a band sounded like. We sounded like fifth graders trying to write music. When our singer, Nathan, joined the band and we showed him our music, he said it was like kindergarteners trying to play music in class…*laughs*…Kindermetal.

What has inspired you most recently for your new album, A Natural Death?

Erik Engstrom: Together as a group I would say nature, time, animals, and… emptiness.

How does it tie into everything you just said?

Erik Engstrom: Well, natural ties into nature, and so do animals. The album title, a Natural Death, it shows us being murdered on the cover by Indians, which is not a natural death. It’s not dying in your sleep, but we say it is, because that’s deep. Everything here is a part of nature, like these cars and these buildings were just made by humans/animals. So no matter how you die, it is natural--It is part of nature, and life is empty.

So your philosophy is Taoist?

Erik Engstrom: Nathan, our singer has some Tao ties. The band has some Taoist influence, but also goes its own way away from that. But our philosophy on this album is: your life may not matter at all when you think about it on a grand scale. But, that’s not something that you should be depressed about, because, if you are, that’s just ego and sentimentality about nothing. So just enjoy your life, do what you want, and if it doesn’t matter, fuck it.

So it’s existentialist, in a sense.

Erik Engstrom: Yeah, it’s probably closer to existentialism, but with a really-really happy spin on things. Cause there’s no reason for that to be depressing at all. I’m way into the existential writers, but I think that we’re nowhere near as sad as most of those dudes.

Kierkegaard, Kafka, Sartre, Camus…

Erik Engstrom: …yeah, Camus…the new guy, Wellabeck, all that stuff--it’s cool. But I think that we don’t have as sad of a view on life. If you boil down what we’re saying then, yeah, maybe we’re saying the same things. But then our take on it is, ‘who cares! Don’t get down about this stuff! You’re living, make the best of it, and follow your heart.’ Maybe you can’t make a difference, but there’s no point in not trying to, if that’s what you want to do.

Nice.

Erik Engstrom: Yeah, cause everyone who looks at our album thinks we’re depressed and have this somber view of things, but I don’t think we do. But we’re also not a joke band *laughs.*

So has it always been that way from the beginning, or is it a metamorphosis as you’ve matured as a band?

Erik Engstrom: The album is still more about the music than the philosophy. These thoughts all came to us at once as a group just from being on tour. We talked about them, and joked through them, and came to some conclusions. Being on tour makes you see the world from a new perspective. You get to take a step back from your local involvement, and all your friends and family, and having a base. You step away and see many people with their bases from far off, and you realize that no one is anything to anyone else except the ten basic people around them. And no one’s life is as minutely important as they believe--even the super important ones. A lifetime, let’s say, is between 50 to 100 years, and then it’s done. Maybe people remember them once every six months, or in history books, or something, but even that will be annihilated *laughs.*

True.

As a band, we’ve been friends forever, and we just talk about whatever. We’re not just business people trying to do a band together. For as long as I remember, the core of the band would be getting together and talking about whatever. So I wouldn’t say we are philosophers, but everyone’s into their own thing, and reads a lot, and brings in their own perspective. We have a humorous view point on some stuff, but that’s just a result of…

Nathan Winneke: …being happy.

Erik Engstrom: Yeah, humor is very important--to not take yourself too seriously-- cause if you do, you just have your head up your ass, and you don’t know where you stand in reality.

So, I just want to tie this all together. When you started out you said that you were always very light-hearted and humorous and you’ve taken that throughout your music and into this album now, but with more philosophical sense now than you’ve had before.

Erik Engstrom: Yeah, there’s always been the humorous element, but we’ve always been serious about the music too, with the exception of one or two songs on each album which we thought were funny, but still good. We didn’t try to write any horrible music as a joke.

Just at first…

Erik Engstrom: Well, at first all we could write was horrible music, but we were still trying—in our defense, we didn’t know that it was horrible at the time *laughs*…or maybe our music still is, who knows. But we’ve always been trying, and we just got better along the way…hopefully.

Do you have anything else to add?

Erik Engstrom: I don’t know…

*Chris Profitt, the drummer, burps*

Interview by Roya Butler

Interview with Casualties frontman Jorge

2010-02-11T14:38:00.007-05:00

Hailing from NYC, the Casualties is a punk band formed in 1990.

The Casualties members had the primary aim to revive the "golden era" of street punk, embodied by bands such as The Exploited, Charged, GBH, and Discharge, who's popularity was believed to have wained by 1985.

During the early years, the Casualties lineup was stable. The initial lineup consisted of Colin and Jorge on vocals, Yureesh on drums, Hank on guitar, and Mark on bass. Colin stepped out for several months to finish his education while Rachel, Rivits' singer, took his place.

At this point, Colin, Jorge, Yureesh, and Mark put together a demo. Fred replaced Hank, but then Fred left to go to school, and Scott from C Squat filled in. Another guitarist, Steve, from Distraught, also filled in during this period.

The EP 40 Oz. Casualty was recorded. By 1992, the band was touring and building up a fan base in NYC. In 1993, bassist Mark and guitarist Fred were replaced by Mike and Jake, respectively and Yureesh was replaced by Shawn on drums in 1994. In 1995, the band's second release, the "A Fuckin Way Of Life" E.P. was released on Eyeball Records. In 1996, Shawn left the band, and Meggers of the Rivits came to fill in and became the regular drummer.

The line-up of Jorge, Jake, Mike and Meggers continued until 1997. Johnny (Of The Krays) served as bassist until 1999 (a position more permanently filled by Rick later that year).

The Casualties have continued to produce high-energy recordings and they have played in and headlined many US and international tours (e.g., Europe, Japan, and Mexico). Under Attack was released on SideOneDummy Records in 2006, and they toured virtually non-stop for 3 years year in support of the album. Their newest album, We are all we have, was released on the SideOneDummy label on August 25, 2009

How did you start out in music?

Jorge: Since I was a baby. I used to sleep with the radio at my pillow. I’ve been listening to music as long as I know. I’ve been listening to music since 70s—but I’m an 80s boy, cuz I grew up with new wave, metal, and that’s when I got into punk. I became a punk rocker in ‘84, and the band didn’t start until 1990.

How did you get together with them?

Jorge: I started the band; a few of us listened to English Punk. At that time, in the early 90s, people were into Grunge, Hardcore, and straight edge. But me and my friends, there was about 5-10 of us, we just started the band for fun, after school drinking, it was nothing serious.

How long did that band last?

Jorge: For 5 years it was just the same thing—just something to do. Little soon became big. It was never really like a real band.

When did it start being for real?

Jorge: People came and liked the band. It was like 6-7 people. Through the years, people came and left the band. Then we became serious. We’d play shows and sell them out.. So I guess about 3 years ago it became a real band.

Do you have regular jobs?

Jorge: We had regular jobs. We’d tour for a few weeks then go back to work. I used to work at Trash and Vaudeville in NYC. One day I got fired and called Jake the guitar player. That’s when we decided to make it for real. It hasn’t stopped since.

Has it paid off?

Jorge: Yes, it’s just recently paying back.

I heard you put everything you make right back into the band. Is that true?

Jorge: Yes, we save our money and put it back into the band. We don’t get any help from the labels. We make everything ourselves. I bought videos and made my own video label. Jake has his own printing shop, so we print every shirt on our own. We try to just keep everything going so that we can do what we love, music. Everything we make, we’ve done it on our own.
We spend our own money for transportation, tours, merchandise, everything.

What’s it like on stage?

Jorge: When we play, we give 100%. We’re not like every other band. We’ll come off the stage soaked in sweat and screaming! We like contact with the kids. We play for 10 kids, then when we come back its 20, and then next time it’ll be 40. We give everything we got. They know we mean it. They mean it too. We’ve made it on our own, because we love it.

What bands have influenced The Casualties?

Jorge: Throughout the years we loved the Clash, the Ramones. Recently, I’ve been really impressed with Flogging Molly. They give 100% too. I admire that. It takes a lot to do that. I also like and have a lot of respect for Death by Stereo. They’re really a hard band, and they are very sincere.

Any plans for new albums?

Jorge: We plan to record by the end of this year, and continue touring on the leg of that album. Hopefully a lot of these kids will see us play.

What’s your biggest hope for the future of Punk Rock?

Jorge: Not too many kids know where to hear Punk, because music today is all commercialized. Once kids get into us, they want to find more music like that. We’re always gonna support the underground, but our goal is to become more commercialized so we can get our music out there. We’re on a mission right now.

What are your future plans for the band?

Jorge: We wana get bigger A lot of people will hate us for it, maybe. But a lot of people will respect us for it. But when a businessman puts together a band and spoon feeds kids, I think it’s disgraceful. Our music comes from the heart, like we speak it. That’s what needs to get out there.

What differentiates you from other bands, in an organizational sense?

Jorge: We have a few band members that take a break sometimes and don’t play. But in The Casualties, everyone gets the same respect. The bass player is on and off, but still gets the same respect as the rest of us. We value that as our bloodline. The Casualties are in force.

Current line up:

Jorge Herrera- vocals (1990–present)
Rick Lopez - bass (1999–present)
Jake Kolatis - guitar (1993–present)
Mark "Meggers" Eggers - drums (1995–present)

Discography:

Studio albums
1997: For the Punx
1998: Underground Army
2000: Stay Out of Order
2001: Die Hards
2004: On the Front Line
2005: En La Línea Del Frente
2006: Under Attack
2009: We Are All We Have
EPs
1992: 40 Oz. Casualty
1994: A Fuckin' Way Of Life
2000: Who's In Control?

By Roya Butler

Gallows guitarist Laurent Barnard Interview

2010-02-11T13:13:00.003-05:00

Formed in 2005, Gallows are an English hardcore punk band from Hertfordshire, England. Guitarist Laurent Barnard united with bassist Stuart Gili-Ross, and with the rest of their band mates released their debut album, Orchestra of Wolves.

The album caught the attention of Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz, who released it in the US on independent label Epitaph Records with new tracks including a cover of Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown.” In an interview Gurewitz named Orchestra of Wolves as one of his favorite albums of 2007, praising it as being the best hardcore album since Refused's The Shape of Punk to Come. The band won the 2007 Kerrang! Award for best British Newcomer, and were recently signed to Warner Brothers Records.

I got the opportunity during Warped Tour to sit down with guitarist Laurent Barnard and discuss the tour, their album, and why every Gallows show leaves audiences begging for more.

How did you get your nickname ‘Lags’?

Barnard: When I was about 10 years old I was on the school football team (soccer as you Americans like to call it). At the time, I had a really good long distance goal score. Meanwhile, another player from Yugolsovia, who was a friend of mine called “Dragenslocavitch,” was scoring all these amazing goals for long distance as well. So he started calling me “Lagenslocavitch.” That name later got shortened to “Lags,” and somehow for 18 years it’s managed to stick. That’s how I got “Lags,” the nickname. I always get asked this question, so hopefully, now, kids can search and find out the reason why, so that’s good.

Who are your musical influences? Do you guys like Minor Threat, Gorilla Biscuits, Sick of it All?

Barnard: Our influences range from all those bands to Discharge, back home, as well. [Discharge is a British hardcore band, credited as one of the first bands to blend punk with metal, creating hardcore].

What about Amebix? [Amebix is a Brittish crust punk band, credited as one of the first bands to blend anarcho-punk and heavy metal music]

Barnard: I actually listen more to a lot of American Hardcore like Fugazi, The Stooges--bands that are taking Rock and Roll and doing something different with it. I think with Gallows, we're not just a straight up punk or hardcore band; instead we incorporate loads of different musical elements.

Tell us about your recent signing to Warner Records.

Barnard: It’s really a good opportunity for us to really push the band. It was wicked being on Epitaph, cuz they released some of our favorite albums, and signed great bands such as Bouncing Souls and Converge. But moving to a major label makes being in a band a lot easier--a lot easier to handle. Signing to Warner made sense for us, cuz it just meant that our band will have more support behind us. When we were on Epitaph we were very DIY. Although we like DIY, we’ve been playing in bands for over 10 years, and are looking to make Gallows work. So we’re really happy; everyone’s working really hard in helping us reach our dreams.

You have a “Viva Hate” (long live hate) tattoo on your forearm, is that in reference to Morrissey?

Barnard: Yea, it’s from Morrissey. It’s just a cool phrase as well, I reckon.

What does it mean to you?

Barnard: I was really angry when I got it--actually I got it done yesterday. And, I dono, it’s just like all my tattoos, they don’t really mean much. Like I got this one [pointing to a tattoo of a key] when we were recording in the studio, so I got the key to the studio cuz it was a good time. Then [pointing to another tattoo] mom and dad. Then, [pointing to a tattoo of a rooster] a French cock, which means “family” in French. A lot of my tattoos don’t mean anything though; I just like ‘em. I get ‘em cuz it’s a fun thing to do I think.

Can you tell us about the, now legendary, on-stage tattooing of your singer, Frank Carter, at the Reading Festival?

Barnard: We played a show at Redding Festival--which is a massive deal for us, and it was the first time we ever played it. We had just come back to the States, and it was one of our best shows ever. During our set, our singer, Frank was like ‘ah yea this is great,’ and asked Dan Smith (a friend of ours, who had some of his tattoo equipment with him) to get his tattoo stuff. Dan got it, and brought it on stage, and we kinda forced Chad, from Newfound Glory, to tattoo a lock with seven dots on Frank. The seven dots was for 2007, and the lock was for ‘the lock up stage’ which was the stage we were playing. It was a pretty spontaneous event. That’s what we’re saying: it’s good to have random things happen in music. If you come to a Gallows show, you know it’s not going to be exactly the same as the last show.

Frank has been quoted as saying: “If the crowds don’t fear their own safety then we're doing something wrong.” Can you elaborate on that?

Barnard: Yea, Frank said that. I feel like music's become really safe. Going to shows today isn't quite like it used to be. Back when hardcore/punk rock first started, there was an element of danger at shows--like you dono what's going to happen, and it was like exciting. But now when you go see a band, it's the same show every day--a rehearsed set. It's just a bit boring. We're trying to inject some excitement back into music.

How do you like Warped Tour this year as compared to your debut a couple years ago?

Barnard: We did Warped two years ago, and that was really hard. Coming back two years later is a lot better--more people know us, so the shows are better. It’s going really well; we made heaps of new friends and got to hang out with loads of old friends as well. We know loads of bands, as well, now which is really cool--when they come out to the UK we get to hang out and see ‘em again. So yea, it’s like the whole friendship/family vibe of Warped tour. The one thing I’d say about Warped tour is there’s a lot of non-punk rock bands playing, which is not something you associate with a Punk Rock tour, but I guess it’s like trying to attract different crowds. Being a hardcore/punk band, I think we're pretty different than a lota other bands on tour with us at the moment.

Tell us about your new album, “Great Brittan,” which came out in May.

Barnard: It’s kinda like a concept record about everything that’s wrong with England. We’re not trying to say that England is a terrible place to live; it just has a lot of problems. The album focuses on all those issues. It’s wicked; we spent so much time and money making sure the record is what it is today. This new album may not be something our fans expect, in listening to our past albums; there’s heaps of piano and strings—we just tried to make a really big dramatic album.

Tell us some of the problems you focus on in the album.

Barnard: Quite a few, really: Youth Crimes, Politicians, Religion…I wish I had a record here so I could look at the album and tell you which song is about which. In whole, it’s basically a social and political view of living in England.

Your single, “In the Belly of a Shark” recently came out on Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock. Can you tell us about that?

Barnard: We’re all massive video game fans. We’ve got an Xbox there [pointing to the Xbox in their bus], and we got it especially so we could have one for the tour. We got asked if we wanted a song on Guitar Hero. If anything, it helps…kids are gona play Guitar Hero, kids who have probably never heard of Gallows. Hopefully they’ll check out Gallows, and then check out the bands that we like—listen to something different.

Anything you want to add?

Barnard: Check out our myspace, check out our record, and come to a show.

Interview with BANE frontman Aaron Bedard

2010-02-11T12:28:00.007-05:00

photocred: © Natalia Balcerska

I got the sincere pleasure to sit down with Aaron Bedard upstairs at The Knitting Factory in New York City to get personal about their most recent album, “The Note,” and experiences on the road.

Tell us about your newest release.

Bedard: Well the album actually came out a couple of years ago. It’s called “The Note.” We worked with the same producer that we’ve worked with through all of our recordings and we’re just really-really happy with it. It came out on Equal Vision Records. We toured on it pretty extensively in 2005 and 2006, and now it’s time to start thinking about doing a new one.

Tell us about the US tour you’re headlining right now.

Bedard: Yeah it’s just so small that it’s hard to call it a tour. But we’re doing five shows around New England and a couple here in New York starting tonight at the knitting factory. We’ll go to Albany. We’ll play our hometown of Worcester, MA on Saturday and on Sunday we’ll play some new place called Avril. And all of our shows are with bands that we’re really good friends with, so we’re just excited to be around all of our buddies this weekend. Next weekend, we’ll fly to California and do eight shows up the west coast where we haven’t been in over a year. So we’re really excited to get back out there, because obviously the scenes are really hoppin’ up there in Cali and we have a lot of fans. The shows are always good. Then after that we go to Japan.

Tell us about the festivals you’re playing in Japan.

We were invited to play a couple of festivals ? one in Osaka and one in Tokyo. So they are kind of paying for us to fly from California to Japan and back. We’re only going to do two shows, so we’re not going to be there for very long. Usually when we go to Japan we do two weeks of shows, but it’s just going to be real short ? in and out, bing-bam.
Why haven’t you done a lot of touring this year?Our Drummer just had a baby this year, so it’s been harder for him to get away. That’s pretty much why we haven’t been doing a lot of touring; this is the first time that he’s been out on the road with us since the kid came, so this is really exciting for him. But he was like, “It’s gotta be two weeks. We gotta do the whole thing in two weeks.” So, two weeks between Cali and Japan and then he’ll be home. I’m actually going to stay in Japan with a friend for four or five extra days and just chill…buy sneakers and stuff.

I heard they have a lot of cool sneaker shops out there.

Bedard: They do. They have a lot of cool sneaker shops, and a lot of stuff you can’t find here. They have a lot more exclusive stuff that you won’t find here. There are a lot of trendy little boutiques and a lot of weird underground sneaker shops that just have really old shit. They’re really into hipster U.S. style, in Japan. They have really nice jeans. They have really nice sneakers. They’re just on the next level when it comes to fashion.

Do they implement hip-hop in their fashion, as we do in the US?

Yeah, some of it’s real hip-hop, for sure. They’re just real obsessed with anything that’s American and street.
I’m assuming you got your name from Batman comix.Aaron Bedard: Yeah, that’s one of the things that inspired the name, for sure, was the dude that broke Batman’s back. I really like comic books. So yeah, that’s how the name came up. The line up now’s different than the line-up that we had in the beginning. But there are four of us that have been in the whole time, and drummers have come and gone as we’ve gone along. But once he left Converge, things just got real serious for us then, and we’ve done a lot of records since then and have done a lot of touring. We’ve been really lucky to just go all over the place and just play music that we really love. We’re really lucky.

How do you describe the difference between the Hardcore and Metal scene?

Bedard: I guess the main difference that I can see is that Hardcore always seems to be ? I don’t know the metal scene very well so I can’t speak for them ? the difference for me is that Hardcore always seems to be about just more realistic view points. The songs are of a more personal nature and try to confront issues a little more. Metal just seems to expand. You can sing about anything. You can sing about dragons and warriors, or you can sing about fast cars and fucking chicks. It’s just way more grandiose. And also to play Metal you have to somewhat talented, and to play Hardcore you don’t have to be really that talented of a musician. You just have to learn three chords on a guitar and beat the fuck out of your drums and be a punk band. It’s kind of one the things I’ve always really loved about Hardcore. It’s really created just by kids who are angry and confused and displaced and just want to scream about it. Whereas Metal, is a little more epic with guitar leads and fancy drum solos.

What do you see as the differences between the Hardcore scene in America vs. in Europe and also Japan?

Bedard: Well in Japan the kids are just so sweet, and they just love the image and music so much. There’s no attitude. They’re just giddy that you’re there. They’re so fucking happy that American dudes came to play there this music that they love. So that’s just the most positive, heart-warming vibe imaginable. In Europe it’s just so wide, and there are just so many types of scenes. The one that stands out the most is Germany, and German kids are just really blunt and confrontational. If something on your t-shirt offends them or they’re not happy with the style that you band is going in they will just straight up tell you in this very point blank way. Like, “I think that your stuff sucks.” Or, “What is wrong with your government?” And they’re just a little more, I guess confrontational would be the word, or they’re just more up front and forward about things.

How does that compare to the attitude of your fans in Japan?

Bedard: A Japanese kid would never in a million years want to say anything to make you feel uncomfortable or say anything to make you feel anything but just happy that you’re there.

What do you think makes up the differences in attitudes?

Bedard: German kids are just maybe a little bit more spoiled; they just have more bands coming through, and if they think that you’re full of shit, they’ll just tell you. It’s something to respect on some level, but is just a little awkward.
What’s it like in the UK?Aaron Bedard: I would say in the U.K. its becoming way more Americanized. There’s a lot of tough-guy bullshit, and a lot of gangs starting out, and this crew mentality that I think is really detrimental to the Hardcore scene. It seems to be taking over more and more in the United Kingdom. You hear about a lot of fights at shows, and a bunch of stupid bullshit like that. They’re a little bit behind the times, it seems.

So I guess America sets the benchmark for the Hardcore scene across the globe?

Bedard: We kind of set the standard here in America for dancing and stage-diving, and all the best bands tend to come from here. But they’re catching up. They’ve got some good bands out there. There’s a band called Rise and Fall from Holland who are really-really fucking good. There’s a band from Japan called the FC5 who are really great, and who are really good friends with us. So there’s definitely some good international stuff going on.

Interview by Roya Butler.

Interview with Mark Hunter, frontman of Chimaria

2009-04-08T10:15:00.006-04:00

Chimaria exploded onto the metal scene and through the tumultuous times stood strong. Hunter explains, "We're the kids that aren't allowed to play on the playground. We've always set out to do our own thing. The fact that we push ourselves and make different kinds of records all the time and still stay true to who we were when we started, I think that's why our fans are so loyal."

And so it is that Resurrection (released in 2007) was born with their hardest hitting masterpieces, shattering glass ceilings. "I just want to go out and have fun with it and see the reaction for ourselves. We're humbled now. Compared to maybe where we were two albums ago,” Hunter laughs.

I got to Interview Chimaria frontman, Mark Hunter, and find out what it takes to persevere in this business.

My first interview with you was back when you did the 'God Hates Us All' tour with Slayer. How do you feel your band has evolved musically since then?

Mark: I feel when we did that tour we really didn't know what the hell we were doing. We only had a few concerts under our belt, our music was immature and so were we as individuals. Touring with Slayer was the best thing that could have happened to us because we learned pretty much everything from them--Stage show, to over all professionalism. We learned how to treat support bands and we could see what it took to last in this business. We were also so excited about hearing those songs every night that we set out to make sure we made the best possible music we could from then on.

What's been your favorite tour to date?

Mark: It's really hard to say, each tour has something special. I think we would probably all agree that either Ozzfest 2003, or the Jager tour with Slipknot were our favorites.

Do you guys eat a lot of bacon on tour?

Mark: Bacon is life.

Do you see a lot of your fans with your name tattooed on them?

Mark: www.myspace.com/chimaira yes...you can see a ton of photos up there.

How does networking play into the success of your band?

Mark: I'm not sure it does, other than using the internet as a tool...Our fans spread the word, and our record label does the rest.

You've come to have a reputation of being down to earth and not taking yourselves too seriously. Whose idea was the webisodes on Chimaira tube/ how did it evolve?

Mark: It was my idea. I noticed Youtube was starting to become popular and you could pretty much make your own TV show...People love watching us for some reason, so I figured it would be fun for us and our fans.

Last time I interviewed you, you expressed that switching labels was a dream come true. How has it been since?

Mark: A dream come true. Ferret really believes in this band and so far Resurrection is on the path to being the most successful Chimaira record to date.

Tell us about a milestone you’ve reached as a band.

Mark: Each day we are still doing this is a blessing, and the fact that we don't have to work in between tours or records was everyone’s goal.

How would you describe your new album?

Mark: The best thing since the last Borknagar record.

Did you guys have a hand in conceptualizing the rendering of the Chimaira on the album art?

Mark: Chris and I work with artists that we hire. We are very hands on with every aspect of this band.

What's your favorite song on the new album and why?

Mark: Six, every member contributed a lot to it... first song since Implements of Destruction that we all teamed up like this.

Who is "Morgoth the Impaler?"

Mark: I feel if I tried to describe him with words my computer would explode.

Interview by Roya Butler.

Interview with Mindset

2009-04-08T10:11:00.004-04:00

With their music self-described fast, old school hardcore. Mindset definitely sticks to their roots by playing hardcore the way it was meant to be played—raw, angst-ridden, brash, and unapologetic. Mindset is a band that doesn’t back down. Growing up in Maryland, they’ve been playing straightedge hardcore for the past two years. I got a chance to ask Mindset guitarist, Drug-free Mike, questions about their lifestyle, background, and future aspirations.

Give us some background info on the band.

Mike: Well basically, we are 4 best friends who grew up together in Maryland. We came together after a slew of lineup changes but it seems like the dust has finally settled. You can count on seeing our current lineup for a while.

How long have you been playing?

Mike: The band played its first show a little over 2 years ago.

How would you describe your music?

Mike: I would describe our music as fast, old school hardcore. We definitely try to stay away from newer styles of hardcore and stick to what we like to listen to personally. I think we throw in some early 80's hardcore influence as well.

What's your current lineup?

Lightnin' Ev-Vocals
Chad-Bass
Philly-Drums
Drug Free Mike C-Guitar

Name some of your favorite local bands.

Mike: In MD, I really like Bad Habit, Time to Escape (DC) and Coke Bust (DC) are sick, and there are a lot of other bands doing some cool stuff. As far as Philly goes, Great Ceaser’s Ghost has some rad jams, and
Let Down is amazing--by far they are one of my favorite bands as of late. I'm a big fan of Triple Threat and Cut It Out, from Jersey.

What bands have inspired your music?

Mike: Bands that come to mind are Youth of Today, Side By Side, Uniform Choice, Chain of Strength. We're also all big fans of the "Revolution Summer" bands that came out of DC. You may not be able to hear the influence musically but bands like Embrace and Nation of Ulysses certainly play a very large role in the general make up of our creative energy and attitude.

What inspires your lyrics?

Mike: Ev and I usually toss around ideas for songs together. Songs usually come from things we discuss...problems we see in ourselves, and in the world—the current state of the world and humanity.

Tell us a little about what your song ‘Self respect is my anti drug’ means to you?

Mike: It began as a conversation between a few of us Edgemen about how we thought it was silly when people would say things to us like "I don't agree with you, but I really respect your lifestyle". It was usually a drunken kid patronizing the hell out of us and we just thought it was silly. Hopefully this song points out that we aren't doing this for other people's respect and additionally...maybe they should respect themselves enough not to damage their own body! Respect yourself...stop patronizing us!

What’s your song ‘straight forward’ about?

Mike: Well, as the title suggests, it's pretty straight forward. We intend to stay straight, stay young, stay positive, and stay in control of our own lives FOREVER! This lifestyle is not a trend.

How is the hardcore scene in Maryland? How does it compare with the Philly Hardcore scene?

Mike: MD is a funny scene. There are a lot of really good bands out there doing their thing and getting a lot of recognition. It's really put MD, specifically Baltimore on the map as of late. Another interesting point is the Baltimore scene is very connected to the Central PA scene and vice versa. Most shows have a mix of bands and kids from both areas. There are a lot of young kids who have been coming out too, which is great. For me personally, I see this hierarchy: kids who have been around longer and are "on top" so to speak, tend to run what's going on in the scene. Lately though, I feel like there is this whole different group of kids who are on the fringe of the social structure in the scene. For whatever reason (probably don't have North Face jackets) these kids are kind of starting their own thing at the bottom and it's growing. I like to see that.

Have you played in Philly?

Mike: We've only played Philly once and it sucked. There were a bunch of bike punks throwing beer at us and trying to pick fights. A policeman looked up our friend Jilly's skirt and said "Haven't seen that in a while". The show was in a house and was basically a frat party but the kids had Mohawks and safety pins instead of white hats and pastel collared shirts. They were more interested in partying than watching what I thought was a really good line up of bands.

Can you tell your fans a little about your new album and where they can pick it up?

Mike: The best way to pick it up would be come to a show and meet us! We're also working on a 7 inch right now so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Any tours lined up?

Mike: We're planning on doing 2 weeks in the summer.

Interview by Roya Butler

Interview with MC Aggro

2009-04-08T10:10:00.003-04:00

Just five years ago, at age 13, Aggro bought his first music production software and vowed to become a household name on the streets of London. He built himself a studio and started creating beats for MCs, singers and songwriters, making Grime music for MCs, and Hip-Hop/RnB tracks for rappers and singers. Multifaceted, Aggro is well known for playing the keyboards, drums and guitar on all of his productions.

Inspired by the host of UK lyricsts he worked with, Aggro picked up the mic himself, performing at venues such as The Works (Kingston), Sound (Leicester Square), Bar Rhumba(L,S), Skala(Kings Cross), and many more venues across the UK. Aggro widely expanded his fan base with his successful tour of the Midlands and the airing of his video “Free Yard” on MTV’s Channel U, which ranked number one in its third week and remained in the top three for over three months.

Strong willed and majorly talented, Aggro intends to build on his reputation and fame by releasing product and merchandise through his company Shagalang Entertainment. His music can be heard on http://www.myspace.com/mcaggro

I got a chance to interview Aggro and chat about his new video, inspirations, and future projects.

Where did you get your tage ‘Aggro’ from and what does it mean?

Aggro: Aggro means To aggrovate, annoy irritate someone, My tag goes all the way back to school days wen all i would do is give people Aggro. I was one of the smart but rebelious students. Eventually people jus started callin me that in school n wen i started mc'in i jus kept the name, This name goes a long way back so hold tite the "immitators"

What does ‘Shagga’ mean?

Aggro: S – Sexy, H – Humerous, A – Adorable, G - Go , G – Getting, A – Aspiring

If there was one question you did not want to be asked, what would it be?

Aggro: I aint got nuffin to hide, but obviously I wouldn’t be posting out my private life, that’s not included!

Does your tune ‘Free Yard’ highlight your outlook towards girls?

Aggro: hmmm, good question *laughs*. Free Yard was written when I was 15, so my views have long changed since then. If a girl takes the song offensively, she is being extreme. It's a funny tune exploring the whole stigma of boy versus girl attitude. Of course I respect women, as you can hear on some of my other tunes.

Describe your perfect girl.

Aggro: A perfect girl for me would be one who’s confident, smart has self respect and is also good looking. Race doesn’t matter, as long as they're attractive. They definitely gota be trustworthy too ,cos u kno how things are nowadays!

If you had a girl, would you take her to your shows?

Aggro: hmm, if I had a girl, I wouldn’t really like to bring her cos that’s attracting unnecessary problems. I’ve been in fights at shows over girls, and it’s all long stress. It depends on the show really, but I wouldn’t really want to bring my girl to a performance for her own safety as well.

You were in a 4 year relationship that ended in 2007. Can you tell us what you learned from it/how you’ve grown?

Aggro: It matures you in a sense, teaches you a lot about being with other people and also how to deal with certain life situations.

What inspired your song ‘Shoulda Known?’

Aggro: what inspired me to do Shudda Known is the whole thing about everyone being unfaithful nowadays. A similar story has happened to me before, so I made the concept and wrote a tune for it. I write mainly about my experiences!

Please tell us a little more about your mix ‘Tired of Being Here’.

Aggro: Tired of being here was a tune that I wrote when I was 17, when I was emotionally going through a lot. The best way for me to express myself at the time was writing that song!

How did you create Shagalang Entertainment, and what does it take to be a part of it?

Aggro: Shagalang is a catchy word Mems made up and because I and the members in Shagalang are such a tight family we decided to team up and call ourselves Shagalang Ent!

Tell us about your video out right now on MTV’s Channel U.

Aggro: The video is called Shudda Known, it’s a tune based on how faithful people actually are nowadays and how it can happen to anyone!!! Always be careful *laughs*.

A new school of thought believes that being a lyricist simply means knowing how to spit lines and producing tracks. In your opinion, is that all it takes?

Aggro: I think being an artist involves more than making a few songs and starting a Myspace, although that is a start. Being an artist, a REAL one, should involve the whole package: being able to write and concept songs, doing shows, and having good press and airplay. I do consider myself as an artist, as I incorporate all the above with my love for the music!

It seems that a lot of the talent emerging from the streets are now doing it for themselves, and have stopped thinking they need a record label to release the music. Tell us more about that.

Aggro: That is why we have so many artists because everyone has studio access everyone is making their music and this is why it’s becoming easier to get recognized without a record label. Everyone is doing it themselves out here!

Do you believe that looks helps you in the industry?

Aggro: I dunno. Look at 50 cent; he looks a bit merked but some girls think he is buff, so I dunno. In general it is said that good looking people do better and in a way it’s starting to become like that, cos having looks comes with the package, I suppose. I wouldn’t like to think that girls are only interested in my music for my looks, and not my talent as well.

What inspires your lyrics as a whole?

Aggro: wot inspired me to write lyrics is my own personal experiences n it’s a way to get things off your chest.

Who have you worked with in the past, and who do you aspire to work with in the future?

Aggro: I have worked with loads of people and the experiences were all very good and enjoyable. I’d say at the moment, maybe working with F.A.T, cos that’s been the most different thing I’ve done so far. People I would like to work with are people like: Cassidy, Kano, Dizzee, Luda, Timbaland, and loads of others that influence me.

If there was one person you could work with, dead or alive, who would it be?

Aggro: I think performing with Eminem would be a very good experience, I admire the guys creativity and think doing a show with him will be a good look, let alone a lot of promotion LOL!

If you could collaborate with anyone, for example NDUBZ, Lethal Bizzle, NAA, who would it be?

Aggro: I would like to collaborate with Dizzee Rascal. He’s keeping it original, and not a lot of people are. Hold tight his movement!

Tell us about your Brazilian heritage and the Samba influences in your music.

Aggro: Ever since I was five years old, I would bang little rhythmic patterns on drums; this developed my passion for samba which then went to guitar to then producing!

Tell us about Balham. What’s it like?

Aggro: Balham is home! It has its ups and downs. If you’re from there and you know everyone—it’s a nice area. It’s definitely a fast developing area in south London and has a lot of talent in there yet to be recognized.

Tell us about your show in Ghana over the Christmas break?

Aggro: It was amazing--my first time in Ghana. It was good to know that some people out there actually knew who I was. It was also good because people who didn’t know about me then got a chance to find out! Hold tight the city of Accra!

Your tunes are catchy, what is it that helps you create such a fun but fierce sound.

Aggro: I just have a good team behind me, and I listen to a lot of different styles of music, which reflects in my rap. I try to keep it as commercial, but real as possible!

Last words? Any Big Ups?

Aggro: Yes hold tight my brother Krome and hold tight Mems, User, & Foxx, Not to mention everyone else that believed in me from the start! THEY ALL KNOW WHO THEY ARE!

Interview by Roya Butler, with injected questions by Aggro’s fans

Interview with Lyricist User Boy, out of South West London

2009-04-08T10:07:00.002-04:00

Straight from South West London, User boy spits tight lyrics and mixes, always one-upping his previous masterpieces of rhyme.

From the days of spitting in the playground, User Boy has grown into a fine lyricist these days, spitting his rhymes on stages and videos.

Growing up on straight-edge Hardcore and street/political Punk, I never gave Hip Hop a chance. I'd like to give a big up to User Boy for introducing me to his music and the UK Hip Hop music scene as a whole.

I got a chance to interview User boy and chat about his sound, lyrics, and recent projects.

How did you get the name ‘User Boy?’

User Boy: *laughs* well before the ladies think I’m some player, let me say I’m not. The name comes from my younger days. Back then, I admit I used to have girls spoiling me--like buying credit and nonsense, and my peeps use to say I’m a user. I won’t lie, I liked the name User, so I kept it *laughs.* It attracts attention--maybe not the right kind, but hey. I just wanna add, I never played with a girl’s heart, I promise ;-)

Was ‘this brother needs love’ based on a personal journey for you?

User Boy: ‘this brother needs love’ was based on a personal journey--but not entirely. Certain aspects of the tune were true, but the unfortunate ending did not happen, thank God. I decided to follow that ending to show how easy love could come and go!

Tell us about your new mix ‘Shit on You’.

User Boy: the freestyle I did 'Shit on you' was directed to all the little people that decide to use their time to try and put down me and my team (SHAGALANG). But even though these people are not worth my time, I felt I should address it by shittin on them *laughs.* I refer to these little people as haters. As I said at the beginning of the tune, haters hurt my stomach; therefore, I feel it’s my duty to shit on them, metaphorically *laughs,*by me improving and moving forward.

Please tell us a little more about your song ‘Safe Sex,’ other than the obvious title.

User Boy: *laughs* well, basically it’s obvious that a lot of people of various ages are having sex in the world, but not enough are practicing safe sex. This is mostly due to them not really knowing the risk of having unprotected sex. I did ‘Safe Sex’ to try and educate people in a funny but powerful way. I came at it from my own point of view, and what I saw around me, from girls persisting to have unprotected sex to the consequences of having a disease: “I don’t want my dick to drop off, don’t wanna be sick don’t want *cough cough*.” I wanna add, I’m not saying don’t have sex, just be sensible about it.

Tell us what your crew, Shagalang Entertainment, means to you:

User Boy: the world; my life; my family. We only consist of 4 members, myself User, Foxx, Aggro, and Mems. Individually, I think we have our own style and I feel we are very versatile artists, as we create tunes in most genres. Together, I really feel, there’s no limit to our potential. I don’t really classify us as a crew, but more as brothers with the same goal in life. I see serious things for us in the future, and hopefully our music will speak for itself.

What inspired you to be a lyricist?

User Boy: the power that music has, the way beats and lyrics could get a person out of their seat and dance—or, conversely, make a person wanna sit back and relax. I loved music from a child--from the days I use to try memorize Biggie lyrics *laughs.* Music is also a way for me to vent my emotions or get a point across for example ‘Shit on You’ and ‘Safe Sex’

Who are your major Influences in Music?

User Boy: first of all Shagalang: Aggro, Mems and Foxx. I couldn’t count how many times I’ve listened to one of their songs and been inspired to write another tune. Apart from that, the other influence would be the rest of the scene; because I do take time to listen to other MCs, artists, producers and DJs.

What are your musical aspirations?

User Boy: I hope to be heard; I enjoy doing my music, and I hope people enjoy listening to it. Also, I hope I sway more people into our scene, like I did to you *laughs.*

Your tunes are catchy, what is it that helps you create such a fun but fierce sound.

User Boy: I don’t even know, I’m just being myself when I write and when I’m on the Mic; so I guess I’m a fun but fierce person *laughs.*

What have you got in store for 2008?

User Boy: My mixtape, ‘The Name Say It All’ is coming out soon. A joint mixtape with my crew member Foxx ‘Find the Metaphors’ is also coming out soon. I’m also working on a mixtape with Mems, and another mixtape with Krayzie one of my boys from Birmingham. And there are plans for me and Aggro to do a mixtape. I’m also planning to do a couple videos this year, so keep your eye out for me!!

Last words? Any Big Ups? And where can people go to hear more about you?

User Boy : yeah I wanna say thank you for the interview, big up Shagalang, big up my hometown Clapham, and big up all my real peeps--you know who you are (too many names), oh yeh big up my main squeeze. And yeah, if you wanna hear more and see more visit my myspace page www.myspace.com/userboy, which is updated regularly.

Interview by Roya Butler

Speed Kings Interview

2009-04-08T10:04:00.004-04:00

Out of Wilmington, North Carolina, The Speed Kings shout a rebel yell which combines punk and rock-n-roll, drawing from old influences.

The current line-up is Axl- Vocals and Guitar, Spike-Vocals and Guitar, Will- Bass and Backing Vocals, and Jeff- Drums. You can check out their music at http://www.myspace.com/thespeedkings.

I got a chance to ask Will about their music and inspirations.

You call yourselves a rock and roll punk band. Explain that further.

Will: well, really all punk is a stripped down form of rock-n-roll, with a little more edge and rebellion thrown in for good measure. We’ve got some songs that are straight up punk rock, and then others that have more of a 50's rock-n-roll feel to them.

What made you decide on making a band in this genre of music?

Will: basically, it's just what came out when we started playing. We like to draw on old influences because we want to make music that will stand the test of time and not fade away like most trends in music today.

What are your musical inspirations?

Will: The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Johnny Cash, Ramones, Link Wray, Social Distortion, just to name a few. We all draw from a lot of different artists, in a lot of different genres.

What inspires your lyrics?

Will: Cheap Booze, Expensive Women, Fast Cars, Loud Motorcycles, & Dirty Rock n Roll!!

What’s your song 'hold fast' about?

Will: I don't know...you can probably get different messages from it. For me, I think it’s about living your life day by day because the worlds a fucked up place. You should live each day like it's your last

How's the rock-n-roll/punk scene in North Carolina?

Will: the North Carolina scene has never been at a loss for great bands, but like any other scene it kind of comes in waves. 2008 is looking like a great year so far. We just played a show in our home town Wilmington with the US Bombs and Far From Finished. That show was on a Tuesday night and the place was fuckin packed. It just showed me that the scene is definitely alive and well.

How did you meet your band mates?

Will: we'll Jeff and I started jamming with some other dudes about 3 years ago. I had been seeing Jeff around town and at shows for years but never really knew him. I had been introduced to Axl a few years back by a mutual friend. Axl had just moved to Wilmington from Miami where he was playing in a punk band called The Hangovers. I thought that they had a great sound and immediately thought of him when we were looking for a new singer and guitarist. Spike just recently joined the band, but has been a friend of all of ours for years. He's been in a ton of great bands over the years. We’re all into the same shit like old hotrods and choppers so we all get along great.

What are your favorite venues to play?

Will: in Wilmington, we love playing at The Soapbox. Their sound is the best in town. Also, for pure dirty rock n roll vibe you can't beat the 42nd St Tavern. As far as outside of Wilmington, I think the best place that we have played has been Abbey Lounge in Boston. They all greeted us southern boys with open arms!

Interview by Roya Butler

Interview with Mei-ling Koller, SIOA guitar Tech

2009-04-08T10:01:00.006-04:00

I was lucky for the chance to meet Mei-ling Koller, SOIA guitar tech, a powerful woman in a male dominated profession. Snatching her away from the mayhem backstage, we found a quiet spot in the in the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia to talk. We explored her journey, from how she started to what it takes to be a female in such a ballsy profession. Being in such a tough profession is trying at times, but Mei-ling Koller has the inner and outward strength, and the fortitude, to excel.

First off, tell us about your marriage to SOIA guitarist Pete Koller.

Mei-ling: I met Pete at the gym. Just some random place, and it was love at first site, and we’ve been together ever since.

How is it on tour with him?

Mei-ling: We try to keep it professional. You don’t see us kissing in the corner. People don’t even know that we’re married until I say to them, “oh yeah, that’s my husband, Pete.” Because they’ll think that I got the job just because I’m married to him. Yeah, I’m married, but I still have to know what I’m doing.

So you’ve been married since you first started working with SOIA?

Mei-ling: Yep, that’s how I got in the loop. I got the hook up, haha. I was just standing around, so I started helping people load in and stuff. So they thought, “Oh, she’s a team player.” It’s very important to be a team player on tour! And so they just said, “fuck it. Let’s get Mei to do it.”

Tell us how you started doing merch.

Mei-ling: I first started doing merch because there was a guy named Joe Garambone, who I’m sure everyone knows. There was a tour that he couldn’t do, so I started doing the merch. And like I said, I started harassing every singer and roadie they ever had and they ever toured with, until I learned how to do guitar tech stuff.

Tell us about the ‘no girl’/’no wife’ policy.

Mei-ling: A lot of bands have a ‘no girl’ policy. They say, “Bad luck! No wives!” And it’s not that things happen, it’s just that they don’t like it. But I’m very fortunate that I get to tour with them and still am some one’s wife. It’s pretty damn cool.

How has things changed since you started doing guitar tech?

Mei-ling: I’m definitely more confident. In the beginning I was always second guessing myself. But now I’m completely confident, and that’s it. That’s the difference. Ladies, be confident! Pick up a guitar and learn. You can do it! If I can do it, you can do it.

How long did it take you to learn what it takes to be a guitar tech? How many years?

Mei-ling: Oh, I’m still learning! It’s been three years. For the past two years, I’ve just really started learning; I’m still learning new stuff every day.

What’s the hardest part about it?

Mei-ling: The physical labor…and having sexist men around you all the time.

Sexy men?

Mei-ling: Oh, they’re everywhere!

What’s the difference between touring America, Europe, and Asia, as far as sexism backstage?

Mei-ling: I really don’t think there’s a difference. You either have a good guy, or a sexist guy, and they’re all the same everywhere. You have the good guys who actually have faith, and then you have the sexist guys who think you don’t know anything because you have tits and lipstick on.

As a guitar tech, are you exclusive to Sick of it All?

Mei-ling: I’m trying to branch out, so if anyone wants me, they can email me (skizonation@yahoo.com), but for now, just Sick of it All, yes.

Is it tough to be on the road and touring?

Mei-ling: You have to be a road warrior; you can’t worry about taking a shower every day. That’s pretty much the hardest part – not knowing where you’re going to shower. You can’t be too of a girly girl--but you can still wear perfume and stuff, so it’s not too bad.

Do you have any advise for girls in the scene?

Smile! Be nice. Not every girl wants to fuck your guy. Just smile and be cool! You’ll be surprised that you meet a lot of nice people.

Have you helped in any of the designing of the merch?

Mei-ling: I try to stay behind the scenes with stuff like that. But they have people. They have the band members. They have designers and stuff like that. But no, not me, I don’t do any designing with the merch.

Your steezy, so I figured you did the designing.

Mei-ling: No, I wish.

How did you get into Sick of it All? Were you already into Hardcore?

Mei-ling: Oh, no. I’m a hip hop lady. But Hardcore saved my life (I met my husband). If it wasn’t for Hardcore, I wouldn’t be seeing the world; I wouldn’t be enjoying the shows--I love being a part of the circus.

So you got to travel?

Mei-ling: Yeah, I never thought I’d be going to Europe twice or three times a year. I thought I’d be working in an office; so it saved me from getting a real job! And I get to be a part of the scene.

How is it with all the guys backstage?

Mei-ling: You can do anything you put your mind to! So I’m a woman. We can do anything that they can do. I don’t have a problem working with guys, so why should that have a problem working with me? So it’s like, “you’re a guy, I don’t have a problem with you!” But it’s good…good stuff.

Have you ever considered being in a band?

Mei-ling: I have been in a band. It was an all girl band called Skizonation. Actually Rachel from Most Precious Blood, and Brody from the Distillers gave me a jolt. They really inspired me. They were like, “ You can fuckin do this, girl!” And I did. So if you believe, you can achieve.

Are you still in a band?

Mei-ling: No, we broke up. I played bass. Allie from Fast Time sang. We had a drummer, Susanne, and Deesha on guitar. We were together for four years. We played with Alanta, AF, Sick of it All. But they all had their own stuff going on. So we took a break. At least I still get to keep touring and being a part of music.

What kind of music was it?

Mei-ling: Hardcore punk, basic generic power chords. *laughs* Like Lauren Hill says, “Don’t be a hard rock, when you really are a gem.” You don’t have to be tough. You can still smile.

When you were in a band, did you already know bass, or did you pick it up later?

Mei-ling: Hell no! I just started learning power chords. It was me and drummer. That’s the hardest person to find. For seven months we just practiced, practiced, practiced. Pete was like, “You guys are good.” So he started to play with us to see what we sounded like full. He recorded a demo with us. It was really good, and we started playing a lot of shows. Then once when we started to get our momentum, we had to separate. But it was good. Good times.

Would you like to add anything?

Mei-ling: Believe and achieve, girls, and make lots of babies! That’s it.

Interview by Roya Butler

Interview with Lou Koller of Sick of It All

2009-04-08T09:59:00.002-04:00

New York hardcore band, Sick of It All (SOIA) was formed by brothers Lou Koller (vocals) and Pete Koller (guitar), Sick Armand Majidi (drums) and Rich Capriano (bass) in 1986. Hailing from Queens, New York, SOIA was formed alongside New York hardcore bands Straight Ahead, and Rest In Pieces which both featured Majidi and current Sick of It All bass player Craig Setari.

Majidi joined up with the Koller brothers and Rich Capriano to record the Sick of It All demo in 1986, after original bass player Mark McNielly and drummer David Lamb left.

The band began to play Sunday afternoon matinees at legendary venue CBGB's, and soon after released a self-titled 7" on Revelation Records (which was later re-issued on the tenth anniversary of its release, in 1997).

SOIA is now touring off their latest release, Death to Tyrants.

I sat down with frontman Lou Koller at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, to talk about Death to Tyrants, touring, and their upcoming DVD.

Tell me how everything in your life has changed since I last saw you five years ago. Back then you had a girlfriend, and then you married her. When did this all happen?

Lou: We moved in together six years ago and we got married last year.

Congratulations. Tell us how your music has changed along the way.

Lou: With the band, we finished our deal with Fat Wreck Chords. We decided we got to a point where we got very complacent on Fat, and we got very used to doing things a certain way, so we just had to shake it up for ourselves. So as we approached our twenty year anniversary in 2006, we left Fat Wreck Chords and signed with Abacus/Century Media. So we sat down that year and tried to write a really good record, and released Death to Tyrants; we’ve been touring on it ever since.

Tell me how it’s different from your previous releases.

Lou: Like I said with “Fat,” we got into this routine of touring for two years, going home, writing for a month, putting out a record, and then going back on the road for another two years. With this record, we took seven months off just to write, and we wrote and demoed and wrote, which is something that we haven’t done for years. We got a really good producer – Tue Madsen from Denmark. He’s done a lot of really good bands. He’s done Himsa,The Haunted, God, I can’t even remember, because he’s done a lot of bands – a lot of real more metal bands. But he’s a fan of Sick of it All and he kept asking to work with us. So after we finished demoing and writing, we all went in the studio together, and it just clicked really good. It differs in that we took everything from our careers and everything we’ve learned and took it to the next level. We really pushed ourselves. We can’t “sing” sing, but we can scream in key, and we have melodic parts where we scream and sing, so it came out good.

Is your “screaming in key” more like melodic metal?

Lou: I don’t know. It really comes more from old school punk bands and oi bands that would sing with a raspy tone. And that’s pretty much the style that I grew up listening to. I loved metal, too, so I was totally into Motorhead. I thought, “If Lemmy can carry a tune, so can I.” So that’s what I figured.

How has married life changed you?

Lou: Not much. We have fun. My wife comes out on tour a lot. We’ve been to Japan twice now. Europe we’ve been to – I don’t know – a million times…

Can you tell us what it was like to tour in Japan?

Lou: I love it. Last time we went was last year. We hadn’t been there since 2001. In fact last year we hadn’t been there since 9/11 when it happened, and we hadn’t been back since. Not for lack of people wanting us, but it just didn’t feel right. We felt we didn’t have enough presence with Fat Wreck Chords there. But last year we were invited to headline at this festival called the “Magma Fest.” It was us, Madball, Bouncing Souls, a bunch of bands. It was great and reestablished us not only in the eyes of our fans, but a lot of the big promoters over there were really excited and said, “wow, Sick of it All hasn’t been here in six years and there’s 2,500 people here just waiting for them.” So it was great.

Do you have a big fan-base in Japan?

Lou: Yeah, it’s still underground I guess compared to other bands, but it’s good. We just got word that in the spring time we’re going out with the Dropkick Murphys to Australia, and they also asked us to do their Japan run. We’re headlining with the Dropkick Murphys. Can’t beat that.

What have you noticed in Japan and Europe that’s different from the U.S.

Lou: I think in Japan, music trends are really trends there. For example, hardcore was big in the late nineties and then it just dropped back down again to an underground level. In Europe, what I love about Europe, compared to the U.S. and Japan, is that we have fans that have been coming to see us since we first started going there in 1992, but now they bring their kids. And for us, it’s weird, because we’ll play the United States, and in some states and it’ll definitely be a 21+ crowd even though it’s an all ages show. And so I guess in America a lot of the younger kids have more bands their own age that they like, or their generation of band. In Europe, they tend to respect our longevity and our history more, and it’s amazing to us to go over there and to play every night to 1,500 or 2,000 people, and the age rages from sixteen to forty. So that’s why we spend a lot of time there.

And how is it playing in the UK. I hear there’s a lot of violence there since 9/11.

Lou: It depends. Like in America, there was the whole “thugcore” movement. But when we play we still get a good mix of crowd. We get the punk kids, metal kids – the thug kids still respect us for some reason. But we have a great time, and we’ve never had any problems in any of our shows in Europe.

What is the thugcore movement?

Lou: It more bands that have the “tough guy” image. It stems from bands like Agnostic Front, and the Cromags, and Madball, who grew up actually living a hard street live. And then there are these kids who want to emulate it. It’s kind of like ganster rap. It took off in Europe, and I’m not saying that there aren’t hard areas in Europe, but we found it funny when some of these bands would sing about how tough their life is and you find out that they’re from a farm in Holland. What do you fight cows? What are you doing?

So are they really interested in urban culture like in America when they don’t even experience it for themselves?

Lou: Definitely, you see it over there in the mainstream in the hip hop culture that’s so big there. It’s funny for us to go to Japan or Europe and see people in low riders looking like they’re “cholos” from the west coast. That’s what it is. They’re just emulating an urban culture.

American culture?

Lou: Oh, definitely. One thing we export well is our culture, and music, and movies.

Tell us more about Death to Tyrants, your tribute album, and what you have in the works for the future.

Lou: Well, the last album we produced was Death to Tyrants. Put it out 2006 at our twenty year anniversary. So that’s still out. A year later a tribute album to us was put out. It’s called, “Our Impact Will Be Felt.” We’re really proud of it, because of the variety of bands that are on it. You have Sepultura, Hatebreed, and Unearth. But then you also have Rise Against, Bouncing Souls, Kill Your Idols, and bands that like. So it’s a good mix of really heavy bands that we’ve influenced and also hardcore and punk bands. And we’re really proud that all these different acts, big ones and small ones. Like Kill Your Idols and No Redeeming Social value are bands that nobody even knows, but we included them on with big bands, because they’re our friends and they’ve said that we’ve influenced them. So we’re really proud of that, which is out now. And as far as us, future projects, we’re sitting down to write the new record. And we’re filming the last show of this tour which is tomorrow in New York City for a DVD. We have so much footage from over the last six years we’ll see what happens. We’ll try to put something together.

Is your DVD going to be more fan driven, or is it going to be about the band…

Lou: See that’s the thing. We don’t know yet. We have all this footage, but we haven’t sat down and they haven’t interviewed the band yet. What we’ve been talking about with the record label is that our main idea which we want to get across is to have people interview fans of the band. Like I said, maybe people who just got into us a year ago, or people who have been into us forever, just to see what is the difference in what attracts them to the band. And it would be easy enough to do, because we all hate doing camera interviews. We feel really silly. *laughs*

Is there anything that you would like to add?

Lou: Nah, cool. Everything’s good.

Interview with Lyricist Scener, out of West London

2009-04-08T09:55:00.004-04:00

Emerging out of the streets of South West London, Scener is an up and coming UK Grime and hip-hop artist with addictive mixes and quick lyrics. At only 18, Scener spits with a tight sound defying boundaries. Spitting for two and a half years, Scener’s style has evolved quickly becoming a master of sorts in such a quick time, as he’s focused entirely on his craft. Attending Kingston College for music technology, there are no limits to what he is about to achieve.

I got a chance to sit down with Scener and talk about his mix CD, what he’s got in the works, and life in south west London.

What inspired your name, ‘Scener’:

Scener: ‘Scener’ means the scenery all around us—in our everyday lives, everything our eyes witness. Basically, ‘Scener’ is everything we see. I use everyday experiences in my lyrics and mixes, not making it beautiful, but seeing the beauty in everything and exposing things for how they are, raw, pure, and uncomplicated.

How did you create your song ‘Lyrical Master?’ It’s addictive.

Scener: The tune was conceived by Finker (for his promo ‘High Work Rate, Volume One’) and Gifted. After I was sent the beat, I played it on repeat. I got into it deep and wrote two catchy sixteen’s. Before I went studio, I had the bars on lock to get them out clean, and be sounding my best. We mixed it down, and felt a good vibe off it, especially the chorus. We’ve had a lot of good feedback on the tune, so that’s good news.

Tell us about your song ‘We Show Dem’.

Scener: ‘We Show Dem’ includes Myself, Finker, Gifted, Syner, and Ransom (all members of the Show Dem Team), and was conceived for Gifted’s promo ‘I Am Gifted’. I had no idea dis tune was planned. So, when I got to the studio, I was put on the spot to jump on it, and had to think of some bars to use to be suitable for the track. Everyone was happy how the tune turned out.

Tell us about Show Dem Entertainment:

Scener: Show Dem is made up of 10 artists all from around the London area (mostly south). There are 7 mc’s and 3 producers all working at good industry standard, all very much focused on their music. Basically, the name Show Dem is like a statement, for those with doubt.

What inspired you to be a lyricist?

Scener: Hearing people I know doing it gave me the inspiration to get into music and writing. I was also inspired by artists in the Garage and Grime scene, as well as hip hop artists. At first, it was nothing serious, just a bit of fun, but gradually, I started to really enjoy it.

What’s it like growing up in South West London?

Scener: Growing up in South West London, well, it isn’t a pretty place. But, I’ve lived here all my life, and its home to me; I don’t think I could live anywhere else. When people think of South West London, they see it as ruff—not the best of places to live, but there’s a lot of artist support in the area. They take the time to help each other—the community is really supportive.

Influenced by lyricists such as?

Scener: A big influence for me was one of my close friends ‘Finker.’ When I first started, I never really had anywhere to record. Finker started bringing me in on tunes, and giving me good advice to help me progress with my music. Also, being exposed to the scene as a whole has helped me progress to the level I am at now.

If there was one person you could work with, dead or alive, who would it be?

Scener: Dr Dre. He’s been such a big influence in the whole hip hop scene, with his beats, tunes, and in fact, most of his work. It would be a great experience to even just sit in the studio with him and watch him work his magic. Working with him would be more than a lot.

If you could collaborate with anyone, for example NDUBZ, Lethal Bizzle, NAA, who would it be?

Scener: (in the UK at the moment) ‘Griminal.’ He’s been doing a lot lately, and been getting a ton of promotion from within the Grime scene (tunes, sets, radio, etc). I also enjoy listening to his music as it gets me kind of hype.

It seems that a lot of the talent emerging from the streets are now doing it for themselves, and have stopped thinking they need a record label to release the music. Tell us more about that.

Scener: Well basically people have realized that sometimes it helps jus to get on with it yourself, as there’s not always going to be someone there to help you. Record deals aren’t always going to be chasing you down. If you want to get noticed you need do most of it yourself, to get your name out there, and to show them that you have what it takes to succeed in the business.

What are your musical aspirations?

Scener: First of all I would defiantly at least like to make a video that does well in the UK. It would be a dream if I got an album on the shelves in some of the well known music stores, and it would be an even better dream if it sold well. It would be nice to hear my voice on some of the better radio stations around London, and even all over the world.

Give us an insight to the recordings you’re doing now in the studio.

Scener: Right now I am currently recording my mix CD ‘To Me It’s Nothing, Volume One’, which consists of twelve tunes, with features from a lot of the Show Dem members. I have currently completed three of the tunes with another six started, so it’s coming along nicely.

Last words? Any Big Ups?

Scener: I would like to big up everyone who’s shown faith in me and supported my music in anyway; it’s truly appreciated. I would also like to big up Roya Butler for helping the cause and giving me a chance to put my name more out there, lots of love for this. Not forgetting to big up all of the Show Dem team (Finker, Syner, Oopsie, Lokes, Gifted, Ransom, Herotik, Magikal, and Tham). I’d like to big up Myspace because it has been a big help for me in promoting my music. (www.myspace.com/sceneronline) (www.myspace.com/showdemuk)

Interview by Roya Butler

Interview with Rodney Torres, Pro Skater

2009-04-08T09:52:00.004-04:00

Skating from age 11, pro skateboarder Rodney Torres has made a name for himself in NYC with his skate steez and personal charisma. I had the chance to talk with Rodney, as he told me about his background, about skating the streets of NYC, and his friendship with legendary Zoo York skateboarder Harold Hunter.

Who do you skate for?

Rodney: I don’t have a board sponsor right now. That last board sponsor I had was Official Skateboards; right now I’m a free agent, as far as that’s concerned. But I do have other sponsors, and those consist of Autobahn Wheels, Venture Trucks, Rival Skateshop, Rockstar Bearings, and DVS shoes.

Favorite skate spot?

Rodney: Flushing Meadows Park.

Tell us about that spot.

Rodney: It’s in Flushing Queens (where the world’s fair was held in 1965). There’s a lot of history there, but it’s also one of the best spots in New York City. It’s this big public park that’s open to everyone. The U.S. Open is held there annually and it's also the home of the New York Mets. I grew up skating there, and whenever I have the chance, I’m there skating. It’s probably the most fun spot. Skateboarding all over the city, in all the five boroughs is a lot of fun too. You can just get lost, and you'll find something to skate.

Street or park?

Rodney: I skate street, but I still like parks…anything, as long as I’m having fun.

East or west coast?

Rodney: I’m about all coasts. I’m from the east coast, but I’ve been to the west coast and had a lot of fun there. I met a lot of people while I was out there and had a lot of opportunities presented to me while I was out there, and skating was a lot of fun. I’m game for it all.

Have you ever skated in Europe or other parts of the world?

Rodney: I rode for a shoe company a while back called Osiris, and I got to go on a little Euro-trip for a couple weeks. I got to go to Germany, Amsterdam, Finland, and Sweden; there are a lot of beautiful people out there.

What was your favorite spot out of all those places?

It’d have to be Amsterdam. I had a lot of fun out there. Red light district was tight!

With the knowledge that one third of Amsterdam's red light district was recently closed down, did you hear of any increase in crime like the media has been predicting?

Rodney: Not to my knowledge. We were too busy skating and partying. Because basically it was our job to do demos inside of skate parks. And then after that we’d just party at night. That sums up my experience there: demos in skate parks during the day, partying at night. It was definitely a lot of fun.

Sum up a skater’s lifestyle.

Rodney: Skate, party, travel, promote yourself and your sponsors by getting filmed for the videos and getting photos taken for the magazines. The companies help promote you as much as they can through advertising, and everybody just kind of makes a living out of that. It’s fun and has it's perks.

Can you live off it?

Rodney: yeah, for a little while.

I know you’re sponsored by Rock Star Barings, Harold Hunter’s company. How did his passing affect you?

Rodney: Harold’s passing definitely affected everybody out here in New York. He was definitely more than just another skateboarder, you know what I mean? He was everybody’s friend. Everybody loved him. He was family. It was hard to believe when he passed, and it was very hard for a lot of people to deal with. We have a lot of celebrations for Harold out here in New York. There’s actually one coming up tomorrow. It’s a basketball game in memory of Harold, and it’s sponsored by a lot of different companies. But we’re keeping Harold alive. Legends never die.

Did you get to go to his funeral?

Yeah, I did. I can’t even explain how tough it was when everybody first showed up there. But then it got a little lighter towards the end of the wake, because they played a video of Harold and it was hilarious. It made everyone laugh, and that’s what Harold was good at – making everyone laugh. So that cheered everyone up, but just knowing the situation made it really hard.

Did you go all three days?

Rodney: I went two out of three.

Was it the same service on each of the days?

Rodney: Pretty much, yeah. As far as I know. Whoever couldn’t make it the first day due to work, or whatever reasons, they made it the next day. Harold’s going to live forever. He’s Harold. It was just so amazing how right he was. Legends don’t die. He’s going to live forever. Everyone’s going to remember Harold.

He influenced everyone he met in such a positive way.

Rodney: He definitely touched everyone’s lives.

Do you have any memories with him that you’d like to share?

Rodney: He was one of the first people that I met when I first started coming to the city from Queens. I was a kid; I think I was thirteen when I met him. He was definitely one of the best skaters that I’ve ever seen in person. He was always really cool. He made everyone feel welcomed. The memories I have are just good times skating and good times laughing. He was too much entertainment for even me to handle. My face would hurt from laughing so much with Harold. He let me into his home, and I got to meet his family. He basically took me in like a little brother when I was younger. He was the one that when other people hated on me when I was younger, he said to me, “Yo, just keep doing your thing.” He is the one that showed me that he believed in me. And that will always be appreciated, always. When everyone would always put you down for whatever reason, he would always be the one to pick you back up.

Favorite Harold trait?

Rodney: People would hate on Harold, but the awesome thing was that he would just love them right back. He would kill them with kindness. He is the man. That’s all I got to say.

Interview by Roya Butler

Mems Interview

2009-04-08T09:51:00.002-04:00

A UK hip-hop lyricist emerging from the streets of south London, Mems is a force in the scene. As a pre-teen, Mems embraced the scene and was influenced by More Fire Crew, So Solid, and many more. His name is a metamorphosis stemming from 'Memory,' inevitably shortened to mems; that nickname given due to the stellar memory of this versatile lyricist. Mems is also an accronym for Motivation Equals Massive Success, which is no doubt a forshadow of Mems future.

His first mix CD was entitled 'The Begginning Of Mems,' and he has released a second mix CD entitled 'Ahead Of My Time.' He is currently in the process of recording his third mix. Throughout his songs, he refers to 'SHAGALANG' which means 'good,' 'heavy,' etc. At only 17 years old, the talented youngster continues to be consistent within his music, touching on controversial subjects with in his lyrics and music.

I got a chance to chat with Mems about his new mix CD, his songs, and his musical journey.

Please tell us what your song ‘I wish I could fly’ means to you. It’s a really positive song with a base of pain.

Mems: I wish I could fly means a great deal to me. I think everyone goes through stages in their life when they just want to get away, that’s why I feel people can relate to it. I’m not interested in selling the most CD’s or units, I just want to make an impact on people lives in some way; I’ve chosen to do that through my music.

Tell us about your song ‘Internet girls’ featuring Userboy.

Mems: *laughs* Internet girls is a song about girls that like to put up fake pictures of themselves on Myspace and other social websites and pretend it’s them. Unfortunately more and more girls are doing it these days, that’s why I chose to address it. Come on ladies, you are all beautiful in your own way—no need to pretend you’re something you’re not.

Is ‘Now you cheated’ based on a personal experience with that in your life?

Mems: unfortunately, yes it is... that song was just expressing how I felt in that particular time. I wrote it the same night I found out, actually.

Tell us about your journey thus far in the music industry.

Mems: well, I feel the music industry within the UK has gone crazy. Everyone’s making music for the wrong reasons, and not for the pure love of it. There’s no structure within the UK and most of the music sounds too much alike. That’s why I always try to be different in anything I do.

Tell us about your crew (Userboy, foxx, Aggro).

Mems: Basically our crew name is Shagalang. As you know, Shagalang means good, heavy, great, anything that is positive. Unlike other crews, we are very close as friends. This is the reason we work so well as a team; they can come to my house, go in the fridge, and eat everything in sight if they wanted to, and vice-versa. That’s why my fridge is empty at the moment *laughs*.

What’s the scene like in South London?

Mems: It's not as out there as other areas of London, but there is some great talent here. I’ve lived here all my life; I always represent where I come from—big up all my peoples from south London, reach for da stars. dun kno.

As you blow up, do you notice more attention on you from press, girls, and people in the industry as a whole?

Mems: *laughs* yea, but I’ve always kept grounded cause of my family and friends. It comes with the name, I guess—but I wouldn't change it for nothing.

How does it change your perspective?

Mems: Hmm, it doesn’t really for the simple fact that I keep humble; I’m thankful for the position I’m in at the moment.

What are your musical aspirations?

Mems: Well, to empower people and make a change for the better. Make quality music and help others come into the industry.

Tell us about your new release.

Mems: I’m going to be releasing my next mix CD--soon to be titled. I look to push my crew out so everyone can hear something new.

Last words? Any Big Ups?

Yeah, I want to big up everyone from South London.. dun kno.. everyone from London and the UK as a whole... big up Aggro, Foxx and User (my brothers)... Look out for our mix CD. Big up everyone supporting me and big up Roya for giving me a chance to express my views... Everyone stay focused and reach for da stars...

Interview by Roya Butler

Leftover Crack Interview with Stza

2009-04-08T09:41:00.008-04:00

Few bands can charge their politics with ska-punk adrenaline quite like the New York City punk band, Leftover Crack.

I got to sit down with Sturgeon (Stza) of Leftover Crack at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia to discuss his lyrics, the crusty punk phenomenon, and why there's never any leftover crack.

What do you think of pop culture’s continuing role in the dumbing down of society?

Stza: What do I think of it? I think that it’s very successful, and it will continue to perpetuate itself until everybody’s really stupid--not that they’re not right now, but they’ll just get dumber. People won’t even really notice it; generations and generations will pass, and people will just become dumber and dumber.

Did you go to College?

Stza: Hahahahaha, this is a funny interview--I like this. I am well-educated--the High School I attended in New York City is difficult to get into--but, I couldn’t get up early enough to actually attend so I started underachieving, and eventually dropped out. I ran away from home and started riding freight trains.

What’s your stance on education?

Stza: I'm proactive about self-education--I read books.

What are your views on how mass marketing is targeted towards processed, eradicated, indigestible food products (like fast-food and preservative abundant/nutrient deficient packaged foods)?

Stza: I think that I don’t eat that crap. There seems to be a lot more marketing these days towards healthy, organic foods as well. A lot of people are looking for healthier alternatives to disgusting, plastic-y, nutrient deficient, indigestible foods. Currently, there’s a boom in the health industry. Grocery chains like Whole Foods, as well as local organic markets, are giving people the option of purchasing healthy, nutrient rich foods.

You talk about homophobia and anti-sexism in Gay Rude Boys Unite.

Stza: Yes, well most cultures around the world are sexist. I think that there are a lot of people who are hip to the fact that people are sexist; however, I think that a lot of people are homophobic nonetheless. They may be anti-racist and anti-sexist, but they’re still homophobic.

Is that why you wrote the song Gay Rude Boys Unite?

Stza: At the time, there were a whole lot of people jumping on this unity band wagon-- I think that maybe Bad Brains brought it up. So, a lot of people were preaching unity and anti-racism, but they were still sexist and/or homophobic. It was actually specific to Hellcat Records, during Unity Fest, involving certain bands; but it’s a long story, and an old one, too.

Tell us your views on Anton LaVeys’s Satanic Bible.

Stza: The Satanic Bible has something like nine rules and eleven laws--it’s mostly just common sense, and I don’t think that he necessarily believed in the devil. Other than the sexism and debauchery, his Bible preaches autonomy and common sense. I believe in living in autonomy with common sense; sometimes it's mislabeled anarchy--a mislabel that creates a misrepresentation. Ultimately, I don't agree with sexism, and that’s why I will never call myself a Satanist, or a part of the Satanic church.

In your song Born To Die, you wrote: “the weak sense of autonomy when I 'm drinking in my squat.” What is the weak sense of autonomy, and what is the vision of the full sense?

Stza: Well, we are in our own building and we have the door locked; the police can’t get in unless they bust down the door, so the weak sense of autonomy is we can do whatever the fuck we want in there. There was a time, probably ten years ago, when we could’ve killed somebody, buried them in the basement of our squat, and cemented over it, and the cops would’ve never found out...shit like that. We lived in a building where our neighbors weren’t ratting each other out to the police; so we had a sense of autonomy in that we could do things to a certain level and that we were self-governed. When people got too out of line and everybody hated them, they were kind of beat up, kicked out of the building, and not allowed back in. The police were never called. The full sense of autonomy might encompass being on an island, or your own planet, or somewhere that there is no 'legal' governing force. A moderate sense of autonomy might be somewhere in the woods—or anywhere for that matter—where the police would have a hard time to get to you; for example, finding you with helicopters and airdropping cops in to get to you.

Was the building you spoke of in New York or Philly?

Stza: I’m talking about my place in the New York; the reason it would be harder to get away with in Philly is because squats don’t last as long. But it’s funny that you mention that. I used to live on 49th street at my friend’s place. It had a building behind it, which we used to walk past, where some guy lived. One week during summer it started to smell really bad, and they went in that building cuz they hadn’t seen the guy for a couple weeks. (Have you heard about the garbage juice guy around 1503? Have you heard about Mikey and Filthy Phil?) They found this guy and he was a bloated corpse, all wet and decaying. They went in his pockets and found eighty bucks. But they couldn’t get the smell of dead body (the garbage juice smell) off the money--they kept cleaning it so they could spend it. He was in there, dead and decaying, for three weeks and no one noticed until it smelled really bad.

I dug out this whole basement—8 feet—in Philly. I think it’s leveled now, but I could’ve definitely buried some one under my room there; it would’ve smelled bad, but not if I would’ve buried him deep enough, so yeah, you could do that. But I got that whole “frail sense of autonomy” from a Citizen Fish line—I think it’s from the record Flinch.

Would you say there’s more autonomy in New York, than in Philly?

Stza: No, it used to be that way. Philly is a poorer city, so there's more fucked-up neighborhoods there, and thus more autonomy—there's less cops in fucked-up neighborhoods. In fact, there are neighborhoods that the cops don’t even go into because it’s so fucked-up.

Like north Philly?

Stza: Yeah, in North Philly there’s some fucking places. There are squats where cops won’t even go to, because they’ll get shot at. On the other side of it, if you’re a white person walking around a black neighborhood, you might get picked up by the cops, because you’re probably there to buy drugs.

Leftover Crack is rooted in the urban jungle, yet you’ve grown widely popular with suburban teens.

Stza: I understand that a lot our fans are from the suburbs living in a cookie-cutter house with ultra-conservative republican parents, they want to to rebel against that whole thing, so I guess we’re a good choice. Why not?

Did your band start this crusty punk phenomenon?

Stza: No, we did not start crusty, I merely happened to be one. There were many before me; I definitely didn’t start any trend there. Crusty was always “cheek” back before I was a punk. But I grew up in New York City, and I think that crusty has a longer history in NY. I’m not sure where it started, but there were probably a lot more crusties when I was growing up in NYC than there were in most cities.

How did crusty get started?

Stza: I would say that it got started somewhere in the early eighties amongst political punk bands. Rob, how did crusty get started?

Rob: With the Orphans.

Stza: Yes! With the Orphans. When I think of crusty, I think of bands like Amebix, Reagan Youth, and Nausea. I think of them as the prototypical crustys--crustys are a cross between hippies and political punks. They were into peace, but not passive peace and love like hippies. They were about revolution---but I don’t know the whole story, you’d have to ask someone above my generation, because I’m definitely a second generation crusty.

You’re critics have described you as a symbol of failure for the youth. What do you think of that?

Stza: I don’t think I’m a symbol of failure in society, but a representation of people who don’t want to be a part of society; society has failed me, and it’s failed most kids.

As a symbol for kids, you’ve amassed an army of followers; what do you think of that?

Stza: We’re in Philadelphia. This is one of the two cities where we have a lot of people that come to see us play.

Then you at least have an army in Philadelphia, right?

Stza: I don’t know about that. We are here to influence people to a certain extent. I don’t feel like the kids that come to see us have this undying devotion in that they’ll do anything for us, like an army. We don’t really have a cause to follow and we don’t offer any solutions.

Yet many of your songs sound like a call to arms. “Burn down the malls!” “Kill a cop!”

Stza: It is poetry. It is art. It is free speech. It’s not a textbook. It’s not a law. It’s not a decree. I’m not here espousing lyrics that I expect people to take completely seriously. I don’t expect people to go out and kill cops. But if a day came, per se, where all the poor people in the world were backed up against the wall—where you’re going to die unless you fight back against the police and the government—maybe people will think about some things that we had to say. Or other people that are like-minded to us in what they think about the government and the police will use our lyrics to express themselves. And it might some day in the future, like a hundred years, be a call to arms. And there will be some song (people might not even remember who wrote it, or where the lyric or quote came from) that people might spray paint on the walls in a situation where people actually need to fight the police off, because they are an occupying force in their neighborhood or their town/city/country.

You had a disagreement with the US Bombs over a song they wrote that you found to be homophobic. In an interview you said, “He told me that was meant to be against something else, but a 15 year old kid gets a record he's not going to know what the fuck he's talking about, you know? They're just going to see it for what it is basically, a homophobic song.” Are you concerned about a young kids getting your record and seeing the lyrics for what they just basically are? For example, kids getting the idea that they should quit school and run away.

Stza: I definitely think that the education system needs reform. I think that a lot of people are being taught bull shit, and that school is definitely a training camp for children to accept disappointment in later life, and being able to fit into that cookie-cutter mold where they’re going to be okay with waking up and having a nine to five job and getting paid shit and supporting a corrupt government. If anything, I think that people just fight back against that – maybe have real education instead of false education that the government insists that schools teach. But I’m talking about the stories of my life and my friends’ lives. So it all gets mixed in. There’s not one particular message.

[As for the US Bombs] they had this really homophobic song on their record War Birth. But I’ve already talked about that story. They’re good guys. I think that their singer wrote some fucked up lyrics, and we talked about it, and he tried to explain it to me, but I didn’t really buy it. But it’s old. Let laying dogs rest. I’m not mad at US Bombs. I’m not mad at Duane Peters. Whatever, those people are all right. I don’t think that they meant any harm, but the song was pretty fucked up. It’s called Don’t Need You. Read the lyrics.

Another fellow punk band you’ve disagreed with is the Dead Kennedy’s. You’ve made negative comments about the band and also Jello Biafra, whose label, Alternative Tentacles, you signed to.

Stza: No, I was talking shit on the Dead Kennedy’s without Jello Biafra.

But you attacked the character of Jello Biafra by calling him a cop caller.

Stza: I heard a rumor that he called the cops. I asked him about it, and he said he didn’t. So I think we cleared it up. I think that was a rumor that a lot of people that I knew very well told me that I believed for a while, and I talked to him about it. When we were going to sign to Alternative Tentacles, I asked him about it. It was all over this situation where he got beat up at Kill em in the street, which was kind of a publicized thing. But we cleared it up, because he is against that. He’s against the police, too, and I couldn’t in good conscience sign to Alternative Tentacles if he had done that. So I was glad to clear that up with him.

Jello's a genius and a legend in the political punk scene.

Stza: Yeah, Jello’s a good friend. Jello’s one of my main influences in my political views. When I had heard about him being a cop caller, it really disappointed me, and I had to get to the bottom of it. But he’s not a hypocrite, he’s good people.

In some occasions you have to call the police, for example, if you are robbed, for insurance purposes you have to file a police report.

Stza: I don’t have insurance. And sure, you’re car gets stolen and you got to call the cops, but I’ve never owned a car, so I can’t relate. And I can’t relate to insurance, because I’ve never had it. But if you get robbed, you should just kiss your shit good-bye. What’s so important that’s going to get stolen from you that you can’t get it again?

You’re referring to materialistic attachment?

Stza: People shouldn't put that much importance on material things, but I still get bummed out--I had my passport stolen from me. That was the biggest pain in the ass in my life, but I didn’t file a police report. If your shit gets robbed, you’re not going to get it back – might as well not involve the police. I don’t really need anything to live. Food, obviously, but there’s food in the garbage.

A simple way of life as opposed to greed.

Stza: Just treat people nice. Don’t be money grubbing and greedy; don’t fuck people over. You can make a way of living where you’re not tricking people or fucking them over and you can do well for yourself and your friends.

It's important to love your neighbor and work things out together, to live in peace.

Stza: Yeah, like if you’re neighbor is playing loud music and having a party, talk to him and work it out. Deal with it, don’t call the cops. Realize that they’re just trying to have a good time and they’re not doing anything wrong. You’re just causing friction and giving the cops a chance to go out there and fuck with them. What’s ultimately going to happen is that the cops are going to end up fucking with you. See what happens is that people who are doing illegal shit always are the first ones to call the cops. Then they get busted on their own shit, like fucking idiots. So those guys should call the cops, Fuck ‘em, they should go to jail if they call the cops. It’s like the people that believe in heaven or hell. They’re going to hell, because they believe in it. They’re not going to heaven...nobody’s going to heaven.

Tell us about the Star Fuckin Hipsters.

Stza: Our record’s coming out September thirtieth on Fat. And we’ll be touring. And Leftover Crack will be around trying to go to other countries. We’ll be around. We’ll be in Chicago playing a festival in October and November in Texas. Stuff next year: We’ll be going to Australia maybe and Japan if we can make it.

Tell us the difference between Star Fucking Hipsters and Leftover Crack?

Stza: Star Fucking Hipsters has dual male female vocals. And we have more members. We have Frank DeGeneric (Frank Piegaro)--a great guitar player and song writer, Yula (Beeri) from World Inferno, Nico (de Gaillo) and Ara’s (Ara Babajian) in the band right now, but we’ll probably be touring with a different drummer. Its fun, we’re getting some different stuff out there.

It focuses on different issues?

Stza: Yeah, we’re trying to do something different with the band. Maybe be not so in your face political, but still all the songs in a way are more political. We’re trying a different thing.

Anything else?

Stza: Nah. I got to get to drinking, because it’s almost time to play.

Interview with Stza, frontman of Leftover Crack by Roya Butler

Eyedea Interview

2009-04-08T09:34:00.007-04:00

Combining MC/lyricist Eyedea with DJ/turntablist Abilities creates the very best of Hip-Hop, Eyedea and Abilities. Eyedea has proven himself as not only an extraordinary song writer, but also as a master at battling and the art of freestyling. Abilities talent from the battle, to the mix tape, to production has resonated on the underground for quite some time.

Between 1997 and 2001, E&A completely conquered the competitive circuit. (Winning national and regional battles such as: Scribble Jam ‘99, RockSteady 2000, Blaze-Battle Chicago 2000, HBO Televised Blaze-Battle World Championship New York 2000, ‘99 DMC Regional, 2001 DMC Regional…the list goes on.) During this time E&A was also laying groundwork and establishing a fan base for themselves with Rhymesayers labelmates Atmosphere by doing self promoted U.S.. tours, traveling state to state selling their product hand to hand. Since then they have established themselves as a phenomenal live act, having performed with everyone from De La Soul to The Roots, to American Head Charge. (As well as doing full blown tours with artists such as: Prince Paul, Aceyalone, Cannibal Ox, Living Legends and more.)

Lauded as one of URB Magazines Next 100, Eyedea and Abilities dropped their first full length album entitled First Born in the Fall of 2001. This conceptual masterpiece caught many fans off guard, as they expected a more battle oriented approach to the songs. But as unexpected as it was, First Born proved that a powerful battle M.C. and Turntabilist could create a clever and cohesive concept album.

I got to sit down with lyricist Micheal Larson (Eydea) from Eyedea & Abilities in Philadelphia, at The Barbery, and talk about his albums, philosophy, and future musical aspirations.

How did you think of the name Eyedea?

Eyedea: Oh, it’s just one of those things. When you’re young you need to think of some code name to validate your existence. I wanted a name that wasn’t a ‘thing’ like it could be anything.

Tell me about your new album that just came out.

Eyedea: We’re working on a brand new album right now that’s actually gonna come out next year. And it’s fun. I’m playing a lot of guitar on it.

What’s it called?

Eyedea: I don’t know what we’re gonna call it yet.

What’s the one that’s out right now?

Eyedea: We have two out. One is called First Born. The other is call E and A. Then there’s also a solo record in there called The Mini Face of Oliver Hart.

Tell me about how you’ve evolved through the years. For example a lot of your songs are philosophical, while some about ‘dumb bitches’. Tell me about that.

Eyedea: I guess I’ve been more focused on trying to write something that is relevant in a big way for a long time. I think I’ve always tried to write music that can touch people and that can express something that’s interesting and ‘worth it’ to listen to. I think that’s kind of what I’ve always focused on. But now I’m old enough and mature enough to know what certain thing not to talk about and not to write about.

For example…

Eyedea: Well, in the world of hip hop you get into the whole world of ego-driven music, like talking about rap, or talking about music, just a lot things that all these hip hop guys do. I’m just really not into that. I don’t think it lasts. I just think it’s childish to talk about things like that.

On one of your albums you have a song about that…

Eyedea: I have lots of songs about lots of things.

…You talk about how hip hop artists are all into themselves.

Eyedea: Yeah, I do. But even me saying that is too much. You don’t need to say that. You just write a song about how beautiful waterfalls are. That’s what I’m into now. It actually tells a story that means something. It’s not enough to make commentary.

Any interview would be remiss if it did not mention your song A Murder of Memories.

Eyedea: Yeah, A Murder of Memories is one of the songs about war, and it’s about a war vet and a nightmare that he must continue to live with. That’s one of the few songs that I still like. I wrote it when I was fifteen. It sounds like a little kid wrote it, but…

Naw, it’s tight, I was just listening to it. How have you gotten to the point where you’ve risen about narcissism and become humble?

Eyedea: Well, I think that as you get older, you start thinking about you and the world. It would be going backwards to get more and more isolated. The truth of everything is that we’re all one things. So I think that people that do end up becoming more and more narcissistic probably have a huge lack of love or something in their life that makes them think that fame and all this pointless shit is going to make them be happy. But I think that the truth is that happiest you can be is when you feel a part of everything. It helps to kill the ego a little bit and be a part of things.

So do you practice Buddhist philosophy?

Eyedea: Yeah, I’ve always been into all types of Eastern ideas, I guess. But I’m typically into thinking and breaking down my own walls. Whether I can help do that through some types of reading I will, but mostly I just like to internally think. Think about my behavior, and think about suffering, and think about what’s going on in me and in the world. It’s really important. All you have as a person is that –your brain!

I know that this is going backwards, but you have a song about girls coming to your show and having you sign their tits…

Eyedea: I should have never written that song.

…And then some girl who wouldn’t give you time of day in High School is all about you, now that you’re famous…

Eyedea: Yeah, I should have never written that stuff. It’s all misunderstood. The point of all that stuff was to try to be kind of funny. It displays some of my personality that is funny. I’m not really interested in that stuff. We don’t play that kind of music anymore. They’re some vulgar things that came out of my mouth around that time period that just didn’t need to be said. So I’ve definitely moved on from that.

Tell us about your new music and what you’re focusing on.

Eyedea: Now we’re making a new Eyedea and Abilities record and I think it’s actually pretty good. It’s very musical. I’m playing a lot of guitar on it. We’re writing a lot of the music instead of sampling it, so that’s pretty cool. I also have two other bands that I really focus on. One of them is called FaceCandy. It’s kind of improvised jazz freestyle rap group. And then there’s a heavier rock band called Carbon Carousel, and I write all the music for that.

Is it Metal?

Eyedea: No, it’s not really metal-- more distorted guitars and aggressive singing. But that band’s always changing, too. I write all the music for that. That’s really fun.

Tell us about Abilities, where did he get his name from?

Eyedea: Abilities (Oliver Hart) is the DJ. His name comes from wanting to show his skills. It’s all just young person’s stuff--that’s what you do when you’re a kid growing up trying to do hip hop. It’s all about how cool you are and shit like that.

How did you get into hip hop?

Eyedea: The first music I did get into was metal, when I was like seven. The first record I ever bought was And Justice for All. I really was frightened by the lyrical content, and that’s what I liked. I liked bands that were dangerous. Like Guns and Roses, where you’d listen to the words and think, “These guys are fucked up!” But a lot of it was driven by the words. So I was kind of addicted to that danger, and then around that same time I heard NWA and rap, and I was like, “Holy shit! These guys are mean, and cussing, and they sound fucking scary.” So I really got into it, and I just started imitating it around that time, say at about age ten. So I just got heavier and heavier into it, until around age fourteen, I finally got into writing it and doing the whole thing.

So it was freestyle?

Eyedea: Yeah, it was a lot of freestyle. That’s still a big part of why I still do this is because I just love improvising. Because when I first started Carbon Carousel there was a big part of me that just really wanted to sing and play guitar more than I wanted to make rap music. But the thing that always keeps me anchored in this is improvising rap. It’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever experienced is when you’re in this moment doing your thing.

So when you think of your songs, is it on the spot, and you just write it, or does it come out in pieces?

Eyedea: It could go a couple different ways. It’s not the same all the time-- and it depends which band too. With Eyedea and Abilities, we spend a lot of time perfecting the music and then I actually write the words last, after the whole idea is there. As you’re sitting there writing music, you’re learning what the song is about. It’s telling you what it’s about. And then what I figure out it’s about and what it’s saying, it’s very easy to write the verses. Although when I first started writing this record it was kind of a trip because it was so many words as opposed to rock song where you’re only singing ten words and a rap song where you’re singing ten thousand. So I kind of had some problems getting back into it. But now I’m back into it, and I feel pretty good.

Can you tell us about your tour?

Eyedea: Yeah, we’re doing the east coast right now. It’s kind of a short run. It’s called the Appetite for Destruction tour. We did the west coast and the mid west in December, and then we kept getting calls to do gigs, so we came out here.

In one of your songs you say ‘it’s time to wash MTV outa your ears’… are you expressing the desire for being underground as opposed to mainstream?

Eyedea: No, I would want it to be huge. I would wanna be touching as many people as possible. Like the war song, if that were an MTV single, that would be great. It’s not about trying to underground. I think when I was younger I thought that was cool, but all that stuff is just secondary. What’s first is that you’re trying to communicate these ideas. So if you can do it by being on television or whatever, you should do it. I think that people should do whatever they can to get to the end result which is communicating. Granted that all the stuff that pops up on TV and radio is garbage, but that’s all the more reason to have more Bob Dylan’s in the world.

Can you tell me at what point you met Abilities.

Eyedea: When I was thirteen, he needed a place to stay, and I knew him from around. So I moved him into my mom’s basement, and we lived together for a couple years, and then he went on. Then he lived with me again at one point, and we’ve just been really good friends since I was like twelve or thirteen.

And you were laying down tracks at that age?

Eyedea: It wasn’t until fourteen, fifteen that we started recording. So it was right around 96 or 97.

And then how old were you when your first album came out?

Eyedea: It didn’t come out till 2001, so I was about eighteen or nineteen. It didn’t come out for a really long time.

But you were actually getting it down at that young age.

Eyedea: Oh yeah. By the time the first record came out, I already had half of my solo record done. Even the E and A record which came out in 2004, we wrote it and did it in the summer of 2002. That’s the last thing we did actually. So it’s that old. But I’ve been doing it all through High School and stuff.

Do you ever have fans of yours that come up to you and are really into you and have tattoos of your band?

Eyedea: Yeah sure. That’s not a huge amount of people that are that tripped up. But yeah, it does happen. For sure.

How does that feel for you?

Eyedea: At some point, it felt good. But now, not so much. It still feels good to know that your music is communicating something and to know it worked for some people, so that’s great. But sometimes it gets a little weird, and you think, “Oh, you could just look at yourself and write better songs than I do.” Being an idol to people is a little strange, but it happens. People idolize things. It’s the way shit is. I had idols when I was kid. Especially young kids – they’re looking to you for guidance.

How does it not affect you? How did you go from thinking you’re an idol, to wanting to help people evolve?

Eyedea: Well, I think that I’ve always wanted to help people evolve. When I was in high school, I was going to be a teacher--that’s what I wanted to do. That’s always been a big driving force behind my music. At times there have been moments where I have slipped up and fallen into little pockets of myself, but it’s always been there. And I think that anyone that’s really into art is driven by that. That’s the whole thing that you want to help people. Just realizing that makes it a lot easier to figure out what the fuck you’re doing.

What else were you into at that age? Were you into skateboarding, were you into graffiti?

Eyedea: I was into graffiti... I was always into all kinds of art. When I was younger I was into skateboarding a little bit. By the time I was a teenager I was mostly into music and reading... music, physics, psychology, and yoga.

Do you want to say anything else?

Eyedea: Just that when you’re feelings are hurt, or you’re really sad, I think it’s a good opportunity to look into what it is, and connect with the world. Then you’ll realize that you’re pain isn’t yours. It’s actually the pain of the whole world that you’re feeling. And I think that it’s a good opportunity when you’re sad to sit down and listen to that without running or rejecting it. Feel it and feel connected with the world, because suffering is a part of the human psyche.

Suffering is a humanism?

Eyedea: Yeah, completely. It is a truth right now. It is a function of the mind. So it’s important to look at it and not run from it.

So in a way you’re talking about mindfulness and being present. So if something happens, instead of pushing it down inside and trying to be better than it. That we should feel everything that is in the present, and then that way you can transcend the past and evolve.

Eyedea: I don’t know if you can transcend it and evolve, because I don’t know what that means. But I think that you definitely have a better chance of evolving, if you deal with it. But I feel that it connects you to the world. If you understand that you’re not sad because your parents died, or your house burnt down, or your your your… You’re sad because sadness is happening. And you use your life situation to feel that way. But that feeling is happening. There’s somebody dying right now as we’re talking. And you can just feel that in yourself when somebody you know dies. You don’t typically feel that all the time. But when you feel loss, you feel loss. It’s not your loss, it’s the loss that everyone feels. So I think that that’s important to stay connected and feel and know what it is to be a part of the world.

You feel it fully, detach from it/ let it go, and be present?

Eyedea: That’s the thing. If I make rules about it, then it becomes a system, and it becomes unreal. You have to figure it out for yourself. I can’t tell anybody what it is, or what the function is, or what happens afterward, because if I do, they listen to my words and not the actual thing. So it’s kind of being the anti-teacher and just encouraging people to learn for themselves, I guess.

Are you still thinking about becoming a teacher?

Eyedea: I do teach. I do talks mostly about music related stuff. I don’t know if I’ll ever be a teacher, probably not. I can talk to a lot of people through my music.

What do you mean, ‘talk?’

Eyedea: I mean like go to song writing classes and do workshops. I also do private lessons. The last one I did was a literature class at Hamelin College. I just go and hang out with these people that are thinking about stuff, and wondering about stuff, and I sit there and talk with them.

Style-wise, you look more ‘grunge’ than ‘hip hop’. Was it always like that?

Eyedea: I got a little bit into the uniform of hip hop when I was a kid. But I was always kind of an outsider in hip hop, anyways. I really was. And so now I’m just more comfortable with who and what I am.

Amebix Interview

2009-04-08T09:32:00.004-04:00

Brittan’s Amebix is one of the first bands to blend anarcho-punk and heavy metal music. Formed in 1978, and split in 1987, they recently reunited as of 2008.

Crusties both young and old packed the Trocadero venues to capacity for the legendary hardcore punk band Amebix, uniting to go on tour for the first time in twenty-two years. This was a dream come true for punks young and old who have wanted to see the glory that is Amebix, live.

The heavily influential sound of Amebix laid the foundation for crust punk. It’s hypnotic and haunting melodies merge the harsh cold brutality of metal with the raw punk edge of anger, calling out injustice. All over the US, punks united to witness their unforgettable shows. The venues were flooded with a sea of black leather and metal studs as the crowd sang along with Amebix singer Rob Miller, “Arise!”

We were honored enough to be able to interview vocalist, Rob Miller, from the island of Skye, after their highly anticipated US tour.

Regarding your song, Largactyl, can you give us the background story of how that song was written? Also, how do you feel about overmedication of children today? Lastly, what does the last lyric of Largactyl mean: at 21 they’ll be coming for you?

Rob: Largactyl was written about our first Drummer Martin, who was diagnosed as Paranoid Schizophrenic after we left his place in Devon. The medication they put him on was Largactyl, which seemed extreme for someone essentially so gentle. The lyric is: “senility at 21...they’ll be coming for you, we were still young”--it means that the men in white coats are coming. I think there is a lot of over diagnosis of social problems that didn’t really exist when I was a kid. If you were a pain in the ass you got a punch. Sorted.

Can you tell me the story behind the song: Beyond the Sun. It’s my personal favorite.

Rob: It is basically Homage to friends who died along our way some through drugs, others through Motorcycles. I like it as an emotionally driven song but also find it a bit too personal at times. My Ex died a few months ago riding her Trike, she had lost one leg in an accident a few years ago after I left. And she really got me into the whole bike thing again after Bristol (where Amebix lived before moving out to Radstock near Bath, where we recorded Arise). So my son, Richard (21), is dealing with the loss of his Mother now and feeling alone. She was a very tough Woman; the split with her is what drove me to move to Skye 20 years ago almost. She taught me a few things, not the easiest person in the world, but a real Warrior Spirit.

“Beyond the Sun” has a very heavy feeling of melancholy. A cold harshness seems to pervade through out all of your music. Even “Drink and be Merry” ends on the dark note of: “for tomorrow, we may die.” Was this dark outlook on life a reflection of the squatter lifestyle that the band lived while writing these songs?

Rob: Yes, but there is also a positive side to these songs. “Drink and Be Merry” is a statement that things can be very tough around you but you must still seize the day and make the best that you can from it. “The Darkest hour” actually gave hope to one guy when he was going to commit suicide. He wrote to me that he was going to throw himself off the roof and someone in a flat below was playing this and he 'got it'. I have a large amount of very personal mails from people who say what a significant and positive impact Amebix was in their lives. For a long time I was very uncertain about what we had done, whether anyone understood us, as there was no feedback at all when we were first around. We had a very-very small audience, most of them reluctant; Amebix is a phenomenon, a band that has surprisingly achieved a cult status over the Years. Playing to sold out Venues in every City in the US was totally amazing for us.

You are cited as creating crust punk. How does it feel like to have made such an impact?

Rob: I don’t feel comfortable being tagged with that label. I think Amebix was always a band that stood apart from our contemporaries, in our approach, attitude and unwillingness to conform to 'scene' parameters. I think the term ‘crust punk’ is not something that we consider ourselves to be part of.

Crusty was a term used in Bristol to denote the punks who were really living on the street—not the studs and leather guys who would spike the hair up on the weekends, but that is all. People seem too ready to adopt a packaged lifestyle complete with uniform and prescribed political belief structures that I personally find very claustrophobic.

We are not interested in being defined by a genre. If anything, we are in our own selves complete and don’t need to be labeled. We rose from the original punk scene to define our own music in our own way. Motorhead are just Motorhead, Killing Joke are Killing Joke, and Amebix are just Amebix. We don’t need to feel secure in our nest.

While squatting, you must have struggled for basic needs: food and shelter. How were you able to gather the equipment to make your music?

Rob: Our equipment was always basic, we would drag guitars around with us, try and get secure places to put things in, but generally it would be a case of borrowing from other bands whilst we were playing, we came to Bristol with a Bass and a guitar and a synthesizer, and managed to save money to buy leads and strings etc when they were needed (although I am sure I only ever changed my bass strings about 4 times in as many years). It was always a bit of a struggle, but between ourselves and Disorder we managed to play.

I understand that you squatted with Disorder. Were your bands friends and influential on each other? Do you keep in touch?

Rob: We shared the same drummer for some time, but the two bands were distinctly different. I didn’t like any of the thrash/fast music at that time--even Discharge. I preferred “Aint no Feeble Bastard” to any other song because it had pace and power; I saw the hardcore stuff as dissipating power. We were all the best of friends regardless, and played a lot of Gigs together. We shared whatever we had with one another. I still talk with Boobs and Steve.

Living the squatter life sounds like it was cold, hard, and depressing. Is the dark tone that pervades throughout all yours songs that you wrote at that time a reflection of that life?

Rob: I think “Winter” is a great summary of those times--the harsh life on the streets in the winter time. There is certainly bleakness about some of our early music that is very apparent…desperate times.

You’ve lived by the ‘No Gods, No Masters’ creed for decades. How has its meaning changed over the years?

Rob: My views on most things have stayed consistent. “No Gods, No Masters” is open to interpretation. For me, it is about Autonomy and following your own path, even if it leads away from others. It is ultimately about being true to you.

Please tell me more of how tour reshaped, or refreshed your views of the punk scene.

Rob: Firstly we were amazed at the sheer number of people that came out to the shows. Pretty much every venue was sold out. People came from all different areas; one guy in Seattle commented that there are at least five distinct 'scenes' there, and that show was the first one that he had ever witnessed people from all those scenes in the same place. It felt very unifying, and I am happy to see that Amebix had such a far reach. I was encouraged to see older people from the Punk scene that had taken the original ethos and integrated that into their lives, manifesting that spirit in independent radio, magazines, and websites.

When the band split in 1987, the entire experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I found the mentality of the scene in the UK really claustrophobic in a lot of respects. For me it seemed to turn in on itself and demand conformity to a new set of rules—which is exactly what we were fighting against. We are faced with this now as well, when some people assume that Amebix should be playing in squats for beer money all over Europe, when it isn’t like that for us anymore.

We enjoy playing again, and want to express that by putting on a solid show. It’s important for us to attract different people from all over. Our message was always a universal one, not to be jealously owned by a select group.

Punk Rock, to me, opened everything up as possible, and I was so happy to see that manifest in people’s lives on our last Visit to the U.S. The Anarcho Punk scene in the UK had a few positive effects, in that people were encouraged to DIY, but the constant struggle for security led to people forming more and more obscure cliques, and forgetting that the message goes outwards and not inwards.

Your brand of anarchism seems to be meant to be implemented on a personal level. How do you feel about those anarchist thinkers who feel that an overhaul is needed on the structure of society itself?

Rob: Each to their own; I understand peoples desires to make the world conform to their will, but it is also important to recognize the will of others and not arbitrarily impose yours.

Why were you initially called “The Band with No Name?”

Rob: It was after the Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns, where he was “the man with no name,” it just tickled us a bit.

Then you created the name Amebix, meaning simplicity (coming from the basic form of life ameba)?

Rob: Yes, it was to indicate that we were a very basic musical unit.

What was it like meeting the legendary Jello Biafra?

Rob: Fine. He was very enthusiastic about us and gave us a break to release “Arise.”
We had him on stage in SF to sing “Largactyl.”

How’s it like living on the Isle of Skye?

Rob: It is both difficult and amazing, The winters are long, cold, and dark, offset by long days in the Summer. Here, there is some of the most magnificent scenery in the world, and the freedom to roam wherever I like. I have walked and camped all over this island, and the Outer Hebrides. I have grown to love the wilderness and the solitude that it offers, as well as a good fire in the woods with friends. It is somewhere that I would be haunted by if I ever left, and has become a part of my soul as much as Devon--where I grew up.

Do you have a sword shop in Skye?

Rob: I have made Swords for the past 18 Years here on Skye, training myself in the Art of the Medieval sword smith. This has brought me to be well recognized in my field. It is a hard job but very creative: http://www.castlekeep.co.uk/

You reissued your last album Monolith, do you think you'll re-record arise?

Rob: No. Arise 2 was released a few years ago with the bonus tracks. Monolith may see a vinyl release one day. But for now, we are concentrating on recording new material.

Tell us about your influences such as killing joke.

Rob: We saw KJ in Trafalgar square in 1980 at a CND rally. They had a profound influence on us, as they manifested energy in such a powerful manner--it was almost psychotic. Black Sabbath also a huge influence, as well as the bands we grew up with T Rex, Bowie, Iggy, etc.

Have you heard the bands 'Converge' or 'Bane'? Do you think some new bands are becoming more courageous as the hardcore bands were in the late 80s, to rip through the molds?

Rob: I cannot answer that question, I have not had any contact with music for over 20 years.

Can you tell us about the new compilation that you released, No Sanctuary: The Spiderleg Recordings.

Rob: Yes, it was the result of trying to re-claim our Master tapes from our first three releases. It took some time, but the new staff at Southern were very helpful, and we were able to get the tapes back and release them on one CD/LP. They have been boosted and cleaned up a bit, but essentially the same. It’s a good package that Jello has taken a lot of care into putting together. As a record, it is more primitive than our later material but still very visceral.

Can you tell us about your DVD, Risen. When do you plan to release it? I heard it will include interviews and live footage.

Rob: The DVD is now released and receiving a favorable response. It is the labor of Roy Wallace who put the project together as a tribute, and as a consequence brought Stig and I together with Roy Mayorga, which has brought the band back to life. We are all very happy to be taking things forward from here.

Interview with Amebix vocalist Rob Miller by Roya Butler

The Exelar Interview

2009-04-08T09:26:00.003-04:00

The Exelar was formed in 2000 by members “Puge” Ruhe, Matt Grande, and former member John Ellis. Influenced by bands such as His Hero Is Gone, Bad Brains & Born Against, this band is fast, brutal and politically intelligent. Coupled with the ever present need for raw aggression in the New York City music scene, this formula has always and will always be what makes the substance that keeps The Exelar a working machine.

Being a hardcore band comprised of two African Americans, and two Italian Americans has helped shape their political views in which they sing of. As with all things artistic, it took some experimenting and changes in direction to find their place in the world. It was discovered early on that the band’s dynamics are at their best with the two sets of brothers, Jamal Ruhe on guitar and Puge Ruhe on bass as well as the Grande brothers Mike on guitar and Matt on the drums.

Very early on, the band started pumping out EP’s that were quickly picked up and distributed by independent labels. The first of which, named “DEMO Split”, released in 2001. The Exelar had begun to make a name for themselves and their sophomore release, an EP titled, "Message from a Moving Target" (Pogonophobia Records - UK) was no exception as it too turned heads among the Hardcore scene across the board. With the eminent release of their 3rd LP, “The Newburgh Conspiracy” it too delivers powerful, angst ridden hardcore at its best.

I got to sit down with the band to delve into their minds about current political issues, music, and racism in the hardcore scene.

What sets you apart?

Puge: most of our stuff is more racially charged than anything else, but in the end, that's mostly what sets us apart.

Jamal: I don't think we play any songs about romantic relationships at all. Not to say there aren't truths in love songs. We make music about what it feels like to be American. It hurts to be lied to. Being powerless and uninformed makes you angry. It tears you apart from inside. Once you start to make sense of our world, the next step is even more confusing. What can you or I do? I can only say that it started making a sporadic shrieking sound that got more insistent with time. The effort of keeping myself from imploding on what I can only call a spiritual level makes me exhausted from the minute I wake up. If you know what that means, our music is for you.

How did you start out?

Puge: Matt, our drummer, was in IRobot. They had broken up and they all went to college in New Paltz (a town I lived in). They were having a party and wanted to have a joke Hardcore (Long Island tough) band play. They got their Long Island tough guy accents on and had songs about being tough. We only had 3 songs, so we played the last one 6 times in a row. After that, Matt and I decided to start our own band.

Mike: As the second guitar player, I'm like the drummer from Spinal Tap. I think I'm the 5th person with this job.

Please explain how you share the vocals in your music.

Matt: Usually, whoever writes the song has control over who sings what and when (we never wanted a "frontman" to dictate the sound). We have four individuals with distinct sounds and influences that make each song sound as unique as possible.

Mike: Whoever writes the song usually does the bulk of the singing for that song. The back-up parts are usually broken up between the other 3. This helps to ensure that no one drops dead from screaming before the end of the set. We are getting up there in years and the smoking doesn't help.

Jamal: Basically, everybody sings as much as he can. If you're playing a song, on any instrument, shouldn't you know what it's about?

You've been compared to converge, musically, how do you feel about that?

Matt: People have compared us to a lot of bands, and most of them, including converge, are great. The bottom line is we have always been a "hardcore" band, without falling into a genre-trap, i.e. emo, fastcore, etc.

Mike: That's a compliment

Jamal: We'll take that as a compliment.

What else should I ask you?

Matt: I am usually pretty tired

Puge: My favorite color is blue and I enjoy long walks with "that special someone."

Tell us about your new album, “The Newburgh Conspiracy.”

Jamal: We like to think we make relevant works of art.

Matt: This album is our best music yet. It’s for people that like honest, intense music.

Puge: If there are any Britney Spears fans, they'll love it.

Mike: It screams old and angry.

What inspires your lyrics?

Puge: All of our lyrics are political in the tradition of ‘Bad Brains’, ‘His Hero Is Gone’ & ‘Born Against’, stuff like that.

Jamal: If you're not paying attention to politics... do you really take yourself (or anyone else) seriously?

Tell us about Matt's involvement with his previous band, IRobot?

Matt: I started that band with my friend Pete Bisso as a way for Pete to get songs recorded that he had written while playing in an older band with me. I convinced him to come to college at New Paltz so we could start that band. We toured with another band I was in called ‘Devola’ a few times, recorded a few times, and like many other bands, were semi-successful after we broke up.

Jamal: Lyrically, just an awesome band.

Seeing that you’re extremely political, do you like The Dead Kennedies?

Puge: Their music is not as aggressive and crazy enough for me to get into. I don't think they suck, it's just not really my cup of tea. I'm more of a Born Against type of guy--gnarlier type of stuff.

Matt: Ditto

Mike: I find the Dead Kennedies boring. I think they're one of those bands that people think they’re supposed to like.

What kind of shows do you usually play?

Matt: We like to play with friends, and prefer laid back shows without security, age limitations, barriers, etc.

Puge: We usually play with bands who are as old and angry as we are. At our record release party we had to import a bunch of people. We had two New York bands and three out of town bands.

Jamal: The bands we used to play shows with in NY are pretty much all indie rock outfits now. I'm not kidding.

How would you describe the hardcore scene in New York?

Puge: the hardcore scene in New York is a little dead these days, mostly because there are no venues for those shows. We play in Philly sometimes, and there's some dirt cheap lofts that you can have a pretty
decent show at, that is rare thing in New York City.

Mike: Is there a hardcore scene in NY? I'm a little out of touch.

Have you had any racial incidents that happened?

Puge: There's certain hardcore scenes in certain cities where being a racist or Nazi is cool.

Matt: I know what Puge is referring too, and I agree, no names needed.

How do you feel racism in the hardcore scene today differs from when you were a teenager?

Puge: I used to be a lot more proactive about it, more so than now. We haven't had a lot of problems recently. Our website initially had a comment page, and someone left a comment "your band is pretty good except for the two black guys in it, fire them," so we took that down. The hardcore scene is a lot different these days than when I was younger. I used to roll with certain kids and racism was not accepted. If we stay away from prejudicial people then everything is delightful.

Matt: When I was a teenager, I cared a lot more about what people thought and how I was perceived as a musician and in a band. I wanted feedback, that sense of accomplishment and admiration for being in a band that played good music. Now I could care less. I enjoy what I play and if people like it, great, if not, oops!

Have you had any songs about racism in the scene?

Puge: On our last record we had a song called black teenagers are moving targets. I noticed they were having rallies from moms from kids being killed by the cops. Now people are getting freaked out about it now due to kids recording it on their phone and putting it up on youtube. This is what the media and police having been trying to hide, successfully I might add, for years now, and it's good that there's new technology so it can be documented and proven.

Matt: I wrote a song called "firing squad" about what it meant to be young and how no one should take it for granted or submit to authorities outright telling you that being young makes you stupid or unnecessary. As for songs about race, I leave that to the experts. Most of my songs now are about historical inaccuracies, problems I see in my city, family, and country.

Has it gotten any better?

Puge: That whole scene has gotten interesting lately. I work in the film industry on set, as a grunt. And there's probably six people total that aren't white. Dudes I haven't spoken to for years now come up
and talk to me, as a result of Obama coming into office. Before, black people were not a part of their lives, but now they're changing that, because everything is changing. It’s been positive in that regards but not in other regards. There's a deeper political problem in every community. It's been positive and negative. It’s pushed some people over the edge.

What do you think about hip hop music?

Puge: Hip hop music is what sorta shaped this generation that seems to be less afraid of black people. It's been good, but it's been bad too. It has also distanced that genre from its people and turned it into something horrible and terrible.

What do you mean by that?

Puge: I mean that when I started listening to that music I was nine years old. I stole ‘NWA’ “Straight out of Compton” from my brother. It was political and gritty. ‘Public Enemy’ was the same way... over the top but somehow acceptable to the masses. These days, to sell records, artists rap about cash and chicks and cars. If they try to say something intelligent they're not gonna get any love at all, it's not gonna happen.

Do you think that has to do with the dumbing down of society?

Puge: I think it has more to do with society being comfortable. When I went to hardcore shows it was extremely political, and now it's just teenage kids talking about how they hate their dads, and in addition than that being bad at what they do. So not only are they a shitty rip off, of a band that came out 20 years ago, but they also have nothing to say about anything.

Matt: I don't think society has gotten dumber in my social circle or city. I feel that society has reached more of a stand-still in certain parts of the United States are people are not open to new types of political thought.

Jamal: I see a direct connection between what hip-hop was and what hardcore was. I won't name names, but what passes for hardcore now is often thinly veiled pop music. Like hardcore, early rap music was message heavy. Even the party tracks had social and ethical content. A haircut doesn't make you hardcore, your attitudes do. If you dress and act and sound like a bunch of other people... take a look at them. Describe them. Try to understand them. Because that's who YOU are.

Tell us about your song 'ABC on TV.'

Puge: About two years ago I was reading the paper where there was an incident in Washington Square Park. An NYU fraternity would play a game where one of the members would dress up and run around the park, while the other members would ‘'find the illegal immigrant.' People were outraged and protested it. The fraternity had their token non-white member defend the fraternity behavior. I saw one of the interviews and read about it; it was all over the news at the time. ABC means American Born Chinese. Chinese kids who were from China hated Chinese kids who were born in America. I thought that was the equivalent to an Asian Uncle Tom.

Tell us about your band name, “The Exelar.”

Jamal: We don't comment on our band name. The secret we keep signifies our commitment to each other.

Tell us why you named your new album “The Newburgh Conspiracy.”

Jamal: The Newburgh Conspiracy (and its dissolution) was an important moment for us all. The commanders of the Continental Army conspired to overthrow the Continental Congress. The goals were to get paid (since the army itself owed money to just about every man fighting in it) and to install George Washington as King or PM or whatever they would have called it. Force would overthrow the government fueled by hunger and the reputation of GW would have instituted a new standing government. Anyway, we owe George a lot. He wasn't into it, and in Newburgh, New York, he diffused the whole plot. For the really curious: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newburgh_conspiracy

Interview by Roya Butler

The Exelar---“The Newburgh Conspiracy” CD

2009-04-08T09:21:00.004-04:00

"If you like fast, aggressive music with political intelligence, this CD is to not miss." 5 out of 5

“The Newburgh Conspiracy” Track Listing

01 Bravo! Lucky Dragon #5

02 Bleedtruth

03 Alfred II

04 A Perfect Ending

05 Legacies

06 Reuptake Inhibitor

07 Blackface

08 License Plates

09 ABC on TV

With the ever present need for raw aggression in the New York City hardcore music scene, Exelar has arisen. They have created a unique sound that can only be compared to converge, and merged it with political intelligence. Focused on racial issues and the continuence of wealth feeding off the masses to create more wealth for themselves, Exelar calls for attention, that attention will hopefully ignite change.

Musically, this record is impeccable—fast and heavy while maintaining responsibility with their unique brand of witty lyrics, keeping you interested and leaving you wanting more.

Lyrically the album is filled with political intelligence while the band unites to belt out brutal vocals mixed and overlaid into the record.

Jamal explains, “We make music about what it feels like to be American. It hurts to be lied to. Being powerless and uninformed makes you angry. It tears you apart from inside. Once you start to make sense of our world, the next step is even more confusing. What can you or I do? I can only say that it started making a sporadic shrieking sound that got more insistent with time. The effort of keeping myself from imploding on what I can only call a spiritual level makes me exhausted from the minute I wake up. If you know what that means, our music is for you.”

Their song, “ABC on TV” is based on the NYU Fraternity incident at Washington Square Park in NYC. An NYU fraternity would play a game where one of the members would dress up and run around the park, while the other members would ‘'find the illegal immigrant.' People were outraged and protested it. The fraternity had their token non-white member defend the fraternity behavior. The lyrics are simple yet effectively belted out, while the chord progression is strong.

Highs: This album is filled with fast, brutal hardcore.

Lows: None.

Bottom line: If you like fast, aggressive music with political intelligence, this CD is to not miss."

Band members: Shared vocals; Purge– Bass; Jamal/Mike—guitar; Matt – Drums

Reviewed by Roya Butler on March 24, 2009

The Percocettes

2008-08-31T22:30:00.007-04:00

One fine day in early 2006, a determined Cole Della-Zucca picked up a guitar, and told her friends she was going to start a band, eventhough at the time she couldn’t sing or play the guitar. A bit later, Toothless George was playing Cole’s guitar at a party in her apartment. She grabbed the guitar out of his hands and played a song she had written. He was instantly blown away by her raw talent, and fell in love with her sound. Over the next six months, George gave her personal guitar and vocal lessons. They rearranged her song together, and were both stunned by how well it turned out. George made a call to his former band mate, Matt Fester, to see if he wanted to drum for this project. Once they heard the songs with his drumming, they knew that this band was going to be way better than they ever expected. For a year and a half, they rehearsed in secret, perfecting their craft, before going into the studio to record with the most respected engineers they knew: Nick Rotundo (None More Black, Boy Sets Fire, The Huntingtons) and Donnie Switchblade (The Queers, Teen Idols, The Eyeliners). On Friday the 13th of July 2007, they made their live performance debut (their C.D. release show) on one of the most coveted stages in Philadelphia; The Trocadero’s main stage! The Percocettes are enjoying their first year as a group. They continue to travel and perform, making new fans, loving what they do, and doing what they love...isn’t that what roc’ n’roll is all about?

I got to sit down with the Philadelphia based band at their show with Rancid at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA, to discuss their highs, lows, and being females in the male dominated punk scene.

Who's in your current line-up?

Cole: I'm the vocalist, Vita Stolichnaya is our bassist, Toothless George is our guitarist , and our drummer is Matt Fester.

How’d you get started?

Cole: Me and our old guitarist, Kristan something, started out to see how we'd do as a band. Then we saw George randomly this one night and he said, "You guys really have something here, you just need to work on it." So he started coming over every day, for like three hours a day, just going through vocals and guitar –just making our songs awesome. And that’s how it built into something bigger and better than we had expected. It was an old guitarist. Vita came in only a couple of months ago.

George: I think May was Vita’s first show. It was the Tritones show, and it’s been awesome ever since.

Vita, could you tell us where you’re from and how you got involved?

Vita: Well I was born in Estonia, which is Northern Europe; obviously I speak Russian--everyone seems to emphasize that. I moved here about eight years ago. George contacted me on myspace saying, "Hey we need a guitarist." Then I came to one of the shows and was like, "Yeah, I want to be in the band!" So I started practicing with George and going over songs and learning them. Then we had a whole band practice, and after a while, they said, "Yeah, you’re in." Then we played a show and went to Florida. And it has been awesome ever since.

Is there a big punk scene in Estonia?

Vita: Actually, no. It’s a very small country.

So you got more into punk when you came to America?

Vita: Yes, definitely.

Cole: Is Estonia where the Flintstones are from?

Encino Man!

Vita: Yes, Estonia is from the stone age. No.

Have you encountered any adversity with you being a female singer /guitarist? Is there anybody saying that you can’t cut it when you’re a chick?

Cole: The main reaction we get after we play is, "woah, you guys are actually decent. I thought you guys were going to suck" – thinking that we’re chicks and that we can’t do this shit at all. But that’s good, because if they have low expectations of us, it's easy to exceed their expectations. Other than that, it’s been pretty cool, and I get a lot more help with my equipment than I’m sure these guys do. That’s about it.

Vita: I think chicks in a band is hot.

But punk music is so dominated by males.

Vita: I don’t think it’s just punk, but rock music in general. There aren’t a lot of female rock chicks.

Are you inspired by Joan Jett?

Cole: Totally. There are a couple that I look up to, like Joan Jett and Marissa Awesomeheart. But then you got Courtney Love, she’s awesome, but probably not the best role model.

What is it that inspires you?

Cole: I just look for challenge, challenge inspires me. I like the idea that Vita and I are females, starting a punk band in a male dominated world. I think it’s awesome.

Why do you think the rock industry is so dominated by males.

Cole: When you think of punk, you don’t think of butterflies and rainbows. You think of blood, guts and sweat. When you go to a show, you get roughed up. God, my hair never stays in place!

George: I think that a lot of girls are afraid, because they don’t think that they can do it. They think that oh people are going to think that I’m a girl. I don’t know. I think anybody can do it. Music is non-sexist. I was going to say non-sexual--but that's not entirelly accurate. I think that a lot of girls think that they have to be a certain way because of society standards--but that’s bullshit.

Matt: Punk rock’s all about breaking social norms.

Do you have anything to say to girls who are trying to break into the punk scene?
Cole: Fucking do it! I love seeing sexy girls in my audience. It’s such a turn on. Like just now I got approached by some punk chick saying, "You guys fucking rule!" And I was like, "You rule. You rule." So yea, let me tell you, join us. I think it’s awesome to see more punk rock women musicians playing on stage and really going for it.

Do you Skate?

Cole: I skate, but when I go to FDR, there’s just a bunch of dudes--no girls. And I first I think that they’re going to try and scam on me, like it’ll be easy conversation. But no, you see them eyeing you and judging you, thinking that you can’t do it. Thinking: "Hey, what’s a chick doing over here." So, it’s intimidating--I think a lot of girls think it’s intimidating to skate or do anything 'male dominated' around so many males, but I encourage it.

Philly local, eh?

Cole: I’m not originally from Philly, but I live in South Philly now. I’m from Stanton Island.

George: I live in South Philly now, but I’m originally from West Chester PA. I skate, too.

You sound like you have a Southern accent when you’re on stage.

George: My mom and her side of the family are from the south. I don’t know why, because my brother doesn’t have it. And with me, it only really comes out when I’m drunk. I mean it really comes out heavy when I’m drunk. So if you heard it when I was on stage, then yeah… I wasn’t drunk, but I had a few in me. But it gets works. But yeah, I’m from South Philly. The South, haha.

Matt: I’m from Lancaster PA. It’s about an hour and half outside of Philly, depending on traffic; today it was about three hours because of the rain. I lived in Philly for about five years, and I always come down to Philly, so this is where I consider my roots.

You're touring with Rancid?

George: No, we’re just playing this one show with them. They may say later on tonight, hey we want you to do the rest of the tour with us, who knows, but that hasn’t happened yet. So as of right now, as of this interview, we’re not on tour with Rancid.

What’s it like opening for Rancid?

George: For me it’s a huge honor. First time I saw them, I think in 93, they were opening up for Fugazi. I had no idea who they were, and I was just like, "Wow, these guys are amazing." Yeah, so I’ve been with them from the beginning. Hopefully there’s some kid in this audience that sees us as the opening band, didn’t know who the hell we are, came to see Rancid, and are like, "Wow, I love that band!" And hopefully ten years down the road, or fifteen I think since they’ve started, they’ll be some kid that’s like, "Yeah, I saw you when, and they’ll open for us, and the cycle will keep going. It’s a huge honor to share the stage with Rancid.

Cole: When I walked out there and seen three thousand people looking at me, it was amazing. Like I’ve been nervous this whole week and all the nerves just went away just because it was such a beautiful moment. I didn’t want to be nervous, I just wanted to take every single second in. It was awesome.

How long have you been playing? How does this show rank in the shows you've played thusfar?

Matt: I’ve actually been doing this for a long time-- I’m thirty-two and I’ve been doing this since I was like fourteen. This is the crowning moment in my punk rock career. This is the best show that I’ve played with this band. This was probably our best show overall and at the same time to be doing this with one of my favorite bands that got me into punk rock in the first place is a pretty good honor.

George: It’s definitely amazing. Everything is very new to us.

What are your recording plans?

Cole: We are in the studio right now recording an eight song cd. It’s taking a little longer than expected. But we just want to make it perfect. It’s our baby, and we just want to make sure it’s not an ugly baby with a big head. We’re just taking our time with it, because I’ve seen some ugly babies, and that's never good.

Interview by Roya Butler

Metalocalypse CD/DVD review

2008-07-14T05:36:00.007-04:00

Adult Swim has unleashed a CD of music by animated extreme metal band, Dethklok, entitled Dethalbum. The release features several full-length songs from the Metalocalypse series plus a few brand new ones. A deluxe CD edition of Dethalbum has also been released. The deluxe edition includes a second disc featuring seven more tracks, the animated video for the single “Bloodrocuted,” and the premiere episode from Season 2 of Metalocalypse.

Creator or Metalocalypse, Brendon Small (Home Movies) got together with famous metal drummer Gene Hoglan to record full-length tracks spawned from the minute or so clips that were on the show to create Dethalbum. For the album, Small played both lead and rhythm guitar, bass, and “growls” as the voice of Dethklok’s lead singer Nathan Explosion, while Hoglan provided the drum tracks for the album.

The album debuted at #21 on the Billboard 200 chart, and dominated the Loud Rock Radio charts, hitting #6 on CMJ, #11 on FMQB, and #1 on Mediaguide Metal Specialty. This makes Metalocalypse: Dethklok’s “The Dethalbum” the highest charting death metal album to date. With 33,740 copies sold in its first week, The Dethalbum was also streamed 45,000 times when it went live on AOL Music during the week of its release. It has so far sold over 100,000 copies.

Fans of Decide, Slayer, and Meshuggah (to name a few) would be remiss in failing to incorporate The Dethalbum into their metal album collection. The Dethalbum is ferociously powerful, with unabashed brutally unleashed in every song.

Dethklok’s fans are diehard, keeping in line with the Metalocalypse sense of humor; one fan hails: “if you took the Sun, and gave all of its power to a whale, which you then gave armor made from asteroids collected from the deepest reaches of black space and a staff which could alter the curvature of space time itself, and then took that whale, put it in a blender, dried the whale puree, and formed the powder into a pill which you then gave to a grizzly bear, the amount of power that bear now has is how much I love Dethklok.”

Brendon Small, creator of Metalocalypse, joked about the success of Dethklok’s Dethalbum: “It feels great to finally be recognized as the serious cartoon musician that I know that I am. I feel vindicated to have surpassed the sales of ‘Jem and the Holograms’ and ‘The Archies’. You have no idea how many cartoon groupies this will get me.”

The Metalocalypse two disc DVD box set has been released with the entirety of Season 1, and the deluxe special edition, adding in seven episodes from season two, including “Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle.”

In this episode, the band does a concert up in Batsfjord, Norway and does only one song, a jingle for the Duncan Hills Coffee company. They are there to make coffee “metal,” blacker than the blackest-black times infinity! Metalocalypse is known for random deaths in each episode. This episode makes no exception, burning off fan’s faces with the hot coffee raining upon them.

The series is addictive, filled with non-stop wit, while leaving the audience awestruck.

By Roya Butler

Dethklok exclusive interview with Brendon Small

2008-07-13T21:08:00.004-04:00

The co-creation of comedic geniuses Brendon Small (creator of Adult Swim’s Home Movies) and Tommy Blacha (writer of Late Nite with Conan O'Brien & Ali G), Metalocalypse is the most brutal metal cartoon to date. The show is about the metal band Dethklok, the most famous and influential band in the world. So influential, in fact, that Dethklok fans commit mass suicide when Dethklok album releases are delayed. Regardless of knowing that thousands of people die at Dethklok concerts, the fans still attend for the mere opportunity to be a part of history. Dethklok is held as the twelfth largest economy in the world (just above Belgium). Meanwhile, a secret government organization strategizes tirelessly to thwart Dethklok’s rise, but keeps their efforts low key, so as to avoid a massive revolt by Dethklok’s fans.

I had the opportunity to witness two live performances by Dethklok: at The Nokia Center in NYC, and the TLA in Philadelphia. Most, if not all, of the shows on the tour were sold out, and every piece of merchandise was sold (only one box of merchandise was left for the last show of 4000 people).The band, consisting of lead guitarist and vocalist Brendon Small, rhythm guitarist Mike Keneally, bassist Bryan Beller, and drummer Gene Hoglan, played in the dark affront a giant projection screen which played clips from the Metalocalypse cartoon (with lyrics so the fans could sing along). The band incorporated interaction with the cartoons on the screen, including intervals where the band would leave the stage and the audience was left to watch the cartoon for a few minutes until the band returned. The cartoon excerpts were witty leaving the fans laughing, and cheering the band on as they would return to the stage.

This Adult Swim cartoon band has a following that is unsurpassed in Death Metal. We were lucky to have the opportunity to sit down with Brendon Small, co-creator (and most of the character voices) and Gene Hoglan (legendary Metal Drummer). We asked Small what he thinks about Metal, how this idea was conceived, and how it feels to be the voice of the most popular cartoon Death Metal lead vocalist (Nathan Explosion) in the world.

You started playing guitar at 13 and graduated from Berklee College of music in '97, then started writing comedy, which eventually evolved into Home Movies…

Small: yea, I went to school in Boston, Berkee College of music. I got into comedy there, and started doing stand up, and that’s how I got into animation and all that stuff. I grew up in Salinas, California. Other great men from Salinas: John Steinbeck --Steinbeck Country. Other great men from Springfield, Illinois: President Lincoln – the Great Emancipator. Soooo, you can see why I got into cartoons… following in the footsteps of genius giants.

How did you use these experiences to conceptualize and co-create Metalocalypse with Tommy Blacha?

Small: Tommy Blancha was the only guy in the comedy world who would go out and see metal shows with me. So we’d go out and see all these scary guys like Cannibal Corpse and Nile, and a bunch of fun Death Metal shows. Before Dethklok (Metalocalypse), I had a TV show called Home Movies; it had kids in it, and it was very dry--very dialogue driven—a very mannerism-based comedy. Home Movies got cancelled, so I wanted to use everything that I learned to not get this show cancelled. I got to write all the music on the other show, and so I wanted to continue to write a lot of music on this show; the whole idea was to do a new song on every episode, and then at the end of a season, put out a CD and be able to tour. I got in touch with Gene Hoglan, an amazing drummer with a great sense of humor; we got in the studio and started banging out songs (I’m just going over all the broad strokes of what this whole thing was). Then the opportunity came up to do a tour/live show. I wanted the whole concert to be like a Disneyland ride, with a big movie theater size projection screen behind us--and just make the whole show interactive and fun—METAL—and have great musicians playing with me like Gene Hoglan, Brian Beller and Mike Keneally.

Who was Nathan modeled after?

Small: George Corpse Grinder from Cannibal Corpse meets Conan the Barbarian was kind of what we were going for, looks-wise; the way he’d move on stage was definitely all Cannibal Corpse stuff. But attitude-wise, I don’t think its George, because I hadn’t met him at the time. It was kind of our own idea about how he behaved and acted, and what his sensibilities were. The rest of the characters were drawn by a guy who didn’t really know a lot about metal, so everything else was coincidental. So there you go. There are half of your questions gone right there.

How do you feel Dethklok’s live show compares to the Gorillaz live show/Was the Dethklok live show inspired by the Gorillaz live show?

Small: It was a cool jumping off point. Gorillaz projects animation onto scrims and the musicians play the show behind the scrims. I watched the DVD and thought the concept was really cool, and the animation and musicians were great. But the one thing that I want to see when I go to a show is the guys playing the music--even if they’re back-lit – even if there’s some mystery there. In Metal, the music is so tough to play; you want to see how they’re doing it –the fast guitar solos, the banging of the drums (because they’re like Olympic athletes doing that stuff). I wanted to make sure that element was in the live show; I wanted us to connect enough with our audience in our show, and still have the animation be the star of it.

The song "Thunderhorse" was also featured on the hit video game Guitar Hero II? Tell us how that came about.

Small: I’d posted some blog on a site, right when I was in early development of this show. I think it was the last blog that I ever posted on my website. I said, “Hey, I’m gonna put out this show called Dethklok.” And I put up a very rough version of the theme song. Then a guy who was a fan of my old show, Home Movies, read that and said, “Hey we’re putting this game together, it’s called Guitar Hero. We just got done doing the first version, can I send you a copy? I heard the music for the Dethklok theme song, and I know you’re still in early development and are going to have more music on it; send it to me and we’ll try to get it on Guitar Hero II.” And that was it. So I sent them a few songs and they picked Thunder Horse. It has got a lot of notes and stuff--it’s kind of hard to play on the Guitar Hero game, but when we play it live on tour every night the kids go crazy, because they recognize it from that game--it’s pretty nuts.

And you play the guitar on it?

Small: Yes.

Oh, wow. That’s amazing because Skwisgaar Skwigelf plays that guitar and he’s like the fastest guitarist in the world.

Small: Haha, the only reason people know that is because I said that somewhere in an article. He’s not the fastest. There are faster guitarists, but he’s pretty fast.

On the show he’s the fastest.

Small: Yeah, yeah, and I play the guitar on the show, and on the record. It’s just Gene Hoglan and I, basically that did the whole record. For the TV show, what I’ll do is I’ll play the guitar and I’ll record it, and layer harmonies on it, and do rhythm guitars at the same time. And then I’ll do vocals from time to time. But live, I can only do my guitar part and the vocals. Then we have Mike Keneally in there to harmonize all the fast stuff and to double on the rhythm guitars. It’s fun--tonight you’ll see, we’ll be trading back and forth and doing all that stuff.

And the bassist isn’t really mixed out of every song?

Small: Yeah, we joke about it a lot. Brian Beller basically will act like a rhythm guitarist a lot of the time--he’s got this really powerful thunderous sound coming out of his bass, and he’s pretty much covering what the rhythm guitarist would be doing. Because there are two guitarists on the record, I sometimes will have the guitar and do a harmonizing layer over that. When we have three people doing the guitar parts, I’ll have to do the harmonizing solos and he’ll have to play the rhythm guitar parts on the bass, and just have this thunderous thing that fills up all this area. He’s sounds huge, and he’s a huge part of the show – though we love to make fun of Murderface on the show.

How did you get the name Metalocalypse and Dethklok?

Small: Well, I wanted to call the show Dethklok, but there was this legal thing that was all confusing and stupid and that I don’t want to get into. So they told us that we couldn’t call the show Dethklok. So that’s how we got Metalocalypse--I decided that I’m just going to come out with a name that is so stupid and hard to pronounce that people just call it Dethklok anyway. Tommy and I had written down a whole bunch of names on a paper, and I think that Tommy had written down Dethklok. I saw it and just thought, that’s cool, two syllables, you can chant it, it’s great. There are so many Metal bands out there with these big long sentence names, and it’s hard to chant.

Hoglan: Intestinal Strangulation…there’s a band in LA called Intestinal Strangulation. Chanting that name….

Small: In-tes-tin-al Stran-gu-la-tion. That’s nine syllables. Yeah, so that’s why. Two syllables--you can chant it better, it sounds better in a big stadium: Dethklok!

Metalocalypse…are you alluding to the future apocalypse?

Small: It’s going to be an apocalypse of Metal, yes. It all starts in the last show of the first season. Twenty episodes, and then we go on to the next season, brilliant.

Does it have to do with the Mayan calendar and 2012 being the apocalypse?

Small: There isn’t too much of that. I don’t know about that, so no. 2012--The Mayan Apocalypse? Maybe that’s how many seasons we’ll do--whether we want to or not.

There are a lot of ocean themes (Blood Ocean, Mermaider, Go into the Water), why is that?

Small: In the first season, there’s a whole under-water-themed record-- that was the thing that made Dethklok even bigger than they were in the first season. And it’s just the whole way the world’s working with the polar ice caps melting; it’s going to be a water world with Kevin Costner. So we just kept going back to this water theme. There’s just something about the whole idea of the earth being consumed by water, and humans devolving back into fish. That’s what “Go into the Water” is all about; it’s about becoming single-celled bacteria again. We’ve evolved, but now it’s time to regress and turn into animals again. So that was the whole idea. It’s kind of all not terribly serious, but it was just a theme that we kept thinking about, and going back to. I don’t think there’s any really great way to explain that. But it was just themes. There’s a lot of water. In movies there’s always some kind of… I’ll stop there, because I got nothing to say.

Your album, The Deathalbum, debuted at #21 in the Billboard 200, making it the highest charting death metal album ever. Did you foresee that?

Small: It’s better than the Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, by the Beatles. I’ll go on record saying that.

Metalocalypse premiered on Aug 6, 2006. You posed naked holding a medieval flail and metal shield for a humor-themed Playgirl pictorial in April 2006. Was that to promote Dethklok?

Small: It was a comedy issue, and I think that I look like a sweaty car-salesman. They asked me to do something and to appear nude, and I said, “Yeah, no, I don’t think you want that, but I will.” So I accepted the challenge. I said, “The only way I’m going to do it is if I can paint my dick to look like King Daimond.” And then I chickened out at the last minute. I’m not going to do that, my last show was about kids and stuff like that, now I’m showing my dick in Play Girl? I don’t know. It was a comedy issue, so it was in no way serious--I think you can tell that from the photos.

The guys in the show seem like they are so detached from the world that they can't do anything for themselves.

Small: That whole thing comes from celebrities. When we are putting the show together, the whole thing is about celebrities first, and Metal second. In the last ten years of television, it’s all been reality shows, and we’ve had people like Paris Hilton who don’t know how a phone works, or how a doorknob works, or what day it is--they’re not the brightest people around. So we thought what if we took the biggest celebrities in the world and made them a Death Metal band? We got to put in all the stuff that we loved about Death Metal, and all the stuff to make fun of celebrities. So that was the whole idea. They’re celebrities, so that means that they don’t know how to make their own dinner. There are just a lot of things that they’re not capable of doing for themselves--they’re celebrities, and they’re being babied all the time. But they can negotiate a contract like nobody’s business, and they know how to order off the menu in a fancy restaurant (and stuff like that – like a celebrity would).

Why does Dethklok hate their fans?

Small: It’s just funnier for them to hate their fans. It wouldn’t be that funny if they were all about their fans. The point is that they don’t care about anyone—nor do they care who dies.

How does it feel to be the lead singer of the most popular cartoon death metal band in the world?

Small: I’m not the lead singer.

You are the voice of Nathan Explosion.

Small: Here’s the thing. We do all these shows, and we’ve been really lucky and spoiled rotten, because all these shows have been selling out at every single venue. And the feeling is really weird because you get off stage and the people are chanting “Dethklok! Dethklok!” The way that this show is done is that it’s not about us or what we look like. It’s about what we sound like, and we’re supposed to sound like Dethklok. You’ll see tonight that we’re back-lit. We’re these anonymous shadows. You can see that we’re holding the instruments and we’re playing them and you can watch Gene drumming like crazy. But when we get off stage, they’re cheering for this guy Nathan Explosion and his band, and that’s not me. That’s the fun part about animation is that you can be anonymous to a degree. We do kinda show the audience who we are at some point through the night and say, “Hey we were here the whole show, how you doing?” But I think that everyone’s looking above us, so it’s not about us, it’s about what’s up there. We’re a pit band to a musical that’s happening above us; I think that you gotta keep that kind of mystery going on. Sure I do the voice, and I write the music, but it’s not my band. It’s Dethklok, it’s THEIR band. That’s how I feel.

Interview with Brendon Small by Roya Butler

Legendary death metal drummer Gene Hoglan

2008-07-02T21:33:00.014-04:00

Branded the most brutal metal drummer of our time, Eugene "Gene" Victor Hoglan II, has been consistently acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including usage of odd devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. His highly technical precision of playing increasingly fast and challenging tempos, with extreme accuracy, earned him the nickname "The Atomic Clock". He is best known for his works with the bands Death, Strapping Young Lad and Testament.

Completely self-taught, Hoglan got his first drum kit when he was 13. He began his music career in the early 80s, playing drums during concert sound checks for legendary metal band, Slayer, and working as their lights engineer on tour. He also formed the well known Thrash band, War God, with Michelle Meldrum.

At the end of the same year he was asked to drum for the thrash metal band Dark Angel, and wrote most of the lyrics for their next three albums. He achieved even greater notoriety during the 1990s playing with Death, recording an album with the thrash metal band Testament, and making the acquaintance of Canadian multi-instrumentalist Devin Townsend, forging a lasting friendship. He has since recorded several albums with Townsend, both as part of the speed/industrial/death metal band Strapping Young Lad and Townsend's solo albums.

Hoglan recently played on The Dethalbum, for Adult Swim’s animated TV show Metalocalypse. The Deathalbum, debuted at #21 in the Billboard 200, making it the highest charting death metal album in history. He just finished touring with Dethklok, selling out shows in every city.

Sincerely humble and incredibly kind, Hoglan sat down with Hannah and I, and told us about the Dethklok tour, various percussion instruments he created, and the recent loss of his dear friend and band mate Michelle Meldrum.

Interview with Gene Hoglan by Roya Butler

You have been highly acclaimed for your creativity in drum arrangements. Can you tell us about some of the odd devices for percussion effects that you’ve used?

Hoglan: Let me see. I’ve always said that I’ll play anything on stage; if it’s big and metal and clang-y and horrible sounding, I’ll play the hell out of it. I started playing a lot of ash trays when we were over in Europe--I’d find these really cool ash trays to play; I’d just stick a cymbal stand through them (to mount them). Then I found this huge brass three-pronged boat propeller, and every time I’d hit it, it would spin and I’d get three different tones out of it. I’ve played on an M14 shell, and now I’ve got a Howitzer shell that I just picked up. Mounting is always the hardest part about playing weird procession devices on stage--it’s a canon shell, it’s made for killing people, not mounting on a drum set.

Tell me about your nickname “The Atomic Clock”?

Hoglan: The atomic clock is the most precise clock on the planet. They just kind of dubbed me that, because I keep pretty good time, I suppose.

How was it working with the bands Death, Strapping Young Lad and Testament?

Hoglan: Death was killer metal that helped create a genre--as was Strapping Young Lad, which was my favorite band I’ve ever been in. I did the Demonic album with Testament--God, we were listening to that on the drive up the other day--it’s been a while since I’ve heard that record. It was pretty stormy album, and it was the least Testament sounding album. I always like it when a band evolves and just comes out with something so ball-crushingly-heavy; when they come out wielding a fully heavy slab of metal after being around for a long time, I think that’s really cool. The new one out, The Formation of Damnation, is incredible; it’s the best album those guys have ever put out.

How do your previous experiences, like the sense of humor in Strapping Young Lad, compare to playing with Dethklok?

Hoglan: Well, I’ve been extremely fortunate to be involved in three very humorous bands: Strapping Young Lad, Zimmer’s Hole, and Dethklok. Zimmer’s Hole has been around since ’92--it was the first band to ever start poking fun at metal. I’d been trying to get into Zimmer’s Hole for the past ten years, but they wouldn’t let me in the band, because I did not share their same love of ACDC. So my audition was like, “Hey, Byron! I love ACDC now!” With that, he said, “Cool, you’re in.” I like being involved in humorous bands, and if anyone doesn’t like it, then get a sense of humor you dick! It’s one thing to get your crowd to make the “grr face”--that ugly metal face. But when you’ve got them smiling, laughing, and then cracking up, while you’re assaulting them with vicious metal, that’s really cool. Dethklok is great, Brendon is a stand-up comedian by trade; he’s just a really fun, humorous dude, and it’s a good time to be on tour with him and all the other guys. If you can play a live show and have a great time, all while playing totally vicious metal, what else can you ask for?

You’ve worked not only with many famous metal bands, touring extensively, but also as a session drummer. Do you prefer studio work or live performance?

Hoglan: Fortunately, I get enough of both so that I don’t burn out on either. In 2007, I recorded 10-12 records. I remember recording five albums, back to back, in the early part of that year. Then I felt the itch to go on tour. I ended up getting a call from Unearth, who had lost their drummer on the middle of their tour. The timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. At the time, I hated being in the studio--the studio was just the bullshit you had to go through before you got to go on tour. But now I don’t mind it. If I’m lucky, I get the songs a week in advance, so that when I get into the studio I can track the songs as I go; I like rehearsing material, but I rarely get to. For example, on the Dethklok album, they said: “here’s the song, learn it and play it”. So the drumming on Dethklok album is unrehearsed—we laid the tracks down right away—the first time I’m ever playing those songs. But, that’s a pretty common occurrence in the industry. It’s always nice when you get to rehearse, because then you get to sit with the song and work out the parts a little bit instead of coming up with an entire album’s worth of insane drumming on the fly. So, rehearsing with a band is a lot more fun than getting in there and bashing it out, but you can get 10-15 albums done in a year if you don’t rehearse too much.

So you just finished up touring with Dethklok, tell us about that.

Hoglan: It was about thirty cities--all sell-outs. It was pretty cool to have a sell-out tour. People love their cartoon Death metal! All jokes aside, it was a great time; we all got along well, and being on stage with Brendon Small (creator, vocalist and guitarist of Dethklok) was pretty cool. Definitely doing sound checks with these guys was cool, because there are some serious players in this band: Brian Beller on bass, Mike Keneally and Brendon Small on guitar, and me on the drums.

How do u compare to Pickles, the cartoon drummer of Dethklok?

Hoglan: That guy’s a fucking cartoon character, man! That guy can’t play drums! This goes back to what I was saying about not being able to rehearse and stuff like that. It actually kind of troubled me in the studio that I wasn’t familiar with Pickles’ style when I was going in there. I would have given him more of his own style, instead of just pulling out a whole bunch of Gene Hoglan licks. The album sounds more like its Gene Hoglan playing on it, than it does Pickles. But now that I’ve got Pickles down a little better, on the next album I can emulate his style a lot better.

What is Pickle’s style like?

Hoglan: Spastic and drunk. He’s just too damn drunk, man. He’s gotta learn how to play drums.

Although having drummed since age 13, you got your foot in the door as lights engineer for Slayer. Tell us about that.

Hoglan: I used to go see Slayer all the time as a kid. Growing up I used to go see all those LA cock-rock thrash bands in all the clubs--when they were club bands; I saw Metallica’s first few shows and I used to go see Dark Angel, as well. Slayer was a band I used to go see all the time; I really loved that band, and used to think: “No one will ever get this band, because they’re just way too heavy.” They’d be playing for thirty or fifty people at places like Woodstock or Radio City, places like that in and around LA. I became friends with them, and then one night Tom asked me to do the lights. So I went on the road with them; I was about sixteen at the time--the worst roadie ever--I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. Around that time I met Michelle Meldrum, and we put together the thrash metal band War God.

Tell us about the album you’re now recording with the band Meldrum.

Hoglan: My guitarist from the band, Michelle Meldrum, passed away on May 21st. Her passing was devastating to us all, and we’re still pretty shattered by it. We’re playing strong, though, to keep her spirit alive, and going in a heavier direction. We’re not returning to the thrash roots or anything, but we definitely have Thrash and lots more Metal going on in the writing of the latest album. It’s coming out pretty good, it’s really heavy. We’ve got a new line up for it. We’ve got Michele Madden from Australian band Tourettes; she’s about the most amazing, wielding vocalist on the planet--she’s also an awesome lyricist. On bass we have Laura Christine from San Diego; she’s actually doing guitar and bass tracks on the album.

Can u tell us about Michelle Meldrum’s passing? The metal community has lost a groundbreaking female musician.

Hoglan: She had a cyst on her brain that we weren’t aware of. The last month of her life she was having a lot of headaches, which we were attributing to a possible sinus condition. She just basically went to sleep one afternoon and never woke up; she took a nap and never came out of it. Her loss is something that we think about every day. There’s not minute that goes by where we don’t think of her, and that’s why we’re here doing this right now. We’re trying to keep her spirit alive, and she’s there right next to us. It isn’t easy, I’ll tell you that.

Tell us about the tribute concert for Michelle Meldrum.

Hoglan: We’re still trying to settle on a good date. It was such a shock, so un-timely, that trying to get something together so soon is tough. I think we all need more time to come to peace with her passing. I’m hoping to have the concert on May 21^st of next year, so everyone could get involved that would want to get involved. The concert will be a tribute to Michelle to celebrate her life and her music. She was a progenitor in music; Phantom Blue was the first all chick Shredder band with Shredding leads. Back then the only known chick bands sounded like The Bangles, The Go-Gos, and Vixen--Horse shit top 40 pop, nothing that meant anything. Michelle came along with Phantom Blue and really turned some heads, showing that chicks can shred on the guitar and belt strong vocals.

What can the metal community do as a whole to keep her spirit alive?

Hoglan: Buy the new Meldrum album (keep a look out for the Feburary 2009 record release date), and definitely just crank her music.

American Speedway

2008-07-01T05:20:00.005-04:00

American Speedway is a high-energy, heavy rock and roll band out of Philadelphia, conceived in February 2007. The band has since earned their mark as live, powerhouse rock and roll band that reminds listeners why they fell in love with music in the first place. The energy brought by the band during their live show cannot be compared to the sounds on their album, they must be seen live in concert. The band “brings it” loud, heavy and fast, something that seems to be missing in today’s modern rock music.

American Speedway has enjoyed much success already in less than a year together. For one, the band has quickly established a growing, loyal fan base by traveling feverishly and performing in various cities on the east coast (Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Winston-Salem, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cleveland, etc.) and constantly winning over not only new fans, but also club owners.

In Late-Summer 2007, the band caught the eye of Prophase Music; an independent record label based on the outskirts of Philadelphia, and offered them a pressing and distribution arrangement to release the band’s debut album “Ship of Fools”. Prophase is exclusively distributed by MVD Entertainment Group (MVD), and will be releasing their debut record “Ship of Fools” on Vinyl (limited edition). In October 2007, American Speedway was picked up by the music marketing powerhouse, The Syndicate, who will be pushing the band’s debut release to radio and press, while using its street teams for added band awareness.

The main philosophy of the band is real simple and that’s to play what THEY like and that’s “real” rock and roll. American Speedway is not here to reinvent the wheel. They are not here to earn scene points, win musician competitions, nor be the next biggest thing. The band is here to write and record songs THEY like, and have a great time playing live on stage. Loud, fast, and watch out for the beer spray.

I got the chance to talk to Michael Thursby Speedway, lead vocalist of American Speedway.

Tell us about The Welfareline.

Speedway: Well, The Welfareline is a recording studio that I started about 10 years ago. It’s located in a 19th century church in a quaint little suburb of Philadelphia. I basically started it to fill the void of professional recording facilities that were also affordable to younger bands.

Tell us about the metamorphosis from studio engineer to lead singer of American Speedway.

Speedway: I was always in bands from early High School on through my mid 20s. In every band there was usually one guy who had to take the duty of recording the demos and such, so in reality being in a band morphed me into being a studio owner. When my other band broke up in about 2001 the studio was busy as hell and I pretty much thought I wasn't gonna join another band again, and I was fine with that...but then this situation arose to play with these guys so I decided to come out or early retirement. 

Tell us how u conceived the name of your band --American Speedway--(any underlying meanings, or special meanings to you.) 

Speedway: I was the last person to join the band so i actually had nothing to do with the band name, which was probably a good thing. I do dig the name though, it’s simple, sounds bad ass and fast, which is pretty much what we're all about.

Who’s in the band?

Speedway: Johnny Griswold- Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals, Billy Angry- Bass, Backing Vocals, Chris Callahan- Drums, and me (Michael Thursby Speedway) - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar.

How did u find your band mates? 

Speedway: I knew John and Bill since i was about 15, they used to come into the bar that i cooked in. Later when I was about 18, I was in a band (the Griswolds) with both of them. After that band ended John moved out to southern California for a couple years. That’s when Billy started hanging out and playing with Callihan. After a bit, Bill and John would communicate via email and phone and trade song ideas. Eventually John moved back, him and Bill and Callihan started writing and playing. When Bill told me that John was back and what they have been working on I asked if I could join in the fun, and basically that’s how it went. 

Tell us about your new album, Ship of Fools. 

Speedway: It was recorded in about 2 weeks at The Welfareline. It's loud; it's fast and its rock and roll. All killer no filler, grind em' till ya find 'em, ya know--anything that you can think of that is completely bad ass, which pretty much describes the album. 

Tell us about your tour. 

Speedway: We've been doing a ridiculous amount of shows in support of the album--from New Jersey to California--just pretty much playing at any place that will have us and blowing the doors off of every one. 

Tell us about your #1 song on Sirrus (One Foot In, One Foot Out)
 
Speedway: I think we could all agree that we never imagined we would have any song on the radio alone a number one song on a radio station. I really have to thank all the PR people and guys over at pro phase. They work their asses off so we basically have to just show up and do our thing. But anyway, yeah its shocking/cool thing that none of us expected. 

Who are your musical influences? 

Speedway: It’s kinda different for all of us, and not wanting to speak for the other guys, I’ll just run the general ones down. I think we all can agree with Motorhead, Speeddealer, Peterpan Speedrock and such. There’s also a hefty dose of The Stooges and Murder City Devils. 

Do u feel u have an edge over other local bands, seeing as you have been on the production side of the music industry (with Welfareline)?

Speedway: I wouldn’t call it an edge, but being that we all have been through this thing before there’s not really any surprises thrown at us. It does come in handy to have use of the studio at anytime to demo things and it makes it really easy when people’s schedules are tight and we need to get some recording done. 

Your music seems pure rock and roll, with a little metal and punk edge. Tell us about that. 

Speedway: That’s basically most of our backgrounds, we were all in punk bands, and we all like rock and roll, and shit, Iron Maiden rules.