Top 100 1990′s
By admin on Apr. 12, 2010.
- 1.6 Band, Self Titled LP, USA, 1992
- Acme, Self Titled 7″, Belgium, 1994
- All Chrome, Flounders Flyers College & Canada LP, USA, 1999
- Arms Reach, Self Titled 7″, Australia, 1998
- Assuck, State To State 7″, USA, 1993
- Aus-Rotten, Fuck Nazi Sympathy, USA, 1994
- Bastard, Wind Of Pain LP, Japan, 1990
- Bikini Kill, The Anti-Pleasure Dissertation 7″, USA, 1995
- Born Against, Industrial Relations Department 7″, USA, 1990
- Breakdown, Blacklisted LP, USA, 1997
- Burn, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1990
- By The Grace Of God, For The Love Of Indie Rock 7″, USA, 1996
- Charles Bronson, Youth Attack LP, USA, 1997
- Citizens Arrest, A Light In The Darkness 7″, USA, 1990
- Chopping Block, Grizzly Fetish 7″, USA, 1991
- Cop Out, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1993
- Crossed Out, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1991
- Crown Of Thornz, Train Yard Blues 12″, USA, 1995
- Dead Nation, Face The Nation 7″, USA, 1998
- Deadguy, Work Ethic 7″, USA, 1994
- Death Side, Bet On The Possibility LP, Japan, 1991
- Devoid Of Faith, Purpose: Lost 10″, USA, 1999
- Disclose-Tragedy LP, Japan, 1994
- Down But Not Out, Demo, USA, 1998
- DropDead, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1992
- Electric Wizard, Come My Fanatics LP, England, 1996
- Endpoint, In A Time Of Hate LP, USA, 1990
- Eyeball, More Days To Come LP, Germany, 1998
- Eyehategod, In The Name Of Suffering LP, USA, 1992
- Face Value, Coming Of Age 7″, USA, 1990
- Fastbreak, Where It Lies 7″, USA, 1997
- Fit For Abuse, Mindless Violence 7″, USA, 1995
- Floor, Dove LP, USA, 1994
- Floorpunch, Goal Line Stand Demo, USA, 1995
- Four One One, This Isn’t Me LP, USA, 1991
- Fu Manchu, The Action Is Go LP, USA, 1997
- Full Speed Ahead, Demo, USA, 1998
- Gauze, Kao O Aratte Denaoshite Koi LP, Japan, 1997
- Get High, Demo, USA, 1996
- Gordon Solie Mother Fuckers, Chairshot Politics 7″, USA, 1998
- H-100’s, Distort Cleveland 7″, USA, 1995
- Hatchetface, Volume Two LP, USA, 1995
- Haywire, Private Hell LP, USA, 1990
- Heroin, Paper Bag 7″, USA, 1992
- His Hero Is Gone, Fifteen Counts Of Arson LP, USA, 1997
- Huggy Bear, Don’t Die 7″, England, 1993
- Human Remains, Using Sickness As A Hero CD, USA, 1996
- The Icemen, Rest In Peace 7″, USA, 1991
- In My Eyes, Demo, USA, 1997
- Infest, Mankind 7″, USA, 1991
- Inmates, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1995
- Integrity, Humanity Is The Devil 10″, USA, 1996
- Into Another, Ignaurus LP, USA, 1994
- Jello Biafra With DOA, Last Screams Of The Missing Neighbors LP, USA/Canada, 1990
- Judge, The Storm 7″, USA, 1991
- Kiss It Goodbye, She Loves Me…She Loves Me Not LP, USA, 1997
- Laughing Hyenas, Crawl 7″, USA, 1992
- Leeway, Desperate Measures LP, USA, 1991
- Los Crudos/Spitboy, Split LP, USA, 1994
- Madball, Dropping Many Suckers 7″, USA, 1992
- Mainstrike, Times Still Here 7″, Netherlands, 1995
- Man Is The Bastard, Sum Of The Men 12″, USA, 1992
- Man Lifting Banner, Ten Inches That Shock The World LP, Netherlands, 1992
- Mouthpiece, What Was Said LP, USA, 1994
- Mukilteo Fairies, Closet Check 7″, USA, 1993
- Neanderthal, Fighting Music 7″, USA, 1990
- Neurosis, The Word As Law LP, USA, 1990
- No Comment, Downsided 7″, USA, 1992
- No Escape, Demo, USA, 1990
- Out Cold, Self Titled LP, USA, 1994
- Paintbox, Screaming Shouting Crying LP, Japan, 1999
- Poison Idea, Feel The Darkness LP, USA, 1990
- Puncture Wound, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1999
- Quicksand, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1990
- Ringworm, Demo, USA, 1991
- Ripping Corpse, Dreaming With The Dead LP, USA, 1991
- Rollins Band, The End Of Silence LP, USA, 1992
- Rorschach, Protestant LP, USA, 1992
- Rupture, Righteous Fuck 7″, Australia, 1991
- S.D.S., Scum System Kill 7″, Japan, 1996
- S.O.D., Speak Swedish Or Die 7″, Sweden, 1990
- Saint Vitus, Die Healing LP, USA, 1995
- Septic Death, Theme From Ozobozo LP, USA, 1992
- Skewbald/Grand Union, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1991
- Sleater Kinney, Dig Me Out LP, USA, 1997
- Sleep, Sleep’s Holy Mountain LP, USA, 1993
- Spazz/Black Army Jacket, Split 7″, USA, 1997
- Speak 714, The Scum Also Rises 7″, USA, 1999
- Sportswear, It Runs Deep 7″, Norway, 1998
- Supertouch, The Earth Is Flat LP, USA, 1990
- Talk Is Poison, Straight To Hell 7″, USA, 1998
- Team Dresch, Personal Best LP, USA, 1995
- True Blue, Demo, Germany, 1998
- Turning Point, It’s Always Darkest Before The Dawn LP, USA, 1991
- Verbal Assault, On 12″, USA, 1990
- Voorhees, Spilling Blood Without Reason LP, England, 1994
- Warhead, Cry Of Truth LP, Japan, 1991
- Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! – The Record, Compilation 7″, International, 1991
- Forever, Compilation 7″, USA, 1991
- Rebuilding, Compilation 7″, USA, 1991
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Signifying Nothing Top 100 Of The Nineties
By admin on Jul. 27, 2009.
Four years late, here is the final list. One thing I’ve noticed as I put this together is that there is a great lack of compilations on this list. A lot of the decent compilations in the nineties have great songs, but also terrible ones. I still feel like I am missing something obvious…
- 1.6 Band, Self Titled LP, USA, 1992
- Acme, Self Titled 7″, Belgium, 1994
- All Chrome, Flounders Flyers College & Canada LP, USA, 1999
- Arms Reach, Self Titled 7″, Australia, 1998
- Assuck, State To State 7″, USA, 1993
- Aus-Rotten, Fuck Nazi Sympathy, USA, 1994
- Bastard, Wind Of Pain LP, Japan, 1990
- Bikini Kill, The Anti-Pleasure Dissertation 7″, USA, 1995
- Born Against, Industrial Relations Department 7″, USA, 1990
- Breakdown, Blacklisted LP, USA, 1997
- Burn, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1990
- By The Grace Of God, For The Love Of Indie Rock 7″, USA, 1996
- Charles Bronson, Youth Attack LP, USA, 1997
- Citizens Arrest, A Light In The Darkness 7″, USA, 1990
- Chopping Block, Grizzly Fetish 7″, USA, 1991
- Cop Out, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1993
- Crossed Out, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1991
- Crown Of Thornz, Train Yard Blues 12″, USA, 1995
- Dead Nation, Face The Nation 7″, USA, 1998
- Deadguy, Work Ethic 7″, USA, 1994
- Death Side, Bet On The Possibility LP, Japan, 1991
- Devoid Of Faith, Purpose: Lost 10″, USA, 1999
- Disclose-Tragedy LP, Japan, 1994
- Down But Not Out, Demo, USA, 1998
- DropDead, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1992
- Electric Wizard, Come My Fanatics LP, England, 1996
- Endpoint, In A Time Of Hate LP, USA, 1990
- Eyeball, More Days To Come LP, Germany, 1998
- Eyehategod, In The Name Of Suffering LP, USA, 1992
- Face Value, Coming Of Age 7″, USA, 1990
- Fastbreak, Where It Lies 7″, USA, 1997
- Fit For Abuse, Mindless Violence 7″, USA, 1995
- Floor, Dove LP, USA, 1994
- Floorpunch, Goal Line Stand Demo, USA, 1995
- Four One One, This Isn’t Me LP, USA, 1991
- Fu Manchu, The Action Is Go LP, USA, 1997
- Full Speed Ahead, Demo, USA, 1998
- Gauze, Kao O Aratte Denaoshite Koi LP, Japan, 1997
- Get High, Demo, USA, 1996
- Gordon Solie Mother Fuckers, Chairshot Politics 7″, USA, 1998
- H-100′s, Distort Cleveland 7″, USA, 1995
- Hatchetface, Volume Two LP, USA, 1995
- Haywire, Private Hell LP, USA, 1990
- Heroin, Paper Bag 7″, USA, 1992
- His Hero Is Gone, Fifteen Counts Of Arson LP, USA, 1997
- Huggy Bear, Don’t Die 7″, England, 1993
- Human Remains, Using Sickness As A Hero CD, USA, 1996
- The Icemen, Rest In Peace 7″, USA, 1991
- In My Eyes, Demo, USA, 1997
- Infest, Mankind 7″, USA, 1991
- Inmates, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1995
- Integrity, Humanity Is The Devil 10″, USA, 1996
- Into Another, Ignaurus LP, USA, 1994
- Jello Biafra With DOA, Last Screams Of The Missing Neighbors LP, USA/Canada, 1990
- Judge, The Storm 7″, USA, 1991
- Kiss It Goodbye, She Loves Me…She Loves Me Not LP, USA, 1997
- Laughing Hyenas, Crawl 7″, USA, 1992
- Leeway, Desperate Measures LP, USA, 1991
- Los Crudos/Spitboy, Split LP, USA, 1994
- Madball, Dropping Many Suckers 7″, USA, 1992
- Mainstrike, Times Still Here 7″, Netherlands, 1995
- Man Is The Bastard, Sum Of The Men 12″, USA, 1992
- Man Lifting Banner, Ten Inches That Shock The World LP, Netherlands, 1992
- Mouthpiece, What Was Said LP, USA, 1994
- Mukilteo Fairies, Closet Check 7″, USA, 1993
- Neanderthal, Fighting Music 7″, USA, 1990
- Neurosis, The Word As Law LP, USA, 1990
- No Comment, Downsided 7″, USA, 1992
- No Escape, Demo, USA, 1990
- Out Cold, Self Titled LP, USA, 1994
- Paintbox, Screaming Shouting Crying LP, Japan, 1999
- Poison Idea, Feel The Darkness LP, USA, 1990
- Puncture Wound, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1999
- Quicksand, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1990
- Ringworm, Demo, USA, 1991
- Ripping Corpse, Dreaming With The Dead LP, USA, 1991
- Rollins Band, The End Of Silence LP, USA, 1992
- Rorschach, Protestant LP, USA, 1992
- Rupture, Righteous Fuck 7″, Australia, 1991
- S.D.S., Scum System Kill 7″, Japan, 1996
- S.O.D., Speak Swedish Or Die 7″, Sweden, 1990
- Saint Vitus, Die Healing LP, USA, 1995
- Septic Death, Theme From Ozobozo LP, USA, 1992
- Skewbald/Grand Union, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1991
- Sleater Kinney, Dig Me Out LP, USA, 1997
- Sleep, Sleep’s Holy Mountain LP, USA, 1993
- Spazz/Black Army Jacket, Split 7″, USA, 1997
- Speak 714, The Scum Also Rises 7″, USA, 1999
- Sportswear, It Runs Deep 7″, Norway, 1998
- Supertouch, The Earth Is Flat LP, USA, 1990
- Talk Is Poison, Straight To Hell 7″, USA, 1998
- Team Dresch, Personal Best LP, USA, 1995
- True Blue, Demo, Germany, 1998
- Turning Point, It’s Always Darkest Before The Dawn LP, USA, 1991
- Verbal Assault, On 12″, USA, 1990
- Voorhees, Spilling Blood Without Reason LP, England, 1994
- Warhead, Cry Of Truth LP, Japan, 1991
- Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! – The Record, Compilation 7″, International, 1991
- Forever, Compilation 7″, USA, 1991
- Rebuilding, Compilation 7″, USA, 1991
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Hands Tied
By admin on Aug. 1, 2005.
I did this one with Tim from Hands Tied in September of 1997.
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What is the history of Hands Tied and what is the current lineup now?
Hands Tied started around the same time Mouthpiece was calling it quits. I guess it was sometime early summer 1996. Hands Tied was an idea that came up during the 1995 Mouthpiece summer tour. At the time, we knew that Mouthpiece was going to be coming to an end soon. Matt, the guitarist from Mouthpiece, Ed the Mouthpiece roadie, and myself (Tim) all talked about starting a new band. Shortly after that tour Matt moved to Kentucky, therefore he was quickly out of the picture. Ed and I still wanted to get something going, so we started looking around for other members. At the same time, Ed and I were looking for members, Sean, the Mouthpiece bassist, and his friend Pat were starting to get a band together. Sean played me a tape to see if I was interested in singing for them. I told Ed about it and we decided to give it a try. Shortly after we started to get things together, we recorded a two-song demo that we just sent out to labels. We ended up doing a seven-inch with Equal Vision Records. We played a few shows and then the band started going through some internal problems. Sean had different goals for the band than Ed and I had, so Sean left Hands Tied. Shortly after, Pat left because he felt like he couldn’t go on without Sean. Ed and I started looking for new members immediately. We ended up with the lineup of:
Tim-Vocals
Ed-Bass
Espen-Guitar
Matt-Guitar
Geoff-Drums
We’re presently playing out again and preparing for a west coast winter tour.
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I mentioned to you on Saturday that it will be one year this weekend since Mouthpiece broke up. Any thoughts on the past year?
The past year hasn’t gone as smoothly as I would have liked to seen it go. The member changes took up most of the summer of 1997. It took us awhile to find new members, practice, and get tight; and then it took awhile to start getting shows again. Things are starting to pick up now. My biggest disappointment is that the summer is almost over and we haven’t really done much as a band. We wanted to tour, that didn’t happen; we wanted to record for an LP, that hasn’t happened yet. Like I said, things are definitely starting to pick up. We’ve gotten a few new songs and are planning for a west coast winter tour. We’re also getting a lot of offers to play some really cool shows over the next couple of months. We’re going to be working very hard to get some goals accomplished. Hopefully you’ll be seeing and hearing a lot from Hands Tied in the near future.
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How did you acquire your new members?
Well, we’ve known Matt Smith for a couple of years, and knew that he was into doing the same kind of music that we were. When we found out that he played guitar, we figured that we would give him a try. I met Espen about a year ago. He’s from Norway and came to visit America about a year or two ago. He stayed with us and went to a Mouthpiece show. He came back for another visit about half a year later and that’s when we talked about him possibly moving out here and playing for Hands Tied. As with Matt, Espen was also totally into doing the same style of music. Geoff, our drummer, I’ve known for as long as Mouthpiece was together. He probably went to every Mouthpiece show we ever played, at least in this area. He has been playing drums on and off for a few years. Once he actually got a drum set and we were in need of a drummer, we gave him a try. So far everything has gone better than I could have ever expected. This new lineup is so much better than the original lineup because we’re all on the same level. We all have common interests and have the same plans for the band. I couldn’t ask for things to go any better.
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Will there be an LP soon?
Well, right now we’re working on getting together a lot of shows for the next few months. Since we haven’t been playing this whole summer, we want to try to make up for lost time. We did have an entire LP’s worth of material written before the member changes, but we decided to trash those songs. Sean and Pat wrote most of them without Ed and I around, so we didn’t have any input. We really didn’t like any of the songs that much anyway. Those songs probably would have been rewritten before we recorded them even if the other guys ended up staying in the band. As for now, we have about three brand new songs that we have written with the new lineup. I’m very happy with the way these new songs are coming together. The newer songs have more of a harder, pissed off sound to them. Definitely not as cheery as the seven inch stuff was. In my opinion, this new stuff sounds more like Antidote than Gorilla Biscuits. Hopefully we’ll be ready to record an LP this winter. There are no guarantees but I think it’s very possible. We’ll just have to see how things go.
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Was the song on the Tension Building Fanzine compilation recorded when the 7” was recorded?
Yes, we recorded the seven-inch and the Tension Building song at the same time. We weren’t completely sure what songs were going to be on the seven inch and which song was going on the compilation. I guess we just decided after we recorded. That song, “Lost Ground,” was kind of chosen by Steve from Tension Building to be on his compilation anyway. Steve was there when we recorded everything, so he had his choice.
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How involved are you in the internet?
I actually try to get on the internet once a night. Sometimes I don’t get a chance to get on for a few days. I usually just check out a few selected pages, check my email, and that’s about it. I rarely go into any chat rooms. Almost every time I log on, I find people talking shit about me, my band, and my friends. After awhile, it just becomes ridiculous. I highly doubt any of these people know me personally to talk about me. The funny thing is that not once has anybody actually confronted me face to face. They simply talk shit on a computer, sign a fake name, and I end up never hearing a word from them again. They’re just a bunch of spineless cowards with nothing better to do with their boring lives. These cowards mean nothing and they will be on their way out of the hardcore scene as soon as they graduate high school. I have three words to say to these pieces of shit…get a life!
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What webpages do you like? Anything non-hardcore related?
My favorites are Revelation, Equal Vision, Straight-Edge.com, Impact, Hold True, and Meltdown. Other than hardcore related webpages, I like NBA.com, Sneaker Nation, Nike.com, and a few other Air Jordan and sneaker related webpages. There’s actually so many incredible webpages, I just don’t have enough time in the day to check many new ones out. I usually go to any of those pages I mentioned and check out their links also.
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What do you think of Michael Jordan’s new contract?
Michael Jordan has been such an underpaid player for so many years, he deserves whatever he gets. He is hands down the best basketball player of all time. There is not one player around today that plays with the same dedication and emotion that Jordan does. When Jordan wants to win a game, he wins it. He has brought so much excitement and newfound interest to the game of basketball and the NBA that he deserves to get paid whatever he feels he is worth. If that new contract assures that I’ll get to see another season of Michael Jordan playing basketball, I’m all for it.
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Do you think The Bulls are going to win another title?
If Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen are playing for The Bulls, there is a very good chance that they will win another title. As a matter of fact, I’d have no problem guaranteeing another championship out of those guys. Once they leave Chicago though, it will all come to an end. There are a lot of great young teams out there in the NBA, but none of them can really compete with the well experienced team of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
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What do you think of Dennis Rodman?
I think he’s an incredible rebounder, probably the best in the NBA, but I think some of his off court antics are ridiculous. Whatever though, as long as he plays his heart out and keeps diving for those rebounds, I’m content.
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Any upcoming shows of note?
We’re playing a show in Long Island NY on the 19th of September and on the 20th we’re playing in Buffalo. We’re getting a lot of shows together right now, but nothing is really definite. I think we’ll be touring Europe in January, but we still have a lot of planning to do for that.
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I keep hearing about a show on the 21st in New Brunswick?
We were planning on playing a show at the Down Under in New Brunswick on the 21st of September, but the show kinda got cancelled. There’s a show in NYC with Agnostic Front and Killing Time the same night, that’s why they didn’t go through with the NJ show for us. It looks like the show will be rescheduled for sometime in October.
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Was the transition to new members hard?
The transition to new members took about a month for us to get everything down well. We got all of the old songs down tight, and started writing new material soon after. Right now, the band is doing better than it ever has been. I’m totally happy with the direction our new songs are heading in and the lineup as a whole is so much more in tune with one another. We all pretty much have the same plans, goals, and expectations for Hands Tied. Right now, our guitarist Espen is in Norway trying to apply for citizenship here in America. His visa just ran out, so he had to go back there and get some things straightened out. While he’s gone, we’ll probably get somebody to fill in for him, but hopefully he’ll be able to get back here soon.
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What is the most punk thing you’ve ever done?
Can’t say I’ve done too many “punk” things in my lifetime, but there’s one thing that comes to my mind. It must have been the first time I ever saw Sick Of It All, probably 1989. It was at City Gardens in Trenton, NJ. I was upfront singing along, having fun, being psyched, when all of a sudden, somebody picked me up and forced me to the top of the crowd. Now what you have to understand is at this time, City Gardens didn’t permit stage diving. They had about four huge bouncers that would grab any stage divers, ruff them up and then psychically throw them out the back door. Getting caught stage diving by one of those huge bouncers was definitely not something you wanted to do. Once I got on top of the crowd, I ended up on the stage. I looked into the crowd and saw all four bouncers eyeing me up and motioning to each other to get me. At this point, I’m scared to death, so I dive off the stage. It’s pretty much all I could do to get down anyway. Next thing I know, this kid pulls me down from the crowd and pushes me down to try and hide me. I’m on my knees, hiding, scared shitless, sweating, having trouble breathing, and being unable to see nothing but legs and shoes. After about two minutes, the kid who pulled me down brings me back up. He says, “You’re clear. They gave up on ya.” I guess I was safe at this period, but my body was so psychically shocked from the whole experience that I threw up on the back of some punker dude with a black leather jacket on in front of me. Believe me, it was a lot of throw up too. The guy didn’t know and I surely wasn’t going to tell him. I guess I survived though, I felt pretty punk after that was over.
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Did Mouthpiece ever play City Gardens?
Yes, Mouthpiece played City Gardens four times. The first time we played there, it was with Insted, Vision, and Eye For An Eye, the second time we played with Shelter and Into Another, the third time we played with Down By Law, and the fourth time we played Iceburn and Endpoint. City Gardens was definitely the best club in New Jersey. I went to my first hardcore show there in 1987; it was The Descendents on their last tour. I feel like I grew up going to that club, I definitely saw quite a few incredible shows there. I’m just happy I got to play on that stage a few times, it’s too bad that I’ll probably never get that chance again.
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What was your reaction to Raybeez’s death?
I was completely surprised. At first, I thought it was just another internet rumor, but after awhile the talk began to sound very believable. It’s not often that you hear about somebody in the hardcore scene dying. I think it’s because hardcore is such a young music, most of the people involved are still fairly young. I definitely liked Warzone, but never knew Raybeez personally. It’s a definite loss to the hardcore scene and he will be missed. Luckily, he was able to record some very good records that will forever leave an impact on people. He will never be forgotten.
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Who are you voting for in the November election?
As for the upcoming November election, I’m not really sure who I’m going to be voting for as of yet. I know car insurance in NJ is outwardly ridiculous and disgustingly expensive, so whoever has the answer to that will probably get my vote. I don’t see Whitman making any vital changes with the insurance thing so far, so I probably won’t be voting for her. I’ll definitely have to look into things a little more, I don’t feel I’m 100% sure as of yet.
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What labels did Hands Tied talk to before settling on Equal Vision?
We didn’t really talk to any other labels. We sent a two-song demo type tape out to a bunch of different labels, but Equal Vision was what we were shooting for. I had known Steve EVR for a while and he had always wanted to do something with my old band (Mouthpiece), so when this new band came together, we thought we’d give Steve a try.
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With the new lineup, will there be new cover songs?
We’ve been practicing a few different cover songs, but haven’t quite nailed one down yet. It seems like whenever we do a cover song by an old band that we like, nobody in the crowd knows it. That kind of ends up defeating the purpose of doing a cover song. We’ve been playing “City To City” by DYS and kids just haven’t picked up on it. Early towards the beginning of the band when we did “Clear” by Bold and “We Just Might” by Youth of Today, kids seem to know those songs. But when we go a little further back and try playing covers by bands like DYS or The Faith, kids just don’t know the songs. We’ve dabbled with the idea of doing a Negative Approach song, an Antidote song, or a 7 Seconds song, but haven’t figured out which one we’d definitely want to play. Hopefully, by playing older cover songs, it might open kids up to older bands that they might not have taken interest in if it wasn’t for us. Ultimately, I just want to play something that I like and have fun when we play it.
Tags: 7 Seconds, Agnostic Front, Antidote, Bold, DYS, Endpoint, Equal Vision Records, Eye For An Eye, Gorilla Biscuits, Hands Tied, Iceburn, Insted, Into Another, Killing Time, Mouthpiece, Negative Approach, Shelter, Sick Of It All, Tension Building Fanzine, The Descendents, The Faith, Vision, War Zone, What Was Said Fanzine, Youth Of Today
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Ensign
By admin on Jun. 26, 2005.
We did this interview at Princeton Arts Council in May of 1998. I believe this show was with Speak 714, Rain On The Parade, and Automatic. I can’t really tell you about what they are doing these days, but at the time we all really liked Ensign. A lot of my memories of that era have been soured over the years, but we used to have a lot of fun whenever Ensign played. Their first 7” has held up pretty well over the years.
Justin and I handled most of the questions. When I went to type this up I was pleasantly surprised by how Justin takes over for a good portion of the interview. There are also the usual patented silly questions from John and Justin, this time about the sexual orientation of characters on Scooby Doo. I had this strange fixation about the logo on The Direction Of Things To Come for some reason.
We also got some grief because of John’s comment about Jordan Cooper. Certain parties asked us to edit that out in future pressings (not Jordan; actually, I don’t think I’ve ever even spoken to him now that I think about it) and when we said “uh, no” those parties got really bummed. Oh well. All Ages had just came out and the asinine answers a lot of people give in that book really pissed us off. In the car on the way to the show I had been reading it and was really angry by the time we got to the show. This was the beginning of all three of us really souring on the youth crew and, in general, Straight Edge scene.
Anyhow, Tim Shaw handles this interview on Ensign’s end. This was day two of a big weekend of shows. I had just finished flunking out of my first year of college and to “celebrate” we hit up shows for the next three days. Friday evening was Breakdown/Fastbreak/In My Eyes/Floorpunch/Full Speed Ahead/Ensign. Saturday was Ensign/Automatic/Speak 714/Rain On The Parade and then Sunday was Ten Yard Fight/Speak 714/Fastbreak/Automatic. I busted my hand up really bad on Saturday I remember. Explaining that to my co-workers the next week was, as usual, rather aggravating. It’s pretty funny reading this back and remembering Victory’s brief flirtation with bands like Murphy’s Law and a time when Mackenzie was just the kid from Prospect who I never heard talk.
Bill-I guess we will start this out and ask who is in the band.
Tim-Me, my name is Tim, Nate on bass, Ryan on drums, and our newest member Mackenzie on guitar.
Justin-Tied Down
Bill-X Mob, man
Tim-Prospect…X Prospect X
Bill-Okay so I have three questions and then we can go from there…is Underdog really back together or were you just fucking with us?
Tim-It’s a rumor. I heard it from somebody at Revelation, but I don’t believe any of the rumors anymore. Ryan, if there is a chance a band might get back together, he won’t play the song which I kind of agree with; it’s kind of cheesy
Bill-When you mentioned it last night…people are already posting it on the internet….
Tim-I don’t know you can call Revelation because Ritchie works there, but to be on the safe side we stopped covering it
Bill-Into Another is broken up I think
Justin-Really? That sucks!
Tim-He is running art direction at Revelation
Bill-Okay, now for the internet question: Talk shit, Tim
Tim-I have very mixed feelings about the internet. I think it could be a very useful tool but there are too many little children who want to use it to talk shit and start fights. It is useless right now. The only thing I use it for is to email back and forth with people.
Bill-If it wasn’t for the internet I wouldn’t be doing the compilation I am doing with Craig from Talk Is Cheap Fanzine. I’ve met so many cool people, especially the Australian hardcore kids…they fucking rule, so that’s why I tried hooking you guys up to get you down there
Tim-For that stuff it’s awesome and I think you could go into a chat room and be like “here is the show, it starts at ____” but you get into the chat room and it’s “Tim Shaw was talking shit about this band” and then someone from the band logs on and is like “Yo we are going to show up at the show tonight and beat him up” it’s ridiculous. I don’t think half the shit talking that is said goes on really goes on, I don’t think the bands care that much. If that much shit talking went on in hardcore there would be fights at every show.
Bill-I get the feeling that when people talk shit about me that it’s the same kid over and over again. When I go to shows everybody is always cool but there is always those one or two who give you dumb looks, but I always have this feeling it’s the same few people. It’s not 50,000 people like it’s sometimes made out to be.
Tim-It’s somebody with a grudge. Like I said tonight, if I hear it I talk to the kid to his face because nine out of ten times they’ll deny it.
Bill-They never post under their real name
Tim-Oh no, never, it’s all a big game
Justin-It’s good in theory
Tim-Yeah I think it has good applications but it can’t be used right now
Bill-Jeff Perlin used to post on the Rev Board until a week ago when all these assholes were posting racist shit. I mean, they are probably “joking” or whatever, but Jeff was like, yo, that’s fucked up!
* Various muttering about Breakdown ruling *
Bill-Okay so my third question-What’s up with Ensign stealing the Mariner’s logo?
Tim-Not intentionally.
Bill-Okay. When the record came out I was like “what the fuck?”
Justin-I just thought it looked really glossy
Bill-(still harping on this like it was an important issue) Did Ryan pick it because he is from Seattle?
Tim-Dave Mandel came up with it
Justin-It looks really slick
Bill-Baseballcore
Tim-Yeah that’s gonna be the new thing in hardcore. We took it because it was a compass with the whole direction…
Justin-Do you think Freddie from Scooby Doo is gay?
Tim-I’m not stereotyping people, but I don’t see many people wearing assocs. But, then again, it was the sixties.
Justin-Doesn’t Austin Powers wear one? He is pretty hetro.
Tim-Maybe he is…but then you could say the girl with the glasses would be a lesbian.
Justin-Emo chick
Tim-He was a free spirit
Justin-But he always ended up with the girl
Tim-Yeah he always ended up alone with the girl. He might have been a real femme guy who gets tons of girls
Bill-He could have been a model when he wasn’t solving capers
Justin-Do you think that bands that get back together push the attention away from the good things we have now?
Tim-There is one band in particular, I’m not gonna talk shit, but they come back with ex-members and their first show they are headlining over Floorpunch, over Ensign, over In My Eyes…bands that work really hard in 1998 to be an active part of the hardcore scene.
Justin-I thought Speak 714 was cool because they didn’t headline.
Tim-Yeah when Speak 714 booked their tour they said they didn’t want to headline which is cool. Like certain bands get back together and…
Bill-I’ll talk shit: Better Than A Thousand. They played their first show and headlined.
Tim-I know there is a lot of bands out there that work hard and because Mark Porter isn’t a scene star, Ronny Little, Tim Shaw…the band with the scene star is the band everyone is going to be there to see. It sucks because bands work really hard.
Justin-It’s a given when you have Civ or Ray or someone like that people are going to be psyched.
Tim-I know Ray and Civ have paid their dues but when you start over you gotta start at the bottom.
Bill-It’s a new beginning. A good example of that is Mouthpiece and Hands Tied. Mouthpiece headlined shows and now Hands Tied started from the bottom and is working their way up.
Justin-If Underdog does get back together people will say “oh wow, Ensign is playing!” but in the back of their minds…
Bill-Like the Cro Mags show
Justin-But that’s the Cro Mags!
Tim-Yeah, that’s the Cro Mags. I think the difference is when some former straight edge all star comes back and everyone is like “oh my god, it’s Ray/Dan O or whatever I think there is a big difference between that and the Cro Mags or Breakdown getting back together. It would be cool if say…Lou Kollar had a side band but when it is someone who hasn’t had anything to do with the scene for years they are like “oh wow hardcore is pretty popular now.”
Bill-Bold.
Tim-Yeah, Matt, Ray, what about the bands that are here today?
Bill-How about bands that have always been here like Murphy’s Law?
Justin-Hogan’s Heroes, they’ve been around and now they are on Victory….
Bill-What do you think of the new “old school” Victory Records?
Tim-I think Tony needed some bands. I’m not Victory’s biggest fan, I make no bones about it. Strife are friends of mine but they’re broken up now. Snapcase are friends of mine but I don’t think they are on the label anymore. I think the Hatebreed record is really awesome. You can’t really say anything bad about Tony, he’s just trying to get bands to keep his label alive. They asked us but we turned it down. Too much politics, too much stuff, goes along with it.
Bill-I think, and it goes the same with Equal Vision and Revelation, they go in these cycles of whatever is cool. Victory went from Even Score and Inner Strength and all these horrible bands or even worse stuff like Earth Crisis. It’s just weird they went from Firestorm to signing Murphy’s Law.
Tim-Tony is a businessman, he is just looking out.
John-Jordan Cooper is an asshole.
Bill-I read All Ages in the van today and I was really bummed out by some of the things he said.
Tim-Well he’s done a lot for hardcore. There were a few years there where I thought Revelation was the worst label on the earth. Now I can’t say that because they have In My Eyes. Now we are kind of connected to Indecision which is an exclusive part of Revelation. We might as well be on Revelation. I’m all for labels getting bands, but there was a period of time when the Victory empire…if you weren’t a Victory band no one gave a shit. That’s fucking ridiculous.
Justin-Colored vinyl pisses me off.
Tim-I collect but I’m not obsessive about it. But Ensign is all guilty as anyone else because we did limited presses for Europe. I do it because I think “wow, that’s a cool idea.” If I can get it, I get it, If I can’t, I can’t. You know what though, if you really listen to your records, colored vinyl does not sound as good. It’s a technical fact. My Floorpunch on Gold, it’s unlistenable, but my black one is.
Bill-Well if it’s a remastered you should buy it on CD; Mickey and I were just talking about that.
Tim-I love to collect records but I don’t live a lifestyle where I can shell out $150 for a four song seven inch.
Bill-Have you ever seen that auction Revelation does?
Tim-Yeah, it’s sick.
Bill-I went on there a couple days ago; the first press for Speak Out with no matrix, the gate fold cover, and all that stuff went for $270. That was the first bid, it’s not even like it went up!
Justin-The thing that gets me is sometimes getting the record means more than listening to the record.
Bill-The kids on the trade board just post all their cool records for scene points.
*At this point we bullshit about various New Jersey bands. For some reason I never transcribed this stuff. Somehow we segway into discussing European youth crew kids. *
Bill-European hardcore kids seem to be really obsessed with, well, New Jersey hardcore. They find out you are from New Jersey and you get put up on a pedestal. I guess because Floorpunch, or Ensign, or whoever isn’t there everyday they get so hyped up.
Justin-We take it for granted so much.
John-We do the same with a band like Underdog or Antidote who we haven’t seen.
Tim-Going over there I don’t think there was really a lot of hero worship. As soon as we were done everyone would be upfront asking questions and hanging out. When we finished, if we didn’t play long enough, you fucking bet we heard about it. Every so often a kid will relate me to Sick Of It All, but I’m not Lou or Pete, so…For awhile we played every weekend in New Jersey but after awhile you get sick of us.
Bill-I’m ready for another set right now. Are there still a lot of nazi skinheads in Germany?
Tim-They don’t go to shows over there; it’s always been very political here they came to hardcore shows, got the shit beat out of them and never came back. In Europe it’s purely political.
Justin-Doesn’t it suck now that when Sick Of It All plays they don’t play many old songs?
Tim-They play old songs!? They’ve got so many records now. There isn’t a Sick Of It All record I don’t like.
Justin-(Clearly not convinced) Yeah, I guess…
*At this point we get interrupted a few times by various people. I think the show was wrapping up and they were really trying to get people out of the place.*
Justin-Is there any particular person that song Hold is about?
Tim-Just a general thing. Nate actually wrote the lyrics and I had a long discussion with him about it. When someone else in the band write lyrics I have to sit down and talk to them to see if it is something that I agree with. There is an aspect of that, it’s supposed to be a positive thing to that, says there is always going to be people who walk away, but there is always going to be people who stick with you. It’s a fact of life, it’s not even just a hardcore thing.
Bill-Okay I think we need to shut up now.
Tags: Automatic, Better Than A Thousand, Bold, Breakdown, Cro-Mags, Earth Crisis, Ensign, Even Score, Fastbreak, Floorpunch, Full Speed Ahead, Hands Tied, Hatebreed, Hogan's Heroes, In My Eyes, Inner Strength, Into Another, Mouthpiece, Murphy's Law, Rain On The Parade, Revelation Records, Snapcase, Speak 714, Talk Is Cheap Fanzine, Ten Yard Fight, Underdog, Victory Records
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