Video: Undying / Judas Cradle / Wage Of Sin / Misery Signals

I remember driving up to this show in Seattle, as there was no Oregon date booked for the tour. Definitely not a bad way to kick off 2003.

Sworn Vengeance LP to be released on vinyl/CD

Sworn Vengeance recently announced that their newest recording will be released on vinyl via Escapist Records, and CD via Goodlife Recordings with both of them containing a few extra tracks.

Here are the details:

"We will be going back into Castle Ultimate in Oakland around the beginning of October to work with the amazing Zack Ohren to record 4 tracks, 2 of which will be brand new songs for the full length. We will also record one of our older songs, "Abbadon." Combine that with the 7 songs we released earlier this month and you will have a 10 track full length set to release around December."

Of course, you can still go to their Bandcamp page to check out the recording in its current EP form.

Regress No Way! compilation 7"

Here's one of the first, if not the first, compilations documenting the Belgian H8000 scene, tho it was still known as the 8000 scene at the time. This compilation was released in 1992 on Warehouse Records, which was run by Jeroen from Nations On Fire, who also did Machination Records, and Edward from Rise Above, Love, Truth & Honesty and Nations On Fire. After Jeroen left the label, Edward continued with it and in 1994 changed the name to Good Life Recordings, which is still going strong to this day. 'Regress No Way!' features 4 of the bands of the scene at that time: Nations On Fire, Blindfold, Spirit Of Youth and Shortsight.

Nations On Fire were one of the most political bands of the (H)8000 scene. Edward Good Life played in this band and Hans Liar also did some time in this band (but not on this recording). Their song on here is a live-recording of a song from their 'Burn Again...' 2x7".
Blindfold was another band that had Hans Liar in it, and they would evolve to become one of the more unique sounding bands to come out of the (H)8000 scene.
The Spirit Of Youth track was originally a Love, Truth & Honesty track, but the band had changed the name to Spirit Of Youth by the time the compilation was released. It still had Edward on vocals, who would leave and be replaced later that year, when also the 1st SOY 7" was recorded and released on Crucial Response. It wasn't until after these releases that SOY started to play the metalcore style they're known for.
Shortsight had Hans Liar on vocals at that time, and their song was taken from their demo. Afterwards he left the band and his sister Saskia would take over vocal duties, and the band would change their style to become an emo-band and release a 7" and a full-length.

Hans Liar is doing an H8000 book, which promises to be a must-have. If and when there is news about the book, he will post it on the H8000 Book facebook page and/or his blog, H8000 Central, so check those out if you're interested in the book or in H8000 history in general.

Regress No Way! compilation 7" (download removed due to complaints)

Morning Again - Martyr T-shirt

Today, Im looking back at "Martyr" design that Goodlife did for the band. Simple and to the point on the front with a nice silver ink laid over the white but a nice live photo on the back. The photo was used in the insert for the record and features a few South Florida regulars at the time including Jordan Pundik (New Found Glory), Jordan Leitner, Peter Bartsocas (Bird of Ill Omen) and Stephanie Jones (local photographer). Not quite sure who took the photo but Im assuming it was Lori Austin, another local photographer, as she and Stephanie were both credited with the photos in the insert (and the fact that Stephanie is in the photo). This design was also used as a hoodie as well the tshirt. Not quite sure how many colors this was printed on but I have it in this blue as well as hunter green and heather gray.
I spoke to John and he told me that there are about 50 presale tickets left so if you want to get into the show an hour before everyone else instead of hanging out outside in the beautiful area known as Little Haiti, get them soon. Tickets will be sold at the door but you'll still have to wait outside until 8. The first band starts at 8:30 (my friends Harbinger are opening and they're killer, so get there early to see them). Click here to order your presale tickets.

Morning Again - The Cleanest War T-shirt

So here we are, counting down the days to the Morning Again show (5 days). At this point, I've basically bombarded you to no end with details on the show but I'm not quite done yet. If it has gotten to a point where this is starting to bug you, I apologize but Morning Again has been and continues to be my favorite band to come out of Florida and knowing that I've had a hand in this whole process makes me pretty excited so I'm passing on the excitement to the rest of you. Until the day of the show, I plan to post a different shirt with a little history each day.
Anyway, today I was going through my shirts and I came across the bands "Cleanest War" design. This, I believe, is the bands second t-shirt following their "Progress Sets Us Back" design that I posted a few months back (thanks again Ivan) before they signed with Conquer The World Records. This design was printed for the "Cleanest War" record that Conquer The World did release (on a side note, while some people do have their opinions on Conquer The World Records, Mike did release some killer records) though I'm not sure of the quantity in which they were pressed or if the label sold them or just the band. This design features what would become one of the bands 3 logos (the others being the XXX logo from the Goodlife Recordings releases and the later designed Richie Birkenhead logo from the Rev release) and if I'm not mistaken is the first time the tree logo was used. No info on who designed the logo though (John, Damien, Eric...if you have any info, pass it on). The back features a smoke stack with the "Cleanest War" above it. The print is this weird puffy paint...very odd. It's almost as if the print should be glow in the dark. I don't think I've seen this type of paint used on any other shirts I own...definitely a cool design though. Not quite sure if this was printed by the 90s resident South Florida screen printer, Lowell from Bending Tree, but I'll do some snooping and see if I can find out.
The show is this weekend and the band will have merch as well as the silk screened posters so Ill post updates...lots of old friends coming out that I haven't seen in years. The show is supposedly going to be videotaped so you'll be able to see the happenings at a later date.

When Layouts Change: Records That Are Repressed With New Layouts, Part 2

I had been waiting for something to come in the mail which is why it has taken some time for me to get to part 2 of this series I've star
ted. In case you missed part 1, you can go back and check it out here. To give a quick summary, this series of articles looks back at records that have been repressed with different covers and/or layouts. Now that we have moved into the age of digital downloads, it feels as if the layout is now an after thought and is no longer a necessary part of the album. I still enjoy sitting down and grabbing a handful of CDs and looking back through the layouts...they remind of great shows with people I was once close with though I may no longer see. Oh the nostalgia...anyway, on to part 2. As I stated before: Below are a few examples of records that were originally released by their respected labels and then repressed by either the original or another with a different layout. For now, I've just scanned the covers but Ill try to get the rest of the layouts scanned as well. The original is on the left and the repress is on the right.













Congress - Blackened Persistance (Original and Repress: Goodlife Recordings, 1996)
Congress were the first band that really put the Goodlife name on the map as well the infamous "H8000" scene. Loads of amazing bands were influenced by them in the 90s and they were definitely one of the best. Goodlife originally released "Blackened Persistence" in 1996 if memory serves and was a COMPLETE departure from your everyday run of the mill hardcore band layouts. I mean, look at the cover. Its got a freaking wizard on the cover. Amazing. The original release shows the entire painting of the wizard with his arms in the air, floating over what looks like a planet. This release became one of Goodlife's best selling release to the point that Edward couldn't keep it in stock. It was eventually re-released a short time later, this time with a live set attached to the original record. The cover, this time, shows just the face of the wizard as the cover. Normally, I wouldn't agree with this but its not a huge change and they did keep the original artwork as well as the rest of the layout. Overall, not much of a downgrade and an overall great album.













Split Lip (Chamberlain) - Fate's Got A Driver (Original and Repress: Doghouse Records, 1995)
Shifting gears a little, Split Lip was one of those bands that came along at the right time and just blew everyone's minds with their brand of Midwest emocore (this is back when you didn't actually cringe when someone called a band "emo"). After a 7 inch and 2 full lengths (not counting the discography of sorts), Split Lip changed their name to Chamberlain and their sound began to change as well. The band had just released their 2nd album, Fate's Got A Driver, when they chose to change their name. The band decided to re-release the album under the new name, Chamberlain, and re-record the vocals in the newer singing style that they had adopted. Again, the layout isn't a drastic change from the original though they used different photos. I do love the fact that they included a small photo of the original Split Lip cover on the last page of the insert. The original comes in a nice digipak while the Chamberlain release came in a standard jewelcase. I have no real opinion on this one since they are no photos of the band playing live in either release and the layouts are similar though I think I do prefer the cover of the original release.













Another Victim "For The Liars And The Cheaters" Demo (Self Released, 2000)
I know I've been a little wishy-washy with the other two records I've posted so far but now here we go, this is where I get down to it. Another Victim released these 3 songs as their final release before disbanding for the second time and forming the Promise. The songs really shows the direction the band was heading and to be honest, I would have loved to hear another record with the lineup on this demo. Anyway, the first cover shows some chain links...nothing special. But...the Japanese, my wonderful friends from the East got the ultimate treatment. A beautiful full color layout (minus the lyrics side) with fold out wings!!!! This was limited to 75 copies and was labeled as the Japanese demo. A collaborative art layout by GrezDNA, JD and Derrick Van Wie...Americans, we should all feel cheated for the having to receive the original layout as opposed to the Japanese version. Absolutely beautiful.













Disembodied "Diablerie" (Original and Repress: Ferret Records, 1996 and 1999)
Name a band heavier than Disembodied...go on, I'll wait. Yeah. not easy to do. One of the few bands that I've ever found to be as heavy recorded as they are live. But upon hearing Diablerie for the first time, you could tell it was heavy but it just need to be louder. The mastering of the original definitely wasn't anything to shake a stick at but it did the job. When the remaster came out, it sounded as it always should have (by the way, I still don't own a copy of the remaster so if anyone has one to sell, get at me). The layout for the original release is...well, interesting to say the least. What looks like a mannequin on the cover engulfed by a blue-ish background. A small live photo in the insert and the lyrics. The re-release received an all new layout including a change from blue to red and what looks like some sort of religious statue on the front. I haven't seen the insert in many years but I remember there being an angel in the insert. Overall, I prefer the cover of the re-release to the original.

Stay tuned for part 3 coming hopefully sooner than it took me to write part 2.

When Layouts Change: Records That Are Repressed With New Layouts, Part 1

This is an article I've been meaning to write for a long time but just never got around to doing so. A pet peeve of mine is when a label re-presses a record but changes the layout. Sometimes, this is because the band and label didn't have the money or time to put into what they originally envisioned or because a label has bought the rights to the record and re-released it, often with remastered sound. Half of me is alright with this idea at times but the other half of me, the half that is the nostalgic collector wants to have the original. Like I said, sometimes this is fine with me because the original layout may have been...well just not very good. Below are a few examples of records that were originally released by their respected labels and then repressed by either the original or another with a different layout. For now, I've just scanned the covers but Ill try to get the rest of the layouts scanned as well. The original is on the left and the repress is on the right.





















Shelter - Quest For Certainty (Original: Equal Vision, 1992. Repress: Revelation, 1998)
An early release for Equal Vision Records when they still concentrated on releasing only Krishna-core record, this records comes in a close second to Mantra as my favorite Shelter release. The original has a black and white cover with a nice sky blue firewheel while the repress has a new black and white photo but the fonts have been changed to red. This is a case where I'm alright with either release. Both have live photos on the cover and there isnt much of a difference other than the actual photo.




















Culture - Born Of You (Original: Conquer The World, 1994. Repress: Goodlife, 1998)
A record that created an incredible amount of controversy over the past few years, controversy that I am not going to go into here (do a search on here for "Culture" and you'll see). The original release features a picture of the famed "Portrait Of Pope Innocent X" by Sir Francis Bacon. While this cover is very representative of the time, I feel that the repress gives the album more energy with the cover depicting Damien handing out the mic to the crowd. Culture was very much about crowd participation and this cover portrays that to the listener. I only wish that the band would have used the logo that Guav created for that them as opposed to the logo on the repress.





















Doughnuts - Equalize Nature (Original and Repress: Desperate Fight, 1994 and 1996)
A much maligned band, Doughnuts were touted as the first all girl SXE band back in 1995. They released their first record with Desperate Fight out of Umea, Sweden and then signed with Victory Records in America. Equalize Nature, their first release, was originally released in a cardboard sleeve in 1994 and features the legendary "Naked SXE Kid" on the cover. To be honest, I'm not sure where they were going with this image on the cover but the re-release (also on Desperate Fight) shows a blurry live photo of the band. Perhaps Victory asked Desperate Fight to change the cover because they would have trouble getting the naked kid cover picked up in America. That's just my opinion, I have no idea if that's the reason. I have to say that the repress is an upgrade.





















As Friends Rust - The Fists Of Time (Original: Goodlife, 1998. Repress: Doghouse, 2000)
Now here's one where I prefer the original. Goodlife chose to use paintings by vocalist Damien as the cover as well as the insert. If you read the lyrics to the songs on this release, I feel that the cover really does a great job of capturing the mood of the record. When Doghouse released this in America, they included a track from the split with Discount as well as their Circle Jerks cover from the God Hour EP. This time around though, the cover shows a package addressed to the band. Not bad but to me, the cover of the original release conveys the band's message much better.

Check back soon for Part 2.

Rich Thurston (Culture, Blood Has Been Shed, Terror, etc) Interview: Part 2

Here we are again, part 2 of my interview with Rich. Sorry for the delay but we should have part 3 up next week and I plan on finishing the interview soon. Again, I want to preface this by stating that the opinions expressed belong to Rich and do not reflect Stuck In The Past as a whole.

EDIT: For some reason, the second half of the interview was cut off. Its fixed now and part 2 in its entirety is now up.

Stuck In The Past: So you guys released Born Of You with Conquer The World. Did you guys start touring right after?

Rich: We never actually did a full tour. We did weekends. To be honest, we never really played anywhere. Chicago, Indianapolis, and Dayton/Cincinnati. We never did a full US tour or anything. We played Syracuse and a few other East Coast cities but again it was all done on weekends.

Stuck In The Past: Who was doing the booking at that time?

Rich: I believe it was (John) Wylie mostly. I did a few here and there. Mostly John though.

Stuck In The Past: After the full length, you guys did a split with Roosevelt.

Rich: yeah. We were good friends with those guys. It just seemed natural to do it. At that time we were down to record and release as much as possible.

Stuck In The Past: Its nice to see a split between bands that play different styles. You guys sounded nothing alike.

Rich: I know. Ha. There were so many bands back during that time and what was the coolest thing about it was that no one sounded the same.

Stuck In The Past: Was it after the release of the split when John and Damien left the band?

Rich: I'm pretty sure thats when yeah, Damien first then John. John's last day in the band is when we opened for Shelter in Melbourne.

Stuck In The Past: Why did they quit?

Rich: Well therein lies the big story. Ha, I think John and Damien just butted heads, Damien quit in Johns car after we had practice one night. I remember it like it was yesterday. John quit after I got arrested and all my bullshit started. John was smart like that. He knows how to play his cards correctly.

Stuck In The Past: And you were arrested because....

Rich: Well...I was with someone that did something and I got arrested for it too. Basically, I got into a fight with a guy and someone I was with, not even a friend, pulled a gun out. Someone else stole something out of the guys car. It turned into an armed robbery charge. Ray from Tension and later Vietnom was also arrested.

Stuck In The Past: Because of the same incident?

Rich: Yes sir.

Stuck In The Past: After John and Damien quit, Mark re-joined?

Rich: Thats all about the arrest? Ha. Well we tried some other singers. Louie that played drums for the original Morning Again lineup sang and I think there was one more. Mark joined eventually.

Stuck In The Past: Whoa theres more about the arrest?

Rich: There is plenty if you reallt want to get into it.

Stuck In The Past: Hell yes I want to know

Rich: Ok.... this may take a while to type so bear with me. All the drama for me can be summed up pretty simply. I was dating a girl. That girl traded up for a more notable scenster. I was friends with said scenster. Now you know the rule about dating your friends exs etc etc. Instead of following that he used my arrest as a way to rally the troops against me. There was a guy named Scoot Haak. He was living in Hollywood, FL. and he was friends with all of us. He got shot and killed at a show in the courtyard of Far Out Records. When I was arrested for armed robbery said scenster used that saying I should have known better. I was involved with guns and after Scott was killed, I should have known better etc etc. One by one, all of my old friends listened to this guy and I eventually lost everyone. It was so frustrating because not only was I arrested for what someone else did but it was so hypocritical. Every single one of my so called friends had guns and sold guns. It was just easy to use me as an example.

Stuck In The Past: Holy shit!

Rich: You have to understand that time in South Florida hardcore. It wasn't safe. It wasn't all stage dives and sing alongs. It was dangerous. Gangs like Zulu Nation and shit like that had people involved in hardcore. Anything could happen at anytime. Have I done things that were shitty? Of course. I made alot of bad decisions. Maybe what happened to me was karmas way of getting me back. Who knows. What I do know is that I was for sure a scapegoat for some people. I have a milloin stories...

Stuck In The Past: I think we should do a regular feature called "Storytime with Rich".

Rich: Well I have plenty of them. I mean some real good ones. Looking back it was a crazy ass time man. It was really out of hand.

Stuck In The Past: So what became of the whole incident?

Rich: Well I had always admitted to punching this guy in the face. I was willing to pay for that crime which I did. Two weeks time served and 3 years probation. I never ratted. I never lied. I had nothing to do with any gun and eventually it came out. Thats why I got probation. I was two months into my probation when we (Culture) went to Europe for the first time. I had to go to court and shit to get permission to go.

Stuck In The Past: And they were okay with it?

Rich: I guess so. Ha. It was job related as far as there were concerned. I played the Shelter show in Melbourne with an ankle monitor on. I got released from jail like two days before the show.

Stuck In The Past: That didn't leave much time for practicing haha.

Rich: Well I was only in jail for two weeks so it wasn't like I forgot the songs. My life back then was lawless and insane. From about 18 to 24 or so it was crazy. I'm really surprised i'm alive to be honest.

Stuck In The Past: What about Greg Fish?

Rich: I was best friends with him for a long time. He was the "scenster" I was speaking about earlier. I loved that guy man. He was one crazy bastard. Half the shit I got into was because of his influence. The only thing I would change would be I would like to have reconciled with him before he died. I found out he died a day or so after we got back from Europe.

Stuck In The Past: I heard he died in the back of someone's truck.

Rich: Yeah. He was drunk and choked on his own vomit from what I was told. I always knew he would die young I just thought it would be in a hail of fire

Stuck In The Past: I remember being at the Earth Crisis show at Cheers in 1997 where Culture got up to play a song and Fish threatened to kill you if you he saw...or something to that extent?

Rich: Ha. Yeah. The funny thing is I dont think he really wanted to. It had built up so much that he had no choice but to continue the nonsense. Before we played I saw him outside. We had words. I didnt back down and nor did he but I know Fish. If he really wanted to fight me he would have right then and there. I had stood next to him so many times before and we would fight all the time. Hell we would go to South Beach and just randomly fight club goers. I know if he really truly wanted to he would have. We played three songs then I left. Being involved in the South Florida hardcore scene back then was not all fun and games. You were constaintly being tested and watched by other people. You could never show weekness and you could never back down. No matter what. I have a great Rich and Fish story if you want to hear it.

Stuck In The Past: Absolutely

Rich: West Palm Beach, Florida. Not sure of the year. Pantera, Biohazard and Machine Head show. For those that don't know, at that time West Palm had a ton of sudo nazi skinheads. Like they were only nazis when there was 20 of them together. Ha. So It was Greg, myself, Josh Williams (Culture drummer)and I can't really think whom else but only like one or maybe two other guys. I was the biggest one. There were easily 30 or so nazi skinheads there. During the Machine Head set they must have recognized either Greg or myself. To make a long story short...the lights go down for Biohazard. We can see these guys circling around us. We were screwed. I remember Greg saying to the other guys..."If any of you pussies run i'll kill you". Ha. The lights come back on. To our pleasant surprise, all of the Non nazi West Palm skinheads were there. Eventually South Florida would know them as Colorblind. Fyi... I was the first person to have a colorblind tattoo. Anyways....It was like 30 on 30 now. We beat the holy hell out of
these guys. I'll never forget the looks on their faces

Stuck In The Past: Was that the Slayer show?

Rich: No, it was Pantera-Biohazard-Machine Head. I'm sure something similar happened at Slayer too though. Ha.

Stuck In The Past: So you guys kicked their asses?

Rich: It was so bad. Those guys got demolished.

Stuck In The Past: Did you ever worry about running into those dudes at a show after that incident?

Rich: Nah. We never really went to West Palm back then for shows and if we did we rolled so deep we didn't worry about shit. Those guys came down to Miami a couple times and got beat so bad that they never came back.

Stuck In The Past: Was it pretty much a fistfight or were weapons involved?

Rich: Good old fashion fists.

Stuck In The Past: Kinda makes you long for the old days...

Rich: Yeah...I mean sometimes there were knives and whatnot but no guns. It was more one on one...hand to hand back then. Like I said...shit was crazy back then. The most important thing to remember about the scene back then was it was so incredibly chaotic. Constant scheming and craziness. You never really knew who was your friend or out to get you. No one hardly ever made good decisions. Did I do alot of shady shit.... absolutely. My middle name was bad decision. However... I took alot of blame and heat for shit that everyone else was doing too. Thats all i'm gonna say about that.

An Acre Lost (Poison The Well) Shirts

You probably know that before Poison the Well took the name that would skyrocket them to hardcore glory, they were known as An Acre Lost (and actually Doubting Thomas before that) and released a split with Miami's Promise No Tomorrow on Ohev Records. What you may not have known is that they actually made shirts during their time as An Acre Lost. I knew about the second design but not the first. I came across the first one on Ebay about 2 weeks ago and realized that my friend Andrew Abramowitz (Drowningman, The Distance) was the seller. He was the first bass player and played on both the split as An Acre Lost and the first release as Poison The Well (not Geronimo as it was incorrectly put on the release). He messaged me and said he couldn't take my money for the shirt (see what being a nice guy as well as a collector can do for you) and would put together a package for me. What that meant, I didn't know but a week later I received a package which not only had the shirt but also the bands FIRST shirt of which about 24 were made. It was seriously such a nice gesture and while I don't see Andrew as often as I like, he is truly a great friend. Enough about me, on to the designs.

This is the first shirt the band made, roughly 24 were made. Aryeh (vocals) said they were made at Kinkos so I'm guessing it was an iron on design of some sort. The back design (second picture) is small and just below the neckline. Pretty sure that's Sabu from ECW on the front.

This is the 2nd design before they changed their name. Not sure how many were made but still a cool design. Much more in the vein of where the band was heading. No back design.
I also own a rare Goodlife Recordings "Opposite Of December" tshirt that was pressed when the band was originally going to release the record with Goodlife before they went with Trustkill. I posted it a few months back so if you would like to see that, click here.

Driven (Netherlands) demo & split

The Netherlands has never been known for its vegan sXe hardcore scene/bands. Here's an exception from the late '90s, Driven from Amsterdam. They were an outspoken and fairly political vegan sXe band, which was (and is) a rarity in the Dutch scene. Driven was part of the so-called ADHC, the Amsterdam Hardcore crew, a group of people and bands from Amsterdam in the mid to late '90s who formed their own little scene. Other bands included Life Is Pain and Retch, but none got the exposure Driven which got. The band played countless shows and benefits and was always trying to raise awareness for animal rights, human rights etc. The line-up of Driven was not really stable, they had 3 steady band-members who were all vegan sXe, but you would see a different bass-player and occasional 2nd guitarplayer every other show or so for quite a long time. Which was unfortunate, I've seen many good Driven shows all over the Netherlands and Belgium, and maybe with a more stable line-up they would've recorded more than just 1 mini-album.

Anyways, formed in 1996, they recorded 'Demo I' in 1997. In 1998 they released their 'Cowardice Consumer Of The West' mini-album on Good Life, and played and toured around Europe. One of the tracks from the demo would appear re-recorded and under a different name, 'Reveal', on the 'Animal Truth' compilation on Sober Mind Records. In 2001 they recorded 2 more songs, which they sold on a self-released CD-r on their final European tour, after which they quit. In 2005 those 2 songs were re-released on a split MCD with a short-lived Dutch band called Bowling Alone. I included the demo and the split here. Unfortunately, for a band which had so much to say, there are no lyrics included with either the demo or the split MCD.

Vincent, the singer, current sings & plays guitar in Howl, who are signed to Relapse Records and who just released their debut full-length. As far as I know he's no longer vegan nor sXe. The other band-members, and most of the old ADHC people for that matter, have slipped into the mainstream and obscurity.

Driven - Demo I
Driven/Bowling Alone - split MCD

Culture - The Unreleased LP and EP

Growing up in South Florida, hardcore made a big shift in styles in the early 90s (this is before my time) heading in a much more metal direction. In my opinion, Strongarm was one band who helped shaped this new direction and Culture was the other. I really feel like Culture was a very important and influential band on the 90s hardcore band, especially in Europe. Many of the early releases on Goodlife Recordings were heavily influenced by both Culture and Morning Again. Culture in their band lifetime released a decent amount of records but, as most bands do, they recorded songs that never were released. I've been sitting on these recordings for a year and a half before having the go ahead to release them. I got them from John who allowed me to rip them from the tape and have Justin clean them up. He told me later that if Damien and Rich were okay with it, I could post them. So Justin cleaned them up, mastered them and did an overall great job making them sound great. He also made covers for them as there was no cover art originally. I want to specifiy that this is NOT the re-recorded Born Of You record (aka Mike Warden Can Suck It) that we posted some months back. This hasn't been heard by anyone outside the band since 1994. The LP was recorded in late 1994 or early 1995 right after Damien and John joined the band and features the now classic lineup of John and Rich on guitar, Damien on vocals, Gordon in bass and Josh on drums. Some of these songs were dropped and never re-recorded so this is your only chance to hear them. The second recording is an EP featuring alternate versions of Deforestation and Memento Mori as well as 2 songs that neither Rich nor Mark knew the titles to. This lineup featured John and Rich on guitar, Mark on vocals, Gordon on bass and Josh on drums.
Rich was nice enough to give us the Cliff's Notes to "Culture 101" which you can read below. Big thanks to Rich, John, and Damien for allowing this to be released

Ok. I am gonna just try and wing this with no mistakes. Ha. I'll keep it brief but not to short.

It was the middle of the night somewhere on I95 headed back from Richmond, VA when it hit me. I needed to start a band. Something new and uninfluenced by the sounds of the times. I think the year was probably 1994 or so. I'm not exactly sure. I had moved to Richmond, Va with a friend of mine at the time. I was lucky enough to get to play bass for Grip later know as Dayspring. It was my first real taste of band life. Getting in a van and driving from state to state. I was so hooked. I had never felt such freedom. I was headed back to South Florida. I knew I needed to find some serious dudes to get in this band with me. I didnt know what it was gonna sound like or anything. I just knew I needed some down mother fuckers to set it off. Mark Mitchell has been a friend mine before I left for Richmond. Some of you may know him from Red Roses For A Blue Lady and now he plays bass for Throwdown I think. I wanted him to sing. He had a drummer named Josh Williams. We got back and we wasted no time. We set up shop in Mark's garage and just started playing. We wrote a couple of songs. They sucked. Ha. One day we got together for a practice. I started this riff. Not sure where it came from. Everyone sort of looked at each other with this intense excitement. I played it again and again. Then we started to add to it. Before you knew it we had a song. That song later became Born Of You and Culture was born.

We wrote I think maybe four songs and it was our plan to go record with the now famous Jeremy Staska. Side note... I feel like bands such as Culture and Morning Again helped start what was a wave of hardcore bands to record with Jeremy. He was a solid dude no doubt. Anyways... we wrote some songs and I was just gonna play both guitar tracks and play bass. No big deal. Well Mark decided that he didn't want to pay to record. Needless to say he was out and I ended up singing, playing both guitar tracks and playing bass. To this day I still think the demo was the best thing Culture ever did. Not because I did almost everything on it but because it was the purest form of the band. No outside influence. Just two guys in a garage. So now came the task of finding another guitar player and a bass player. Josh knew a kid named Gordon Tarpley, a sweet surfer beach dude with sweet surfer beach dude dreads. He ended up playing bass. Now to this day I'm still not sure how we found John Wylie to play guitar. I'm not sure if he was a friend of a friend or if later on when we got Damien Moyal that he knew him. I just don't remember. Sorry John. Ha. So after a lot of fill ins and flakes the line up was myself, John Wylie, Damien Moyal, Gordon Tarpley and Josh Williams.

Its important to note that I am sure I am leaving out some details and sort of jumping around but we are talking almost 16 years ago so bear with me. I'm not trying to give you a date by date narrative of the band. Just some basic facts those who are interested may not know.

Okay so now we know the basic formation of the original core members of Culture. I'll never forget our first show. We opened for Sick Of It All and Strife somewhere in Coconut Grove (almost positive this show was at the Kitchen Club in the Grove-Chip). I was so F'n nervous but so ready. We had written I think like seven songs. We really had no idea what we were doing but it was the most fun I had ever had playing a show to this date. Yeah I've played tons of other shows since then but damn that shit was tight. After we played some more shows things started to take off for us. We put a full length out on Conquer The World Records, did a lot of weekend touring. I mean we had no idea how to book a tour or any of that so we just did weekend shows. I knew enough people that we got on some good shows. We were huge in Indianapolis and Chicago. Ha Ha Ha. We then recorded the Deforestation 7" for Catalyst. Somehow Mark got back in the band for a while. John left to start Morning Again. Damien started singing for them then wasn't anymore. He started to do As Friends Rust and Bird Of ill Omen. Well one weekend tour with Mark and we all but begged Damien to come back. We got Steve Looker to take Johns place on guitar.

This is getting exhausting.

So now comes the Goodlife Recordings era. Ha. We recorded a split release with a band called Kindred from Europe. Then we put out a mini cd called Heteronome (ask Damien what the hell that means). We ended up touring Europe and to me that really was the downfall of the band. We were fighting all the time. It didn't matter what it was about. It got to the point where it was no longer fun for me. I loved Europe but hated being there with them. We played so many amazing shows and met so many amazing people but I knew I was done. The band wanted me out to I think. I mean we were a pack of Chiefs with no Indians to rule so eventually one person was gonna be the focus. That was me. I also was a dick so I made it easy for them. When we got home I went to Ohio to visit. They kicked me out while I was gone. It hurt. I mean I was the last original member. Culture was my life for so long that I felt like I had nothing. Eventually that feeling went away and I moved on to other bands. Culture, in many forms, continued on for a bit longer. They re-released the original Conquer The World recording on Goodlife which was cool. All and all I have a lot of good memories. I learned a lot of things about music and the business side as well as things about myself personally. Culture was one of the most important Vegan Straight Edge bands ever. Hands down. We, along with a few others, created a sound that was copied all over the globe. People named bands after our songs. Clothing companies from our lyrics. We influenced a scene. That scene gave me life long memories. I am forever grateful. I miss playing with those guys. I miss the shitty smelly practice spaces. I miss the excitement of writing new songs with them. I want to thank John, Damien, Gordon, Josh, Mark, Jason Dooley, Steve Looker and everyone that ever helped or supported the band. It still means a lot.

The lineups for the recordings are as follows:

The demo was myself (Rich) and Josh Williams

Born Of You was myself (Rich), John, Damian, Gordon and Josh

Deforestation #1 was myself (Rich), John, Josh, Gordon and Mark

Deforestation #2 was myself (Rich), Steve, Josh, Gordon and Damien

Split with Kindred was myself (Rich), Steve, Josh, Gordon and Damian

Heteronome ep was myself (Rich), Steve, Jason Dooley, Gordon and Damien

Culture - The Unreleased LP (EDIT: one track was corrupt but has been fixed. Link works fine now)

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

Culture - Deforestation (Alternate Recording)

http://www.mediafire.com/?2jzjfzmbbxu

Morning Again Interview: John Wylie

If you've been following us here, you've probably learned that my love for Morning Again is unparalleled (with the exception of Earth Crisis maybe). Either way, Morning Again is my favorite band to come out of Florida and in my top 5 hardcore bands ever. I saw them countless times while they were together and saw the reunion with Damien in 2001 or 2002, I can't remember exactly. Their shows had this energy...its just something thats hard to describe without having witnessed it. You could tell they believed in every word they sung. I've been friends with John for a good 12 years and he was always someone I admired musically. I played in a few bands with him after Morning Again broke up and while he did write some great music after, nothing will ever compare to Morning Again for me. When I went down to visit my folks for the holidays, I called him up since I hadnt seen him in a while. We ended up having lunch and I explained that Id like to do a Morning Again interview for the blog and this is what came out of that. I hope you enjoy this...I really don't consider myself the greatest interviewer but I did my best. If you've never heard them, check the Morning Again Myspace Tribute to hear some tracks. Enjoy...
Chip XXX

Stuck In The Past: Okay, let's start at the beginning...you were playing in Culture with Damien, then you left. What happened?

John W: i actually left culture when mark was singing. I left because I wasn't really happy with the actions of certain people in the band. I didn't feel that they reflected the message of the band so I quit.

Stuck In The Past: And you decided to start a band with the messages you felt strongly about?

John W: Well at first Morning Again was really intending to have a direct message. We wanted everyone to be sxe and at least vegetarian but we didn't want to directly sing about it. There aren't really many direct references to either on the cleanest war or hand of hope 7"…maybe a few but not many.

Stuck In The Past: Who was in the original lineup?

John W: Louie, Damien, me, Mike, Eric I believe

Stuck In The Past: Did Mike CTW contact you guys about releasing the EP after you guys started?

John W: I don't remember if we contacted him or he contacted us. It came down to him or Uprising though and uprising wasn't 100% sold on it from what I can remember. There weren't many options back then.

Stuck In The Past: But you had been on good terms since Mike CTW released the Culture full length?

John W: No we weren't really on good terms but there weren't many options and people knew his label at the time

Stuck In The Past: Right, since he had released that Chokehold record.

John W: Yes.

Stuck In The Past: Damien was asked to "leave" the band while one tour from what I remember...how did that happen and why?

John W: Damien was very outspoken on stage. Sometimes we felt like he went overboard and it looked bad on the band as a whole and the other members. This happened often and finally we decided this was the best thing. I don't regret the decision at all. I will say that Damien is an amazing person not just on a talent level but also as a human being. He is a good friend and I'm happy we experienced so much together. I wish we wouldn't have taken ourselves so seriously, honestly.

Stuck In The Past: Yeah I remember him not taking it well.

John W: We might have had more time to experience that lineup musically and on tour. But everything happens for a reason and Damien is the type of person you only meet once in a lifetime.

Stuck In The Past: Very true. My experiences with him have always been good. How did you guys end up releasing records through Goodlife Recordings?

John W: He (Edward) contacted us and said that people were into the band. He wanted to put something out over there so we could go on tour.

Stuck In The Past: And who are you to say no to going on tour in Europe?

John W: At the time it was a dream come true. I was very excited. The whole band was.

Stuck In The Past: Was this around the time the band became vegan?

John W: I actually think everyone in the band was vegan at that time we started to actually call ourselves sxe around this time probably as a band


Stuck In The Past: Was that when the log0 (the 3 X's logo) was used?

John W: Yes. I think the first time was for the Hand of Hope CD.

Stuck In The Past: How did you guys find Kevin to take over on vocals?

John W: We met him when we were on tour in ohio. He was in a band called outcast. He played bass.

Stuck In The Past: The music really shifter at that point. If you listen to Hand of Hope and then listen to the split with Shoulder, it really showed the direction you guys were heading musically.

John W: I agree.

Stuck In The Past: Having Kevin in the band, did that help?

John W: Honestly it was all because of our drummers. It had nothing to do with vocals. Vocals were always added after the music was written. Once we had a more diverse drummer, I was able to write different types of music. Something more towards what I wanted.

Stuck In The Past: I meant his influence, not so much his vocal style.

John W: No. The singer had nothing to do with the music.

Stuck In The Past: So you guys had the record out in Europe. How did you hook up with Sean and Immigrant Sun?

John W: Honestly I don't remember. I think he contacted us to release a record with him.

Stuck In The Past: He always did such a great job on his releases. The layouts were always amazing.

John W: He is a great guy. We became really good friends and he helped me a lot with Eulogy art at the beginning of the label. He was the main person I hired for layouts/etc

Stuck In The Past: I just liked that he really thought outside the box in terms of what the traditional hardcore layout was supposed to look like.

John W: Yeah that was his personality

Stuck In The Past: The band always seemed to have revolving members. Did people just lose interest or were there personal clashes?

John W: A variety of reasons. It was usually us kicking people out. It was hard to get people that could tour and pay their bills while they were out. We weren't making money off the band really until later on so we had to save up money for tour. A lot of times that's a lot for people to deal with but each member change had its own story and there were many different reasons

Stuck In The Past: What about the Culture trade? Steve and Joe.

John W: Honestly we just didn't get along with Steve on tour. Once we asked him to leave, I think Joe was leaving Culture around the same time. It wasn't intentional honestly. This all happened a long time ago as well and I can't really remember every detail

Stuck In The Past: Haha it was like they were free agents.

John W: Ya, plus everyone in Culture and Morning Again were friends so people were always talking to each other. It wasn't necessarily something I orchestrated.

Stuck In The Past: Jumping ahead a little, you guys ended up signing with Revelation Records but you had been courted by other labels as well.

John W: Yes. We talked to different labels but Revelation was Revelation. At the time it was the essence of what hardcore was

Stuck In The Past: Yeah they were on the come up again having put out the Battery, In My Eyes, and Damnation AD records.

John W: Yep.and they were diverse at the time

Stuck In The Past: Do you remember any of the other labels you guys talked to?

John W: I talked to Victory briefly. Of course Goodlife. It all happened really fast. There really wasn't much time to talk to other labels. There wasn't really much thought about if we wanted to be on revelation

Stuck In The Past: I've heard some negativity from bands who had been signed to Rev. Did you guys feel any of that? You don't have to answer if you don't want to.

John W: I definitely did. I wasn't happy with it from the start. But it turned out it wasn't because Revelation was trying to be shady

Stuck In The Past: Oh?

John W: We just had a horrible A & R guy that twisted things around and didn't tell us the whole truth. It was never really Jordan Cooper's fault but it still happened. I'm on good terms with Jordan now. Revelation distributes Eulogy outside of North America.

Stuck In The Past: Do you remember anything specific from the recording of the full length? I remember hearing that Kevin was real sick when he recorded vocals.

John W: I don’t' remember that at all. It's very possible

Stuck In The Past: Ehhh you know the hardcore grapevine haha.

John W: haha it's definitely possible though. You would have to ask him.

Stuck In The Past: Right around this time, you were playing in Wishes For World War III, right?

John W: Right after the first time we came home from Europe with Morning Again

Stuck In The Past: Who was in the band?

John W: I think my friends Rob and Gabe sang. I don't remember. Man this shit was a long time ago haha.

Stuck In The Past: Okay what about Night of Broken Glass?

John W: That's much easier. Bundee, Edwin, Kevin, Peter and me. Actually not Peter and Eric sang.

Stuck In The Past: You guys released a 2 song cassette but I heard more songs were recorded.

John W: I don't remember if there were. I would have to ask Eric or Bundee. I'm not being difficult i really don't remember.

Stuck In The Past: haha I know.

John W: There was so much going on at the time

Stuck In The Past: Okay well let's go to the last European tour...you decided you didn't want to do the band anymore.

John W: Ya. I decided this after about the 3rd show

Stuck In The Past: Any particular reason?

John W:I didn't like touring much anymore. I didn't like touring Europe. I did pretty much everything for the band so it wasn't really fun anymore. I think I just reached my breaking point.

Stuck In The Past: How did the rest of the band react?

John W: We talked about it. Some were bummed some were over it also. We all agreed to finish off the tour for financial reasons and also because we were in Europe and we wanted to enjoy it one more time. Everyone had different reasons for wanting to finish the tour

Stuck In The Past: When you came back (from Europe), half the band kept it going for a little while. How did you feel about that since Morning Again was your band?

John W: I think there was a break for a while? Then they started it again. I didn't really care. Maybe I should have cared more than I did? People didn't really respond very well to them from what i was told.

Stuck In The Past: Yeah I heard the same thing.

John W: Hardcore kids aren't stupid especially the kids that listened to Morning Again and these types of bands. They took this shit pretty serious.

Stuck In The Past: How do you look back on the band now? 10 years later.

John W: It was an amazing time of my life. I don't have any negative feelings towards it at all. I got to experience more than most people do in their whole life. The best part was that I experienced it when hardcore was completely different than it is today. It was entirely different.

Stuck In The Past: I 100% agree...that's why I still look back so fondly on those days.

John W: It changed my life. It wasn't just something I did, it was who I was. Not just on the outside but on the inside. It wasn't for money or to see how big our band could get it was because that's what we did.

Stuck In The Past: Okay just a few more questions...my friend Justin whom I do the blog with wanted me to ask a few.

John W: ok.

Stuck In The Past: He said he heard a rumor that there is a different recording (or possibly a different mix) of As Tradition Dies Slowly that was scrapped. Is there any truth to this and if so does it exist?

John W: I don't remember this for sure but i can say that there most likely isn't. There was no reason for us to record it more than once. Everyone in the band was stable and we had the songs ready to go

Stuck In The Past: Do any studio or live recordings exist that haven't fully seen the light of day?

John W: No. We were never a band to record extra music. We had a lot of releases in a small amount of time overall. We used everything we had

Stuck In The Past: Lastly, he wanted me to tell you that he is still heartbroken that you guys canceled the one and only Oregon show when you guys broke up. He still clutches the flyer when he goes to sleep.

John W: Haha amazing. That sucks because that was our first full US tour and I really wish we would have stayed together long enough to do it

Stuck In The Past: That was after you guys signed to Rev?

John W: Yes. It was scheduled for right after the Euro tour we broke up on, I think? Wait...it might have been before and our van broke down in Georgia and we had no money to fix it. That sounds more like it haha.

Stuck In The Past: Well at least is was close to Florida.

John W: Ya

Stuck In The Past: Anything you'd like to add?

John W: I don't think so. Sorry I don't remember a lot of this stuff but it was a really long time ago and I have had to process so much information since those days

Stuck In The Past: It's cool. I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions. I know you're busy...it's nice to go and relive those days. The band meant a lot to me.

John W: No problem. Thank you

Poison The Well "Seasons Of Separation" Tshirt from Goodlife Recordings

After releasing their EP on Goodlife Recordings, Poison The Well went into the studio to record what would become the classic "The Opposite Of December: A Season of Separation". The record was slated to be released on Goodlife until Josh from Trustkill got wind of it and offered to release it. If memory serves, the record was originally to be called "Seasons of Separation" but was changed before its release. Goodlife would go on to release the vinyl version of the CD and Poison the Well became the biggest band in hardcore from late 99 to 01. This shirt was screened by Goodlife and the band sold them as well. I remember my friend Steph had the same design in navy blue with baby blue ink. I'd been searching for this for quite some time and won it on Ebay for $1.04...pretty simple design but definitely an awesome collectible.