Barebones Hardcore

Here Lies Barebones Hardcore

2006-06-13T10:20:00.000-04:00

It's time to put Barebones Hardcore to bed. Thank you so much to everyone who has checked out the site over the last 15 months. I really enjoyed posting the updates and corresponding with all of you.

Best Wishes,
Ronny Little

Record Review: Iron Age "Constant Struggle" LP

2006-05-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

Despite the fact that Iron Age hail from Texas, they have a rough and tumble late 80's NYHC feel to them. In fact, Iron Age sounds as if it could have fit right into the Profile Records stable of bands, smack dab between the likes of Best Wishes era Cro-Mags and Leeway. The influence of both bands is immediately apparent upon hearing the first note of Constant Struggle. Luckily for Iron Age, they're on Youngblood Records, and not Profile Records (a label famous for mistreating its bands).

Musically, Constant Stuggle is a moody mix of muscular mosh and up-tempo riffs executed flawlessly, occasionally accented with dueling guitars. Lyrically, there's heavy dose of gloom, as many of the songs seem to dwell upon the struggle of life and the uncertainty of what's beyond it. The Linas Garsys cover art matches the dark mood of this record perfectly.

Top notch production and packaging round out yet another solid release by Youngblood Records.

-- Youngblood Records

Interview: End to End

2006-04-25T16:47:00.000-04:00

I came across this band completely by chance around Christmas time in 1992, well after the band broken up. Even though I had never ordered the record from Foundation Records, it arrived in my mail box anyway. I pulled the 7-inch out of it's mailer, scratched my head, and basically wondered "what the fuck?"

There was a note folded up inside the celophane record sleeve. As I opened the note, the first thing I noticed was it was written on a photocopy of some dude sitting on a Xerox machine in his underwear, with a lone hairy testical hanging out of his Calvin Klein nut huggers pressed upon the glass. Written across this pleasant image was something along the lines of "Merry Christmas, douchebag. -- Don Steadfast"

Don Steadfast (Don Binaco) was a penpal of mine. We both did zines at the time, so we came to know each other after a while of crossing paths at shows in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. His completely unexpected Christmas gift to me that year still stands as absolutely one of the coolest things anyone in the scene had ever done for me. I mean, maybe you get ultra cool records as gifts from a very good friend, but that's normally not the kind of thing you expect from a penpal/acquaintance. What an awesome dude.

Anyway, since that day I have been a huge END TO END fan. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the band had a site on MySpace (link at the end of the interview). Answering questions are Jon Roa (vocals), Shawn Connell (guitar), and Erik Egan (bass).

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Before forming END TO END, Roa was the original singer for Chain of Strength. Why did Roa leave Chain of Strength? Drama with other band members? Different goals? Also, at what point did he leave the band (obviously, before they recorded, but did he play any shows with them?)?

ROA: No drama at all. I never played one show. I practiced with COS maybe three or four times. I started the band when I brought the idea to my friend since fifth grade, Ryan Hoffman. I wanted to form a hard-hitting band named after a song I wrote entitled, “Chain of Strength.” Ryan ran with the idea by getting Bratton on board and writing about four complete songs. The songs were more like Dag Nasty and Marginal Man, which was not for what I aiming. I wanted to play harder and faster. At the time Ryan and Bratton did not. After a practice, they asked me how I thought it was going and we all knew it was not going well. It was a severely amicable spilt. I was the biggest COS fan and still consider Ryan and Bratton to be my friends. Any time Ryan needs me for anything, he can call and I will do whatever he wants.

Egg: More importantly, Jon was the original singer for Justice League. “Live and loud- Hardcore! Fast and proud- Hardcore! It’s what we play. It’s what we say- Hardcore!” P.V.H.C. The scene was fun as hell at that time.

Porcell invited END TO END to tour the east coast. Was he courting the band to be on Schism Records?

ROA: I do not know. I was just happy that things were moving right along at such a quick pace. Porcell gave us a good opportunity.

Shawn: The band dissolved over the opportunity, as the majority of members were not in a place that seemed to permit it (school, work, etc.). We were very exited about the opportunity, but it was not the right time for such. Porcell and others were interested in END TO END (as I have been told), which was flattering to say the least. Schism would have been a great label to contribute to.

Egg: That tour offer was the beginning of the end.

Was the tour offer during the time period when Ryan Hoffman did a brief stint in Judge?

ROA: That I cannot recall. Even though he eventually came back to California, I was initially bummed that Ryan took off to be in Judge as I felt that with the newer Pomona bands sprouting up that the area was going to be formidable once again. I like healthy competition and thought that New York was throwing down the gauntlet for anyone who wanted to challenge them. I wanted to. Still, we had Statue, Chain, End to End, Pissed Happy Children….not a band show line-up, eh?

Shawn: I have no idea, and was not privy to information about Ryan and Judge. I cannot confirm any of this.

Three originals made it to the 7-inch. Before breaking up, the band had planned to record 12 songs. Were they all written, or was the band working on the songs?

Shawn:Prior to our recording at “Spot Recording” in Orange County the band was fully involved with playing shows, song writing and planning for the full length LP. In total END TO END had more than enough songs to complete an album. In fact, from the ashes of “Addiction” (pre-END TO END) about one whole LP worth of music was assessed and ultimately scrapped.

In short, we were ready for the recording minus a label and financial resources. A few of the sounds written during the last days of END TO END made their way onto the first LP by PROCESS called “World of Fire”, which was released by Dennis Remsing and Conversion Records. There were only minor changes to these songs. PROCESS consisted of Bryan, Erik and Shawn from END TO END.

ROA: I think we had 15 songs or so. I think that PROCESS used some, but the album was going to be good -- real good. We were a tight band. We practiced a lot and it showed.

Egg: If my memory serves me; we had a bunch of songs. We probably would have written a few more for an LP. Some of the songs that were in the works went on to become PROCESS songs.

What label was the LP supposed to be on? Did the LP have a tentative title?

Shawn: The label had not been determined, no title had been established. Chances are, the record could have been released by several labels, any would have done a fantastic job. The EP as you know was released by Ryan Hoffman on his “Foundation Records” label with coordination from ROA.

ROA: I was shooting for Foundation, myself. I am a real loyal person and Ryan was doing Foundation and so that was the thing. I was going to suggest to the band that the title be “Square One.”

The band came to an end prematurely after Roa became concerned with the work ethic of the band and issued an ultimatum. To the best of your memory, can you give us a fly on the wall account of the conversation. Who vs. Who. Things that were said. Anything thrown?

Shawn: The band did not come to an end because of work ethic. From my point of view, the “truth” of the matter is that ROA was disappointed because the other band members, myself included, were not availible for the East Coast Tour because of prior-commitments. The difference in priority created a strain on the band that ultimately destroyed it. In reality, we were working well together and had a great deal of momentum and great friendship. The Tour would have been fun, and in hindsight, perhaps we were approaching life a bit too conservatively. To be clear, there was never any outrageous animosity, or wild drama that resulted from this. It was all sort of surreal, as one day we had a working and progressive band and the next day it was all over. ROA went on to do other things and the band PROCESS resulted from the remainder of END TO END.

ROA: The bands work ethic was never in question. We all worked hard. Shawn was a workhorse. He lifted air conditioners by day, practice and did school by night. He went from a skinny kid to a v shaped thing that could hold his own in any fight. Erik wanted this all so bad he tried to learn guitar before we got Shawn thinking it would be easier to find a bassist. Bryan missed going to Bad Brains to buy a cymbal. We were committed. The only thing that presented a problem was the tour was so fly by the seat of our pants; we had to commit to doing it and then go on it-NOW. We had to but tickets, settle things with work and school, pay rent, etc. and get on the plane in something like 18 days. We had no money, no record out, it was daunting but I did not care, I wanted to throw caution out the closed window. The others did not. I reacted and the band responded in kind. I will say that Erik Egan and I shouted at each other about the whole thing but I can see his point and I think he can see mine. Years later, drummer Bryan Bos admitted to me that he should have voted to do the tour. Also, I think Shawn got mad at me for being quite promiscuous (I was 19 ferchrisakes).

Egg: Jon quit due to the fact that Shawn, Bryan, and myself were not willing to put our school on hold. That Judge tour happened in the middle of the school year while Bryan was still in high school and Shawn and I were in the middle of semesters in college. We would have been all over it had it happened during any of our school breaks. When we turned the tour down, Jon quit. Shortly after, he wanted back in. By the time he called, we had already decided that his quitting was not the attitude that we wanted to deal with. Process was born from this incident.

Are any of you guys in the photos taken for Chain of Strength's staged photo shoot for the True til' Death EP?

ROA: That (the photo shoot) gets a lot of flack but I will tell you what: Chain played an honest to goodness set for those photos and the kids went off because they could not help it. That show was not even in COS’ hometown! It was in OC! The audience did not have to react but they did. If you hear of any shit about Chain it is usually from people who got on the late freight of hardcore.

Shawn: No, we were not directly involved in the Chain of Strength recording or photos in anyway, other than to provide morale support. Many of them have been close friends since grade school. I have known Paul “Frosty” Hertz since 5th grade and I know ROA has known Ryan Hoffman for just as long.

EVERYBODY is doing reunions. Have the guys in your band discussed that option? Are you all still friends?

Shawn: Fortunately, the band members are all still alive and kicking. We have discussed it collectively and the general response was “not enough interest”. I was hoping for an opportunity to get back into the studio and see where it would lead us. At this time the collective members are involved in other bands and projects such as: “GOLDEN BOY”, “PROCESS” (preparing for studio time, reform under consideration) and other interesting opportunities and pre-bands are forming (say tuned!). I know ROA is getting ready to dish something good out.

ROA: I consider the END TO END guys my friends but I think reunions are regressive. I am forming something new and therefore have not any time for a reunion. I would play with those guys again in a heartbeat; heck, I would even record the record, but as far as playing out? Under a different name, sure, but bands have a life span and End to End has ran its course.

Egg: I think we might be doing something in the studio, but as far as live, I don’t know. I have continued my friendship with Shawn and Bryan over the years. I spoke to Jon the other day for the first time in probably 10-15 years. I don’t have any ill will towards him. Process is working on an anthology release, some live stuff, and quite possibly some new tunes.

How was END TO END formed originally?

Shawn: END TO END was formed following the demise of a band called “Addiction”. The band included original members: ROA, Tom, Erik and Bryan. Tom was replaced on guitar by Shawn, as Shawn was just completing final record projects with Pissed Happy Children (PHC).

Were END TO END Straight Edge?

ROA: I did not and still do not do drink, smoke or eat meat. The whole band were vegetarians as far as I can recall. I do not know if that makes us a straight edge band. I thought Pushead’s term de-vice was pretty cool. How come no one uses that term?

Shawn: Not officially or formally - I think, but we prescribed to great-living, positive intention and freedom from self-inflicted burdens.

Do you guys still listen to hardcore?

ROA: Yep, Some favorites are: Botch, Lightning Bolt, The Suicide File, Arsons, Walking Concert. I want to hear Triple Threat as I bet they are good. I like Death By Stereo and Throwdown. I cannot wait to hear Report All Suspicious Activity. If it is loud, fast and has meaning, I dig it.

Shawn:Indeed, both the so-called oldies and new stuff.

Egg:Absolutely! Terror, Converge, Comeback Kid, Bane, Throwdown, Walls of Jericho, and Most Precious Blood are some of my current faves. The classics are still pretty hard to beat though.

Tell me about a defining challenge during the band’s existence?

Shawn: The challenge at that time, which I do hope is not the case any longer, was that there really seemed to be defined boundaries between local scenes. From my point of view it was easy to determine which bands would be likely to play shows and which would not. Sometimes this apparently had to do more with where the band was from, notwithstanding talent or other variables. The scene was also still getting its “legs” about bands with Metal influences and other changes were evident, which caused a bit of turbulence. All in all, it was a great time to contribute and be involved. We are all astonished and proud to know that there is still some interest in the works we completed. Thank you.

Egg: Definitely the whole punk-influenced metal and vice versa thing was looked down upon at the time. I’m a fan of hardcore AND metal. Now, everyone (and their brother) is considered “Metalcore”… don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of those bands, it’s just funny how much times have changed.

If someone wanted to get in touch with END TO END, what is the best way to do this?

If you would like to contact END TO END directly you can send an email to end2end@juno.com

If the mail is addressed personally, it will be redirected to any particular band member.

END TO END can also be reached at its official tribute page at:
http://www.myspace.com/endtoendpage

END TO END products, including the 4 song CD with bonus live footage can be obtained from:
http://www.indecisionrecords.com

Tell me you've never done this before...

2006-04-21T00:05:00.000-04:00

Record Review

2006-04-20T00:31:00.000-04:00

Nightmare City -- Demo(n).06

This is not exactly my cup of tea. In fact if it was, I would probably dump its scalding hot contents onto my lap in an attempt to punish myself and then sue the band.

Four tracks of crunchy tuned-down heavy metal(lic hardcore) that brings a heavy dose of gratuitous mosh parts, double bass, and lyrics you need a Dungeon Master's Guide to decipher.

In all fairness, this is well recorded and executed. I could see a lot of kids getting excited about this, however, the author of Bodybag is not.

Nightmare City

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Please send records (CD format only) and zines for review to:

Barebones Hardcore
c/o Ronny Little
PO Box 1247
North Wales, PA 19454

Little Things: 7 Seconds

2006-04-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

According to Wikipedia: "The band's name is a reference to the seven-second tape delay in U.S. radio broadcasting."

Record Recollections: Underdog EP

2006-04-18T08:30:00.000-04:00

The third show I ever went to in my life was in the winter of 1988. It was February, there was snow on the ground, and this was going to be my first show at a club in Bethlehem called Wally's Place.

Back then, the Lehigh Valley (as Bethlehem, Allentown, and all of the little hamlets surrounding it are commonly referred to) was a mix of punks, skins, nazi skins, skaters, straight edge kids, and metal heads. Such diversity made for an awesome scene. The Lehigh Valley scene was like a live action tapestry of the cover art for Walk Together, Rock Together (the OG version, ofcourse). Wally's place was one of three popular clubs in the area, the other two being Oliver J's and Airport Music Hall, both in Allentown.

My first show at Wally's was at the club's orginal location in The Goodman Building, located on 3rd Street. The following year, the club moved down the street one block, and then eventually closed a few months later. Last time I drove by it, it was a parking lot.

Anyway, the bill that night was Underdog, Pagan Babies, Warzone and Mugface. The show was on the 3rd floor of the Goodman building. It was an old building, and when they built the place I doubt they had slam dancing in mind. As the crowd danced for each band throughout the night, it felt like Wally's Place was going to fall through the floor.

Memories of the night:

-- Richie Birkenhead handing me three Underdog EP's on blue and telling me "there you go, kid. The last three Underdog 7-inches in print. Enjoy." At that time, Underdog was one of my favorite bands, and I was so relieved to finally get a 7-inch.

-- While I was flailing around on the dancefloor during the Pagan Babies set, I accidentally punched one of the dudes from Warzone in the face. The second I whacked him, I stopped dancing to see who I hit and to decide whether to go running out of the place screaming like a little girl or not (hey, I was 17 years old, there by myself, and the crowd was a fine shade of "sketch"). I glanced around the pit to see who was holding their face, and sure enough it was one of the dudes from Warzone (a guitar player, I think). He held his eye, pointed at me, and said something that I couldn't hear, but I was pretty convinced it was a bounty on my head or a death warrant. I held up my hands and very emphatically mouthed the words "I'm so sorry! Please don't kill me!" He laughed from across the pit and waved me off. Whew! I saw him outside after Pagan Babies set. His eye was swelling shut, so I gave him the frosty carton on OJ I had just bought at the Wawa to put in his eye. He was really nice about it.

-- I kept one Underdog 7-inch for myself, and gave the other two records to my girlfriend Charlene and a girlfriend of hers. Charlene and her friend didn't want the Underdog records because they dug the band's gnarly brand of skate rock. Noooo, they wanted the records because, like every hardcore girl at the time that I seemed to bump into, they wanted a piece of Richie Birkenhead, even if it was only on a slab of vinyl. Man, I was so stupid for giving her those records.

-- A year later, I gave my beloved Underdog on blue to a friend for his birthday because he really wanted a copy of it, but could never find it anywhere. I felt like I was being a good friend by offering it up to him. I'll never forget when he opened it at the lunch table at Central Bucks West High School. His jaw hit the table. Our friend Steve was equally impressed, and asked Jay if he could take a look at the lyric sheet, since his copy of the record was missing the lyric sheet. Jay took it out of the record and handed it Steve, who in turn placed the lyric sheet into his book bag, said "thanks," and bolted. Steve was the largest and toughest of the guys I hung out with in high school, so he laughed when Jay asked for it back. Jay never saw it again, and the incident basically ended their friendship. Man, record collectors are assholes.

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If you'd like to share the story behind a record in your collection, please email it to me at bareboneshc@hotmail.com

22 Years Ago Today

2006-03-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Samhain's first show -- March 31, 1984. Rock Hotel.

And yes, that's Lyle Preslar on guitar.

Danzig, in three fun sizes!

2006-03-29T10:18:00.000-05:00

I'm not really into toys, but these are so cool. Some quips from the Livewire Board:

"I hear they're life size!" [/rimshot]

"All pre-nose job" [/snark]

Image hotlinked from True Til Jeff.

Straight Edge: Trailer Park Style

2006-03-28T09:29:00.000-05:00

The Mart: A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy

2006-03-27T09:36:00.000-05:00

I don't know if other states have them, but in the great state of Pennsylvania we have indoor flea markets referred to as "Marts." They're awesome. To walk into a mart is like walking into Mos Eisley. By that, I don't mean to imply that Marts are a "wretched hive of scum and villainy," (although I always do manage to see quite a few sketchy people milling about) but more just the fact that at a Mart, the typical crowd looks a bit more alien than other places where people gather in society.

Everything at a Mart is usually pre-owned, close to expiration, a crappy knock-off, or new -- but for some reason -- dirt cheap. Add the mart mutants into the mix, and it completes the Sci-Fi black market vibe: bearded ladies, Romulans, dudes with their arms melted to their sides, more midgets than you can shake a stick at. I always go to the Mart fully expecting to see something amazing. I go for the produce (so fucking cheap) and stay for the people.

This past weekend, I lingered a bit longer than usual, checking out most of the um, "stores." A lot of them had collections of used CDs that you could pick up for $2.00 a pop. I always love coming across hardcore releases nestled between Silverchair and Whitney Houston CDs. No, it's not quite finding "Cough Cool" in a bin somewhere for a quarter, but I always get excited at the prospect of the hardcore deal. Some finds this week:

Sheer Terror "Bulldog Edition" CD -- Blackout!
Negative FX/Last Rites "Discography" CD -- Taang!
Absolution "Discography" CD -- Temperance
Earth Crisis "Slither" CD -- Vicotry
Sensfield -- advanced release CD

In a stunning display of adult crash, I walked away with:

Frank Sinatra "Super Hits" CD
Lyle Lovette and his Large Band CD
Benny Goodman "Big Bands" CD
Sheer Terror "Bulldog Edition" CD
Presidents of the United States CD

I thought all were solid pick-ups. Dinner music for the most part, with a smidge of filthy hate, sprinked with some Top 40 cheese.

The Presidents of the United States CD was a bit of a surprise. I picked it up because I noticed there was a cover of MC5's "Kick Out the Jams," and I was shocked to find that the entire record was pretty good. Think Primus, without the band going out of it's way to be overly bizarre.

Another thing I really dig about the band is their aversion to strings. The bass player has only the top 2 strings on his bass. The guitar player only has the top 3 strings on his axe. They don't use the other strings, so what's the point? How cool is that? I know, I know. All the guitar players out there are saying "dude, you can't keep your guitar in tune without the other strings." Yeah, fine. I'll concede that point. But if hardcore bands would just ditch the extra strings, I truly believe there would be a hell of a lot less post-hardcore bands out there.

While at the mart, I was also reminded of the Super Power I possess. I'm not sure how it would translate in terms of crime fighting or saving humanity, but I have an uncanny ability to spot an ex-skinhead at about 100 paces. It's really odd. I can just look at some dude, size him up immediately, and get a bald-headed vibe. From there, I start to look for other indicators to confirm the gut feeling. First the shoes. Then the presence of tattoos. Then what kind of tatoos (almost always something racist or skinhead. The Lehigh Valley is PACKED with tons of former skins, and I see these a lot). Without noticing any of these first, I always seem to pick up on the vibe. What can I say. It's either a talent or a mutant super power. Either way, fit me for some spandex.

Anyway, that was my weekend of excitement and adventure. It would've been cooler if I got to cut some dude's arm off with my lightsaber, but I'll just go listen to Sheer Terror instead.

Tell me you've never done this before.

2006-03-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

Dwid & the Big Box

2006-03-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

I don't want to get in the habit of re-posting things that appeared in other people's zines, but I came across a story about Dwid while I was reading through my Radio Riot collection that was so funny I literally shit myself. Okay, okay...I was reading it on the toilet, so I suppose the result was inevitable, but still -- if you're an Intergrity fan and you never heard this story, I'm certain you'll enjoy it.

The following excerpt appeared in Radio Riot issue number 36, the last issue it published as of June 1994. If you've never read Radio Riot before, you're missing out. It's like sneaking into Matt Gard's (the editor) bedroom, and reading his Hardcore journal. Radio Riot, along with other zines like Combat Stance and Bullshit Monthly ( BS Monthly collection soon to be available through Hardware Media) were the inspirations behind what I did with Fuck You Fanzine. I always liked to think of Fuck You Fanzine as one part RXR, one part Combat Stance, and one part BS Monthly. But I digress. Enjoy the story.

(This story was originally submitted to Radio Riot by BRV Zine in Ohio. The name of the author and the meaning of the initials were never explained)

"This all occured about two years ago. At the time, Dwid was living with me, (sleeping on my bedroom floor). He was also dating this girl who lived in Euchid, Ohio. I think her name was Shannon. Anyway, her birthday was coming up and her friends were planning a party to celebrate it. Of course, they invited Dwid, and he in turn invited me. We were basically clueless, except it was on such and such a day and at such and such a time. Dwid figured since this was a birthday party, he had better bring a gift, but what? He'd only gone out with this girl a couple of times and didn't know this girl all that well.

We decided to go to Parmatown Mall in search of a present. In no time at all, we found ourselves in the middle of a Children's Palace toy store, trying out the crappy skateboards and causing trouble. Dwid became so involved with toys that he and I almost forgot about buying a gift. The party was the following night and we needed to find something really quick. The store was closing, so we made a mad dash for an aisle that had a bunch of close-out sales. Dwid's brilliant idea was to buy whatever came in the biggest box.

This turned out to be a Captain Power battle fortress, on sale for $25.00, no refunds or exchanges.

The thing was immense. I probably could have fit inside the box, it was that big. Keep in mind that he was going to give this to a 16 year-old girl. There was no use debating with him at this point, his mind was made up. We took the goddamn thing home and spent over a half hour wrapping it in newspaper. Time passed by and before you knew it, Dwid and I were knocking on Shannon's door with the monsterous package looming behind us.

One of her friends opened the door and told us to come in. The party was already under way, and consisted of about 30 friends and relatives. In we go with the battle fortress, and everyone takes notice. We're greeted with shouts of "wow! Look at that" and "hey Shannon, someone bought you a present." We realized immediately that no one else had bothered to bring a gift.

The night ended with Shannon opening her huge present. People had been speculating on the contents all night and were anticipating this moment as if it were the unveiling of a beautiful work of art. They didn't leave disappointed, I can tell you that much. You should have seen the look on her face. Complete confusion. Meanwhile, Dwid's laughing like hell and I'm turning so red as to be unbelieved. Chaos ensued.

On the way home, I told Dwid he probably should have bought her flowers, to which he replied, "I don't care, that was punk." He was right, but I don't think they ever went out again."

Hardcore Hair Club for Men

2006-03-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

(From left to right) Your's Truly with Nate Clemmens of Atari, circa 1994 (when I had hair). Brett Barto of Atari was holding the camera. The picture was taken at Kutztown University in Nate's dorm room. We both used to live in Beck Hall. "Beck: Where the Freaks Are" was the dorm motto, I believe. Lots of punks, skaters, hippies, artsy kids. For a dorm, it was a pretty sweet place to live.

I was a member of the staff at Beck Hall my Sophomore year. At the end of the year, my boss gave out awards to each staff member. Mine read:

"Staff Member Most-likely to Let a Keg Go By the Desk -- Ronny Little."

As a staff member, I banged a girl I was dating in the study lounge once. I was working the over night at the front desk. She was in the lobby working on a design project in the middle of the night, as a lot of graphic design majors often did. When it came time for me to do an hourly round, I snagged the key to the study lounge, asked her to take a walk with me, and you can fill in the rest.

The next morning a friend of mine on staff, Chris, walked up to me at breakfast and said casually "soooo...who did you fuck in the study lounge last night?" Despite the fact that I was choking on my Fruit Loops when he asked, I played it cool.

I denied the charge up and down, left and right. The entire time, Chris was just sitting across the table from me with this smug little "gotcha" look on his face, folding his arms, stroking his chin, nodding in a patronizing way that was annoying me. Totally toying with me as I began to squirm. I think my best defense went something like "whatever Copper. You got no proof."

His response was to put a long, curly brunette pubic hair that looked very much like it could have been mine, onto my cereal. After another 90 seconds of intense interrogation, I cracked.

I wasn't aware that Chris had spent a lot of time in the study lounge. After I got busted, I went and took a look at the sign-out sheet, and it was pages and pages of his signature. Apparently, he had been in the lounge until midnight that night, and then was back down there the following morning at 7:00 a.m.

I had apparently left some, uh, forensics in the study lounge in the form of a condom in the waste basket (I know, what was I thinking) and a pubic hair on his favorite study table. Sensing something was amiss, Chris checked the sign-out log and saw no entries for the times between Midnight and 7:00 a.m. When he went to see which staff member was working the desk and would've had access to the key, all roads led to me. Busted.

Anyway, this picture reminded me of my Freshman and Sophomore year at Kutztown, when I had hair. As I hit my mid-20's, I noticed that my hair began migrating south, taking up permanent residency on my back and ass. What a bummer.

Anyone who wants to join the Hardcore Hairclub for Men, leave a comment. I'll get to work on the t-shirts and merch.

Hardcore Archeology -- Jon Stewart

2006-03-21T10:37:00.000-05:00

I came from kind of a dysfunctional family when I was growing up. Songs like DRI's Mad Man, Reagan Youth's What Will The Neighbors Think, and Angry Samoan's My Old Man's a Fatso were my anthems. Because of that, I spent as little time at home as possible. In the years since, I have come to love my family; but as a 16 year-old, I had a passionate loathing for all at 29 Birchwood Circle.

I know, I know. It's a total punk rock cliche, but when I was growing up, I was so disconnected from my family that Hardcore was my surrogate clan. In those years, the place where I hung my hardcore hat was at a club in a run-down portion of Trenton on Calhoun Street called City Gardens. I truly considered the place home, and spent as much time as possible there, soaking in all of the bands that made their way through the place.

Many years later, as I began to bump into other dudes who also haunted City Gardens, people started asking me "did you ever hear that Jon Stewart used to bartend at City Gardens?" It was news to me. I remembered dude bartenders at City Gardens, but I couldn't place a face to any of them so many years after the fact (although, I do remember the faces of many of the overzealous bouncers).

For the past few years, it's kind of been this mystery that old City Gardens kids have wondered about, straining their memories, trying to recall if someone looking like Jon Stewart ever handed them a Solo cup filled with tap water for a dollar while making George W. Bush faces.

Since to my knowledge, Jon Stewart has never been in a hardcore band, I don't suppose this is truly Hardcore Archeology, but the following clip is proof positive that, yes City Garden's heads, Jon Stewart did work the bar at City Gardens while you were being tossed out the side doors of the club for stage diving to Agnostic Front.

(If the video hangs while loading, click on the image again and it will take you to You Tube, where it will automatically begin playing)

Reading Between the Lines: by Brian Murphy

2006-02-09T13:49:00.000-05:00

First up is Rain On The Parade's Fired Up! EP. Matt Smith gave me the lowdown on the matrix (well, at least as much as was prudent) and then he went above and beyond describing the concept and history of the actual EP. His revelation behind the EP makes me want to broaden the scope of my column. So that is what I'm going to do. Stay tuned for more details. Or more likely, just keep reading the column as it'll continue [ hopefully we all agree on that ] to contain quality product.

Side A: BANNED IN PA

Not my proudest moment by far, but at one point I dated the wrong girl at the wrong time... who was still dating the wrong dude. Definitely not cool, but I'd rather let sleeping dogs lie on that one.

Side B: BETTER RECORDS THAN U

This coincides with the picture of my record collection that is on the label. At one point my record collection reigned supreme. Though in recent years I have sold off bits and pieces of it to support myself while pursuing new goals in New York City (see I Survived the Hardcore scene and all I got were these lousy t shirts). Obviously the "better records than you" is a mediocre attempt at spoofing the GB song "Better than you - CREW!" [ Editor's Note: when I asked Ronny about the b-side, he said "Not sure about side B...certainly not talking about my record collection, that's fer sure." ]

Now, here's the part where Matt goes the extra mile. Thanks Matt!!

The REAL story with this record is not the matrix, but rather the record itself. I had left ROTP around this time, and was not playing with anyone. Ronny was feeling a bit frustrated with ROTP (as everyone in the band was at that time) and he called me up out of the blue and asked me if I wanted to start a different band with me on guitar. We wanted to do something a bit more raw than ROTP. Our friend Kevin came up with the name Fired Up! which we immediately adopted. Ronny and I decided it would be fun to do the band in secrecy and just sort of bust out on the scene at a random shows complete with demos and shirts. Catch everyone off guard. We began rehearsing with Brian Fayhe from Purpose, on drums.

Now keep in mind that ROTP was still playing out and they had no idea Ronny was having an affair with another hardcore band. For some reason Ronny and I thought that we could practice at the same location that ROTP practiced, without them finding out; as long as it was on a different day. You can imagine my surprise when I went out to the front room at Ed's Practice Studio and Saw Justin Phillips from ROTP buying a set of strings. (Ed's was in Warminster PA, and they had a shitty guitar store in the front that basically sold strings picks, and a few terrible used guitars).

Anyway I ran back to our rehearsal room and told Ronny and Brian to keep quiet, as Justin was in the next room over. I guess old Ed behind the counter got confused that Ronny was in two bands, and told Justin that he was scheduled in room 1 that night. Justin, bewildered walks back and opens our door to see what the fuck was going on.

Justin - "Uh, what are you guys doing here, what's going on?"

Ronny (looking sheepishly at the floor remains silent)

Me - "Oh, just hanging out, what's going on with you?" trying to play it off like we weren't up to ANYTHING unusual.

Justin - "Ronny, you're doing another band? How long has this been going on?"

Ronny - "A little while... It doesn't mean anything, I swear! It was just playing hardcore!"

Me - "Ronny and I made a demo together"

Justin - "What?! I can't believe this is happening! What happened to playing hardcore with us?"

Ronny - "Dude things haven't been good with ROTP for a while...You KNOW that!"

So this is a bit exaggerated, but I swear, the conversation and reaction on all parts is pretty accurate. Justin felt betrayed, as did the rest of the ROTP guys. The band immediately played their 1st "last show" With Underdog at the Melody Bar shortly after that.

Well word got out quickly that Fired Up was a new band that Ronny fronted so we decided to get things moving. We recruited our friend Steve Sherk to play bass, and Tru Pray booked us as the "special surprise guest" at a Floorpunch Vision show in DC.

A week or so before the show Brian informed us that Purpose was doing a little tour of the south and that he'd be unable to play DC. Turns out Purpose was playing North Carolina that same day. I suggested they cancel North Carolina and split a set with Fired Up in DC as it would be a much bigger show. Purpose refused, and Ronny and I began to get the sense that the Purpose dudes weren't to into the polygamous ideal logy of sharing their drummer. We were forced to back out of the show. Ironically Purpose's show in NC was cancelled and they showed up at the Vision show asking to jump on. They were denied. After that, Brian became hard to get in touch with. About a month later, he quit Fired Up. With no drummer, Ronny and I set out to replace him. Our friend from Jamie Holms from Double Decker records recommended Tom Patterson. Around this time, Justin and Ronny patched things up. Justin wanted to do ROTP again, but he wanted to switch back from drums to guitar. Long story short, We decided to reform ROTP with me back on bass, Justin and DII on guitars, and Tom as our new Drummer. The Fired Up material was adopted, and we came back in Winter 98 playing with Kill Your Idols, Ensign and I believe Atari in Allentown. The demo Ronny and I recorded with Brain remained the Fired Up Demo but under the band name Rain On The Parade. Sean from Youngblood eventually pressed it to vinyl. The record release for that record was ROTP's final show in 2000 with Mouthpiece. Coincidently, the Shark Attack 7" was also 1st sold at that same show.

So there you have it. The VERY complete story of Fired up.

Next up is an interesting bit from Ron Mann of Conviction. Not only did Ron give me the lowdown on the matrix for the Smorgasboard EP, but he too went above and beyond. Just check the images below. Mucho thanks to Jeff Terranova for help with pics.

Side A: You Talk The Talk

Side B: Do You Walk The Walk?

To which, Ron replied:

I don't think there was ever anyone specifically the line was aimed at...I think it was a general straight edge question...calling people out type thing. I think that was mostly Jim and Travis behind it. Did Jeff [ Terranova ] find the Meat Is Murder on the cover?

Now, the first part is pretty self-explanatory. It was the last question Ron asked that perked my interest. Ron and I went back and forth over MANY, MANY emails. We discussed how I couldn't find the hidden text, how my teachers in 3rd grade thought I was colorblind, how Ron always drew brown leprechauns, ... Finally, after many "above this letter, next to this" emails, I located the tell tale hidden text. And for your ease of mind, I have included the pic below.

There you have it. "Meat is Dead."

That's all for this week.

I Survived the Hardcore Scene and All I Got Were These Lousy T-Shirts

2006-02-02T15:26:00.000-05:00

(Photos of Major Conflict and Urban Waste provided by Mad At The World Records. Records for both bands may be purchased at the Mad At The World website)

In my heyday, it was no secret that I was rather obsessed with record collecting. At one point I lived with both Fat Rich (Shark Attack) and Robby Redcheeks. Three sick record collections living under one roof. In some respects, living with two other adamant collectors was a great thing. We had a fire escape route for our vinyl (I’m not kidding). This included throwing Rich’s futon out of the front window and dropping boxes of precious wax in hope that they’d hit the soft cushion and didn’t suffer any serious damage (ok, not the best plan, but its better than no plan.) We had the occasional record swapping, the occasional lead to something on our want list and of course, hours of playing great tunes and talking shop. There was, however, a downside. As collectors, we were all in direct competition with each other. We had been known to get into vicious fights over finds.

I had a friend, Pat, who worked at CI records in Philadelphia. As Pat was always shopping for the store and coming across great finds, I gave him my want list and asked him to give me a heads up if he came across any of them. I’ll never forget when he called me up to inform me that he had a great source of records in an undiscovered record store in South Jersey. He started naming off Necros “IQ 32,” Teen Idles EP, etc. I had just gotten paid so I was ready to fucking explode. He gave me the directions and I was all set.

Now the dilemma; do I tell Rich and Robby, or do I go there alone and get what I want first? I decided that I would give them a choice. They could either come with me WITH the stipulation that I had first dibs on EVERYTHING. This included going through their finds and deciding if there was anything I wanted before they were allowed to buy them. OR, I would just go alone, and not reveal the source until after I returned (pretty ingenious if I do say so myself). So this wasn’t exactly the best set of choices for them, but since I was the only one with a car, they agreed that I had DIBS. That day I got Necros, Teen Idles, Negative Approach LP (Green Sleeve) The Effigies 7” The Process of Elimination comp (With NA, Meatmen etc) Toxic Reasons 7” and the coveted URBAN WASTE 7”. I don’t think I spent more than 25 bucks on any of the records, though most of them were under 10 bucks a pop.

Switching subjects COMPLETELY (since I don’t need to go into how the UW 7” was one of the top 5 early 80’s HC record and a huge influence on my music), I met Johnny Waste online in early 2001 and he agreed to do an interview with me. He seemed genuinely amazed that so many people still knew about UW. This is what planted the seeds for their reunion show (though I completely missed it since I was living in LA during that time). -- Smyth

Interview: Urban Waste

Well, to begin with, before I answer any of your questions, I would like to make this little statement. When Urban Waste broke up, it was one of the saddest times of my life, to present day. I still wonder what it would be like if we had stuck it out through our tough times. I guess a lot of us will never know, and probably will never find out either. Anyway, to all the fans I never got to thank in person, I would like to take the time now to thank all of you for supporting us, and to all the people who still have an interest in our music, you are what keep Hardcore alive. Keep the Dream Alive. -- Johnny Waste/Kelly

To get things started, Name, age, current occupation, and instrument played in Urban Waste?

John Kelly, AKA: Johnny Waste, I’m now 34, subside in The Catskills of New York, I attend New Paltz University, and played, and still play lead guitar.

How did UW get its start? Were you in any bands prior to this?

Urban waste was my 1st band, I was only 13 when myself and Drummer John Dancy decided to begin a band. I remember the day very well, I don’t remember a lot of things, but the birth of Urban Waste will always stay with me.

Who were some of the regular bands you played with back then? Ever play any bigger shows?

Most of the bands we played with were: The Mob, The Beastie Boys, Armed Citizens, Agnostic Front, Token Entry, Cause for Alarm, The Headlickers, The Cro-Mags, and of course Murphy’s Law. There were many others that my brain won’t let me remember at the present time, but let me tell you, there were a lot. I would have to say the biggest show UW played was at CBGBs. We played with The Mob, and Minor Threat. Minor Threat was late getting to the show, and the place was packed. This show was also to be the last Urban Waste appearances as a band.

What was the deal with Major Conflict? Who was in that band?

Major Conflict was a band that John Dancy and I joined after Urban Waste broke up. The music compared to Urban Waste wasn’t as hard, and I didn’t write any of the songs for Major Conflict. All Urban Waste songs, except for BNC, were written by myself, and John Dancy.

About how many shows did Major Conflict play? Was it as serious as UW?

MC played quite a few shows, but I didn’t stay with them for various reasons. MC was not my band; therefore I didn’t have as many decisions to make. UW was my life for 5 yrs.

Didn’t you try out for an early version of the Cro-Mags? What’s the story there?

Yes I did play guitar with the Cro-Mags, I was there 1st axe man when they started writing songs. I’m not sure why it didn’t work out, maybe because I was playing with MC. But it was fun while it lasted.

Were any other members of UW involved in any other hardcore bands?

Andy was in Reagan Youth before he was with UW, we were happy when he joined the band. He had the personality, and the style we wanted as a bass player. Our original bass player Freddie Watts was in other bands before us, but I have no idea who, or what type of music it was that he was doing.

Do you have any idea how many UW 7"s were made? They don’t surface very often, and when they do, they’re usually well over $150. How do you feel about that? Ever think about re-releasing the material?

2000 UW 7” were pressed, and then we went to the 12”. As far as I know, they don’t surface at all, except for Ebay Auctions. I think it’s great that people are interested in what we did way back when. I’m shocked, and even thrilled that someone would pay so much for our record, thinking about all the free ones we gave away, it makes me laugh. It also makes me want to kick myself, think of all the cash I could be making on them today. We didn’t make anything off the records ourselves. I talk to a few of today’s hardcore kids who are really into what we did. I don’t see any way of re-releasing the record. The master was given to someone who I heard was dead now.

What was that weird "space ship" looking image that is made out of random letters and symbols at the bottom of the lyric sheet? Any significance, or did it just look "really cool"?

I was wondering when someone was gonna ask that question. We did all that, just to take up space. We couldn’t think of anything, so we got creative with the keyboard.

Explain the song "Skank". It says hardcore is for posers, what’s that about?

I’ll do my best on this one, cause we never really discussed what the lyrics meant. But there is a difference between Hardcore Kids, and Living the Hardcore Lifestyle. A lot of kids put their combat boots on for the weekend, “The Posers.” Other Kids lived in their boots, day after day, “Hardcore to the Bone.”

Was there ever a real problem with "police brutality" with you guys, or was that just something "punk" to sing about?

The Song may have been a little over exaggerated for some, but for some people, it was as true as it gets.

Did you ever see any royalties for the track on Profile Records "Sunday Matinee comp"?

Not a Dime

Why did Big City repress the 7" onto a 12" and not just another 7"? Did you guys specifically request the "Miami Vice" style lettering instead of the standard stencil font from the 7"?

At the time, I didn’t know Big City had our masters. If I had known about it, it never would have happened. One of the reasons for our breakup. Nuff Said.

I know Big City also pressed the Mob Lp. was there some connection with Big City and Mob Style records, or did they just happen to pick up both "Mob Style" bands for releases?

You would have to ask One of the members of The Mob on that one.

How did you feel about the Boston scene back then? Was there really as big of a rivalry between Boston and NYC as the Boston bands made it out to be?

I really don’t know what was up with that. I liked a lot of the Boston bands that were coming out. Especially Gang Green were one of my Favorites.

You mentioned to me before that UW covered a VOID song? Was it strange for bands to cover other somewhat-current bands back in those days? Did you do any other cover songs?

UW liked to experiment with other bands music, we did Void covers, and Ramones covers. And when we played them, we played them like they were our own songs. We put as much energy into their songs as we did ours, which may be why they went over so well. I think we also did Alice Cooper’s “Eighteen”.

Isn’t it true that there were a whole bunch of UW songs that were never recorded? Was there ever a 2nd record in the works? Did any labels offer to put that out (mob style)? Or did it never get that far?

We had enough songs to put out 2 more records, but it never got that far. Sadly enough, there is no recordings left to even put one out now. I do have some songs off a video that a friend sent me, (you know who you are Matt) that does have 3 songs that are not on the record. If I decide to re-release anything, it would certainly have those cuts, “as bad as they sound” on the record/CD.

Where did you record the UW 7" and how did you get that raw guitar sound? What equipment were you playing through?

Powerplay studios in Queens, “probably shut down these days”. The raw guitar, well I think our soundman smoked a little too much weed that day, and probably just turned all the levels up on the guitar track. I was really upset that there wasn’t more of a bass sound to it.

Any "sketchy" CBGB’s stories? Did you ever know anyone who actually took a dump in that bathroom?

Well I never really stayed down in that dungeon of what very few might call a bathroom. But I have enjoyed the openness that CBGBs basement bathroom had, and still has. There are no doors on either the men’s or ladies rooms. It’s a nice place to pee, but I wouldn’t want to rest my ass there.

What led to the demise of UW? Was it a sudden thing, or did it just fizzle out?

The Inevitable breakup of UW was just that. We rocked the NYHC scene from late 1980 to mid 1985. We had started becoming frustrated with each other, and playing the same places was starting to wear on us. We could have stuck it out, I believe in my heart if we had more incentive. We never made much money for our shows, and neither did we invest our own money into the band. I’ll say at the time, not a single member of the band was straight; we all played, and partied hardcore. I’m not proud to say that our partying may have been an influence towards the breakup as well.

The NYC scene seemed to have an abrupt end in the early 80’s with Antidote, The Abused, CFA, Reagan Youth, etc. all breaking up around the same time, and bands like AF going more metal. Did you guys continue going to hardcore shows through out the rest of the 80’s, or did you all just lose interest in the scene once things slowed down?

It was a tough time keeping bands together. Today NYHC is a legacy. But if I look back to when it was all happening, we needed more support. I remember how hard we would go around advertising shows, and putting up flyers in areas we knew no one would even be interested in coming to see us. But all NYHC kids were hard working, in trying to spread the word. It’s the year 2001, and hardcore is not in any way dead. There are still bands playing it, and there are still kids who want to hear it. There are also people still living a hardcore lifestyle. The Hardcore scene has become more low profile than when it was born about 20 years ago.

Ok, I asked Negative Approach this same question, so I’ll ask you as well. Any chance of us seeing an Urban Waste reunion? (This is of course before the reunion that they played with the 16 year old singer. Unfortunately I was living in LA during that time and missed them).

Wouldn’t that be a trip, an Urban Waste Reunion. Well since I found out that we are still being listened to by today’s Hardcore fans, I’ve made a few attempts to try and contact the original members of the band. I’m sorry to say that I have had no replies. I would love to hit the stage with Urban Waste. I also know we would be able to do today, what we did when we started. Get on that stage, plug in, and rip-out nonstop thrash hardcore, that would have people leaving with sweat pouring off of them like they just got out of a pool. The future of an Urban Waste reunion is uncertain. But the memories, the fun, and the lifestyle will never be forgotten.

Hardcore Archeology: Edge of Etiquette

2006-01-25T11:47:00.001-05:00

I'm almost certain that none of you have ever heard of the band Edge of Etiquitte. And why should you have, anyway?

They've never played a show.

They never even put a record out.

The only shred of analog evidence that can be found of this band is during a scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when the band's only song (I Hate You) is heard blasting out of a boombox being held by a punker on a bus, who gives Captain Kirk a one-fingered salute.

I was flipping through the channels the other day when I came across this scene. I always loved it. When ever I think about the scene (yes, it actually flashes across my mind from time to time, I have no idea why), I always remember the lyrics "and I eschew you, and I say screw you!" I love that line. It's always cracked me up.

The song also appeared at some point in Back to the Beach with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funacello. I looked into it, and sadly, "I Hate You" doesn't appear on the soundtracks for either movie. What a rip-off.

Anyway, I thought this would make for a good hardcore archeology piece. Below, I've included an interview I found online with Thatcher Kirk, the Associate Producer of Star Trek IV, who also played the part of the punker in movie and wrote the lyrics to the song as well (also provided below).

I Hate You

Just where is our future, the things we've done and said!
Let's just push the button, we'd be better off dead!
'Cause I hate you!
And I berate you!
And I can't wait to get to you!

The sins of all our fathers, being dumped on us — the sons.
The only choice we're given is how many megatons?
And I eschew you!
And I say, screw you!
And I hope you're blue, too.

We're all bloody worthless, just greedy human scum.
The numbers all add up to a negative sum.

And I hate you!
And I hate you!
And I hate you...too!

Lyrics by: Thatcher Kirk
Music by: Mike Mangini
Performed by: Edge of Etiquette

Interview: Thatcher Kirk
Interview by Kenneth Plume

How did your cameo in "Star Trek IV" come about?

Well, we were writing the movie...and I was there from the very beginning –even in the script stages...and they wrote this little bit for this punk rocker. The original idea was that the punk flipped off Spock, then Spock gave him the Vulcan neck grip. I actually came up with the idea of...when he passed out...his face turning off the radio. I actually added a couple little comedy bits. He was supposed to give me the Vulcan "Live Long and Prosper" sign after I flicked him off, but we cut that out. Then I added the scene where Scotty talks to the computer – when the guy tells him to use the mouse, and he holds it up and tries to use it like a microphone. I've always been a Macintosh fan, so I said, "It has to be a Macintosh." Leonard said, "That's funny, let's use it." It was this little bit in the movie, and I walked into Leonard's office and said, "I want to play the punk on the bus." Leonard's got a great sense of humor...he's very funny...so he looks at me with this big smile and says, "Reaaally." I said, "Yeah, I think I'd do a great job. I'll shave my head, get a mohawk, whatever." He said, "Let me think about it." I said okay, and I was going crazy, because... in 2 weeks...he didn't say anything – and I promised him I wouldn't bother him. I said, "Look, I'm not going to bother you, I'm only going to ask you this one time," so I really had to live with it and not bother him. I never brought it up, never hinted at it, nothing. So...about 2 weeks later...I walk to his office like I did every day, and he said, "Oh, by the way, you can do it." I said, "What. You mean...?" "Yep, you can play the punk." I was like, "Ohhh thank you, thank you." So I went out, shaved the sides of my head, dyed my hair orange and got a mohawk – because they don't really make a mohawk hairpiece that looks real. So I actually had a bright road cone orange mohawk for about 6 months.

I'm sure they really respected you on the set after that...

Oh it was great – it was a blast. The first time DeForest Kelley saw me with this outrageous hairstyle, he looked me up and down very slowly and said, "Nice shoes". He then broke into a huge grin and ambled away. He had a very dry sense of humor.

You were featured rather prominently on the French poster for the film... (the poster I found was actually German -- Ronny)

That's what somebody told me.

So the French love you...

They would – I have sort of a French attitude in the movie.

That shows you the cultural impact you've had worldwide.

Exactly. Leonard said I got the biggest laugh in the entire movie in Russia – because Russia was fraught with punk rockers before The Wall had fallen. So they got a big laugh out of that.

You're an icon now.

Yeah, I could win the Nobel Peace Prize and my grave would still say "Punk On Bus – Star Trek IV".

The funny thing was – I got to write and sing that song that was playing on the radio. "I Hate You" [written by Kirk Thatcher and performed by The Edge of Etiquette.] We shot the scene with no sound – there was no music playing. I was just miming to a beat. After we wrapped the movie, the music department was coming to us, and they were playing...like...Duran Duran, or whoever Paramount had some deal with. I said, "That isn't punk rock music. Punk rock is really raw and gritty and dirty." They said, "Well, we don't really deal with the Sex Pistols and stuff." I said to Leonard, "You know, let me write you a song. I can do a song." I was becoming good friends with the sound editor...Mark Mangini...and a couple of the guys in his sound department. I told Leonard, "We can do a song for you that will sound like a punk rock song. Just let us do it, and you won't have to pay for the rights or anything. And, it will be better than Duran Duran." So I went in with Mark and he wrote the music for it. I had a melody in mind...but I don't write music...so he turned it into something that could be played on the guitar. We then recorded it in the hallway of the post-production sound facility which Mark had, so it would sound bad and very distorted – as if recorded in a garage. We actually used the mics that the sound guys use to do key codes like, "Spock walking down the street, Take 1" – it's just a cheap mic so it would sound really bad. We did this one weekend. Leonard came in on a Saturday and listened to it...cracked up...and said, "Great. That's it. We'll use it." And that's how "I Hate You" came to be.

It was used in another film, wasn't it?

Yeah, it was used in "Back To The Beach", with Frankie and Annette. They called me up and said, "Can we use it?" and I said, "Yeah." I actually got paid more for them using it in that than I did for Star Trek.

American Idol

2006-01-18T10:06:00.000-05:00

You know, with hardcore music gaining popularity in the mainstream these days, I'm surprised that kids from our scene haven't been popping up in the audition footage shown on American Idol.

I'm sure I'm too old (and too bald) to become a Top 40 divo like Clay Aiken, but it would be a lot of fun to just get up there and fuck with the Fox Holy Trinity anyway. The song selection for my audition would include:

"Braineaters" by the Misfits
"Stupid Jerk" by the Angry Samoans
"Crippled Children Suck" by the Meatmen

Each of these selections could be delivered effectively without a musical accompaniment, and they're short enough that I could get through the entire song without getting cut off.

But what I'd really like to see is some dude like Harley Flanagan show up on that audition stage, give his trademark "I'm crazy, evil, and loving it" face to Paula Abdul, and then watch him grab his crotch as he launches into the verbal equivalent of the bass line for "World Peace" before familiarizing the American public with some of the greatest lyrics ever written "All you hippies better start to face reality..."

Then, when Simon Cowel counters with his patented snark, Harley could lunge across the table and stab Mr. Cowel in the eye with the aids-infected needle that had been previously saved for John Joseph.

Now THAT would be a ratings bonanza! This needs to happen.

(For more evil faces by Harley, be sure to check out the video clip for "We Gotta Know" a few posts down)

Rollins Washington Post Chat

2006-01-13T11:46:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post site had a really good reader chat forum with Rollins recently. It's pretty intresting, so I thought I'd post it for everyone to check out. --Ronny

Rollins has come a long way since growing up in D.C. He first made a name for himself as lead singer of '80s punk band Black Flag. Then, with his own Rollins Band and as an actor with appearances in movies ("Johnny Mnemonic", "Dogtown and Z-Boys")and TV. In the past decade, though, Rollins really hit his stride performing one-man spoken word shows -- addressing topics ranging from politics to the environment to sexuality to his own neuroses. He's also host of "Full Metal Challenge" on the Learning Channel and the upcoming (April 1) "Henry Rollins Show" on the Independent Film Channel. Since the beginning of the war in Iraq, Rollins has also toured with the USO to perform for troops in the Gulf.
____________________

Washington, D.C.: You clearly know the difference between supporting a war, and supporting the people who have no choice but to fight in that war. What's your take on why so many Americans don't understand that you can support the troops without supporting the actual war ?

Henry Rollins: I think the president has done a very good job. Fox News has done a very good job and a lot of conservatives have done a very good job in blurring those lines. I think there was a concerted effort to make people who ask questions about the war seem unpatriotic. Which is completely offensive to me. Because you can't rationally attack someone who has a conflicting point of view any other way on this topic.
_______________________

Maryland: Hey Henry --
Two things: First, I wanted to thank you for something not mentioned in your introductory write-up, the fantastic stuff you've done with 2.13.61 publishing -- not only bringing us your words, but important works from writers ranging from Nick Cave to Joe Cole, from Iggy Pop to Hubert Selby.
Secondly, to get a little more irreverent, how did you wind up recording with the almighty Shatner, and what are your thoughts on the results?

Henry Rollins: The Shatner project was a request from Ben Folds, who is a great musician. He was producing an album for Shatner and asked if I would take part and I said life is too short -- and said sure.
What was interesting is that we had no song. We just went into the studio and recorded what happened. The result was great and I've spent a few evenings at the Shatner home since and it's been great. He's a very nice man.
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Washington, D.C.: Hi Henry,I'm curious about your thoughts on satellite radio and other avenues, such as blogging, that are now allowing us to exercise our right of free speech.

Henry Rollins: Satellite radio I think remains to be seen how well that's going to work. In theory I like it. I just don't know if people are going to dump traditional radio for it. As far as blogging, I think it's great. Perhaps it'll teach Americans how to write, and form a sentence. And I think having an opinion is a very healthy thing and blogging gives people a chance to articulate without impacting much else on someone else's life.
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Arlington, Va.: I really enjoy your spoken word shows. I enjoyed the story of your train trip across Russia. My favorite was your story of going to see Kiss live.
I would give you a hug for all of your USO work.

The Question:Were you a vegetarian at one point? Did you give it up ? If so why?
Thanks

Henry Rollins: I am basically a vegetarian who will sometimes eat red meat when there's no other protein option. For example, in the middle of nowhere on a USO tour. Past that, I'm a vegetable and fish guy.
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Potomac Falls, Va.: How do you stay so healthy and train when your schedule calls for so much travel -- is it just finding a way to pump some weight, do cardio, stretch and eat well?

Henry Rollins: Eating well is becoming easier on the road as more places are health conscious. Gyms are easy to find anywhere there's electricity and traffic. Time is the hard part, but I do my best and I learned a long time ago that without recuperative sleep, good nutrition and constant exercise, this high stress lifestyle of traveling, etc., quickly takes a toll.
And how do I do it? I just see it as a very important thing and make sure I get it done.
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Washington, D.C.: Mr. Rollins,
How has the experience of growing up in the DC area affected your music/acting (i.e. are you more politically aware than if you grown up in Kansas)? Where in Arlington did you live?
Thanks.

Henry Rollins: Growing up in D.C. affected me musically by nature of being in the D.C. music scene and having people like Ian Mackeye be such a heavy influence on me. My mother spent her whole career working in the government, basically trying to help Johnny to learn to read, so politics was always around me. As far as my acting, I'm just trying to get through that day, so where I came from will not help or hinder. Fear of failure gets me over that wall. In Arlington, I lived right behind right behind the Marriott on Pierce Street. The apartment building has apparently been leveled. We all left home and migrated across the Key Bridge. I became an Arlingtonian. It was finances. I worked for $3.50 an hour in 1979.
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Arlington, Va.: Will a version of the Rollins Band tour again? When?

Henry Rollins: I hope so. And I am working towards that.
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Anonymous: Can you lift more than Joe Piscapo?

Henry Rollins: I doubt it and who cares.
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Sacramento, Calif.: How do you adapt your spoken word shows to international audiences? Do they get the stuff about Walmart or do you talk about the things that have more mass appeal (like your trip in Siberia)?

Henry Rollins: Good question. I do a lot of shows internationally. I am very aware of losing impact if I tell a story with too many "inside" references. So when in Germany, I leave out the Fox News names because I'm going to leave them behind if I talk about O'Reilly or Hannity. That is not to say that I dumb down the message, because the audience isn't stupid. But there's a way to have impact with an audience and concentrate on broader themes and that's where the travel stories come in marvelously.
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Silver Spring, Md.: Can you share with us one of your fondest memories from your childhood/teenagerhood with Ian MacKaye?

Henry Rollins: I think my fondest memory would just be having Ian as my friend for over 30 years and there's been so many good times, it'd be hard to pick out one. It is one of the good fortunes of my life to have him as my friend. He's truly inspirational to me. I often ask 'What would Ian do?' and he's been a great help to me.
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Washington, D.C.: Dear Henry,Why should we listen to you? What is your aim in adding your voice to the public discourse. Money, fame, responsibility or something else. I'm not saying that you're not intelligent and articulate but I'm thinking in more general terms. With the constant spin and occasional bald lying that are thrown around in today's public discourse why should we believe that you are not infected by the same insane bias and underlying agenda.

Henry Rollins: There's a great possibility I am somewhat infected. And I would never assume to be so important than anyone should stop what they're doing and listen to me. I do think I tell a pretty good story. Past that, your point is absolutely valid as far as could I be as corrupt as anyone I say I am against. Absolutely. But money or fame or an agenda are really not part of my agenda. Freedom of speech and expression is what I'm after.
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Silver Spring, Md.: I just started reading "Devil's Knot : The True Story of the West Memphis Three" by Mara Leveritt. Are you still involved with the defendants? Has any progress been made in freeing the boys or obtaining retrials?

Henry Rollins: Yes, I'm still involved. There was today an alarming news byte where state governor Huckabee (of Arkansas) says in his opinion there has been no new info brought to light that would make the case in any way compelling to be retried. In light of the fact that DNA evidence from the crime scene was processed and from what I know the results are waiting to be analyzed, I don't know how he can say that. Those who find themselves interested in this case can go to the WM3.org Web site. Or read Mara Leveritt's very fine book.
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McLean, Va.: Henry,
I have seen several of your spoken word shows and really enjoy hearing about your travel adventures (I cannot enter an airport without thinking of your "standing in line" rant). What are your top three favorite places to visit and why?

Henry Rollins: Afghanistan, because while dangerous it is unbelievably fascinating to me -- historically and geographically. I have been there twice with the military via a USO tour, but given the opportunity, would love to stay for an extended period to learn more. Parts of Africa I have visited have made me very curious and inspired and made me want to explore more. The other very interesting place: Russia, where I visited five times and find the people, culture and history fascinating.
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Los Angeles, Calif.: While in Iraq did you perform classic Black Flag songs such as "Revenge," "No Values," and "Damaged"? And do you think you might become the next Bob Hope?

Henry Rollins: On USO tours I go on my own in what is called a handshake tour. Much like what Brad Pitt and George Clooney do -- you hang out, tell stories, crack them up, etc. No music has been performed as of yet. As far as being the next Hope, we'll leave that to Wayne Newton's very capable dyed black coif.
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Silver Spring, Md.: Because you have been doing your spoken word tours for so long,you've covered numerous topics. Is there anything you regret saying or any major ideas or beliefs that you have completely changed on?

Henry Rollins: No. Not as far as spoken word. As far as life experience, the more laps you take around the track, hopefully your mind changes as you go. As a young man, I had a fairly narrow scope -- which is one of the great things of youth. As a middle aged man, I see a slightly bigger picture. And those changes have always been aired on stage.
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New York, N.Y.: Henry,
In light of his recent passing, I was wondering if you could comment on Richard Pryor's standup and how it has perhaps influenced what you've tried to do with your spoken word shows.

Henry Rollins: There can't be enough accolades laid on Pryor as far as his bravery and what he did for the genre of comedy. As a young person, I remember those early records and he perhaps helped white America understand black America through comedy better than a lot of other attempts to bring Americans together.
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Henry Rollins: His bravery is not lost upon me.
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USO Shows: Are you allowed to say what you want on your USO shows, or do they ask that you keep your political (e.g. anti-war) views quiet? I hope the troops out there understand how many people are like us: supporting the troops and hating the politicians who put them in harm's way.

Henry Rollins: Great question. Believe it or not, never once have I been told to cool it or to not say exactly what I want. And I have. I also go out of my way to let these brave men and women know that no matter who Americans voted for, about 99.999 percent of America supports the troops. That no matter what an American's take on the war is, support for their safe arrival back home is absolute. What is distressing is how many soldiers did not understand that and think they are hated at home.
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Silver Spring, Md.: Hi Henry,
What kind of music have you been listening to lately? How do you usually come across new music?

Henry Rollins: The first half of the question is way too broad. I like what I like and that seems to take in every genre of music I can think of -- even country western and techno -- where I'm not all that conversant. How do I get music? Curiosity makes me buy CDs by the pound. Recommendations from people and things people very graciously send me. Basically, I am open to anything where the musicians have given their all to the piece.
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Sterling, Va.: Hi Henry, Just got through reading Fanatic! and am psyched to hear that Harmony in my Head is back on the air. For those of us poor working stiffs on the East Coast who can't listen to the show live, are there any plans to archive the new shows so we can listen to them later? (The last one I can find online is Nov. 2004) Really enjoyed the Birchmere show last fall, and look forward to seeing you again when you're next in town.

Henry Rollins: Yes. At http://www.rollins-archive.com/, started by a fan, she archives every show -- including last night's and you sleepy people can download the music. Also, those who are curious, please go check out harmonyinmyhead.com for annotated notes of the songs and streaming information. I get letters from people all over the world who listen to the show.
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Washington, D.C.: I have been a big fan of yours for years -- I saw you with Black Flag, saw you again with the Henry Rollins Band (it was heaven seeing you and the Butthole Surfers back-to-back on the original Lollapalooza tour!), and have managed to catch a few of your spoken-word shows as well. I would like to know what inspired your move into the realm of spoken-word performance -- was it something that was always there inside you or did you have any sudden inspiration or "aha!" moment?

Henry Rollins: As a young person, there was always a premium put on being able to tell a great story. Amongst my friends being able to imitate everyone else and crack everyone up put you high up on the teen food chain. Of course, this is not unique, but I never lost my love of storytelling, imitating others, etc. As a scrawny, Ritalin-addled youth in HS, which was all boys, I learned to stave off the beating, by making the gorilla laugh before geometry class. Hence, the opportunity to go on stage without a band, tell stories and express attitude, was extremely attractive to me when first offered in 1983.
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Aldie, Va.: Henry, in all your shows, books, music, you act like an angry guy and don't hesitate to say you are one. But you seem like such a nice guy, and would be willing to help anyone if you could. How do you reconcile the two personalities?

Henry Rollins: I don't think being helpful or nice doesn't allow you to be really pissed off. My anger is mostly a civically oriented one. I am tired of the little guy getting bullied by the rich, the mean and the opportunistic. This sentiment, of course, is not unique, so... anger is good when directed in a positive way and so, yes, on occasion I am a pretty nice guy, but I hold my anger in high regard. If it ever goes away I will know I have lost the plot.
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Ectomel, IA: Hi Henry. We share a common favorite band; Black Sabbath circa 1974. (How incredibly cool was it to be a supporting player in the genesis of that reunion?!) I know you have been on close terms with Sharon and Ozzy, so what I wanna know is this; I have always read between the lines of Ozzy's seeming addle-headedness and thought that he was actually pretty smart and damned funny, too. What's your take? Is the Ozzy that you see on TV what you get, or is he crazy like a fox?

Henry Rollins: First question about how cool was it? Are you kidding?! It was very cool to be with Black Sabbath for their reunion shows in Birmingham, England.
As far as Ozzy. He is easily one of the most what you see is what you get people I've met. He's not putting on an act. Ozzy is Ozzy 24 hours a day. He is extremely childlike in that he has not lost his enthusiasm for music and life and he is tremendously big-hearted, which adds to his appeal to me and lots of other people.
Hence, his seemingly endless appeal decade after decade.
So, no, I don't think he's putting on an act.
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York, Pa.: Do you feel let down by the apathy displayed by the younger generation in the face of war, America's ever declining worldwide reputation and heightening governmental invasion of privacy?

Henry Rollins: Those are three different topics. Apathy. I think we are curing that problem. I think our newest crop of teenagers may be the most energized and politically aware young people we've had for quite some time. And that is why I am optimistic for the future of America. America's reputation. President Bush has set America, in my opinion, on a very dangerous course. We are drawing lines in the sand and appearing as bullies in places where people will push back. Everyone knows this. The only thing that lifts my spirits in this depressing situation is our young people and their desire to turn things around and seek a better, peaceful and more rockin' situation. Privacy. Good question. I don't know exactly where I sit on that, being someone with nothing to hide. If national security is at stake, I think extraordinary measures must be employed. What bugs me about Bush and his wiretaps is that he could have done it legally and chose not to. Any of those wiretaps he sought, he could've gotten those warrants perhaps overnight, but his administration's arrogance and seeming attitude of "the rules do not apply" makes me pretty angry.
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Silver Spring, Md.: Henry- You always thank Mitch Bury of Adams, Mass., on your liner notes. I used to live in Adams, Mass. Who is he? I always thought he was a voice coach to help you with your singing, but I know there has to be a better story. So what is it?

Henry Rollins: Mitch Bury was Black Flag's road manager and very close friend of the band and myself. His family still lives on Crandall Street and I've just had a long friendship with Mitch Bury and to this day still see him, keep in contact with him and keep up my tradition of thanking Mitch Bury from Adams, Mass., on everything I put out.
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Washington, D.C.: I'm in my early 30s and I'm pretty angry too. Do you think it has more to do with your personal make up or do you think it has to do with this issues of today? If it's the later, has your angry grown worse or stayed the same?

Henry Rollins: I think in my case at least it is a combination of both. I was an angry kid, an angry adolescent and am now an angry adult. Many factors have probably been a part of this. Washington, D.C., was an intense place to be young person in the '70s and '80s. As a child in the '60s, watching the riots, it had a profound effect on me. In my opinion, to be a conscientious American, you should be pretty damn angry. Until things are perfect, we need to keep working. Anger and dissatisfaction are great fuel for change and betterment.
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Henry Rollins: Yes, and my anger grows daily.
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Anonymous: Since the White House staff is known to read these discussions, what would be your reaction should the Defense Department decide not to invite you back on another tour?

Henry Rollins: That would be sad and patently un-American.
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Kensington, Md.: I saw you doing a MTV video countdown years back and when you had to introduce a video from U2, you rolled your eyes in apparent sarcasm as you talked about the band. As a U2 fan, I always thought that was hilarious. Did you just never get them or their music?

Henry Rollins: While I applaud Bono's humanitarian efforts with great admiration, I think the music is for those who have lost their will to rock.
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Arlington, Tex.: Henry, enjoyed watching you speak when you came through Texas.
Do you think invention of online music stores is good for the artists?
I think you should look into using the Internet to get your masses more talking shows. It would remove any middle men that want to get in the way. The Pearl Jam guys have devised a great system to get bootleg music to their fans. Check it out.

Henry Rollins: I think the Internet has been great for musicians as far as bringing people to their music cheaply and efficiently. Hopefully, getting people who would would have never heard the music to hear it... which is what music is all about. Music wants to be heard. I do have a whole line of CDs that I sell from my Web site that never go to retail, which are extremely cheap and $1 from each sale goes to different charities. So, dear writer, I do check it out and I thank you.
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Washington, D.C.: Henry- Do you keep up at all with the DC music scene? Have you heard our radio lately? It's horrible....What cities have the best radio for progressive/alternative rock that you've heard, and do any of those stations stream online??

Henry Rollins: Okay. Yes, I keep up with the local DC music scene as best I can. Being a semi-frequent visitor to my beloved hometown, I go to as many gigs as I can. I will confess I do not listen to much radio, preferring my own record collection to that of a radio station. All I know is the music's always good on my show and the station I'm on does stream -- Indie 103.1. As to what any other station is doing, I'm unaware.
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Crete, Ill.: Henry, how did the idea come together for your film critiquing show on IFC?

Henry Rollins: The idea was that of Swift River Productions. Although they will not admit it, I know I was not their first choice. They came to me and pitched what basically became the show, since I love film, have an opinion on why I like and dislike them, and have done quite a bit of acting in film, they thought this might be interesting to me. It was, we made a pilot, IFC liked it, we made a season, they asked for another season, which we're already in pre-production on now. And so far it has been really great. The name of the show has changed from "Henry's Film Corner" to the "Henry Rollins Show" and will now be weekly instead of monthly. There will be live music, some of the acts like Sleater-Keaney and John Doe, they're performances already in the can. Slayer and other acts are imminent.
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Henry Rollins: I can't thank you enough for all of your questions, your enthusiasm, your interest. It may sound cheesy, but I mean every word of that. Also, being stranded out here in LA, it is very nice to see the names of the towns these letters are coming from (Arlington, etc.), cuz I really miss that part of the world every day I'm not there.
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UPDATED 1.12.06

Herndon, Va.: Your "Tom Waits Story" remains one of my most prized MP3's of all time. It's truly one of the funniest and best told stories I've ever heard. My Question is have you ever considered re-labelling what you do and using the More accessible term "stand up comedy" rather than the off-putting (to some anyway) "spoken word"?

Henry Rollins: I have never liked that term either. I sure didn't come up with it! If I saw "An evening of spoken word with . . ." on a flyer I would run the other way in fear of being bored to death. That being said, I admire stand-up comedy and am a fan of the good ones but wouldn't want to have to make people laugh all the time. There's some stuff that's just not funny and I want to address that stuff without having to make light of it. Also, that circuit seems pretty intense in a way that's unappealing to me. Even a guy like George Carlin who's a pal and someone I greatly admire, must feel some pressure to keep the laughs going. I don't think I would fare well in that environment.
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Los Angeles, Calif.: Do you think soldiers might be mistaken about America's support for the troops as a result of broadcasters such as Rush Limbaugh, who equate any dissent with treason and loathing for our soldiers? Where else would they get that wrong impression?

Henry Rollins: I definitely think that sentiment is propagated by those who are for one reason or another, in favor of what's happening in Iraq. I don't know how much of America is swayed by radio and television pundits and their opinions. I think the Bush Administration has done a lot of work, with evident success, to weld 9/11 to Iraq, Osama to Saddam, the response to the September attacks to preemptively strike Baghdad. If you don't diligently follow the spin and look at the real information, you could think anyone critical of the efforts in Iraq to be a negative influence. I am not saying though, that the TV/Radio right don't have an effect. They do. Your Hannity's are very forceful and their narrowness of scope often works to their advantage in attacking large topics. If you can fit it on a bumper sticker, it's not a reason to go to war. Novak left CNN and went to Fox! What a surprise!
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Detroit, Mich.: I'm watching the Supreme Court nominations, while reading this online interview/blog -- and a question came to mind. Do you feel that the administration, as a whole, has done so much damage that it cannot be undone, or do you believe with a shift in power and a change in those who have it will lead to an eventual rebirth in American politics in which people, again, have a voice in their own government. And I commend you on your work with the USO. You're doing the individuals and the country a great service.

Henry Rollins: Only my opinion here but I think the Bush Administration has put us on an aggressive and dangerous course in South and Central America and the Middle East and parts of Asia most certainly. To me, they demonstrate the actions of men who have not been in many or any fights. They either don't understand or seem to care that there's always someone who will hit back or at least take their best shot at whom they consider to be the schoolyard bully. I'm not saying we should hug a terrorist today but we should definitely do something in an attempt to understand where all this anger comes from and go to that as one of our measures against further terrorist attacks. It's hard enough fighting an enemy that doesn't mind dying. I am however, hopeful. My hope comes from all the young people I meet. The level headed, energized people I meet who really want to address the hard questions and do something. I think we are headed for a dramatic and historic turning of the tide in our life time. That is to say, something's gonna give.
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Portland Ore.: Henry, I've been a fan of yours since about 1991 when your spoken word helped me get through boarding school and broke me of my angst. I no longer blamed other people for my problems and looked toward myself. I can tell that the problems in this world bug you. They bug me too. Every time you come to Portland, inevitably someone yells that you should run for president. My question is this: Why don't you run for an elected office? You're intelligent, you relate to people and you kick ass. Isn't it time that you step up and live to YOUR full potential? I think Washington could use a little more punk rock than just the 9:30 club.

Henry Rollins: Damn do I love your city. I had a great time there the other night. I appreciate your confidence. I am however in no way cut out for office. I am of highschool education and I don't think I could do anyone any favors in that arena. Also, I really think I get some good things done being on the street and on the move. I think there's a lot more latitude out here than in an elected office. As far as living up to my potential, well, I'm not sleeping on that front, I assure you. Thanks.
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McLean, Va.: I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your work with the USO and your efforts to bridge the gap of misunderstanding that has been created (and exploited) regarding the difference between supporting the troops and supporting the war. I have had numerous "discussions" with people who, because of my open opposition to the war and to the Bush administration, have accused me of not supporting the troops and even of being a traitor to my country. These discussions often end soon after I inform them that I served for four years with the U.S. Army Special Forces. While it is handy to have this trump card available, it saddens and angers me that it is even necessary to play it. I served and fought for freedom of expression, freedom of thought, freedom of association, and the freedom to dissent --much of what you seem to be fighting for in your way. I think you are doing an excellent job and I wish more power to you.

Henry Rollins: Thank you and thank you for your service. Yeah, it's too bad you have to pull out your SF card. To me, being a traitor is having a party and cracking open the champagne whenever there's U.S. fatalities or blowing up something here at home. I don't know anyone who is remotely like that. Quite the opposite. When we lost that Black Hawk the other day, it's a year ruiner as far as I'm concerned. As far as being critical of an Administration, someone better be, even the ones who voted it into office. How else will we learn, be safe, not repeat mistakes, etc. Again, thank you.
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California: Would you describe Bukowski as a Slurred Word Artist? Also, if anger is properly channeled, such as in your case, is it still anger, or something else?

Henry Rollins: Those Bukowski books were fun to read when I was in my 20's. A great ride. Good question about the anger. It is perhaps something else, an awareness, a catalyst. All I know is, when everything seems to be going well, it feels like a scam!
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Washington, D.C.: Henry, I have long been a fan of yours, and you have certainly inspired me to be the independent person I am. Unfortunately life does not always allow this luxury. How do you cope with situations where individuality is not easily welcomed, i.e. politically or socially?

Henry Rollins: I guess it is a luxury come to think of it. When I encounter a confrontational situation, I usually run right at it. Where are you living? China, Arkansas?
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Rockville, Md.: Hi Henry -- why everytime I see you do you have a black shirt? How many of those you own?

Henry Rollins: I wear a black one onstage because it hides the sweat but most of the time I wear a gray t shirt. It matches my hair. It's my way of going with it.
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Santa Fe, N.M.: A case can be made that the Beatles played a major role in the fall of the Soviet bloc, do you think this a true and if so do you feel that any of today's music could cause change in the Middle East?

Henry Rollins: A case can be made that adult diapers played a major role in the fall of the Soviet bloc. I don't think it was the Beatles. I like that idea though. I think it was a lot of people wanting what their neighbors in the West have had for so long and all the stuff that comes with it. Mafia, corruption, MTV, all the good stuff. I have always maintained that if we dropped tons of Ramones CDs on Israel and Palastine perhaps we could get somewhere. I am more than willing to use music to cool out the Middle East. Let's send in George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars as the first wave, wait for the smoke to clear and then we come over the hill with Sabbath. Or, you could assault them with Britney Spears and they might just freak out and lose it completely. Honestly, I don't think music can do much to change anything. If it could, then it would have happened with all those great Dylan and Marley songs.
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Detroit, Mich.: As many others, Black Flag made some of the most powerful music I ever listened to. Are you still at all in touch with Greg Ginn?

Henry Rollins: I saw Greg in 1989. I guess that's a long time ago. He wrote some of the best songs I have ever heard. I don't really know what he's up to now.
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Washington, D.C.: What was it like being interviwed by Stacy Peralta for the Dogtown documentary?

Henry Rollins: That was an all time great experience. I had not seen him in a long time and it was so cool to have him over at my office. He's a 100 percent great guy and someone I have admired since I was a teenager. I think I met him in the late 70's the first time and over the years would run into him here and there. It was great to be part of that documentary. Ian MacKaye and I got a credit on the film as contributors of some of the Jay Adams footage you see in Dogtown as we shot that stuff on my Super-8 camera many years ago.
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Washington, D.C.: I know that there are some books describing your role in the history of the D.C. Punk scene, but have you written your own memoirs of those days?

Henry Rollins: I have written about some of those times here and there in books I have done but not in one concentrated effort. I have taken a lot of notes, trying to remember everything I could as those were some of the best times I have ever had. I still remember those days with a great deal of fondness.
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Anonymous: Is there a release date for "Feast"?

Henry Rollins: Quite honestly, I have no idea. After I am done with a film, I never look back. I am only there for the work. What happens to it after I'm done is not really all that Important to me as there's nothing I can do about it and usually I am of such low level in a film, no one tells me anything. I don't get invited to the premier most of the time.
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Silver Spring, Md.: Henry, do you still skate?

Henry Rollins: No. I wish I had the knees left to but I don't.
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Washington, D.C.: Henry, Thanks for doing this chat. These are always a lot of fun and they get me through the work day. I read somewhere that you were in that terrible movie, St. Elmo's Fire, as a guy behind the counter at Haagen Daaz. Is this at all true? Were you simply behind the counter as they were filming? Is this a complete figment of my imagination?

Henry Rollins: Thanks. No. I was never in that film. You have a vivid imagination though. Had they asked me to be in it, I would have done it. I am always seeking gainful employment.
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Northern Virginia: During your lifetime technology and the Internet have changed radically in ways that impact all of the work you've done (music, writing, movies). Having heard Ian on a roundtable discussion last year, I'm curious to hear what your feelings are about music piracy and the like. Also, have you noticed these things have taken a bite out of your income stream? Also, do you have an iPod (or similar device)? If yes, what's on it?

Henry Rollins: I do not lose any sleep about anyone downloading anything I have done. I am told by young people that they download my talking records for free all the time. They sometimes apologize and ask if I am going to attack them. I always say to them what I will say to you: There have always been mechanisms in place to keep the artist from his or her pay. Be it the club owner, agent, manager or record company. Now, it's the fans too. Why should they be left out?! The bottom line is, I would rather be heard than paid and no, I willl not chase you down the street for my 35 cents. Unfortunately, some of the records that people download of mine have part of the money made going to charities so in a way, they're working negatively against some organizations they would probably really dig. And, I'm not the only one in the band so they are also taking from others, some of them with kids. As far as what money all that takes from me, I don't make much money from records and I don't really check to see what I make on them and I am certainly not going to go after someone for a few bucks. I would have loved to have heard what Ian had to say about all that. He always has an interesting take on things. I have three ipods for different places and they are full of all kinds of music. I have the 60 gig ones so I can take a lot of music out with me on the road. They are a great thing.
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Washington, D.C.: Henry, I love your writing and spoken word work. How much time on average do you spend every day writing?

Henry Rollins: Thanks. It depends on what I am doing. If I am doing a movie or TV thing, not much as the 12-14 hour day will be enough to drop me. The USO tours are hard to write on because of the exhaustion factor at the end of the day. On a good day, up to 8+ hours on and off. Most of the time, at least three. There are days at a time when I don't get anything done because of obligations and schedules. I have been writing a lot lately. More than usual.
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Sterling, Va.: Henry, I recently read Roomanitarian and loved it. Do you plan on appearing in more films this year?

Henry Rollins: You liked that book?! What are ya, a nut?! Thanks. I have no film plans for this year so far but something might come up in the summer as I will be in LA a lot working on stuff. It's not anything I persue all that hard. There are two films that I was in that are to come out at some point this year. Feast and Alibi.
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UPDATED 1.12.06 p.m.

Bethesda, Md.: Hi Henry, I was wonder if you have noticed any differences in either the troops you see or the condition of the Iraq people and country in your multiple visits. Do you think it's getting worse or better? Certainly it has to be tough on the many troops who are doing their second on even third tours of Iraq.

Henry Rollins: I have only been to Iraq once. I have been to Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan twice so far. When I was in Iraq, I met people who were two months in country and 14 months in country. The year-plus ones were the ones Rumsfeld held back for an unspecified period. They were angry. A lot of them had children they had not met yet. The ones who were in a couple of months were very focused and wired. I know at this point, there are people going into their third rotation there. I don't know what their morale will be like. Probably good. These are highly trained, highly motivated people. I am continually amazed at how great the troops are. It's very inspiring to be around them. As far as Iraq, I was told, when I was there at least, that there's more electricity in a lot of regions than ever before. That was the only progress report I was told about. That being said. I have seen a lot of reports that say exactly the opposite of what I was told so I don't know the answer to that one. Some parts of Iraq I saw were beautiful. I hope the place comes back all the way.
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Bethesda, Md.: Henry I read somewhere that you attended Bullis HS and a teacher there was very instrumental in your decision to pursue an artistic career. Can you tell us about that? My kids attend Bullis and love it, but I wonder why I haven't heard your name mentioned there. Have they ever asked you back for anything?

Henry Rollins: I did go there. I had an English teacher who was very cool to me. I would write stories about blowing the school up and burning it to the ground and give them to him and he would help me with the sentences but told me to never show them to others. He said creative writing was good. I was very frustrated in that place. A good school but I didn't have a good time. I was asked many times to come on campus and speak over the years. I always politely declined and some years ago, they got the message. I have never been back since the day I graduated in 1834. It was a long time ago.
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Washington, D.C.: So now that you are a big time Hollywood guy, when are they going to make you a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador?

Henry Rollins: As soon as I get a show on Scare America the home of Aggressive Talk Radio.
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KC: Have you read any good books lately?

Henry Rollins: I really learned a lot from Ahmed Rashid's book "Taliban." I just finished reading Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita" again. Those were great.
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Chicago, Ill.: I was really excited when you started 2.13.61 because it looked like you were going to reissue some old records worth listening to. I got the 30 seconds over DC comp, Trouble Funk live joint, and recently picked up the Negative Trend EP, do you have any other old gems in the works? Also which spoken word CD is your favorite?

Henry Rollins: I have some old stuff lined up but I am still working out the deals on them so it will take a while to get it all together. Best thing to do is check in on the site now and then or get on our mailing list and we'll let you know about releases if you like. 21361.com is the address. A favorite talking record of mine? I don't know. I make them and then make the next one. I don't really think about them as far as favorites.
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Raleigh, N.C.: Hiya Henry! What's your take on the separation of Church and State? Rock on!

Henry Rollins: I hope they stay well away from each other for the sake of all sane people in America.
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Woodbridge, Va.: With the recent revelations of the JT Leroy and James Frey being frauds, do you feel the literary world is fast becoming like the art world of the 1980's? Do people prefer entertainment to the truth? Or are JT Leroy and Mr. Frey using the tools of the culture against its ambassadors (Oprah, noted journalists, magazines, celebrity friends, etc...)? Consumer culture will purchase their products regardless.

Henry Rollins: If James Frey, a former drug addict made up some things in his book, anyone who would be surprised should maybe get a reality check. As far as books like that, if you liked it, got something from it, who cares if it's true? If you have to watch Oprah Winfrey to get your reading list, you deserve any literary hardships that come your way. A lot of people prefer fantasy to the truth. Wait until the upcoming State of the Union Address!
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Washington, D.C.: Do you believe Nick Zedd's work has proved influential to your own? And if so, in what way? Do you plan any co-projects with Zedd. Additionally I was surprised to hear that you were on the Stern show. How was that and what precipitated your appearance?

Henry Rollins: Nick is great but quite honestly, the only thing I have ever gotten through was his book. I have never been able to hang all the way through the films. I tried but couldn't do it. So, I don't think there's been any influence and I certainly have no plans to do anything with him. I have been on Stern's show twice and always found him to be alright to me. They asked and I went. I'd go again. I don't mind Howard. His thing with women at first bugged me but now I see he's just infantile on that front and not misogynistic. I didn't get that at first. I think he'd be the first to admit that. I like the guy.

Kennedy's Shattered Head

2006-01-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

Our resident Misfits expert Mark Kennedy unlocks the mysteries of the Misfits unreleased "12 Hits From Hell" LP. Enjoy!

12 Hits From Hell: The MSP Sessions

After their drummer ditched them during the botched 1979 tour of England opening for the Damned, the Misfits experienced a brief period of inactivity. It took them four months to find a replacement drummer, and their next live performance didn’t occur until July 1980. That show must have rejuvenated them, however, because the following month, the band entered Master Sound Productions studio to begin recording a batch of new songs.

With Glenn Danzig on vocals, Jerry Only on bass, Bobby Steele on guitar, and newcomer Arthur Googy on drums, the band cranked out twelve now-familiar songs: Halloween, Vampira, I Turned Into A Martian, Skulls, London Dungeon, Night Of The Living Dead, Horror Hotel, Ghouls Night Out, Astro Zombies, Where Eagles Dare, Violent World, and Halloween II. With the exception of London Dungeon, the band recorded each song live in one take. Steele then overdubbed additional guitar so that each song had three guitar tracks: two rhythm and one lead.

In early September, several members of the band returned to the studio, this time with Jerry Only’s younger brother (and future Misfits guitarist) Doyle instead of Steele. Doyle added new guitar tracks to the songs, which were then mixed with his new guitar tracks as the centerpiece and Steele’s original tracks relegated to the background. A few weeks later, shortly before the band’s annual Halloween show, Steele received the official word that he was out and Doyle was in.

For whatever reason, the band decided to release only four of the songs. Three appeared on the appropriately-named 3 Hits From Hell and the fourth was the B-side to Halloween. The band then recorded new versions of many of the songs for 1982’s Walk Among Us album. After the Misfits broke up in 1983, bits and pieces of the recording session popped up on compilations such as Legacy Of Brutality (1985), Collection I (1986), Collection II (1995), and the Box Set (1996), but the complete session never appeared as a standalone package. Caroline Records planned to change that on Halloween 2001 with the release of 12 Hits From Hell: The MSP Sessions.

Tom Begrowicz, a long-time Misfits fan who had produced, co-produced, or contributed to all of Caroline’s 1990s Misfits releases, was selected to accomplish the task. To properly represent the historical significance of the recording session, Begrowicz gathered an assortment of obscure photos and memorabilia for the packaging and summoned Eerie Von for the liner notes. The final product was beautiful—in baseball, you might compare it to an out-of-the-park grand slam home run. Begrowicz even wrote his own liner notes, which are worthy of inclusion here:

Originally intended to be a full-length release, like so many recordings before it, the MSP session instead became the launching pad for their legendary Walk Among Us album. Recorded on August 7, 1980, several of the twelve recorded tracks ended up being released on two classic Plan 9 Records singles, while the rest of the tracks remained unheard outside of tape dubbing and bootlegging. Part of the “Halloween” single was taken from these recordings while the “3 Hits from Hell” 7”, which came out in April 1981, drew upon this session for “London Dungeon”, “Horror Hotel” and “Ghouls Night Out”.

These recordings came at a very important time for the band. A time in which they ultimately and unceremoniously kicked out guitarist Bobby Steele and replaced him with Jerry’s little brother, Doyle. In fact, both Bobby and Doyle recorded various guitar tracks in this session (with Bobby laying down a vast majority of them) although the band was never actually a five-piece. Together, however, their styles intertwined to create a sound that the world hadn’t experienced to date, and hasn’t heard since.

This album is sequenced exactly as the band had envisioned it back in 1980, based on original hand-written notes on MSP letterhead (the handwritten song titles on the back are from those very notes). Like Static Age before it, 12 Hits From Hell gives us all a proper historical view of the band. It’s not simply a compilation or a splicing-together of random tracks from over the years – 12 Hits From Hell is very much a perfectly focused picture of the band. This allows us a glimpse of where the Misfits were at the time as well as where they were going in the years to come.

As impressive as the packaging was, Begrowicz’s work on the recording was even more inventive. All of the songs from the session already had been widely available for years—in some cases for more than two decades. Instead of selling the fans the same old thing, Begrowicz remixed the session to highlight both Doyle’s and Steele’s guitar tracks, thereby creating a hybrid sound that was new and vibrant, yet very much true to the classic Misfits sound. As a bonus, Begrowicz also mixed in some alternate lyrics to Horror Hotel (from a vocals-only scratch track) and included the previously unreleased second take of London Dungeon.

Caroline Records geared up for the release by distributing several thousand promotional CDs and printing stickers and posters. The label also created an acetate, several test pressings, and a few LP sleeves for the proposed colored vinyl issue. And then the unthinkable happened. On October 11, just weeks before the official release, Caroline sent a letter to music stores recalling all promotional material and announcing that the album had been postponed due to “an inferior mastering error.” Caroline subsequently destroyed all of the promotional material and the 40,000 CD copies pressed for the initial run.

What was that mastering error? In e-mail messages to fans, Ashley Warren of Caroline Records provided a few likely explanations: “The reason why Caroline has held up the release was because literally weeks before the release it was discovered that Glenn had been left out of involvement and that the Misfits while fully knowing about the project felt the mix was of an inferior nature.” Later, he added, “The version that was withdrawn was not pleasing to the Misfits because this was a false remix and not a representation of the band’s authentic sound as it had 2 guitars in the mix – the Misfits never had two guitarists.” The fallacy of the latter comment is obvious. Although it is correct that the band never had two guitarists at the same time, the original mixes of the songs already included tracks by both guitarists! Most fans speculate that the real objection to the album’s release centered on the fact that the new mix showcased the talent of the much-maligned Bobby Steele, who has unjustifiably become a scapegoat for seemingly everything under the sun since the early 1980s.

Because this gem will never see the light of day in a properly released form, bootleggers and collectors have had a field day with the small amount of material that escaped from Caroline Records unharmed. For a very thorough and accurate analysis, click here.

Click here to see a complete view of the layout and packaging.

We Gotta Know

2006-01-06T16:03:00.000-05:00

Man, how did I possible get through my teen years without the internet? Thank you Brett Barto, for tracking this down and sharing it on the Livewire Board.

You know, with digital video being so readily available and consumer friendly these days, I'm surprised more bands today don't have homemade videos.

Reading Between the Lines by Brian Murphy

2006-01-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

This week, I was going for something different. I figure, it's a new year.
Let's already break that mold I set last time. This time, I wanted one story from many viewpoints, as many viewpoints as I could get. Anyone involved in the story, I wanted to hear what they had to say. I figured since US history has a crazy revisionist slant, why can't the same (or similar) be said about hardcore stories?

For this particular installment, the boys from Up Front gave me the 411 on the
Daybreak EP. Side A of the matrix inquires "Where's Howie?" while Side B answers "Shhh, he's sleeping in the hills..."

I tried to track down Chris Cap, but had no such luck (hey, if you know Chris Cap, previously of Release, get in touch with me. I'd like to see if he remembers this story any differently).

First up, Jeff Terranova, Bass player for Up Front.

Okay, here is the whole story...

It was the summer of 1989 and Up Front were on the last leg of our US summer tour. It was a long, hot, month spent in a van with no air conditioning, that to this day, I am still impressed actually made it the 6,000 plus miles. When we hit Memphis on August 15th, we met up with the guys from Release to finish out the rest of the tour. Our show the next night in Atlanta got canceled, so we drove straight to Florida for our last two shows (supposed to be three, but one of those got canceled as well). Roger and Ari had been at odds with Jon and I for the majority of the tour and they decided that they wanted to ride in the Release van. In turn Chris Cap, Greg Shafer and Darren Walters rode with Jon and I and Mikey Fastbreak who we kidnapped from Huntington Beach CA and brought back to the east coast with us. Having these three guys in the van was now like an elementary school class when the teacher leaves the room. We were crazy, cracking jokes and acting stupid the whole time. Being friends with Darren and the Release guys, we kinda had our own lingo and spewed out many words and expressions that made no sense to anyone but us, and Mikey fit right in.

There are dozens of crazy stories that I can tell from these few days together, like Rob pissing in the ice maker at a hotel and jumping on and off of trains, or Greg enticing a hot girl in a convertible to take off her top and trade shirts with him, or the crazy state trooper in Alabama that tailed us for like 30 miles, but I will stick with the origin of the Daybreak 7" matrix.

It was late at night and we were in Florida heading to Miami Lakes. Chris Cap was driving, I was sitting shot gun and the rest of the guys were asleep in the van. We were talking and getting real loopy, and if you are in a band, you know the importance of having someone sit shot gun to stay awake with the driver so that he does not fall asleep and crash. So, it's not the qualityof the conversation, it's the conversation itself that matters. Anyway, it's late, we are beyond silly at this point and we see a sign for Howie In The Hills. We both start cracking up and blurting out stupid random remarks about Howie being up in the hills. Why is he there? Who put him there? Can he leave? At the end of it all, "Shhhhh Howie's sleeping in the hills... don't wake him" was the phrase that stuck with us for years to come and spawned the matrix inscription on the Daybreak 7" Where's Howie?... Shhh, he's sleeping in the hills...

Jeff Terranova

Then there is Jon Field. You may recall him as the guitar player from Up Front.

Well, I was asleep for the conversation that led to this mystery, but I woke up near the end of it. If I remember correctly, we had been driving to Miami for one of the last shows on our '89 tour. I think Greg & Chris Cap from Release were up that night along with Jeff. I think Cap was driving? We had passed a sign for a town in Florida called Howie in the Hills (actually, Howey-in-the-Hills: I just looked it up on Google maps), and the lack of sleep had them in hysterics over the name. Jeff and Cap were having the main conversation; I think everyone else was asleep. One of them would say "Where's Howey?" And the other would answer "Sssshhhhh, he's in the hills, he's sleeping......don't wake him up." Then they'd break out in hysterical laughter. You really have to have driven until you see aliens standing in the middle of the road b/c you're so tired to really appreciate this story! In fact, I think Cap had also seen a giant sasquatch in the middle of the road that night. To this day we still joke about that night—even our drummer who wasn't in the band yet at that point.

I can't remember if there were any other people in the van that night. They may have been asleep, or they may have been in the Release van. This is when Ari & Roger were in Up Front. Chris Cap from Release would be a good one to contact about this; others might not have much to add. But I'm not sure how to get in touch with Cap.....

Jon

There you have it. That's the story behind the wacky phrases on the Daybreak EP. Who'd have guessed?

To wrap up this weeks segment, here's a little treat from Brett Beach (C'mon, you know who he is. There is no need for me to break out his pedigree) in regards to the Floorpunch LP.

Here's one for ya... the FP LP says "Check this out Danny boy..." or something like that (I'm at work, check your vinyl). That quote is from Rob Fish's father. He had microwaved a hot dog with a couple slices of cheese on it and proudly presented it to Dan Hornacker (who at the time loved food) with that quote. Still to this day when we have some impressive food, like at a tailgate for instance, we'll say "Check this out Danny boy."

Interview: Aaron Chrietzberg

2006-01-03T17:04:00.000-05:00

(Looking at my watch) ...wasn't the First Step LP supposed to come out on Livewire Records, um, two YEARS ago? What's the hold up?

The record WASN’T supposed to be out 2 years ago. We didn’t start recording it until Jan of 2005. We broke up for a short while (from May 2003-Jan 2004). Before we broke up, we demoed about 4-5 songs in DC for what we would have eventually made an LP. Livewire Records was going through a bit of a push then, and announced that we were working on an LP. It was true – but then we broke up for 8 months or so. But one of the songs from the session wound up on the 2nd Livewire Sampler as an outro track. It was pretty cool considering we were broken up – a little bit of a “goodbye” to the band.

Then once we got back together, we did a more serious demo with about 6 songs – with vocals. It was titled the “What We Know” demo. Of course we were writing these songs for an LP, so Livewire announced things like “TFS working on an LP”. So there was talk about our LP coming out, and we talked about it in a few interviews, but really it wasn’t supposed to be out at that time.

That said, we finished the recording in May of 2005 – and you are asking me this question in December! Basically, in June the decision was made that we needed to have the LP released on another label. That process (moving a previously recorded LP from one label to another) was pretty difficult and had a lot of aspects which needed to be ironed out. To make a long story short; we recently finalized the shift to a new record label, and by the time this interview is printed we will have announced it.

The truth is – yes that we have been working on this record for a while; it is supposed to come out when it’s ready!

The album was produced by Walter Schreiffels. How exactly did he produce your sound on the record? What would I hear on the album that is Walter's input as a producer?

You may or may not know from your time in a band that when you are writing songs for a band, you eventually come up with your own “formula” or “recipe” for how you do your songs. You know, like your “influences”, your “ideas” how it all works. We really found a formula that we were very satisfied with on “Open Hearts and Clear Minds”, but we didn’t want to do the same thing twice. We were realizing that while we were still into the same stuff, we were also changing as people and wanted to try new things. When we were writing, some of the songs were either too different for us, or too much “the same old thing”. We really didn’t want to do the same thing twice, so we decided we wanted to get someone to produce us. It might not add much to “HC mythology”, but really all a producer does is kind of add some of their special ingredients (ideas) to your already good recipe. Basically for the months that we worked with him, it was like Wally was a “5th member of the band”. We talked on the phone all the time, schemed stuff up, joked around, talked about HC and music in general, and jammed out together. So it was like we had that additional point of view which gave us a lot more to work with as far as the songs were concerned.

The writing sessions were basically like this: we would jam out a few songs we had and then he would say “show me a new song you guys are working on”. We’d play it, and he would listen. Then we would discuss the song. Maybe we would say “hmm we need a different ‘MOSH’”, or maybe we should play a certain part a little faster. Then we would play the song very slowly and without distortion, and then see what we all thought. But really it was like having another member of the band. He might be like “dude I was listening to Negative Approach last night or Bl’ast! And I was thinking we should try a part like in this one song!”

We came up with some really neat ideas that way, like the mosh in “No Way To Live”. Walter was like “we should have a mosh like Bl’ast!”, we tried it, and it was killer, but it didn’t sound like TFS to us. So we played it a lot of different ways, and we came up with a really cool idea. Izzy can play some really neat Dub beats from his Dominican background! So we kept the Greg Bacon bass line as this really heavy mosh – but made the beat VERY different from the average predictable mosh part with a bit of a Dub style.

The other important part Walter played was in the recording. From the very beginning, he had a specific vision of how he wanted to hear our band. So we came up with a different tone for the guitar and bass, and the mix over all. We wanted more of a bass and guitar tone similar to MINOR THREAT than “Open Hearts”, which had more of a “Youth of Today and GB”. But that tone also had a bit of a Black Sabbath aspect too.

What is it with Hardcore kids and Jiu Jitsu? If it gets any bigger in this scene, Jiu Jitsu Monthly will start interviewing hardcore bands. It will be like the new Thrasher.

Well, I no longer practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but I did for a few years. I was never really any good though. Jiu Jitsu is pretty intense, man. I would say a good night on the mat can be just as intense (probably more) than a great show. It’s kind of like you, this other guy (usually bigger than me!) and my wits and skill and I had to beat him, or at least not let him beat me. I liked it because I consider it more realistic than other martial arts I had practiced, and it really changed the way I think about fighting and problem solving. But I am really not too good at it!

Rain on the Parade had a song called "The First Step." Any link? I wrote the lyrics on a sauce stained Taco Bell napkin on my way to the studio. I think I still have it smashed into one of my journals somewhere.

No! I really liked ROTP a lot though. But I remember after we had been around for a few months, one of our friends (I THINK Keith Harper) was like teasing us “hey man! You guys got your name from ROTP!”

What's the one place you always look forward to playing?

Hmmm because we have played there several times, I am going to say Southern California. If we are playing there, it means we are going to be spending times with friends like SPL Greg Bacon, and Larry “ENVY” Ransom. We will be hanging in the sun, getting good foods, and the kids out there have always been good to us.

We haven’t played there more than once, but I REALLY want to play Lintfabriek in Europe again!

What's the one place you could care less if you ever drove through again, let alone play the dump?

Hmmm… I mean have played some crummy shows before, but usually I don’t pay it much mind. I usually have a good enough time just being able to crank up the amp and play my songs with the guys, if kids sing along that’s great. But I am sure Stephen can remember some show or something where I am like “This fucking sucks, fuck these kids”, but it’s not coming to mind right now.

What's the dollar amount on your edge? What would it cost for me to get you drunk? Everyone has a price!

Ok – I am not trying to give you a hard headed answer here, but I won’t do that for money. A few years ago I formally became a Buddhist layperson, and one of the vows that I took was to “not take intoxicants”. Keeping things short and to the point, I took that vow in the presence of my Guru, and if I were to break it – the Karmic result for me would be MUCH more intense than if I didn’t take the vow. Because I have made a commitment to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha and to all beings – I won’t break that vow. However, if a gun was to someone’s head unless I drink, I would do it, and take all the negative karma and hope that it would benefit beings. But the result wouldn’t be as bad as if I was like “fuck it man I don’t care any more”.

(For the record, if I once again had my edge to sell for whatever price to be named, I would sell it for the equivalent of the Gross National Product of the People’s Republic of China. With the money, I would build a nuclear arsenal, menace my neighbors with it, and force Glenn Danzig to reunite with the Misfits. Oh, and end world hunger, save puppies, and all that shit. --Ronny)

What happened with Triple Threat?

Well about a year ago I left Triple Threat on good terms, and it was something we all agreed to. When TT started, we knew we were all “older” HC kids with grown up type situations. (wives, kids, work, etc), but we really weren’t sure how things would turn out. While I am youngest of the band, I lived 2-3 hours away from everyone else, and I was also very committed to THE FIRST STEP as well as being involved in the Buddhist Community and various other things. Eventually, it started to become stressful for me to be stay involved. The other guys could practice more regularly than me. It was hard for them that I wasn’t always around, and hard for me that I couldn’t be there when I wanted to be for important decisions. Also around the same time, I was going through some “musical changes”, and I was realizing it just wasn’t “me”. The best way I could describe it to another HC kid was comparing it to “Lyle Preslar and Brian Baker playing for Samhain”, and it being their “dance with the devil.” It’s a great band, but it just wasn’t me – and I couldn’t do it easily after a while.

If we had done the band together, what would we have settle on for a name? What would the name of our first record be? Who would've been our rythm section? How long would it have been until a Jiu Jitsu vs. Shaq Fu style throwdown in the practice space led to the premature break-up of the band?

Hmmm – I really wanted to do that man! I was thinking, you, me, Pete Russo and some other kid living in DC, playing some really simple but smart HC like “Committed For Life” era 7 Seconds! But of course we couldn’t find a drummer or anyone else to do it! I am still up for it. But if I remember, the proposed name was “Barebones Hardcore” – but I think that name is better suited for the webpage!

Do you find that having a bass player named "Dump" hurts the image of the band at all? It's not exactly "Craig Ahead" or "Jesse Standhard."

Well TECHNICALLY, Chris Niehls isn’t our official bassist, but he is my boy so I am gonna come to his defense on this! The name “Dump” came about by no fault of his own. We were on a TFS road trip and had crashed at Steve’s apartment for the night. Some of us (Myself, Izzy, Klint and Tru Pray) couldn’t sleep and were clowning around and just talking. Chris started talking about girls – and before any of us knew it, Tru and Klint were clowning him FULL FORCE and the rest really can’t be safely printed in an interview. By the end of the weekend that was his little nickname. He was the new kid and he took it in stride, but I wasn’t gonna let him get treated too bad, and he didn’t take it that way. For the record – NO ONE IN TFS calls him that, and it won’t show up on a record. But I might crack a smile if I hear someone call him that! But for the record – I will say that NILES is one of my favorite HC kids these days. He’s always down to hangout, talk, supporting bands, and singing along; just a really cool kid. He is really funny too, just a character.

Anyways – I also should just take a moment and explain the TFS bass situation. In the last year or so, we have had a number of friends play bass for us. When we got back together – we were pretty bassless! We got to know Greg Bacon from a few short tours with his old band STAND AND FIGHT, so we asked him to help us out for few shows with OUR TURN. Since we had toured before, and he is such a sick bassist – he fit in incredibly! Of course there was only ONE problem, Greg Bacon lives on the west coast of the United States, and TFS resides scattered throughout the Eastern Coast of the United States! Bass-ically (pun uncontrollably intended!) Greg plays with us when ever the opportunity arises. For example, if we are playing with one of his many sick bands or if we are touring the Western Coast of the United States. All kidding aside, he is a really stand up guy, a great musician, and has been extremely patient and generous to TFS and I want to take a moment to recognize that! He did a great job on our LP.

We have also played with Chris and Marcus from DAMAGE CONTROL. We just play with whoever makes sense and is willing and able to help us out. While you might not always see Chris or Greg onstage, I definitely consider them to be members of THE FIRST STEP.

You purchased Porcell's Les Paul -- the same Les Paul that wrote Can't Close My Eyes, Break Down the Walls, We're Not In This Alone, The Project X EP, New York Crew, and Bringing It Down, and also played The Shutdown show at CBGB's. Have you gained any super powers since you started letting it hang off your shoulder?

Yeah – a few years ago when the Livewire Board was a smaller scene, there was a post about guitars and all that. Porcell had posted some responses to kid’s questions and I ended up emailing him some specific guitar related questions. After a series of emails he mentioned that he was actually considering selling the guitar. It originally belonged to Alex Brown, who played it on the Project X EP, as well as Gorilla Biscuits “Start Today”. Then Porcell played it some later Judge stuff and all the Shelter stuff. I can’t remember whether he said he played it on “Disengage” or not. But I don’t think he had it when he was recording the earlier stuff like Can’t Close My Eyes, Break Down The Walls, etc.

I was already looking to buying a new Les Paul for myself, and it was definitely interested in possibly buying that guitar! So Porcell got us on an Albany show on a weekend date that we had open, and he let me try it out. I was immediately really into it. It really has that “Porcell” sound when you play HC on it! It has really good feedback and sustain because the wood is so heavy. It’s a little heavy to play live though. But anyways, Porcell made me agree that if I ever want to sell the guitar, it could only be to another kid who was equally as serious about Straight Edge as he and I “so that it stayed in the family!”

Something else kind of neat about it; when we were first practicing with Walter he picked it up, played it for about 10 minutes or so, and was like “dude, I KNOW this guitar… I have played it before somewhere!” and I was like “Eh, probably dude!...” and told him about it. He was really stoked on it! Kind of like this guitar that has been passed from one HC kid to the next, to the next…

BBHC Top 10: My favorite posts of 2005

2005-12-23T17:00:00.000-05:00

The new year approaches, which can only mean one thing -- COUNTDOWNS! On television. On radio. You can't avoid them! Not even on Barebones Hardcore as I count down my Top Ten favorite posts of 2005!

Moving down the countdown to number nine, my critique of the "straight edge" episode of CBS's Judging Amy. The show got cancelled a few weeks after this review. I was so bummed. I wasn't into the show or anything like that. I was just certain that the plot line of Amy's daughter being straight edge would yeild endless opportunities for comedy at Barebones Hardcore. I mourn what could have been...
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I finally got around to watching this week's episode of Judging Amy. I normally wouldn't watch this show, but there was discussion on the Livewire Message Board about this week's episode having a straight edge plot, so I plugged it into the digital recorder and figured I watch it for a laugh.

I was hoping that Amy would find out her 14 year-old vegetarian daughter was straight edge after being hauled into her courtroom in chains for fire-bombing a McDonald's, or at least hopping onto the counter and shouting the lyrics to MDC's "Corporate Death Burger." But the show is on CBS, and I'm sure such a shocking plot line would soil more than one pair of Depends.

As it turned out, Amy discovers her daughter is one of these crazy straight edgers after she gets a call from Lauren's Principal's office with news that her daughter had been suspended for staging some kind of protest in the cafeteria that involved her friends, $300 in hamburger damages and, (I'm assuming) a very pissed off cafeteria lady.

The next time the straight edge plot appeared in the episode was a confrontation in her daughter's bedroom. While snooping around, Amy came across a wad of $300 and immediately assumed the worst; the straight edge thing is too good to be true. It's obviously a ploy to trick parents into thinking their drug dealing kids are actually on the straight and narrow.

Amy: WHERE DID YOU GET THIS MONEY?!

Lauren: YOU'RE SEARCHING MY ROOM?!

Amy: ARE YOU DEALING DRUGS?!

Lauren: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE SEARCHING MY ROOM!

Me: ...barf.

If I was the daughter, the answer would have been "I sold my fucking Chung King on eBay! Why do you have to be such a raging bitch?!" But noooooooo. As it turned out, her and the other 19 of her straight edge friends (damn, that's a crew) involved in the cafeteria incident each chipped in $15 a piece (by school mandate) to cover the damages of the protest.

Amy: (stunned into silence, realizing that her daughter is growing up and making good decisions) ...

Lauren: (silent, tearing up because her Mom didn't believe her at first) ...

Me: ...bleeeaurghhhh!!!

I first got into straight edge when I was 15 years old. The year was 1986. None of my friends knew about stuff like the Youth Crew or anything like that. We were all punkers and skaters who were into a mishmash of bands ranging from Minor Threat to Dayglo Abortions.

I was always dressing in stuff that I thought was cool, but was entirely alien to my Mom. She didn't get the stupid hair. The dog collar. The shirts that said Suicidal Tendencies, Agnostic Front, Circle Jerks and Dirty Rotten Imbiciles. She was concerned because this was a pretty radical departure for me. I got the gear and pretty much changed the way I looked over night, and it was really freaking her out.

After about a year, my Mom decided it was time to confront me, because with the crazy music, the freaky friends, and the new wardrobe, I was obviously on drugs. She burst into my room one day and scratched the needle across the 7 Seconds record I was blasting on my turntable.

Me: WHAT THE FUCK?!

Mom: YOU'RE ON DRUGS! DON'T DENY IT!

Me: WHAT?! MOM, I HATE THAT SHIT. I DON'T DRINK OR DO DRUGS. I'M STRAIGHT EDG--

Mom: DON'T TELL ME THAT! YOU'RE ON DRUGS!

Me: NO MOM. I'M NOT ON DRUGS! WHY DON'T YOU GET ME A PEPSI(a joke that went right over her head, but I found hilarious none the less).

My Mom was in a total frenzy. I had never seen her so freaked out about anything I was involved with. At one point, she picked up my copy of Break Down The Walls, held it over her head and, no shit, said "I heard on the news that this band worships THE DEVIL!!"

Of course I burst into laughter.

Of course I got grounded.

Of course I had to flee the house when my Dad came over to kick my ass for upsetting my Mom that badly.

With straight edge and punk being so completely seperated these days, I doubt parents would jump to such conclusions anymore. If you put the guys in The First Step in neck kerchiffs and plopped them down next to Boy Scout Troop 36, you'd have a hard time telling who was who. Nobody is ever going to look at that band, or anybody who jocks their style, and say "those dudes are on drugs."

I may actually continue to watch this show. If Amy's daughter is True til Death and the straight edge plot line continues, I'm guessing she'll be sleeping with members of Mental and Righteous Jams sometime in the next few seasons.

BBHC Top 10: My favorite posts of 2005

2005-12-22T15:37:00.000-05:00

The new year approaches, which can only mean one thing -- COUNTDOWNS! On television. On radio. You can't avoid them! Not even on Barebones Hardcore as I count down my Top Ten favorite posts of 2005!

Number 10

Entering the countdown at number ten I think will always be one of my all-time moments here at Barebones Hardcore. On my second post ever, I wrote a nuclear open letter to Alternative Press Magazine after reading their "Bringing It Back: A.P.'s Hardcore Special" feature (issue #201, April 2005). In just my second day of blogging, I drew 6,000 hits as a result of the letter. I got a ton of feedback from many of my new readers. Nobody seemed to like how the AP feature came out. Not even many of the bands that participated in it!

I also got in both a public and private pissing match with a couple of AP employees (Johan Bayer and Scott Heisel) which made it all the more fun. I got a kick out of the fact that there were some people out there in Ohio sitting around wondering what the fuck my problem was. After that, there were some private correspondences between me and another staff member at AP, who asked that all of the email conversations we had remain off the record, which was disappointing to me, because there was a really intresting dialog going on, in my opinion.

I'm almost certain that today, AP's policy on bloggers like me goes something like "AP does not deal with terrorists," which is probably the smart thing to do, because I'll always wipe the floor with posers like Johan Bayer and Scott Heisel.

Anyway, I dropped a dirty bomb on Alternative Press, and it instantly put BBHC on the map, so this moment has to be included in the countdown.
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Dear Tiger Bea -- whoops! Alternative Press:

Thank you so much for including Hardcore's ummm... best and brightest in the pages of the Boy Band Bonanza that calls itself "Alternative" Press these days. Your feature, "Bringing It Back: A.P.'s Hardcore Special" read more like a paid advertisement for labels such as Victory, Trustkill, Equal Vision, and Bridge Nine Records than as an authoritative piece on today's Hardcore scene.

The reason that Hardcore music has experienced a massive resurgence over the past 10 years is because labels like Victory Records nearly killed traditional hardcore in the early 1990's. Back then, bands such as Earth Crisis and Snapcase -- metal bands packaged and marketed as Hardcore bands -- were painted as the new face of Hardcore music. Fortunately, a few Hardcore purists saw it more as vandalism and took the musical direction of the scene into their own hands.

By 1995, a handful of bands rejected the status quo of the new scene and started repairing the damage done by Victory -- record by record, show by show. While bands like Ignite, Mouthpiece, Floorpunch, Ten Yard Fight, In My Eyes, 97a and Rain On The Parade would never be able to move the amount of "units" that any of the bands in your feature could move, they were undeniably the reason that Hardcore did not vanish into the metal abyss perpetuated by the likes of Tony Brumell. They were also the reason your magazine now has a Hardcore revival to write about, which by the way, has been going on for 10 years now. Get with the times.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by how bad your Hardcore special turned out. Not when you charge a handful of outsiders and rookie newbs with writing it. To mix bonified Hardcore bands such as Triple Threat, Righteous Jams, Mental, Paint It Black, Outbreak and Champion in with the likes of overtly metal-influenced bands like Bane, Converge and Terror (who have gone down hill since Todd Jones departed the band on his own terms) shows the true colors of your writing staff, which is decidedly green.

And don't even get me started on Laura Wiebe Taylor. At first, I thought she might have fallen into this assignment as a guesture of gratitude by Johan Bayer after she held his coat while he was off moshing. Instead, it just turned out to be bad judgement. Afterall, why would you select someone with a background in metal to write for your Hardcore special? A google search had her name turn up at Unrestrained Magazine, which is apparently Canada's "Authority on the Metal Underground."

"So what" you say? Well, if your writing staff was more in touch with our scene, they would never compare New Jersey's Triple Threat (a band that meticulously crafts it's complex sound after legendary California acts BL'AST! and Black Flag) to the likes of lunch pail mosh bands like Madball, Terror, and Bane. Such a reckless comparison in a national forum is enough to drive a straight-edge band to drink. Why is there a need for the "Rocks Like:" comparisons anyway? Is this Alternative Press or is it Amazon.com?

If you want your magazine to ever have a shred of credibility with the Hardcore scene, you'll have to do better than a couple of half-assed Hardcore "specials" written by a bunch of posers who bend over and let Victory and Trustkill Records ram it home. Until you get it right, I'll continue to wipe my hemorrhoids with your Boy Band rag.

I Have Spoken,

Ronny Little
bareboneshc@hotmail.com
http://bareboneshardcore.blogspot.com

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From the desk of Johan Bayer, editor of that Alternative Press "Bringing It Back: A.P.'s Hardcore Special" feature:

Hey Ronnie,

If Anal Cunt wrote a song about you it would be called:

"You Used To Sing For Rain On The Parade"

Thanks for your input and for once again reinforcing hardcore's sexist stereotypes--I'm sure that all four people who read your blog are very proud! JB

HA! Well, I suppose I deserved that Johan. To set the record straight, the only song floating around out there written about yours truly would be Mouthpiece's "What Remains," but I will gladly lend my name to the Anal Cunt discography if it will help you and your staff find closure for the new asshole I just tore all of you.

It is such rich irony that a guy who works for a magazine filled from cover to cover with pictures of nothing but MALE musicians would call me a sexist. Why don't you page through that March issue of Alternative Press and tell me how many women are pictured that aren't models, actresses, or random girls being asked if tattos are still fashionable? If I'm taking A.P.'s word for it, it looks like the only music worth checking out is the kind made by retarded young white males.

I'll take my four well-informed readers over your magazine's legion of posers any day.

Pose Hard, brah.

Ronny Little

Hardcore Archeology: The Young Republicans

2005-12-21T16:14:00.000-05:00

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE YOUNG REPUBLICANS BUT COULDN'T CARE LESS ENOUGH TO ASK:

Commentary by: Porcell

The YR's were my first stab at a punk band, circa 9th grade. The band consisted of 3/4's of the original Youth of Today lineup, namely me on guitar, Graham Phillips on bass and Darren Pesce on drums. We had a singer named Eric that didn't really show up to practice too often, mostly because he was slowly turning away from punk and hanging out with the "Drami's" at school. In case you don't know what a Drami is, it's the type of kid who hangs out at the drama club after school, smokes clove cigarettes and dresses in a psuedo-new wave jacket with puffy shoulders, skinny tie and a Cure button. You had to grow up in the 80's to really unappreciate this type of pretentious geek. Needless to say, as punks, the drami's were our arch enemies, so we booted Eric from the band rather quickly and maliciously.

By this time we were well into high school and pretty serious about the band, so we started looking for a new singer, with absolutely no luck for months. It was tough because me and Graham were really the only 'core kids around and punk was so alien back then that the rest of the school literally thought we should be locked up. Then our break came. Rumor had it that a skinhead had moved to the area and was going to North Salem high school, not far from where I lived. Graham and I cut out of school early and drove over to North Salem, asking everyone in the parking lot if they knew about this skinhead character, which every single person did. "Yeah that fucking weirdo? He's here, you'll see him when he gets out of class for sure, you can't fucking miss him!" We knew we had found a kindred spirit without even meeting this dude.

Sure enough, out walks this kid in full boots, braces and flight jacket, head shaved to the bone. I can't tell you how radical it was back then to shave your head not only with a buzzer, but with a razor. No one did that back then. The dude looked friggin' awesome, just for the shock and awe he generated by his appearance alone. We introduced ourselves, and he seemed psyched to have some friends because it was apparent he had made a lot of enemies at school already. He became our new singer that day without even trying out.

His name was Sam, and he was an interesting character. He was the son of these rich, ultra left wing intellectuals from the city who sought greener pastures out in the countryside of Westchester. Sam, unfortunately, had to be relocated kicking and screaming and was really bummed to leave the city. He was young but had already been to his fair share of shows and would dazzle us with stories about the lower east side, A7, moshing at CBGB's, and Harley Flanagan, the leader of a "punk gang called the Cro-Mags." Sam would come with us to the Anthrax when it was a tiny art gallery in Stamford, Connecticut and was the first person I ever heard describe slam dancing as "skanking." Thus he became known at the 'thrax as Sam the Skanking Skinhead, and he would go nuts on the dancefloor for every band.

Sam at the John Jay Highschool Battle of the Bands

Sam was really good friends with this kid Niels, a half oriental skinhead from the city who was better known as "Womp'm", the guy who drew all those awesome early Agnostic Front and Cro-Mags flyers (if you've never seen these before, do some searching on the internet, they were incredible). Womp'm would come up to Westchester to visit Sam from time to time, and when he did it was a big deal for us. We'd sit in Sam's room for hours while Womp'm would hold court and play all these new 7"s that came out, like the Abused, Cause For Alarm, Urban Waste and Antidote. We'd spin the records and practice moshing around the bed and stagediving off the dresser.

Niels came with us to the Anthrax once to see Youth Brigade, and he was a fury on the dancefloor. He broke his nose during Youth Brigade's set, and I raced up to the bathroom to see if he was ok, only to watch in awe as he crunched his crooked nose straight again with his hands and ran back downstairs to continue moshing before the song was even over. The dude was hardcore.

So, back to the Young Republicans... with Sam in the band we ditched all our Circle Jerks and Dead Kennedys cover songs and started writing our own material. Before long we had enough songs for a demo, so we recorded in the this tiny studio in the back of a music store in Katonah. Some of the music from that demo actually became Youth of Today songs in later incarnations. Here's the breakdown...

First Show -- The Anthrax

1. High School Rednecks: The music later became "Straight Edge Revenge" note for note. This was the first song on the demo and one of our big "hits," at least with the Anthrax crowd. "High school rednecks with long hair, chewing tobacco and going nowhere." Laugh, but rednecks were a big problem for us back then and would constantly would try to kick our ass. They were worse than the jocks. If you're not from north of White Plains, you just won't understand.

2. Respect For Authority (None): This song basically became "Stabbed In the Back." The lyrics were your standard "Fuck all parents, teachers and bosses" fare.

3. Backyard Bomb: "Expectations" was a modified version of this song, but with slightly different picking. About nuclear war. Remember, it was the Reagan era; that was some scary shiz.

4. Tumor: The music never became anything YOT, although it was a pretty decent (and blatant) rip off of Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown." It was about how everything you eat causes cancer, which was pretty ironic considering we ate at McDonalds every day.

5. We're Gonna Sabotage Your Cookout: This one also never graduated to the Can't Close My Eyes ep, but it was our genuine hit song nonetheless. It's basically a fantasy about a gang of punks turning up at a suburban backyard cookout and busting the whole thing up. It was sort of like our "Fight For Your Right To Party."

6. We Got the Beat: Yep, a punk version of the Go-Go's song. Another Anthrax fave. Moby would tear it up for this one.

There might have been other songs on the demo, but quite honestly I haven't heard the damn thing in about 2 decades so that's all that's left in the memory banks. I've actually been trying to track down a copy for years, but I fear that, like Atlantis, it may have become lost over time. If anyone manages to get their hands on one, let me know.

One last cool anecdote in the short but illustrious career of the Young Republicans... like I said, the entirety of John Jay High hated us and thought we sucked, which made us very suspicious when the official Drami band called (and I shit you not) Purple Forest challenged us to a battle of the bands. Of course we couldn't back down because you don't show fear to your enemies, but they were much better musicians than us and could play Talking Heads songs flawlessly. Everyone thought we were gonna get seriously chumped in front of the whole school. On a whim, we made flyers for the event, complete with directions to John Jay auditorium and brought them to the Anthrax one weekend. Quite honestly I didn't think any of the Anthrax crowd were going to show because Connecticut was kind of far from our school and most of the punks that hung out there were older (like 19, which seemed really freakin' old to us at the time).

Porcell at the John Jay Highschool Battle of the Bands

On the night of the battle, though, in an amazing display of scene unity, practically the whole entire Connecticut hardcore scene showed up to support us. Jeff Cud, one of the sound guys at the Anthrax, had this punk car called the Cudmobile that was covered with stickers and had a huge cow with the CTHC symbol spraypainted on the hood, and you can't imagine how psyched we were when we saw that thing pull into the John Jay parking lot, followed by about 6 other graffittied junk cars. Out stumbled about 2 dozen punks dressed in chains and leather. The New Haven crew were Exploited-type punks, and they were in rare form -- drunk, mohawked and completely obnoxious. They looked totally intimidating and we loved it.

The librarian who was taking tickets at the door was literally scared out of her mind when the Anthrax crew marched up to the door, and she refused to let them in. I personally complained to the principal, pulling the "discrimination" card since there were no restrictions over who was allowed to come to these kind of open events. The principal walked over and said, "What can we do, we have to let them in..."

We were psyched. The school was scared. Graham hit the opening bass line of "High School Rednecks" and the slamming started. It was bedlam. There wasn't any security whatsoever, just a few teachers who were plainly too freaked out to intervene. Mohawked bodies flew off the stage; everyone was grabbing the mic singing along. The rest of the school looked on wide-eyed as we went off. We managed to play all our songs plus a cover of "Wonderbread" by the Vatican Commandos with me on vocals, Cappo on drums, Fudd from No Milk On Tuesday on bass and the guitarist for the VC's on guitar. Then the gym teacher told us we had to stop because there were too many people onstage. Purple Forest had a tough act to follow.

Covering "Wonderbread" (Cappo on drums in the background)

From then on at school, people treated me with a strange kind of respect. Granted, they still thought I was a freakin' psychopath, but they all knew I had this whole exciting, creative life outside the scope of their tiny boring world. And it's been that way for me ever since - I've been on the outside and happy to be there.

I know this is kind of long, but I think I just needed to get this out of my system and tell all there is to tell about the semi-obscure Young Republicans and get it over with. To the 3 people out there who care, I salute you...

Porcell

Random Related Fact: In the entire history of North Salem High School, the only students to get officially expelled were Wendy O'Williams of the Plasmatics, Sam Collins of the Young Republicans and Gavin Van Vlack of Burn.

Dancefloor Diaries

2005-12-16T10:44:00.000-05:00

Memories provided by Release guitarist, Chris Zusi.
"I think we took 3 cars packed with equipment from South Jersey up to the show (in retrospect, I live about 50 min East on Rt 78 from Bethleham, why I drove 1.5 hours to South Jersey to drive 3 hours up to Wally's I'll never know). On the way up to the show, somewhere in Pennsylvania, Cap's 1982 Camaro just died - I think the transmission might have fallen out or something stupid like that. What could we do? We needed to get to the show so we piled all of the stuff/people from his car into the other cars and left his car for dead on the side of the road."

"Wally's was a cool place, I think I went there 3 or 4 times. Wally's and Oliver J's were the two Pennsylvania venues that had shows on par with CB's, City Gardens, and the Anthrax, so it was a cool alternative. I don't ever remember there being any drama at Wally's. I remember some (skinhead) sketchiness at Oliver J's, but never Walley's."

"I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Turning Point jumped on the show and played 4-5 songs. Release opened the show and the NY bands were late, so to kill time TP played some songs using our equipment - they played as a 4 piece, I think Nick wasn't there so Jay played bass."

"This was right around the time that the Turning Point demo came out. I remember they were excited that the demo was out and gave us copies. We got along great with those guys and ended up playing quite a few shows together over the years."

"The flyer was drawn by Cris Cap, the drummer for Release. Cap was always drawing cartoon crowd scenes, hooded SxE dudes, dudes with POS tops. He was a great artist (he's actually a tattooist now). Cap also drew the hooded figures on the Release shirts, don't think he did any other artwork for bands."

Contest

2005-12-15T15:20:00.000-05:00

Okay, after an entire week I have received exactly two crank calls for the most recent contest. One was a mildly amusing tale of mental midgetry, and the other call was a dude who forgot what he was going to say because my phone rang too many times. So, due to a lack of contestants, I'm bagging the crank call contest and announcing a new contest.

Since we are rapidly approaching holidays, I thought it might be nice to have some Seasons Greetings cards to hang on the ol' BBHC "online mantle." For this new contest, I am asking that participants look online and find some holiday e-cards. Send your e-card to me at bareboneshc@hotmail.com with an original, heartfelt personalized message of holiday cheer/nastiness/humbugery/potshots like this one. Any contestant sending a card worthy of going onto the mantle (I will post it on the site) will get to choose one gift from Santa's sack. Please include your real email address so I know how to contact the winners.

The contents of the bag:

*Blue Monday "Rewritten" LP -- purple
*Internal Affairs s/t LP -- green vinyl
*Set To Explode s/t CD
*86 Mentality s/t CD
*Hardware Fanzine "Complete Collection" CD
*Right On "No Joke" EP -- Pink vinyl, pink cover

Contest Ends December 24, 2005 at 11:59 p.m.

X Tamborine Free X

2005-12-14T09:47:00.000-05:00

I was at the gym this morning, hanging out on the eliptical machine for my daily dose of cardio-torture. I forgot to bring some music with me, making the situation worse as I flipped through the channels between morning shows, sports "Top 10 List" shows, basketball highlights, and local news. Lame. There's nothing worse than cardio when you're bored.

Then finally, mericifully, the Washington Sports Club video channel decided to switch from the hip hop crap they always have on to The Cult's "Firewoman." Sweet. This would entertain me for at least 3 minutes, or roughly 10% of the time I was planning to spend on the machine.

I was watching the video, rocking out, thinking "yes, this is indeed what Uniform Choice was aiming for, down to the tassels hanging off of that dude's leather jacket" when suddenly I saw a quick shot of the singer rocking a tamborine. A tamborine! So, I start to listen to the music more closely to see if my untrained ear could pick up the faintest sound of a tamborine anywhere in the music, and I just wasn't hearing it. It looked like the use of the tamborine was just for show, which I hate.

Don't get me wrong. I can identify. There are times when, as a singer, you need something to do while the rest of the band is busy bringing the mosh. As a singer, whenever you hit a stretch where there's no lyrics, you suddenly become uncomfortably aware that everybody else on stage is doing something, and you are no longer pulling your own weight. It's the worst feeling.

Do I jump around? Play the air guitar? High five the crowd? Fuck! If I was GG Allin, I would've just pulled my pants down and stuck the microphone up my ass, but that would've hardly been "posi," and it would've just killed the whole sing-a-long vibe from there on out.

For the record, when I wrote a bunch of the Rain on the Parade songs, I tried very hard to exclude mosh parts for that very reason. On the few moments where I wasn't shooting off my mouth, I'd either spit, or go for a drink of water. I've never been the guy who dives into the crowd or jumps into the pit. It has never been my style, and just between you and me, I always sucked at both anyway.

But back to tamborines. I got to thinking about it, and I'm pretty certain that in 26 years of existence, hardcore music has been relatively tamborine-free. I can think of one example of a tamborine on a hardcore record, and that would be "Don't Got To Prove It" by Civ on the Set Your Goals LP, and even then, with the lack of anything other than a guitar and Civ's voice, a tamborine makes sense. It adds a layer.

My problem with tamborines, as well as things like bongos, mainly stems from cover bands that I've seen over the years I suppose. Whenever I'd see a cover band that had a tamborine player or a bongo player, it was always obvious that, despite the fact that these dudes couldn't play a lick, they wanted to be considered "musicians" anyway. These are people that desperately want to be able to say, "I'm in a band," which makes me want to scream "poser!" from the peanut gallery. My wife and I have actually gotten in arguments about this, believe it or not. She thinks they add to the experience, and I disagree, vehemently at times.

"What? Hardcore bands don't have tamborine players, or the equivelent?" she asked me once.

"No tamborine players. Hardcore has stage potatoes and Gus Straight Edge, but there's a difference" I told her.

She didn't understand. Whenever I discuss anything remotely hardcore, my wife just kind of glazes over and changes the subject abruptly. But she kind of did have a point. Even hardcore has that tamborine element to it, without the tamborine, of course. I mean, why the hell do I know who Gus Straight Edge is, anyway? He was on the cover of The Way It Is, but he wasn't in any of the bands, right? And come to think of it, when I look at that famous cover photo, both of Mr. Straight Edge's hands are obscured by band and crowd. There could be a tamborine in either of them. But I digress.

I am so thankful that over the past 26 years, hardcore has remained a form music that has kept things barebones. Strings, skins, and guts. Nothing else, with the exception of the occasional harmonica ("Start Today" by Gorilla Biscuits) and piano ("Scared" by Verbal Assault), which were both done masterfully.

I may not be xpoison-freex, but I will always strive to be xtamborine-freex, which is really more important when you think about it.

Hardcore Art Gallery: The Cramps "Bad Music For Bad People" LP

2005-12-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

Commentary by: Jason Powell

They say hindsight is 20/20, and that isn't any overstatement when it comes to reconciling expressions of individuality that clash with contemporary values. One of the greatest myths of the avant-garde is that they are the heralds of the future, the enlightenment, when often, nothing is further from the truth. Instead, the mainstream often attempts to rewrite history to assimilate what they had previously ignored into the narrative, as if they had been "down" with everything all along, when in reality, they usually were the ones placing these things in the "lower" categories.

Hardcore punk in the early 80's was usually maligned and regarded as a talentless and meatheaded bunch of clowns, but of course, now virtually every mainstream music critic references bands like Black Flag or people like Ian Mackaye in the same way self important people drop names of celebrities to try and prove their hipsterness. And in a similar way, the art world has also rejected work they considered too lowbrow to be considered worthy of recognition. One of the harshest labels that used to be attached to an artist was "illustration" or "graphic" or "comic."

To some extent that view is still very common, but in recent years the art world has lavished a lot of praise for comics, or what they call graphic novels, and similarly, artwork that would have been classified as commercial art is now also widely recognized as critically and aesthetically valid. As if to prove the point, the latest copy of ARTnews magazine features comic-book artists on the cover, highlighting an exhibit at the MOCA in Los Angeles called "Masters of American Comics."

Of course, in the same way as comic fans hardly care if the art can be seen in a museum, punks seldom cared if the establishment paid any attention to their culture. In the 80's, there may not have been too many people praising Stephen Blickenstaff's artwork, but their failure to recognize one of the coolest album covers is their loss. It has such a great graphic impact - well balanced positive and negative space combined with bold gestures of line and form as well as excellent use of contrast.

First of all, the drawing makes great use of weight and texture. The outlining shapes are emphasized by the way the cross hatching and shading don't push right up to the edge, allowing the line to stand out from the background, but you will notice it merges right into the thicker black lines of the hair, which gives the shapes body and definition. Neither does the cross-hatching use the same montonous direction, but the lines split and break up into different directions to spread out and fill the area in a way that sculpts the space into form. The use of the yellow background adds dynamic punch. A color like blue or red at full intensity wouldnt reflect enough light to highlight the relationship of light and dark in the artwork, but even at full saturation, yellow works. Not only that, but the minimal color even allows a peek of white in the teeth and eyes, so that even though there are only two inks used, yellow and black, you get three "colors." Even though this wasnt a diy release, it just goes to show how you can get extremely effective results by being creative with limited resources.

On that note, some may wonder why I chose to look at this cover instead of a more typically hardcore release. After all, the Cramps would be hard to place in the "hardcore" category these days. But the thing is, this wasn't some poppy New Wave band either. There used to be a score of bands that couldn't easily be categorized, that were all lumped in with the vague "underground" culture of the 80's, so it might not fit in with Judge, or Negative Approach, but I think it definitely could fit in with bands like X or the Minutemen or even possibly bands like the Dead Kennedy's or the Misfits. And, not to mention, it was at a Cramps show that could be said to have set in motion what came to be harDCore in Washigton DC.

But ultimately, this record seemed just as anti to me as hardcore was, it practically says "dont buy me" on the cover, only a weirdo, only a creep, could like this music. Which is of course exactly why I knew I had to get it, just based on the cover alone.

Reading Between the Lines by Brian Murphy

2005-12-08T18:47:00.000-05:00

This is the first installment of Reading Between the Lines. The plan is to make this a weekly or biweekly post where the focus is a discussion with artists and a slab of their wax. The discussion will be centered on the piece of wax, literally. We'll be talking about those tiny scratchings stuck in between your favorite music and a brilliantly colored paper label. You've seen the marks; a sentence fragment, a short phrase. And if you are like me, you've said to yourself, "what the hell does that mean?" Then you flip over the b-side and make the same remark again, except this time, the puzzlement is doubled. Expect this column to dispel your worry and maybe even clear up a rumor or two.

Now, you can expect very little commentary from me -- feel free to breathe a sigh of relief now. However, to start it off, I'll give you a brief rundown of my hardcore history. And when I say brief, I mean brief. Unlike some of the columnists, I haven't been around for 20+ years. Hell, I've barely been around for 10+ years. It all started back in the early 90s. My older brother and I got into the core. But we lived in Maine, so times were tough. I moved to Worcester, Mass for college in 1997, met some awesome dudes and really started to understand what hardcore was all about. There's a huge difference between listening to the Minor Threat discography in your bedroom in Maine and watching Ten Yard Fight whip 600 kids into a frenzy at the First and Second Church. Later, I joined up with a couple of dudes (shout outs to Casali and Jim C.) and formed the website howsyouredge.com. I was never in a band. I never published a paper zine. I didn't have a distro. I never made patches. Hell, I wasn't even a good stage diver. Fortunately and unfortunately, I'm still not a good stage diver. That's it. That's all you need to hear about me. Now let's get to those etchings.

For the inaugural run, I decided to first run the question by Todd Jones. You'll recall Todd Jones. He's played in every mid 90s, early 2k band that was seriously worth jocking. Carry On, Terror. Now he's in Snake Eyes, Betrayed, Internal Affairs, ... I'm sure there are more too. He's always got a project lurking behind one corner or another. We began with his newest release, Betrayed - Addiction on Bridge 9 records.

Side A - "Sean O Leary has BETRAIDS"

Side B says "the T n A Sessions."

On the surface, pretty unintelligible. BETRAIDS?!?! T n A?!?! Did they have strippers hooking up lap dances in between tracks or what? Who's spreading venereal diseases? Todd clears it up quickly.

Todd - Sean O Leary posted on my myspace comments saying "I've got BetrAIDS" and I thought it was the funniest shit ever.

Todd - "The T n A sessions" just means the "Todd and Aram sessions". Cuz that's basically what it is.

Ok, simple enough. Next, we dove into Carry On's release on Teamwork Records, Roll With the Punches EP. This one was a little more personal to the band.

Side A "Don't blame me..."

Side B "I live in a metal scene"

A metal scene? In Southern California during the late 90s? The EP labels and Todd clear up the rest.

Todd - The a side label says "fuck," where the b side label says "California" cuz California didn't give a shit about us. All our support came from the East Coast, it seemed. California was all metal with Throwdown/Adamantium. Hardcore shows were like 50 people deep.

Todd had such good things to say, I decided to run the question by Chris Corry, as well. Everyone knows Chris Corry. You hated him in the late 90s Rev. days. You loved him in the 2000s LWR days. Plus, like Todd, he can also wield the axe. His resume is pretty decent; Stop And Think, Righteous Jams, Mind Eraser, Soul Swallower, ... Here's what he had to say in regards to the latest release he played on, the Soul Swallower S/T EP, which was released on Bob Shedd's new label, Collapse Records.

Side A "Straight"

Side B "Edge"

CC - Self explanatory. We tried to be pretty blatant about it because we dont really fit the sxe hc mold.

Makes sense to me. A talented group of edgemen with a very non "youth crew" sound who don't want you to be confused. That's very considerate of them.

Next, we talked about the Mind Eraser "Cave" LP on Painkiller Records. This matrix is a bit more obscure with more lore.

Side A: They'll tell you black is really white

Side B: The moon is just the sun at night

CC - Those are two lines from the climax of the Black Sabbath song Heaven and Hell which is from their first record with Ronnie James Dio. Around the time that we were writing the music and recording it Justin and I got really obsessed with that era of the band and that record in particular. We had this show up in montreal, and we drove up with Think I Care and RNR. When Eric Yu was in the band, Justin and I kept making him play this cassette of it over and over. At around 2 AM, somone was like "Eric you doin okay up there?" to see if he was like falling asleep, and he just goes "no, I can't take this music anymore". He thought it was like some cruel joke, but really I think that's the best power metal record ever. Iommi does Priest. I think the vibe of the song is kind of similar to our album too, so we wanted to include something from it in the matrix. Side note: Justin and I met Ronnie James 2 Octobers ago at the Palladium. One of the best shows I've ever been to, and I'm not being some asshole who's like into it ironically.

Now that's a good story.

So there you have it. Stories told. Mysteries explained. Confused senses cleared up. I hope you enjoyed. Now, if you have a piece of wax with matrix wording that you could never understand, hit me up. Maybe I can track down that answer for you. Peace.

Contest

2005-12-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

I want you to reach out and touch me. Good touch, bad touch...doesn't matter. Just make it funny or interesting. Call me at 703.505.4149, anytime -- day, night, in the middle of REM sleep -- and leave me a message. Winning voicemails will be transcribed and posted to BBHC for all to see.

Winners will get to choose one record from the prize closet. Currently records available for the taking:

*Blue Monday "Rewritten" LP -- purple
*Internal Affairs s/t LP -- black with bside etching
*Set To Explode s/t CD
*86 Mentality s/t CD
*Hardware Fanzine "Complete Collection" CD

After leaving your message, please send an email to me at bareboneshc@hotmail.com so I know how to contact you in the event that you win. Also, please be sure to tell me a detail or two about your call so that I can verify the winner. Contest ends 12:01 a.m. January 1, 2006, or whenever the prizes run out -- whichever comes first.

New Barebones Hardcore logo

2005-12-06T10:23:00.000-05:00

Check out the new Barebones Hardcore logo, generously donated by Giancarlo DiMarchi. If none of you are familiar with Gian's work, it's great. Be sure to check out his blog.

Thnx Gian!

Little Things

2005-12-05T09:25:00.000-05:00

Ian,

Sorry to bug you with this, but it's had me wondering for a few days...

I was listening to the song Salad Days the other day. I have heard this song at least a thousand times over the past 17 years, and for the first time the other day, I noticed that in a portion of the song toward the middle, it sounds like Lyle is playing his guitar into a mic w/out it being plugged into an amp. Was this done on purpose? Who thought of that, and how did it come to be on the record?

Little insignificant thing, I know, but I'm totally curious...

Ronny

Ronny,

I believe that Lyle overdubbed an acoustic guitar on 'Salad Days', which I think is what you are hearing. I have recorded electric guitar with a mic (and no amp) at some point, but I can't remember what song it was. I don't think it was particularly striking in the end result, but the texture was nice.

Take care,
Ian

This Year's Selection for Hardcore's All-Time Turkey: Bad Brains "Rise" LP

2005-11-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

In terms of entries, this has been the best contest yet. A lot of you wrote in with your nominations, and many interesting and compelling arguments were made. Thank you so much to everyone who took such an enthusiastic interest in the contest this time around.

Without a doubt, the self-titled Warzone LP and Token Entry's Weight of the World LP drew the most attention, but many of the arguments made weren't compelling enough for me to stick either of those birds on the table this year. Since I plan on making this contest an annual tradition here at BBHC, there's always next year to make your case.

The winner of the first annual "Hardcore's All-Time Turkey" goes to Bas Lochorn, who did an excellent job of carving up the Bad Brains "Rise" LP. Congrats Bas!

First off, when choosing a a record from a band that should be listed as the biggest atrocity of the hardcore scene, it better be a band that mattered. You could take Intensity, with their songs about bald eagles and screaming words like "Yummie" like a New Kid On The Block with an erection, but them writing a bad 7" like that had zero to no effect on the hardcore scene whatsoever. So who cares, right?

Secondly, from a band's point of view, it almost has to be a later era record, where the band totally destroyed a solid reputation and a legacy of music. If a band only released one record, and it sucks the life out of the room when spinning it, than the band never even deserved any credit anyway. But if you take Warzone, who released a lot of good releases ("Lower East Side Crew", "Don't Forget The Struggle..", "Open Your Eyes") and then proceeded to mix Van Halen with Tone Loc on their "S/T" album, they, and no one else, foiled, soiled and destroyed their own reputation. The Warzone after that album could never manage to become again the Warzone from before. Even recording their most famous 7" again was a big miss.

Thirdly, it should be possible to take a record from a hardcore band, that no longer can be considered "hardcore". If they wrote bad hardcore, that's one thing, but straying from the path of "Loud, fast rules" and then making a crap record, should doom their reputation for eternity.

So here's my pick for "Hardcore Music's All Time Turkey"

Bad Brains - "Rise" (Sony Music)

Let's face it, any record of the Bad Brains without the rock solid foundation of Hr, Dr. Know, Darryl and Earl is a disgrace. These four people have created hardcore from scratch, and in no way can they be replaced with "hired guns" (pun definitley intended!). First off, changing a frontman is a bit harder to do than, let's say, a drummer. Sure, each member provides their own style to the band, but a voice is recognizable, and in the Bad Brains' case provides them with a face of their own. No singer can swoon, croon, scream, whine, growl, howl and rip it like HR. After him, there is no one else... "Joseph Israel" tried and failed, for the simple fact that he is not HR. Who can really blame the guy, right?

Having Mackie of Cro-Mags fame on drums gives them still a little more "hardcore" cred, but like said before, you can't change this four-piece that started it all. Without them there is no Bad Brains. Plain and simple.

The music is a story in itself. It's just plain bad. And having the name Bad Brains attached brings along high expectations. And these were not met in a long way. In my humble opinion they were already losing "the Midas touch" when recording "Quickness". It was the first time it became clear that the were running out of ideas. If a band should "quit while you're ahead", the Bad Brains should have stopped after "Quickness". As read in an interview: "Where do you go after 50 songs? What could the next 50 bring differently?" And I guess it was true. "Rise" surely didn't come close in proving otherwise.

Maybe it isn't even JUST "Rise". The 95' Maverick Records disaster "God Of Love" is the same way all over again. And this time, losing their name and their spirit to go on. Soul Brains? Give me a break...

Fact of the matter is, "Rise" set in an era of one of the biggest, best and most innovative bands of the hardcore scene EVER, to turn into a joke. With a reputation that can never be mended again. All that is left, when admiring the Bad Brains, is a horrid sense of nostalgia... And nostalgia is the death for any good band. "Remember when the Bad Brains we're great?

Bas Lochorn

From the Fort Worth Star Telegram

2005-11-22T16:31:00.000-05:00

The old switcheroo: Guys wearing girl pants? Yep, you read it right.

By ERIN GROPE
Whatever Staff Writer

Editor’s note: We asked readers to guess which models were boys and which were girls in a photo display that accompanied this story on Page 10E of Tuesday’s Star-Telegram. Here are the answers: From left to right, it’s girl-boy-girl-boy-girl.

Teen fashion is a weird, fast-changing world, and the newest twist is a gender-bender. Take a stroll through the mall or stop by the local teen hangout and you will not be able to miss it: Boys are wearing girls' jeans. They're wearing them every day, everywhere, and for every reason. And for today's teens, this is all perfectly normal.

Guys have begun to shop in the juniors department for jeans, buying the tightest pants they can find. John Weimer, who works at Pacific Sunwear, said guys shop there all the time now for girl pants. "It shouldn't be normal," he said, commenting humorously that this trend goes against all moral values and traditions.

Trey Lyon, a junior at Boswell High School, wears girl jeans almost every day. So do quite a few of his friends. He explains it with what I've found is the most common reason for the phenomenon: He says he wears girl pants "because they are comfortable and they fit my style."

Not all guys are into the girl pants trend. This particular style is almost always related to the guy's music preference, as are most styles nowadays. These girl-pants guys typically refer to themselves as "hardcore" music fans (not to be confused with "emo" listeners, of course). Hardcore music can be described as "punk with a message," combining stop-and-go rhythms with harsh vocals. They and many others who enjoy this musical version of self-expression let their individuality show by dressing in this formerly unheard-of way.

One female salesclerk at American Eagle said that she can always tell when a guy comes in to get girl jeans. "They just kind of look around . . . so I tell them what styles they will like best, and when they try them on they like them."

"Guys almost always come in with other guys," Weimer said. "They are very secretive about it, too," as if they don't want anyone to know what they are about to buy.

Though some guys in girl pants have girlfriends, they usually don't share jeans. "We wear the same size, but we have never shared pants," Trey said of his girlfriend.

Popular stores for guys looking for girls' jeans are American Eagle, Hot Topic and PacSun. And, guys, take it from a girl: Target and Hollister are also good places to find girl pants. Just don't be scared to ask for help!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wonder if they wear panties, too? -- Ronny

Thanksgiving Contest

2005-11-21T17:02:00.000-05:00

There are thousands and thousands of different hardcore records out there. Maybe even a million, who knows. There are a quite a few classics that distinguish themselves from the legions of mediocre and poorly executed records that make up most of the rest.

And then there are the collosal failures. You know what I'm talking about. The records that came after Wig Out and Scream for Change, to name a couple. The Hardcore "turkeys."

Since the Thanksgiving holiday is nearly upon us, I thought it might be fun to fire up a few of those Hardcore turkeys to celebrate the day. If you'd like to participate in the contest, please e-mail me your suggestion for Hardcore Music's All-Time Turkey at bareboneshc@hotmail.com.

I don't need an essay, and I don't need a list of all of the records you think fit the bill. I am looking for emails from BBHC readers nominating their Hardcore Music's All-Time Turkey, along with thoughts about the bands that realease them, the damage the bands did to themselves with the record, as well as the damage done to your fragile mental state and sense of hearing after giving the record a whirl or two.

The reader who makes the most compelling and amusing case for Hardcore Music's All-Time Turkey will be awarded one of the finest collections of fanzines ever assembled: Hardware Fanzine -- The Complete Collection, now available on CD format.

Please send all entries to me no later than Wednesday, November 23rd at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced at noon on Thanksgiving Day (US).

Dancefloor Diaries

2005-11-19T00:59:00.000-05:00

I am such a jack ass. I didn't go to this show because I decided that it was more important to keep my job at Cinnabon, rather than bail on work to go see No For An Answer (this would turn out to be my only opportunity to see them), Gorilla Biscuits, Insted, Beyond (only got to see them once, at Oliver J's in Allentown), and what would have been my first opportunity to see Chain of Strength.

My friends laughed at how stupid I was being, and they ended up taking my 10-year old brother to the show with them, as we would do from time to time. To this day, my brother could give two shits that he saw Chain of Strength, No For an Answer, Beyond, Insted, Gorilla Biscuits, JFA, Token Entry, Bold, Judge, Warzone, The Uprise, and Hogans Heroes -- all in their prime. If you ask him what was the best show he ever went to, he'd probably say Janes Addiction. Unreal.

Anyway, I lost touch with all of my highschool friends, and my brother has done too many drugs over the years to give me a reliable account of the show, so I contacted Steve Insted and picked his brain. These are a few of his memories of the evening:

"I remember that 'Wally's Place' was the place to play (in the Lehigh Valley) and that there was so much hype about it, that I had no choice but to feel like 'this is it?' after seeing it. I think this is the show where there was a classic photo of Kevin taken in his 'Drug Free Youth' shirt."

"A lot of kids and a low stage = good times."

"At one point Dan O' sat down on the floor 'indian style' and sang. Don't ask me, I don't get it, either. Tortured Artist, I guess. I wish Carry Nation would have played too."

"They were selling really bad GB shirts. White [cheap] t-shirts with a big orange GB with the hooded gorilla on the front, and a black live photo on the back [with 'gorilla' on the top and 'biscuits' on the bottom of the photo]. Don't worry I still wore mine even though they were horrible."

"Chain of Strength just showed up on the east coast [this show in particular] and hopped on to shows they weren't on. Normally I don't care about this kind of thing, and as much as I liked Ryan, I hated COS. I think Walter put it best once when he said 'they're like a bad house guest that won't leave.' I think the situation was this; Chris Bratton was out doing some shows with NFAA and the rest of the COS guys figured they could fly out and get on some shows. Whatever. Southern California hated them, and the East Coast and Euro's loved em'." Editor's Note -- Chain of Strength hopped on a bunch of NFAA sets during that tour, and were permitted by Dan O'Mahoney to play 2 songs. If you whip out your copy of True Til' Death, you'll notice that Side Alex says 'hey, can we play more than two songs?' and Side Pain says 'No Is Your Answer.' Fucking classic.--Ronny

World Premier Video

2005-11-10T00:07:00.000-05:00

Barebones Hardcore is happy to bring you the World Premier of "Insert Motivation Here" by The Fire Still Burns. Many thanks to Blackout Records for selecting BBHC to premier the video!

The Fire Still Burns
Insert Motivation Here

Contest: Set To Explode EP on Red Vinyl

2005-11-08T13:03:00.000-05:00

The winner of the Set To Explode EP (compliments of Grave Mistake Records) has been awarded to Kevin Maher for his recollection of his punk-rock "Outsiders" moment in highschool.

Thank you so much for all of the great entries from all of you!

"I was introduced to hardcore by the local skateborders in my freshman year of High School, 1988. We lived in a suburb north of Boston and typical of most suburbs of the 1980’s any difference to the norm was not accepted. In fact, my town was completely polarized. You were either a jock/jock supporter or an outcast. The outcasts consisted of the small number of drama club kids and hardcore kids, who did not mix. I was an anomaly in that I was a varsity hockey player, yet I listened to hardcore kid and all of my friends skated. So, more often than not, I was in the middle of a lot of tension.

The summer between my junior and senior year of High School were particularly volatile in town. Specifically, there was a younger jock Mike Roy (whom we called Mike Roids because of his sudden growth “spurt”) who had a habit of jumping kids who were skating in the local shopping center. He always did it when you least expected and was joined by his friends. It happened so many times that kids started carrying weapons on them when they went to skate. By the time the school year started, there was a definite wall between the sides, so to speak.

About midway through September, a verbal war started between my friend Bob and Roids. Bob, like many of us, came from a broken home and, again like many of us, had some trouble with shooting his mouth off. Despite being relatively short, Bob didn’t think twice about starting a fight with a kid much larger than himself and he definitely was quick to talk shit. When Roids came after him, he wouldn’t back down, even when he probably should have. From what I later learned, something had happened between Roids and his girlfriend that clearly involved Bob. The shit talking escalated to an after school brawl with a selected location and everything. Straight out of a fucking movie.

Being a partial insider, I got word that Roids friends were going to “participate” in the fight, with the idea of causing Bob some serious harm. Therefore, we gathered every hardcore kid we could find (literally going house-to-house) to counter the attack. There were only a few of us with cars (me being one of them), but we stuffed those cars with every fringe hardcore kid (and maybe a drama geek or two) we could gather as well as a dozen baseball bats.

On the way to the fight spot (a parking lot in Livingston Street park), I remember blasting Judge in the car and screaming along to the lyrics. It seriously felt like our OUTSIDERS moment was at hand and I was totally ready for a brawl. As my blue Mazda crawled down Livingston Street, to my amazement, I saw what seemed like an endless field of kids. I swear the entire fucking school came for the fight! Bob, while dumb, was not totally out of it, and quickly came to his senses about whether or not to proceed. We parked a safe distance away from the spot and brainstormed on what to do next. After some discussion, I made my way down the long paved road to meet Roids & crew face-to-face. His offer was simple -- have Bob come down and fight one-on-one or else he’ll come for each of us individually.

I walked back to the car and told my friends the news. We were overwhelming on the same page —- Bob must fight Roids, and we’ll all jump in and kick his ass. David (+ crew) vs. Goliath. Never had I felt so united to a mission. We screamed at the top of our lungs, threw the bats in the trunk and jumped into the cars. The cars strolled down the length of the street again to the open lot where all were around. As we approached, Bob stuck his head out the window, screamed “Fuck you Roids” and threw a basketball at his head. Roids dropped. At this point, a crew of jocks jumped at my car, causing me to instinctively hit the gas, swerve around the crowd, and in the direction I just came. People ran after us, but once we hit the main road, we were free at last, laughing and talking about how funny it was when Roids hit the ground.

The next day in school, tensions were super high as everyone waited to see what would happen. As it turns out, Bob disappeared for a few days and when he came back things seemed to have blown over. Roids never followed up on his promise to kick all of our asses, though he did continue to jump the occasional unsuspecting kid.

My senior year was filled with back-and-forth antagonism between us and the football team. We were always outnumbered and I could not wait to graduate. The only thing that saved me from total boredom in High School was going to shows and listening to hardcore with friends. Seeing some of those same jocks later get into hardcore was always puzzling to me. Hardcore seemed to be the place for misfits, not the in crowd.

Thirteen years later, I’ve yet to go to a reunion, though I often wonder what happened to some of those kids that gave us such a hard time. God, I fucking hated high school."

-- Kevin Maher

Bring the Mosh, Motherfuckers!

2005-11-07T00:01:00.000-05:00

"He who is not a mosher before he is 40 hath no heart. He who is still a mosher after he is 40 hath no head." -- Ancient Chinese Proverb

Check out: The Coalition Against Hardcore Dancing

The videos and hatemail are hilarious.

Two Questions, Mr. McMahon

2005-11-05T17:45:00.000-05:00

1. Where the hell is Schuster?

2. Why haven't I ever heard about this before?

We Load the Gun, and We Pull the Trigger

A Urinestorm To Purify

2005-11-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

'Straight Edge' teen arrested in Reno
Suspect booked on battery charges after throwing cup of urine at van

Jaclyn O 'MALLEY
JOMALLEY@RGJ.COM
Posted: 10/18/2005

A Reno teen who follows the "Straight Edge" lifestyle was arrested on charges of throwing a cup of urine at a van full of California teens who asked him where to buy drugs, Reno police said.

The 16-year-old boy was booked into the Jan Evans Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of battery related to Monday morning's road-rage incident. His name was not released because he is a juvenile.

Joseph Grund, 20, was cited for reckless driving.

Straight Edge refers to a philosophy of an alcohol- and drug-free lifestyle and no promiscuous sex. Officials say Straight Edge teens attend all Washoe County high schools in the district.

Earlier this year, the Regional Gang Unit classified Straight Edge as a gang after a six-month investigation into a series of violent crimes committed by a splinter group of teens who adhere to the lifestyle. Many Straight Edgers who contacted the Reno Gazette-Journal after a story about its gang designation disputed the classification and claimed the gangsters belong to another unaffiliated group.

About 12:30 a.m. Monday, an officer saw two cars speeding near Fifth and Bell Streets and stopped them. The seven people in the two cars claimed they were Straight Edge, police said.

Teens in a van that pulled over told the officer a boy in one of the cars threw urine inside their van after they asked him where they could buy some pills. The two cars then chased the van.

The 16-year-old told police he urinated inside a fast-food beverage cup and then threw the urine through the van's open driver's side window. He said he threw it in anger because drugs are against his beliefs. He later said it was a "stupid" and "vile" thing to do.

(Street by Street. Cup by Cup. -- Ronny)

I Survived the Hardcore Scene and All I Got Were These Lousy T-shirts

2005-11-03T11:52:00.000-05:00

Living in New York is expensive as shit. I’ve lived in both Philadelphia and Los Angeles; maintained crappy jobs, but lived somewhat comfortably. New York is different. Rent is triple and jobs are scarce. I had to sell off some of my most-prized possessions during the first few months I lived here - just to eat, have a bed to sleep in and a roof over my head. Now, simply surviving in this city feels like success. I’ve been here two years and counting and I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.

I can’t say hardcore consumes me like it once did. Some of those aforementioned prized possessions I sold were my coveted hardcore records. I still have 99% of them. But the 1% I parted with on those early-hungry days, were the ones that really hurt. Antidote went to Tru from Malfunction records. He was nice enough to include the Thou Shall Not Kill bootleg with the transaction. Others like Urban Waste, AF “United Blood” and The Fix “Jan’s Rooms” have not been replaced and most likely never will be.

At one point in my life, no matter what I saw or heard, I would somehow relate it to hardcore. I’d hear Helmet on the Radio and think “ex members of Straight Ahead”. I’d smell incense burning and think Shelter/Youth Crew. I’d see a bottle of Jolt at 7-11 and think “Wide Awake thanked Jolt for being sold at the Anthrax”. In reality it was just alt-metal listened-to by college kids who burned incense to hide the smell of the weed they’d just smoked to come down from their 24 hour-cram session-Jolt-high.

I’ve always sort of swayed in and out of hardcore. After I left ROTP I took a break. Shark Attack launched me back into things, but was short lived. Next I sought refuge in LA where I found myself involved with Knife Fight and a brief but busy residency in Terror. I came home from LA/hardcore tired and burnt out. The next few years I buried my nose in books to finish college. Finally, the music bug caught me again, but this time I found myself playing Rock and Roll in the Big Apple.

I am going to be a contributor to BBHC. On what level, I don’t know. But writing about records and the possibility of some Shark Attack shows in the near future, the pendulum may be swinging back for me. Or - maybe it’s just my last stand. Regardless, here I am… watch out.

-Smythe

Set To Explode EP on Red Vinyl

2005-11-01T15:46:00.000-05:00

You are looking at the brand new Set To Explode EP on red vinyl (limited to 300), brought to you by Grave Mistake Records. STX hail from Washington DC and feature ex-members of Striking Distance, 86 Mentality, The Aftermath, and Worn Thin.

This record is the first prize in what I hope will become a weekly contest where readers will have the opportunity to win limited vinyl, shirts, fanzines, etc. from various current labels that support Barebones Hardcore. Thanks to Alex DiMattesa and Rich Miles at Grave Mistake Records for providing this week's prize.

I first got into hardcore in 1986, but I didn't jump into it headfirst until 1987. When I started hanging around with all of the crazy punkers and skaters, a lot of people -- especially at school -- didn't get it. My sophomore year of high school, people saw my transformation from wallflower to punker as some kind of red flag. One time I got called into the guidance counselor's office because I was wearing a Suicidal Tendancies (white, with the skull wearing a red bandana...such a sweet shirt) shirt in homeroom. I wasn't aware of it, but apparently at the time I was crying out for help. Ha.

One time I came to school with a shaved down head and a Youth of Today t-shirt on. My drama teacher, Mrs. Franchois, was appalled. "Ronny Little" she chided, "a NAZI SKINHEAD! I am so disappointed in you!" Another time, my friends and I got hauled into the Vice Principal's office. All of us were certain he had us dead to rights on something, since we were all very destructive at school. We were standing at his desk, and he said "you boys haven't done anything wrong, but I just want to let all of you know that I think you are all very bizarre." My friend Mark looked at Mr. Stetzleberger's cowboy hat, then looked at him, and replied "I smell cowboys." The rest of us were excused, while Mark was asked to remain to have a chat about his comment.

Anyway, what I'm looking for is stories from all of you about your experiences at school when you first started getting into punk and hardcore. How the administration, teachers, and students reacted to you and your friends. Since nobody goes to Punk Rock Highschool, I know everyone out there has a story.

The author of the story I find most interesting will be awarded the Set To Explode EP on red vinyl. Contest ends Sunday, November 11th at 11:59 p.m. Winner will be announce Monday, November 12th at noon. All entries may be published by Barebones Hardcore!

I'm looking for conversational emails. There is no need to write up your entry like it's a professional piece. I'm looking for anecodotes, pure and simple, like something you'd see in "Banned in DC."

Thanks in advance for participating! Send all entries to me at: bareboneshc@hotmail.com

I Remember Halloween!

2005-10-31T00:20:00.000-05:00

I don't think I could have picked a better day than Halloween to introduce all of you to our newest contributor at Barebones Hardcore, Mark Kennedy. Mark is the creator of Misfits Central, and for years, wrote a column for the Misfits Fiend Club newsletter called "Kennedy's Shattered Head." After taking a few years away from all things Misfits, Kennedy is back. He will be contributing a monthly column to BBHC, focusing on The Misfits & Samhain. Enjoy!

When it came to drummers, the Misfits often resembled the fictional band Spinal Tap. From 1977 to 1983, the band went through six different “official” drummers, averaging about one per year. Five of those drummers—Manny, Mr. Jim, Joey Image, Arthur Googy, and Robo—are well-known to most fans. Diehard fiends also know that Samhain bassist Eerie Von was offered the drummer position and that Necros drummer Todd Swalla filled in at two shows. But what about that sixth drummer? By the time he joined the Misfits, Brian Keats, then known as Brian Damage, was already a veteran of the New York punk rock scene. Although his time in the band was short, a month at best, his place in history was ensured by the events that unfolded during his one and only performance with the band. Years later, with almost three decades of musical tales to tell, Brian is understandably amused that anyone wants to hear about his “Misfits minute.” Nevertheless, he is willing to provide us with a Halloween treat. He starts from the beginning…

I was into music from a really young age. My parents had good taste and through them I got into music like Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Mott The Hoople when I was really young. I was born in New York and grew up in New Jersey. In 1976, when I was 13 years old, the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, and the whole New York scene were just starting. I would save whatever money I made from cutting the grass and washing cars, take it to the record store, and buy whatever new punk rock record was on sale (there were usually only 1 or 2 a week back then—early 45s by the Sex Pistols, Damned, Jam, etc.). I had some friends that were into the same music and we would buy every release that came out. In those early days of punk rock, it was really exciting because each band and record that came out seemed like something entirely fresh and new.

I started playing drums when I was 11. I learned a bit from taking lessons in school but was mostly self-taught. My first band ever was with some local friends (one of whom was Mighty Joe Vincent, who later would switch from being a really bad guitarist to a really good drummer with the Devil Dogs), and we would play concerts out of the garage to our screaming and adoring 11-yr old female audience. There were absolutely no people around who wanted to play punk rock or even knew what the hell it was, so I always ended up in bands with people years older than me—I was 13 and playing in bands with 24-year-olds. Let’s just say lots of sneaking into clubs and many false IDs were involved. One of those groups I had in the early days was called the Strangers (a.k.a. MIA, a.k.a. the Systematics), who played a lot around the New York / New Jersey punk scene, opened for 999 and others, played live on WFMU, and also appeared on the cult favorite Uncle Floyd TV show, in my first of three visits there.

One day, I was shopping in Sam Goody in the punk section and, to my complete shock, found someone else there as well. His name was Bobby Ebz (sporting a bad-ass Banana Splits Fan Club button), who introduced me to some friends of his that I began to play with, forming the band Propaganda. Eventually Bobby and I took the guitarist from Propaganda and formed our own band, Genocide. Years ahead of the scum-rock curve, we played all the New York / New Jersey punk clubs and biker bars we could find, sharing bills with bands like the Stimulators (whose drummer Harley Flanagan, later of the CroMags, was also super-young like me and gigging in that early scene), Bad Brains, Beastie Boys, and the Undead. We eventually released one LP (Last Rites) and contributed a couple of cuts to a Dirt Club compilation.

At the time, Genocide was completely misunderstood and hated by most other bands around, often having to physically fight our way out of gigs and usually ending up banned from clubs after an appearance for causing riots, destroying the bar, etc. Genocide, and Bobby in particular, were all about shock value, Stooges-like primitivism, and veering constantly on the edge of out-of-control as a full-time lifestyle. It was funny how the punk ethic of outrageousness and non-conformity was really only allowed if you expressed that in the approved ways. Ridiculous.

Upon leaving Genocide in the summer of 1983, Brian Damage traveled to San Francisco and ended up living in the basement of a club called the Tool And Die, after joining Verbal Abuse, whose drummer had recently left to join D.O.A. After just a few months, however, Brian was summoned back to New York by an invitation to join the Misfits.

I was of course a big fan of the Misfits and had seen them many times. In fact, I met Bobby Steele in the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel on the day he joined the band in 1978. I always went to see the Misfits play because I thought they were a great live band—their gigs were also pretty infrequent and always a big event. While I was in San Francisco still playing with Verbal Abuse, I got a call from my New York roommate, saying that Glenn Danzig called, asking me to join the band. At the time, I don’t think I’d ever actually met Glenn. I think he had just seen me play in bands or had heard about me through other people.

Without hesitation, I dropped everything and moved back to New York. I took the bus out to Lodi and went to Glenn’s house for my audition. He told me that Robo wasn’t playing with the band any more and that they had a big Halloween show and possibly a tour of Germany coming up. I didn’t know the band was about to fall apart or about the dysfunctional relationships within the band and with the ex-members. I found out pretty quickly though.

We went over to the studio where they rehearsed, which was a converted garage at Jerry and Doyle’s house. My first memory of meeting those guys was them pulling up in a monster truck, blasting Van Halen’s “Unchained” on their way home from working out at the gym—not the exact image of the ghoulish Misfits that I had in my head. We went into the garage and rehearsed every song we could think of until they basically said, “You’re in, do you want to go do this thing in Detroit?” That was it—one rehearsal with the band, which doubled as my audition. We never got together to play again and I don’t remember if I even talked to them much before the Halloween show.

The Misfits’ annual Halloween show was scheduled for Saturday, October 29, 1983, at Graystone Hall in Detroit. With the imminent release of Earth A.D., a tour of Germany in the works, and a two-record deal with a German label, the Misfits appeared to be on the verge of something big. What Brian and the other Misfits didn’t know was that Glenn was disillusioned with the band and had already started rehearsing with an early incarnation of Samhain. On the morning of the 29th, Brian arrived at Glenn’s house to make the long trek from Lodi, New Jersey, to Detroit.

At Glenn’s house before we left Lodi, I spotted a copy of the ultra-hard-to-find “Cough/Cool” single, which Glenn generously offered me. Then we drove out to Detroit to play the Halloween show with the Necros at a pretty big place that held about 1,000 people. I knew the Necros guys pretty well from when they used to tour New York. When we got to Detroit that night, I started hanging out with them after soundcheck—drinking, goofing off, and having a good time. Without realizing it, I definitely started getting seriously buzzed.

Eventually, we got on stage to do the show—no set list, Glenn’s just gonna call out the songs. During the very first tune (20 Eyes?), we start playing, and of course the band is louder than all hell. I knew from seeing them so many times that they always had ten times as much equipment as they needed, but it looks good up there right? It was so freaking loud that when Glenn called out the first song, I couldn’t even hear what we were doing. It was just a complete nightmare of distortion coming through the monitors. So right after that, Doyle walks over, screaming “What the hell’s going on?” and I yell back that the sound was all fucked up and I couldn’t hear anything. So now Glenn calls out the second song, which I can’t even discern the title of through the distortion, and I’m just playing along hoping to hear something—anything—in the roar that’ll let me figure out what we’re playing. But it’s the same thing, just “KKZXRWKWKKXXZZ!!!” That’s when Doyle comes over and, still screaming, lifts me up by the collar and literally drags me from the stage.

It all happened so quickly. I was off the stage and just walked out the back door. Pacing back and forth, pissed off, I heard Glenn asking if anyone in the audience knew how to play drums. Eventually, Todd from the Necros went up and finished the show. We all stayed in Detroit that night and the next morning I was super-apologetic, trying to explain that I stupidly did have too much to drink but, more than anything, just couldn’t hear what was going on. I felt awful. The drive back to New Jersey was a solemn trip in complete silence. When we finally got home, to add insult to injury, I realized that somehow, in the tight confines of the van, I had accidentally sat on the copy of “Cough/Cool” during the trip and cracked it. Perfect.

After that I never spoke with any of those guys again. I was so fucking sunk by the whole thing, angry with myself for letting them down, and feeling like I’d just probably caused the breakup of my favorite band. On a positive note though (pretty much the only one)—as bad as the whole experience was, it was a major turning point for me, leading me to take the responsibilities of performing and being professional way more seriously from that point on.

Indeed, the Misfits had broken up. Glenn had surprised the audience and his bandmates by announcing, in the middle of the band’s set, that it was their last show ever. The Misfits were over, but Brian soldiered on. When he arrived in New York, he wasted no time and returned to what he knew best: punk rock. But his musical interests were changing.

After the Misfits, I played in a few more punk and hardcore bands, including Hellbent (who coincidentally opened for Samhain at their very first gig!), the Kretins, and the Skulls. A few years down the road though, I got tired of the whole punk scene in general, the attitude, and how violent everything had become. It had gotten away from being a place to have an original voice and it seemed like the people who used to beat up on punks were now the ones in all the bands. So I took a complete detour out of it.

That’s when I started just diving into other shit—old country blues, early jazz, Indian music, reggae—basically catching up on musical history from day one. I didn’t listen to any rock and roll for about two years. During that time though, I did start playing with rock bands like Angels In Vain and Princess Pang. Before punk existed, I had been heavily into Bowie, the Dolls, Lou Reed, and T. Rex. I loved the whole English glitter scene and I knew the guys from Angels In Vain, so when they asked me to do it, I said, “Why not?” Following that experience, I lived in London for about six months, trying to put a band together with several people, including Jimmy Pursey from Sham 69 at one point. When I came back to New York, a good friend and ex-bandmate of mine asked me to join his new group, Princess Pang, who really wanted nothing more than to be the new Sweet/Mott/Aerosmith rolled into one. Right out of the gate we got an incredible amount of interest and really good gigs, and things progressed very fast, leading to our record deal, major tours, MTV videos, and that whole thing. At the time though, I really wasn’t even interested in or listening to rock and roll. I hated hair metal and all that shit.

Princess Pang released a self-titled album in 1989 and seemed to be heading toward success, but the band imploded during a tour of the U.K. Frustrated, Brian decided to try something new.

I looked around New York for a while and found that there wasn’t much going on at the time. A friend of mine in Los Angeles invited me to join his band, which was on the verge of being signed. Although it wasn’t my ideal location, or band for that matter, I was ready for a change of scenery and this provided an opportunity to continue playing music for a living. So I sold a couple of armfuls of rare records at Bleecker Bob’s to fund the trip, getting ripped off in the process (hello Bob—you cheap bastard!). Unfortunately, when I got to L.A., I found out that the band had literally broken up during my flight out!

That’s when I met guitarist Michael Lockwood, then just out of Lions And Ghosts. Coincidentally, the last record I had bought before I left New York was Lions And Ghosts’ “Wild Garden.” We formed the band Wink, which quickly became pretty popular around the local scene. We were courted by several labels, played often with bands like Weezer, Redd Kross, and Celebrity Skin, and counted members of Cheap Trick and Jellyfish among our regular fans. Although a major deal eluded us, Wink provided me with connections and exposure that led to many other opportunities, including session and production work with Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls, Low Pop Suicide (working alongside Dave Allen of Gang Of Four), Jason Falkner, and many others.

After a few years of this session work, I once again returned to the band thing with 3 Day Wheely, who played intelligent, edgy, alternative pop. In a period of about three years, we released an indie EP, signed to IRS Records, and toured numerous times around the country with the likes of Aimee Mann, Semisonic, Gin Blossoms, and others, and had many songs used in films and on TV. On the verge of having our full-length debut CD released by IRS, the label went under and shut their doors. End of that story.

At that point, I thought, “That’s it. I just can’t spend another two or three years pouring my heart into getting another new band off the ground.” So again, I dove back into session work, touring and recording with people like Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles, Teddy Thompson, the Fuzztones and Jason Falkner. I recorded with Jordan Tarlow from the Fuzztones on his very cool garage/psych solo record, “Tonebender,” and also played briefly with Dave Vanian of the Damned with his side project the Phantom Chords. Dave graciously stopped into the studio to sing two tracks on Jordan’s CD, one of which, “Magic Potion,” the Damned now perform on tour. I played with roots rock/psychobilly maniacs Superhonky for a while and recorded a CD and performed live with up-and-coming artist AM, who was voted L.A. Weekly’s Singer / Songwriter of the Year for 2005. Most recently, I’ve been playing with the band Rayon, who are about to start recording their first full-length CD with John Avila from Oingo Boingo producing. And I’m still freelancing with other projects. So, if you need some fine rock and roll drumming…

One of Brian’s latest projects is his web site, www.briankeats.com. The site features photos and sound samples from all eras of his career as well as news updates and a comprehensive list of his diverse recording and touring credits. The one thing you won’t find there is a photo of Brian with a devilock…

I’m pretty excited to finally have my website up, after much prodding to get all that crap together into one place! I’m hoping to get a lot more up there still to expand on things, including some history, more sound files, and some rare video. I’m also really looking forward to the Rayon record, which I think is going to be a complete killer, continued recording, touring and whatever else lays ahead. Despite all the great music I’ve been involved with in the past, I’m really not very interested in sitting around looking backwards. Some people who hear that I was in the Misfits expect me to be a punk rocker forever and think there’s been some sort of betrayal. But you know, that was one type of music in one band that I loved, at a certain moment in time. I have pretty eclectic tastes, and I absolutely don’t regret any of the bands that I’ve been in or any of the time that I spent doing it. The way I see it, everything was a good time, a learning experience, and a stepping-stone to the next thing. Just not to a Misfits reunion, okay?

Stuck in Lodi

2005-10-31T00:11:00.000-05:00

Story by Jon DeRosa
Reposted from www.pitchforkmedia.com

Long before I knew what nostalgia meant, I knew that not a whole lot had changed over the decades since my parents grew up in Lodi, New Jersey. Even now, there remain 1950s coffee counters like Cardi's Sugar Bowl, and you can still get a good piece of fresh mozzarella from Mike Vincentini's deli. A statue of Christopher Columbus overlooks Main Street, anchoring Lodi's proud Italian roots. Life there is still a lot like living in the old neighborhoods my grandparents grew up in: Not only do you know everyone, you're most likely related, too. If you're born in Lodi, you tend to live there all your life, remaining at home until you're married and then moving into the house down the block.

It's not a bad place to grow up. It's safe and clean, and you have your entire neighborhood keeping an eye on you. On the other hand, you have your entire neighborhood keeping an eye on you. Action-wise, it's no New York City, the metropolis that taunts Lodi from across the Hudson River.

Glenn Danzig grew up in Lodi, raised on Elvis and his dad's 1950s country music collection. As he got older, he'd turned to Black Sabbath, but by 1976, the Ramones had crashed onto the New York scene. Glenn took aspects of their sound, shed the "cool" vibe, and set the music firmly in the milieu of suburban alienation, speaking in a language every pissed-off kid in Middle America might understand. His obsessions with horror and sci-fi genre films permeated his lyrics and, just as importantly, his image, placing his music in an entirely unique context.

New York punk was just punk, simple and static. When Glenn started the Misfits, he mutated the punk sound and image into something darker and more sinister, a punk/metal hybrid that later found bloom in the quiet, boring suburbs of Oslo and the boggy backwaters surrounding Tampa. Punk belonged to the media/celebrity hubs of London and New York; ghoul rock was for the kids in the suburbs where nothing ever happens.

You Think You're a Zombie, You Think It's a Scene?

I was 12 and cleaning out my grandmother's Lodi garage when I found an original pressing of the Misfits' Walk Among Us. Whose copy it was I may never know, but it was as though fate had placed its alien nightmare art and title's grim invitation into my eager hands. Just a week earlier, I'd bought Danzig's second album, Lucifuge, inspired by an ad in Circus magazine featuring a shadowy and muscular Glenn Danzig wearing an upside-down cross around his neck: pure black menace.

Steve Zing is one of punk's great drummers and would later join Glenn in Samhain. "My bedroom was all black, I'd have black paper on the windows so light couldn't get in," recalls Steve, drumming the dashboard with one hand, steering with the other through narrow streets in the old neighborhood. We're seeing all the sights today. "Let's drive by Glenn's house, maybe his mom's home."

Steve was a few years younger than Glenn but got into the same music around the same time. He went to school with Doyle, Jerry Only's younger brother, who would eventually join Jerry and Glenn in the Misfits. Everyone lived within four blocks of each other. In the years before Doyle joined the band, he and Steve knew that a seat atop an adjoining roof was the best place to listen in on Misfits rehearsals. Jerry got a bass for Christmas a month or two before joining Glenn and was learning as he went. They couldn't play for shit, but musicianship was never the point. It was about seizing control, creating something evil, making people afraid.

Mike Morance, formerly of Lodi band Active Ingredients, remembers: "That was a strange time, because it wasn't only the change in music happening, it was a change in state of mind. To me, as far as the town itself, it was like I was here physically, not mentally, wrapped up in the change, the transition of the music-- and also, kinda stickin' together with the same friends. We weren't too much of acquaintance people."

At the time, pop radio was Boston, Fleetwood Mac, Air Supply, Meat Loaf; the Misfits were the willful antithesis of everything on the airwaves. They inhabited a violent world, walked among scenes of zombie apocalypse, murdered classmates who teased and made fun. The Misfits were ahead of their time, and they had to open doors themselves as well as build some. Their first records were only available in New York City at Bleecker Bob's and Soundz, and in Hackensack, N.J., at the Record King, an oldies record store where Steve Zing bought his first Misfits album.

"I remember Doyle coming into high school with cases of Night of the Living Dead records and just giving them away for free," Zing remembers.

Everyone hung out in New York City, on St. Marks or 7th & A, but they lived in Lodi. And in Lodi it was the pizza joint down the street, Sunday morning horror movies on TV, and hanging out in your friend's basement. Glenn was a ringleader of sorts for the local disenchanted teens. He was the first punk presence in Lodi, and everyone wanted to be around him.

Steve Zing: "Glenn was very charismatic, and [the Misfits] were very different than what was going on at the time. As a band they had a style and a sound that nobody else had."

Glenn's understanding of fear and intimidation put him at the forefront of the movement. Though he was of slight stature, his band was a giant, muscled, black squadron. Both Jerry and Doyle were varsity football players. Their black devillocks and gruesome ghoul paint didn't exactly scare the townsfolk shitless. They knew Glenn and company as good kids from the neighborhood. They knew their parents. When they saw Jerry carving up his guitars on the front lawn with a power saw to make them look more gothic, the reaction was more amusement than terror. They didn't even mind that they could hear the Misfits rehearsing from blocks away.

Glenn was doing things that were pretty much unheard of at the time. He ran Blank Records out of his home in Lodi in 1977, releasing the first Misfits seven-inch, "Cough/Cool". Mercury Records created a sub-label called Blank Records the following year, but Glenn had been smart enough to trademark the name. In the end, he let Mercury have the name in return for 30 hours of studio time, which Glenn used to record the Misfits' Static Age album. Glenn (and legendarily bad B-horror auteur Ed Wood) gave the label a new name: Plan 9.

Aside from a few random shows at Al's Bar and Hittsville, the Misfits rarely performed around Lodi. This was before basement and American Legion shows, and most venues hadn't yet figured out what to do with bands like the band, who opened shows by busting out of onstage coffins. It wouldn't be until around 1982 that the hardcore scene really hit the Northeast and more local show opportunities started to open up. But touring and a slew of 45s had earned them the hardcore community's respect-- even fear. Steve Zing: "Not a lot of people talked shit about them."

In underground Lodi, the Misfits' influence was rampant. Prior to joining Samhain in 1984 (and later Danzig in 1988), Steve Zing classmate Eerie Von had a death-rock band called Rosemary's Babies; Eerie was also known for documenting the Misfits as their photographer. Mike Morance and original Misfits guitarist Franche Coma had Active Ingredients, one of the scene's more avant-garde acts. There was Bobby Steele's Undead. There were the Victims, the only other band to have an album on Plan 9. And of course there was Steve Zing's own Mourning Noise.

I Singled Out the Kids Who Are Mean to Me

As Steve and I drive past his old middle school, I'm reminded of another Plan 9, the Misfits cover band I started in 8th grade. We played two gigs, one at a school assembly (where "Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?" got us into considerable trouble) and one in Washington, D.C. during an 8th grade class trip. Our principal wasn't real bright and allowed us to take our gear on the bus and perform for our class in the hotel banquet hall. The front desk was instantly overwhelmed by complaints. A preppie-girl classmate asked me why I sang "I want your skull." My reply: "Because I do."

In present day Lodi, a stop at a local watering hole affords a chance meeting with Steve and Doyle's middle school science teacher. Mr. P, who just happened to be there, is only too happy to recall their legendary 8th grade graduation ceremony.

"I was informed by the vice principal of the middle school that [Doyle] would not be allowed to participate because of how he was dressed. [Doyle] and his brothers came in dressed in black suits, narrow ties, peg pants, pointy shoes-- very strange looking. One had blue hair, rumor was that he was with Sid Vicious-- the night Sid killed himself, or killed a girl."

Doyle followed the procession of students onto the stage. His hair was pink, and he wore a lime green suit with a narrow tie and black boots. The principal ordered the teachers to get him off the stage, but his massive entourage, clad in leather and spikes and looking to make a scene, intimidated them.

"Now the brothers are getting up out of their chairs and lining the sides of the auditorium. There's maybe two or three of them. So I figure 'Fuck this shit,' you know? So as they name the students, they skip his name. [Doyle] sits on the edge of the stage and starts giving the principal of schools, the superintendent of schools, and some other dignitaries up there the finger and tells them to go fuck themselves."

At this point the brothers start running around the joint inciting the crowd, and mayhem ensues. Doyle was popular with the student body, who began rioting in his favor. As things reached their inevitable boiling point, the Vice Principal rose and walked over to hand Doyle his diploma. Doyle tore it up, flipped off the VP, and again asked everyone to go fuck themselves before walking offstage.

Broken Bodies in a Death Rock Dance Hall

"I wouldn't say the Misfits were visionaries, but I would say Glenn was a visionary," explains Bob Allecca, owner of Reel Platinum Studio in Lodi. "There were really no bands at that level that were playing and putting records out on a regular basis: He marketed [his music] well. Who would've thought back in the early-80's to hook up with a skateboard magazine and put the Misfits logo on skateboard decks? Plus he was always on the road with the band playing every place he could think of. He was selling his records through magazine ads..."

Bob Allecca still runs the studio, which, in 1980, was one of the few 24-track recording facilities in New Jersey. Reel Platinum was far more affordable than its Manhattan competitors, so nearly every Lodi punk band (including the Misfits and Samhain) recorded there. Even some of Glenn's later work, like his Wagnerian epic Black Aria, saw time at Reel Platinum with Allecca, who was also working with a then-unknown Christina Aguilera.

"Glenn always had something going on and was always moving along. He was always moving up a little notch, a little notch, a little notch. And he never let anything get him down, he was always positive. He was a professional. He had a head for business," Allecca recalls.

Glenn's professionalism might also have contributed to the Misfits' split. They were never able to tour as much as Glenn wanted, as Jerry and Doyle worked for their dad. They couldn't keep drummers. Their live shows were visually stunning but sucked musically. They were never in tune. They'd smash their instruments eight measures into a set. Jerry played basses that he'd demolished and glued back together the night before. Their energy and brutality was inspiring, but Glenn knew the songs themselves were being ruined on stage. As the band was beginning to gain national attention, they were falling apart.

By 1983, Glenn had discovered the more gothic sounds of Bauhaus, Birthday Party, and Alien Sex Fiend (while Jerry was digging Iron Maiden), and his interest in the occult had peaked. The dawn of Samhain made space for new sounds and ideas, as well as a level of musicianship the Misfits would never attain.

Glenn stayed in Lodi throughout Samhain's lifespan, all the way through 1992 and the release of Danzig's Lucifuge. In fact, most Misfits/Samhain/Danzig alumni remain in and around Lodi. The punk venues they played began serving breakfast long ago or simply disappeared altogether.

If You're Gonna Scream, Scream with Me, Moments Like This Never Last

When I was about 14 I befriended Glenn Danzig's dad. He had me over the house and showed me the hearse Glenn bought at age 17, now relegated to cinder blocks in the backyard. He even offered it to me. He gave me a stack of Misfits skateboard decks, which had been sitting under his deck in unopened boxes.

At 15, Steve and I saw a Danzig show in Red Bank, N.J. It was one of their last performances before John Christ and Eerie left the band. We hung out with Glenn, and it was probably the best night of my life. Later that same night, Jerry and Doyle showed up at Glenn's hotel, asking him to rejoin the Misfits. They were escorted out by security. I would see the Misfits reunion the following year at the Stone Pony on the eve of my SATs. It was a blast, but without Glenn, it just wasn't the Misfits.

So what about Lodi made it a petri dish for ghoulish punk rock? Why do kids still make pilgrimages to Lodi just to pore over the Misfits' old tax records and yearbooks in the public library? What was in the water in Lodi in the late-70s that caused kids to take up instruments and frighten people? Some credit Glenn with creating a movement. Some deny there was ever a movement at all. Some, like Bob Allecca, chalk it all up to coincidence.

Steve Zing offers a more nostalgic perspective. "It was more the fact that, at the age we were, we were stuck in Lodi. Glenn lived at home. I lived at home...the Misfits [were] what I looked up to."

Franche Coma considers it simply a natural progression of adolescent routine. "We'd hang out, if you had a job you'd go work. Then you'd practice. You'd go to clubs, you'd go to concerts."

Mike Morance: "I think probably a lot of the nostalgia is in our minds. You can see it a lot of different ways. You can see it as a kid brought up in Lodi that had a twisted view of things."

It's truly impossible to tell if it was a coincidence or if timing was everything. It's something Steve claims can't be described; it can only be felt and understood by the folks that were there. Not only the fans from Lodi, but those that got to see them perform throughout the country.

"It's almost a shame that the Misfits never really got bigger than what they were [when they were together]," says Steve. "It wasn't as big a scene as people think there was. But for the maybe few thousand that felt it, you had to be there...And to this day, any time I see a kid with hair in his face, that's Glenn."

He said it himself: "Moments like this never last," only the stories live on. Like former Misfits guitarist Bobby Steele throwing up on John Lennon's shoes during a show at N.Y.'s Mudd Club. Or Glenn getting locked up in a London prison cell after a fight with skinheads during the botched UK tour with the Damned. Or the Misfits getting banned from Max's Kansas City after a glass thrown from stage injured an audience member. Every tale carries the personal trademark of the person telling it, and each ensures the Misfits' transcendence of their own death rock icon status. The Misfits were nothing less than an undead urban legend.

I spent Super Bowl Sunday at the Lodi Moose Lodge. My dad was tending bar, and I got to talk to my godfather about what I've been up to in New York. We drank scotch and I had homemade peppers and eggs for the first time since I was a little kid. At around my third scotch, this guy I vaguely recognize approaches me and says:

"Your dad tells me you're doing an article about the Misfits. Man, I got a story about them you wouldn't believe..."

Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!

2005-10-31T00:03:00.000-05:00

The following excerpt has been taken from an interview I did with Ian MacKaye in 2002. In the interview, MacKaye relived one of Hardcore's most celebrated television moments (along with NYHC vs. Donahue and Skinheads vs. Geraldo)...Saturday Night Live with FEAR as the musical guest, Halloween 1981.

I was contacted by Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night Live, and John Belushi and asked to put together a crew of people to come dance at the Fear appearance on the show. Belushi had been asked to make a cameo appearance on the show, and he agreed on the condition that one of his favorite bands, FEAR, would be invited to be the musical guest. He then insisted that the band should have some punk rockers on the premises to add some "authentic" flavor.

He got my number from Penelope Spheeris, who directed "Decline of the Western Civilization" as well as "Suburbia," after she told him that the D.C. scene was the "happening" scene on the east coast. Anyway, they called and we agreed to come up to the show. As it turned out our good friends from Ohio, The Necros, were playing with the Misfits in NYC the night before the SNL show (Halloween '81), so we invited them along as well as numerous New York punks (I'm fairly sure that Harley Flanagan from the Cro-Mags was there).

The actual experience was really disorienting. We were kept in a room until they were ready to have us appear, at which point we were led down through the backstage area and on to the set. The band would come out and we would all have to immediately jump into action. It was cold on the set and completely sterile, the music was quiet, and the people sitting in the crowd absolutely hated us. This was okay, beacause we hated them too, and we had chips on our shoulders.

During the dress rehearsal (the show is run through twice, once as a dress rehearsal, and then the actual "live" show), a camera was accidentally knocked over and there was some damage, but the producers decided to let us come on the actual show. This was probably in some part due to Belushi pressuring them to let it go forward. The actual show was as weird as the dress rehearsal, though I think we were no longer interested in trying to keep things cool. As I remember there were even small skirmishes breaking out between audience members and dancers, and there was some headknocking going on between the punks themselves. Keep in mind there there was quite a bit of territorial friction going on in those early years.

At some point during the show one of the D.C. punks, Billy Mackensie, jumped up on stage and grabbed a jacko'lantern pumpkin that the show had been using as it's commercial break transition shot. He hoisted it over his head and smashed it on the front of the stage in front of the band. We all started slipping and sliding on the pumpkin mush until the song was over. As it turned out the producers had cut away from the show the moment Billy appeared with the pumpkin, so no one ever saw the rest of the mess. When we left the room we were booed by the audience.

We were locked into another room and told that we were going to be facing charges in connection to the "damage" done. Eventually, they let us go and in the days following the media picked up on the story. Before long, the story had blown into us "rioting on the set" and causing $100,000 worth of damage. It was, of course, not true, but SNL got some coverage out of the deal.

Who needs Glenn, anyway?

2005-10-31T00:02:00.000-05:00

Twelve Hits from Hell...without Danzig.

The Adventures of Jerry & Doyle, brought to you by Skateboard Naked

Danzig Interview in Revolver Magazine

2005-10-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Someone scanned a recent Danzig interview that appeared in last month's issue of Revolver Magazine and posted it to the message board over at Misfits Central. Too bad they didn't scan the awesome centerfold poster in the magazine. It was a Misfits-era poster of Danzig with Jerry Only playing in the background. I had never seen the picture before, so I made sure to pick up a copy of the magazine.

Anyway, here's links to the interview, page by page.

Pages 1 & 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

If the image appears too small to read, click on the lower right hand side of the scans to expand the image.

Goodbye to Dave K...for now

2005-10-28T08:54:00.000-04:00

The Last One...

Sorry folks for the long delay but it seems life has taken many turns and I really can’t continue on with this lovely column. As I wish to continue, time runs short on a daily basis. Between taking care of my daughter (yes, I’m a Mr. Mom), running an eBay business, starting an archive CD thing, helping out my sister and father who have just arrived at my home, taking care of household chores, etc... (I can go on but I think you get the point.) It’s really annoying to be so passionate about writing this thing every week to find that you can't put a couple of hours together to get it done. I love hardcore and punk music very deeply. I have found out very quickly even though I have been away for a bit that things basically never changed in the last five years. There is still many good bands and a zillion crappy ones. People are still arguing about the same crap. God what fun, right?

It’s really funny how labels releasing records still are using an ancient form of manufacture and distribution. Bands really don’t need to release a record or a CD anymore. This is true especially with bands just starting out. I don’t even see the point with it. With the internet, you have this ultra fast means of getting your songs out there. You shouldn’t even worry about if you are going to make money or not. You are not going to anyway, so why not just bypass the whole system of doing things? I really can’t believe people even buy CDs anymore. Whether you do a MySpace page or other older methods such as FTP transfers, Usenet Binaries or peer to peer services, you are going to get connected to more people, and more people will hear your stuff. I mean just in the short time doing my latest column thing here on BBHC, I seen some of the dumbest and most generic press kits cross my path. Do you really want your band compared to what’s “hot” at the moment, just so somebody might listen to your release? I really thought by now that labels would find that the major label way doing things doesn’t work. But most labels adopt this for their format. You shouldn’t be promoting a band on your label by how many “units” they have moved. It should be that they are a great band. I also think labels have way too many bands to promote. This leads to many crappy releases that people end up buying. It’s money wasted across the board. Punk and hardcore music are supposed to be beyond that, though time and time again, this is just not the case.

It’s one of the reasons I just asked bands to send in MP3s with the lyrics and artwork. I don’t think you should waste money on review copies. It would also be easier on you when I destroy an unworthy release in a review. Recently, I have read a lot of review sites and never liked it when they told you that you have to send a full release with packaging. This might be OK for the larger labels that have a budget to send out promos, but for the smaller or one off labels, promos are a big expense. If you have to promote a release, a small label can only afford to get it out to the big review mags/websites. If people would just send MP3s, they could plaster the world with the tunes. I still am holding on to the idea that a demo should have more than 3 songs on it. Bands need not to be in such a rush.

It was one cold night in NYC, some time in late 1985/early 1986. There was a show that was happening near Tompkins Square Park (of course in a squat). It was a weird scene. I didn’t know anybody hanging out that night and was just listening in on conversations that were interesting. Over on one of the park benches, sat a few people, in the center was three or four punk girls. One was a very good-looking woman, but very pregnant. Some people I was talking to ventured over by the benches and I only heard a tail end of the girl’s conversation, ”but Amy, what if you have twins!?!” I don’t know why but for some reason that line has always stuck with me. Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about one of the recent punk reissues. Nausea’s “The Punk Terrorist Anthology Vol.2 1985-1988" CD is probably in my eyes the most important punk and hardcore music re-issue in years. I know this is Volume 2, the first was a re-issue of the hideous Lp and some other tracks. To me this is the true Volume One. Nausea was a very important band to me when I first starting going to shows in NYC. They were one of the first true political punk bands I was exposed to, which led me to find out some of older bands that influenced them. Nausea has been featured on the Revelation NYC hardcore compilation with good reason. They were one of the few bands at the time that appealed to everybody in the scene. They totally bridged the gap, skins moshing next to punks and straight-edge kids. Nausea impressed me to no end. The trouble was other than the tracks on the aforementioned comp, they really didn’t have anything else out. There was no “demo” sold (as far as I know...I was a big tape trader and nobody had it). They were big on t-shirts and everybody had at least one. I am glad to see that somebody finally released the “Electrodes” shirt again, it was my favorite. The point is along with bands like Krakdown & NY Hoods, Nausea were one of those bands who either had very little out or nobody approached them about doing a proper release.

Well, better late than never. This is a big release in more ways than one. Over 30 tracks here, all from different sessions are presented here. The first few are from a demo, which like I said, I had no knowledge of. It’s funny that I hadn’t heard their songs played in their proper way for over 15 years, but knew each note of them by heart. Most people would never release that Nausea had some great mosh parts. "Clutches" is a good example. The tracks further along vary in quality and this is to be expected, though they blow away most modern tunes. I love the fact that a couple of tracks features Amy singing solo. Some of my favorite Nausea shows were between the time Neil left and regrettably Al came in, Amy kicked ass. There is a couple of cover songs, including my favorite “Real Enemy” by the Business, which sadly should have been a live version because this track is not too hot. The live tracks are solid, loved Neil’s banter between songs. The last song on the disc is my overall favorite (did they call me?), “Electrodes”, which sums up the band’s stance on animal experimentation very well. A fucking anthem.

When I got a hold of this, I must have played it through 10 times to make up for lost time. I really can’t believe it took so long to get out there. No longer will this band be remembered for that bastard LP that disappointed so many long time fans. This are the way the songs were meant to be heard. They slay, kick ass, and trounce the competition. If you truly only buy one CD this year, this is the one.

Again sorry to everybody for letting you think that this was going to be a big blown out ongoing thing. If you sent stuff for review, I'm going to send it along to other 'zines and websites. Honestly, though much of it was crap. Big thanks to Brett Beach for the monetary assist. He has been more than patient with me and I will get the money back to you as fast as I can. Same to my sister. Next release for my fanzine archive label will be the It's Alive fanzine CD. Fred Hammer is a great guy and when this gets out there it'll be huge. Fred, I'll get the 'zines out to you very soon (if I can only get five minutes to do this). I have been in talks with a couple of others to release their older stuff. Hopefully it'll all pan out. If you got the Hardware CD (thank you) but if you liked or disliked it, let me know. Feedback has been slow and since this is a newer concept, some people don't understand what it's all about. When the It's Alive CD is out there will be a big advertising blitz for the two and I hope to get some people to interview me on the projects.

I may still do something for BBHC when things are less hectic. I want to do e-mail interviews with some of the older folks that influenced me in the punk scene. Ronny asked me to look into doing some kind of radio show (podcast?) and that would be fun because it would involve no thought on my end. I know I can put out one of the best HC/punk shows out there. Been looking into that too. I still be posting on the Livewire board (best around), so you can all make fun of me if you wish. 'Til then...

Fuck MTV, it's not for me... (X3)

Dave K.

E-mail: Grandnagus69@yahoo.com

Ebay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/The-Book-Binders-Book-Shelf

Hardcore Art Gallery: Montreal

2005-10-18T14:10:00.000-04:00

Literally, a hardcore art gallery -- graffiti style in Montreal. Normally I'm not into graffiti at all, but these are awesome. I haven't seen anyone talking about these on any of the message boards I frequent, so I thought I'd post them here for everyone to check out. Thanks to Jeff Jawk for turning me onto these by posting them on his site first.

Hardcore Handles: Anthony "The Wrench" Moreschi

2005-10-17T12:15:00.000-04:00

The first time Rain On The Parade ever played with Ten Yard Fight was, if memory serves, February 1996. I only remember a few things about the show: it was at Stallag 13 in Philadelphia, and it was only TYF's second show. The way the band played that night, you would've thought they had been together for years. Very high energy. Very tight. Very fun to watch. I also remember that ROTP and TYF both played so well that, together we basically mopped Stallag 13's filthy punker floor with Chokehold's (the headlining band) crusty vegan dreadlocks.

Apparently, this show was when Anthony Moreschi became "The Wrench." Here's the story, as told by Ten Yard Fight guitar player John Lacroix.
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Who annointed Anthony Moreschi "Wrench," and what was the significance behind the name?

It's actually "The Wrench" since he's the only one. We were in a car driving to our second show ever, in Philly (it was before we had a van) and we were just joking about how Anthony needed a tough nickname. Chris Patterson used to call him "Ma-wrenchy" instead of his real last name which is "Moreschi". So when we decided "the hammer" was too cliche of a name, "The Wrench" just stuck. Back then we made up names for everybody, we'd told him "you are no longer Anthony."

We tried to make up reasons why he was called The Wrench. I think the best one was that he was packin' a wrench in his pants or that he killed a man with a wrench at summer camp. We were interviewed on this kid's talk show and we would just yell "the wrench!" We did some radio interviews too they always wanted to know why his name was The Wrench, but we'd just say... "he's a wrench" or "he's good with tools," which he is actually.

Do his parents know that thousands of people know him only as Wrench. Did they have any kind of reaction to it?

I remember when he quit school for like the 4th time to go on tour, his dad was pissed, he'd just mumble... "rockstar" every time Anthony would walk by. And I'd just mumble "it's the wrench." When we both worked at 411, nobody even knew he was a singer in a band. They didn't even know he was The Wrench. He was like a retired superhero with his wrench costume collecting dust in the closet. Good thing he started another band, cause The Wrench needs the stage.

Heads Up Dancefloor Justin, Moshpit Steamroller and Slam

2005-10-12T16:36:00.000-04:00

Articles like this one make me yearn for a kinder, gentler time when people routinely got stabbed in the pit at shows...

For your reading pleasure.

Hardcore Dancing: Part II

2005-10-06T14:13:00.000-04:00

My second round of correspondence with Carl at Uth TV. Yeah, the Hardcore Dancing feature on their show was a bit silly, but it's refreshing to see the people at the show are interested in trying to do it better next time around:
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Ronny,

Thank you! I really appreciate your honest and thoughtful critique of the piece, and the background behind it.

The shows we produced over the summer (Elements and Speak On It) were created entirely by people between the ages of 16 and 20 - we gave them a budget, equipment, a general outline of what we wanted, and a requirement of very high quality work. We put very few editorial constraints on them. Clearly they wandered outside their areas of expertise once in awhile.

Our longer term goal is to build out a community of young filmmakers to create and submit films on things that are of interest and importance to them for distribution both online and over the air. I would love to find someone who is young and has cred in the hardcore community to create the right film about it - one that would be respected by the hardcore kids as real. Do you think this is a realistic idea, or would the community rather just be left alone?

Thanks,
Carl

Carl,

I may have some people in mind, but I think just about all of them fall out of the 16-20 year old range. Most of them are in their mid-to-late 20’s.

I think hardcore kids would embrace a well done film. I’ve always been disappointed that there were no real good follow-ups to documentaries like “Another State of Mind” in the 80’s, especially now that video/editing/CG technology is so much better these days.

When it comes to television features about hardcore, kids in the scene can be very hard to please (as you may have guessed), but I can assure you that stems mostly from the mainstream media’s piss-poor coverage of hardcore over the years. Camera crews tend to flock to the most extreme fringe elements of the scene to get the shocking story that will scare parents silly (the recent “Straight Edge is a Gang in Utah” news/magazine show theme is the latest indignity thousands of good hardcore kids have had to suffer and explain to their parents in recent months). The result is dubious fame for a few kids that go way outside of the boundaries, while the other 99.999% of the scene collectively slaps their foreheads in disgust when they see the coverage on TV.

To answer your question, I think a well-done segment/movie/series on hardcore would be welcomed with open arms, but you need to keep in mind that hardcore, in its structure, isn’t so different from rock n’ roll. Let me explain:

Rock and Roll began with dudes like Elvis, Duke Ellington, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc. They were the first wave. The Beatles were in the 2nd wave, along with bands like the Stones, Kinks, The Who. Then there was the third wave that got heavier and weirder like Led Zepplin, Hendrix, and the Doors. The 4th wave was bands like AC DC, Van Halen, Aerosmith. After that, it went down hill to bands like Poison, Motley Crew, and a million different hair bands. From that point on, people pretty much stopped calling it “Rock n’ Roll” in favor of identifying music by genres like alternative, speed metal, nu metal, pop punk, ect. None of them are considered “rock,” but they all came from the same bloodlines.

Here’s my point: the definition of rock n’ roll spans as widely as Elvis to Poison. Putting the two together side by side looks pretty silly, but they're both technically Rock n’ Roll. It’s the exact same thing for hardcore. The umbrella of hardcore, which started at the Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Agnostic Front and DOA now covers everything from The First Step and Betrayed (current bands in a more traditional vein of HC) to band like Darkest Hour and Most Precious Blood (bands on huge indies that market these bands as “hardcore,” but purists see more as Metal).

I guess what I’m trying to say is that a movie about hardcore, as broad the scene is, would be hard to do in a manner where it would please everyone. However, a television show or a series covering “genres” of hardcore (straight edge, street punk, old school, oi, metalcore, emo, etc.) would be something that would be easier to accomplish with credibility. My feeling is the scene would collectively embrace that approach, because hardcore would be shown for what it is – a broad music category that has many different native peoples. Think of each genre of hardcore as a tribe. The natives get upset when you start pointing out Cherokees as Navajos. Make sense?

If your requirements for segment and movie producers is capped at 16-20 years old, I don’t know many people I can refer you to at the moment, but I’ll keep my eyes open for you. However, if you ever want to solicit an outside opinion on anything the realm of hardcore, I’m always willing to offer advice. The presentation of your shows is top notch, and I really think a show, or series of shows dedicated to hardcore would draw a lot of interest in a very large underground scene like hardcore.

Best,
Ronny Little

Hardcore Dancing

2005-10-05T15:40:00.000-04:00

I had the following email exchange with someone that does a television show called "Elements" on something called "Uth TV" (Youth TV). One of the segments in their 5th episode featured a 4 minute segment on "Hardcore Dancing," and as you may have guessed, the feature is as silly as its title.

Anyway, I went back to the site to check "hardcore dancing" out again, but the link for the segment had been removed. I wrote to the show to ask why and got a reply. I've posted their response below, along with my reply. You can see the feature yourself at the "Uth TV" website. Since the link to the feature itself is no longer posted, you can only see the "hardcore dancing" segment by viewing the full broadcast of "Elements" (episode 5). The clip begins at 6:11 and ends at 10:19 of the bradcast. It's a hair over 4 minutes long.

Hey!

What happened to the hardcore dancing segment you had posted to your website? I’d like to view it, but it’s not there anymore.

Ronny

Ronny,

We took it off the site. Some people in the hardcore community were sending extremely threatening messages to a few of the people in the video, and it just wasn't worth it for the harassment factor.

Out of curiosity, have you seen the piece and what was your reaction to it?

Carl.

Carl,

I got into hardcore in the mid-80’s when skinheads would target people in the pit for a beating when some poor bastard had long hair, or the skins didn’t like the way someone was dressed, or if someone was wearing Doc Martins without being a skinhead, or some other really important and urgent reason like that. So, to me your feature looked a little silly. But like I said, I came in at a time when people routinely got stabbed while dancing at shows. Hardcore was hardened city kids and dysfunctional suburban kids. It wasn’t a very welcoming environment.

In my view, to see some goofy kids just “moshing in place” was kind of funny. But to be honest, I’m glad the worst thing anyone has to worry about in the pit these days is an errant elbow rather than a broken bottle being swung around.

I think your piece might’ve had a little more “cred” if you had sought out people who are legendary for their prowess in the pit. Did you ever see that Sick of it All video with all of the dudes demonstrating dance styles? I can’t recall which song it was, but it had a lot of people in the video that were sort of well known back then simply for how they danced, which is one of those weird accomplishments you’ll only find in the hardcore scene. But every hardcore scene has its kids that “rule” the pit, and I can guarantee you none of the Abercrombie-looking kids you had in your feature are the type. Your casting basically had a bunch of mathletes giving a demo on how to play football. Does that make sense?

If you don’t mind the critique, I thought it wasn’t a good idea to solicit the opinions of outsiders that basically just made fun of the hardcore kids for how they dance. They get that every day, and then when there’s something on TV trying to explain it, people are still there laughing at them. It was like you were trying to explain the phenomenon, and then in the same instance show how stupid everyone outside of the scene thinks “hardcore dancing” (“skanking” in my day) is.

Also, the live footage looked like a goofy cardio kick-boxing class with everyone moshing in place lock-step. My guess is you filmed it at a local show, which is fine, but if you really want to see some seriously destructive dancing at it’s finest, get your clips at shows that have bands like Terror or Internal Affairs playing (both very well-though of California hardcore bands that seriously know how to throw it down).

I think your show is kind of cool and very well done over all, but hardcore is one of those things that, if you’re going to cover it in a segment, the producer really needs to know his stuff on a very real street level. No “hardcore” producer would EVER even think of calling what goes on in the pit “hardcore dancing.” Hardcore kids don’t even like to call it moshing anymore. Well, the kids that know better anyway.

Best,
Ronny Little

Mail Bag

2005-10-04T10:53:00.000-04:00

SUGGESTIONS

Ronny,

Nice blog. Great content. It could use one thing, though: an XML feed.

I usually don't have the time to sit at a computer and read the site, but if there was a feed link, I could sync it with my iPod and read it on the train, waiting at the dentist's office, at lunch, etc. Blogger is all set to do this, but you would have to enable it through your account preferences. A compatible feed would have a URL that ends with .xml. It would be nice to read BareBones Hardcore right next to the Wall Street Journal and ArsTechnica.

OK, at any rate, the site is great and I've enjoyed it. Thanks!

Shawn

Shawn,

Wow. I wasn't aware you could read site feeds on your iPod. Considering everyone has an iPod, I'd be silly to ignore your advice. I'll look into adding this feature sometime this week. Thanks for the heads up!

Ronny
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THE HARDCORE BENEFIT SHOW

Ronny,

In the last 3 years I've had a hand in a number of benefit shows. From promoting, to performing to being security at the show, I've seen all the things you managed to bring up occur. A lot of people pay with 20 dollar bills and refuse to accept change. The only distro that has been at our benefits have been a long time supporter of us and he is always on hand to donate easily over $100. What's the best is the fact that he isn't asked ahead of time -- he just always does the decent thing.

I find it curiously odd that you mentioned all the bands trying to play. I find that to be the most ironic facet of the whole hardcore benefit show. You have bands who would otherwise be a pain in the ass willing and able to play and yet you still have 1,253 bands trying to jump on the bill for nothing more then exposure. It's always interesting for these kids and their bands to get turned down but yet aren't half as eager to show up and support the show in general. In the end what I agree with the most is the fact in what you said -- its a supportive gesture.

In most cases where benefits are neccesary the dire situation goes beyond a fiscal problem. The money is nice and it may go a long way but it is nothing more then a gesture. I see a lot of people scrambling for benefits for this Hurricane Katrina disaster and I am blown away at the amount of money that is going to be wasted in the shows overhead, gas money to get to the show and so on, that could just be sent directly to whomever (the Red Cross I presume). I don't think a hardcore show in every town would even make an impact. The idea is there but I don't know if it's anything more then a "gesture" from these kids to feel as if they've done their share morally. Who knows.

Keep up the good work.

Joe Hardcore
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Ronny,

Well said. Though many bands have approached me about doing a benefit for my leg, I've been reluctant (in spite of my needs) in light of all the CB's mumbo jumbo. Benefits can be a sketchy thing, and honestly, though I ppreciate every effort, $400 doesn¹t offset $100,000 in medical bills. To surmise, I'm glad you wrote this, and not to aid my cause, but to shed light on the needs of those in far worse situations than me.

Your friend

Dan Cav

You're my hero Dan! =]
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RICHIE BIRKENHEAD INTERVIEW

Nice... but, Ronny, did you have to use the single worst picture of myself I have ever seen?

Richie Birkenhead

Richie,

Ha! So sorry man! I have since changed the photo of you on the interview. A friend of mine from the Hardcore Office took the photo at the most recent CBGB's show.

For those of you who didn't see the original photo, it was pretty bad. Richie looked like a bloated frat boy. Sorry Richie!

Ronny
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HELLO FROM IRAQ

Sir,

How's it going? You don't know me. In fact we have never even been formally introduced. A long time ago, at some Rain On The Parade show in PA (when the LP came out), you gave me dirty looks for buying 5 of them (the 300 limited "When It Rains, It Pours" LP). Matt Smith said "those will be on ebay tomorrow," except I was buying them for dudes who couldnt go to the show. Ha. I remember in 1997 I was having bad times at home and in life, and I saw rotp at that Yuletide Youth Crew fest in Maryland, and the whole attitude there was so A+ and positive, and i always think going to that show helped me.

Anyways, I just saw your website, and I like it a lot. I'm in the army, and sometimes its hard to keep up with hardcore as much as I used to. Sometimes life takes over more than I would like it to, you know? I do get to check the internet a lot, as long as we're not out in the field, and I'm glad I found your site. There is some cool stuff on here that makes me think about fun times, and it is definately a good read.

I've rambled enough, probably too much. Dude, thanks for the cool site.

-E

E-

I just made myself drop and give you 20 for the dirty look, and then another 20 for how much that record SUCKED!

Stay safe in the desert over there!

Ronny

The Hardcore Art Gallery: Dead Kennedys "Plastic Surgery Disasters"

2005-10-03T13:43:00.000-04:00

Please join me in welcoming Jason Powell as the new cover art critic at Barebones Hardcore!

Dead Kennedys "Plastic Surgery Disasters"

When I was 11 years old, my friend let me borrow his brother's tape of this record. It was the first time I had ever heard punk or hardcore (in fact, I didn't even know what those words meant until maybe a year later). After I returned it, I saved up my lunch money for what seemed like a month and I bought the record for myself, and saw for the first time what the cover looked like. I dont know what I really expected it to look like, but it definitely seemed odd.

The front cover is a seemingly innocuous, harmless photo of two hands, one black and shriveled, and one white and healthy. It has a journalistic feel to it, like it was photo from the Associated Press about some news item. Over the years I heard almost insane readings on who is in the photo, as if it could not just be some anonymous persons' hands; people said it was ET or Michael Jackson holding hands, or the white hand was JFK. Of course, in the 80's the starvation of people in Africa, particularly Ethiopia, was common knowledge, and was the source I thought responsible for the photo, but still it begged the question of what it was doing on the cover of a music record. You get the impression that this is a serious picture, meant to be taken seriously, its so stark and important looking, it could have been taken out of your high school history book, or the newspaper, but then, its surrounded with hot pink, and its on a piece of entertainment. Its a strange dichotomy.

Scrawled at the top in either a childish or demented handwriting is "Dead Kennedys." Juxtaposed to that is "Plastic Surgery Disasters" written in a very elegant script. But looking at the track listing, "Plastic Surgery Disasters" is not a song title, in fact, the phrase doesn't even appear in any of the lyrics. It seems to be just an arbitrary phrase meant to give meaning to the picture on the front. The picture is too straight forward to imply that the hand is really a botched plastic surgery job, instead the assertion seems to mock the seriousness implied by the photo.

The back cover is a shot of an anonymous Anytown, USA suburbia with a smiley face printed on the water tower looming in the background. Its a sharp contrast to the front cover, in a similar way to how the script of the album's title contrasts with the chicken scratch band logo, and it too carries a trivial playfulness that seems to mock the subject in the photo. Inside, the record sleeve reflected all this and more- a Da Da-esque collage of consumerism, media, and sarcasm.

The appropriated images placed into humorous yet serious new contexts seem to want an answer as to whether this is intended as parody or pastiche. It offers open and various meaning to be attached to the art, but it makes on thing clear: this is not normal. It wears that idea all over the images it gleans from the culture it is breaking away from, practically beating you over the head with it. Whether you want to take these images seriously or as a joke is up to you, but one thing is obvious and that is how this record does not conform to the rest of the world. There is a pattern here, that echoes the lyrics and music of the band on the record inside. Does Jello really think the government is putting drugs in our water, that rich people care more for cocaine than their family, that the secret police kill protesters by slipping LSD in their drinks and spin them out into traffic, or that campers feel it is their right as pioneering americans to feed doritos to bears? At the same time, it establishes a critique on politics, religion, authority, and the american dream.

The record stood out from the rest of the records, even though the photo on the cover wasn't really very "shocking" or gory or typically "punk," it had this displaced feel of something wonderfully unusual and bizarre and exciting, which had been what I loved about the music in the first place. It was a thrilling experience buying something that was this different from almost everything else there in the shop. I say almost, because there was one other record that I also thought looked out of place because of the cover, even though I had never even heard the band, I wanted that record too because it looked like it also was going to be a fun new experience. I'll write about that record next month.

Mom vs. The Message Board

2005-09-30T12:03:00.000-04:00

Somewhere out there, Bobby Delamante is probably considering suicide as a viable option. After all, it's not every day that your Mother posts on a message board with thousands of readers, identifying you by name, in an effort to seek out gift suggestions for your sixteenth birthday:

Hello Everyone:

I'm not sure if I am at the right place, but I THINK my son Bobby (Bobby Delamante, some of you may know him) frequents this website and follows the groups you all listen to (if you see him please don't tell him I posted here!). I found this website from a poster that is in his room (for the band "First Step").

Bobby's 16th birthday is next week and I would like to get him something Hard Core, but am not sure where (I asked some salespeople at Best Buy, but they were confused). I see you can order cd's and things here but I am afraid he may have them already (he has many!).

Does anyone here have any good suggestions?

Thank you so much :)

Mrs. Delamante (Bobby's Mom)

Initially I laughed when I read the post, but really, Mrs. Delamante seems like one of the sweetest, most well-intentioned Hardcore Moms I've ever come across. I can assure you that I got nothing but grief from my parents for my taste in music growing up, and I know that's the story for a lot of hardcore kids out there. It's really nice to see there are parents out there who understand that their son is into something different, and not only "get it," but also nurture it.

So, let's have three cheers for Mrs. Delamante (Bobby's Mom) for being such an adorably sweet lady. And let's be sure to cut Bobby some slack. Love makes people do goofy things.

And Bobby, if you're reading this, I'm envious.

I have spoken,
Ronny

Hardcore Handles: "Sweet" Pete Maher

2005-09-29T08:30:00.000-04:00

Would you mind explaining how you became Sweet Pete?

Well there have been many stories floating around over the years (can’t say I didn’t help spread some) but I guess it’s time to come clean with the real story. To the best of my knowledge the story goes like this...

Back in 1986 there was this band from around Boston called Underage (who later became Said and Done). They did a demo and on the thanks list they wanted to thank me, but they had already thanked a “Pete,” and nobody knew my last name. They just wrote “Sweet Pete,” and then when people started asking “who’s that?” they’d just say “you know, that tallish, goofy kid.” It just stuck from then on.

Now I say to the best of my knowledge because I don’t have a copy of the demo and a few years after that my friend swears it was a ‘zine that thanked me as “Sweet Pete” back then because they did not know my last name. Either way it was back in the mid-80's, someone did not know my last name and already had thanked a “Pete” so I just became “Sweet Pete.” Not even exactly sure who from the band or ‘zine actually named me that but for almost 20 years now it has stuck.

Was there one specific person who came up with the name?

Well as you can above as I said I really have no idea exactly “who” came up with it. A funny story is that Ralphie from Wrecking Crew claims that he gave me the nickname back in the mid 80s as I was always eating candy at parties and drinking soda. I used to hang with the “Boston Crew” then and Ralphie claims he started calling me that after witnessing me always eating a lot candy at shows and parties. I do admit I love me some candy and soda and just maybe Ralphie did give me the nickname and that is why the band/’zine used it on the thanks list. I guess since nobody else has claimed it, I will have to give Ralphie the credit as nobody else has ever actually laid claim to nicknaming me. If he wants it he’s got it! So thanks Ralphie!

How did it end up sticking?

I just think it ended up sticking because the Boston scene then was pretty smallish and close-knit, so it spread pretty fast and everyone would say “Yeah. That kid is pretty nice and sweet” so it stuck. There used to be shows and parties every weekend and I’d just see the same group of kids over and over and everyone had nicknames and this one was not very challenging. Like if someone’s nickname is HARD DAVID people may not want to call him that as they don’t think he's hard enough to have it, or someone may not want to call someone BILLY EDGE as they don’t like straight edge or whatever. It was a harmless nickname that just kind of stuck.

Any kind of weird/adverse/funny reactions by others to your annointed name?

The only one I can think of off-hand is with my sister. She is older than I am and was not, and never has been into punk/hardcore at all. She knew I hung out with “punks,” but as I said, she never knew anything about “the scene.” A few years ago I guess she did a Google search of In My Eyes, as she knew I did a band, and found a Yahoo music bio of the band or some music site. The bio said “In My Eyes was formed in the last 90s by USA Punk Legend Sweet Pete…”

She called me up right after seeing that saying “Are you USA Punk Legend and do they call you SWEET Pete?” I had never seen that bio so I was totally confused. She clearer it up for me by showing me the site, but even after explaining to her that I was not even close to a legend and that my "scene" nickname was Sweet Pete, she still to this day (since she knows nothing of punk) just thinks I am trying to be modest. She says “You toured the US and Europe and put out records that I see at the mall. Don’t be modest.” To this day when I see her at X-Mas and whatnot she busts my chops, and will bust out "Does Sweet Pete want some more carrots?" She thinks it's funny.

The only other stories is one time (watch your feet as I am going to drop a name) Zack from RATM put me on a “will call” list for one of their shows at a huge stadium here in Massachusetts as “Sweet Pete.” I have known him forever since the Inside Out days but he never knew my last name. I talked to him before the show and he said “you’re all set at the Will Call. They have tickets and passes for you.”

Well I get to the Will Call and give them my ID and of course it does not say “Sweet Pete,” on it so I get denied. After bumming out thinking I got dissed, I said to the person, “this may sound weird but can you check to see if anything was left under Sweet Pete?” They did, and they were left under that name, but they were still being jerks about giving me the passes as I had no ID that said "Sweet Pete."

Finally after giving me grief forever they gave me my passes. This has happened on small levels too at hardcore shows, as nobody really knows my last name and puts me on as Sweet Pete. But at hardcore shows, that never causes a problem really. Just arena shows were I can’t pull the hardcore cred and say “YOU DON’T KNOW WHO I AM?” Haha.

Road Rage Record Review: Dave K.

2005-09-28T08:39:00.000-04:00

Well, back again for more fun. Ronny is working really hard to make this site a daily visit, so let him know what you think. I was recently back in New Jersey for a few days (remind me never to leave my business affairs for more than a day, what a mess it was upon my return!) and it didn’t feel like home.

My father and sister are moving down here to stay with me for a while and then live in Georgia. They can’t take it up there in NJ anymore. They live in the building I grew up in, and I can’t believe the state it’s in. The whole building is on a tilt. My father says you can put a ball on the floor and it will roll to one corner of the apartment! Time to go. It will probably sink into the ground like the Carrie White house.

Anyway, I hung out in the city (NYC for you laymen) with my good friends Brett Beach & Charles Maggio. It’s funny how things change but stay the same. Here is the three of us, each with two slices in front of us, shooting the shit about old and new things. It was like all these years apart didn’t exist. I know these two so well, spending numerous hours, days and weeks with them in the past. We've been through a lot together. We all are pretty much still the same, each with a distinct personality but respectful of each other’s quirks and differences. Well, Charles still didn’t like the same remarks I make about bands that cheese out, but that is never going to change. I like busting his balls anyway.

The crappy thing about the whole visit was that it was over too fast. Remember, time is precious, don’t waste it and try and stay in touch with your old friends. NYC is weird. It’s like the east village and, from what I understand, the ABC No Rio area is totally upscale now. No personality at all. It was fun to look in old record stores that we used to go to. Brett and I felt like tourists, we forgot were like everything was! All in all, I probably will not be back up north for a very long time.

Seven Inch Madness: Have a few to go through (now that I have a turntable next to the PC!) An older one sent to me from Mad At The World Records by The Bad Form. A couple of years old and the band is no more, the seven inch plays a little on the rocking side of punk. Actually sounds like the Rolling Stones on 78, but that is subjective. Wasn’t that into it, but if you dug sounds by ex-hardcore kids from the East Coast who thought this was the direction to go in, it’ll be your cup of tea. Sledgehammer has a disc out and it is not a bad one. Dwid from the classic scary hardcore band, Integrity again does the vocal duties. Four songs of very dark and heavy hardcore with a little metallic licks thrown in. Not sure what the story is with the label though. The seven inch I received is on a label called Specimen 32 (website is down as I write this) though a label, Martyr Records released this on CD. Check around I’m sure you’ll find it. The Right On "No Joke" EP has to be placed in the top 20 (at least) of worst record covers in hardcore/punk history, right up there with the Stand Up 7" (Actually, saw that record again in NYC at Bleeker Bob’s and thought I had it erased from my mind. Now it’s back in…what were they thinking?) Pretty standard stuff here, passable at best. Malfunction Records

It’s like 1986 again! Municipal Waste I understand has been around for a while now, but “Hazardous Mutation” is their first Lp. Good lord, this is such a throwback in the boldest sense of the word. It’s weird, they have that 1980’s crossover thing down so well, even with the little "eeks” at the end the chords. I know quite a few who will go apeshit over this. Not that into it but do appreciate the effort here, they are going to be huge. Earache Records

I can see where the Youth Attack "Don’t Look Back!" CD wants to be in every straight edger music collection. Every cliché in the book is followed, totally by the numbers. That wouldn’t be just a bad thing because there are many bands who can pull it off. The recording is OK at best and the music is plodding. Think Fast Records

Canada’s Keep It Up is a little better, playing the 1990’s posi-core to the hilt. This CD has the songs from their self released 7” and some bonus tracks, a total of 10. There is a cover of Youth Of Today’s “Thinking Straight” which is interesting. It’s really funny to see bands from other countries play American Hardcore better than most American bands. If you see this one, pick it up. Feelin' It Records

I was surprised that California’s Hoods were still together. I remember reviewing their first release in Hardware ten years ago. They will have a new LP out in October called "The King Is Down." The music is the traditional cranked down modern heavy hardcore, grindy vocals and mostly 2 minute tracks. Might sound typical but these guys were one of the first to do this, so most bands are copying them. Check it out. Eulogy Recordings

Zine 101: I reviewed Heartattack #46 last issue, then #47 was right behind it. This issue is called the "work" issue, covering aspects of work and the interviews & columns reflect that. Interviews with Circle A Bicycles, Funeral Diner & a great artist called Mike Sutfin (you can tell his major influence right away). All the usual ‘zine stuff here. Great cover. This ‘zine should stop wasting it’s time and do this on-line already! Ebullition Records

Radio Show?: Ronny was asking me if I’d be interested in doing a hour internet radio show each week. I was jazzed because I have been trying to set it up for a while now. If there is anybody out there who does one or knows how to set it up on a PC, please contact me. I have a lot of ideas and can do an hour easily…

Selfless self-promotion: I have to keep plugging away...the Hardware Fanzine Collection CD has been out since September 1st. If you already picked one up thanks, but please let me know what you think about it. My next release is almost done, scanning the last issue of it as we speak (and a another reason this column is short this time out.). It has all the issues of Hardware in PDF format, plus lots of other stuff like some of the unreleased #10. See what it’s all about. You can get it through this link, or go to:

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Book-Binders-Book-Shelf and look under "Other Items"

Or snail mail $7.50 USA ($10.00 world) to my address below.

You smoke, you choke,

Dave K.

Attention labels: if you have sent something in the past couple of weeks, I’ve been really busy but will get to listening to it…Thanks for the support, people are reading this!

Send all
vinyl/CDs/mp3s/cassettes/demos/fanzines/DVD/books, etc… (if you can try, don’t bother sending the CD cases, save some bucks on the postage…dupes on CDR are fine too, just try to send info with it) to:

David Koenig
1990 Pinehurst View Drive
Grayson, GA 30017

E-mail me at: Grandnagus69@yahoo.com

Quick Notes

2005-09-23T11:24:00.000-04:00

* I just went back and read yesterday's post regarding the Hardcore Benefit Show. Toward the end of the post, I did a little role playing where a fictitious hardcore guy is trying to impress his date when she comes across a photo at his apartment of him holding a Floorpunch 7-inch on gold, flanked by the dudes in Shark Attack. In the role play, I had hardcore guy downplay his vinyl score by recalling that he threw a "couple of hundred dollars at some crappy Floorpunch on gold" in order to win a silent auction to help a sick little girl.

In the event that there is anybody who read that the wrong way, I was using a heavy dose of sarcasm that may not have translated to text very well. I feel that I need to say this because, well, it's hardcore and people blow all kinds of things out of proportion. My band used to play with Floorpunch quite often. I like and respect everybody in the band, and I'd hate for them to get the wrong idea.

So, in short, I was attempting to make hardcore guy sound like he bought a Flagman record for a couple hundred dollars to help someone in need, rather than scoring THE record of the 90's that has collectors slipping and sliding in puddles of their own drool.

* Speaking of the Floorpunch 7-inch on gold, I was one of the original holders of that record. Record number 65/88 It was hand-delivered to me by Brett Beach himself at a VFW hall in Elksboro NJ. Never much of a collector, 65/88 was by far the most valuable record I have ever had in a collection.

And then I moved to the DC area in October of 2000, with basically a bag of groceries, the clothes on my back, and my record collection. I moved into a modest Falls Church apartment that always smelled of the neighbor's Indian cooking with a wily rascal named Dave Byrd, who was an avid record collector.

After about a week, I got tired of sleeping on the floor of my bedroom, and decided that the girl I was dating (I met someone my first night out in Adam's Morgan with Byrd, a month before I even moved to DC) probably wouldn't be too impressed with my bedroom set-up. I didn't have any money, so I decided to start selling off the only asset I had with me, which was my record collection.

Byrd skimmed through the records and pulled out the Floorpunch on gold. He didn't say anything. He just looked at me, holding up the 7-inch with wide eyes. His expression told me everything I needed to know about the question on his mind: "how much?" His lips didn't move, but I could somehow hear his voice in my mind, giggling like a little girl that stumbled across a hidden Tickle Me Elmo doll long after the toy store had sold out of them.

"Dude, no way" was my initial reply. He was disappointed , but he went through the rest of my collection, picked out some records he wanted, and the yield was somewhere close to $200, which wasn't anywhere near the amount I needed to buy the bed I had ear-marked in the IKEA catalog.

At that point, I was pretty burnt on hardcore. ROTP was coming to an end. I wasn't interested in many new bands. Bars were a higher priority than shows. So, I thought about it for a few minutes, and then offered the Floorpunch on gold to Byrd for $120. I pretty much saw myself getting out of hardcore at that time, so I figured there was no point hanging onto it. After some haggling, the price came down to $100, and Byrd had his prize. A few months later, I was kicking myself.

To add to the indignity, the bed I ended up buying had to be one of the most uncomfortable, back-breaking beds I have ever had the misfortune to sleep on. The thing was cursed. I had a roommate who's dog loved to take a dump under it. I had a German au pair accidentally pee on me during sex in that bed. AND, it did about $200 in damage to the hard wood floors in my bedroom, which came out of my security deposit when I moved out of the place.

I was recently IM'ing with a BBHC reader, Alex, who asked me if it was true that Byrd purchased my copy of the Floorpunch on gold for five dollars. I was upset to say the least. The thought that ANYBODY could think I would ever be so foolish, even one person, made me want to go to the 14th Street bridge and leap into the Potomac. Let the record show that I sold the prize to Byrd for $100 because he was a friend, fully aware it would fetch more on eBay.

I like to think Byrd gave me $100 just to hold MY (myyyyyyy Precioussssss...) Floorpunch on gold in his fire box, but if you ask him, I'm pretty sure he'll tell you differently.

*The winner of the AIM contest is Brett Valegro. Congratulations! I'll put your ROTP "When It Rains, It Pours" LP in the mail on Monday.

The Hardcore Benefit Show

2005-09-22T00:35:00.000-04:00

Hardcore is hard. Life is harder.

I think it's safe to say that most of us have glided through life to this point with little resistance. Tragedy, chronic illness, legal problems, catastrophic financial or property losses are pretty much the problems of a very few of the people we know, or know of. These misfortunes are not anything that most of us have any experience dealing with on a personal level.

But when young men and women are taken from us way before their time, when they become terminally ill, when they have problems larger than anyone can possibly handle on their own, like clockwork, the hardcore scene brings us to it's finest hour by coming together for the ultimate show of support -- the Hardcore Benefit Show.

Retired bands come out of the woodwork, pick up their instruments and ply their trades one last time for the good of the cause. Kids dig deep into their wallets, hand a ten dollar bill to the person at the door, and put the two dollars in change they receive right back into their pockets. At the end of the night, after the bands have played, the kids have moshed, and the overhead has been paid, the bands have a few hunderd dollars (a couple thousand if they're lucky) to give to those in need. Beyond that, the only time anyone ever thinks about the show ever again is if they come across an old flyer of it somewhere.

The beneficiaries gladly accept the donation with thanks. It gets them though a month or two before the money dries up and they're back at square one. It's sad when you consider that something so many people take part in hardly makes any kind of difference in the lives of the people who desperately need the money that is being raised.

The Hardcore Benefit Show, as it currently stands, is woefully inadequate. I have been thinking about this recently, in light of the announcement that Shark Attack will be playing shows once again to benefit the young neice of one of its band members, who has been stricken with Lukemia. A benefit show is a a nice guesture, but that's all it really is -- a nice thought. A show of support. Sure, it's a boost to the spirit of the down-trodden to see so many people get together and make some kind of effort on their behalf, but that doesn't really go too far when you're missing mortgage payments and falling hopelessly into debt.

I think it's time that we re-think the way we raise money for those who need it. This applies to everyone from the bands on the stage to the kids in the audience to the people who run distros. If you want to raise a lot of money, everyone has to be on board, and everyone has to be aware of the fact that the benefit show is more than a show. In my opinion, four things about the Hardcore Benefit Show really need to change:

Keep The Change: this thought applies to the people who are actually attending the show. You're not going to like this, but I'm going to say it anyway. For once in your life stop thinking of yourselves. Shark Attack is playing a reunion. Whether it was a benefit show or simply a desire to get together and play shows again, you as the show-goer would be there either way. My point? Since the only reason Shark Attack is reforming in the first place is to help the family of a sick little girl, you're not really contributing to the cause if your generosity ends at the price of the door, which is completely unnacceptable. If it's a ten dollar door, and you really want to show the band your support, every person in line that night should hand the person taking money at the door a twenty dollar bill. When change is made, you should remember that you're attending a benefit show, feel yourself filled with the spirit of the event, and say "keep the change." Your generosity will do more good for the beneficiary than the Modern Life Is War record you would've eventually wasted your money on, buying it for yourself at a distro table later in the evening.

No Vendors: I know a lot of distro and label people count on the money they pull in at big shows, but the truth of the matter is, when you sell your wares at a benefit show, you're tempting people to invest their money in themselves, rather than the people the show is supposed to benefit. It's my opinion that promoters should just ban distro tables from benefit shows, period. If distros and labels are to be allowed into a benefit show, they should pay a significant fee for their table space which would be donated to the benefit, but I think it would be more effective to eliminate the avenues that keep people from giving their money to the beneficiaries.

No Guest Lists: It's a benefit. The only people getting a free ride should be the beneficiaries. I don't care who you know, who's equipment you're carrying in, or how long you've been around. If you're not paying at a benefit show, you are utterly useless in terms of what's going on around you. If that still doesn't move you to get involved in the spirit of the evening, a crowd should converge on you in the same manner that a mob converged on Kramer when he refused to wear "the ribbon." Semi-violent Positive Peer Pressure never hurt anyone.

Bands can contribute by not playing: a Shark Attack reunion doesn't happen very often. More than a few bands will want to be on the bill and there won't be room for most of them. That doesn't mean a band's potential to contribute ends at whether or not they can appear on the show flyer. Bands that have friends in Shark Attack, or bands that simply admire them can donate copies of special pressings of their records to be used for a silent auction. Do the math. If you have 40 different silent auctions for 40 different records, each averaging $25 final bids, that's an additional thousand dollars to throw at the cause. Make your records worthy of interesting bids. Personalize them with a message and an autograph. Announce each winner of each auction in the moments before Shark Attack plays their set. The winner gets a picture of him holding his record with the guys in the band. Sounds cheesy, but it would draw interest in more ways then one.

First Date Girl: Who are those guys in the picture with you?

Dude: Oh, those guys are in a band I really dig. Shark Attack.

First Date Girl: What are you holding in the picture?

Dude: Oh, just some record I won a silent auction bid on for some unfortunate little girl who was stricken with Lukemia. I really wanted to do everything I could to help, and throwing a couple of hundred dollars at some crappy Floorpunch on gold was the least I could do. Never heard of the band personally, but hey, that's the kind of guy I am. (crossing fingers behind back)

First Date Girl (removing clothes): Take me now.

Before I get off my soapbox, I just want to leave everyone with one last thought on the subject. I think people generally think of a benefit show as something that is an entity, rather than an action. Most people attend them and they think of the thing as a noun, when really, it's a verb. You're not attending a benefit show. You're attending a show to benefit someone.

Keep that in mind when you're standing in line.

I have spoken,
Ronny

BBHC Fantasy Hockey League

2005-09-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

Tonight I will be sitting at the MCI Center with Alfred Ortiz, Dave Byrd, and my wife, the lovely Kimberly, drinking beers and watching Alexander Ovechkin make his professional debut for the Washington Capitals. Normally I hate the Caps (the Philadelphia Flyers are my hometown allegiance), but since the Capitals decided to strip their team down to its wires and go the rebuilding route, I'm at least curious to see how the team will build itself back into contention.

It's only a pre-season game, sure, but after missing the entire 2003-2004 NHL season to a labor dispute, I'll take whatever I can get at this point. I learned last year that even if you play a lot of recreational hockey (as I do) in the absense of a professional hockey season, you still really miss watching the games. Well, I did at least. I think last year was the first time in my life that I suffered from mild depression (that wasn't post relationship break-up related), and I wonder if the cancelled season had anything to do with that.

Another thing I really missed about last year's cancelled NHL season was FANTASY HOCKEY. I played in a Yahoo Fantasy League for the first time during the 2003-2004 season, and it was a blast. I had so much fun that I decided to start my own fantasy league this year. So, consider this my formal invitation to all of you to be a part of the inaugural season of the BBHL (Barebones Hockey League). Since I average about 1200 hits a day on this site, I'm hoping I can find at least 19 other hockey heads to populate my new league.

If you're interested in putting a team on the virtual ice, please email me at bareboneshc@hotmail.com

Please include the folowing information in your email:

1. Name:

2. Location:

3. Email, AIM, and phone number:

4. Team Name:

5. Are you cool with kicking $20 into a pot for the league champion and prizes for conference winners?

6. Banners for conference winners. Mock-Stanley Cup for league champion. Y/N?

7. Have you played in a fantasy league before? If so, which?

First come, first serve basis. Overlap teams will be given the opportunity to join should an original 20 franchise back out. If there is an overwhelming response, I will form and manage a 2nd league for all parties interested.

The Hardcore Art Gallery: Dayglo Abortions "Feed Us a Fetus" LP

2005-09-20T12:02:00.000-04:00

I stumbled across a CD re-issue of Dayglo Abortions "Feed Us A Fetus" the other day while cruising through the bins at SMASH! Records,located on M Street in the Georgetown section of Washington DC. I absolutely had to pick this CD up. In high school, I used to love this record.

I remember when I first came across this record. I was a junior at Central Bucks West High School in Doylestown Pennsylvania, and I was cutting classes with my friends Mark, Steve and Jason to take the R5 into Philadelphia for a day of record shopping. I was standing in the basement of 3rd Street Jazz, located in the Old City section of Philadelphia, when I came across a record that had a portrait of Ronald and Nancy Reagan on its cover. Ronny was seated at a table with a dinner place setting in front of him, with Nancy standing by her man, arm draped around him. Both of them wore big smiles for the portrait.

Upon further inspection, I noticed the Gipper was seated in front of a large serving plate that had a fetus on it, covered in ketchup and jelly beans (Reagan's favorite candy). On Ronny's tie was a tie clip in the shape of the McDonald's golden arches, an obvious reference to American consumerism and disposable culture. Upon very close examination, I noticed that Ronald Reagan also had a set of fangs, and while his expression had a "smile for the camera" feel to it, he also looked kind of evil. Lastly, on the Presidential Seal hanging from the wall behind them was the title of the record, and the banner being held by the Eagle on the seal had the lyrics to the Dayglo Abortions song "Bed Time Story" on it, which read: "Flesh and Blood and Spattered Guts. Dripping Brains and Radiation. Everybody's Mutilated. Screaming Missles. Burning Babies." Very cool.

This cover art was actually the subject of some controversy. The art, painted by Randy Stubbs, was at the center of a precident setting trial for obscenity in Canada. The band faced charges of distribution and possession for the purpose of distribution of obscene material in an Ottawa court in the late 1980's, and were acqitted of all charges. You can guess where a band stands on the subject of censorship when it prints "Dedicated to Tipper Gore (play it loud, Douchebag)" on its back sleeve.

For those who have never checked out the Dayglo Abortions, they're like a Canadian blend of The Meatmen and Dead Kennedys in that they have clever, politically charged lyrics accompanied by a hefty dose of gross out humor. If you're interested in checking the band out, I would definitely start with Feed Us A Fetus. It's a great record if you stop playing it after track #10. The first 10 tracks were recorded in 1985, and they absolutely smoke, while the remaining 11 tracks basically sound like a demo, before the band really got an opportunity to perfect their sound and focus on their identity.

You gotta love a band that has stage names like Couch Potato, Jesus Bonehead, The Cretin, and Wayne Gretsky. But if you don't dig the music, just get it for the cover anyway.

Best tracks: Bedtime Story, Wake Up America, Proud to be a Canadian

You can purchase Daygo Abortions "Feed Us A Fetus" through God Records

Contest

2005-09-19T16:16:00.000-04:00

Prize: Rain on the Parade "When It Rains, It Pours" LP on black (limited to 300)

Rules: I'm looking to build up my buddy list so that I can track down people for interviews for the site. All interested parties please send Instant Messenger screen names for 5 different people in hardcore bands (past or present) to me at bareboneshc@hotmail.com . The contestant who sends me the most interesting (and authentic) list, wins the record.

The winner will be announced at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, September 23rd 2005

Road Rage Record Reviews by Dave K.

2005-09-14T09:33:00.000-04:00

A lot more material this time out. I'll have even more next time. Next week, I’ll be in New Jersey for one last time (my father and sister are moving down here so no “real” reason to go up after this). I'm going to try and get into the city too. It’s going to be weird for me to be back. I’m so locked into the laid back Southern lifestyle (yeah right) that New Jersey has been forgotten. It’s going to be good to see Brett and others, been awhile. You are all going to have come down here and get a taste of some good ol’ Southern Hospitality. So there probably will not be another column until the week after. I just heard that the owner’s of the building where CBGB’s is located has put in eviction notices. Hilly says he is going to fight it in court. I think they really need to give up. There are only so many “benefits” that can happen before everyone gets tired of them. People are going to lose interest. CBGB’s was a big part of my life, but sadly all things must come to an end sometimes. If anybody has at least the MP3 to either of the Circle Jerks live sets at CBGB’s this past weekend, please let me know. I couldn’t get on the live stream. Onto to reviews...

State of Mind Recordings has a new release out by a band called This Is Hell. There is some powerful chaotic guitar work here, plus screaming vocals that don’t quit. It’s a little above the pack but in the long run, not very memorable. Great Jack Kirby-eqse art by Jeremy Wabiszewicz, which to be honest made me want to listen to this CD. State of Mind Recordings

Demo Time: A few demos to talk about. Just a general comment, it’s always in your best interest to be patient and put a few songs on your demo. When you only record like three tracks, it’ll never give anybody a handle on your sound or what you are about. A CDR demo from a Canadian band called About To Snap is short but luckily sweet. Powerful early ‘90’s North American styled HC with a fantastic production. This could have been a 7”, no question. Only 5 songs left me wanting more, had to play it a few times for fulfillment. Contact: busted_78@hotmail.com for info on the demo and stuff. Worth your time. Black Spot is from New Bedford, CT and has 4 songs coming at ya. The music is some basic punk/HC with good vocals, nothing too exciting either way. Contact: xshaneofstrengthx@hotmail.com. Received some pretty mundane material from All Sense Aside. The recording is weak as hell, music is dullsville. The next couple are winners. Drop Out plays some weird punk/HC, screaming vocals with a fuck you attitude. Not sure why I really like it, but it is definitely worth checking out. You can get it at Parts Unknown Records. Here’s another 5 song demo which leaves you wanting to listen to more: Riff Raff plays fast hardcore with good snotty vocals, these songs stay with you awhile. This one was in the tape deck quite a bit. I don’t need to say more. Go get it at Eating Rats Records. Expired Youth needs a few more songs (and a new name for sure) on their demo. As it stands, it sounds a little generic (fast posi-core, good recording) and needs more time before they can impress. If you're intrigued, e-mail them at: xstillherex@juno.com Bands...send more demos!

Set To Explode has a seven inch out which I wouldn’t have mentioned (there was no contact info or anything) but it’s well above average. They play some really good grindy 1980’s inspired HC. Very good vocals and backups. They are definitely not afraid to be a little sloppy, which is refreshing in this over produced, music spot-on age. Worth a listen or two.

Zine 101: Got some fanzines this time out for you. We will start with the best of the lot. Stop, Look And Listen #1 is of such a high quality, I’m wondering if the editor has been involved with ‘zine projects before. Interviews with Rasaraja Dasa (Rob Fish for you laymen out there) of 108, Restless Youth, Lion Of Judah, Dead and Gone Records and Luke Wolagiewicz. I like the fact that the interviews are with different types of people and bands, and that the questions are well thought out. There are also many opinions, articles and music reviews. The ‘zine is offset printed and nicely laid out. There is an article which appears on the webzine, Bystander about Absolution which is great. You should check out the companion interview with Djinji at the Bystander Fanzine site. Good job, there is no address (something I don’t like) but an e-mail contact stoplooklistenhc@yahoo.com Get it. New America #7 Summer 2005 is a cut and paste Xeroxed ‘zine with a couple of interviews, Ink and Dagger & Integrity and some other stuff. Nothing incredible but these guys are probably doing more than you. No contact address, not smart guys. I see those guys and gals out in Goleta are still plugging away. Heartattack #46 has interviews with Zegota, Caustic Christ, Wow Owls!, Back When, New Winds and Tradition Dies here. You also get the standard reviews, columns, etc. The cover is great. Glad to see they are charging more money for this. They really should stop worrying about the demise of print ‘zine and less advertising revenue and raise the cover price to at least a dollar. It’s totally worth it. Last we have Double Rabies #4 July 2005. It has interviews with Cold World, War Hungry, Iron Boots and Condition. There are reviews too. It’s a cut and past affair, a little sloppy but readable. Get this one from: Becky Miller 147 ½ South Main Street Taylor, PA 18517

One thing I like about hearing new stuff is that while you get disappointed most of the time, every once in a while a surprise comes your way. Now I have no idea who this band is other than the fact they are from the DC area, but a CD with some new stuff by The Hate Crimes was sent in. What a release. There is some solid early 90’s hardcore here (I can hear a big Mouthpiece influence) mixed in with later 90’s sounds. Not all the same throughout, as a couple of the songs do veer off into slight indie rock territory. But this is not a bad thing. The recording is great and the music is kicking. Since this was a CD (13 tracks) with no lyrics or any kind of packaging I don’t know if it is a future record or demo. Maybe one of the band members can let me know as this is definitely worth your time.

Music to fall asleep by: I recently was sent an independently released CD from Canada’s The Maloney Crew In a way I feel bad to be so negative about this one, but music is so non-descript & plodding and the recording is totally flat. They need to punch it up a bit. The latest two from Throp Records really knocks you out, though not in a good way. How It Ends’s CD “Beloved” has that whole modern heavy metal/hardcore thing going on with the standard “evil” vocals. It’s a decent one, but by song 4, you are like “Ok we get the point!”. Whoever they have at Throp doing the art and packaging knows how to present things. The cover art is really quality stuff. Fordirelifesake has a CD called “A Daydream Disaster”...Disaster is really more like it. I don’t know, some “post-modern” HC w/melodic guitars throughout & screamed vocals. In other words, a mess. The music is too all over the place and just uninteresting. Throp has a large stable of bands, these two though are hopelessly average. Thorp Records

Moldy Oldie pick of the week: I must say Dan over at Mad At The World Records helped me out deciding what to pick this week for your classic punk and hardcore obscurity. Two important re-issues here, both pretty obscure New York City Hardcore bands from the early 1980’s. The most recent is the Major Conflict “Sounds like 1983” CD. Major Conflict was one of those bands who were a bit more diverse that some of the other bands from that era. Because of this, they got overlooked by most who just like more straight forward stuff like AF and The Abused. Record collectors will tell you though even that they don’t really like their 7” too much, it’s a must have record to complete their NYC HC era stuff. After listening to this CD, they were a much better band than I remember (usually that is the other way around). Other than the 7”, there is a lot of live recordings, which are of very high quality and some other recorded material. The layout is simple, but effective. Liner notes by Wendy Eager (of Guillotine Fanzine), band lyrics and photos. The one issue I have with this is it’s one of those multi CD that has band videos too. I had problems running it on my computer, though I was able to figure it out. Nonetheless, this is essential, a must. Next is the Urban Waste 7” re-issued on CD. This re-issue is a couple of years old, but like I’ve said before good music never ages. I was telling Dan that it’s funny that Urban Waste has been re-issued and bootlegged many times & it seems that people still really don’t know anything about them. A simple re-issue, the first time this is legitimately released on CD (The earlier re-issues that I know of is the Big City Records 12” (a rare record itself) and a Lost and Found bootleg CD). Nice little layout with the lyrics and photos. This is a great record, a classic punk/hardcore sound through and through. You should grab both of these re-issues and have a 1983 retro NYHC party! These and other things are available at Mad At The World Records.

Selfless self-promotion: I’m sure everybody reading this already knows -- The Hardware Fanzine Collection CD has been out since the first of the month. It has all the issues of Hardware in PDF format, plus lots of other stuff like some of the unreleased #10. See what it’s all about. Check it out at the link above, or go to:

http://stores.ebay.com/The-Book-Binders-Book-Shelf

Be sure to look under "Other Items"

Or snail mail $7.50 USA ($10.00 world) to my address below. This is the first release, next up will be a biggie, so stay tuned.

From The East Coast to the West Coast,

Dave K.

Send all vinyl/CDs/mp3s/cassettes/demos/fanzines/DVD/books, etc… (if you can try, don’t bother sending the CD cases, save some bucks on the postage…dupes on CDR are fine too, just try to send info with it) to:

David Koenig
1990 Pinehurst View Drive
Grayson, GA 30017

E-mail me at: Grandnagus69@yahoo.com

Richie Birkenhead: Part II

2005-09-13T01:04:00.000-04:00

When I was in college in the mid to late nineties, I was in this girl’s dorm room, and she was apparently one of your biggest stalkers. She had a shrine to you on one of her walls. There were pictures of you in Underdog and Into Another, but what surprised me was she had a few pictures of you on a beach, wearing really weird stylish clothing with the super fly sunglasses and space age shoes. They were professionally shot. How did you get into modeling?

Richie: I didn’t. A friend of mine was the designer. She’s a British designer named Katharine Hamnett. It was her line. I never did any modeling before, or since. Terry Richardson, who is a New York photographer, was doing this campaign, and that whole campaign was having people that weren’t “models” model Katharine Hamnett clothes. We did a shoot at Coney Island. It was me, my girlfriend at the time, and a bunch of other people. He (Terry Richardson) was huge sort of a cult art/photographer guy. He still does a lot of fashion stuff, but he really pushes the envelope as far as sexuality and vulgarity and stuff.

How did it end with Chuck Treece? Was he out of the band before Underdog broke up?

Richie: Yeah. Underdog was a power trio for a while. We were the Rush of hardcore. He just bailed. He was getting kind of flakey, and you know, he didn’t live in New York. I forget exactly how it went down, but I think he got offered money to play drums for some Bad Brains shows. It was more money than we could give him at the time. But the band was sort of beginning the process of breaking up anyway, I guess, in hindsight. But yeah, he just kind of bailed on us. There were no hard feelings or anything. Guitarists for Underdog were kind of like drummers for Spinal Tap.

There was a bit of time between when the 7” and the LP came out. It seemed like it took forever for Vanishing Point to come out. Is there a story?

Richie: No, it was kind of laziness. We just loved touring and playing live. And then we were like “man, we got to put a record out one of these days.” So literally, I just started taking the phone calls from these small labels that wanted to put the record out, and I went to see Keith from Caroline Records. I think our whole deal was seven grand, or something. I basically knew nothing about the business at the time, and said yes, basically to the first label I decided to answer phone calls from. But yeah, it was basically just laziness. We enjoyed touring, and didn’t really care about getting into the studio to put stuff out. We just loved playing live.

How did the last unreleased Into Another record end up getting bootlegged? What was it called? Soul Control?

Richie: Actually, that was the working title. I’ve seen bootlegs of it on eBay where people got a lot of the song titles wrong. That album, we never finished mixing actually, so I don’t know how they got a hold of it. We each had a CD of rough mixes, so maybe someone duped one of those. I know that once, someone swore up and down to me that, someone that I knew, swore to me that he’d never copy it or let anyone ever hear it, and it wasn’t long after that I started seeing copies of it. But it could’ve been any one of us that leaked it to the wrong person. But yeah, it’s an unfinished record. It’s kind of a bummer that it got out there. I would love to see it re-released. We’re kind of working on that now, getting the rights back from Hollywood and finally mixing it and releasing it.

You used to live with Porcell. What’s one thing that a lot of people just don’t know about the guy?

Richie: I’m not sure what people don’t know, but he’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He’s absolutely hilarious. Like side-splitting hilarious guy. He’s a very neat guy. Very meticulous guy. He takes incredible care of his…here’s something people may not know. I don’t know if he’s still this way, but he has phenomenal dental hygiene. The guy flosses multiple times a day and takes incredible care of his teeth. Better than anyone I’ve ever known.

Tell me about singing for the Captain Kangaroo children’s show.

Richie: Wow. We’re going back. My Mom is a composer of lyrics, songwriter, she writes Broadway musicals, and she used to write for children’s television shows. So, when I was very little, so she just asked if I wanted to sing some of the songs that she wrote for a television show, and I did. I got paid whatever scale was back then, and the money probably into my college fund or something.

Were you a regular on the show?

Richie: Well actually, it was my voice. They were like the first rock videos. They would have footage of horses running, and a song about horses with kids singing these things usually, sometimes adults. There was only a handful of people who sang for the show, and I was one of them.

Richie Birkenhead

2005-09-11T15:07:00.000-04:00

I went to my very first hardcore show in October of 1987. Thanks to a steady flow of mix tapes from my friends, I was able to leap headfirst into the music, but I didn't actually get my first chance to experience hardcore music up close and personal until over a year later on that cool autumn evening at City Gardens.

A few things stick out in my head about the evening:

*My friends at school had been to a few shows before me, so prior to that weekend, the only things I knew about shows were the things I heard them talk about at the punk rock lunch table at my high school, C.B. West. They always talked about City Gardens like it was something out of the Wild West. I was about as "white bred suburban" as they came, so this worried me to the extent that, at the lunch table, I wondered aloud whether I should wear my jock to the show. Why I would ever say such a thing aloud, I couldn't tell you. But my friends thought it was funny enough that I still get ribbed about it to this day.

*When I got to the club and the bands started playing, I was surprised to see that the pit was just a dancefloor. I was under the impression that the pit was literally a "pit," where the combatants jumped down there, danced hard and did their thing while everyone else just kind of watched from above. Before I got to City Gardens that night, I was thinking "The Pit" was like something out of Thunderdome.

*I wore a black generic DRI shirt, jeans, red suspenders, and combat boots. My hair was shaved around my head, with a long weak-ass sort of flat top thing at the top. The day before, my Mom had taken me to get my hair cut, and when I told the dude to shave it all off, my Mom had a cow. So the compromise was the hairdo that ended up being my 10th grade class picture. I look like such a herb.

*That black generic DRI t-shirt got destroyed the first time I ever danced. I was kind of intimidated, so instead of skanking, I was running around in a circle on the outer rim of the pit like some amped up mongoloid child. In my travels around the pit, I stepped on the feet of the biggest skinhead I have ever seen. He was eight feet tall and six hundred pounds. His hands were as big as catcher's mitts. He tripped me as I ran by him and then picked me up off of the floor by the back of my neck. Once I was on my feet, he grabbed my shirt in both of his hands and shedded my DRI shirt off of my body like some deranged Hulkamaniac. He kindly handed my shirt back to me by shoving it into my face, then picked me up by the back of my jeans, gave me a wedgie, and threw me across the pit into another crowd of well-adjusted college graduates. I'm surprised I'm still alive.

*The bill was Timmy & The Dub Warriors, McRad, Underdog & Agnostic Front. Timmy & The Dub Warriors were a rasta band. The singer had a huge staff that we was swinging around at people. McRad were okay. Roger Miret kicked me in the face with his boot while diving into the crowd during Agnostic Front's set.

*Underdog was the band that really left an impression on me that evening. After that night, I wanted to sing for a band, and that's exactly what I spent the next 13 years of my life doing in one band or another.

The following interview was conducted with one of the larger influences in my hardcore life, Richie Birkenhead, at the 2005 Positive Numbers Fest. The interview is broken into two parts. Part two will be posted to Barebones Hardcore tomorrow.

Interview by Ronny Little. Photo by Kim Seidl

Is this a reunion, or are you doing the kind of thing that SOD did for so many years where the band isn't completely broken up, and comes out of the woodwork for a show every now and then?

Richie: I guess, even though I hate the word "reunion" truth be told, that's kind of what it is because we were basically defunct for a while. We got back together briefly in 1998 to do some shows, but that was without Dean. So this time it's more real. More genuine. And, to be honest, I was kind of ambivalent before the CB's show, and it (the show) was just amazing. I had the greatest, greatest time, and it felt like we had never stopped playing. The CB's show was phenomenal. It was so much better than anything in that 98 tour. It was exactly like an Underdog show from the 80's.

In that 1998 reunion, that was kind of hard on you, wasn't it? You guys got in a van accident. Didn't you guys have a hard time on that tour?

Richie: Wait, did we get in an accident?

I remember the show we (ROTP) played with you, you started the set off by saying "I'm kind of sore. We got in an accident. Can everybody just give me a little room..." and then the first song in Jon Hennessey, who was a big DC scene guy and a very nice guy, went running across the stage and--

Richie: what show was that?

In DC at a big club called Capital Ballroom (now called "Nation").

Richie: Ooooooh yeah. I was really sore. That's right. My leg was messed up. I remember now. I got nailed in the face with a boot really, really hard in the face. It's no big deal. It's happened many, many times. In fact, at the CB's show I was kicked really hard in the throat. I almost lost consciousness. Like, full boot in the Adam's apples. I couldn't breathe for a few seconds. AND, it was like 140 degrees in CB's. And yeah, a big ol' boot in the throat.

So are you guys going to keep playing shows?

Richie: I think what's going to happen now is we're going to play pretty consistently for a while now. We're going to do a European thing in November or December. A very short European tour, and we're going to keep booking shows, at least for now, on the east coast, north eastern US, and maybe a show or two in Canada. We've talked to people about booking some west coast shows, but nothing has been booked yet.

So are there plans for new songs, or are you just playing the old songs?

Richie: There are no recording plans right now. We're talking about that. Some guys in the band want to, and I'm not sure yet if I want to. As far as recording goes, it's just not where I aesthetically right now, or musically at all, especially right now where all that I play at home and all that I write is acoustic. But, Underdog is absolutely part of me and something that I created, so I love playing these songs. I just don't know if I can sit down and deliberately write Underdog songs again if their not...I don't do it if it's disingenuous. I want to do it if I'm feeling it and I want to write a hardcore song.

Would you mind shedding a little light on your involvement in Youth of Today? I've never heard any stories about your time in the band. Can you tell me a little bit about the Break Down The Walls tour?

Richie: Well, it was brief. We did a US tour together. We recorded Break Down The Walls together. That basically came out of the fact that I was very, very close friends with those guys. I was roommates with John Porcell, and very close friends with both John and Ray from before Youth of Today. They were just friends of mine. I had always played guitar, and really wanted to play guitar again in a hardcore band, or in any kind of band, and it just kind of fell into place. I was just talking to Porcell one day, and he was like "maybe we should have two guitars in the band and sound huge." But it was a very brief thing. We did one US tour, and then there were a couple of little stints, like a couple of weeks with 7 Seconds or a few shows on the west coast, so I think that's why there is so little talk of it. As far as any juicy anecdotes from that tour go, there's very little I remember except in Arizona, almost having a rumble with a bunch of skinheads because one of them beat up Ray or something like that.

Really?

Richie: Yeah. Ray was getting roughed up. He was like, dancing during some other band's set, and some local skinhead apparently punched him or did something, so Ray (laughs) come and got me and Ray basically said to him "Richie's gonna kick your ass!" So, we arranged to meet in the parking lot, and I was just going to like, fight some skinhead in the parking lot, and there was a whole crowd of kids ready to see a big brawl, and the guy never showed up.

When the hardcore message board discussions always turn to the "tough guys of hardcore" your name always makes that list. But the thing is, nobody ever really sheds lights on the details. And it's always so weird to me, because most of the guys on the list are usually crazy sketched out dudes, and you're nothing like that.

Richie: Well, I used to have a very short fuse. Honestly, fighting and violence is not something I want to glorify or romanticize, but I definitely was a bit of a hot head at one time, and maybe a bit of a brawler, but like I said, I think I was a weaker person then because I would lose control easily. In all honesty, I don't think I ever, uh, beat anybody up who didn't deserve it a little bit, but there were certainly a lot of situations I could have walked away from and didn't because of my pride and just stupid shit. But yeah, I'm sure the stories are exaggerated and I'm sure people claim that I got in many more fights than I actually did, but yeah I did at some hardcore shows, get into some fights.

I think hardcore in general is a lot less violent than it used to be. I think when kids today talk about the old days and the fights, I think they talk about it more in terms of like, watching a fight at a hockey game where everyone has their favorite enforcer.

Richie: Well, the hardcore that got me into things when I first started seeing hardcore bands play in the very early 80's, it was a very different thing. It actually was sort of a dangerous, small underground scene. There was always a sense of danger, really. There were these dangerous characters, and I was not one of those people. I wasn't some dangerous guy.

You never struck me as a mean or sketchy guy, at all.

Richie: No. No, honestly, I'm very quick to admit my faults, but I don't think I was ever a mean guy, and I certainly never, in my life, I never picked on anyone. Never. Quite the opposite. I was almost a loner in school. I had very few friends. When I was in high school, I never picked on people. I was one of the very different kids in my school, and if anything, I caught a lot of shit from people. Maybe that's something that helped sort of erode my tolerance and made me a short-fused angry guy for a period of my life. Hardcore is very angry music. I can be very inspirational and uplifting, but you can't deny that there's an aggressive note that runs through all of hardcore. One of the things that initially intrigued me about hardcore was that it was very dangerous. It's very different now, and hardcore shows...when I'd go see shows in New York at A7 or CBGB's, there really wasn't a large element of suburban, bourgeois kids at all. There were suburban kids, but they were like real misfits. They weren't at all the just like the popular kids at their school, and the kids who were making the music were inner city, usually outer borough New York City kids.

Was there a breaking point for you, a specific incident, where you just said to yourself "I'm done with fighting?"

Richie: Nothing at a hardcore show, no. But yeah, there was one incident where I was actually just looking for a friend of mine at a restaurant in New York. It was a crowded, almost like a night club, very crowded restaurant where people were deejaying. I actually wanted to go in there and see if a friend of mine was deejaying, and anyway, a very drunk guy...at the time my hair was bleached. Of course, I walk into some drunk frat guy, sort of Wall Street-type. He was calling me names, making fun of the bleached hair. I was trying to ignore it, and he ended up trying to put his cigarette out on my chest, and I completely overreacted and I hurt him really badly. I was sick about it. Just completely sick about it and disgusted with myself, and I just went home and I was a wreck. I was depressed for days. I don't think it was the last physical altercation I ever got into, but that one incident pretty much ended my "fighting career."

Check back for the second part of the interview tomorrow.

The Hardcore Office

2005-09-08T12:22:00.000-04:00

I think it's entirely possible that I work in one of the most hardcore offices in the world, without my office being located at a record label or record store. It probably has everything to do with the fact that I work for an animal rights advocacy group in Washington DC. Since a lot of hardcore kids gravitate towards vegetarian diet and animal rights, I guess it's not surprising.

We have 43 employees in our DC office, 5 of which come from hardcore origins, as well as a couple of others that have come and gone recently:

Kim, one of our nutritionists, played in several unheralded midwestern bands, and played bass in the Nerve Agents for a few shows, though she never recorded with the band. Sadly, she just quit the other week.

Mark, one of our lawyers, is the creator of the Misfits Central website. His current project is Band to Band.

Ben Read, one of our former interns, was one of the guitar players for Earth Crisis. Yes, the guy who wrote "Body Bag" chatting it up with the guy who wrote the riffs to "Fire Storm." That was funny.

Rich, our office manager, was in a Baltimore band called the Fearless Vampire Killers. His new band is called Forced Forward. Rich leads a dual life. Outside of the office, he's Mr. Hardcore. Inside the office, he sits around the mailroom all day listening to really bad R&B.

Nick, one of our system administrators, hasn't been involved in any bands or zines or anything like that, but you can have a good conversation with him, especially about Dischord stuff.

There's me of course, HNIC at the BBHC, and I sang for Rain on the Parade as well.

And lastly, Nick, our floating temp is an a DC area band called Bail Out.

Come to think of it, I've had three employers in the five years I've been in the District, and I've run into all kinds of hardcore dudes on the job. The first place I worked in DC was an interactive media company called Magnet Interactive. There were four hardcore/punk rock types there:

The concierge, Ryan, used to work at Dischord. He would sit there and just tell me story after story that made my head explode. He currently plays drums in a band called Beauty Pill.

One of the content writers, Dana, wasn't into the scene anymore by the time I met her, but as an eight year old, her parents had taken her to several Sex Pistols shows in the UK. She left the company after she won the British equivalent of an Academy Award for a documentary she did in her spare time. I can't remember what it was called.

There were a couple of other guys there who played in a DC band called The Goons, but unfortunately, I can only remember their faces, and not their names.

In the time I was at PBS, I didn't meet a single person with a hardcore pedigree. You'd think I would bump into someone at a organization that had over 500 people in it's corporate office, but alas, no one. However, I did have one strange encounter with a guy who worked in the department where they deal with rights to music used in PBS programs.

The guy's name Steve. He was a funny little dude, probably in his early 40's, who always walked around Braddock Place (where PBS's corporate offices were located) with a cane. He was always humming to himself, and occasionally he'd be walking around the place playing a harmonica. It was funny, and I liked the guy a lot.

Anyway, the first week I'm in my new job at PBS, I step into the elevator to find Steve already in there. As we're taking the ride up, Steve turns and says "sooo...Ronny Little?"

"Yeah, that's right" I say.

"Rain on the Parade? Body Bag. Longhairs? All that nonsense?"

My jaw must have hit the floor of the elevator, because he laughed.

"How did you know that?!"

Steve just smiled without saying a word and walked out of the elevator. In the nearly two years I was at PBS, he never told me.

Quick Notes

2005-09-05T20:45:00.000-04:00

* A few weeks ago I wrangled with the XBring Back ProhibitionX and Seventh Dagger crowd publicly on this site, as well as on their own message board. If you haven't gotten the chance to check out the Seventh Dagger message board yet, you really need to. It's a hoot.

Anyway, I've been reading the Seventh Dagger message board here and there, and the kids on that board are being annihilated on a daily basis by a coalition of straight edge and non-straight edge kids who aren't spilling the XBBPX hate-filled Kool Aid all over themselves. Watching volley after volley go back and forth is like watching the Jerry Springer show on a message board. The message board insurgents are definitely the studio audience there to witness the spectacle, while the Seventh Dagger dudes -- struggling with the English language and coherent rational thought -- are clearly the trailer trash guests out for a night in the big city and their 15 minutes of fame. It's awesome.

The funny thing is, these clowns wanted a war, but it doesn't seem like they were expecting to be dealing with an insurgency on their own message board. It's gotten so bad that as soon as the guy who runs the site gets back from tour, he's going configure the site to require usernames and passwords. Ha! Guess who that war? So, if you're one of the message board insurgents, or you want to get in on the action, you better do it soon before they build their Berlin Wall.

By the way, the latest blog on their message board is a laugher. They freely acknowlxedgex that straight edge really is indeed a gang. Check it out here.

*I've heard it through the grapevine that Jamie Aurthurs, the promoter of the St. Andrews church venue, was a little bummed by what he felt was one-sided coverage of the Fuse Is Lit show I covered in the first installment of Dancefloor Diaries. It was not my intent to be biased, nor do I have any feelings about the incident or the politics surrounding the show. While I do live in the Washington DC area, I'm really not a part of the scene here. I've been a Philly fish out of water in DC for the past 5 years now. Ask anybody here about me, and most will probably say "Ronny who?" I'm not kidding.

When I initially came up with the idea for Dancefloor Diaries, I posted on a couple of message boards, asking for kids to contact me if they were at the show. I was really just interested in the events of the night, and not necessarily the subtext, partly because I wasn't fully aware the amount of scene politics involved. I got three responses, all of them giving the accounts that I published, one of them painting Jamie in a negative light. Dave Byrd also painted Jamie with a messy brush when I interviewed him about the show in Fuck You Fanzine (issue 6, volume III), which I included in the Dancefloor Diaries account of the show because it was relevant to the story. A few other DC kids had unkind words for Jamie Authurs in the comments section, but one reader did stand up for him.

Basically, I put the word out there that I wanted to hear about the show, and I published what came back to me, and then others piled on in the comments section. I wasn't really thinking "fair and balanced" because the way I saw it, I just wanted the story behind the show the same way I once wanted the story behind the Shutdown show at CBGB's. I wasn't trying to slant the story in any direction, although it did end up that way.

Since the feature did end up decidedly one-sided, in the interest of fairness I'm extending an invitation to Jamie Aurthurs, or anyone who worked on this show with him, to write in and give their account of the incident as well as the consequences that resulted from all of the fireworks that went on that evening (figurativly and literally). Just remember that the opinions left in the comments section are not necessarily the opinions of the management.

*I'm looking to add a few contributors to the site to keep things rolling on a Monday through Friday schedule of new content. If you're interested in becoming a part of BBHC, please get in touch with me at bareboneshc@hotmail.com and I'll tell you what I have in mind.

Road Rage Record Review by Dave K.

2005-09-02T12:14:00.000-04:00

More More More...well not really, I’m really strapped for time so only one thing this week. I’ll be at Dragoncon in Atlanta Labor Day weekend so you probably won’t see the next column until the week after (like you care). I promise all the label who sent stuff will have it reviewed then. Oh, one more thing. I found a decent turntable at Goodwill last week (and I haven’t forgot how to use it) so you can send vinyl, BUT, if you can send CDs instead, all the better.

It’s a positive, positive, positive scene. Well, has been a very long time coming (and I can understand why!) but the long awaited Schism New York Hardcore Fanzine book is finally out. Wow! You have to give kudos to Chris Wrenn for giving a shit and releasing this. I know first hand how the fanzine gets the shit end of the stick when it comes to remembrances, which is why I’m starting up my fanzine CD label. Anyway, on to the dissection. I remember when I was just getting comfortable in the NYC hardcore scene things really started to take off. It was around that time I saw this ‘zine at Some Records called Loveseat. I think it had an Iowa address on it, so I asked Duane were he got it from. “Some kid from the mid west, I think his name is Alex”. Fast forward a bit, there was a new ‘zine on the wall called Schism (new? it was #6). Looked inside and I saw Porcell’s name in it plus this kid Alex, who I knew was in Side By Side. Put two and two together and realized it was the same dude who did
this ‘zine Loveseat.

You have to say, Alex Brown is probably one of the luckiest people in NYC hardcore history. Here is this kid from Iowa of all places and in the shortest period of time, becomes a card carrying member of the youth crew, is playing in numerous popular NYC bands and turns his ‘zine into one of the most well-known & notorious ‘zines in hardcore music. In short, he like hit the Mega Millions lottery on one of the big days. It’s things like that people don’t realize with this wonderful retrospective on Schism and the late 80’s NYC hardcore scene.

This 128 page book compiles the 3 issues of Schism fanzine (yes three, it’s sort of like McPheeters starting Dear Jesus at number #39 or something like that.) Schism #6 started it all. I always wondered how they got the white on white cut and paste without lines cropping up. It’s one of the reasons In Memory Of…was done white on black. I couldn’t make the white on white come out good like this (when you are making photocopies, the light will pass and the small shadows come out along the right of the left, anyway…oh I am fucking rambling) Schism fanzine was the epitome of the NY Youth Crew and all the shit that went with it. #7 is the one everybody remembers and knows about. They really did a good job keeping the Project X thing a secret. Nobody knew. Porcell says in one the interviews included in the book that he couldn’t even tell Ray, because Ray would never be able to keep a secret. So fucking true. The day #7 came out, Alex brought them down to Some Records first. I was there with Adam Nathanson and bought three copies right away. Alex was like, “Thanks man!” Later Adam scolded me saying now Alex is going to get a big head. Well, I didn’t care. I knew a lot of people all over the US and knew one of my friends was going to get hooked up. I had this friend from Pittsburgh named Aaron and was
telling him on the phone about it. “Dude, you have to let me get that!!! Nobody here even knows about it!!!” A few months later, he came to NYC to hang and we ran into Porcell. Porcell was like “Pittsburgh!” cause he couldn’t remember his name right off the bat.

#8 was the issue that made Porcell the butt end of many jokes for a bit. His “Porcell says “Straight in ‘88” caused mass confusion with his “rewriting” the rules of Straight Edge. I must credit the beginning of the whole “Veg-Edge” movement right here because after this came out, almost overnight every SxE kid was wearing “Love Animals, Don’t Eat Them” shirts. I know quite a few long time vegetarians and vegans were
really pissed at Porcell for this one. He was a great guy though, I don’t fault him this really. He was trying to make a point. On the other hand, people were lauding Schism for interviewing YDL and actually asking confrontational questions.

This book also has nice retrospective pieces by Alex, Porcell, Jordan Cooper, many of the CT guys who were sort of the extended Youth Crew like Chris Daily and Jeff Terranova and more. The only little fault I may find with this book is there are no negative comments. Any solid documentation should have some. Just a little nitpick. The picture section is great, some of the photos are mislabeled but I understand that is already being corrected.

The flyers are cool, for some reason there are a couple I haven’t seen before (I have been noticing this lately. I have a personal collection of over 1,000 flyers and I am amazed how many I still don’t have!). One half of my Life’s Blood flyer (the one,with the skull on it) is shown. The special guest was actually Project X . This was a great show because The Lismar Lounge had this “must be16 year old” policy to get in. In NYC, this was a standard rule, blame Robert Chambers. So a lot of kids were left outside in the cold.

During one of the songs during PX’s set, Porcell jumped up with with his fist in the air and punched through the drop ceiling by accident. It must have been fate and with everybody pissed that a lot of kids were left outside, he and most during the sing a longs started punching out the tiles. After Life’s Blood played, during which people left after Adam made some Jewish jokes (he was Jewish...hahaha) that was a fun show all in all, sad so few got to see it. I was also at that Ritz show. Oh, the memories.

Like I said up top, this is good one, Chris Wrenn can rest easy at night. I haven’t heard a bad word about this book. The price is way below the average for a book this size. In a world where most punk and
hardcore retrospective books are half assed or opinionated, The Schism book is a breath of fresh air. I can only wish that my CD projects be as well received as this one. Hopefully, he can keep this in print for a very long time.

Get this at: www.b9press.com

Dance Hard Or Die, Bitches,

Dave K.

Send all CDs/mp3s/cassettes/demos/fanzines/DVD/books, etc...(if you can try, don’t bother sending the CD cases, save some bucks on the postage) dupes on CDR are fine to, just try to send info with it) to:

David Koenig
1990 Pinehurst View Drive
Grayson, GA 30017

E-mail me at: Grandnagus69@yahoo.com

Mailbag

2005-08-29T11:37:00.000-04:00

Thanks for stickin' up for me, Ronny!

Isn't it all so silly? I mean, don't these bored, bourgeois, would-be-artists, thwarted in their dreams by lack of talent, creativity and vision have anything more substantive to write about? Was my betrayal of the punk credo more profound than The Clash, Stooges, Buzzcocks, et al licensing their songs to multi-national corporations for ad campaigns? Believe it or not, I'm old enough to remember The Clash being called sell-outs when they released Sandinista, because no one "got it" aesthetically (apart from "Police On My Back").

At the end of the day, all of the seminal punk bands were on major labels, and Alternative Press is not a not-for-profit organization that donates all proceeds to starving punk orphans in the former Soviet States. I could give a fuck what those (truly) lily-white, pretentious pseudo-journalists have to say about me. How about this, AP: You can't be cool and have an area called "The Mosh Pit" on your web site at the same time.

I distanced myself, a long time ago, from those who fancied themselves as non-conformists, yet comprised a "scene" that demanded more conformity than the mainstream (read the lyrics to "Not Like You", which I wrote in 1984).

Thanks again, Ronny.

Love,
Richie Birkenhead
----------

Ronny,

FYI -- The music editor at Alternative Press is named Jonah Bayer.

Hugs and kisses,

Trevor Kelley
New York, NY

Trevor,

I am indeed aware that Johan Bayer is the music editor over at AP. I'm still trying to figure out that one, too.

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Dear Ronny,

Here's an alternative to stupid straight edge tough guys and skinny weiners that act like them:

http://www.myspace.com/xhugsxnotxthugsx

Adam Kirby

Everyone needs to check out this site. There's already a comment from that exTYRANTex band that says "I would like to stab you." Ha.

----------

Dear Alternative Press:

2005-08-26T15:37:00.000-04:00

Dear Alternative Press:

I'm sitting here scratching my head, trying to figure out how Trevor Kelley pegged Richie Birkenhead as one of "punk's earliest turncoats" in the most recent issue of your magazine (AP #206, page 114)? First, Mr. Kelley made a reference to the "lilywhite" Birkenhead taking his band, Underdog, into a reggae direction. Considering Underdog had exactly 1.5 Jah-friendly tunes, I find that conclusion a bit exaggerated. The .5 in that equation, a song called "Mass Movement," has a reggae intro and outro, with a very good hardcore song connecting the two in the middle. To this day, it is one of the best attempts by a hardcore band to fuse two totally different music styles together. The song shreds, as about 2000 kids that showed up to see Underdog play at the 2005 Positive Numbers Festival will attest to.

And then there was the reference to Birkenhead's progressive metal band Into Another. Were Into Another a hardcore band? No. Did they appeal to A LOT of hardcore kids? Absolutely. Did Birkenhead bring a lot of his Underdog fans over to the darkside with him? Absolutely. Neither Brian Baker nor Pat Dubar (also mentioned in your article) can say the same about either of their bands (Baker's Junkyard and Dubar's Mindfunk). To this day, Baker & Dubar are still held up as the examples of all that is unholy and unhardcore. Richie Birkenhead was never lumped into that crowd, nor will he ever be.

Also, Pat Dubar was Uniform Choice's singer. And the change throwing incident (which occurred at the legendary Anthrax club in Connecticut on the Staring Into the Sun tour) was a joke played by the locals -- friends of the band according to drummer Pat Longrie.

You really need a hardcore kid working over at that magazine of yours. And no, Johan Bayer doesn't count.

I have Spoken,

Ronny Little
http://bareboneshardcore.blogspot.com

Road Rage Record Reviews by Dave K.

2005-08-25T09:27:00.000-04:00

Back again for more nonsense. It seems like this week’s topic on the message boards is how Hellfest was cancelled. Oh boo fucking hoo. This thing was obviously getting too big for itself. I never understood these big fests to be honest. I don’t get the appeal of them. Sure you get to see a lot of big bands and lots of smaller bands at one place, but when you have like three stages and limited stage time, it’s not fair to the bands and the audience. If you are one of the bigger bands with a large pool of material, how the hell do you choose what songs to play to make everybody happy. As a music fan going there, after spending the tons of cash getting there and getting in, what bands do you watch? Then go “What? I did all this to get here and you only play for 20 minutes?”

My big issue has always been the “corporate sponsors”. Apparently, this is what killed this year’s fest. I’d be more impressed with the organizers if they could pull this off without all of the corporate crap. That’s never been what this music has been about. At the very least, scale this back a little. A lot of people were disappointed from this disaster and lost a lot of money they probably could've spent elsewhere. Some people never learn. On to this week’s reviews...

The Iron Boots Weight Of the World CD compiles their collection of seven-inches recorded over the past couple of years. I heard a lot of things about this band, but musically I can’t see it. First off, the recordings are very flat sounding. Iron Boots comes off as a 3rd rate Warzone wannabe, with the singer obviously sounding like Raybees. Track 7 is called “Wardogs”, though it should be “Fighting For Your Country” because it sounds exactly like it. Again, people are digging this, I just don’t find it too exciting. Collapse Records

Thorp Records is at it again with a few releases. This week we will look at Down To Nothing’s Splitting Headache. This band’s latest starts out pretty decently with well put together mid-paced to fast hardcore, nice bass sound. The problem is it kinda falls off halfway through the CD. The first three tracks would be great on a compilation. Definitely an above average release, worth a listen…the bold packaging we have come to expect from this label, interesting artwork throughout. Thorp Records

Some records just don’t get out of the gate, These Days’s self-titled CD is one of them. A heavy HC band in the vein of Integrity comes off a little generic and dull. Everything about it seems forced. A large percentage of the lyrics deal with “the scene” and way too much F-word. These guys seem to have a lot of talent behind them, they are just playing a tired style of music. Life Long Tragedy’s Destined For Anything is a disc of deep vocals and mid-paced heavy HC with a 1990’s tinge. Lyrics are of a dreamy personal nature. Sadly, we have heard this all before. A tad generic and fails to get any excitement going. Both these releases can be found at This Blessing This Curse Recordings

Mike Scondotto has been around the NYC scene forever and a day. He knows he might be getting in deep for sending me a copy of his bands’, Inhuman The New Nightmare CD and for that he is a brave soul. They are pretty talented but most of the music here has that 1990’s NYC hardcore sound that gets a little dull after a while. Not to say Inhuman doesn’t have it though. Where this release shines is track 3 “Killing Me”. It has this Personality Crisis/T.S.O.L. sound that is great. If the record were more like this, I would be digging it a lot more. Ditto for the secret track, a cover of “New Rose” by The Damned. It is here where this band has it all together. Worth checking out: www.inhumanlegion.com

I think Revelation Records is trying to relive the glory days by releasing Generations: A Hardcore Compilation, a CD of newer and up and coming hardcore bands from around the USA. Some of the bands are Lights Out, Blacklisted, Iron Boots & Mental. It’s a decent compilation; many of the bands here will get a lot of attention due to this label’s prominence in HC music. The track, “DC”, by Snake Eyes is the best one here. I’m just really puzzled by Rev’s packaging. Why the hell on a modern 2000’s hardcore comp, do they have a nice collage of show flyers from days’ past? Don’t they have any faith in the bands they are pushing on this CD? You mean to tell me that none of the bands had flyers made that they could have used? Very strange to say the least. All in all most will buy this due to the popularity of some of the bands. Will it become a classic Rev comp? That we will find out in a few years. Revelation Records

Havoc Records has another CD/LP out. Sweden’s Martyrdod In Extremisis a disc of deep and dark scary apocalyptic hardcore, with some melodic guitar work thrown in. Some of songs blend in to each other, so it sounds like every song is the same. Not too exciting to me but this will destroy on the dark & moody crust circuit. Can’t comment on the lyrics since they are sung and written in Swedish. I can only assume they are about clubbing seals and raping farm animals -- just KIDDING of course! Nice minimalist artwork by Martina Friis Martydod will be touring the USA sometime in 2006. Havoc Records

Every once in a while, a record will just jump out you for no apparent reason at all. Pissed Jeans’s Shallow is one such release, though you wouldn’t know it by the packaging. It’s not a hardcore record, punk maybe, but full on noise yes. It’s like they have listening to those Black Flag instrumental records, GONE and later Greg Ginn stuff, studying them to no end and making a great studio record. I say a studio record because I cannot see this being pulled off live. The guitar feedback/solo sound like they are in a timewarp. The label is taking a big chance with this because it’s going to be hard to pigeonhole this to a market that needs everything classified in a category. An interesting release to say the least. Parts Unknown Records

Zine 101: Class today is “What not to do in your "zine" or "How not to embarrass yourself by making inane comments" When Ronny sent down the goodie box of music from the Posi Numbers fest, there was this zine in it. Since I’m an ex-fanzine editor, I always look at this stuff first. Fudgebun #2 (July 2005) is a small half-size hardcore music zine from I don’t know where because there is no mailing address (mistake #1). Now I don’t like to say bad things about younger folks starting up their zines but you really have to think before you put anything to paper. There are very short interviews with the bands Comeback Kid, With Honor and with somebody who works on Hellfest (mistake #2, you can’t have an interview with an anonymous person). Good Lord, now to make a few comments. Under his short "Fuck Reunions" blurb, "I mean, Underdog playing shows is cool because they’re kind of relevant because Mental got people interested in them." Dude, you have to be fucking KIDDING me. I never was the biggest Underdog fan (I really thought they were better when Carl sang for them.) but it’s not because Mental got people interested in them. It’s because they are FUCKING HARDCORE LEGENDS!! (As a side note, if you are not into Underdog, why would you use their classic logo lettering for your zines logo) Throughout the “Post Fest Preview” section, it seems the editor is really more concerned if a band is cool to mosh to instead if they are actually good and/or have something to say. His little blurb on Vegans is juvenile to say the least. Ack! Listen, I give the guy credit for trying but this needs more thought put into it. Flesh it out, don’t be in such a rush to get your zine out. Make it so that people will remember it (for the right reasons) at least a year later. You can e-mail Ken X at fudgebunzine@gmail.com to see if you can still get this.

This week’s moldy oldie: Wow! I swear a group of old hardcore types need to get together, go down to the offices of Parts Unknown Records and carry these people on our shoulders. I’m not sure when this was put out but I think it was recently. YDI was an old hardcore band from Philadelphia who like most got known well after the fact. Their records were on everybody’s want lists. Man, this CD, Out For Blood compiles their 15 track demo (which I never heard), The Place In The Sun 7", the two tracks off the Get Off My Back comp & the Lp Black Dust (another one that I missed). YDI were a good hardcore band, not great (I never really liked the vocals) but definitely deserves this CD. The packaging, simply put, is fucking amazing. Those pictures make you wish you could have been there for the fun. "I Killed My Family" is the best track here. Gotta love it. Get it at: Parts Unknown Records

Well more next week. I e-mailed a lot of labels this week, we’ll see if any respond. Remember, even I give your music a bad or lackluster review, you’ll get at the very least links to your website and if you have mp3 samples we link to them, so people can make up their own minds. Take care.

In Crust We Trust,

Dave K.

Send all CDs/mp3s/cassettes/demos/fanzines/DVD/books, etc… (if you can try, don’t bother sending the CD cases, save some bucks on the postage…dupes on CDR are fine to, just try to send info with it) to:

David Koenig
1990 Pinehurst View Drive
Grayson, GA 30017

E-mail me at: Grandnagus69@yahoo.com

Ha Ha! I Win...

2005-08-24T15:09:00.000-04:00

The folks at XBBPX took down the straight edge suicide bomber picture from their My Space profile. The backlash must have been too much for them to handle.

I'll give them credit, though. Despite the lack of intellectual real estate over at XBBPX, at least the light did finally click on in someone's head that, "hey, this really does look bad."

Be sure to tune in for the Road Rage Record Review by Dave K tomorrow.

Thnx!
Ronny Little

No really. Fuck New York.

2005-08-23T00:26:00.000-04:00

I have no idea how I didn't hear about this last month. I came across this story by accident the other day when I stumbled across the East Coast Hardcore Website.

Featured above is a hand drawn SLAPSHOT logo penned by Choke himself. Apparently he drew it as a gag when SLAPSHOT was on tour in Europe. If you'll turn your attention to the "H" in SLAPSHOT, you'll notice it's a drawing of NYC's World Trade Towers, with the axis being a plane slamming into the tower on the right. Pictured above is the second plane, coming to finish the job. Below, it reads "Keep Looking at the Sky," a verse from the SLAPSHOT song Fuck New York.

BUT, that's not the end of the story. No, what really made this a doozie was the rebuke it drew from one of NYHC's toughest customers, Ezec. That is definitely a dude I wouldn't want breathing down my neck. As my good friend Kevin used to say, "you don't want to piss of a guy who has the words 'Lord Ezac' tattooed across his back."

----------

This is a direct statement from Lord Ezec, aka Danny Diablo, CEO of ILL-ROC Records:

"Above is a drawing of a Slapshot logo made by Choke in Europe... Everyone knows that there's been a conflict between some NYC bands and Choke. I've been a big fan of Slapshot's music for years but when you start making fun of a historical tragedy, that's when you've crossed the line. In addition to being a historical tragedy, it was also a personal tragedy for me and many of us, in that, we've lost so many loved ones all at once. I'm asking, as a favor to all the people who we lost in this tragedy, that any bands, promoters, venues, record labels, etc. boycott SLAPSHOT!!!!! I'm not one to come post my opinion on a messageboard or public forum, but I've been known to be a "musical career killer." SO ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO WORK WITH SLAPSHOT.... THINK TWICE!!!! HEY JACK, IF YOU THINK THIS A JOKE CALL DWID!!!!
- LORD EZEC D.M.S.
CEO of ILL-ROC Records"

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Looks like Choke couldn't have put SLAPSHOT to bed at a better time.

Ronny

My final thoughts on XBBPX, for now.

2005-08-22T08:50:00.000-04:00

I spent the weekend corresponding with several XBBPX members via email and on their messageboard at the seventhdagger site. Trying to reason and debate with these guys was exhausting. I should have known better. Just a few thoughts before I move onto another subject:

*If these XBBPX kids didn't find straight edge, I'm certain they would be nazi skinheads. They are totally cut from the same cloth in that, I truly believe they need to hate something. Talking about violence and planning for violence seem to be things that thrill these guys. They view people who have an education as "spoiled rich kids." According to some of the things I was reading about them on a TXHC messageboard, they'll never give you a fair fight (using things like brass knuckles in a confrontation, fighting in packs or having friends run interference to set up a suckerpunch, etc). And then there's the communication style that goes something like "GO SUCK A DICK AND DIE YOU ASS RIDING FAGGOT SELL OUT!!!"

If you grew up in sort-of rural Pennsylvania in the 80's like I did, this is the kind of stuff you'd be seeing and hearing from groups like the Hammer Skins, Allentown Skins, and the AC Skins (Atlantic City). The entire time I was corresponding with these XBBPX guys, the similarities just kept occuring to me.

*While a lot of straight edge kids tend to laugh off XBBPX, eventually they're going to make all of you look really bad. When white power started to get really big after several incidents made the news, it really tore apart the skinhead scene. The moment Geraldo Rivera caught a chair with his face, from then on all of the skinheads who weren't into racism were ALWAYS lumped into that whole white power perception by those who didn't know any better, which was just about everyone in the communities where they lived. All of the non-racist skins tried to seperate themselves by, laughably, wearing different color shoe laces and forming an organization called SHARP (SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice), but stuff like that never made it to the news, so the public perception of them remained the same. XBBPX doesn't seem to care if they taint the public perception of straight edge, because if you're not drinking their hate-filled Kool Aid, you're not really straight edge, anyway.

Some day, one of these XBBPX kids is going to lose it, do something news worthy in the absolute worst way, and the next thing you know, clubs that have shows will have a "no straight edge" policy, similar to the way clubs once had "no nazi skinhead" policies. But instead of "no Doc Martins, no braces, no white laces, no bomber jackets," it will be "no x's on your hands, shirts, or watches." Seems ridiculous, I know. I don't think that would happen on the East or West Coast, because kids don't take straight edge to extremes like that in those regions, but it could easily happen in the mid-west, where all of these kids seem to be, and all of the parents seem to worship Fox News (which would run with this kind of thing for months and months).

*I'm not in the school of thought that these dudes would ever actually run around shooting people. I think the guns and the straight edge soldiers stuff is strictly an image thing to draw attention to themselves. Kinda like putting "hey, fuck you. Yeah you" on a t-shirt and then wearing it to school. What bothers me is the unstable kid who comes across something like XBBPX, takes it too literally, and ends up doing something very tragic. You laugh? Two words: Charles Manson. That is the perfect example of what can happen when you fill young impressionable minds with hate-filled ideology and imagery. Like I said before, all you need is one loose nut looking to prove his worth to the cause to make this a tragedy for everyone.

*I think a better name for XBBPX would be "The Straight Edge Taliban."

Mailbag

2005-08-19T09:42:00.000-04:00

Dude,

What's your problem? I can see why you may disagree with us, but I don't understand why you would go out of your way to talk shit. I suppose I should just have a sense of humor about it, but there are a lot of people putting in a lot of time and hard work to do what we do. It means a lot to us and we are all honest and stand up dudes. If you knew anyone who was actually involved in XBBPX, you would prolly get along with us.

By the way, the dude in the picture is not me, just some kid wearing our shirt. The mask is just cool. You can find my face as well as any other XBBPX kid on our personal profiles. We all have XBBPX right there on our profiles. No one tries to fight us over it. The alcohol industry is awful. That shit kills someone every half hour. That sucks to lose loved ones to that shit. We try to educate people and raise money for groups like MADD. You should read our mission statement instead of getting upset about a dude in a mask.

XBBPX

A far right conservative from Texas who doesn't like to hear dissenting opinions. Hmmm...where have we seen that before?

I have a problem with your message and your image on several levels. First and foremost, you make every good straight edge kid look very, very BAD. When the media wants a story on straight edge, especially in this day in age when fear equals ratings, reporters and producers tend to gravitate toward the extreme faction in any group. In the case of straight edge, that would be groups like yours, which have images of hate and violence sewn into the fabric of their message. Guns, grenades, bullets, dudes who look like suicide bombers, promises of a war, and bands that proudly proclaim that they'd "kill for straight edge." (see the band page for exTYRANTex) You are a ratings BONANZA.

Your approach is so ridiculous and self defeating. The news gets out there that in middle america, straight edge is classified as a gang, or at least violent element that needs to be closely monitored. All of the sudden, EVERY town in America is watching kids with x's on their hands in the hopes of avoiding another Columbine, rather than focusing on issues like underage drinking and illicit drug use.

So, the kids who actually behave and make the right choices are put under scrutiny, and the kids who make the stupid choices are overlooked. Or worse yet, your milantancy drives good straight edge kids disallusioned with your extremism to raise their hands and say "how do I get out of this chickenshit outfit?" I should know. In 1992, I was one of them.

Secondly, I won't challenge your data on alcohol claiming the life of someone every half hour, but you can probably point to the same kinds of numbers of fatalities associated with aggressive driving and people talking on cell phones when they're driving. What do drunk driving, aggressive driving, and distracted driving fatalities all have in common? They are all the result of bad judgement. I blame the individual, not the method of destruction.

Lastly, hosting hateful bands like exTYRANTex, which spew violent rhetoric associates you with that hate-filled element. Just like an oi label can't get away from being considered a sketchy record label because it puts out racist bands, XBBPX can't get away from being considered a violent fringe element when it supports bands that profess violence.

If one loose nut walks into his school or a local bar with a XBBPX t-shirt and a couple of loaded guns and, God forbid, looks to fire the opening salvo of your "war", you will share in the blame when it's distributed. If you haven't realized that yet, you obviously haven't thought this through.

You raise money for MADD. Big deal. As far as I'm concerned, when they accept money from groups that have a hateful message like XBBPX, MADD may as well be taking money from the Klan, too. Have MADD officials seen your website? I'd be disappointed if they weren't appalled.

Ronny Little

P.S. I wrote this song years ago for kids who get sucked the lunatic sxe faction. Maybe exTYRANTex can cover it at their next show? Enjoy.

----------

Hand Over Your X's

You've snubbed the pressures of every teen
You're every parent's wet dream
Who needs ciggies, booze, or weed
When you can get drunk on your purity?

It's taken it's toll
You're out of control
Heads filled with hate
Are hardly on straight...

Carving X's in people's backs
You fail to see the wrong in that
Salt Lake City & Syracuse
I've got you up there with Hitler Youth
So let me salute you
SEIG HEIL!
Where's the brown shirts boys?
You'd wear them well.

You're drunk on your "purity"
You're high on your hate.

It's a Straight Edge JIHAD!

2005-08-18T19:05:00.000-04:00

Look everybody -- a straight edge suicide bomber, courtesy of the XBBPX Brigade (XBring Back ProhibitionX)! That's right, kids! You too can carry out a martyrdom operation at the next local Theta Kappa Epsilon mixer! Hell, choose any greek initals. All of those frat dudes drink and rape women!

When you carry out your martyrdom operation, your reward will await you in Heaven: the entire Embrace Today collection and TEN straight edge virgins!

"Wait a minute...these virgins are all DUDES!"

"Nooooooo! "

You talk about the "war" that is coming. A war that you will bring on the beer drinking heathen. Guess what, Joey Coughdrop, 98-pound straight edge warrior*. If you'd post a picture of yourself without that mask, I guarantee there'd be a line of people at your door who would quickly bring that war to you. Why put it off? Embrace today I always say. Cos' horses like hay and mugs are made of clay. Is that okay? Wadda ya say?

Check out the Seventh Dagger site. Trust me, hilarity ensues.

*Thou Shalt Not Steal -- "Joey Coughdrop, 98-pound vegan warrior" was a phrase first coined by Mr. Trip Machine, Chris Weinblad.