Here's the Justice music video I filmed, edited and directed for school. I'm not really 100% satisfied as the color correction is a total failure and there are a lot of shots that I couldn't use because you could see either the Black Pro-mist or the donut reflect. But I'm more satisfied about this thing than I am about all the other school related stuff I have made the last two years. Let me know what you think.
vrijdag 6 juli 2007
zondag 25 maart 2007
"I walked the streets the other day"
I will be spending some blog space on both Vogue and The Reactionaries some day soon, but for now I will urge you to at least check out the MP3s of Union Town by simply clicking here. Be prepared for some late DC influenced hardcore meets Dangerhouse hardcore and mid-paced late '70s with great Dave Smalley influenced vocals. If you like what you hear try to get a hold of their demo, you won't be disappointed.
It seems as if there are finally some new and fresh bands popping up again over here in Belgium and the Netherlands that are actually pretty good. Some of those bands are Vogue (who rerecorded their demo yesterday, as well as a 7"), The Reactionaries (featuring members of Dead Stop, Justice and Restless Youth) and the Dutch band Union Town. Be on the lookout for all these bands, because they are better than your average punk or hardcore band.
I will be spending some blog space on both Vogue and The Reactionaries some day soon, but for now I will urge you to at least check out the MP3s of Union Town by simply clicking here. Be prepared for some late DC influenced hardcore meets Dangerhouse hardcore and mid-paced late '70s with great Dave Smalley influenced vocals. If you like what you hear try to get a hold of their demo, you won't be disappointed.
vrijdag 23 maart 2007
How do you do? I don't think we've meet, my name is Alec and I'm from Minor Threat!
I just found out that the guy that's asleep on the Minor Threat EP isn't Ian Mackaye, but his brother Alec. I always thought, just like most of you I guess, that Ian was the guy so tired he fell asleep at a show. I even think I remember having read this in Dance Of Days. I'm not 100% sure about that though.
Anyway, Henry Rollins had this to say about the picture:
That’s Alec MacKaye, Ian’s brother. I was standing there when that photo was taken. He was such an interesting guy. Alec and I were roommates in the summer of ’80 for a few weeks. Alec had the bunk bed. He would come in at like at 10 a.m. and say he walked to Bethesda and back. He would go in that outfit—the jeans and trench coat. And he would walk through the simmering D.C. stewpot in that outfit, and get to the show early and just pass out. That picture was taken either between sets or when he’d arrived early to the gig and caught a nappy-nap.
Check out some more great pictures taken by Susie J. Horgan along with little comments by Henry Rollins here. Or buy the book Punk Love here.
Anyway, Henry Rollins had this to say about the picture:
That’s Alec MacKaye, Ian’s brother. I was standing there when that photo was taken. He was such an interesting guy. Alec and I were roommates in the summer of ’80 for a few weeks. Alec had the bunk bed. He would come in at like at 10 a.m. and say he walked to Bethesda and back. He would go in that outfit—the jeans and trench coat. And he would walk through the simmering D.C. stewpot in that outfit, and get to the show early and just pass out. That picture was taken either between sets or when he’d arrived early to the gig and caught a nappy-nap.
Check out some more great pictures taken by Susie J. Horgan along with little comments by Henry Rollins here. Or buy the book Punk Love here.
zaterdag 24 februari 2007
donderdag 15 februari 2007
"The body is deteriorating every day, you can’t get too attached to it"
These are the alien beggar kids: They started to get dressed in the morning but came up with a better idea. They used razors, an axe, hatchets, anything they could get their hands on, and turned themselves into skinheads and Mohawks. Sure they look tough, but let’s get things straight: Being a kid in 1986 ain’t as much fun as you thought. 
The Cro-Mags have known this for years. Their solution is musical and brilliant in its simplicity. Blend hardcore with the sexual powers of heavy metal and add some punk rock to be true to their roots. The Cro-Mags are the extraterrestrial sewer workers of hardcore. If it’s possible to be down to earth and orbit it at the same time, they’ve been there. While other bands are looking for new ways to say the same old thing, the Cro-Mags speed-sing simple, lyrical songs with a simple, non-lyrical message. One message: Being a kid sucks. Period.
Sounds like fun? Well, it’s a lot like playing sandlot baseball in Lebanon. But in rock culture the definition of ‘fun’ comes up for renewal every couple of years. The angriest musical message ever sent was the one punk rock gave to the hippies: “We hate your idea of fun.” Punk rock gave you a place to go when your parents were getting into Studio 54. But when rock ‘n’ roll grew up, how the hell could a kid rebel respectably when his parents were hanging out, smoking pot, and listening to the Clash? It is the action-reaction theory of evolution: One generation’s idea of fun is always the next generation’s poison.
The Cro-Mags have their own ideas. Three of the band members are Hare Krishnas. They are vegetarians and, for a bunch of non-smoking, non-drinking herbivores, they look pretty good. Unless you happen to hate tattoos, in which case they look healthy but scarred.
The band arrives on time. There are five of them, two of whom –Harley Flanagan and John Joseph- are twins. Equally tanned, attractive, muscled, shaved, and tattooed, they are the same height and finish each other’s sentences. Usually they agree. Onstage, you can tell them apart because John is the lead singer, and Harley plays bass. Offstage, it’s harder. Doug Holland, lead guitar, looks like John and Harley, but without the tattoos. Parris Mitchel Mayhew (known to friends as Kevin) appears to represent the preppie faction of the group. He stands taller than the others and has hair. Mackie, the drummer, also has hair and always look unhappy.
They are, by rock star standards, well-behaved and soft-spoken. Nobody squirms or tells ‘in’ jokes. They bring their own Perrier, answer all the questions, and don’t all talk at once. They don’t make comments about the interviewer’s legs just because she happens to be a girl, and they’re a rock band. They are, in a word, mellow. But onstage they play such angry music.
“It’s not angry,” John protests in a barely audible voice. “Maybe people think that because there is a certain energy associated with it that is physical and aggressive.”
“Yeah,” Harley agrees, “but we have a message. There is a certain amount of frustration in our lives, but we feel we have ways to deal with it.”
“Some people go to clubs, do cocaine, and listen to demonic metal to get out their frustrations. It’s negative. Hardcore kids come to a show, slam and stage-dive with their friends, and feel better. There’s hardly any frustration on the dance floor. If there is, it’s someone who has a lot of negativeness in them, but basically it’s all non-violent.”
“Still you appear to be afraid. You’re always telling the kids to watch out.”
For the first time they all talk at once. “No!”
“I just don’t want them to come up and unplug me in the middle of a song,” Harley says.
“Recently, people are getting a bit sloppy. I just have to tell them to watch out for the equipment. It does get chaotic, which is why the energy has to be real. Outsiders can’t make the distinction between the fans having fun and the ones that are negative.”
“Yeah, outsiders just get scared,” Doug adds. “But people want more violence at a hockey game.”
Q: Who invented hardcore?
A: Probably the Russians.
Q: What do hardcore kids and Russians have in common?
A: Whenever you see either group having too much fun, you worry.
John and Harley insist that church devotees attend their shows, which I find hard to believe. I make a mental note to look for them at the next show, but since skinheads and Hare Krishnas resemble each other, I realize that I have to look hard.
The Cro-Mags’ devotion to Krishna caused problems over the packaging of their first album, The Age Of Quarrel. They selected a painting from The Bhagavad Gita, the bible of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, that depicted acts of lust, violence, and drug abuse (rock ‘n’ roll and religion coming together again). Originally chosen for the jacket cover, the painting was moved to the inner sleeve because Profile (the band’s record label) decided it was too controversial. To add insult: The painting was altered to soften its effect. The band was angry and insisted that the album be shipped with CENSORED stamped in large letters across the painting.
Krishna and hardcore? It seems implausible. But glancing through the concert ads from the Village Voice I noticed another hardcore band that calls itself Krishna Madness. Given the action-reaction theory, it makes sense that these kids would be involved in a religion that opposes drugs and promiscuity rather than embrace all the things rock music has stood for in the past. The average age of a hardcore musician or fan is 15. This would put his parents at close to age 35. The Rolling Stones are older. The idea of Mick Jagger prancing around in drag while Keith Richards shoots up is enough to make any kid rebel.
“It would take a long time to explain,” says Doug, “but being a devotee is in part a result of seeing all your friends dead from drug overdoses. For me it is an answer.”
“Everyone is looking for answers to their questions,” says John, “It’s tough in this city. You have to meditate wherever you are. I was into reading a lot of books about philosophy. When I was hanging around the Bad Brains, they attracted a lot of Hare Krishnas. I read those books, and I felt that this philosophy mixed devotion with serious, intense philosophy and explained why even bad things happen. I started hanging around with devotees. Now we go to meetings every Sunday.”
“I resented a lot of our friends who are devotees at first,” says Harley, “but then I started to know them better. I believe in God, and I can associate comfortably with anyone who does. The religion preaches being positive about anything that happens to us.”
“Everywhere we go we hear things about our friends,” says Doug. “Like two people we knew hung themselves. When we go onstage, we try to think positive. Sometimes things can go wrong, but that is our karma. We’ve grown up seeing people around us dying, killing themselves with drug overdoses. We try to have a message, for ourselves and these kids. The message is the same as our religion: Be positive.”
“Yeah, a lot of people we knew were bugging out,” says John. “Taking money to buy crack.”
“I get frustrated,” says Harley, “and the only time I can really relax is if I relax my mind, chant, play this music, and meditate.”
And on Sunday nights they play mind wrenching, insane hardcore rock ‘n’ roll, and sing songs about how everything sucks.
Perhaps if a lot of people sit around and complain loudly about how bad things are, how we’re a bunch of pagan heretics, and how the world is going to end from all this horror; if everyone agrees about it, the experience could be “positive”. People might feel better knowing that they’re not alone. The experience could almost be religious. It could be a Cro-Mags show.
“I have no proof that it’s true,” Doug finishes, sensing my scepticism, “but I had my lung punctured by a Catholic priest. I was in the hospital, and the priest came to give me last rites. He held my arm out and left it hanging. The strain in my arm, I felt it, left a hole in my chest.”
“But,” Doug is quick to add, “it wasn’t his fault.”
Chris Williamson owns the Rock Hotel, which promotes the Cro-Mags and other hardcore shows all over the country. He loves the stuff. Williamson wears shorts and sneakers backstage, classic attire for a hardcore fan. He runs in circles, stopping for a minute to make a point. He speaks to you assuming that you already agree with him, which makes it easier to agree with him.
Williamson points out to the video monitor, ablaze with the opening band onstage. “This,” Chris says, and I nod in agreement, “already sounds too soft to us.”
He happens to be right. This music is an addiction. The louder and faster and rawer you get it, the more important those things become to you senses. It numbs you to anything else. All the Cro-Mags mastered other kinds of music –Doug was a blues guitarist and Mackie is an accomplished studio drummer- but the energy just wasn’t there in anything else they played.
“Hardcore was born as a reaction to punk and music from the UK and has to be called a truly American creation,” says Chris. “Although it was originally an East Coast phenomenon, I believe that the West Coast is finally falling under the incredible power of hardcore especially after seeing the Cro-Mags totally blow away everyone who witnessed their recent West Coast shows.” The Cro-Mags’ blending of hardcore and metal (metalcore) is unique, and the experience is devastating with slamming, diving, and stage storming –critical mass energy, and it’s overtaken the American musical scene.
The music is also a drug. A Cro-Mags show is not a Hare Krishna prayer meeting. It’s more like the Quaalude of the ‘80s. L’Amour in Brooklyn, New York, is traditionally a heavy metal rock club. On this night the battle lines are drawn. You can tell who’s into what around here by what they wear and where they stand. Hardcore fans are up front where they can slamdance and chickenfight. They have shaved heads, wear active sportswear, and sometimes go shirtless revealing well-muscled bodies. Heavy metal kids hang back –way back, where no one can step on their high heels, rip their spandex, or slamdance on their well-sprayed hairdos. The hardcore section smells like sweat, the heavy metal part like VO-5.
With things so divided you’d expect half the club to be bored half the time. But as the Cro-Mags open, John goes into an epileptic fin onstage, twisting into contortions that suggest a hardcore Joe Cocker. Everyone is wild. Clenched fists and the horns, the heavy metal hand sign, go up at once.
These are the toughest fans, even though they don’t know how to dress. Deviate even momentarily from the established hardcore format, and they’re finished with you. Forever. “That,” Doug points out, “is because they come here to relax.”
The Cro-Mags slow, then speed up tempos. It’s rush hour: John and Harley run the length of the stage like they’re in a marathon. Doug hangs back, playing the great leads that require intense concentration. Parris just about smashes himself.
When it’s over, everyone is spent. Fans file out quietly. They are even quiet outside, as they walk home or hang out on cars near the club. But you can’t help being afraid. They really look awful.
Though the music is quite repetitive, the fans are touchy about what they want to hear, and these guys are actually decent musicians. (Most hardcore bands are composed of kids who never even graduated high school, much less took a music lesson).
The Cro-Mags say they don’t get bored playing hardcore. I look around the room, taking a sight poll. Mackie, the unhappy looking one, shrugs. “I do.”
What, then, is he doing here?
“Well, I am happy as long as I can play other kinds of music. I like hardcore, it’s the only thing where the kids can jump around and be part of the show. But I am locked into a certain format, and it can be boring. But the energy in this is great.”
“I mean, we play gigs where kids break their arms,” says Harley, “kids have come up to me and said, ‘Man, you guys were great. I had such a good time, look, I broke my arm.’” To the Cro-Mags, all that matters is that the music is good, releases frustrations, hurts no one, and isn’t illegal. And as long as the kids don’t slamdance naked on public beaches, western civilization is safe.
Too bad things had to change. In the ‘60s there were just two kinds of music: rock and Joan Baez. Apparently nobody could stand her, but everything else was considered listenable. It was sort of like being a kid and having your mother insist that you eat all your liver because starving children in other parts of the world would be thrilled to have such a nice dinner. The hippies listened to everything because, in places like Poland, there were hippies going to bed hearing Perry Como.
There was less to listen to, so no one avoided Cream because Clapton played blues or laughed at Hendrix when he played just plain metal. Hendrix became a legend to guys who wouldn’t be caught dead at a heavy metal show today. But back then it never occurred to anybody to complain. No one ever noticed that when the Beatles played Shea Stadium they had become “too commercial.”
Then, again, maybe it’s good that things changed. Maybe rock doesn’t need any supergroups. Obviously, with so many classifications and with fans reluctant to listen to new groups that fall outside of their specific musical preferences, the best success any band can hope for is cult status.
As for the Cro-Mags, they’ve succeeded in raising your conscious and are preparing for a 50-city tour with Motörhead. If you’d like to be a fan but feel that you are too old, can’t stand hardcore, or just simply don’t remember how to have fun, the band advises you to attend one of their shows. “People always ask me,” says Parris, “but the only way I can describe it is to say, ‘you gotta see for yourself.’ Get there early, because the shows are always crowded. Wear sneakers.”
Is great commercial success in this band’s future?
“Success for a rock band,” Kevin concludes with conviction, “means surviving.” You can say pretty much the same for a kid in 1986.
Days later we are sitting in Doug’s New York East Village apartment, which is furnished modestly and is very clean. The bathtub is in the kitchen. He glances around with pride. “To be able to work and buy things and have a roof over my head gives me something that these kids need. I work a day job because for the first two years we made no money at all.”
What about the tattoos? Well, only John and Harley have them (you don’t have to get tattooed to be a Cro-Mag or a fan). But when you do something so permanent to yourself, don’t you wonder what you’ll feel about it in 20 years? You might be real sorry.
“The body is deteriorating every day,” John tells me in his best I-Play-Hardcore-So-I-Am-Calm-Now monotone. “You can’t get too attached to it.”
“Yeah,” agrees Harley, who’s a tattoo artist in his spare time. “If I thought I’d live forever, I’d worry about it. But for now the worst thing is when you think of something you’d like to draw there, but you’ve run out of space.”
A recent Cro-Mags show at New York’s Ritz. Skinheads bang heads with Hare Krishnas. Everyone has fun. Richie, the Ramones drummer, known for playing faster and louder than anyone around, is in the audience, applauding the show.
“Great, huh?” a Ramones/Cro-Mags fan with a Statue Of Liberty hairdo exclaims.
“Yeah, really great,” says Richie, “but it wiped me out. I guess I’m too old.”
“Don’t worry, Richie,” the fan reassures him. “It’s supposed to make you tired. Besides, you’re not too old till you can’t go to shows anymore.”
You just read an 1986 article about the Cro-Mags. I found the original article scanned somewhere online, but I don’t really recall where I got it from (if the person responsible for the scan happens to read this, on behalf of every Cro-Mags fan: Thank you!). I just typed the whole article and left it as it was, including the spelling. I think the article’s pretty funny, at times patronizing, at times naive and other times just stupid or on point. Reading this you realise how much times have changed concerning the relation between mainstream press and hard music. Oh yeah, this article was written by Annetta Stark and it appeared in a paper or magazine that I don’t know the name of.
The Cro-Mags have known this for years. Their solution is musical and brilliant in its simplicity. Blend hardcore with the sexual powers of heavy metal and add some punk rock to be true to their roots. The Cro-Mags are the extraterrestrial sewer workers of hardcore. If it’s possible to be down to earth and orbit it at the same time, they’ve been there. While other bands are looking for new ways to say the same old thing, the Cro-Mags speed-sing simple, lyrical songs with a simple, non-lyrical message. One message: Being a kid sucks. Period.
Sounds like fun? Well, it’s a lot like playing sandlot baseball in Lebanon. But in rock culture the definition of ‘fun’ comes up for renewal every couple of years. The angriest musical message ever sent was the one punk rock gave to the hippies: “We hate your idea of fun.” Punk rock gave you a place to go when your parents were getting into Studio 54. But when rock ‘n’ roll grew up, how the hell could a kid rebel respectably when his parents were hanging out, smoking pot, and listening to the Clash? It is the action-reaction theory of evolution: One generation’s idea of fun is always the next generation’s poison.
The Cro-Mags have their own ideas. Three of the band members are Hare Krishnas. They are vegetarians and, for a bunch of non-smoking, non-drinking herbivores, they look pretty good. Unless you happen to hate tattoos, in which case they look healthy but scarred.
The band arrives on time. There are five of them, two of whom –Harley Flanagan and John Joseph- are twins. Equally tanned, attractive, muscled, shaved, and tattooed, they are the same height and finish each other’s sentences. Usually they agree. Onstage, you can tell them apart because John is the lead singer, and Harley plays bass. Offstage, it’s harder. Doug Holland, lead guitar, looks like John and Harley, but without the tattoos. Parris Mitchel Mayhew (known to friends as Kevin) appears to represent the preppie faction of the group. He stands taller than the others and has hair. Mackie, the drummer, also has hair and always look unhappy.
They are, by rock star standards, well-behaved and soft-spoken. Nobody squirms or tells ‘in’ jokes. They bring their own Perrier, answer all the questions, and don’t all talk at once. They don’t make comments about the interviewer’s legs just because she happens to be a girl, and they’re a rock band. They are, in a word, mellow. But onstage they play such angry music.
“It’s not angry,” John protests in a barely audible voice. “Maybe people think that because there is a certain energy associated with it that is physical and aggressive.”
“Yeah,” Harley agrees, “but we have a message. There is a certain amount of frustration in our lives, but we feel we have ways to deal with it.”
“Some people go to clubs, do cocaine, and listen to demonic metal to get out their frustrations. It’s negative. Hardcore kids come to a show, slam and stage-dive with their friends, and feel better. There’s hardly any frustration on the dance floor. If there is, it’s someone who has a lot of negativeness in them, but basically it’s all non-violent.”
“Still you appear to be afraid. You’re always telling the kids to watch out.”
For the first time they all talk at once. “No!”
“I just don’t want them to come up and unplug me in the middle of a song,” Harley says.
“Recently, people are getting a bit sloppy. I just have to tell them to watch out for the equipment. It does get chaotic, which is why the energy has to be real. Outsiders can’t make the distinction between the fans having fun and the ones that are negative.”
“Yeah, outsiders just get scared,” Doug adds. “But people want more violence at a hockey game.”
Q: Who invented hardcore?
A: Probably the Russians.
Q: What do hardcore kids and Russians have in common?
A: Whenever you see either group having too much fun, you worry.
John and Harley insist that church devotees attend their shows, which I find hard to believe. I make a mental note to look for them at the next show, but since skinheads and Hare Krishnas resemble each other, I realize that I have to look hard.
The Cro-Mags’ devotion to Krishna caused problems over the packaging of their first album, The Age Of Quarrel. They selected a painting from The Bhagavad Gita, the bible of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, that depicted acts of lust, violence, and drug abuse (rock ‘n’ roll and religion coming together again). Originally chosen for the jacket cover, the painting was moved to the inner sleeve because Profile (the band’s record label) decided it was too controversial. To add insult: The painting was altered to soften its effect. The band was angry and insisted that the album be shipped with CENSORED stamped in large letters across the painting.
Krishna and hardcore? It seems implausible. But glancing through the concert ads from the Village Voice I noticed another hardcore band that calls itself Krishna Madness. Given the action-reaction theory, it makes sense that these kids would be involved in a religion that opposes drugs and promiscuity rather than embrace all the things rock music has stood for in the past. The average age of a hardcore musician or fan is 15. This would put his parents at close to age 35. The Rolling Stones are older. The idea of Mick Jagger prancing around in drag while Keith Richards shoots up is enough to make any kid rebel.
“It would take a long time to explain,” says Doug, “but being a devotee is in part a result of seeing all your friends dead from drug overdoses. For me it is an answer.”
“Everyone is looking for answers to their questions,” says John, “It’s tough in this city. You have to meditate wherever you are. I was into reading a lot of books about philosophy. When I was hanging around the Bad Brains, they attracted a lot of Hare Krishnas. I read those books, and I felt that this philosophy mixed devotion with serious, intense philosophy and explained why even bad things happen. I started hanging around with devotees. Now we go to meetings every Sunday.”
“I resented a lot of our friends who are devotees at first,” says Harley, “but then I started to know them better. I believe in God, and I can associate comfortably with anyone who does. The religion preaches being positive about anything that happens to us.”
“Everywhere we go we hear things about our friends,” says Doug. “Like two people we knew hung themselves. When we go onstage, we try to think positive. Sometimes things can go wrong, but that is our karma. We’ve grown up seeing people around us dying, killing themselves with drug overdoses. We try to have a message, for ourselves and these kids. The message is the same as our religion: Be positive.”
“Yeah, a lot of people we knew were bugging out,” says John. “Taking money to buy crack.”
“I get frustrated,” says Harley, “and the only time I can really relax is if I relax my mind, chant, play this music, and meditate.”
And on Sunday nights they play mind wrenching, insane hardcore rock ‘n’ roll, and sing songs about how everything sucks.
Perhaps if a lot of people sit around and complain loudly about how bad things are, how we’re a bunch of pagan heretics, and how the world is going to end from all this horror; if everyone agrees about it, the experience could be “positive”. People might feel better knowing that they’re not alone. The experience could almost be religious. It could be a Cro-Mags show.
“I have no proof that it’s true,” Doug finishes, sensing my scepticism, “but I had my lung punctured by a Catholic priest. I was in the hospital, and the priest came to give me last rites. He held my arm out and left it hanging. The strain in my arm, I felt it, left a hole in my chest.”
“But,” Doug is quick to add, “it wasn’t his fault.”
Chris Williamson owns the Rock Hotel, which promotes the Cro-Mags and other hardcore shows all over the country. He loves the stuff. Williamson wears shorts and sneakers backstage, classic attire for a hardcore fan. He runs in circles, stopping for a minute to make a point. He speaks to you assuming that you already agree with him, which makes it easier to agree with him.
Williamson points out to the video monitor, ablaze with the opening band onstage. “This,” Chris says, and I nod in agreement, “already sounds too soft to us.”
He happens to be right. This music is an addiction. The louder and faster and rawer you get it, the more important those things become to you senses. It numbs you to anything else. All the Cro-Mags mastered other kinds of music –Doug was a blues guitarist and Mackie is an accomplished studio drummer- but the energy just wasn’t there in anything else they played.
“Hardcore was born as a reaction to punk and music from the UK and has to be called a truly American creation,” says Chris. “Although it was originally an East Coast phenomenon, I believe that the West Coast is finally falling under the incredible power of hardcore especially after seeing the Cro-Mags totally blow away everyone who witnessed their recent West Coast shows.” The Cro-Mags’ blending of hardcore and metal (metalcore) is unique, and the experience is devastating with slamming, diving, and stage storming –critical mass energy, and it’s overtaken the American musical scene.
The music is also a drug. A Cro-Mags show is not a Hare Krishna prayer meeting. It’s more like the Quaalude of the ‘80s. L’Amour in Brooklyn, New York, is traditionally a heavy metal rock club. On this night the battle lines are drawn. You can tell who’s into what around here by what they wear and where they stand. Hardcore fans are up front where they can slamdance and chickenfight. They have shaved heads, wear active sportswear, and sometimes go shirtless revealing well-muscled bodies. Heavy metal kids hang back –way back, where no one can step on their high heels, rip their spandex, or slamdance on their well-sprayed hairdos. The hardcore section smells like sweat, the heavy metal part like VO-5.
With things so divided you’d expect half the club to be bored half the time. But as the Cro-Mags open, John goes into an epileptic fin onstage, twisting into contortions that suggest a hardcore Joe Cocker. Everyone is wild. Clenched fists and the horns, the heavy metal hand sign, go up at once.
These are the toughest fans, even though they don’t know how to dress. Deviate even momentarily from the established hardcore format, and they’re finished with you. Forever. “That,” Doug points out, “is because they come here to relax.”
The Cro-Mags slow, then speed up tempos. It’s rush hour: John and Harley run the length of the stage like they’re in a marathon. Doug hangs back, playing the great leads that require intense concentration. Parris just about smashes himself.
When it’s over, everyone is spent. Fans file out quietly. They are even quiet outside, as they walk home or hang out on cars near the club. But you can’t help being afraid. They really look awful.
Though the music is quite repetitive, the fans are touchy about what they want to hear, and these guys are actually decent musicians. (Most hardcore bands are composed of kids who never even graduated high school, much less took a music lesson).
The Cro-Mags say they don’t get bored playing hardcore. I look around the room, taking a sight poll. Mackie, the unhappy looking one, shrugs. “I do.”
What, then, is he doing here?
“Well, I am happy as long as I can play other kinds of music. I like hardcore, it’s the only thing where the kids can jump around and be part of the show. But I am locked into a certain format, and it can be boring. But the energy in this is great.”
“I mean, we play gigs where kids break their arms,” says Harley, “kids have come up to me and said, ‘Man, you guys were great. I had such a good time, look, I broke my arm.’” To the Cro-Mags, all that matters is that the music is good, releases frustrations, hurts no one, and isn’t illegal. And as long as the kids don’t slamdance naked on public beaches, western civilization is safe.
Too bad things had to change. In the ‘60s there were just two kinds of music: rock and Joan Baez. Apparently nobody could stand her, but everything else was considered listenable. It was sort of like being a kid and having your mother insist that you eat all your liver because starving children in other parts of the world would be thrilled to have such a nice dinner. The hippies listened to everything because, in places like Poland, there were hippies going to bed hearing Perry Como.
There was less to listen to, so no one avoided Cream because Clapton played blues or laughed at Hendrix when he played just plain metal. Hendrix became a legend to guys who wouldn’t be caught dead at a heavy metal show today. But back then it never occurred to anybody to complain. No one ever noticed that when the Beatles played Shea Stadium they had become “too commercial.”
Then, again, maybe it’s good that things changed. Maybe rock doesn’t need any supergroups. Obviously, with so many classifications and with fans reluctant to listen to new groups that fall outside of their specific musical preferences, the best success any band can hope for is cult status.
As for the Cro-Mags, they’ve succeeded in raising your conscious and are preparing for a 50-city tour with Motörhead. If you’d like to be a fan but feel that you are too old, can’t stand hardcore, or just simply don’t remember how to have fun, the band advises you to attend one of their shows. “People always ask me,” says Parris, “but the only way I can describe it is to say, ‘you gotta see for yourself.’ Get there early, because the shows are always crowded. Wear sneakers.”
Is great commercial success in this band’s future?
“Success for a rock band,” Kevin concludes with conviction, “means surviving.” You can say pretty much the same for a kid in 1986.
Days later we are sitting in Doug’s New York East Village apartment, which is furnished modestly and is very clean. The bathtub is in the kitchen. He glances around with pride. “To be able to work and buy things and have a roof over my head gives me something that these kids need. I work a day job because for the first two years we made no money at all.”
What about the tattoos? Well, only John and Harley have them (you don’t have to get tattooed to be a Cro-Mag or a fan). But when you do something so permanent to yourself, don’t you wonder what you’ll feel about it in 20 years? You might be real sorry.
“The body is deteriorating every day,” John tells me in his best I-Play-Hardcore-So-I-Am-Calm-Now monotone. “You can’t get too attached to it.”
“Yeah,” agrees Harley, who’s a tattoo artist in his spare time. “If I thought I’d live forever, I’d worry about it. But for now the worst thing is when you think of something you’d like to draw there, but you’ve run out of space.”
A recent Cro-Mags show at New York’s Ritz. Skinheads bang heads with Hare Krishnas. Everyone has fun. Richie, the Ramones drummer, known for playing faster and louder than anyone around, is in the audience, applauding the show.
“Great, huh?” a Ramones/Cro-Mags fan with a Statue Of Liberty hairdo exclaims.
“Yeah, really great,” says Richie, “but it wiped me out. I guess I’m too old.”
“Don’t worry, Richie,” the fan reassures him. “It’s supposed to make you tired. Besides, you’re not too old till you can’t go to shows anymore.”
You just read an 1986 article about the Cro-Mags. I found the original article scanned somewhere online, but I don’t really recall where I got it from (if the person responsible for the scan happens to read this, on behalf of every Cro-Mags fan: Thank you!). I just typed the whole article and left it as it was, including the spelling. I think the article’s pretty funny, at times patronizing, at times naive and other times just stupid or on point. Reading this you realise how much times have changed concerning the relation between mainstream press and hard music. Oh yeah, this article was written by Annetta Stark and it appeared in a paper or magazine that I don’t know the name of.
woensdag 31 januari 2007
About Black Sabeth, Lcyries, Reglion And Lolopolosea
Here's a scan of an amazing Integrity interview I found back on my computer. I don't know what fanzine it's taken from and I don't know who scanned it, so no credit for you guys! Enjoy this piece of history and if you want to listen to the Die Hard demo while reading, you can download the demo below.
Here's a scan of an amazing Integrity interview I found back on my computer. I don't know what fanzine it's taken from and I don't know who scanned it, so no credit for you guys! Enjoy this piece of history and if you want to listen to the Die Hard demo while reading, you can download the demo below.
Here's the Off The Bat demo for you all to enjoy:
Off The Bat
Drilling Into Untouched Stone
Thanks to the Something I Learned Today Blog I came across an amazing site that hosts a lot of live sets by the ever great Dinosaur Jr. as well as other J Mascis bands. There's really a bunch of cool audio and video stuff to download. Just listen to Mountain Man from the Dinosaur (Jr.) debut and you think there's no greater song in the world (this is by far not true, but it's the feeling you get when listening to the song). Anyway, this is the site you all should download stuff from:
And here is another cool website about Dinosaur Jr.:
And the official Dinosaur Jr. website is only another click away:
Distort Cleveland!
Fuck, it’s been over a year since I last posted about one of the greatest hardcore scenes in the world, the Clevo Hardcore scene. I promised then to post some more stuff and what not, but I didn’t… Well, I’ve put you all on hold for over a year, so I better deliver with this post, but I doubt that I will. After the “Testing British Accents” post I got quite some e-mails from guys involved in the Cleveland hardcore scene with more info, facts and gossip. One of the guys that e-mailed me was Chris Pellow, (ex-)member of The Darvocets, Apartment 213, Ringworm, etc., and he had a little problem with something I wrote about another old band of his, Windpipe. I had said that they sounded like “Infest meets Siege”, or at least that I was told so. Chris didn’t like this too much and this is what he had to say about the Windpipe sound in the mail:
“One thing I would like to abb about Windpipe is that we do not sound like Infest or Siege. That is coming straight from the source! We never once said “we should sound like this band or that band,…” It is what it is. Too bad we never went into a proper studio to record, our guitarist Kurdt never wanted to. We did however play fast. The four of us loved Deep Wound, Siege, Lärm, Infest and Ripcord as a whole. I think you’ll have to read the liner notes when said ep is available. Actually Matt Domino from Infest gave us the a-ok to call ourselves a “powerviolence” band when in fact it was only supposed to be an inside-joke kinda thing between bands from SoCal and NoCal. Just some trivia for you! And this was back in 1992, when everyone sounded like Nirvana (or wanted to), we wanted to sound like all the old Mystic Records bands. Short and sweet!”
The Windpipe EP has been out for a while now. I am not really sure if it’s on Non-Commercial Records or some other label. I still have to get it from Way Back Ron, who hopefully still has this for me. I haven’t heard the EP yet, so If someone has this as MP3s or something, get in touch with me.
Another old Cleveland dude that got in touch with me was Sean Saley. He used to play bass and sing for The Guns in 1983, 1984 and for about 10 seconds in 1985 and was in Government Issue as well at some time. He’s currently living outside of Washington DC and is still into good old hardcore. He let me know that a few weeks before my Cleveland Hardcore post The Guns actually played a reunion show with other old Clevo bands such as Zero Defex, Agitated and The Offbeats. The original drummer Dave passed away years ago, so at this show Sean played drum and Scott Eakin sang both his and Sean’s songs and played guitar. Scott’s girlfriend played bass at the show. The same line-up as the reunion show recorded a bunch of songs the day before the show, most of them were re-recorded songs from the ’84 session, a bunch of original songs that never got fully fleshed out and a bunch of songs from the line-up with Bob Ries.
This was supposed to be on a new CD, but I don’t really know what happened with those tracks in the last 12 months. After all this information I got in just one e-mail I had still some more basic questions about The Guns and Sean was kind enough to answer them. So I’ll just share ‘em with you as well:
When you recorded the songs in '84 that never got released, what where they intended for? A full length? What label? Why didn't it happen?
We recorded most of our live set at a studio in Cleveland called The Sound Factory and the idea was that we were going to put it out on a local label called Trans-Dada that was run by the guy who produced the demo. That guy, Scott Lasch, was pretty broke after he paid for the studio session and the record got shelved until he could put it out or we got someone else to.
I don't remember anything about Toxic Shock, but I can tell you that during the summer of '84, we opened for 45 Grave, and Paul Cutler, the guitarist, was amused with us and took our demo back to LA to let someone at their label, Enigma, hear it. We ended up talking to someone at Enigma, but it never went anywhere. We were pretty young and naive.
What's up with your tracks on that Bowel CD?
That's the '84 demo. The "unreleased" stuff I was just talking about. To be honest, I don't remember exactly how that came about. I think one or more of the guys in Bowel were friends/band mates of Dave Araca, The Guns drummer. After Dave died, whichever guy it was (Dwid, maybe?) somehow wound up with the master tapes and put it out as that split LP with Bowel (more like hidden tracks). Anyway, I didn't even know about it until a year or two after it happened. I got a copy. That's all I care about.
We did record at least one or two songs that aren't on the Bowel CD though. One was a cover of Symptom Of The Universe by Black Sabbath.
I
once saw a record sleeve of a The Guns record on display at some guy’s house. It was just the sleeve and no vinyl whatsoever. What's the story behind the printed sleeve of that record? The front looked like that insert in the Bowel CD, with a soldier type of drawing.
That drawing was done by a guy from Akron who was a friend of ours. His name was Vince Rancid. He also did cover art for bands like Raw Power, MDC, Vatican Commandos, and other local Akron/Cleveland bands like Zero Defex (ODFX). The full drawing (a guy with his brains bursting out of his head flanked by two of those skeletal soldiers) would have been the cover of the album if we had ended up releasing it.
Will the unreleased record (plus comp tracks) ever get a proper release?
Supposedly, a California label called Grand Theft Audio has been planning to put it out forever. I honestly don't know what the fuck is going on with it. For all I know, it might end up coming out as part of whatever happens with the recordings we made in December '05. We'll see…
Now, if that all doesn’t make you want to check out The Guns. Try to find their stuff because it’s some of the best ‘80s Midwest stuff you’ll hear. I would like to put up the record for everyone to download, but since Grand Theft Audio probably has the rights I will not do it.
Though here's some cool Clevo Hardcore stuff to download, be fast because these Send Spaces have a limited live span:
Fuck, it’s been over a year since I last posted about one of the greatest hardcore scenes in the world, the Clevo Hardcore scene. I promised then to post some more stuff and what not, but I didn’t… Well, I’ve put you all on hold for over a year, so I better deliver with this post, but I doubt that I will. After the “Testing British Accents” post I got quite some e-mails from guys involved in the Cleveland hardcore scene with more info, facts and gossip. One of the guys that e-mailed me was Chris Pellow, (ex-)member of The Darvocets, Apartment 213, Ringworm, etc., and he had a little problem with something I wrote about another old band of his, Windpipe. I had said that they sounded like “Infest meets Siege”, or at least that I was told so. Chris didn’t like this too much and this is what he had to say about the Windpipe sound in the mail:
“One thing I would like to abb about Windpipe is that we do not sound like Infest or Siege. That is coming straight from the source! We never once said “we should sound like this band or that band,…” It is what it is. Too bad we never went into a proper studio to record, our guitarist Kurdt never wanted to. We did however play fast. The four of us loved Deep Wound, Siege, Lärm, Infest and Ripcord as a whole. I think you’ll have to read the liner notes when said ep is available. Actually Matt Domino from Infest gave us the a-ok to call ourselves a “powerviolence” band when in fact it was only supposed to be an inside-joke kinda thing between bands from SoCal and NoCal. Just some trivia for you! And this was back in 1992, when everyone sounded like Nirvana (or wanted to), we wanted to sound like all the old Mystic Records bands. Short and sweet!”
The Windpipe EP has been out for a while now. I am not really sure if it’s on Non-Commercial Records or some other label. I still have to get it from Way Back Ron, who hopefully still has this for me. I haven’t heard the EP yet, so If someone has this as MP3s or something, get in touch with me.
Another old Cleveland dude that got in touch with me was Sean Saley. He used to play bass and sing for The Guns in 1983, 1984 and for about 10 seconds in 1985 and was in Government Issue as well at some time. He’s currently living outside of Washington DC and is still into good old hardcore. He let me know that a few weeks before my Cleveland Hardcore post The Guns actually played a reunion show with other old Clevo bands such as Zero Defex, Agitated and The Offbeats. The original drummer Dave passed away years ago, so at this show Sean played drum and Scott Eakin sang both his and Sean’s songs and played guitar. Scott’s girlfriend played bass at the show. The same line-up as the reunion show recorded a bunch of songs the day before the show, most of them were re-recorded songs from the ’84 session, a bunch of original songs that never got fully fleshed out and a bunch of songs from the line-up with Bob Ries.
This was supposed to be on a new CD, but I don’t really know what happened with those tracks in the last 12 months. After all this information I got in just one e-mail I had still some more basic questions about The Guns and Sean was kind enough to answer them. So I’ll just share ‘em with you as well:When you recorded the songs in '84 that never got released, what where they intended for? A full length? What label? Why didn't it happen?
We recorded most of our live set at a studio in Cleveland called The Sound Factory and the idea was that we were going to put it out on a local label called Trans-Dada that was run by the guy who produced the demo. That guy, Scott Lasch, was pretty broke after he paid for the studio session and the record got shelved until he could put it out or we got someone else to.
I don't remember anything about Toxic Shock, but I can tell you that during the summer of '84, we opened for 45 Grave, and Paul Cutler, the guitarist, was amused with us and took our demo back to LA to let someone at their label, Enigma, hear it. We ended up talking to someone at Enigma, but it never went anywhere. We were pretty young and naive.
What's up with your tracks on that Bowel CD?
That's the '84 demo. The "unreleased" stuff I was just talking about. To be honest, I don't remember exactly how that came about. I think one or more of the guys in Bowel were friends/band mates of Dave Araca, The Guns drummer. After Dave died, whichever guy it was (Dwid, maybe?) somehow wound up with the master tapes and put it out as that split LP with Bowel (more like hidden tracks). Anyway, I didn't even know about it until a year or two after it happened. I got a copy. That's all I care about.
We did record at least one or two songs that aren't on the Bowel CD though. One was a cover of Symptom Of The Universe by Black Sabbath.
I
once saw a record sleeve of a The Guns record on display at some guy’s house. It was just the sleeve and no vinyl whatsoever. What's the story behind the printed sleeve of that record? The front looked like that insert in the Bowel CD, with a soldier type of drawing.That drawing was done by a guy from Akron who was a friend of ours. His name was Vince Rancid. He also did cover art for bands like Raw Power, MDC, Vatican Commandos, and other local Akron/Cleveland bands like Zero Defex (ODFX). The full drawing (a guy with his brains bursting out of his head flanked by two of those skeletal soldiers) would have been the cover of the album if we had ended up releasing it.
Will the unreleased record (plus comp tracks) ever get a proper release?
Supposedly, a California label called Grand Theft Audio has been planning to put it out forever. I honestly don't know what the fuck is going on with it. For all I know, it might end up coming out as part of whatever happens with the recordings we made in December '05. We'll see…
Now, if that all doesn’t make you want to check out The Guns. Try to find their stuff because it’s some of the best ‘80s Midwest stuff you’ll hear. I would like to put up the record for everyone to download, but since Grand Theft Audio probably has the rights I will not do it.
Though here's some cool Clevo Hardcore stuff to download, be fast because these Send Spaces have a limited live span:
Zero Defex P.E.A.C.E. Comp track
If anyone can hook me up with stuff by The Offbeats, Zero Defex, The New Hope compilation, and other Clevo stuff, get in touch with me.
Some other stuff to check out:
maandag 29 januari 2007
"Yo, we're Altercation from Brooklyn New York!"
I just scanned three Altercation hand-written promo "flyers" that are said to have been put up in Some Records, NYC in 1987. I got these from Carlo Brega a few years ago, thanks dude. Someday you'll find these scans back in The Ghent Decontrol NYHC issue along with more rare Altercation stuff. I'll let you know when you will be able to get that.
And if you want to listen to some Altercation right now, you can download their demo overhere
zaterdag 27 januari 2007
Back with a bang!
It’s been more than half a year since I have updated this blog, and before that it had been months as well. I think most of my entries are pretty interesting and it would be a shame if most of this stuff got buried somewhere in the dark alleys of blogdom. So I decided to kick this up a notch again, put together some stuff I have in my inbox for more than a year now and make it an interesting read for most to you diehard fans of my exquisite writings, though some stuff might
be out of date as hell already. After that I’ll start working on some new articles and interviews. To set the pace for 2007, here’s an interview I’ve done with Dave Byrd in May 2006 as a promo for the European Set To Explode tour. Since there’s another European tour coming featuring DJ Dave Byrd, DJ Stereo Faith and DJ Justice in February you could say this is a promo for that tour.
Set To Explode is a fairly new band. When did you guys first start rehearsing, or even think about getting this band together. What’s the line-up and are the members still all the same guys as the first rehearsal?
It’s been more than half a year since I have updated this blog, and before that it had been months as well. I think most of my entries are pretty interesting and it would be a shame if most of this stuff got buried somewhere in the dark alleys of blogdom. So I decided to kick this up a notch again, put together some stuff I have in my inbox for more than a year now and make it an interesting read for most to you diehard fans of my exquisite writings, though some stuff might
be out of date as hell already. After that I’ll start working on some new articles and interviews. To set the pace for 2007, here’s an interview I’ve done with Dave Byrd in May 2006 as a promo for the European Set To Explode tour. Since there’s another European tour coming featuring DJ Dave Byrd, DJ Stereo Faith and DJ Justice in February you could say this is a promo for that tour.Set To Explode is a fairly new band. When did you guys first start rehearsing, or even think about getting this band together. What’s the line-up and are the members still all the same guys as the first rehearsal?
I was actually thinking about doing a band when Striking Distance was still around. Initially I wanted to have Steve Clark & John Mutchler and then any drummer we could possibly bribe into joining us. John and I started jamming around February of 2005 and we spent a couple of months putting the 6 songs together that would come out on the Grave Mistake 7”. John played guitar, I played drums and in the beginning we had visions of only us two recording the 7”. But since I suck at drumming, we ran into a drunken punker one night that played with the The Goons. It would be easier to show him the songs than have me record them. Worn Thin was breaking-up so we were able to get Tad. So a few months after John and I were jamming, enter Tad (bass) and Tom (drums) into the picture.
Set To Explode describes themselves as being influenced by Minor Threat, Antidote (NYC) and Cock Sparrer. Are you afraid people might think you are influenced by the Dutch Antidote? What other bands besides those three would you say are influences to Set To Explode?
Tad wrote down those 3 bands on our MySpace page and I don't know why he put the NYC thing in there. I thought there was a band in the midwest who had the name, 
but whatever. I would say we all love the Bad Brains, Negative Approach, Dead Kennedys and various smaller DC bands.
but whatever. I would say we all love the Bad Brains, Negative Approach, Dead Kennedys and various smaller DC bands.You guys didn’t put out a demo and went on directly recording a 7” for Grave Mistake Records. Why did you skip the first step of being a band? Do you think you’ve paid your dues in previous bands or are you just being pretentious?
I didn't know there were certain 'steps' in doing a band we just wanted to get a 7" out. Hell, I know bands that go straight for an LP. Definitely not pretentious and you can never pay enough dues. I think Alex of Grave Mistake knew we wouldn't record and put out anything that sucked.
Is the ex-members thing something you want to play out as a band, or would you rather see kids checking out your band not thinking about your old bands?
It’s a double-edged sword. On one side, I'd like for people to check out, evaluate, and like or dislike the band based on its own merits and not be compared to every band we've been in before, but, it's not reality. On the other side, it helps get the word out and might get some people to give us a listen that normally would not. Then, the people can decide whether the band has its own identity and not just “Oh yeah, that band with so and so in it…. They’re ok”. I want people who see Set To Explode as a totally new effort. After Striking Distance broke up, I didn't want to do a band for a while, but I knew I would be back in some form. It was just a matter of time when everything just felt right and I had some things I wanted to yell about. This band is serious to me and don’t want it to lurk in the shadows of previous bands.
How have the reactions to your EP been so far?
People seem to like it. Some people say it doesn't have enough 'mosh' parts, some people say it's not enough songs, some people say it's more punk than anything we've ever done in any other band. That's good.... More punk is better given our world nowadays.
When I hear the beginning of Never Give In I hear the same riffing as Minor Threat, the song, World Diseased's little vocal prelude could be sampled from Guilty Of Being White and Feel The Rage has an overall Minor Threat feel that I can't immediately pin down. Now, you guys are from Washington DC and have some sense of pride about it. Are these obvious Minor Threat references part of paying tribute to the old DC scene, or did they just come out naturally while writing songs only to be noticed afterwards? Are there any other, less obvious, DC references in your sound?
The songs came out naturally. It was only after we started letting our friends listen to them that they made references to Minor Threat and Antidote. Hell, Never Give In and World Diseased, I’ve had those riffs in my head before the band was even an idea and I’m not really a person for ‘paying tribute’ or being nostalgic. I mean, we love old DC hardcore punk, so I’m sure there’s tons of influence, but we don’t intentionally set out to sound or write songs a certain way. That’s just how it comes out.
Is it true, as Lino Dead Stop has been claiming ever since he first heard your band's name, that you took the band name from the Dead Stop sentence "Soon my revenge will begin, because I'm about to explode!"?
Haha… Sorry Lino. How we got the name: my friend Kevin (from Majority Rule) and I were talking about bands at some bar and he was telling me about his new band and they had a song called Set To Explode and he wanted to name the band after the song. As soon as he said the name, I knew it was exactly what I wanted the name of my next band to be. I told him: “If you don’t use it for whatever reason, it’s mine!”. They didn’t end up using it because they felt it did not represent their band or whatever so I thanked him. Now we have to pay him royalties in Snickers bars.
Do you think of yourself as an explosive person?
I’ve been known to be a little on the wild side, a little crazy, but I think I have a good balance of normalcy. I think hardcore punk gives me enough of an outlet and therapy to avoid being in jail. 
As you live in Washington DC you happen to come across people from the old days quiet frequently. Who's the last person you saw walking on the street that played in a band that was featured on Flex Your Head? Tell me something more about that guy with the crazy stories who hangs out at your local bar?
As you live in Washington DC you happen to come across people from the old days quiet frequently. Who's the last person you saw walking on the street that played in a band that was featured on Flex Your Head? Tell me something more about that guy with the crazy stories who hangs out at your local bar?Dante Fernando from Iron Cross and Grey Matter runs this bar/club in DC called the Black Cat and he’s always there walking around and saw him there Saturday night. On any night, you might be able to see John Stabb, Alec MacKaye, Brian Baker, David Grohl etc… It depends on what band is playing I guess. The guy at the bar I think you’re referring to is Bill MacKenzie who was at the SNL Fear show, mentioned on numerous early Dischord records, and is pictured on the back of the Teen Idles 7”. He doesn’t really talk too much about that stuff, but if you ask him,
he’ll give you the scoop on certain shows and just give you an idea of how sketchy some of the shows used to be. It’s kinda cool since I hear him and his brother were the sketchy dudes at shows back then.
he’ll give you the scoop on certain shows and just give you an idea of how sketchy some of the shows used to be. It’s kinda cool since I hear him and his brother were the sketchy dudes at shows back then.What are some of the holes you still need to fill in your record collection?
Minor Threat 7” Gary Cousins sleeve,Bad Brains Pay to Cum 7” with sleeve, Straight Ahead test press, Youth Brigade 7”. If anyone reading this has one of these, get in touch!
What's up next for Set To Explode? Anything plans to record soon?
Well, we’re coming to play the last Dead Stop show May 20th and doing a few shows afterwards and then we’ll probably go out to the California in July for a few days. Recording: Sometime this summer we’ll record the 7” for Youngblood Records. We just started writing new songs so we’ll see what happens.
To wrap this up, have a promo talk in favor of the Zero Boys, in order to get every hardcore kid into Vicious Circle!
Zero Boys is probably the most underrated punk bands of all time. If they had been from DC, LA, New York or Boston, they would have been as revered as the Dead Kennedys, Flag, Minor Threat and SSD. I’m stoked they’re playing shows again. Perfect blend of speed, melody, and fuck, the bass playing and fills is the icing on the cake. Civilization’s Dying may be one of the best punk songs ever…right next to Sonic Reducer and Nervous Breakdown.
donderdag 15 juni 2006
"Everything we do is a tribute to Black Sabbath"
It’s been more than long enough again since my last update and everything I have stacked up in my Megalomaniacal folder isn’t getting any younger while collecting digital dust. So here’s an interview I did with my friends in Rise And Fall around the time their “Into Oblivion” record was released. It took some time to get the answers back and it took three times as long to post the stuff up here. Some of the stuff might be outdated, but whatever… In the meanwhile Rise And Fall has done a European tour with Doomriders and a US tour with Guns Up and Blacklisted. Also their record got released in the US by Deathwish Inc. Records. All this didn’t happen when the interview was done, so keep that in mind. Here’s the interview I did with Bjorn and Cedric.
Oh yeah, if someone can tell me how I put this blog’s sidebar with all my personal info and stuff back to the top of the site, let me know. I fucked it up one way or another. Also it seems as I can't upload any pictures. If someone can help me, get in touch.
Okay, let’s kick it off properly. "Into Oblivion", your second full length has been out now for almost a month and I’ve seen quite some interesting reactions on the release by various segments of the hardcore in-crowd. How do you feel about all those reactions so far? I don’t know, but to me it seems that the reaction to the album is a lot bigger than I would have thought at first and I assume it’s a bit the same to the members of Rise And Fall, even after just one month. What are some of the most curious reactions you have gotten in the four weeks since the release?
Oh yeah, if someone can tell me how I put this blog’s sidebar with all my personal info and stuff back to the top of the site, let me know. I fucked it up one way or another. Also it seems as I can't upload any pictures. If someone can help me, get in touch.
Okay, let’s kick it off properly. "Into Oblivion", your second full length has been out now for almost a month and I’ve seen quite some interesting reactions on the release by various segments of the hardcore in-crowd. How do you feel about all those reactions so far? I don’t know, but to me it seems that the reaction to the album is a lot bigger than I would have thought at first and I assume it’s a bit the same to the members of Rise And Fall, even after just one month. What are some of the most curious reactions you have gotten in the four weeks since the release?
Cedric: Well, I'm positively surprised about the reactions. The positive response seems to have broadened indeed, it seems that a lot of "different" people are into our sound now, as opposed to when we put out "Hellmouth". The major part of reviews I've read have been really enthusiastic. Looking back at the reviews "Hellmouth" got, feelings were sometimes mixed and we were considered good but average. Now, the feedback's been nearly overwhelming. I did expect "Into Oblivion" to do better ", but looking at the reviews they definitely surpassed my expectations! The most curious reactions would have to be the people that prefer "Hellmouth" but hey, to each his own... I just think the new record has so much more to offer.
Are you actually satisfied with the way everything turned out? I know I was a bit bummed when I first saw the artwork as I expected something, how to say, more original from a band like Rise And Fall. Are there little things on the record you get annoyed about already, like every member of every band gets once they have put out new record? What are some those little futile things?
Bjorn: Generally speaking, I'm really satisfied and proud of the album. But of course being the overly critical perfectionists that we are I'm sure everyone in the band already has a few minor issues with the album, the songs or the layout. For me personally that would be the cover art, because as much as I love the rest of the lay out (the booklet, the back cover etc) and Jake's work, I feel like the cover isn't the best part of the artwork and could've been "better" maybe. I'm not sure though. It is a strong and harsh image though so that's the upside, and a lot of people seem to really like it and I have to admit I'm into a lot more than I originally was so what am I talking about?Cedric: I'm really satisfied with the result. I think we managed to create what we envisioned. I personally wanted to push this record to the extreme soundwise, and that's what we did. Of course as a musician you work on a record with a certain time limit, so you can't avoid the fact that some parts "could have been better" or whatever. But for us it's hard to put it all into perspective as we were working on the album the whole time. I recently listened to the record again, for the first time since long and it turned out that the concerns I had were kind of exaggerated. Those futile things I worried about are just little things that turned out different but not for the worse. They're pretty irrelevant. We learn, you know.
Comparing "Into Oblivion" to "Hellmouth" it definitely sounds like Rise And Fall finally has found its sound. Where I think "Hellmouth" sounds a bit boring at times I don’t have this feeling anymore when listening to the heavy monster sound of "Into Oblivion". Do you tend to agree with what I’m saying? What are some of the reasons for this evolution? Did you guys start listening to other music between the writing of "Hellmouth" and "Into Oblivion"?
Bjorn: I definitely agree. I still like "Hellmouth" and it was an album we had to make in order for us to get to where we are now. Looking back it sounds a little dull, too polished and clean. Most of the songs sound too much alike in my opinion and that is definitely something we worked on when we wrote "Into Oblivion". The main reason for the change in sound and songwriting, next to everyone getting a little older and better at what they're doing (well, hopefully), would have to be that for "Into Oblivion" 90 % of the music was written by Cedric, while on "Hellmouth" he'd only been in the band for a few months... so in my opinion it's definitely Cedric growing into his own as a songwriter and everyone in the band being involved with the whole process and being determined to write a record that would blow "Hellmouth" out of the water.
Cedric: There has most definitely been a big evolution in the sound of Rise And Fall. Right after the recordings of "Hellmouth" I started to find my place in Rise And Fall. I felt more self-assured and I knew what the band and I were capable of. As we were writing songs I always found it important to write in function of the song, which means stripping down my riffs when they were too complicated, finding the best possible song structure, etc. All this in order to get the most aggressive and complete songs. As for influences I get influenced by anything I hear and anything that can contribute to the primitive, raw sound we were aiming for. As a fan of music I continuously discover new music and new bands, it could be that some bands got my attention, but in the end it was all about getting that aggressive vibe and still being Rise And Fall. When I write a new riff I basically think about how hard I can bang my head to it.
Let’s talk punkmetal. I remember last year, before summer, that we were joking around in your car again about weird/stupid subgenre names such as rapcore, metalcore, etc. Eventually we ended up saying that Rise And Fall plays punkmetal and at that point you decided to coin the phrase and to begin profiling Rise And Fall as a punkmetal band rather than a hardcore band. So, for once and all, define punkmetal to the bloggists. Why did you decide to coin the phrase? What other bands (old and current) do you consider punkmetal? And who do you feel are the godfathers of punkmetal? What bands or sound or philosophy would you totally not like to see associated with punkmetal?
Bjorn: Punkmetal first and foremost is a state of mind, an attitude. It is a fuck you towards all the polished, overproduced would be hardcore that has been flooding our scene. It most definitely also is a fuck you towards the attitude that has come with it: bands nearly whoring themselves out to "get somewhere" and climb that ladder, the increasing commercialisation and commodification of hardcore and this whole situation where all these bands that have nothing to do with hardcore (musically and ideologically) still take advantage of this scene, its kids and its network. That's what comes to mind when I think of the PUNKMETAL attitude and it is something that grew out of disgust for all the shit I see around me these days. Musically we decided that PUNKMETAL was the term that best defined our music, since we try to combine the attitude, anger and energy of hardcore punk with the heaviness, darkness and brutality of (good) metal. Musically, we're not a pure hardcore band, though we're all hardcore kids obviously. We sure as hell ain't a real metal band either so you could say we're hardcore punks playing metal. PUNKMETAL. I wouldn't claim to have invented the term because I swear I've seen it being used before in old magazines when dudes would try to describe the Cro-Mags for example, or Integrity. Those bands would definitely be the godfathers of punkmetal, in my opinion. Other bands I'd call punkmetal would be bands as varied as Ringworm, Gehenna, His Hero Is Gone, Mind Eraser, Tragedy, Celtic Frost, Venom, Motorhead, Inepsy etc. I guess you get what I'm saying.
We touched the subject of your artwork a little bit already and coincidently the artwork was done by Jake Bannon, the singer for Converge, the mixing of your record has been done by Kurt Ballou, the guitarist for Converge, and you’ve toured with Converge and now, surprise surprise, you are doing a US release of "Into Oblivion" with Deathwish Inc. Can you kiss any more ass to get a deal with Deathwish Inc. or what? What’s the deal with that? Does Rise And Fall kiss any ass to get something done or don’t you all give a fuck?
Bjorn: In order to kiss even more ass, we're touring Europe in March with Doomriders, which is Nate from Converge's other band. We figured we might as well go all the way! Seriously though, we like to work, play and tour with people we respect and that know what they're doing, plus we're all into Converge so I guess that explains a lot. Deathwish is putting out "Into Oblivion" because they're really into the album and believe in us as a band - if they'd put out every band that kissed their ass they'd put out a few records every week I'm afraid. We've always done and will continue to do things our way... Kissing ass and sucking up to get ahead is NOT something we've ever done or will ever do.
On a more serious note now, I’m assuming you are pretty happy to get the Deathwish Inc. support. I know you have two US tours planned, can you tell something more about that? Why two already? And what’s the deal with touring Japan, I heard things about that too.
Bjorn: Well most of these things are only plans so far, but we're definitely doing a ten day East Coast tour at the end of April with Blacklisted and Guns Up! Siked as hell about that. After the summer we want to do a longer US tour as well as a Japanese tour. With Deathwish doing our record in the States and Alliance Trax doing it in Japan, it only makes sense to go over there and promote the record. I hope everything works out as planned because touring those places would be like a dream come true. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
“Hellmouth” also got a US release, on SA Mob Records, are you happy with how that worked out? Did you have any intentions to work together with them again for “Into Oblivion”? And do you have other foreign releases planned in order to get better tour support? I’m thinking about a Russian release or a Chinese release or something.
Bjorn: Yeah, we're definitely pleased with how SA Mob helped us out with the "Hellmouth" record. It's a small label with no real distribution or whatever, but EMS is an awesome dude, one of the nicest dudes I've ever met in hardcore actually and the fact that he took the risk to put out a record for a band that no one over there had heard of just because he was into it says a lot. He works hard for the label and is an all around genuine person, and actually, he might be doing the US vinyl for "Into Oblivion", that isn't sure yet though. No Russian or Chinese adventures yet, but we are talking to a sweet Brazilian label for a South American release so there ya go!
I remember walking into the studio when you had just recorded your demo and that has only been some three years ago and now here we are, again doing an interview, but so much more has happened to Rise And Fall in-between. And it seems as if the crazy ride isn’t over yet. Can you and the band still cope with the fact that you keep getting more and more attention? Do you think eventually you will be totally exhausted with the pace of things that you either will have to step back, break up or something like that? Are you afraid something like that could happen –perhaps sooner than you wish-?
Bjorn: I don't know honestly. Thing is, you only live once and all I want is to get the most out of what I have and what I love doing. So on one hand I'm really happy with how things have turned out for Rise And Fall, starting as project between friends with no real ambition or plans and growing into a hardworking band that tours and puts out records and does fairly well. On the other hand I'm never totally satisfied and always want more. Maybe because this band is one of the only things that truly matters to me and I put so much of myself into it, just like the other dudes in the band. So right now I think things will only get busier and I'm looking forward to that. I don't think we'll be exhausted anytime soon, it's not like we're going to tour 9 months out of 12 or anything. We want to go as far as we can, play as much as we can and spread the punkmetal plague... and when our time's up and we don't love what we're doing anymore then we'll have to step back or break up.
Your record starts with some cracking guitar amp noises followed by a few heavy slow notes before all hell breaks loose. Are both of those things tributes to Black Sabbath (Sabotage kicks off with resembling cracking and Black Sabbath the album starts with one of the heaviest riffs of all time before all hell breaks loose)?
Cedric: The beginning of the record is all about setting the right mood for what's about to come. We wanted to sound as live as possible on this record, so what better way to start it then to plug in your guitar? About the slow notes, they just feel right, they have to be there, it's hard to explain. As I said earlier, I stripped it down to what is really necessary.
Bjorn: Everything we do is a tribute to Black Sabbath.
Let’s talk songs titles and where you got inspiration for them. Let me know if what I assume is wrong:
"The Void": Black Sabbath’s "Into The Void".
Bjorn: YES.
"To Hell And Back": the opener of "Lucifuge".
Bjorn: No, I stole it from Venom. It's a Venom song.
"Lost Among The Lost": an island where a bunch of people survived a plane crash and get haunted by something mysterious.
Bjorn: No. Even though I am in love with Evangeline Lily.
Any other song titles you care to explain?
Bjorn: "Ruins" as a song and songtitle is kind of sequel to "As The City Burns" off "Hellmouth". "Stakes Is High" is the title of a De La Soul album... I'm not a big fan, but thought it sounded good. There's more but I don't want to give everything away.
Where did you record that crowd going mental at the beginning of the track Into Oblivion? Was that that one show Pit counted at least 20 people moshing during the break in Give And Take?
Bjorn: No, it was recorded at that one show on the same tour were we were forced to play at 7.15 and the doors opened at 7.10... Now, that was fun. In all seriousness though, for people that were wondering, we got that off Slayer's "Decade Of Aggression" live album.
What’s that dude saying in the beginning of “Lost Among The Lost”? Something about God? Where’s that sample from? Does it have to do with the fact that your drummer JP is a practising Catholic drumming for a devilish punkmetal band? Did he want to get some sort of praying as compen sation for all the evil on the record?
Bjorn: JP being a Catholic and Cedric being a Satanist definitely complicates things for us, but we manage. The sample on "Lost Among The Lost" is actually Danzig being interviewed on the infamous Danzig home video. It's the part where the interviewer asks him "Do you believe in God?" and then Danzig's like "Do I believe in God?" etcetera. Pure genius.
On different descriptions of Rise And Fall I see the same bands always popping up as influences, let’s have a little check-up on how far these influences are correct. Tell me where, when and what you listened to (of) the following bands and whether or not you feel as if those bands are an influence on Rise And Fall as a band:
Celtic Frost: Cedric: I listen to the first two records almost on a daily base. This band has redefined the RIFF. They know like no other how to write a REAL RIFF. Next to that they have the sickest guitar sound, it still doesn't sound dated. Let's not forget "Morbid Tales" dates back to 1985. Yes, that's one year prior to "Reign In Blood". Bjorn pays tribute to Tom G. Warrior’s "OEGH" in every song we write.
Motörhead: Cedric: We want to be as loud as Motörhead. Next to that we try to capture the raw drive that Motörhead possesses like no other in some of our songs. You just cannot deny Motörhead's legacy on heavy music.
Leeway: Cedric: We obviously took our name from this band. This is definitely one of my favourite New York hardcore bands. AJ Novello writes amazing riffs and songs that certainly have an influence on me. Although I prefer the Born To Expire record this band has kept on progressing through their other albums without watering down.
Neurosis: Cedric: Although a lot of bands try to imitate them no one gets near the sound they've been creating since the "Souls At Zero" record. Isis? No offence, but give me a fucking break. Neurosis can be loud or quiet but they got you by the throat ALL the time! That influence kinda infiltrated on “Stakes Is High”.
Ringworm: Cedric: This band, together with Integrity and the Cro-Mags is the foundation of our sound, our starting point if you will. "We are Gods if we are heartless. Drink his blood and piss on the bastard’s carcass."
Danzig: Cedric: The first four Danzig albums are the exception on the rule that no record is perfect. There is NOT one flaw in the first four records. I know it, Bjorn knows it and you'd better know it too. His music influences me in all my musical endeavours, no matter how far stretched that might seem.
Cro-Mags: Cedric: Pure genius. The second riff in Live In Sin is my personal ten seconds of Best Wishes-era-Cro-Mags-worship.
Entombed: Cedric: Yes. As a guitarist I cannot deny the influence the sound and music of Entombed has on me. They made me turn up the mids on my amp pretty bad. From the Nihilist demos to the newer stuff, we listen to it all.
Discharge: Cedric: A band I personally discovered way too late. The pounding drums, manic guitar and raging vocals is something I want to translate in a maybe more contemporary manner in Rise And Fall.
Dead Stop: Cedric: The mark that Dead Stop has left on the hardcore scene here is nothing short of amazing. Not only are they talented musicians but they showed everyone what the essence is of playing in a hardcore punk band. From releasing their own records to creating a huge manic following to introducing kids to bands that otherwise would be long forgotten. I'm certain this band has a huge influence on every hardcore-minded band around today. It will be weird to see them play their last show.
Integrity: Cedric: As mentioned a starting point and still a big influence on the Rise And Fall sound. Personally I got into hardcore in a time where every hardcore band was starting to sound like a third-rate Slayer rip-off. Integrity showed me you can wear your Slayer influences on your sleeve while still being a real hardcore band.
Black Sabbath: Cedric: This is the band where everything starts with for me. Tuning down your guitar in 1970, creating a wall of sound surrounded by a dark overtone while everyone is wearing flowers in their hair, now that's a statement. I will listen to the first six albums everywhere anytime.
Tragedy: Cedric: One of the more recent bands that has influenced me. They create this dark, original, dirty, raw sound that reminds you that between all the crap that we're exposed to there are still bands that capture a true hardcore punk feel. Seriously, the intensity and the power they possess is almost scary. Few bands can be this convincing.
Born From Pain: Cedric: This band shows that to get somewhere you just got to do it. A shitload of hard work has gotten them where they are today, Europe's biggest hardcore band. They definitely got their shit together.
When Rise And Fall just started out you played a bunch of cover songs, I remember an Icemen song, a Ringworm song and Leeway’s Rise And Fall. It’s been a while since you played any covers, are you planning on keeping it that way, or are you cooking some up?
Bjorn: We're into playing a cool cover song once in a while but since we switched drummers and worked on "Into Oblivion" for such a long time (writing songs, recording them etc.) we didn't really have the time to learn any new covers. However, we recently recorded Integrity's "Kingdom Of Heaven" for an Integrity tribute record so I think we'll play that a couple of times too live. I have a few other songs in mind that I'd like to cover but it's hard to get everyone to agree on what we should and shouldn't do.
What’s next for Rise And Fall? What will be the next thing you’ll be recording?
Bjorn: In 2006 we'll focus on touring and playing as much as possible so we'll see how that turns out. We just recorded that Integrity cover and there's talk of maybe recording some more songs later this year for a new release in one form or another. Nothing solid yet, so I can't really tell you more.
Do you have any idea how many times you had to answer to me on this question already: Any last words?
Bjorn: This would have to be the 3rd or 4th time, I think? Probably the 4th if I count the interview we did in Roeselare in '98 outside Ronald's infamous Salon Benefit show. As always, thanks for the interview and continued support. Stay punk.
http://www.riseandfall.org/
http://www.riseandfall.org/
zaterdag 13 mei 2006
Saturday May 13thFirst of all, welcome back and thanks for all of your patience. I know it’s been quite a while since you last heard from me. Life’s been pretty busy lately and to be really honest, doing this blog isn’t my biggest priority. Not that I have been sitting still behind the scenes. I’ve been doing some interviews and writings and stuff the last few months, but didn’t get around posting anything up here. So yeah, you could say that you aren’t rid off me yet. So today’s May 13th and what else for a comeback could be better on this very day than a new interview with True Blue’s Patrick Kitzel? I wouldn’t know. Originally I had the plan to post some live MP3s of a show True Blue played in Belgium a couple years ago, but as I haven’t figured out how to moderate anything like that you’ll have to do with just the interview. I think what Kitzel had to tell me was pretty interesting and I got answers to some questions I had on my mind for some while in typical PK-style.
What was the reason for True Blue to break up? Did you still have any unrecorded songs then? Will you ever record any of those? I heard rumours that True Blue already recorded some songs (or demo versions of songs) for an upcoming full length. Is there any truth to that? And how about that On The Attack song that World Collapse did, was that originally a True Blue song?
The discography will have a ton of cool stuff. Tons of pics, flyers etc. It will have the demo, The Ice, one or two unreleased songs, live stuff, cool stuff man... I am pretty sure that there will be some merch with that release. Labelwise I am not sure. I might put it out on Reaper Records. We will see. Some bigger labels are interested so who knows.
We recorded 6 songs as a demo, last week. This coming week we’re gonna get the words ready and then try to go in the studio a.s.a.p. Maybe later in April or May. I’ll have to do the vocal recordings in the States. The bass will also be recorded over here in the States by Buske from The Promise/Terror. The line up is René on drums (ex-True Blue, currently in World Collapse), Frank on guitar (ex-True Blue, currently in World Collapse) and last but definitely not least my good friend J. Buske DNA on the bass (ex-The Promise, Another Victim, Terror). We will definitely play shows and try to tour. But nothing is definite yet, due to the distance of band members. Some song titles are Death By My Side, False Prophets, Kingdom Of Heaven... Hopefully we will play Yper Fest, Posi Numbers, etc. We will see. The website should be up soon too with some more info and songs and what not. Stay fucking tuned. 2006 will def bring some stuff that’s worth checking out.
Also get ready for the new Terror LP, shit’s gonna be ill!
Love it or leave it,
dinsdag 14 februari 2006
It's Better To Burn Out Than To Fade Away!
SATURDAY 10/29/2005: THE BASEMENT, NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ: Landed at JFK around noon local time, picked up the rental van which to our surprise had been pimped (it had a Dead Kennedys logo scratched on the side) and set sail for the first show of the tour. We got to New Jersey early as hell which left us with some time to kill. We strolled around town but there wasn't much to see so we just got pizza (in case we wouldn't have the chance to eat pizza in the next 2 weeks) and hung out. The show was in a basement which got me excited because I guess it's just an American thing you know... basement shows. We met up with the 86 Mentality and Set To Explode dudes and Dave Sausage who'd taken care of Dead Stop's merch and brought them their Havoc LPs and their 7"s on his own label, Six Feet Under. He takes care of business! To everyone's surprise the show started in time and I remember Set To Explode putting on a good show, as well as an awesome 86 Mentality set with original guitarist John, since their current guitarist was still in Europe wandering around. They got a great response and set the mood for the rest of the night. Dead Stop was next and did fairly well - kids were going off but I knew the best was yet to come. Forward To Death sounded very Black Flag-ish and covered the Dead Kennedys. Headlining tonight was Kill Your Idols and we were all siked about that since it's been ages since they've been to Europe. Kids went nuts and rightfully so. Their set ended with a ton of Breakdown demo covers, "It's Clobberin' Time" and their Jawbreaker cover. Good times. After the show Coorde explained us all what "grease trucks" were and we drove to DC where we were staying at the hardcore mansion there, with dudes like Tad To Explode and AfterMatt living there.
SATURDAY 11/05/2005: TC UNDERGROUND, MINNEAPOLIS, MN: After the show in Kansas we drove halfway to Minneapolis and slept in a motel. Today was actually a day off but we wanted to check out the first day of the Midwest Hardcore Fest, Extreme Noise Records and Minneapolis. I can tell you now that Extreme Noise is one of the best hardcore punk stores I've ever been too. Everyone was stoked and bought loads. Lino neglected to buy Belgian hardcore classic Strike The Match by Nations On Fire for $1, luckily Larry was there to buy it instead of him. I only saw a few bands play due to the Mall Of America, the presence of the internet in the venue, the record store next door and the absence of bands I really wanted to see. State was pretty good though and so was Caustic Christ. The show was done around ten. Coorde, Gert and me and went to check out a show in another club in town, with Coliseum, Torche and Kylesa. Not too many people there either, but both Torche and Kylesa played blazing sets, with a huge crushing sound. Coliseum is a great band, but their show was a bit of a letdown due to the sloppy sound. While we were head banging, Dave Byrd and Tom To Explode nearly got in a fight with a bunch of bouncers from the bar next door.Day 2 of the fest, with Dead Stop, Set To Explode and Regulations. Before those three went on, I also saw a young local Lockin' Out type band called Listen Up and they were good too. The singer's stage presence reminded me of a young Matt Bold. I didn't see most of the other bands due to merch duties. All in all, Felix and everyone involved with the fest were kinda disappointed with the turnout as they were expecting 200 to 300 people to show up and I'm guessing there were only maybe 100 people there. Still, Set To Explode played another solid set, some people even knew the Government Issue cover which must've made Dave Byrd happy (for a little while). Dead Stop also played a solid set and got a good response, especially when they covered Minor Threat. It's funny to see a whole room explode after a whole day of standing around. Just like last night, it seemed most people were excited to see Regulations, and even though I'm not a fan, I can understand why cause this band does what they do well, they have presence, a good sound and play tight. Highlight of the day was actually going for pasta with the whole tour "crew" (Dead Stop + Set To Explode + roadies), some of the best pasta I had in 2005. Unfortunately plans for another night out were cancelled because we had a long drive ahead of us and we wanted to hang out in Chicago before the show tomorrow night too. Too bad cause I really wanted to see Big Business who were playing elsewhere in town.
Welcome back, this Megalomaniacal Supernaut hasn’t been sitting still lately, only it doesn’t show from this blog. Anyway, I’m back from a small hiatus and I’m ready to throw shit at that blogfan again. Obviously I won’t be updating daily like my blog splinter bomb before last year’s end, but I’ll try to update a few times every month again. I’ve got a lot of interesting stuff up my sleeve, you’ve been forewarned.
First things first, as you might have heard already, the greatest European hardcore band ever is breaking up. Dead Stop’s calling it a day, a lot of people knew about it already, but now it’s official, there’s no turning back and, yes, we’re all gonna cry when that last feedback fades. Well, I know I am going to. I know it is kinda lame for hardcore bands to have some sort of press statements about why they are breaking up and stuff, but then again, you better take a stand as a band as to why you are breaking before the world wide messageboard maelstrom breaks out and ends up twisting the truth.
First things first, as you might have heard already, the greatest European hardcore band ever is breaking up. Dead Stop’s calling it a day, a lot of people knew about it already, but now it’s official, there’s no turning back and, yes, we’re all gonna cry when that last feedback fades. Well, I know I am going to. I know it is kinda lame for hardcore bands to have some sort of press statements about why they are breaking up and stuff, but then again, you better take a stand as a band as to why you are breaking before the world wide messageboard maelstrom breaks out and ends up twisting the truth.
So, here’s Dead Stop’s official notice:
"Though the decision to break up was a hard one to take, we feel like there is no better time to do it than now. We have accomplished everything we wanted to achieve with this band and then some. Rather than fizzling out like a candle we would like to go out with a bang, now that we are still fully enjoying what we do and before petty bullshit ruins what we have built throughout the last 4 years. We feel that with "Live For Nothing" we have written the best record we were capable of and have said everything we wanted to say with Dead Stop. We've been all over Europe, from England to Greece and from Norway to Spain . We've toured the US twice. We got the chance to play our beloved Lintfabriek countless
times and got to share the stage with a lot of the bands we greatly respect. We are grateful for all the support we've gotten and all the craziness and hardcore enthusiasts that followed us nearly anywhere we went but it is time for something new. New challenges and new bands. We started this band to pay tribute to the early 80's hardcore pioneers we all loved and most kids seemed to have forgotten about. At the same time we were sick of seeing lame bands playing watered down hardcore to bored crowds. With a lot of hard work we managed to gain monumentum rather quickly and soon played shows of which we could only have dreamed of playing before, plus we think we managed to open a lot of people's eyes to the truly important and often overlooked early 80's hardcore bands that inspired us and brought us together in the first place. We are proud of everything we have achieved and how we achieved it. Thank you all for your support and we hope to see you all on the 20th of May and/or at the other shows we'll be playing before we say goodbye."
Dead Stop’s only planned on playing a few last shows all over Europe, if you can’t make it to the final show try to check ‘em out at one of these shows:
February 24th – Antwerpen, Belgium w/ Career Suicide, Seein’ Red
"Though the decision to break up was a hard one to take, we feel like there is no better time to do it than now. We have accomplished everything we wanted to achieve with this band and then some. Rather than fizzling out like a candle we would like to go out with a bang, now that we are still fully enjoying what we do and before petty bullshit ruins what we have built throughout the last 4 years. We feel that with "Live For Nothing" we have written the best record we were capable of and have said everything we wanted to say with Dead Stop. We've been all over Europe, from England to Greece and from Norway to Spain . We've toured the US twice. We got the chance to play our beloved Lintfabriek countless
times and got to share the stage with a lot of the bands we greatly respect. We are grateful for all the support we've gotten and all the craziness and hardcore enthusiasts that followed us nearly anywhere we went but it is time for something new. New challenges and new bands. We started this band to pay tribute to the early 80's hardcore pioneers we all loved and most kids seemed to have forgotten about. At the same time we were sick of seeing lame bands playing watered down hardcore to bored crowds. With a lot of hard work we managed to gain monumentum rather quickly and soon played shows of which we could only have dreamed of playing before, plus we think we managed to open a lot of people's eyes to the truly important and often overlooked early 80's hardcore bands that inspired us and brought us together in the first place. We are proud of everything we have achieved and how we achieved it. Thank you all for your support and we hope to see you all on the 20th of May and/or at the other shows we'll be playing before we say goodbye."Dead Stop’s only planned on playing a few last shows all over Europe, if you can’t make it to the final show try to check ‘em out at one of these shows:
February 24th – Antwerpen, Belgium w/ Career Suicide, Seein’ Red
February 25th – Kortrijk, Belgium w/ Justice
March 3rd – Brugge, Belgium w/ Turn The Screw
March 23rd – Gent, Belgium w/ White Crime Club & Minutemen documentary
March 25th – Hoogstraten, Belgium w/ The Kids
April 2nd – Manchester, UK w/ Underdog, Justice
April 9th - Hengelo, Holland w/ Underdog, Justice
April 29th – Barcelona, Spain w/ Restless Youth, Fearless Vampire Killers, Bold
May 7th – Bremen, Germany w/ Fearless Vampire Killers
May 20th – Kontich, Belgium w/ Set To Explode, Iron Boots, Annihilation Time
One more thing, if you are one of those idiots thinking about Dead Stop as a mediocre hardcore band I suggest you a few things: 1) Done With You 2) Live For Nothing 3) Larry Edge 4) a clue. Besides, if Dead Stop is more than good enough for Dave Byrd, Poison Idea’s Jerry A and Henk Kangaroo, why wouldn’t it be for you? Just get out and find another “hobby”.
Also, Complete Control Records have just launched their freshly designed website, you can read their news update about Dead Stop, Restless Youth, Justice and the upcoming tours of Annihilation Time, Iron Boots, Set To Explode and Underdog by clicking here!
Let’s stick to Dead Stop for today’s entry. Last November Dead Stop flew across the Atlantic again, not that it is their only place to go, but one of the many, to tour part of the United States for a second time. This time I unfortunately couldn’t make it, but GLUEtarian Bjorn Dossche could and kept a little tour diary for us, Get-In-The-Van-style. Check it out, read it, close your eyes and pretend to be surrounded by these dudes in a van or at a venue, it’s not the real deal, but with a bit of imagination you get the overall idea! Thanks to Dossche for hooking me up.
One more thing, if you are one of those idiots thinking about Dead Stop as a mediocre hardcore band I suggest you a few things: 1) Done With You 2) Live For Nothing 3) Larry Edge 4) a clue. Besides, if Dead Stop is more than good enough for Dave Byrd, Poison Idea’s Jerry A and Henk Kangaroo, why wouldn’t it be for you? Just get out and find another “hobby”.
Also, Complete Control Records have just launched their freshly designed website, you can read their news update about Dead Stop, Restless Youth, Justice and the upcoming tours of Annihilation Time, Iron Boots, Set To Explode and Underdog by clicking here!
Let’s stick to Dead Stop for today’s entry. Last November Dead Stop flew across the Atlantic again, not that it is their only place to go, but one of the many, to tour part of the United States for a second time. This time I unfortunately couldn’t make it, but GLUEtarian Bjorn Dossche could and kept a little tour diary for us, Get-In-The-Van-style. Check it out, read it, close your eyes and pretend to be surrounded by these dudes in a van or at a venue, it’s not the real deal, but with a bit of imagination you get the overall idea! Thanks to Dossche for hooking me up.
SATURDAY 10/29/2005: THE BASEMENT, NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ: Landed at JFK around noon local time, picked up the rental van which to our surprise had been pimped (it had a Dead Kennedys logo scratched on the side) and set sail for the first show of the tour. We got to New Jersey early as hell which left us with some time to kill. We strolled around town but there wasn't much to see so we just got pizza (in case we wouldn't have the chance to eat pizza in the next 2 weeks) and hung out. The show was in a basement which got me excited because I guess it's just an American thing you know... basement shows. We met up with the 86 Mentality and Set To Explode dudes and Dave Sausage who'd taken care of Dead Stop's merch and brought them their Havoc LPs and their 7"s on his own label, Six Feet Under. He takes care of business! To everyone's surprise the show started in time and I remember Set To Explode putting on a good show, as well as an awesome 86 Mentality set with original guitarist John, since their current guitarist was still in Europe wandering around. They got a great response and set the mood for the rest of the night. Dead Stop was next and did fairly well - kids were going off but I knew the best was yet to come. Forward To Death sounded very Black Flag-ish and covered the Dead Kennedys. Headlining tonight was Kill Your Idols and we were all siked about that since it's been ages since they've been to Europe. Kids went nuts and rightfully so. Their set ended with a ton of Breakdown demo covers, "It's Clobberin' Time" and their Jawbreaker cover. Good times. After the show Coorde explained us all what "grease trucks" were and we drove to DC where we were staying at the hardcore mansion there, with dudes like Tad To Explode and AfterMatt living there.
SUNDAY 10/30/2005: THE U-TURN, WASHINGTON, DC: Jason from 86 Mentality had organized this DC hardcore matinee and I was thinking how crazy it was that we were actually in DC - one of the most crucial cities in the history of hardcore. This show just had to be cool, there was no other way. It was definitely sweet to see that a lot of kids turned up... and it also made Jason's day a little less stressful. Forced Forward went on first and just when I told Michiel that they kinda reminded me of old Rollins Band meets 
108, they busted out a 108 cover. Pretty cool. Even cooler was talking to their singer after the show about Liar, Congress and the H8000 scene. Set To Explode played another explosive set, with some crowd response and the band going off on stage, causing John's amp to take a nosedive and nearly die a painful death. Dead Stop was welcomed as if they were coming home after having been away for a year. There were circle pits, lots of kids singing along to the Done With You songs and Dead Stop was getting into gear. DC's own bastard sons 86 Mentality then went on and boy... mayhem ensued. Hard as fuck, tight and dudes were definitely "getting aggro". Awesome show. The only bummer was that Gert twisted his ankle while doing the pogo to 86 Mentality and his foot looked fucked. And it was the foot he uses to play his kick pedal. Despite everyone being worried Gert played every show of the tour, this dude is obviously hard as nails...if you've seen his leather jacket you know why. After the show we all got some awesome vegan food at Jason's house, while Michiel played "House Of The Rising Sun" on an acoustic guitar. Even though everyone was dead tired, a few of us went to the Black Cat (owned by one of the Iron Cross dudes) afterwards to chill, play pool, get drunk and request Bad Brains, Bowie and Stooges songs on the jukebox. Awesome night.
108, they busted out a 108 cover. Pretty cool. Even cooler was talking to their singer after the show about Liar, Congress and the H8000 scene. Set To Explode played another explosive set, with some crowd response and the band going off on stage, causing John's amp to take a nosedive and nearly die a painful death. Dead Stop was welcomed as if they were coming home after having been away for a year. There were circle pits, lots of kids singing along to the Done With You songs and Dead Stop was getting into gear. DC's own bastard sons 86 Mentality then went on and boy... mayhem ensued. Hard as fuck, tight and dudes were definitely "getting aggro". Awesome show. The only bummer was that Gert twisted his ankle while doing the pogo to 86 Mentality and his foot looked fucked. And it was the foot he uses to play his kick pedal. Despite everyone being worried Gert played every show of the tour, this dude is obviously hard as nails...if you've seen his leather jacket you know why. After the show we all got some awesome vegan food at Jason's house, while Michiel played "House Of The Rising Sun" on an acoustic guitar. Even though everyone was dead tired, a few of us went to the Black Cat (owned by one of the Iron Cross dudes) afterwards to chill, play pool, get drunk and request Bad Brains, Bowie and Stooges songs on the jukebox. Awesome night.MONDAY 10/31/2005: NANCI RAYGUN, RICHMOND, VA: Dead Stop and myself had been really looking forward to this show because we all know a bunch of people there, plus Richmond has a reputation for being one of the best cities for hardcore shows these days on the East Coast...and Dead Stop had already played an awesome show there last year. So after some serious shopping in a mall halfway between DC and Richmond we get to the venue, which is an awesome and spacious (but punk looking) place, kinda like our own Lintfabriek. It was awesome getting to see old friends again and catching up. Great food too. Government Warning played this show, they were really good and include members of Direct Control and Alex Dimatessa, one of the nicest dudes ever and owner of Grave Mistake Records. Mad As Hell played too, their second show ever as this band is kind of a goofy side project of various Richmond scenesters and Down To Nothing members. Things got kinda wild already and when Set To Explode starting playing kids went off even more. The band was on form and a lot of kids already knew the 7" songs. A raging and energetic set, definitely one to remember. I had been watching Set To Explode with my man Jason Mazzola, and as soon as they were done he turned to me and said: "That old man's still angry" (referring to Dave Byrd) and that about sums it up. Then it was Dead Stop's turn. Now I knew it was going to be good, but this show was actually off the hook. An awesome response and Dead Stop raging harder than a motherfucker. Opening their set with "Tied Down" was a great idea, and so was closing with a couple of Bad Brains covers. Kids were eating that shit raw. The cool thing was that the response to the covers and their own songs was nearly the same - I was proud of them. After the show we hung out with the Iron Boots dudes and other cool people that were there. Iron Boots seemed determined to make it to Europe in 2006, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed! We left Richmond around midnight because we had a long drive ahead of us, to Daytona Beach, Florida.
TUESDAY 11/01/2005: SEABREEZE LOUNGE, DAYTONA BEACH, FL: Driving overnight turned out to be a tight plan because it meant we arrived around noon, drove up to the beach and actually just parked the van on the beach, hopped out and jumped into the sea. Best thing ever. The waves were big and the water was warm and it was the first of November. Siked! After getting food and exploring Daytona Beach (nearly deserted when it's not summer) we got to the club early. Lino, Larry and me chilled with the girl that owned the club. The club was sketchy looking to say the least. It usually housed death metal shows, and there was exactly one customer there, who seemed to be on a serious bad trip and kept yelling at himself in the mirror. The girl that owned the place was kinda nice, kinda chubby and kinda not so smart, but she did tell us about how she "redecorated" the place with a chainsaw while a death metal band was playing. Cool. When Billy, the promoter, got there and brought us food we knew it was gonna be cool because Billy rules. The first band played and covered Infest, Discharge, Charles Bronson and more. I forgot their name though. When it was time for Dead Stop to go on, Billy took the mic and told the 40 kids there how awesome it was of them to come and then went on to motivate everyone to buy Dead Stop gear, support touring bands and small shows and then got kinda angry when he thought of the 22 year old washed up computer nerds that don't even bother coming to shows no more. He was on fire and so were the 40 kids there by the time he'd finished. The show was awesome, constant circle pitting, singalongs, tons of energy. Larry was doing circle pits! We stayed at Billy's house, which was like a hardcore mansion where all kids came to hang out. We all went kinda crazy when we saw pictures of Floorpunch and Degradation, taken at our own legendary Lintfabriek...not to mention the awesome Liar picture! Billy took us out for breakfast the next morning, told us about his company called "Straight Edge Cuts" and his motto: "If it's not straight, it will be". I miss Billy!
WEDNESDAY 11/02/2005: THE BEDROOM, ATLANTA, GA: Atlanta, Georgia. None of us knew much about Atlanta, nor about the scene down there but still we were kind of excited to be there. If all went according to plan Dave K. of Hardware Fanzine fame was gonna be at this show...but he wasn't. The show got moved in the last week or so and ended up being a house show. We got to the house at around seven and chilled there. Ordered pizza and hung out on the porch which was fun. Kids started showing up and to avoid a huge bum out if cops would show up and shut the show down, Dead Stop went on first. They played someone's bedroom and the place was packed with kids. Not a whole lot of moving around, but a tight set none the less and during the Bad Brains covers things got crazy. We sold merch in the kitchen and talked to drunk locals and vampires. If I remember it well, two other bands went on after Dead Stop, one featuring Jesse, our host for tonight. Jesse used to be a drug dealer and got very enthusiastic when we told him most of us did drugs, weed, coke, XTC and what have you. That was cool. He wasn't even too bummed out when it turned out we were just making shit up and four out of the six dudes at his house were actually straight edge. Jesse also did Dead Stop a huge favour by calling and threatening UPS because they kept fucking up the delivery of a package with some extra merch Dead Stop had ordered. He drove to the local UPS office early in the morning and worked it out, and returned with the box. Much respect.
THURSDAY 11/03/2005: RAMP RIDERS, ST. LOUIS, MO: Set To Explode didn't play the past two shows so tonight was our "reunion" with those dudes. Plus tonight would also be Michiel's debut on guitar for Set To Explode since their guitarist John couldn't do the whole tour due to legal issues or something like that. This show was in a huge skate park which made me wish I wasn't such a loser and could actually skate. Dave Byrd proved that you're only as old as you act and impressed everyone with his skills in the half pipe. Quite a sight seeing this 34 year old rip it up with a stylish pink safety helmet. Since everyone was obviously hungry we decided to order pizza and I'll be damned if this wasn't some of the best pizza I ever had. Rob who put on the show also told us he was taking us out for pizza after the show too so this was perfect. Unfortunately not too many kids showed up tonight, even though Dead Stop had played an awesome show in St Louis the year before... Hardcore kids, who understands them? Rob's band Cardiac Arrest played a good set and a band called Step On It played a few songs too, but I thought they sucked and the whole vibe was definitely getting weird. "Going through the motions" would best describe their set and the response they got. Michiel's first show with Set To Explode went really well, without rehearsing once as a band – quite spectacular. Tad To Explode was so taken back by how well things went that he stopped playing for a few seconds. When Dead Stop played kids were a little hesitant at first but the longer they played, the more kids got into it and "Nervous Breakdown" did the rest. Overall, a forgettable show, but there was pizza and casinos ahead, so whatever! Pizza was good again and the casino was on a boat that was in the Mississippi river, the natural border between Missouri and Illinois. Gambling is illegal in Missouri, so the boat was on the Illinois' side of the river. I love America! Larry and Lino proceeded to win $300 in the casino while poor folks like Michiel and me just ordered free drinks and went sight seeing on the upper deck of the casino boat. Tad To Explode played blackjack the whole night, no one knows why as he didn't make a buck. He's a hero though! It got late so we went back to stay at this huge house/squat that looked like the HQ of an underground rebel army.
FRIDAY 11/04/2005: HAUNTED KITCHEN, KANSAS CITY, KS: Well, this show wasn't in Kansas City, but a smaller town about half an hour further down. It took us a while to get there and everyone in the van got kinda nervous to meet Felix Havoc, Dead Stop's US label boss, for the first time. The show was in the basement of a pretty big squatted house. First person we saw when getting out of the van of course was Felix! Larry was on the verge of a nervous breakdown! Felix Havoc looked normal and didn't appear to have a gun on him, nor did I see any blood anywhere, so that was cool. Felix was nice as hell, he was there with Regulations from Sweden who he was driving around on their nearly two month long US/Canada tour. What I remember about this show:
1. Some of the best mashed potatoes I ever had, EVER.
2. This 40+ hardcore dude with a Cro-Mags shirt that drove four hours to see Dead Stop. He had kids and a wife and was so stoked to see Dead Stop it was unreal.3. Kids in Justice shirts.4. People going nuts to Regulations in that mid ‘90s French emo style. This is how you do it: wiggle back and forth, wear glasses, hold your shoulders (or backpack) with both hands. Cry if you want to. Weird.
1. Some of the best mashed potatoes I ever had, EVER.
2. This 40+ hardcore dude with a Cro-Mags shirt that drove four hours to see Dead Stop. He had kids and a wife and was so stoked to see Dead Stop it was unreal.3. Kids in Justice shirts.4. People going nuts to Regulations in that mid ‘90s French emo style. This is how you do it: wiggle back and forth, wear glasses, hold your shoulders (or backpack) with both hands. Cry if you want to. Weird.
SATURDAY 11/05/2005: TC UNDERGROUND, MINNEAPOLIS, MN: After the show in Kansas we drove halfway to Minneapolis and slept in a motel. Today was actually a day off but we wanted to check out the first day of the Midwest Hardcore Fest, Extreme Noise Records and Minneapolis. I can tell you now that Extreme Noise is one of the best hardcore punk stores I've ever been too. Everyone was stoked and bought loads. Lino neglected to buy Belgian hardcore classic Strike The Match by Nations On Fire for $1, luckily Larry was there to buy it instead of him. I only saw a few bands play due to the Mall Of America, the presence of the internet in the venue, the record store next door and the absence of bands I really wanted to see. State was pretty good though and so was Caustic Christ. The show was done around ten. Coorde, Gert and me and went to check out a show in another club in town, with Coliseum, Torche and Kylesa. Not too many people there either, but both Torche and Kylesa played blazing sets, with a huge crushing sound. Coliseum is a great band, but their show was a bit of a letdown due to the sloppy sound. While we were head banging, Dave Byrd and Tom To Explode nearly got in a fight with a bunch of bouncers from the bar next door.Day 2 of the fest, with Dead Stop, Set To Explode and Regulations. Before those three went on, I also saw a young local Lockin' Out type band called Listen Up and they were good too. The singer's stage presence reminded me of a young Matt Bold. I didn't see most of the other bands due to merch duties. All in all, Felix and everyone involved with the fest were kinda disappointed with the turnout as they were expecting 200 to 300 people to show up and I'm guessing there were only maybe 100 people there. Still, Set To Explode played another solid set, some people even knew the Government Issue cover which must've made Dave Byrd happy (for a little while). Dead Stop also played a solid set and got a good response, especially when they covered Minor Threat. It's funny to see a whole room explode after a whole day of standing around. Just like last night, it seemed most people were excited to see Regulations, and even though I'm not a fan, I can understand why cause this band does what they do well, they have presence, a good sound and play tight. Highlight of the day was actually going for pasta with the whole tour "crew" (Dead Stop + Set To Explode + roadies), some of the best pasta I had in 2005. Unfortunately plans for another night out were cancelled because we had a long drive ahead of us and we wanted to hang out in Chicago before the show tomorrow night too. Too bad cause I really wanted to see Big Business who were playing elsewhere in town.MONDAY 11/07/2005: PULASKI PARK DISTRICT BUILDING, CHICAGO, IL: Chicago is cool. Checked some record stores and second hand clothing stores, didn't buy much, but it was cool to stroll around. My man Cedric loves Chicago and I can't say that I don't understand why! The show tonight was at some kind of community center at the edge of town, there was a daycare center for kids and an indoor basketball court. Cool. There was a ping pong table in there, so Lino and me went for it and played 25 sets or something ridiculous like that. We also met the fella who does Lifeline Records (Modern Life Is War, Kill Your Idols etc), a really nice guy. The room the show was held in was too big and wide, and again, there was no stage, but whatever. Turnout was good for a Monday night. Wound Up was playing this show too and to everyone's surprise they covered The Kids' "Fascist Cops" in honour of the Belgians that were in their town. Unfortunately for them people weren't really into them and the "zotte sfeer" was definitely absent. Weird, cause this was their 7" release show, and as we discovered afterwards, their last show too. "Is anyone angry?", is what Dave Byrd asked the crowd tonight. Before anyone could think of something that pissed them off, Set To Explode had already played half of their songs. I could keep saying this, but this was another raging set, this band doesn't disappoint. Some crowd participation too, but it wasn't until Dead Stop went on that this show started looking like a hardcore show... Lino dedicating a Bad Brains cover to the one black guy in the audience was a winner too. Good show. Mexican food afterwards and some drinking and brawling (courtesy of who else than the mighty Dave "Monsieur l'Oiseau" Byrd?) ended a fine night in Chicago. We stayed at Mark from Punch In The Face/Wound Up/Pinkeye's place which was a really nice loft. The man also showed us around Chicago the day after which was nice of him. Too bad the Married With Children fountain was out of service.
TUESDAY 11/08/2005: REFUGE SKATE SHOP, DEARBORN, MI: A tiny skate shop in Dearborn, Michigan (fifteen minutes from Detroit) was the setting for tonight's show. Due to some other shows happening the same night (Converge and Ringworm somewhere in Detroit for example), this show wasn't too crowded. The skate shop was cool though and the owner/promoter of the show was a really nice dude, so hanging out was fun. I don't really remember much else, besides the Mexican food we got after the show and the sleepover at the dude's house, with Tad To Explode threatening to kill Lino if he didn't stop making fun of Tad's hair. Good times. By this time it became obvious that Tad was a genuine "heerser" and an interesting character to say the least. He also decided to wear his hair down instead of Discharge-styled in order to cross the border to Canada without getting into trouble.
WEDNESDAY 11/09/2005: ADRIFT SKATE PARK, TORNTO, ON: Armed with a semi waterproof plan (we had a "contract" for one show in Canada and the other one got “cancelled”) and Michiel's expertise at the wheel we got to the Canadian border early in the morning. As expected we had to get out of the van, the van got searched, Michiel got questioned and we had to wait for quite a while until we were finally allowed into Canada. When I think of Canada I think of Spoiler and Friday, No Warning, Haymaker, Fucked Up, Criminally Insane and Cursed, so needless to say that everyone was pretty fucking excited, me especially since it was my first time there. Oh, on the way to Toronto Gert also decided to call Set To Explode to say that we'd been refused access to Canada and would have to try to get in through another border. Afterwards it turned out this had led to serious panic attacks in Camp To Explode, a bunch of calls to American Border personnel and DC officials. Uh oh! Got to Toronto, went shopping, drank hot chocolate, hung out with a few heroin junkies at McDonalds and then head to the house where we'd be spending the night and where the dudes that did the show lived (one of them sings for Urban Blight). They'd cooked up some great food and we hung out before heading to the show, which was in the back of a skate shop. It had a little ramp in the back too. Cool. Turnout was good and so were the opening bands. Dave Walling was there, the dude has driven up all the way from Philly. Heerser. Terminal State played a good solid set of fast, trashy hardcore and Gunnar Hansen were really good too. Early 80's styled stuff with a Black Flag touch. Their singer was a true madman, foaming at the mouth, running and rolling all over the place wearing a white Justice shirt, which he later tied around his head. Toronto was ready for Set To Explode, who were on form tonight, as well as Dead Stop who got the crowd moving again. Mostly from left to right and back. Dave Byrd was moshing. Good show. Food afterwards was brilliant and so was Tad's quote of the night: "No, it's not like that man".
THURSDAY 11/10/2005: CAF L’INCO, MONTREAL, QB: Half of Dead Stop drove up with Dave Walling, reportedly listening to a lot of death metal on the way to Montreal which made me jealous because I hadn't heard any metal in over ten days at this point. Montreal was cold as fuck. We got to the venue and heard this was the same place where Fearless Vampire Killers had played an insane show a few weeks ago. How cool. Set up and merch and chilled inside while we waited for Spoiler The Legend to show up. It was awesome seeing him again, he hadn't changed much, a new camo jacket maybe, but his Side By Side sweater was still there! I kinda forgot about the bands that played this show, I remember a band that kinda sounded like Think I Care and the singer was wearing a sleeveless Celtic Frost shirt. Friday got there too in the meantime and a dude from Inepsy was selling some second hand CDs. My Revenge from Vermont played too and started with a Slayer cover. Don't know what else to say except that my mom told me to keep my mouth shut if I didn't have anything nice to say. Set To Explode's set started with the best intro ever: Dave Byrd walking up the stage and saying "What's up, we're Striking Distance". Maybe he drank a little too much? Didn't matter though, the old man was as angry as ever and even though only Gert Dead Stop was singing along to the Government Issue cover, this still was a really good set. Tension started building by now and you could kinda feel that people were excited to see Dead Stop (again). Starting off with the infamous Justice intro "for The Spoiler" the place went nuts from start to finish. I remember a bunch of Bad Brains covers getting thrown in the mix ("The Regulator", "Right Brigade", "We Will Not") and a Void cover as well. Anyway, this was a blistering set with an awesome response, definitely one of the best shows on the tour. Larry, Dave Byrd and Spoiler getting in that moshpit...what more could one ask for? After the show and after chilling with the club's owner and discussing Leeway we head out for a sightseeing trip through Montreal, in our van of course and then ate with Mr. and Mrs. Spoiler before crashing at their place. I love hardcore.
FRIDAY 11/11/2005: REGENERATION, BOSTON, MA: Left Montreal early so we'd get to Boston at a decent hour. No borders problems this time, Coorde even made friends with the officer on duty. "How's that video game working out for you son?" "Oh well, you win some, you lose some." We got to the venue easily and found out it was punk hardcore record store and tattoo parlor, then we head into town for some shopping and food cause the show was gonna start pretty late anyway. The store was turned into an awesome venue with a small, but cool stage and gradually more and more people came in... The show ended up being sold out (I think over 150 paid to get in) and some people wound up not getting in at all. The place was packed by the time Killer Fiction played, a new band featuring Mike from Striking Distance on guitar. They were actually quite good, reminding me of Integrity at times and Entombed at others. Say Goodbye played too and was well received. Set To Explode's show highlight was seeing Al Quint lose it to the Government Issue cover. Actually, the whole set was really fucking good, again. Can't wait to see this band again when they hit Europe. While Dead Stop was setting up and getting ready to play I could feel there was a certain vibe in the air that reminded me of Belgian shows... People were stoked to see Dead Stop and they were about to witness an absolutely blinding set, with tons of energy, stagedives, moshing and mayhem. It didn't even matter that the vocal amplifier sounded like absolute shit. This show was insane and a perfect end for an awesome tour.Thank you Dead Stop, Larry, Set To Explode and everyone else who made these two weeks as awesome as they were.
Bjorn Dossche
Bjorn Dossche
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