Friday May 13th 2011

For those not paying a lot of attention, yesterday we all celebrated Worldwide Hardcore Holiday because we had the pleasure that May 13th was on a Friday. Me personally I held a food party and we all feasted upon delicious home-made spring roll asparagus, based on this recipe. Others honored hardcore by ordering Iron Age flexi double EPs, attending shows, rocking True Blue demo t-shirts under shirts at work or by listening to Devilangel on repeat. Every single one of us honored hardcore in his own way.



The Friday May 13th celebrations started back in 1998. In November that year I booked a show with every cool European band I could think of. The thing I didn't think of was that not every local hardcore kid thought the same and I didn't really flyer the show too good. That show meant the bankruptcy of my hardcore show entrepreneurship, even though, the attendees still think of this show as being legendary. That's the members of the 15 bands I let play and 5 other friends that showed up and refused to pay an admission fee.
Peter Hoeren was there with his Crucial Response distro when that label was still relevant and he had fresh Sportswear vinyl with him. The kids swarmed his stand to score the ultra limit colors and to make sure they had doubles to trade on the Rev Board. Reaching Forward, the band that was playing in the same 25' x 25' room, wasn't that stoked that the few hardcores there literally turned their back on them for some old gray German's distro and his Norwegian Bold knock-off EPs. Next to Peter Hoeren was this quiet arrogant-faced German dude chilling that looked a little out of place. I guessed he had joined either Degradation, Eyeball or the Crucial Response team for the trip. The dude had an Air Max 90 shoe box filled with tapes. I checked it out and he was selling the demo of his band called True Blue. I picked up a copy and put it with the rest of the stuff I bought (2 Sportswear EPs, 2 colors).
Later that week, after 17 year old bartthefleX. had recovered from the financial hangover the show turned out to be, I put the Friday, May 13th demo on for the first time and I was blown away. It wasn't exactly anything I had heard before, though I could recognize some Cro-Mags and Bad Brains in there. I didn't hear about the Icemen till 2000 and I hadn't figured out the whole tribute/rip-off vibe until 2002, when I first saw some Icemen shirts, flyers and EPs. If you want to know what I exactly thought about this tape in the late '90s I suggest you start looking for my old fanzine CrucialXCulture. If my memory serves me right, and it usually does, I wrote that this demo was better than the Cro-Mags. Ah, the mind and writings of a teenager...

Nevertheless, in 2011 I still feel this is one of the best European demos ever and I still put this on frequently. The hooks, the breaks, the off-rhythm vocals with thick German accent, I wouldn't want it to be any other way.

August 1999, hardcore was still a little bit under the radar for most people, and I was knee-deep into it already, but things started to change. The internet was coming up and more and more people didn't have to look into the underground to find something like the hardcore scene.
So, the leading European hardcore festival, the Vort'n Vis Fest in Ieper had to move to a bigger location. The festival was no longer in the 'big' barn behind the Vort'n Vis venue but was now held on a inner-city school playground. It was open air and I thought that was odd as hell. A hardcore show in open air. I think this was the beginning of the end of the, once cool, festival. A lot of poseurs had shown up already and in the years to come things would get worse. These days the festival is fucking stupid and most of the bands playing suck. In 1999 only a few cool bands would play. Things I still remember from the '99 Vort'n Vis Hardcore Festival is H-Street playing and getting a massive response to covering Token Entry's The Edge (a song that was one of my favorites that summer), being handed Like An Arrow issue #1 by Erik Tilburg, Bloodpact being boring as shit, buying a 97a shirt and True Blue playing a weird show.



For those who weren't around the hardcore scene back when True Blue was a band, let me clarify something (excuse me if this makes me sound like an old man). True Blue was not a popular band, the True Blue Army was not huge, and there was not a huge line at their merch stand when they started selling those sweatpants. Especially Germans did not seem to be into this band, no matter what they might claim these days. I think I was the only dude from my direct circle of friends that thought the demo was great. All the others thought True Blue straight up sucked.

Back to the Ieper fest show. I think this was the first time I saw True Blue live, I could be wrong, but I think I'm not. I was looking forward to seeing them live, but I was a bit letdown that I didn't see 5 dudes in Cro-Mags or Chain shirts jumping around like idiots and being as straight edge as can be. What I saw instead were two longhairs with rings playing guitar, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes and a singer with unposi leg tattoos featuring skulls and post-apocalyptic scenes. I was a bit baffled at first, but eventually stuck around and started enjoying the show. I think a lot Ieper fest attendees were a little let down by this sight and performance as well, because the playground emptied pretty much after two songs that sunny summer afternoon. it must have been the lack of political statements.
This proofs again that True Blue was far from a popular band. There were only a few dudes moshing and I might have done the same had I had a clue as how to mosh (to True Blue), but the only true moshers doing their thing were Mark Stroeken, Pieter SDC and Erik 'Arrowman' Tilburg, all three True Blue Army. Mark was dancing like an asshole, like he always did, and probably still does, Tilburg brought his signature ultraclassic T.mosh and Pieter SDC was doing something between clumsy and cool. Other than that BXL Crew jerk Bayram was bashing some innocent bystander's head in on the tunes of God Of Wrath (PK mid-breakdown quote "Relax buddy" addressing some Bayram pit/pitside beef, can still be heard from time to time during Rise And Fall shows when some pitshit hits the pitfan) and I think Diamond Dave was just standing in the middle of the pit being hard. Other than that there was a big horseshoe in front of the stage. True Blue, the band that gets jocked so much, and would get a huge pit response these days, brought the greatest mosh parts of Ieper Fest 1999 and no one cared. Besides the ones I just mentioned. I remember seeing my (then soon to be) homeboy Bjorn Dossche (who was in moshtirement from 1997 till 2000) chilling on stage next to Jan Blindfold behind some amps and thinking, if these dudes are checking out this band they must be cool.



A few years later Dossche tells me he has a live tape of the True Blue '99 Ieper set and being the persuasive greedy jerk that I am I started bothering him to hook me up with a copy of the tape. Eventually I asked him the OG tape and dubbed it myself. In the meanwhile I had gotten in touch with transatlantic True Blue fan Owen Black about something totally untrivial and found out he was True Blue crazy. I told him about the live set and he wanted to get the hook-up. Some friends of mine when to tour the US, I think Rise And Fall, and he got the tape handed to him by someone in the band. The only thing I wanted was getting an MP3 version of the set to share online some day and what better Friday May 13th Gift is there to give to the world than a semi-unearthed True Blue live set?

For those who want it, you can download it here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ymjqeonxsqijbz4

You will like what you hear, but the sound is a bit poor. The original tape sounded a bit better, but something must have happened during the digitalization. I hope to get the OG tape again some day and do a direct rip. Or someone to equalize the shit out of these digital files.

Also, if you want to know read a bit more about True Blue, you can read the interview I did half a decade ago with former Repel Records boss and current runner of Reaper Records Patrick Kitzel on my old blog:

http://megalomaniacalsupernauts.blogspot.com/2006/05/saturday-may-13th-first-of-all-welcome.html

If anyone is sitting on other True Blue recordings or live stuff, feel free to get in touch with me and hook me up.

More stuff from the flyers department/collection/folder

A bunch of shows I wish I would have been able to attend, and flyers I haven't seen before (or don't remember)

The Mob - Step Forward

So, apparently some dude from The Mob found a stack of original Step Forward EPs in his closet/basement/cave and this week you could snatch these up for some $30 from Indie Merch Store Bummer is that I missed out on this and of course didn't get one. MTM did get one I think.

For those that would care, all band members signed and numbered the 63 copies. It's kinda cool to know this sort of stuff can still happen in 2011 and hopefully the next round of Signed Vintage Sales is for other Mob Style Records or Abused Music records. Let's just hope I don't miss out then.

If you still want to get The Mob on vinyl, but don't want to drop more than $15, Painkiller, or some new sub-label, will release a discography by The Mob.

Bust It!

Here's a package review by HatredSerge from the NB Board:

I have #58/63. Its impossible to doubt the authenticity of this because it definitely has that "stored in someones closet for 28 years" look to it. the sleeve is slightly discolored and the labels on the B side seem a bit faded although side A is pretty clean. the vinyl itself was a bit dusty and there are some minute scratches in the runoff area, but other than that it looks fine and seems unplayed. while Its not in perfect condition (after all it was "lost" for 28 years), its definitely in pretty good condition. Im stoked on it...

John Watson, doing the mosh pit

Or maybe even inventing the NYHC mosh pit.

NYHC Flyers

It's been a while since I did a post, and we all are still waiting for MTM to start posting. Hopefully some day soon.

In the meanwhile, here are some more NYHC flyers.

Supertouch Interview

Here’s an interview I did with Mark Ryan last December – January. It was supposed to be in my final, NYHC issue of The Ghent Decontrol, but I only got the final answers back once the zine was send off to the printer’s. WRRB used this interview as the base for the second issue of Sob Stories. But since I did the interview I think it’s allowed that I put it up here as well.

I think it’s a real bummer this interview didn’t end up in the zine, that was available for the first time at the Belgian Supertouch show. Through this interview I got to talk to Mark Ryan a bit in Belgium and at their Newport UK show, and I must say, if I could have done this interview IRL it would have been awesome. Mark told me stories about Billy Psycho, The Psychos, early Agnostic Front shows, the Earth Is Flat Revelation Advertisement picture, etc.

I believe Supertouch is gonna be back later this year and I must say that I am excited about this. I was skeptical to see Supertouch in 2011, but they proved me wrong, their shows were nothing short of amazing, even on a huge stage like in Antwerp.

So, next month you’re coming across the Atlantic for your second European tour. The first time over was, I believe, in 1992 into 1993. What do you expect to be different now, for the band, for you personally and for the touring itself?

It's actually the third time. We did a small one in ‘95 as well. We were really happy with the first one which was from October till the end of December in ‘92. There were some really great shows and it's always great to be able to play almost every night. We still have 3/4 out of the same people and rehearsals have been amazing. We have all stayed musically active so we none of us are rusty or forgot how to play our instruments. We are actually doing things musically that we struggled with earlier on. Personally we are all really excited to be playing in Supertouch again as well as starting to get to be able to document some of the things we were writing after The Earth Is Flat.

How did the ‘90s European tour go by the way, as far as you can remember? Was there a certain Supertouch anticipation by the European crowd at the time, or do you have the feeling that you got to European soil a little too late?

The ‘92 tour went great. I didn't feel like it was too late. I felt like we were really starting to dig into our sound finally, so it was a good time for us.

What actually happened with Supertouch? Did you ever officially break up, or did you just go on hiatus? I’m asking because Supertouch has always kept playing some reunion shows from time to time?

Yeah, we officially broke up in ‘96 while we were starting to work on the new LP Guide To The Stars. Being in the studio is hard sometimes and at that point all of us had slightly different ideas of what direction we wanted some of the material to go.

We didn't think we would get back together until we wound up playing as the surprise guest for Norman Brannon's Anti-Matter book release show. It was also a benefit for J. Robbins' son. We really wanted to do it and were surprised how good it felt to play the songs again once we started to rehearse.

Now that you have a new EP out on Reaper Records and are touring Europe, is Supertouch back to being a real band?

Yes, once we found an old tape with some of the pre-production for our lost LP, we knew we had to record it and put it out. We are all on the same page, have a clear vision and very excited to get it out there. Now we are rehearsing all of the time and having a blast.

I heard something about you guys recording or releasing a new album in 2011. Can you tell us something more about that? Will it mainly be the mid-‘90s shelved second full length, or newly written songs?

When we broke up in ‘96 we were starting to record Guide To The Stars, the follow up record to The Earth Is Flat. Better from the Anti-Matter comp was taken from it and the only song that we finished. The original recordings we were working on are lost and we are gonna start recording them sometime in the spring, most likely.

Do you guys still have the feeling you can write great hardcore songs? With being older and possibly having lost that youthful anger you need to create great hardcore songs?

We always seemed to wait a little too long before we put something out and when we started rehearsing again and it started to sound great, we didn't want to wait forever to put these songs out. We are also lucky enough to be playing in a band with Dean Baltulonis who happens to also be a great producer (Sick Of It All, The Hope Conspiracy and all of the Hold Steady records). So we decided to get right in there and start getting this stuff out.

We started to talk to Patrick from Reaper and he was a really cool dude and some of our old friends like Guav and DJ were involved with the label. It felt like the right fit. We went in the studio and recorded 4 songs in October. We decided to put one song from Guide To The Stars on it, which is Lost My Way. So we figured out what else we could put on there to keep the LP intact. Just These Days is song my friend Ravi Dhar (Eye For An Eye) and I wrote in the mid-‘90s which I always loved and wanted to get out there. He plays guitar on that one as well. It came out killer. Get On, Get On was a song Dean and I wrote about 10 years ago that fit in well and Now That You're Far From Home we wrote right after The Earth Is Flat and finally recorded it.

What’s up with the cover photo of your new EP? Not that I have a problem with a nice girl under the shower, I just don’t get the idea behind it.

My friend Jammi York took the photo on the cover of the EP. I really liked the colors and I thought the image of someone swimming fit in well with the lyrics to Lost My Way and Just These Days. So we went with it.

I don’t want to sound like an asshole, and I probably will, but my favorite Supertouch recording is the WNYU set. Do you feel that you never captured the great live sound of (early) Supertouch in a studio, or do you completely disagree? I’ve been told the WNYU set will get an official release, can you tell us more about that?

Yeah, recording was difficult back then and I don't think we ever really came close to capturing what we really sounded like. On our new EP we finally captured Biv's guitar sound and our sound in general and we're all very happy about it. This is more of the style of The Earth Is Flat/Anti Matter era's than our sound when we first started.

My friend Matt is starting a label called Horror Hotel and we wanted to help him get it off of the ground so he will putting out a limited edition of the NYU tape on vinyl, limited press of 500.

Do you actually remember doing that WNYU Crucial Chaos Saint Patrick’s Day session? Any funny related stories about that?

It was with Murphy's Law, so we were probably getting a little crazy that day and it's all a blur to me right now.

The unreleased 5 song EP that’s been floating around for years, when was this recorded? Why was this one never released?

I think we did this right before What Did We Learn. We weren't happy with the way it came out, so we never put it out.

Early 2010 Supertouch bassist Joe Graziano took his own life. I don’t know if Joe was still in the band then, neither do I know if he was an original member (not that it really matters), but did you guys think about calling it a day or something like that after receiving the news of his death? How did Supertouch as a band react to his passing away?

We were all devastated. We had just reconnected with Joe (he played the Radio Silence show with us in Toronto with Negative Approach and Dave Smalley) and he was looking forward to playing again with us. We are all still pretty broken up about it.

In hindsight, what was your favorite Supertouch period when you were the first time around?

It's tough to say. There were highs and lows in all of those early periods.

Do you distinctly separate early and later Supertouch like most hardcore kids tend to do?

Yeah for sure, there's definitely a difference as we grew as a band.

I’ve seen a picture of you singing for Agnostic Front, what’s the story behind that?

My first band Death Before Dishonor, the NY one with Mike Judge, not to be confused with the one that is still active today, was like Agnostic Front's little brother band in the United Blood/Victim In Pain days. We played a ton of shows with them and Roger started asking me to come up and sing a song with them at all of their shows. It was usually Discriminate Me, but I also sang Power every now and then too. I love Agnostic Front and am still stoked that I used to get a chance to sing on stage with them. Definitely one of the highlights of my life in hardcore.

Corrosion Of Conformity used to ask me to come sing with them as well (usually Prayer), there's some tapes floating around, though I would love for a picture to pop up one of these days.

I’ve always read that you were one of the first guys to introduce a hip hop into NYHC. Be it with your clothing style, your vocal flows, etc. Do you think you were one of the first yourself to adapt different aspects of the hip hop world? Who else was early to crossover the hardcore punk with NY hip hop style? When did you get into hip hop? How deep were you into it (with hip hop being very underground as well during that time)?

There was always a small group of kids into hip hop in the early ‘80s in the hardcore scene. Obviously the Beastie Boys. Mackie from the Cro-Mags, Eddie Leeway, Gwen and a bunch of others.

Did you consciously add the hip hop flavor to your vocal style or did your flow just turn out that way?

I was listening to it a lot so it just kind of crept in there.

Are you still into hip hop? What is the most recent hip hop record you purchased or took the effort to check out?

I still listen to old school hip hop. I dig the occasional new song, but don't really follow it any longer. The last hip hop record I bought was Spank Rock. I saw him live and his performance was one of the best I've seen from a hip hop show.

What are your top 5 favorite hip hop full-lengths?

Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory

Eric B And Rakim - Paid In Full

Brand Nubian - All For One

Public Enemy - Fear Of A Black Planet

EPMD - Strictly Business

A question my buddy J-Money wanted to see answered, what are your favorite clothing brands?

I try to keep it pretty simple. The only brands I say I still wear on a consistent basis are Converse and Fred Perry.

What’s the Mark Ryan Helicopter, you’re trademark pit move from the ‘80s?

Kind of like the windmill, but over the top of my head. Haha.

Alright, thank you very much for answering these questions.

Mental - First Demo

A while ago I uploaded the first Mental demo for a friend of mine, and it still is in my Mediafire folder.
I might as well dedicate a post to the early-mid '00s Boston pos men by sharing the demo with the blog readers. Shout out to Mental for making the '04 era what it was.

Mental - First Demo



Tracklist:

1. Fuck Responsibility
2. High School Sucks
3. Sike!
4. Growing Pains
5. Blue In The Face

Download here

I also found an old interview in a folder of my computer with DFJ. It was just in a Word file, and there was no more info. I don't know where it is from, so thanks to whoever did the interview, it's a good read.

Anyone who has been following the hardcore scene in the last few years has no doubt heard some of the bands that "Dance Floor" Justin has played drums for. Some of the bands he is currently in, such as Mental, Righteous Jams, and RNR, have been getting a lot of attention lately due to some energetic live performances and some great records, so I decided to e-mail Justin a few questions...

Alright, the usual shit. How did you get into underground music, what were the first and best shows you attended early on in your hardcore career and what were some of your first records/favorite records of all time?

The end of middle school I got into metal big time. I felt the need for speed after getting "Kill Em All" so I started reading and learning about punk and hardcore. I knew the Misfits, Black Flag and bands like that because Metallica wore their t-shirts and shit. There was a kid in my high school that was into a lot of the local bands like Sam Black Church and Tree so we started going to shows together. My earliest shows were usually all ages shows at the Middle East upstairs, The Rat, and the Axis. I saw some cool bands and a lot of shitty faux Biohazard bands. I'm glad that I had discovered the Rev releases early on in the game. Some of my favorite shows have been the Burn reunion in December '97. Man, Burn were so loud and heavy that day. Leeway is probably the best live band I've ever seen. The Floorpunch shows at The Rat were a lot of fun. Really insane sets, especially the first Back To School Jam when they opened up with As One (Raybeez had died earlier that week). Those early In My Eyes and Ten Yard Fight shows were some memorable ones too.

When and why did you decide to pick up drumsticks and start pounding the skins? Did you have any particular drummers that inspired you early on? How have you seen yourself develop over the years as a musician? What do you think about where you are at now with your playing ability and where would you like to be?

Oh shit, I started playing drums when I was 11! I was a big Aerosmith fan and Joe Kramer had a cool looking drumset and looked much more macho then anyone else in the band so I was really into that. Later, around age 13 or 14 when I got more serious about playing I was really into Lars Ulrich (who fucking sucks but seemed god-like when I was younger) and Dave Lombardo from Slayer. The first hardcore drummer that I got into was Sammy Siegler. I thought it was really cool that he was so young and could play so fast. I used to play along to Youth Of Today and Bold records all day on the drums. In fact I still put a Youth Of Today cd in my discman and play along to it. I love the obvious choices like John Bonham. I’m really into big and powerful drum sounds and he’s the king. Mackie from Cro-Mags was the first drummer that showed me that you can play hardcore punk and still have style. Actually the first time I saw him play live was really inspiring for me.

You have been in tons of bands over the years. Could you do a run down of the complete list and make some comments about each?

I'm not going to name EVERY stupid band I have been in. but I will name the more noteworthy ones. Turned Away, youth crew revival style hardcore. My first "serious" hardcore band. Only played a few shows and recorded a demo. Reach The Sky, I filled in for them for a handful of shows in senior year of high school. Good experience. My first show for them was opening for Snapcase and AFI. There were definitely skid marks on my underwear from that show. The Trust, I played guitar for them because their lead guitar man joined In My Eyes. I was a big Trust fan and friends with all those dudes, so joining the band only made things funner. Down But Not Out - basically the post-Trust band. I played guitar. We recorded a demo and played a bunch of shows. We should have taken it further than we should have. I still love that demo. FYA recorded a piss poor demo in early ‘99 while I was still in The Trust. The new FYA that started in 2001 was much different than the old one that recorded the demo. First of all, we were much heavier, second, 3/5ths of the band was made up for druggies. It was awesome, it worked out perfectly. The later material is some of the best material I think I have ever done with a band. I hope we record them eventually. Anyway we broke up only about 6 months after getting back together. The last show was a memorable night of acid bum/straight edge mosh and psychedelic lamps in the dirty basement of the Berwick. Think I Care played too, they were sick. Taste Of Fear, hardcore with grindcore/death influences. The singer Daryl Kahan sang in that old NY band Citizens Arrest, who are one of my favorite bands ever. Crushing shit. I played on Taste Of Fear’s newest recording which is on their 91-03 discography coming out soon on Throne Records. I also played drums on Daryl's side project death metal band called Funebrarum. It’s pretty dark. The Funebrarum record just came out on Midnight Records but I think it is sold out.

When and why did you get dubbed "Dance Floor" Justin? Do you ever get tired of people calling you that or is it still cool?

The first kid to call me Dance Floor Justin was Chris Raymond, the bassist for The Trust (no I did not give the nickname to myself, idiots). I don’t care if people call me it. Project X is cool and Porcell is cool, so it’s better than having a nickname after a Walk Proud song. I used to like to refer myself as "Dance Floor” Justin when I was younger but now I feel like an idiot when I have to leave a message on someone’s answering machine saying "What’s up, it’s Dance Floor Justin" but the fact of the matter is that they probably wouldn’t know who it was if I said my real name.

What bands are you currently a member of? Of all of those bands, which ones are you having the most fun with? Which one do you feel challenges you the most as a musician?

Mental, RNR, Righteous Jams, The Wrong Side (formerly Dumptruck), and Mind Eraser. The one I have the most fun with is Mental because we get to travel all around and play big shows. Whatever, I don’t care what anyone says, it’s pretty cool to play in front of a crap load of kids who are going off and singing along. I like RNR a lot too because I can get more creative with the drums. A lot of the beats I play aren't standard hardcore beats so it’s a bit more challenging. Obviously I dig every band I’m in or else I wouldn’t be doing it. I just love playing. Fuck staying home all day on the internet. Whenever I do that I just get depressed.

Talk a little about Mind Eraser. How did the band get together? How has the response to the demo been? How does it feel screaming into a microphone at shows as opposed to sitting behind your drum kit? Also, what's the deal with covering Think I Care on the demo?

Me and Chris Corry were talking about doing a power violence band like Crossed Out, Infest, etc because we are both really into that shit. I wanted to sing for a band too because I thought it would be a good way of letting out some steam since I’m pretty much a ball of negative energy most of the time. Our friends Mullet (Bones Brigade drummer) and Jimmy (Shotdead bassist) are both fans of fast sick hardcore so it seemed logical to get together. I like playing drums in a band better but its fun to sing. I feel weird sometimes on stage since I’m used to being in the back behind the drum kit. But since I’m obsessed with myself it’s also cool to be out in the front and have everyone notice you. I've seen kids debate on message boards as to why we put a Think I Care cover on our demo, like if it was some secret message or trying to be clever. In reality, we covered a Think I Care song on the demo because they are sick band and it’s a good song. Nothing more, nothing less.

Does it amaze you how some of your bands, most notably your Lockin Out projects, have totally blown up in the scene?

Yeah sorta... I didn’t think that Mental would end up playing more than a handful of shows. We wanted an excuse to play Supertouch and Underdog covers. It was the first time I was in a band with those dudes and I became really impressed with their dedication to practicing and playing shows. Much more dedicated than a lot of other kids I have played music with.

Playing in so many bands right now, do you ever get totally burned out and just say "fuck it, I need to relax”?

No, never. I am enjoying myself too much to get burnt out. Music is what I like to do for fun and I enjoy it, so it’s not stressful for me. Plus like I said before, if I wasn’t constantly out on the road or playing shows, I would be on the computer for like 16 hours a day and I would get extremely fat. I hate being fat and I hate being depressed and confined to the internet all day.

What are some of the best shows you have ever played?

Mental as Posi Numbers was a lot of fun. I was really surprised and laughing the whole time because I couldn’t believe that so many kids were into it. The Dumptruck show in Montreal a few months back was also a lot of fun because kids up there are so siked on hardcore and love to mosh. Down But Not Out and FYA had a lot of fun memorable shows too. The Berwick was a rad place to have shows after you become immune to the Ebola.

You just got back from a tour with RNR. How did that go over? Were kids digging you guys? Any funny or amusing occurrences you would care to share?

RNR tour fuckin ruled. Some of the shows were hit or miss, but for the most part everywhere we went kids dug us and knew our shit. Sometimes its refreshing to go to other states and play because when you play Tennessee and Florida the kids are totally psyched on hardcore and not all cynical like the kids up in Boston.

It's a pretty well known fact that you are a Krishna consciousness devotee. First of all, could you give a brief introduction to what Krishna is for those who might be ignorant and then explain how got involved in it? How has it changed your life and the way you interact with others?

Is it a well-known fact? Cool! I hope people don’t think that all Hare Krishnas are insane like me! I’m not a very good example of one. The general philosophy with Krishna consciousness is pretty simple. The goal of our existence as living beings is to re-connect with God in a loving relationship. It takes dedication and sacrifice but I think it’s worth it. Obviously there are many ways to go about this and if anyone has any questions they should e-mail me because I don’t want to feel like I'm overly preaching or something. But yeah, ask anyone who has known me before I became a Hare Krishna devotee and they will see that my life has improved. I look at the world in a different way now and I think it has saved me from just killing myself. So, yes it has changed many aspects of my life but all these changes have been welcome because it has been all positive.

It seems like the general consensus with hardcore kids is that religion is something that doesn't belong in the scene. How do you feel about that as a devotee? How do you feel Krishna coincides with general hardcore ideals? How does it oppose it? How do other Krishna devotees you know feel about your involvement in hardcore?

I don’t try to equate hardcore with Krishna consciousness because I don’t think I’m a good representative for the tradition. The philosophy is so vast and encompassing that I wouldn’t want people to think that being a Hare Krishna means that you have to be in a hardcore band. Music and hardcore is something I do as good fun. I think its cool to have something to say in your music. It becomes sort of obnoxious when you start threatening people if they don’t agree with you. I think there’s a fine line between conveying a message in your music and being completely rude and in your face about it. I mean, be respectful it’s the hardcore scene, not a temple.

Didn't you go to India recently? What exactly was all that about and what were some valuable experiences you had there?

The first time I went to India was in early 2001. I stayed for two months and it was awesome. I got sick towards the end so that’s why I came back. The last time I went was last year for about 5 weeks. It was so much fun. India is cool because no one is stressed out like they are here in the US. Some parts felt like it was a different planet. I went through some heavy shit (all positive of course) and I think I’m a different person now because of my experiences in India. It’s weird I’m much more normal and content when I’m there. I should move. I had more culture shock coming back to the West than I did when I first arrived in India.

What are some things / people / bands / trends that you have you totally psyched about hardcore right now? What are some things that you get you down about it?

There are some cool bands out that I dig. I love Desperate Measures and Think I Care especially. Those are probably my two favorite bands right now. Always a lot of fun to see. I like the new So Be It record a lot. The Get Down record is a good one as well. The new Disfear stuff slays and Wolfbrigade is really cool. I don’t really get down about anything in hardcore anymore. I don’t take everything so life and death anymore when it comes to the scene or whatever. But besides that there are no real burning controversial issues in hardcore that I can see right now. It just seems like kids that go to shows are genuinely into the music. I got no problem with that.

What the fuck is the deal with the explosion of Boston-area kids "getting low" on the dance floor and trying to act like it's late ‘80s NYC and they are the biggest Warzone and Underdog fans around?

Well that whole style of dancing is not really my bag. It’s not aggressive enough for me to really quench my aggressive emotions but whatever. People think that I am some outspoken activist about this style of dancing but I couldn’t give a shit. I just think it looks funny. Who cares how someone dances? When kickboxing was huge, everyone made fun of the kids who started floor punching. A lot of kids that make fun of dudes being into Warzone and Underdog are the same ones that emulate the youth crew all stars in meticulous detail.

What do you do in your spare time for fun, work, etc?

Go to the temple and play drums. That’s about it. I like some TV and movies (mostly sci-fi and documentaries). I work out sometimes. I want to get more into that because the endorphins are good for me! I don’t have a real job though.

What are some of your favorite non-hardcore bands? You like a lot of metal, right?

Into Another is probably my favorite. I love Black Sabbath and classic rock bands like Queen and Led Zeppelin. Lots of old death and black metal (Mayhem, Entombed, Darkthrone, Demigod, Therion, Death, Celtic Frost, etc). I’m also really into hip hop. Nas, Mobb Deep, Eminem, Wu-tang Clan, stuff like that. I still listen to the early Michael Jackson albums and older Motown but for the most part though, I only like music has an edge or is aggressive.

Any last comments, shout-outs, fuck yous?

Thanks for the interview. New Righteous Jams LP coming out soon. The RNR LP just came out and new shit from Mental and Mind Eraser soon! Book some of my bands because if I'm not out playing shows I will probably hurt myself.

Joshua's Song is beefsteaking

A year ago, when this blog officially was to take off, I did a short interview with my friend WRRB a.k.a. Stief Positief about his post-Justice/hardcore band Joshua’s Song. In the meanwhile Joshua’s Song have released a 7”EP called Jurt on Quadrofoon Records from Tilburg, and in April 2011 they hit the studio to record their first full length Deeper Under. So, I guess this interview is not very up to date, but since there is not much info out there on Joshua’s Song I think this is still an interesting read.

Who’s in the band, when did you start, what was your motivation to start this band?

Joshua's Song is Ivo on drums, Hans on bass, Lennart on guitar and I play guitar and sing. My motivation to start the band was just the fact that I wanted to continue what I was trying to reach with Justice. And by that I mean I want to write those songs that are totally 100% an extension of my personality, I am searching for a certain vibe or sound that is totally my own. I'm not saying that what I'm writing is super original, but I want it to be all mine in essence. Also, I'm doing Joshua's Song because I love playing and especially writing music. It's challenging and sort of frustrating a lot, but it teaches me stuff, and also when I see someone else doing something cool, I get jealous and I'm like, "I want to be able to do that".

It seems as if you guys don’t get to play a lot of shows. How many have you played so far? How have the reactions been?

We've played 4 shows so far and reactions have been kind of luke-warm up until now. But that's ok, we still have a long way to go before we reach our full potential I think. We need to put out an official release which will happen soon, that'll get us more shows, which will in turn make us a better band because of the experience we get from playing out more. Me and Sike have been playing a lot together but Ivo and Lennart have just been playing with us since the start of Joshua’s Song. Once we find each on a musical level I promise you we'll turn heads.

Seeing that you don’t play out a lot, do you guys rehearse and write new songs frequently?

We practice weekly and we're always working on new stuff. We did that demo that we finished in September and then we went in the studio to record two new songs this December and last Saturday we played two other new songs for the first time. We're working hard on the band and up until now it's always been behind the screens but the ball will start rolling at some point and I'm very much looking forward to that.

Why did you mix the demo in Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA?

Well, on that demo we recorded everything ourselves expect for drums and bass, which we did in a studio. So we needed someone to mix all of our recordings but we didn't really know anyone who would be able to do a good job at a low price. So I called up Alex Russin to ask him if he could hook us up with someone in the US. This was in August and we had a trip planned in September anyway so it made sense sort of. Alex has this guy in Wilkes-Barre he records a lot of demos for Cold World with and all the Wilkes-Barre hardcore bands go there to record so that was perfect. Alex put us in touch with Joe Loftus who turned out to be the perfect guy for the job. He definitely got the most out of those recordings and it ended up actually sounding cool. Thanks Alex and thanks Joe.

Any new releases planned?

Those two songs we recorded in December need to be mastered and they'll be released soon. We're talking to some labels right now and nothing is final yet but those two songs will definitely be our first EP and they will be out before the summer.

What do you want to accomplish with Joshua’s Song?

I want to write the perfect album or at least the perfect song according to my own standards. That's my main goal. Besides that I want Joshua’s Song to be playing crazy shows in small but packed venues. I don't know which one is harder to accomplish, ha. There was a time when our goal was playing Lintfabriek (RIP), too bad that's not a possibility anymore.

No-budget video I did for Joshua's Song over a 24-hour time period, from the shooting to the editing

Your band e-mail address is Beefsteak To Mistake and you’re called Joshua’s Song, yet you don’t sound like Bad Brains at all. Why did you choose the band name and e-mail address? Do you want people to think you sound like the Bad Brains? What do you think the band sounds like?

Well I think the Bad Brains are the greatest band of all time, like we all do of course. The band name I chose because I like the lyrics of that song a lot and it fits the vibe I want to give my band. But then I tried to register joshuassong@gmail.com but that was already taken, so me and Filip took out the Quickness lyric sheet and looked for something that we could use for our email address. I don't know what ‘beefsteak to mistake’ actually means, but it sounded weird enough in a cool way. We're not trying to sound exactly like the Bad Brains in terms of music but I mean, it's hard to write music and not be influenced by the bands you love the most. I think it's safe to say that we sound like a lot of bands from the ‘90s?

I think you could say that Joshua’s Song is, no matter how lame it sounds, a post-hardcore band. Do you agree? Why do(n’t) you think so? Have you grown out of hardcore? Are you jaded?

Yes, Joshua’s Song is by definition a post-hardcore band, we were all in hardcore bands before and now we're slowing down our songs more and we're adding some melody and what not. But that doesn't mean I don't like hardcore anymore, I just don't have it in me to play in a hardcore band anymore, it wouldn't even sound right. It would sound forced and not real I think. I need to see some 18 year olds covering Straight Ahead like they're everyone, everywhere tearing this place down. Would mosh.

Anything left to add?

Thanks for the interview, blogs are the digital museums of post-hardcore, check out joshuassong.tumblr.com, check out Title Fight from Kingston PA, shout outs to pitting together for Floorpunch and all you kids out there, always keep the faith.

John Watson era Agnostic Front

Photos found on the Facebook