Julian PMAKid.com interview

Julian is an 11 year old who recently started a blog called PMAKid.com and already has done interviews with H2O's Toby Morse and Dave from Outlast as well as having a whole bunch of other interviews lined up with hardcore notables from the past and present. It's not often that one has the opportunity to interview an actual kid from the hardcore scene, so after clearing it with his folks, here we are. For more information, feel free to email Julian at Julian@PMAKid.com - Andrew Jacobs

How did you get into hardcore music?

My dad listens to hardcore music a lot and the guys in 7 Seconds are family friends, so I listened to hardcore from a young age. Mostly 7 Seconds, but in the last few years, I've listened to many other bands. Some of my favorites are: H2O, 7 Seconds, Not Sorry (hi John!), Youth of Today, 411, Betrayed, Mindset, Outlast and Praise.


I myself didn't get into hardcore music until I was 14 years old, so you've got me (and many of my peers) beat by quite a few years! What is it about hardcore music that appeals to you?

I like the music because it makes me feel more energized or charged up and the messages in the music. They make me think about things that I would not have considered. The hardcore community is also a really tight and supportive community.

Last year, a bunch of bands and record labels (Aram Arslanian from React Records, Jordan Cooper from Revelation Records, Jeff Terranova from Smorgasbord Records, Evan Wivell of Mindset, One Voice Asia Records, Dave Smalley of Dag Nasty and DYS, a really cool photographer named Ken Salerno, Kevin Seconds, AC Silkscreen from Orange County and especially Dan O'Mahony) helped my school raise a few thousand dollars to help because of budget cuts.

My dad told me about that kid in Buffalo who got badly hurt when he was stage-diving and a lot of people have helped him with paying his bills.

Toby from H2O is doing One Life One Chance.

Hardcore people are just plain cool.

Have you attended any hardcore shows yet? If so, what'd you think of them?

I have gone to three shows so far:

I saw H2O in San Francisco last year. It was really cool because I got to meet Toby and his son Max.

I also went to see the React Records Showcase last year because our friends (7 Seconds) were playing there. It was fun because I helped Troy sell 7 Seconds shirts and stickers and I got to stand on the stage while they were playing. It was also really cool because I got to meet a lot of really cool people like Aram, J25 from Not Sorry and Evan from Mindset. Aram and Evan even gave me free t-shirts! J25 was really cool because he was really nice and then later sent me two H2O records from his personal collection.

I also saw Betrayed, Praise and Secret People in San Francisco a few months ago. They were great!


What upcoming hardcore shows/fests would you like to attend and why?

I really want to go to This is Hardcore in Philadelphia this year because there are bands playing that I really like (Mindset, Betrayed, Youth of Today, H2O and Token Entry), but I don't think we will be able to go because airplane tickets are really expensive right now.

We are going to go to the React Showcase at Gilman Street in September. I am really looking forward to this because I like all the React bands.

My dad was talking to Steve Youth from 7 Seconds a few weeks ago and Steve told him that 7 Seconds might be playing in Reno soon, so we will go see that.

What '90s hardcore bands are you a fan of and why?

H2O and Champion because they just plain rock!


You recently started your PMAKid.com blog. Discuss this.

It was for a project I needed to do, but I thought it would be really cool because it would help me to keep PMA as much as possible and I would get to talk to some really cool people and musicians. I only just started it, but I was really excited because Toby Morse was my first interview.

I am not sure what the site is going to look like in a year, but I want to keep doing interviews and talking about PMA and just living a positive and clean lifestyle.


How do you decide what content is worthy of posting on your blog?

Easy. I want to promote stuff that talks about being positive or making a difference in the world, whether it is cool music or the importance of going to school. Not all my interviews are with musicians. I am interviewing my Principal, Dr. Eister, and some people in politics I have met. I just want to use PMAKid.com to find out about cool things and become a better person.

You have several upcoming interviews with members of past and present hardcore bands. Besides the members you already have lined up for interviews, who else would you like to interview and why?

There are a few people I would really like to interview:

Ray Cappo and John Porcell of Youth of Today would be really cool.

I would also really like to interview C.J. Wilson who is a pitcher for the Texas Rangers. He is really cool because he is Straight Edge and keeps PMA and he is a friend of Toby's.


What's it like knowing personally some of the members of your favorite hardcore bands?

With Toby Morse, it is really cool and exciting because he is one of my favorite musicians and I love what he is doing with One Life One Chance. With Kevin Seconds, I have known him since I was a little kid and I love all of his music (7 Seconds and solo stuff) but he is more like family than a musical hero.


Do you have any musical aspirations of your own that you'd care to discuss?

I play trumpet in my school band (just like Evan from Mindset did!) and I am learning guitar. I would like to start my own band and would like to play guitar in it.