Flagman - Consequence 7 inch

I was able to find scans of the record at End of a Lifetime blog so go and check that out. Someone set up a Myspace page for Flagman with a pretty detailed history from the band, so go there and read that. Flagman on Myspace


*NEW LINK*

Flagman - Consequence 7 Inch

Isaac Golub (Chorus of Disapproval/A18) Interview

Andrew Jacobs, the king of kings, brings us an interview with Isaac Golub of Chorus of Disapproval and A18 (Amendment 18). I dont know how he gets these done so quickly, but hes really helping us out significantly. So big thanks to him for helping us out and for Isaac for doing the interview.


Your band A Chorus of Disapproval recently reunited to play the very successful first Hardcore Reunion benefit show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California on 3/22/09 along with No For An Answer, a surprise performance by Carry Nation, Headfirst, Blackspot and ICE. How did Chorus become involved with playing this show?

Hartsfield mentioned there was going to be a local 'reunion show' that he was trying to get Outspoken on, that peaked my interest. Some of those dudes ended up not being interested in the show for whatever reason, and that was the last I heard of it for awhile. Then I went with Hartsfield to Ryan Langley's birthday party at Memphis in Costa Mesa, and I heard Dan O' talking to Mike about it and chimed in, "We will play if you are interested." Not that we were ever that popular but I just wanted to play since it was for a good cause, I would never be interested if it were a GB-YOT-GIVE US YOUR MONEY-TYPE-REUNION.

Did you expect there to be such a big and enthusiastic crowd (particularly for Chorus) at this show? Why or why not?

I knew we would shred, I'm not flexing ego right now but I just knew we would be solid and still pissed as hell. It's not hard to tell who's gone soft and who hasn't. We have always been able to make the crowd bounce, it's an energy exchange thing. I think we have a special place in a lot of people's hearts and for that I am forever grateful for the support.


A number of people (including you and Hardcore Reunion coordinator Mike Hartsfield) brought their very young children to the show. Were you at all worried or concerned for their safety as well as them being exposed to the rampant profanity that accompanies most hardcore shows?

I'm pretty sure Mike's daughter was gone after Ice so I don’t think that counts completely, but as for the other kids in attendance it's naive to think that children don't hear profanity everyday. If they say they don’t curse they are probably not being completely honest, and if they don’t they for sure have friends that do. As for their safety? I was not worried. My 12 year old was up front dishing out some serious dance floor justice!


You turn 40 this year and are still pretty involved in the hardcore scene. What is it about hardcore that has kept you involved in it for over 20 years?

I love it. I love what it used to stand for, I love what was and could have been. I loved giving and giving and giving with receiving little or nothing in return. It sounds sarcastic and bitter, I know, but it's not. It's a form of charity that is fun.


Chorus was one of a handful of bands who spearheaded the militant straight edge hardcore movement in the early '90s, a movement which continues to this day and has become more and more extreme over the years. What are your thoughts on this?

Well I never in a million years would have thought that when I coined the phrase 'The Militant Edge' it would have been taken for more than what it was, a personal statement. So you can imagine my surprise when the Earth Crisis' and other militant bands of the world became huge and kids were stabbing one another and blowing shit up. I was in certain terms ashamed for ever opening my big mouth. "I" was angry at society, "I" was angry at certain parental/peer lifestyle choices, "I" was angry at dead kids from my high school that drove drunk and quite frankly got what they deserved. Have I beat up drunks? Yes. Have I been confrontational to the point of violence? Yes. That was a long time ago, seems like a 100 years. Now I'm just not angry anymore, I'm pissed just not angry (if that makes sense). Will I still beat up a drunk? Yes, in a necessary situation. I will always be an asshole and confrontational, that's never going to change. It's just a matter of how or where I feel the need to direct it.

What are some of your favorite Chorus songs and why?

My favorite song is Downslide because to me other than many A.18 songs it is lyrically one of the best written songs I have ever penned. It's haunting and metaphorically dark. I wrote it during a transitional phase in my life when things were very stormy, thus the weather-ish theme. I also love Leave You Behind because I wrote that song at the age of 14 (1984) just before I entered high school and within weeks of my father's death of a heroin overdose. My mother happened upon it on my desk one summer afternoon and asked, "did you write this?" I timidly replied in the affirmative. She simply said, "Um, wow. That is really good. You are wise beyond your years."


You formed Amendment Eighteen (A.18) in the late '90s. In what ways did A18 and Chorus differ?

A.18 at their peak were better and were very, very busy. We had a goal beyond glory or hype. In my opinion, A.18 was the most under-appreciated band in the United States. A.18 is a band I can listen to and completely separate myself from and forget my best friend is the guitar player. Whenever I hear Dear Furious, I think "Fuck these guys are really good!" And then I feel like a total tool for jamming my own band as loud as possible in my car.


What are some of your favorite A.18 songs and why?

Dear Furious, Stab You Through The Everything, Broke The Blue, Jailhouse Rob, Public Apology and Gravelines. I can't pick each of them apart, it would take forever because I can be so long winded. But I will say some of those songs were written in the 11th hour so to speak before recording. The frustration and stress of writing them well within a short period of time before recording made for some very good lyrics I think. I write metaphorically and sometimes with 'coded messages in slowed down songs' but that's how I do, I will not dumb down my lyrics for the sake of record sales. Fuck that.

You've toured the U.S. and overseas pretty extensively in both Chorus and A.18. Do you have any funny or interesting stories from the road that you'd like to share?

I had a Hare Krishna stalker in Berlin one time when The Chorus went. I talked to him a little at the show, and the next day he was at my hotel room with beads, literature, and ‘special’ donuts. It was creepy. I drew Frenchy Pierre type mustaches on all Lou from Sick of it All’s tour poster’s in Europe. They were 2 days behind us on that tour so I know he saw them. I’m gonna get beat down now. We broke a kid’s mom’s washer who was letting us stay at his house, then yelled at him that his mom’s shit sucked, then made him go door to door to his neighbors to find us a new washer to use. I broke into a locked refrigerator at a club and robbed them of all their chocolate milks after the promoter screwed us over. The old Rev van broke down in Iowa in the middle of nowhere and as soon as we open the van door, 7000 flies cruised in and owned the place. We played in a castle, a kindergarten room, an abandoned supermarket parking lot, an empty pool, plenty of garages, a ‘record store’ that only sold used cassettes, some place where Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Hendrix, and The Doors played that was very much haunted, a basement at a steak restaurant, a junkyard. Sounds like we were dicks, and maybe we were sometimes but it’s boring to say, “We just wanted to play wherever and whenever, sell some merch and get our message out.” I think we did much more good than bad and I’m proud as fuck to have participated in those bands and regret nothing.


You've done a few side bands here and there. Discuss those.

What’s to tell really? I did a hip hop thing called Cointelpro in the vein of Rage Against The Machine or Spearhead, but better, with some guys from San Diego. We played with bands like Deftones, Sugar Ray, and the like. Two demos and almost a 3 record deal with Sony. I did Caste with Jason Hampton, Regis and PT. I think we were supposed to do an LP with Indecision but that didn’t happen. Here’s the thing with side bands I have done - I was really the only one serious because I wanted to play music as a career. I didn’t care about fame so much but I wanted to be a traveling salesman with music and a message.

As a writer, who or what are some of your primary influences and why?

I am the son of a hippy so you must understand, a lot of 60’s and 70’s writers turned my gears at an early age and stick with me today. There is no art in music anymore, the soul has been sucked dry. Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, Roger Waters, Harry Nilsson, Otis Redding, and Joni Mitchell are some. Try to hold back your tears on Joni Mitchell’s ’Case of You’ and you will be hard pressed to keep from pouring over. Morrissey/Marr, O’Shea Jackson and Eric Wright are some prolific writers. Anything I think might make me want to fight, fuck, smoke a fool, cry like a baby or miss my loved ones are songs I can get with.


Feel free to shamelessly plug any of your current musical and/or non-musical endeavors that you feel like plugging here.

I have a serious solo hip hop thing in the works with some label interest on word of mouth alone and I’m doing an industrial goth thing that sorta sounds like The Clash of The Titans meets the Camelot soundtrack. Also, I am doing a new hardcore band with some… let’s say big name hardcore guys called Grasping At Straws, our LP will be called either Give It Up, It’s Just Sad Now. Or, Don’t You Think Your Plate Is Full Enough Already? That band will not do a Myspace or Facebook, so don’t bother looking. It will be a real band, not a over glorified excuse for one.

Morning Again Interview, S-854 zine, 1996

I posted this on the South Florida Music Scene blog some time ago but I thought you guys might be interested as well. Its no secret, I love Morning Again. My favorite hardcore band to come out of Florida (Shai Hulud runs a very close second) and my t shirt collection reflects that. I played in a few bands with John Wylie (guitar/mastermind) and got to know him well and I think that just makes me love the band even more. Morning Again I believe is actually how Justin and I actually started talking, because of our mutual love for Morning Again. I scanned this from the original zine, one of the few I still have (long story). This was released in 1996 but the interview was conducted in late 95 I believe, right after the Cleanest War was released. The interview is with John and Damien and they do go a bit into why they left Culture which is cool. Check it out.

Threadbare - self titled 7"

There are a handful of bands that I am beyond excited to see at Burning Fight, and Threadbare are definitely one of them. They never played out my way during their heyday, but their albums have always stuck with me as being incredibly original, and uncompromisingly heavy. In honor of being able to finally see them in about 3 days, I ripped their first release.

Threadbare - self titled 7"
[1994 - Watermark Records]
http://www.mediafire.com/?mmiozw0gnky

Interview with Billy Rubin (ex-Half Off/Haywire)

As I stated before, Justin and I have been real busy so Andrew has been picking up the slack for us and conducting interviews with some of Southern California's finest. Today we bring you Billy Rubin of Half Off and Haywire fame

Double Cross, Facebook, Myspace and the very successful recent Hardcore Reunion benefit show have brought you and alot of other members of '80s hardcore bands out of the woodwork. Being as how I've never seen your band Half Off and have always wanted to, is there any possibility of Half Off reuniting?

No. No chance. Jim Burke (Half Off's guitar player) died many years ago. Vadim (the drummer) doesn't play drums anymore.

Haywire is already planning to rehearse and record some material in June, but I don't think there will be a live show. We'll be using a surprise drummer and we will be recording some covers of a classic LA punk band.

Before fronting Half Off, you did a fanzine called THINK which was prominently featured in the Radio Silence hardcore book that came out last year. Tell us about it.

I was a 15 year old kid who had found a scene I felt enthusiastic about. I wanted to be a part of it and figured I could start a zine. I'd go to live shows with a tape recorder and interview bands. I was mainly interested in American hardcore, straight edge, and local bands. Anyone with a positive message. I printed most of the copies at Kinko's and collated and stapled them myself. I'd drive around to all the local stores that sold punk stuff and sell them on consignment there. The main places I sold them were Zed, Atomic Records on Main St (in HB), Camel Records, Toxic Shock, Off The Record and Lou's Records (in SD). I also sold many of them through stores in other states.

I've always been of the opinion that Half Off's cover of "No Pain No Gain" on The Truth LP is leaps and bounds better than DYS's original and in large part because of your vocals vs. Dave Smalley's. Did you hear that alot back in the Half Off days and what do you have to say about that?

Thanks, but I haven't heard that. I really have no talent as a singer, but Dave Smalley actually has a range. All that Half Off did was a hardcore version of a DYS song that probably went too far over the top in the metal craze.

After Half Off disbanded in the late '80s, you formed the band Haywire with Half Off members Vadim Rubin on drums and John Bruce on bass. However, Half Off and Haywire were definitely two totally different kinds of bands. Discuss some of those differences.

Half Off was a bunch of kids learning to play their instruments and just wanting to thrash. Haywire had more direction and ability.

Is there any possibility of the Half Off and Haywire records being reissued on CD and/or iTunes?

There is always a possibility. I'd be open to the possibility but it would have to be done right and I don't even know what that means.

You co-ran a record label in the '80s called New Beginning Records which released the classic hardcore 7"s Join The Fight by Crippled Youth and Underdog's self-titled first EP among others. Did you have any idea at the time that those two records would go on to become the VERY expensive collector's items that they've become?

No idea at all. In fact I co/ran the label at first. At the time, we were satisfied just to put out a record. That was huge. I knew Underdog was great, but I figured Crippled Youth was a novelty like the "Young and Useless" 7"

How did you become a contributor to the Radio Silence book?

I didn't. I heard about it from a friend and then bought a copy. I was so far removed from hc that I didn't think anyone remembered me, the bands I was in or THINK fanzine. Radio Silence was a complete surprise. It inspired me to stick my head back into things. I had no expectations, I just wanted to say hello to old friends and contribute in a positive way if it was possible.

You are currently a regular contributor to the Double Cross webzine. How would you personally compare doing a printed hardcopy zine like THINK to doing a webzine like Double Cross?

Double Cross is a much better format. The reach is obvious, but the ability for reader's to post is kind of like a hardcore show in itself. What I mean is...I write something, a person reads it and is inspired (positively or negatively) and they can post their opinions for the same audience to read. At an old punk show, a band plays...I can get on stage and for 5 seconds be in the spot light...Flip the band off, praise the band, etc. Then stage dive and be caught by the audience. There are no barriers to entry. The way it should be. The audience is equally important as the band. Or even better, the audience and the band are the same entity. No idols. No guru's. No heros. No experts. The hero's (or hero worship) are what ruined the hardcore of the 80's.

What are your thoughts on '90s and 2000s hardcore?

I'm aware that I'll sound like a dick by telling you I have no thoughts on 90's and current hardcore. I'll take your word that it exists. I'm glad that people still enjoy it and I am thrilled that people are creating it, but outside of Rancid I can't think of any.

Disembodied's Setlist 4/25/09

Disembodied played their first show in years last night in Minneapolis. I have yet to hear anything from how the show was (Im sure it was amazing) but a Disembodied fan site posted their setlist. If you love Disembodied, prepare for your head to explode. Also check out the Disembodied fan site for all things up coming as well as the Disembodied Myspace. 6 days til Burning Fight

Today's record scores

14 records for $13.
Sometimes it really pays to live in a town where old hardcore kids go to die.

Until The End to play a show this June

I may have been in this band (and video)...Im not gonna say that Im a part of this reunion of sorts (okay I am) but its for a good cause so please check it out.

From Lambgoat.com:
Defunct hardcore/metal band Until The End has resurfaced with, if nothing else, plans for a June reunion show. Singer Mean Pete has issued the following:

"I've always been opposed to bands doing reunion shows but this is for a good cause and in my time with RN and Bishop over the last 5 years of touring, all the heckling and bullshit, we're doing this. All the members performing are straight edge and this is not negotiable. That may not seem like something important for most people, but in this day and age of sellouts and band wagon jumpers, it's important to the integrity of UTE, straight edge, and hardcore as a whole. We are doing material from the s/t EP and 'Blood In The Ink' only because we feel it is the best representation of the true spirit of UTE.

"UTE will be doing a show on June 20th, 2009 in Tampa @ Transitions. We set up a new Myspace cuz the other is run by an unknown person and we need to get shit done here. Maybe we'll do shows, maybe we won't. Maybe we'll write a record, maybe we won't. Maybe we'll go to karaoke bars and sing Madonna songs with goth kids, maybe we won't. Either way, come help out a good cause on June 20th, more bands will be announced soon, and add the new Myspace."

Trial video from 4/22/09

Taken from theveganstraightedge.com, here are the first two songs from last nights Trial show.

Trial 2009 Reunion Show in Seattle, WA at Vera Project Reflections / One Step Away from Shane Becker on Vimeo.

Evan Jacobs (ex-ICE) releases book, film coming soon

Evan Jacobs, brother of our own Andrew Jacobs, sent me an email letting me know that he just released a book he wrote titled "My Summer Of Hate". He is also working on a documentary film on the OC Hardcore scene from 1990 - 1997. Check out the trailer below. Thanks to Evan for letting us announce this:


Orange County Hardcore Punk Scene Gets Immortalized In My Summer Of Hate

What happens when a hardcore punk band from the suburbs of Orange County gets sucked into the White Power movement?

OC filmmaker Evan Jacobs examines this situation and more in his first young adult novel My Summer of Hate (155 pp., tpb, $10.00). The book will be available from Amazon and Createspace.com on January 6, 2009.

This story follows 4 friends in their early 20s who use their punk band to fight crime and vandalism in their neighborhood. What begins with the best of intentions ends up pulling the group into the White Power scene. Jacobs won a Golden Orb in 1999 at the No Dance Film Festival for his documentary Curse Of Instinct: 108's Final Tour. He has also directed 8 low budget feature films and has had his screenplays produced and his movies distributed worldwide.

Mike Hartsfield, longtime owner of hardcore punk record label New Age Records, says "the Orange County punk scene has evolved a lot over the years. It was cool to read a story that captured that time and also looked into issues that were always just below the surface in the scene."

Aside from tackling race, class, political and non-politically correct issues, My Summer Of Hate is a coming of age story that looks at what it's like to be young and have the whole world in front of you but, at the same time, having to make a choice between doing what you love and doing what people expect you to do. "Often times, the best moments in our lives occur right before we make the biggest life changes," Jacobs states. "My Summer Of Hate looks at how people see other people but it also examines growing up without even realizing it."

Tim, Carlo, Russ and Adam are in Augmented, the most popular band in their local punk scene. Every show they play sells out, local music stores can’t keep their records in stock and they’re planning a tour with hopes of eventually doing the group full time. Slowly, they all start noticing changes in the safe neighborhood they’ve lived in all their lives. Parks are being vandalized, members of Augmented have confrontations with the “new” people living around them and it seems like a gradual ethnic and racial shift is leaving them out of the loop in their own community. The boys try to take a stand against the changes and what begins with the best of intentions ends up inadvertently pulling the members of Augmented into the White Power movement.

Evan Jacobs has directed 8 low budget films and he’s also had various screenplays produced and realized by other directors. He is currently hard at work on several movie and book projects. My Summer of Hate is his first novel. You can find out more about him at www.anhedeniafilms.com.

ISBN 978-1440456152

To place orders for the book, contact:
Ronni's Books
PO Box 20375
Fountain Valley, CA 92728
Phone: (714) 348-8828
Fax: (714) 839-6805
Order Online: http://www.amazon.com/My-Summer-Hate-Evan-Jacobs/dp/1440456151/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234646333&sr=1-1
e-mail: evan@anhedeniafilms.com
URL: www.anhedeniafilms.com

If you have any questions or to arrange an interview, contact Evan Jacobs at evan@anhedeniafilms.com.

Abhinanda - Darkness Of Ignorance

The first release for both Abhinanda and Desperate Fight Records. Long out of print, I just got this in the mail the other day. No insert (not sure if there ever was one) but I did do full scans of the cover and the back as well as a high quality rip of the CD. Great start to a great career from one of my favorite hardcore bands. EDIT: After this was posted, xMartenx from Umea emailed me scans of the lyric sheet so a huge thank you to him. I also found a video of Abhinanda covering Mouthpiece' "Can We Win".

Abhinanda - Darkness Of Ignorance

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

Trial - 4/22/09 @ Vera Project in Seattle, WA

I feel battered and bruised in more places than I even knew existed on my body, and yet I've never felt better!


and some pre-Trial awesomeness with the Keith of all Keiths:

Parasitic Skies - demo

Parasitic Skies are a newer band out of the Seattle area. These guys come across as a nice mix of Catharsis and The Swarm. Their demo contains 4 songs that stick to a nice two and a half minute range. Just enough time to inspire a circle pit, and then turn around with a sweet 90s mosh riff. This demo will see a release on vinyl sometime in July on Seventh Dagger, followed by a week of West Coast dates with Unrestrained. Keep your eyes peeled for news of the 7" release, but until then, you can download mp3s of the demo here.

Parasitic Skies - demo
http://www.mediafire.com/?2ejzyjehm1w

So heres whats been going on...

Like I said last time, Im in the last week of classes before finals so Im stressing like crazy over getting papers written and studying for exams. Also Im gearing up for Burning Fight next week as is Justin. So many good bands on the bill I don't even know where to start...either way Im excited. Also, our friend Andrew Jacobs is coming on board to help us with the interviews. He sent me a list of people he is planning on interviewing and its gonna be great. We're looking forward to seeing how that comes out. I promise as soon as these next 2 weeks end, there will be regular updates again. Thanks for being patient

Chip XXX

Maharaj - Chapter One: The Descent

Marktheshark requested this so here it is. If I remember correctly, this was released on the now defunct Now Or Never Records. Real good heavy hardcore with scathing vocals.

Maharahj - Chapter One: The Descent

http://www.mediafire.com/?dnzntinnum0

Andrew Jacobs interviews Sean Fader from Blackspot

Andrew Jacobs shot me an email the other day and included an interview he did with Sean Fader from the band Blackspot. Thank you so much to him for allowing us to use this. This interview was conducted within the last month though I dont have an exact date. For some reason, I cant change the color of the font, so I spaced out the questions and answers, I apologize if its a rough read. Ill see if I can mess with it a little later.

Let's talk for a bit about the very successful recent Hardcore Reunion cancer benefit show that your band Blackspot played with No For An Answer, A Chorus of Disapproval, Headfirst and ICE at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, California on 3/22/09. How was it that Blackspot became involved with playing this show?

I guess when decisions were being made by Dan O and Hartsfield who to have play with NFAA, they both agreed on us. How they picked us, I have no idea. We must have made an impression in the past. Lohman still regularly talks to them, so communication was easy enough. He then called me first, assured in his mind I would say no (I still don't know why). Of course it was a shock, followed by really great past show memories, followed by the nightmare stories of really great bands WAY bigger than us playing reunion shows to 12 people, all of whom were in the other bands playing that night (maybe that's why Lohman thought I'd say no). After me totally DRILLING him with questions about it (I'm a stickler for annoying details) and lots of "I don't knows" from him, I then rounded up the rest of the dudes, with Hampton climbing aboard last in Lytle's absence. Once we and ICE were confirmed, the date was set.


The lineup for the show consisted of you on drums, singer Greg Brown, bassist Jason Hampton and guitarists Chris Lohman, Roger Merritt & Barry Fader. What did having 3 guitarists (as opposed to the usual one or two) add to the overall performance?

I'm glad you asked that. I've read a few confused comments about it on the internet that I thought were funny. With that show, I really wanted to try to involve everyone who's been in the band and put on the BEST show possible. With original bassist Scott Lytle living in Oregon, it just made sense to have Hampton play because he had played guitar in Blackspot for a short time in the '90s. He even wrote a song ("Drop") that we kept. So I let Hampton, Lohman and my brother decide who was going to play bass. Of course we don't NEED 3 guitars but for us, it just made it way more fun and we've always kind of kept a few tricks up our sleeves until we are on stage. I love all those guys and for me, it was hilarious looking up at 3 very large dudes and my 5'5" 120 lb brother. Obviously, it made the sound very heavy and powerful, plus what hardcore band ever has 3 guitarists? None, so the initial reaction effect of "WTF are all those dudes doing up there?" and when you see that and they all have really good gear, you know it's going to be insane sounding.


You were the band member most involved both with setting up the band practices around everyone's busy schedules and promoting the show on the internet. How difficult was it to schedule band practice with other members (as well as yourself) who had, among many other responsibilities, families and other currently active bands?

It was really tough. To think it was hard enough convincing them it wasn't going to be lame, then realizing I just asked 5 other guys with full-time jobs, some with kids and other bands to practice once a week for 7 weeks was gnarly. It had to be me because I'm the one guy that still talks to all the others, so with my nerd machines (computer and Blackberry), I could be the one to tie it all together. Oh dude, that's another thing! Out of the 6 of us, some guys either don't have a computer at home, don't know how to text, don't get their email to their phone or don't even check their email! And nobody ever uses "reply all", so it got REALLY crazy trying to set it up, especially when answers were needed right away. I had to crack the whip and somehow became team captain of the whole thing. So, of course, that meant updating the Myspace page constantly and Ball-Metal (Brian Balchack) convinced me to do a Facebook page (like I needed more shit to do).


Why did you guys decide to play a song both from Lohman's band Collateral Damage ("Holding My Breath") and Hampton's band The Third Degree ("Bulletproof")?

Oh that's easy. Like I said before, I wanted to put on the best show possible. So we wanted to include some cool songs that were written by guys in the band that we thought people would like to hear live again. We could have played all Blackspot songs but that's kind of boring and we don't really like the demo songs as much, so we figured this will never happen again and we wanted to have some fun with it. We all like that Damage song, we played it at our last show in '99 and it gave Lohman a chance to get loose again. Plus it's one of the best songs on the Guilty By Association comp., everyone knows it, and as you saw, the chicks really love it. I couldn't resist making Hampton do a Third Degree song, with his crazy beard and biker get-up, I knew it would be good. That band was so amazing and underrated and watching what he does live, he is just the absolute most entertaining frontman. I said "pick a song" and he picked a great one.

We really had no idea how much stage time they were giving us, so we stopped adding songs at 9. We even toyed with playing a Function song (Barry wrote most of them) but we were just out of time. The extra songs really worked out. Brown is the only guy who has not played music since the last Blackspot show in '99. Although he totally kicked ass and pulled it off, you saw how destroyed he was at the end of the set. The two breaks were perfect.


How would you personally rate Blackspot's overall performance at the show?

Seriously? I am very proud. When I first started asking the guys to do it, I made them a promise that we would work hard enough to be the best band of the night and if anyone disagreed with the effort, then we're wasting each other's time and we just wouldn't do it at all. I became the ass-kicker and the guy that had to yell at everybody. Of course it wasn't a competition, but here was my feeling personally - when we were a real band, we used to make a set list, quietly get on the stage, totally BLAST through it with the help of the crowd and get the fuck off the stage. No dick-around time setting up, no preaching or excess time wasting between songs, no bullshit talk-to-our-friends-on-the-stage-for-10-minutes when we were done. That was my goal for the reunion show - get all 6 of us up there, blaze through our songs flawlessly and get the fuck out of the way for the next band. Sure, there wasn't the same amount of sing-along and pit movement that there used to be (we played 2nd but it was still past most of the old peoples' bed times). I just wanted to blow the roof off and move on. So that's what we did.


As a drummer, who are some of your primary influences and why?

I started playing when I was 15. I took some lessons to learn how, then taught myself using punk and hardcore records. What an idiot, I should have done it right. I'm paying for it now (that and the 6 year break I took from playing music). I think when I was younger, I liked the guys that played the fastest and loudest. I don't mean straight up crust-core, I just mean the guys that blow you away. It wasn't until I got older that I began to appreciate timing and skill. I'm always drawn to the wild drummers as opposed to the precision Swiss-clock types. Think Keith Moon as opposed to John Bonham. So I'll just list the more entertaining hardcore and punk drummers (by band name to make it easy) who are great to see and hear live: Infest, Inside Out (Alex), Vision, Rorschach, Cro-Mags, anything Drew (Beat) did, Helmet, RFTC, Beyond (any Alan Cage), DK, any Sammy Siegler, Farside, PHC, Fugazi, Reason To Believe, Sensefield, UC (Longrie), Carry Nation (Steve's drumming was so pissed in that), RKL... the list goes on but listen to or watch ANY of those drummers and you will be amazed. Did you ever watch my brother when he drummed in 1134? He was fuckin' wild in that! Just killed it and played almost naked! So good!


What brands and types of gear do you use and why?

I've had the same Pearl Export 5 piece since I was 15. I've never had a lot of money to spend on drums, so I just kept those really nice. They were on all our recordings and I played all of our shows with 'em. Jason (Function) and I even used them on our 1993 summer tour. I've never been in a real band to justify getting a real nice set until now. Thanks to Chris Lisk and his endless hook-ups, I am currently using a Mapex Pro-M 4 piece with a super deep bass drum that was custom made for the ETID drummer. I've been using Aquarian heads that are great for heavy sound. For my hardware, I have an Iron Cobra pedal and a mix of Tama and Pearl stands. I like larger, heavier cymbals because it's more fun to hit harder and I like a really deep sound. Heavy duty Zildjian high-hats, 18" Zildjian and 20" Paiste medium-heavy crashes, and a really heavy 22" Paiste ride that I've had forever and I even crash it and it has held off the abuse for 18 years! Those red sticks you saw are factory seconds, they stain them red and a bag of them is CHEAP! I like Vic Firth American Classic 5A a lot right now though. Dude, how frickin' drum nerd was that whole last paragraph?


Blackspot did a 5 week U.S. tour with Function during the summer of 1993. Do you have any funny or interesting stories from that tour that you'd like to tell?

Yes. I think I will just list some thoughts to try to keep it short: 11 HC (3 Sloth Crew) kids from Huntington Beach ages 16 to 23, in 2 vans playing music across the US for 5 weeks, hmmmm................
Randy Johnson throwing a rod in PT's Suburban in Baker. Function renting a van, and it getting everything short of lit on fire. Fireworks stores the size of a grocery store. Us rolling into every show, shooting fireworks at each other from van to van. Tony Bono from Into Another teaching us about safety wipes. Us starting a fireworks war with the locals, and saying a big FU to the Hare Ramas, shooting fireworks at the 108 and Shelter vans after the show we played with them in St Louis, in what was a Photon game facility. Us having a MASSIVE fireworks war in the parking lot of a roller rink in PA we played at with Sick Of It All. Roman candles and bottle rockets entering SOIA's van, with Craig walking out saying "Alright! Who wants to get kicked in the folkin' teet?" Then the SOIA guys pulling up chairs and watching our war. ALL the employees of the roller rink, coming out to kick our ass for having the war, then Brown telling them they're "gonna get gatted motherfucker!", (Lytle brought a .22 in the van) then the guy with the biggest mullet says "Who's gonna gat me?" Then a long silence...... Us stealing cases of ATF at every gas station, to re-fill our van's permanently leaking transmission. Us meeting the guys from Strength 691, hanging with them for a week, and the rental van that we promised was staying in Vegas getting a parking ticket in Rahway, NJ.
Tony Bono inviting us to a vegan dinner at his mom's in NJ, where we ask, Tony, you're over 30 and still live at your parents? WTF?
At all 4 shows we played with Into Another, watching the 2 or 3 hottest chicks follow Drew around. The kids in Detroit demanding Randy sing a Pushed Aside song with Function. Brown shoving the camera in our face asking "Who's the most annoying guy on tour so far" every time we stopped. The 'Coke machine trick" to get money and free sodas. Clitty-Litter. The all Crust show we played in S.Dakota, and the chicks digging us because we weren't Crust. The list goes on. Best trip ever.

What hardcore and non-hardcore bands do you listen to the most nowadays and why?

That's hard to answer. The list is long. Pretty much, at any given time though, you would find me listening to something that punches your nuts, tools your ass, and kicks your face at the same time.


What are some of your favorite Blackspot songs and why?

My favorite song is "Van Dresen". Named after the teacher from Beavis and Butthead. The chorus ("Epp a Sepp") and song title have nothing to do with the lyrics, which Brown wrote about being emotionally crushed, I think. It's the one full song Roger wrote that we actually kept and it's also the closest we let him get to a speed metal song. I just love it. If you were to ever define my type of song, that I absolutely love playing the most, that would be it. 2nd would be "Truckasaurus", mostly because of the music written by Lohman, silly lyrics about Super Big Gulps (we drank them a lot at the time) by Lytle while he was in the shower. Again, it's just my style, built to destroy. 3rd would be "Drop". Music written by Hampton tuned to D, it's just so metal and pissed, and really different from our others. The lyrics go with the title and tuning. Unfortunately, we had 6 or 7 songs that never got recorded. Two of my other favorites are "Fader", (named for us brothers) and "Firenze". The music for both was written by Barry. I really like the lyrics to "Firenze", named after a town in Italy where Brown was staying. Every night, in his hotel room there, he had really gnarly nightmares and only in Firenze. So he wrote a song about it. I always thought that was cool.


Feel free to shamelessly plug any of your current musical and/or non-musical endeavors that you feel like plugging here.

I'd rather just say thanks (and sorry) to the other 5 guys that played in Blackspot for the show. I really muscled those dudes (and myself) to make it happen and two times, I flipped out and almost walked. We're all still friends and 5 of us (separately) still play music. But to come back in after 10 years and rock those songs at a real hardcore show again felt really good. Thanks to Lytle for being cool and supporting us playing without him.

Earth Crisis and Unholy Preorders are up!

Earth Crisis's new record "To The Death" is now available for pre-order through Century Media. They are offering a package deal aside from ordering the record by itself. The package includes a tshirt and a limited 7 inch containing 2 songs from their 1993 demo. If you missed out review of the new record last month, go back and read it, then order the record. This going to be one of the best releases of the year so dont sleep on it.
Unholy's new record "New Life Behind Closed Eyes" is also available for pre-order now through Prosthetic Records. I havent had a chance to hear this one yet (my pre-order has come in the mail yet) but the songs I heard on the Myspace are incredible. Prosthetic is also offering a package deal which includes the CD and a tshirt.

A Quick Update

Just wanted to post quickly and apologize for my lack of content lately. Im in the final 2 weeks of class before finals and Ive had paper upon paper to write as well as currently having family in town plus Shai Hulud was here this past weekend so Ive had my hands full. As soon as the semester ends, both Justin and myself are heading to Chicago for Burning Fight, followed by a 2 week trip to Japan for me. I promise to start updating again, just be patient. Expect a very in depth interview with Pete Spielman (ex-Beta Minus Mechanic, Green Rage) very soon as well as interviews with Jim Winters (The Promise, Turmoil, Starkweather), Duncan Barlow (Endpoint, Guilt, By the Grace of God), and more. Again, I apologize for my lack of participation but I plan to rectify that soon enough.

-Chip

Motive - I vs. the Beckoning of Darkness

Motive's full length definitely showed a mature musical progression from their Doctrine of Scripted Torture 7". This record maintains a lot of the controlled chaos found on the 7", but finds itself drifting into far more melodies than before. I'm pretty sure this is the last legitimate release from Motive. They did a demo towards the very end of their existence, but something had definitely changed, and it wasn't nearly as good as their previous recordings.

Motive - I vs. the Beckoning of Darkness
[1998 - Exit Records]
http://www.mediafire.com/?2izkvmuxa2d

Envision shirts and demos

Envision, out of Bellingham, WA, now have some demos and shirts. The demos, which we posted a download link of a while ago, are available on both cd and cassette. You can catch up with them on their blog: http://envisionannodomini.blogspot.com/, or you can always shoot them an email at: envisionannodomini@gmail.com. Best newer band in NWHC? You bet!

New Poll!!! Best 90s Florida Hardcore Band

Yes I know I'm from Florida so I'm partial but this was actually Justin's idea. In the 90s, Florida was a hotbed for hardcore and I feel like these bands really represent what was going at the time. I'm sure I left out some bands (Reversal of Man, Dragbody, As Friends Rust, etc) but again we couldn't have 34073245 choices. Let us hear your voice...also if you have any suggestions for a poll please leave a comment so we can add it.

Interview with Jose Saxlund (ex-Abhinanda, Desperate Fight Records)

Ill be the first to admit I don't think Im very good at conducting interviews. I do what I can but I thought this one came out pretty good. Jose Saxlund was the vocalist for Umea, Sweden's Abhinanda as well as owner of Desperate Fight Records which released some of the best European hardcore bands of the day. Jose was gracious enough to answer the questions I sent him and this was the result. You can still check out the Abhinanda tribute on Myspace as well as the original webpage for Desperate Fight Records here.

Chip - First off, state your name and the bands you have been in.

Jose - Jose Saxlund. Bands: Abhinanda, Separation, Gringos Chiflados and now Soundtrack for Violence. There might be some more bands (or more “projects” that never really turned out to be a band) but i dont really remember them now!

C - When did you first get involved in the hardcore scene? What bands were you initially into?

J - Back in the early 90´s i was a metalkid into Metallica, Slayer, Testament, some grind and death metal and all that kind of stuff. One day i went to a show in Umea to see our metal prophets Meshuggah and there was this band, Step Forward, opening for them… Oh my god! It was the best shit i ever seen! Since that, i´m hooked. The long haired dude in a Metallica shirt that i went to this show with, ended up playing drums in Refused, together with the singer from Step Forward...Back then the scene wasnt that big. We had some cool shows with Step Forward and some other cool punk bands. There was no sxe scene, except for Dennis and some other random kid. But when Step Forward broke up and Dennis and David started up Refused things started to happen. We where like 10 kids doing all kind of crazy things, one thing led to another and suddenly we had like 500 kids at our shows...

C - Abhinanda was one of the first hardcore bands to come out of the Umea scene that I can recall. What was the scene like before your formation?

J - Well as i wrote on the previous answer, there wasnt much of a scene out there. Then punk scene died out and i was quiet for some time. Then Refused got going, we started Abhinanda and everything went fast!

C - You also ran Desperate Fight Records. How did that come about? Did you start the label initially to release your own bands records?

J - Well, actually we started Abhinanda just for fun. None of us could play any instrument or anything like that. We just got tired of stage (well more sofa) diving back at Refuseds rehearsal room. We just decided we needed some more bands in town. So we got going with Abhinanda. Suddenly and from nowhere we had some 5 song recorded. We didnt even care to send them around to labels. We just said, hey lets do a CD out of it. And so we did... and that was how we started the label... So yes, we started everything to release our own stuff!

C - Everyone has their headaches with running a label whether its trouble with the pressing plant or trying to find distribution. What were your
headaches?

J - Well my biggest headache was when both the label AND band started to grow quiet fast. Of course there are always problems with distros, pressing plants, etc but the fact that i had to be on tour AND running a label was problematic sometimes! But hey, i did have fun!

C - What was your best selling release? Favorite release?

J - The Abhinanda records are the best sellers. Specifically Senseless. That one built up the whole label. My favorite? mmm i dont really now. I like the SXE as fuck compilations cause we had such fun making them. Recording with all the bands and things like that. I also like the Purusam stuff just cause its weird stuff haha.

C - Umea became a hotspot for tours in the 90s. Can you describe what the shows were like back then?

J - Oh man... When we had our first "big" US act (Shelter)... That was amaizing. You know, Umeå is REALLY far up north... It take like 9 hours to drive from Stockholm, our capital. Then you have like 8 more hours down to the continent... So it wasnt easy to finnaly book a hardcore band to Umeå. But they did not regret it. That show was sooo great... After that the word came out and suddenly we even had bands like Mean Season playing Umeå!! (hey, nothing wrong with mean season, i really liked them but they where not the most known hardcore band around). It came to a point where touring bands didnt care if they just made it break even moneywise, they just wanted to play Umeå!

C - It really bums me out that so many great European bands never got the chance to come to the US. I remember my friend seeing a band (I cant recall who) in Miami, Florida that had members of Abhinanda or they were on tour with that band. After their set they got up and did a few
Abhinanda songs. Did Abhinanda ever tour the US or make plans to?

J - Can that be Separation? I think they did some US tour. Doughnuts made it over since Victory picked them up. Refused did some US tours as well. Actually we were supposed to go over. The tour was booked and everything. I think it was with Despair, not sure though. We had 2 weeks booked but we had to pay for almost everything and at the same time we got the opportunity to do 6 weeks with 108 in Europe... So we did the Eurotour...

C - Were there any bands that came out of the scene that you especially liked? Maybe one that never got a proper release?

J - Well i really liked Drift Apart but on the other hand i cant really tell, since they just wrote like 2 songs hahaha. Then i´m quiet sure ALL the Desperate Fight releases could have been better if we had more budget. I still believe none of the records where "proper releases". Well don't misunderstand me here. I really like the stuff, we really did records all the records in like 3 days... I´m sure if we had like 2 weeks for recordings all the albums would have been even better!

C - Once and for all, what does the name Abhinanda mean?

J - If i´m not wrong: Ever increasing bliss, or something like that. We took it from the first Shelter album. There is a long text in the sleeve where the word Abhinanda figures. And it wasnt cause we were a Krishna band. We didnt really know anything about krishna. Just that it sounded cool. But in some way some people always thought we were a Krishna band.

C - After all these years, what does Abhinanda mean to you? The band had a pretty big impact on the scene in Europe.

J - I have so many great memories! Oh shit... That must have been one of the best moments in my life. In some way it got to serious though. And that kind of took some of the fun away. But hey, that time means alot to me. As someone said... This is a time we´ll remember!

C - What have you been up to since Abhinanda broke up? I saw that you have you a new band, can you tell us about that?

J - Well apart from moving to Stockholm, get married, 2 kids and all that stuff... i have been working alot with football (soccer for you). After hardcore, thats my passion! But as you said, there is a new band! After 10 years i just had to!! Hahaha! We just started up and we dont have so much stuff yet. But we´re working on some songs! Give me a couple of months and we´ll see what happens!

C - Have you ever thought about starting up Desperate Fight again?

J - not really... but now that you say so... hahaha

C - I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions Jose. Im looking forward to hearing the new band and Im glad to see your playing music again. Any last words or shout outs?

J - Well thank you for your interest! To be honest, i´m also looking forward to hearing the new band! hahaha! But as i told you! Just give us some time and we´ll see if it turns out good! I think we´re recording something in late May!

Thanks again!

/Jose

Unconquered - You Say Moderation, I Scream Prohibition

I know I had posted this a few months ago but I just did a nice high quality rip of the CD as well as a high quality scan of the cover so I wanted to get this posted to replace the old one. 4 songs of some of the toughest, straight edge hardcore you've ever heard. xLedx asked me to scan the insert with the lyrics so here you go.

Unconquered - You Say Moderation, I Scream Prohibition

http://www.mediafire.com/?wn0dt2x3bfz