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.

Chamberlain - Fate's Got A Driver "Deluxe Edition" Reissue

With the reunion of Split Lip/Chamberlain for Burning Fight in Chicago and a few other shows, Doghouse is reissuing "Fate's Got A Driver" on limited vinyl with new artwork and bonus tracks. This is only being issued on vinyl but does include a download code for all the tracks as well bonus songs not included on the re-release. Heres what Doghouse Records has to say about the re-release:


"We are proud to announce the vinyl reissue of Chamberlain's beloved 1996 record Fate's Got A Driver. The long out-of-print LP is being reissued with fully redesigned artwork and five previously unreleased tracks.For those unfamiliar, Chamberlain were one of the most important and influential bands in the underground Midwest music scene. Originally the Indianapolis hardcore band, Split Lip (under who's name the record was initially released), the outfit later decided to change their name to Chamberlain as their sound grew more melodic and mature. Chamberlain has been cited by the likes of Taking Back Sunday, New Found Glory and Dashboard Confessional as a major influence. This is an absolute essential album for any vinyl enthusiast or fan of 90s emo or melodic hardcore.You can pre-order the limited edition cream colored vinyl right now. It's safe to say you should probably put a move on it, because there are only 500 copies available of this edition. In celebration of the re-release, Split Lip/Chamberlain will be reuniting for a series of 3 Midwest performances."



For other Doghouse Records releases click here
Preorder the record here

Anthem Boy - Demo

Marktheshark asked me to post this a while back and I just kept forgetting. What can I say? I have a bad memory...either way, here's the demo for Anthem Boy. To be quite honest, I don't know really know much about the band except they featured members of Birthright. With a name like Anthem Boy (taken from the first track on Split Lip's "For The Love Of The Wounded" record), you might expect some sort of emo-core but these 3 songs sound more like Birthright than Split Lip. Screamed vocals with some serious 90s chug. Did they record anything else? Did they tour? Who was in the band? I havent got the slightest idea but I think I got this in 2000. The demo was professionally pressed (not a CD-R) and the recording is quite good for a demo. I recently re-ripped this at a higher VBR bit rate so it sounds great and scanned the insert which includes the lyrics. If anyone has more info, please pass it along...again, Mark sorry for the delay.

Anthem Boy - Demonstration

Split Lip "Fate's Got A Driver"

I finally got a copy of this after searching for some time. Aj, who runs Path To Misery blog, was nice enough to do a trade with me so here it is in all its glory. I did a 256 VBR rip of it so it sounds great and did a nice high quality scan of the cover. This is the original release before the vocals were re-recorded and re-released as Chamberlain.

*NEW LINK*

Split Lip - Fate's Got A Driver

Split Lip - For The Love of the Wounded

So heres something a little different, after I said I'd change it up a bit after the last Earth Crisis post. Split Lip is still my favorite (along with Falling Forward) from the 90's Emo-Core days. Real aggressive music and real emotional lyrics. Speaking of Falling Forward, if anyone has the design that Initial Records did and is interested in selling, let me know

Split Lip/Chamberlain to play NYC on Decmber 7, 2009

Just got wind of this, courtesy of Ry-bunal, Split Lip/Chamberlain will be playing the Bowery Ballroom in NYC on December 7, 2009. Doors will be at 7:00 and the cost is $19. Not sure who else will be on the bill but if you can make it I'm sure it will be amazing. Unfortunately, the site says it will be an 18 and over show. Check the Bowery website for more info

Chalkline

The midwest had numerous, great "emo-core" bands in the 90s. Back then, the bands represented exactly what that kind of label should entail, and that's simply, emotional hardcore. Amidst the bigger emo-core bands of the 90s like Split Lip and Falling Forward, I always thought that Chalkline went a little underrated.

Chalkline / Figurehead split
This split came out on Shandle Records in June of 96, and features two songs from each band. Although this post focuses on Chalkline, don't underestimate Figurehead, as they were an awesome band in their own respects.
http://www.mediafire.com/?hwij9ybbjzx

Self Titled 7"
This record also came out in 1996, but on Toothless Records out of Louisville, KY. Chalkline do 4 songs on here that are similar in nature to the ones on the split with Figurehead. Each one ranges from the melodic, to the heavy.
http://www.mediafire.com/?zmffmkxn9ie

Although I wasn't quite as into their full length cd, I do still have it, and if anyone wants, I can rip it and throw it up here sometime later this week.

Burning Fight Merch Scores

So as most people know, Im a huge merch hound so naturally I went to Burning Fight with high hopes of picking up merch to add to my collection. I was genuinely disappointed in the lack of merch that the reuniting bands produced (most had none to speak of) but a few of the bands came through and heres what I scored. Shirts For a Cure was selling an Unbroken design but if no one told you it was Unbroken you wouldnt have been able to tell, so I didnt get that. I heard they are going to sell it on their site though so Im waiting on that.

Disembodied

Burning Fight

Split Lip/Chamberlain

Night Of Broken Glass - Demo (Members of Morning Again)

From the South Florida Music Scene blog

"So here it is...Night of Broken Glass. This was John Wylie's (of Morning Again) emo-core band. Before you jump up and down and lose your mind about the word "emo", before these bands you see on MTV with their tight pants and eyeliner singing about some girl who "broke their heart", emo meant EMOTIONAL HARDCORE!! The midwest in the 90s was huge on this stuff and of those my favorite was Split Lip who became Chamberlain. NOBG must have sat down and listened to "For the Love Of the Wounded" a few times because these songs would have fit nicely on there. This demo unfortunately only contains 2 songs but 6 were recorded. A friend from Miami says he has them but isnt quite sure where they are so Ill keep you posted on the status of those. The band was a super group of sorts in South Florida feature Eric Laetner (Jordan's brother) on vocals, John and Kevin from Morning Again on guitars, Bundee from Mehkago NT on bass and long time showgoer Edwin on drums. Eventually they would go through lineup changes and I was never able to see them play. I heard the tape for the first time in about 10 years and it still sounds fresh. Again, Ill keep trying to find the other songs but until then, enjoy the demo "Best Friend Material". I was also able to scan the lyric sheet so thats an added bonus. Members went on to and previously played in Culture, Morning Again, Where Fear and Weapons Meet, Until the End, Trust No One, Waking Kills the Dream, Dead Blue Sky, Mehkago NT, A Jealousy Issue and Crestfallen."

Night Of Broken Glass - Demo

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HD3B2KSW

Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution, May 2nd and 3rd

In case you've been living under a rock or in a cave for the past 6 months, the Burning Fight book and accompanying show is May 2nd and 3rd. This is going to be THE show of 2009. Tickets sold out in under 24 hours. Loads of reunions. Wait, did I say reunions? Lets take a look at the lineup:

Unbroken
Disembodied
Trial
Killing Time
Underdog
Guilt
Split Lip
Threadbare
108
Reach the Sky
Damnation AD
Ringworm
Bane
Have Heart
Betrayed
Blacklisted
Soul Control
The Killer
Harms Way
Convicted
Thought Crusade

The lineup is subject to change and Im still crossing my fingers for Harvest to get added. Something for everybody. Check out the Burning Fight Myspace for more info.

By The Grace of God Reunion, Krazy Fest 2011

By The Grace of God will be playing a reunion this May in Louisville as Krazy Fest will once again be held. They've only listed a few bands but the lineup so far is:

By The Grace of God
Chamberlain/Split Lip
Anti-Flag
Bane
Bouncing Souls
Samiam

Keep up to date on the Krazy Fest website as they will be announcing more bands soon.

Selling Lots of Shirts and Hoodies

So Im doing what I swore I would never do: sell some of my shirts. I've recently lost one of my jobs and with a new house that my wife and I recently purchased, we need the money. This is the first batch (and hopefully only batch) of shirts that I'll be unloading. Here's how the chart works.

Band name - Description of the shirt - Color - Size - Shortsleeve, Longsleeve, Zipup, etc.

if you have questions, by all means please ask. I will give you the best description possible as well as provide photos for any of them. I have 100% positive feedback on Ebay and I have been trading for 10 years so you can purchase with confidence. Send all offers to xchipxsem@gmail.com.

Tshirts
108 "One Path For Me Through Destiny, Reprint" Beige M SS
108 "Creation, Sustenance, Destruction" Black M SS
As Friends Rush "Back In Coffee Black, Reunion" Black L SS
Ashes "Network Sound" White XL SS
Aftershock "Letters" Olive Green XL SS
A18 "All My Heroes Are Dead" Black M SS
Black SS "315 SXE, Reaper Records" Black L SS
Clear "Deeper Than Blood" Navy XXL SS
Clear "US Summer Tour 98" White XL SS
Caliban “Erase The Enemy” Navy XL SS
Caliban “Japan/USA Tour 01” Black XL SS
Cycle "Roller Coaster" Tan XL SS
Die Hard "Looking Out For #1" Black XL SS
Double Or Nothing Records "Logo" Black M SS
The Dillinger Escape Plan "Calculating Infinity" Black M SS
Donnybrook "Skull and Hockey Sticks" Black M SS
The Dead Unknown "Bridge City Hardcore" Black M SS
Dragonforce "Ultra Beatdown" Black L SS
Eyelid "If It Kills" Navy XL SS
Falling Forward "Birds, Initial Records" Grey XL LS
Hank Jones "Atomic Bomb" Black M SS
Indecision "For Those I Love..." Black M SS
Indecision "One Last Time, Reunion" Black M SS
Length Of Time "Approach To The New World 1998" Black M SS
Living Hell "Goat/Lockin Out Logo" Black L SS
Loyal To The Grave "Logo" Camo L SS
Loyal To The Grave "Graffiti Logo" Black M SS
Metallica "Reload" Black M SS
Miles Away "B9 Preorder Shirt" Black M SS
Morrissey "Portrait" Black L SS
No Warning "Ill Blood" Black M SS
Purification "Quiggle Angel" Black L SS
xReflectx "Demo Design" Navy M SS
Sarin "I Think I Hate You" Hunter Green XL SS
Seventh Star "Cro-Mags Ripoff" Black M SS
Shark Attack "Swim At Your Own Risk" Black M SS
Shelter "In The Van Again Tour 2000" Navy XL SS
Spawn "Emblem Records" Teal XL SS
Split Lip "Revisited 2009, Reunion" Brown M SS
Still Here Clothing "Grenades" Black L SS
Still Here Clothing "Planes" Black M SS
Straight Edge "Battle Royale Mock" Black M SS
Straight Edge "Even In Death" Black M SS
Straight Edge "Seventh Dagger Baseball Tee" Grey/Black Sleeves M LS
Straight Edge "XXX Spider" Black M SS
Straight Edge "Tattoo Flash SXE" Black M SS
Straight Edge "666 XXX" Red XXL HS
Straight Edge "Kill Your Local Drug Dealer, Original" Black L SS
Straight Edge "XXX" Brown M SS
Straight Edge “Drug Free” Olive Green XXL SS
Straight Edge "Baseball Tee" Grey/Black Sleeves M LS
Straight Edge "Smoking Is For Losers" Black XXL SS
This Is Hell "Long Island" Grey M SS
To Die For "Metal Logo" Black L SS
Trial "You Can't Kill An Idea" Black M SS
Unconquered "You Say Moderation, I Scream Prohibition" Brown XL SS
Undying "Let It End With Us" Black XL SS
Unholy "New Life Behind Closed Eyes Preorder Design" Black L SS


Hoodies and Zipups
108 "Creation, Sustenance, Destruction" Black M Z
Bad Brains "Logo" Black XL HS
The Banner "Ribcage" Black M Z
Casey Jones "No Smoking" Navy M W
Clear "Lucky 13" Navy XL W
Figure Four "F IV" Black M Z
New Age Records "Watching You Fall..." White XL HS

Basketball Jersey
Vision "New Jersey" Teal Size 44 B

Voice Of The Voiceless compilation and layout

Here we have the Voice of the Voiceless compilation that was released in 1991 by Smorgasbord Records and later released on CD by Doghouse Records. While nowadays, compilations seem to be a thing of the past, this was a good one when it came out (no I didnt get it when it came out). Great lineup of bands including Split Lip, Endpoint, Youth of Today, Shelter, Worlds Collide, and more singing songs about vegetarianism and veganism. Also notable that Rob R. Rock is featured on here...he was a straight edge rapper from North Carolina. There was a whole big story about him but I don't remember the details so hopefully someone will fill in the holes. I also included scans of the layout. Enjoy

*NEW LINK*

Voice Of The Voiceless Compilation

Classic Records: Falling Forward "Hand Me Down"

Louisville had a knack for pumping out great bands and Falling Forward is definitely in my top 3. How this record is no longer in print is beyond me. "Hand Me Down" is just one of those records you have to get someone to sit down and listen to because when today's generation hears the word "Emo", they probably think of 4 or 5 guys dressed in extremely tight pants, ironed hair, goofy sunglasses and pastel colored shirts. If thats what you think of when you hear the word "Emo", extend your arm, make your hand into a fist, punch yourself in the face, then scroll to the end of this post and download this record to learn something. Emo or emo-core is emotional hardcore. Aggressive music with emotional lyrics and/or vocals. Rites of Spring and Embrace (arguably) started it and these bands from the midwest really did a great job perfecting it. Falling Forward and Split Lip were definitely my favorites (along with Dayspring) but lets not get off track. "Hand Me Down" had this energy that seems lacking in alot of music today. The vocals are yelled/sung with this strained style that you could tell when he finished tracking he was probably crying from the emotion. Live, I never got to see em (Louisville Joe may be able to help me with this one) but I imagine the crowd crying while singing along. This record was originally released on the now defunct Initial Records and has been out of print since the early 2000s. Such a shame...I wish someone would reissue this with a remastering for the new generation of kids who need to be educated. Members went on to Elliot but this is their defining moment in my opinion. I looked on youtube for a live video of the band but kept finding some new band of the same name. Either way, Ive included a link to download this amazing record so I encourage you to check it out and enjoy this as much as I do.

Falling Forward - Hand Me Down

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DLJBDJET

Hate5six.com filmed EVERY set from Burning Fight. Trial footage up now

Heres a statement from hate5six.com:

After a 15 hour drive home, a towed car, and a speeding ticket, my friends and I finally made it home. This weekend I was privileged to cover the Burning Fight book release show in its entirety. This was a once in a lifetime experience and opportunity and I would like to extend my deepest thanks to everyone who made it all possible. Congratulations to Brian Peterson for completing his written documentation of the 90's hardcore landscape and thanks to Jim Grimes and Caitlin Lipinski for all their hard work. I'd like to send a special thank-you to Caitlin for answering all of my pestering e-mails and for not strangling me this weekend; I can't even begin to think how much of a nuisance I was to her.

The goals of this DIY project of mine have always been:

1. Deliver the highest quality live videos
2. Share all footage in its entirety
3. Publish videos as quickly possible

I believed Burning Fight needed to be covered in this manner. For the thousands of people unable to attend, and for those who were fortunate enough to be there, I wanted capture everything and deliver it while the excitement and passion from the event was still palpable. I am generally very thorough in terms of presenting my work (proper titles, setlists, etc), but in the interest of getting the footage out there as quickly as possible, I've decided to release all the footage in three phases:

Phase 1: Each set will be posted as raw footage with little or no editing/labeling. I'd hate to keep people waiting to see the footage solely because I'm attempting to satiate my anal retentive standards.

Phase 2: Each set will be edited and properly parsed/labeled. Videos in this phase will also be dubbed over with audio from the soundboard. Many thanks to Mike Gam for sharing the audio and Rusty Aggacid for manning the soundboard all weekend. Mike and/or I will also be sharing the audio source for anyone who is interested. Soundboard audio was captured for Ringworm, Guilt, Underdog, 108, Killing Time, Trial, Disembodied, Harm's Way, The Killer, Blacklisted, Have Heart, Threadbare, Split Lip, Reach the Sky, Bane, Converge, and Unbroken.

Phase 3: Each set will be available, in its entirety, for free download. I plan on spending a considerable amount of time determining the best way to achieve this. More on this to come...

How Can You Help?

I will need a lot of help with this...

1. I ask that everyone be patient as I work to get this all up. Roughly speaking, an hour's worth of video takes an hour to transfer, approximately 2-3 hours to encode, and a very long time to upload (this is just for Phase 1, too). There were 22 bands this weekend (all with varying set lengths) so this will take some time. My plan is to have at least 1 set up each day (possibly more on the weekends starting some time this week). The order in which the footage will be released is undetermined. The mathematician inside me is wanting to use a random number generator; any other order would presumably cause people's heads to explode due to anticipation.

2. My overall knowledge of the setlists is incomplete. Some bands provided setlists to me, some bands said the names of the songs during the set, and others played stuff I never heard before. If you're familiar with a band's catalog to the point where you can identify every song they played (hell, if you're in the band), please contact me (hate5sixproductions@gmail.com). This will expedite Phase 2 and Phase 3 considerably. As you're watching the sets, just note the name of the song and the approximate time stamp. I'm sure I can figure it all out myself, but there are just way too many gaps. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

3. Please don't request a DVD of the show. I feel bad saying no to the numerous requests I've received about this, but at this time I cannot grant such requests for a myriad of reasons. As I said above, I will make everything available for free download during Phase 3.

This is going to be a long project, but it will be undeniably well worth the wait. I appreciate everyone's patience in advance and I assure you every song from every band will see the light of day in the relative near future. As Jim Grimes said before Unbroken, "this is your show." Thanks again to everyone who made this weekend unforgettable: from the organizers to the bands to the amazing people I met to everyone who donated money for tapes--you are the reasons why I love hardcore.

Please repost this message everywhere you can in its entirety. Follow me on Twitter for updates and progress reports: twitter.com/hate5six

hate5six.com
burningfightbook.com

You can watch the unedited footage of Trial's set here:
http://hate5six.com/player.php?album=89580

Tommy Gunn (Communication Redlight, The Albatross webzine) interview

Let's begin this interview by discussing The Albatross, your new webzine. Discuss the webzine and the circumstances leading to the creation of it.

A lot of what The Albatross is kinda just lets me be a nerd. When I was in Communication Redlight, there were a lot of awesome bands that we got to play with. Jeff Caudill, Popeye Vogelsang, Samiam, Ex Number Five, Vision, plus a bunch that I’m not even remembering right now. It was awesome that I was meeting these people who I admired so much when I was a kid and now they’re (kinda) my contemporaries. If I was 14 and tried to hang out with a 21 year old, it would have been a totally different ball game.

Around the same time, I was talking to a friend and started talking about the "Cup of Coffee Theory". Basically, I think that there’s a number of musicians who we don’t necessarily want to get nerdy about their bands but we genuinely want to hear their point of view about life. Everyone connects that way with at least one band/musician. You’d just wanna get a cup of coffee with the people you really respect as musicians and as people. Literally, "let’s go get a cup of coffee and talk about life".

So the situation came up where I’d really love to have a "cup of coffee" with someone. However, when you’re hanging out and drinking all night at a bar, it’s the last thing you really want to do. So, after a little while, I guess, I just thought about a way that I could ask some really cool people some cool questions. Try to bring out who they are as people (insecurities and all). I wanna know about what makes them write the music that they write.

That was, in essence, the birth of The Albatross. I don’t wanna know about where you got your band name. I wanna know about what was going on in the band 10 years ago. I wanna find a connection to why that person's music connects with me so much. So that was kind of the start.

The other side of it is getting a retrospective look at why the band failed. You know, you ask a dude why their band broke up a week after it breaks up and you’re going to get a different answer than if you were to ask them 10 years from now. I want that honest look at it and I’ve gotten a plethora of great answers, whether it be someone who finally owns up that they were the ones being a jerk or if it was just the lifestyle.

I had done a little bit of research and I didn’t really see any "exclusive" reunion blogs, which kind of goes hand in hand with the interviews that I wanted to do. Sites like Stuck In The Past and some others helped form the idea of going to one spot for specific information on a genre or a scene but I really couldn’t find one source for reunions, interviews and related news.

I remember the first time we (Rob from Redlight and I) met Caudill and we had a few drinks and got a little nerdy with him. Towards the end of the night, I asked him if he got weirded out by people being giant fans. He replied that he appreciates it a lot more than he used to. I thought it was a good question but that could have been the alcohol talking. By the end of the night, he started telling us about this new band that he was starting up with Popeye (from Farside). A few months later, we thought he was nice enough, so we sent him an email asking if they wanted to do a split 7" with us. They, of course, said yes.


Discuss the other members of The Albatross's staff.

We kinda just got a rag-tag crew. Right now, it’s mostly just friends who I need help from. For example, in Communication Redlight, we had Nate Gluck (Vision, Ensign, Strength 691, The Fire Still Burns) fill in on bass. Really awesome dude who helped us out a lot in the band. About a year later, Strength 691 did a reunion show and completely blew me away. I remember talking to him after the show and just saying, "man, I’m really angry that no one gave me a Strength tape when I was 15 years old. We need to do an interview for this thing I’m trying to do."

The problem there was I wasn’t a fan when I was a kid and when Strength 691 was in their prime. I didn’t know what nerdy drama happened in the band back in the day. I’ve done a few interviews where right off the bat, I tell the band I'm interviewing that I don’t know who they are (I hate trying to fake it - I usually get caught) but I knew that Nate would have a lot of great stuff to say if someone just asked him the right questions. So I asked my buddy Greg (from The Wait, a band that we used to play with) to do the interview for me. He got pretty pumped about it. We attempted to do a video interview for that too. We’re still chipping away at it.

I got another kid named Colin who I’ve seen at a few shows who really loves being 'involved' with anything to do with music. So over the past few weeks, he’s been posting too.

I hope that it changes sooner or later but right now, I’m doing about 99% of it and it’s time consuming. I end up getting into two hour conversations with people and then have to figure out how to transcribe it. With transcribing, you can either pay someone to do it (but you still have to go through everything) or you can spend about 4-6 hours doing it yourself. Then there’s the regular blog aspect too. I get stressed just thinking about it.


You've conducted interviews with a number of '90s notables (Popeye Vogelsang, Jon Bunch, Sergie Loobkoff, etc.). Do you have any other interviews lined up with '90s people that you can talk about?

They've really been killer so far. You can start to piece a 'whole story' together after the first batch of interviews with dudes from that time period. It’s really fun. There’s also a lot of consistencies and themes that you see run through each of the bands. I kind of focused on the 'post-hardcore' time period because that’s a lot of what I was listening to when I first got into it. Well, that and ska (and I’m alright with that).

You watch documentaries like American Hardcore and you see how the East Coast got introduced to the West Coast (and vice versa) and you see a lot of those same types of things happen with the 'post hardcore' era, starting in ’88 and going all the way through the 2000s.

There are a bunch of people I’ve interviewed that are still just audio files sitting on my computer. Like I said before, it’s either time or money and I barely have either.

I (apparently) do something pretty unique with my interviews and it’s actually pretty un-journalistic. I let the interviewee read their interview and "approve" it before I put it on the site. The way I look at it, I want a sincere story and I want someone to be honest with me when I’m talking to them. I want them to be comfortable and not worry about saying the wrong thing. The funny thing is, the interviews rarely get changed. Any changes that have been made are usually wrong information or facts that the person forgot because it was 20 years ago.

I was doing the interview with Kenny Inouye (Marginal Man) and he said that was the first time that he’s ever had someone offer that. That kinda makes me feel like I’m on the right track. If someone’s too worried about giving an "official" answer, I feel like you can always tell.

So, the list of interviews on my computer and in my head right now include Texas Is The Reason, Damnation AD, Ex-Number 5, Strength 691, Mace, Split Lip/Chamberlain, Gameface and, of course, part 2 of Popeye’s interview.


As a writer and as an interviewer, who are some of your influences and why?

To be honest, I don’t really consider myself either. I mean, if I end up being good at this, maybe it’ll be because I don’t really know anything. I love watching documentaries because they get to tell a full story and really paint a picture about what’s going on. I was talking about American Hardcore earlier and whether you believe it’s accurate in it's conclusions or not, I believe it did weave a story about how everything was connected in the early '80s. And compared to the book, a lot wasn’t even in the DVD.

The other week, we all sat around one night drinking and I think we went through three documentaries while we were all hanging out: Daniel Johnston, Fishbone and American Hardcore. All three tell crazy stories that you can’t even get out in a two hour conversation with someone. I wanna try to squeeze that quality of story into an hour conversation.

As far as my writing style, I think that I’ve always been partial to the "conversational" style a la CS Lewis or someone like that. I like to write and read like it’s a conversation. Hell, I’m sure that you can tell that strictly from this interview! I want someone to read an interview like they’re actually asking the questions and reading this stream of thought that comes from the answer.


What are some of the things that make The Albatross stand out from all the other music websites?

As far as the interviews? I can only hope that I’m asking questions that a bunch of people are thinking about but have never been answered. Especially from bands that they never thought they’d hear from again. You know, to hear Popeye talk about what "Moral Straightjacket" is about, or hear Jon Bunch talk about how he’s "broken" and wants to give people hope. That’s the kind of stuff that I’m interested in. I don’t want to write interviews, I want to write conversations that two people are having over a cup of coffee (see what I did there?!).

I’m trying to expand the blog part without veering too much from what I wanted to do. There’s definitely some cool stuff going on though. I just started a weekly "feature" a couple of weeks ago called "What Are You Doing?!" that just highlights the fact that Popeye and Caudill are in Your Favorite Trainwreck, or Nate from BoySetsFire is in I AM HERESY. That’s all the stuff that we sit at a bar and talk to each other about.


Discuss your now defunct band Communication Redlight.

Aren’t you supposed to wait 10 years or so before you ask that? Communication Redlight broke up last August because it just became time. It was heartbreaking for all of us. We put a lot of time into it and all have great memories of it. When we started, some of the "older" guys kinda took us under their wing because we just acted like it was '96 everytime we played. Hell, when YFT came out, we covered Gameface and Farside songs - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoJ08L7VZok

That’s kinda what we became and we were alright with that because any time a band from that era was coming through, we’d be asked to play. For me, it was awesome to get pigeonholed like that because part of what I was doing was trying to make those crazy memories (like doing a 7" with the guys from Gameface and Farside). "Do something that you can tell your grandkids about." That was kind of the mantra that I would say to myself any time an opportunity came up.

After a while though, stuff just got tougher. Last year, we had played a few reunion shows with our friends in Folly. During those three weekends, one of our guys moved up to the Catskills and another guy lost his car. It would take Frankie (guitar) two hours to get to New Brunswick. There were no two members that were closer than 40 minutes. Practices got harder. I remember we played a show with Weston in Hoboken and we hadn’t practiced in like 5 months. It just got hard, so we decided to end it on good terms before we all started hating or resenting each other. It’s a shame but it was going to happen one way or the other.


What are some of your favorite Communication Redlight songs and why?

It’s gonna sound a little cheesy but I really like all of them for different reasons. "1013" and "One More Song" are my favorites from the first round of songs. I went through a pretty weird and rough divorce when me and Rob (guitar) first started Communication. My ex-wife cheated on me a few weeks before we got married and it (obviously) didn’t end well. I was pretty heartbroken and really messed up, so I turned to music.

You know, I always used to say that my first love was music and I gave up on that years ago. So I went back to it and really found a passion that I haven’t felt in about 5 or 6 years. The first round of songs (the One More Song acoustic EP) was mostly about that whole messed up situation of being married and my wife not leaving me but still cheating on me. "Advantage To Crush" was actually a song from me and Rob's old band (the band was actually called advantage to crush) which was a song that was written 8 years earlier when I first had a crush on my ex-wife.

After we got Frankie, we got a little "tougher". I was over my ex and as much as I needed that release or therapy at the time, I also hate sulking over stuff. The pity party was over. "I Am The Mercy Factor" and "Intent Proceeds Content" are some of my favorites from the later stuff. I think that they really helped define what we were starting to turn into and where we were going. They started to have the tone (lyrically) of the songs that I used to write. I’m glad that I got back to that. I really hated complaining about girls.


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

Bad Brains, Jeff Buckley, Five Iron Frenzy, Supergrub, Jeremy Enigk, The Slackers, Skinnerbox, Sense Field, Farside, Chisel, Descendents... the list could go on and on. There are specific things that I like about each dude, so it's hard to pick a top list. It'd really have to be like a "top 20 list in no specific order" type thing.

Being that I never really played an instrument, I always listened for dudes who I thought had great melodies. Even in hardcore, you can hear someone with great melodies. Bands where singers screamed their asses off but you could find a melody and dynamics, not just a tonal center. CIV was great. Walter, Shai Hulud, Strongarm, etc.

The anger, emotion or whatever you wanna call it hit me a good portion of the time but when I was younger, I felt that angst in the melodies and words before I realized how brutal the instrumentation was.

It took me a long time to listen for a singer as "fitting the band" rather than just sounding good. I think Clutch's self-titled album was the first time I really heard that. I hated his voice on that record when I first listened to it but those grooves were so good, I couldn’t stop listening. Eventually, I couldn’t imagine anyone else singing anything over that record.

You know, doing these interviews and hearing some sincere answers to questions and not just a paragraph (or sentence) really makes me want to make this interview long. I don’t really like it and I don’t feel like anyone should listen to me and I don’t have anything good to say. Gives me a new found respect for what I do.

Are you currently doing anything band-wise? If so, please discuss.

Right now, I guess, I’m just taking it easy. I’m having some fun with something called Mase Montana. It was actually a piece of what Communication Redlight really was. I’m basically recording a bunch of acoustic covers with some of the people that I’ve met over the past few years. It’s fun, laid back and I don’t have to write lyrics. Sometimes it’s hard to be just a singer of a band because there’s so many other singers that I would love to be in a band with, but I’m too scared that I’d screw up what they got going. This is a fun way for me to drink a few beers and have fun.

There are about 6 songs up there now and I probably have another 5 waiting for me to mix and sing over. I’ve done covers with some great bands too. We’ve done everything from Cyndi Lauper and Sam Cooke to The Descendents and The Lemonheads, with members (oh, I’m totally pluggin') of The Wait, Eyeswan, The Fire Still Burns, Your Favorite Trainwreck, The Scandals, Gaslight Anthem, Not The Bees and a few more that I'm forgetting right now. I’d love for it to be an ongoing project. I don’t think I’ll ever give up playing music again and hopefully soon, I'll be doing another full band.

I think that the only other person from Communication who's still doing music (right now at least) is our drummer Brad. He’s doing some heavy stoner rock type stuff. It’s brutal. I think they just booked their first show and, in true punk rock fashion, don’t have a name yet.