So, my senior year of high school I was working on a new fanzine. This would be my first full length, pretty serious effort, fanzine after a couple of false starts. I really wanted to interview War Zone, so a friend (Dan Skebra?) gave me their voicemail number and I called it up. After leaving a very nervous message, I didn’t hear anything for about a week and crossed them off the list of bands to interview. One day after school I was getting ready for work and my mother hands me the phone. I asked her who it was and she said “Ray.” I figured it was my friend Ray, who I worked with and also went to shows (although his friends were more into pop-punk and bands like 25 Ta Life). Turned out it was another Ray: Raybeez!

He apologized for taking so long to get back to me and asked me about my fanzine. I told him I named it after a Mouthpiece song and we talked about how great Mouthpiece had been (they’d broken up the previous summer). We set up a time to do the interview at an upcoming War Zone show somewhere down the shore. Raybeez promised to keep in touch and I hung up totally psyched.

A few weeks go by the show happens, but do to some circumstances out of our control my friends and I couldn’t make it. I spoke to Raybeez a few days later and he said to not worry about it, we’d catch up soon. He called one more time like a month or so later to see how I was doing. He even remembered I was finishing up high school soon. How fucking cool is that?

School ends and that summer War Zone played at Manville with, I think, Uprise and No Contest. I introduced myself to Raybeez, apologized in person for missing the earlier show, and again he was so cool about it. He asked me what song I wanted to hear and four words snapped to the front of my brain: “Escape From Your Society.” You bet they played it along with a ton of old songs.

I hoped to find him after the show to thank him again, but my ride wanted to take off right away so I didn’t get to see him. About two months later he was dead.

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JB: Ok, so lets get the formalities out of the way- who is who and what do they play?

Tim McMahon – Vocals, Ed McKirdy – Guitar, Jason Jammer – Drums, Tim Kriependorf – bass

JB: You guys are obviously going for a different style when compared to your previous bands.  Vocally, I noticed you were trying something different as well.   Was this intentional?  I mean, when I first heard “A New Chapter” I remember thinking to myself “is that Tim?”

I think to an extent, the different style was intentional, but it also came natural.  With our other bands, we played your standard late 80′s influenced straight edge hard core.  I had been doing that style of hardcore for close to 14 years.  As much as I’ve always loved that style of hardcore and still do, there are other styles out there that we’ve always been in to as well.  I think we were all on this long hard Black Flag / BL’AST! trip when Triple Threat was coming together.  Speaking for myself, I was listening to all the Black Flag material pretty much everyday, day in, day out.  I was also reading all the Rollins books around the same time as well.  I thought it would be cool to do a Black Flag influenced hardcore band, like BL’AST!, but full on straight edge and with some of the classic late 80′s straight edge hardcore sound leaking in.  We all saw eye to eye on this and were definitely on the same page with what we wanted Triple Threat to mold into, so nothing was forced.  Vocally I’m not sure I really put a whole lot of thought into sounding different.  I think the slight change in vocal style is just a natural progression and maturation.  With my earlier bands I just yelled and didn’t really try to contour my voice around the music.  These days I’ve had many years of other vocalists influences soak in and lots of practice, so what comes out is a product of all of that.

JB: Do any of you guys skate?  If so, what do you ride?  The reason I ask is because Triple Threat is on heavy rotation on the soundtrack to my skate sessions.

The only person in Triple Threat that even still has a skateboard is myself.  Although I don’t skate too often these days, I’ve made it a point to always have one available in the case that I do want to skate.  Over this past summer, I went on tour doing merch for Mike Vallely, so I was doing a little skating here and there then, but mostly just watching and talking about it.  I find that whenever I do skate and end up taking a fall, the pain doesn’t go away as quickly as it did in my younger years.  With work and kids, it would be real rough if I was to break an arm or anything for that matter, so I’m pretty careful when I hit the concrete these days.

JB: If hardcore were a sport, what sport would it be and why?

I guess I have to go with football.  You have to have stamina and some sort of strength with doing a band or just pilling up front at a show.  Football is also a full contact sport and hardcore can definitely be considered a full contact sport as well.  Just watch a football game and see what happens when a team fumbles a ball, both teams pile on top of each other trying to gain or re-gain possession.  If that doesn’t remind you of a hardcore show, I don’t know what does.

JB: Why did you guys feel the need to include “Break it” on both the ep and the lp?

I think we’ve always considered “Break It” to be one of out stronger tracks from the ep and since originally recording it, we’ve added some different elements to it.  I know I definitely was happier with what I did vocally this time around on the Lp as compared to the ep.  Aside from that, considering the Lp was being released on Bridge 9 and the ep was released on Livewire, we were kind of introducing ourselves all over again, so why not re-record one of our favorite early tracks.

JB: What’s the deal with the CBGB’s 7″?  Will this come out sometime before I die?

Yeah the Live at CB’s 7″ should actually be released pretty soon.  Here’s the story with that record; Originally, with the release of our “Into The Darkness” LP on Bridge 9, there was going to be a free give away “Live at CBGB” 7″ to those who pre-ordered the CD.  Unfortunately the live 7″ fell through with B9 due to time constraints and we went for a limited edition screen printed poster instead for the pre-order deal.  Since we had the live recordings and still liked the idea of releasing the 7″, we decided we’d just release it ourselves on Livewire and limit it to 200 copies.  It’s not suppose to be some big hyped up release, but more so just a fun way to remember our last opportunity of playing CB’s.  At this point the records are pressed, we’re just waiting on the covers to be printed. I’d expect to see the record available within the next month or so.

JB: I have seen some good reviews for your records and I have seen some not so good ones.  For all of the haters out there- did you guys intentionally try to sound like B’last! and/or Black Flag?   Would that be such a bad thing?  I think you guys come off with a different sound, but with obvious influences.   What do you say to those who think you guys are just a rehash/rip-off type band?

Like I said earlier, at the start of Triple Threat, we all had Black Flag and BL’AST! records on steady rotation.  Both bands were bands that we’ve all listened to and liked forever, but never really let influence our sound.  With Triple Threat we just let the flood gates open and what ever sculpted our sound, sculpted our sound.  Honestly a lot of the early LA punk was a huge influence on the beginnings of Triple Threat.  Whether or not the early LA punk sound is obvious, I know what we were surrounding ourselves with at the time.  The Germs and Circle Jerks were also a huge influence, but you won’t hear people mention that.  What Triple Threat ultimately is, is four straight edge hardcore kids from bands like Mouthpiece and Hands Tied, submersing themselves in the early to mid 80′s LA punk scene.  Is it a rehash or rip off… I don’t think so, but people are going to draw their own opinions.  When you really think about it, pretty much everything that happens musically in hardcore these days is a derivative of some other hardcore band.  No bands that I hear are truly original and have a sound completely all their own.  I think there are far more bands around these days that are trying to sound like Floorpunch then BL’AST!, so whatever.  For the most part the critics just don’t get it, that’s my impression anyway. They think nothing of a by the numbers Floorpunch rip off band complete with the collegeiant font logo and generic name, but when a band goes for a sound that’s as distinct as Black Flag, everyone starts screaming.  We don’t do Triple Threat for anyone except ourselves.  If people enjoy the band and get something from it, cool.  If it goes over their heads or they just don’t like it, that’s cool as well.  Either way, we’ll keep doing our thing.

JB: You guys have played out since 2005, what has been the reaction to your live shows?

Actually our first show was June of 2004, so we’ve been playing out for three years now.  Reaction wise, it’s varied.  We’ve had great shows with people packed up front, singing along and having fun and we’ve had some less than stellar shows with 3 people up font and one of those people dressed in a beer bottle costume.  The reaction to this band is like none I’ve ever had in my previous bands, but I guess I have to expect that.  Times have changed, we’re older, our music is not a style that’s particularly hip at this point, we can’t tour all that much, so we have some things going against us.  Ideally I would love to have every show packed and constant crowd participation, but if that doesn’t happen, we simply take what we want from the music we’re playing and just leave it all out there on the stage.  I think overall, there are a lot of people who appreciate and get what we’re doing, unfortunately for us, they are spread out all over the world and not in concentrated areas.

JB: I’m not one to believe that ideas are restricted to some timeline.  Some say that hardcore has been dead for a while.  What is your reaction to this?

I’m not so sure hardcore is something that can actually be killed.  There may not be a load of bands around these days that I love or a lot of great shows happening every weekend, but that doesn’t mean that an entire music form is dead.  Times change, it’s inevitable.  What might seem like the glory days to one person, means nothing to another.  It’s all about what’s happening when you get into it.  When I got into hardcore around 1986, there were tons of people that considered it dead at that point.  Just check out the movie or read the book “American Hardcore”.  To me, hardcore was at it’s best and strongest in and around the late 80′s.  To the guy who wrote “American Hardcore”, it was virtually non-exsitent in the late 80′s.  It’s all up for personal interpretation. To me, there is no restricted timeline to a form of music and ideas.  To think that it’s honestly dead because you are not as much involved as you were at one point, or because certain bands do not exist anymore just isn’t reality.

JB: What current bands would you say play the hardcore style best?

One of my favorite current hardcore bands has to be The First Step.  They are by no means new to the scene, they’ve been playing for years now, but I guess they are a relatively young band.  Knowing those guys, I can assure you that they are very sincere and dedicated to their music and message.  They also know hardcore very well.  Most of the guys have played in a slew of bands in their past.  I think first and foremost, they are fans of hardcore music.  A lot of times, you will have bands made up of people and there will be at least one or two members that just aren’t as in tune with things as the other members.  With The First Step, they are like a well oiled machine, all parts working perfectly together. All members have distinct personalities, but manage to gel well together and play quality hardcore.

JB: Does hardcore have defined rules?

There are no rules in hardcore, if anything there’s more like a code.  You know or at least should know how to compose yourself when going to a hardcore show.  You watch out for one another, you respect one another.  When a band is on tour and you respect that band, you offer to help them out, give them a place to stay.  Hardcore is almost like a secret society.  The normal world has enough rules and regulations, we should be able to take what we need from the outside world and apply it in a common sense way to our world.

JB: I personally don’t believe that there are definitive rules to hardcore, which has often lead me to wonder why are we so unorganized?  In other words, consistency in venues, bands touring , bands staying   together, etc… is greatly lacking in my opinion.  Is it the nature of the beast?

I think we’re unorganized because for the most part, the hardcore scene consists of a lot of young, unexperienced, fashionable kids.  They are die hard something one minute and out of it the next.  I think organization comes up with maturity, not necessarily all the time, but generally speaking.  A young kid will have his heart in the right place, but just may not have the know-how to see things through completely.  I see it with shows and bands all the time.  They want to do the right thing, but sometimes the attention span just isn’t there.  With the amount of time it takes to learn and properly make things, kids are off on to the next hip thing.  Again this isn’t speaking for everyone because there are plenty of bands and kids that are on the right track.

JB: New Jersey just had the governor give a state of the state report a few weeks ago.  If you were to do a state of the scene report right now what would it sound like?

In my opinion and from what I’m able to gather from my experiences, the New Jersey scene definitely isn’t at it’s strongest right now.  There are a few random venues that are trying to maintain regular shows, but nothing that’s really making a lot of noise.  A solid and consistent venue is much more critical to a successful scene than people tend to think.  When we had places like City Gardens, Middlesex County College, The Princeton Arts Council and a few others doing consistent shows, we had a strong scene.  A strong scene cultivates bands and hordes of dedicated fans.  Right now there are a few local guys trying to bring an underground music scene back to Trenton.  We’ve got a few good venues, it’s just a matter of the promoters sticking it out and pushing things to happen.  Things move slow when you’re virtually starting from scratch, so hopefully these promoters have the dedication to work for the light at the end of the tunnel.  As a member of a New Jersey based band, I can honestly tell you that we have the dedication to keep pushing forward with this band.

JB: Maybe I’m biased, but it seems like New Jersey is no longer the major stomping grounds of hardcore any more.  Do you agree?

Yes I do agree, I think you’re absolutely right.  I think New Jersey still has the reputation as being one of the front running states for hardcore, but I think that reputation comes from New Jersey’s history and not so much it’s “here and now”.  Don’t get me wrong, there are kids and there are bands and there definitely are people trying to make things happen here in New Jersey, but it’s just not coming together yet.  I think for awhile, things got real clicky here in New Jersey.  You had a small group of kids putting on shows and really just supporting their friends bands.  They might have started off with a goal to bring things together, but ultimately tore a lot of apart.

JB: Just looking at my students who are into punk and hardcore, one thing has been clear- it is much more of a fashion statement these days.  I went to a local show and the kids seemed more interested in who was wearing what vs. what the bands actually sounded like.   I actually have kids using the term “emo” to describe things like haircuts, clothing, and attitudes.  What are your thoughts?

I don’t know that it’s all that different than it’s ever been.  Young kids follow trends because they are impressionable and want to be cool like everyone else.  A lot of the time they think they are being different, but end up being exactly the same.  I guess it gets annoying, but I don’t really get all that caught up in worrying about it.  There’s something different every year, so I just try and concern myself with what directly affects me.

JB: Ok, word association time.  I will write a word and you will give me the first thing that comes to mind:

Integrity:  One of the best hardcore bands of the 90′s.
Krishna:  I’m right in the middle of reading the Bhagavad-Gita and going to a program this upcoming Sunday, so Krishna Consciousness is something that definitely interests me.
Sausage:  A disgusting array of animal meat shoved into a tube.
Circle:  The song “Circles” by Dag Nasty is a great song.
Mullet:  I recall a particularly good website with a collection of classic mullet shots.
Kinkajou:  A cool looking nocturnal jungle animal.

JB: Are there any Triple Threat songs where people constantly misconstrue what they are about, or what you wrote it about?

If there is, it’s never really been brought to my attention.  The only song off hand that I can think of that could possibly be misconstrued or just not understood clearly, would be the track “Obsession” from our first EP.  I’m questioning people who seem to care more about hardcore band t shirts than any bit of message that the actual bands are trying to purvey.  When I see these guys who are so wrapped up in collecting hardcore shirts and paying big money for them, yet don’t even have the bands records or care about the bands message, it just blows my mind.  To me appreciation is one thing and I respect that, but the obsession is just a bit strange and leaves you questioning where peoples hearts might be.

JB: What’s next for Triple Threat?  Any new recordings?

The next release will be the limited “Live at CBGB” 7″ on Livewire.  Aside from that, we are currently working on writing new material for a 7″ that we’ll most likely release ourselves on Livewire.  We’ve got about 6 or 7 new songs, all different styles, so we’ll narrow down the top 4 or 5 and hopefully get into the studio sometime early summer 2007.  Aside from the new recordings, we’re just going to continue playing out as much as possible.

JB: Will you guys be touring this spring/summer?

There are no plans for a spring or summer tour, mainly because our drummer Jason will be getting married at the end of the summer and will need to use the majority of his vacation time for the wedding and honeymoon.  We’re going to try and do as many weekend trips as possible.  Hopefully team up with some different bands and hit the road together on some short weekend type trips.  We’ll see what happens, but I’m sure something will come together.

JB: Thank you for your time and the interview.  Again, thanks and keep writing awesome music!!!

Thank you for your support and general interest, it’s appreciated and not taken for granted.

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This band must be huge fans of Mouthpiece. Fast, kind of generic, youth crew hardcore that doesn’t deviate from any norms, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This reminds me a lot of the second wave of the youth crew revival bands. Fans of this style will love this one.

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XKI-I Hate Everything
Redd Kross-Notes & Chords Mean Nothing To Me
Meat Puppets-Plateau

DRI-Give My Taxes Back
Adolescents-Kids Of The Black Hole
Reflex From Pain-The Scream

Obliteration-Fascist System (Whoops—This track got deleted while editing…sorry guys!)
Christian Mistress-Poison Path
Crossed Out-Force of Habit

Avengers-Corpus Christi

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What more can really be said about Mouthpiece at this point? I’m sure you know their story and how influential they were on 1990′s straight edge hardcore that didn’t sound like Pantera or some emo bullshit. This CD has everything I could ever think to include and more in reverse order, from their final recording on the Antimatter Fanzine compilation all the way back to very early live tracks that never made it to the studio.

Most of Mouthpiece’s records have held up at least moderately well. Some parts of Face Tomorrow remind me too much of Dag Nasty or Chain of Strength, but With This Regret is pretty awesome. In high school, a jock once commented about my Face Tomorrow era shirt (with a band pic on the back) that “those guys look gayer than you.” So says the dude who plays the sports where they slap each other on the butt. What Was Said was definitely the high point for the band, with a heavy influence from Judge. The very pointed lyrical content has always moved me (especially Nothing There…see this month’s podcast for the story) and the record sounds fresh with a bit of a remix. The first seven inch has a few not as good songs (Can We Win especially), but Frame is a monster, a furious, pissed off, straight edge song. I’ve always loved the lyrical picture of “a mold, a frame…” Various compilation tracks top this discography off. This is essential for fans of straight edge hardcore and a highlight especially for those of us who grew up in New Jersey.

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1. 1.6 Band, Self Titled LP, USA, 1992
2. Acme, Self Titled 7″, Belgium, 1994
3. All Chrome, Flounders Flyers College & Canada LP, USA, 1999
4. Arms Reach, Self Titled 7″, Australia, 1998
5. Assuck, State To State 7″, USA, 1993
6. Aus-Rotten, Fuck Nazi Sympathy, USA, 1994
7. Bastard, Wind Of Pain LP, Japan, 1990
8. Bikini Kill, The Anti-Pleasure Dissertation 7″, USA, 1995
9. Born Against, Industrial Relations Department 7″, USA, 1990
10. Breakdown, Blacklisted LP, USA, 1997
11. Burn, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1990
12. By The Grace Of God, For The Love Of Indie Rock 7″, USA, 1996
13. Charles Bronson, Youth Attack LP, USA, 1997
14. Citizens Arrest, A Light In The Darkness 7″, USA, 1990
15. Chopping Block, Grizzly Fetish 7″, USA, 1991
16. Cop Out, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1993
17. Crossed Out, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1991
18. Crown Of Thornz, Train Yard Blues 12″, USA, 1995
19. Dead Nation, Face The Nation 7″, USA, 1998
20. Deadguy, Work Ethic 7″, USA, 1994
21. Death Side, Bet On The Possibility LP, Japan, 1991
22. Devoid Of Faith, Purpose: Lost 10″, USA, 1999
23. Disclose-Tragedy LP, Japan, 1994
24. Down But Not Out, Demo, USA, 1998
25. DropDead, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1992
26. Electric Wizard, Come My Fanatics LP, England, 1996
27. Endpoint, In A Time Of Hate LP, USA, 1990
28. Eyeball, More Days To Come LP, Germany, 1998
29. Eyehategod, In The Name Of Suffering LP, USA, 1992
30. Face Value, Coming Of Age 7″, USA, 1990
31. Fastbreak, Where It Lies 7″, USA, 1997
32. Fit For Abuse, Mindless Violence 7″, USA, 1995
33. Floor, Dove LP, USA, 1994
34. Floorpunch, Goal Line Stand Demo, USA, 1995
35. Four One One, This Isn’t Me LP, USA, 1991
36. Fu Manchu, The Action Is Go LP, USA, 1997
37. Full Speed Ahead, Demo, USA, 1998
38. Gauze, Kao O Aratte Denaoshite Koi LP, Japan, 1997
39. Get High, Demo, USA, 1996
40. Gordon Solie Mother Fuckers, Chairshot Politics 7″, USA, 1998
41. H-100′s, Distort Cleveland 7″, USA, 1995
42. Hatchetface, Volume Two LP, USA, 1995
43. Haywire, Private Hell LP, USA, 1990
44. Heroin, Paper Bag 7″, USA, 1992
45. His Hero Is Gone, Fifteen Counts Of Arson LP, USA, 1997
46. Huggy Bear, Don’t Die 7″, England, 1993
47. Human Remains, Using Sickness As A Hero CD, USA, 1996
48. The Icemen, Rest In Peace 7″, USA, 1991
49. In My Eyes, Demo, USA, 1997
50. Infest, Mankind 7″, USA, 1991
51. Inmates, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1995
52. Integrity, Humanity Is The Devil 10″, USA, 1996
53. Into Another, Ignaurus LP, USA, 1994
54. Jello Biafra With DOA, Last Screams Of The Missing Neighbors LP, USA/Canada, 1990
55. Judge, The Storm 7″, USA, 1991
56. Kiss It Goodbye, She Loves Me…She Loves Me Not LP, USA, 1997
57. Laughing Hyenas, Crawl 7″, USA, 1992
58. Leeway, Desperate Measures LP, USA, 1991
59. Los Crudos/Spitboy, Split LP, USA, 1994
60. Madball, Dropping Many Suckers 7″, USA, 1992
61. Mainstrike, Times Still Here 7″, Netherlands, 1995
62. Man Is The Bastard, Sum Of The Men 12″, USA, 1992
63. Man Lifting Banner, Ten Inches That Shock The World LP, Netherlands, 1992
64. Mouthpiece, What Was Said LP, USA, 1994
65. Mukilteo Fairies, Closet Check 7″, USA, 1993
66. Neanderthal, Fighting Music 7″, USA, 1990
67. Neurosis, The Word As Law LP, USA, 1990
68. No Comment, Downsided 7″, USA, 1992
69. No Escape, Demo, USA, 1990
70. Out Cold, Self Titled LP, USA, 1994
71. Paintbox, Screaming Shouting Crying LP, Japan, 1999
72. Poison Idea, Feel The Darkness LP, USA, 1990
73. Puncture Wound, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1999
74. Quicksand, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1990
75. Ringworm, Demo, USA, 1991
76. Ripping Corpse, Dreaming With The Dead LP, USA, 1991
77. Rollins Band, The End Of Silence LP, USA, 1992
78. Rorschach, Protestant LP, USA, 1992
79. Rupture, Righteous Fuck 7″, Australia, 1991
80. S.D.S., Scum System Kill 7″, Japan, 1996
81. S.O.D., Speak Swedish Or Die 7″, Sweden, 1990
82. Saint Vitus, Die Healing LP, USA, 1995
83. Septic Death, Theme From Ozobozo LP, USA, 1992
84. Skewbald/Grand Union, Self Titled 7″, USA, 1991
85. Sleater Kinney, Dig Me Out LP, USA, 1997
86. Sleep, Sleep’s Holy Mountain LP, USA, 1993
87. Spazz/Black Army Jacket, Split 7″, USA, 1997
88. Speak 714, The Scum Also Rises 7″, USA, 1999
89. Sportswear, It Runs Deep 7″, Norway, 1998
90. Supertouch, The Earth Is Flat LP, USA, 1990
91. Talk Is Poison, Straight To Hell 7″, USA, 1998
92. Team Dresch, Personal Best LP, USA, 1995
93. True Blue, Demo, Germany, 1998
94. Turning Point, It’s Always Darkest Before The Dawn LP, USA, 1991
95. Verbal Assault, On 12″, USA, 1990
96. Voorhees, Spilling Blood Without Reason LP, England, 1994
97. Warhead, Cry Of Truth LP, Japan, 1991
98. Bllleeeeaaauuurrrrgghhh! – The Record, Compilation 7″, International, 1991
99. Forever, Compilation 7″, USA, 1991
100. Rebuilding, Compilation 7″, USA, 1991

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The Geeks are a pleasant surprise! This Korean play excellent straight edge hardcore in the vein of Sportswear, Mainstrike, Mouthpiece, and later Bold. I am totally burnt out on this style but these guys are great. If you like this kind of thing definitely pick this one up! I don’t know what else to say; it’s good go get it.

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Playlist
Ignition-Lucky Thirteen

Reagan Youth-New Aryans
Assuck-Wall Of Shame
SOA-Disease
Mind Eraser-Abuse Excuse
Born Against-Xmas Eve

Jerry’s Kids-Straight Jacket
Electric Wizard-Son Or Nothing
Spazz-Wooden Shoes
S.O.B.-Humanity Or Stupidity
Madball-Get Out

Dead Kennedys-Macho Insecurity
Report Suspicious Activities-Guantanamo
Infest-Judge Me
Impact Unit-Regular Boy’s Haircut
Black Flag-Louie Louie

Family Man-All Stick & No Carrot
Haywire-Sword Swallower
No Comment-Hacked To Chunks
Mouthpiece-Column
Hollow Ground-Cold Reality

Void-Authority
Tragedy-The Waiting

Splitting Headache-War Hero

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1. Okay, who is in the band and all that crap?
My name is Ronnie and I sing. DII plays one guitar. Justin plays the other. Matt jumps around with his bass. Chris just joined the band. He plays drums.

2. Have you guys gotten any shit for the lyrics to Body Bag?
You know, with the way all this metal slop has taken over hardcore in the past few years, you’d think we’d catch some slack for writing a song like Body Bag.  You’d think somebody would stand up and say, “hey fuck you man!  You’re talking about me, aren’t you?”  Well, the record is coming up on it’s first anniversary and I’ve never once talked to anybody, or gotten a letter from anybody about that song, unless it’s along the lines of “it’s a funny song,” or that they think I’m hitting the nail right on the head.  I think the reason I don’t hear from any of these kids who like all of the shitty bands on Victory’s payroll comes down to one thing.  Deep down inside, they know how lame that music is.  They know it’s not hardcore.  They’re just having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that they belong on the couch banging heads with Beavis and Butthead instead of being at a hardcore show.  I’ve got some news for you kids-it’s not too late to come back.  Just head on down to your local record exchange with your Victory collection in hand and trade that useless slop in for some good old tyme hardcore.  Then write a letter to Tony Brummel and tell him that if he wants to push his label as a “hardcore” label maybe he should put out some hardcore bands Victory Style.   Who the fuck are you trying to kid?

3.Where do you think the hardcore scene is going right now?
I think hardcore is back on the upswing.  There are a lot of good bands out there right now, and I’m sure a lot will follow.  It seems I am seeing more bands like Floorpunch and less like Autumn.  To me, that is a welcome change.  It just amazes me how hardcore could get so untracked.  I mean what were a lot of these kids thinking when they started their bands?  How did the guys in Earth Crisis arrive at the conclusion that they were a hardcore band?  I know that Karl has been around for a while, and he knows the difference between Slayer and Minor Threat.  Their sound falls next to Slayer, so how can anybody in that band say they were a hardcore band?  If you want to play metal, play fucking metal, but don’t slap the name “hardcore” on it and pretend so you can sell a shit load of records.  I think one thing that Earth Crisis and Victory Records both know is that if the descriptor “metal” had been hung on Earth Crisis, a lot of hardcore kids wouldn’t have given them a chance.  They lied and a lot of kids took the bait.  If any of the aforementioned bands have a problem with my line of thought, that’s just fine by me, because I’m pretty damn offended by their version of “hardcore.”

4.What do you think of the “PC”ing of the hardcore scene?
Actually, I think a lot of that is starting to die down.  I’ve heard the word “faggot” being tossed around quite a bit lately.  I mean, for PC kids the only word more offensive is the “N” word.  Does that mean the scene is suddenly turning into a sea of homophobia?  No, I don’t think so.  Kids are calling each other names.  Nobody is running around New Hope saying it.  I think a lot of kids just like to push the envelope and say what’s forbidden.  When I was in fourth grade, all we did was run around and call each other “fag.”  I didn’t know what it meant.  It was just a funny word, and my parents got upset if it came out of my mouth, so that made it pretty cool.  I think that’s what is starting to happen now.  PC is cool when it applies to the situation.  It just gets tiring when you’re not really doing anything terrible but some Buddy Holly look-alike in five dollar duds is always in your face anyway.  Some of those kids need to calm down.

5.Any thoughts on all the big reunions coming up like Agnostic Front, Bold, Up Front, etc?
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t totally stoked for the Black Flag reunion tour to roll into Philadelphia.  They broke up just as I was starting to get into hardcore, and they are definitely one of the bands I wish I had the chance to see.  Now, because Ginn is running out of money, I’ll get the chance and I’m real happy about that.  I think bands like Black Flag and Agnostic Front should be able to do reunions just because they were such prolific bands.  I think it’s good for kids to see these bands doing it the way it used to be done.  Bold and Upfront are kind of a different story for me.  Maybe it’s because I’ve seen both several times.  I don’t know.  They were good bands, I guess, but why not just do new bands in the vien of Up Front and Bold, instead of rehashing?  I see Black Flag and Agnostic Front as timeless music, where Bold and Up Front were just another generation of straight edge.  Don’t get me wrong, they were both good bands, but they were easily replaced.

6.When did you get into hardcore?
I got my first dose of hardcore in a ninth grade remedial reading class.  Mark Cozgrove gave me my first taste of Suicidal Tendencies and I’ve been hooked ever since.  I guess that was around May 1986.  I didn’t get to my first show until a year later when I had friends that could drive to Trenton.  Agnostic Front, Underdog, Mcrad, and Timmy and The Dub Warriors.  I remember it well.

7.Are you doing anything for the last Hardware?
Definitely.  I want to be there when Hardware takes its last breath.  Originally, I had a Circle Storm interview, along with a column set up for the next issue; but Brett told me that the deadline was for June, so I’ve decided to use the material for another zine, just because it would be outdated by the end of the summer when I guess the last Hardware is supposed to come out.  I’m not sure what I want to do for the last issue.  Whatever I do, I want it to be absolutely awesome.  I really want to help Hardware go out with a bang!  Dave and Brett, thanks for taking me on board.  I don’t think all of the zines in this scene can fill your shoes.  This is just a huge loss.  Hardware will be missed.

8.What are the future plans for Rain On The Parade?
We’ve got a bunch of shows coming up throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  We’d really like to play outside of the area, but we apparently don’t have those kinds of contacts yet.  If anybody out there is interested in having us play their area, please drop us a line.  What else?  We’re recording our album at the end of the month (March).  It’s going to have fourteen songs on it, and hopefully we’ll have it out in time to tour it this summer.  We plan on heading out west for a couple of weeks during the summer, hitting California, Washington, and Arizona, to name a few off the top of my head.  We’d also like to tour the east coast for a couple of weeks as well.  Like I said, we just need to establish some out of state contacts.  We also have tracks coming out on compilation records.  We’ll be on the compilation that will come with the new issue of Tension Building.  Also, we’ll be on the Growing Stronger compilation and the sampler CD that comes with the next issue of Extent Fanzine.  I think I covered it all.

9.Have you been in any other bands?
Chris used to drum for Ensign.  Justin used to sing in a band called Disregard.  DII, Matt, and I had all dicked around in small local bands before, but nothing that was memorable.  Before Rain On The Parade my claim to fame was that I used to do Fuck You Fanzine.

10.What is the history of Fuck You Fanzine?
That was a time in my life when I was absolutely disgusted with just about everything in the scene. A lot of good bands broke up, and a lot of bad bands took their place. Metal was starting to creep into things. The kids playing their guitars started caring more about playing intricate, skilled music rather than jumping around playing the simple three chord music that I grew up on. The scene was just turning into something completely different and I didn’t like it one bit. To make matters worse straight edge kids were turning into real pricks. At that point (1992) I had been straight edge for six years and I couldn’t remember a time when all my brothers were so snobbish, petty, and just flat out retarded. I was all tourqed up, but I was pretty much the only person I knew who felt this way about how things were turning out. One night, I was watching a movie called Pump Up The Volume which is about this guy (Christian Slater) who runs a pirate radio station and basically pisses off all of the right people with his broadcasts. Nobody knew who he was, which drove them all more crazy. That really stuck with me. I liked the idea of being this kind of voice coming out of nowhere, hitting as many nerves as possible. So I sat down behind my trusty Macintosh one night and whipped out a four page zine that made fun of a few people and praised a few others. I had originally signed my real name on it, but my girlfriend at the time had told me that it was so bitter that she would have thought somebody else had written it if she hadn’t seen my name. So I kind of took that to heart and decided to choose a pseudonym. I settled on Chuck U. Farley, The Sargent of Straight Edge. Chuck U. Farley because that’s the name that Slater’s character in Pump Up The Volume used to register his post office box. The Sargent of Straight Edge because I saw myself as the guy who was going to kick the scene’s ass back into shape. So I finished the zine and sent it out to any band or zine whose existence just really stuck in my crw, and then I sat back and waited to see what happened. A week later, just about everybody I had sent the zines out to had written me back. The responses ranged from “what’s your fucking problem?” to “I’m going to kill you!” That, coupled with the mail I got from write ups in fanzine reviews, made me want to do more. The more mail I got, the nastier the zines got; I was pissing off everybody that I thought was killing hardcore and I kind of got off on that. So I was always thinking about what I was going to do for the next one. The shit hit the fan when I endorsed an idea called “moderation” which basically said you can still be straight edge if you drink a beer (and only ONE beer) because hey, in moderate amounts, beer is just a beverage. Just about everybody who read that wrote to me to tell me that now they were certain I was an idiot. That whole theme pretty much overshadowed the zine until its demise after issue seven. I wrote a farewell letter explaining why I was ending the zine and why I had decided to hand over my x’s and try out the party thing. As lame as it sounds, I was so at odds with straight edge kids at that time that I just questioned why I was doing the whole straight edge thing anymore. I know you’re supposed to do it for yourself, but I literally hated 95% of the kids that were around at the time, and I think I just started grabbing beers to separate myself from those kids. Of course, looking back now, that was probably the most idiotic movie I’ve made in my life. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but in hindsight, I really blew it. It took me a couple years to realize that.
11.Hypothetically, who do you think would win in a fight: Earth Crisis or Vegan Reich?

Most definitely Earth Crisis. As much as I don’t like that band, at least they played out. They get up on that stage and say what they mean and take a certain amount of abuse for it. Especially in New Jersey. It’s not like they don’t deserve all of the shit they put up with, because they do. I just think it takes a certain amount of balls to get up on that stage, like they did at Chatam, knowing full well that while half the kids in attendance were there to see them the other half were there to see them fall. Vegan Reich wouldn’t even play out because Sean was afraid he’d get his ass kicked. He just hid behind his records.

12.What bands today do you think are really doing something good?

Bands like Hands Tied, Purpose, Rancor, Over The Line and Atari have been rocking my world lately. Youngblood is a brand new band that I think is going to take a lot of people by surprise. Then there is the cast of usual players who got things rolling again like Floorpunch and 97a. There’s so many great bands nowadays and not just because the whole hardcore revival thing has caught on fire. I don’t consider any of these bands “rehash” like some assholes would like you to believe. People are just playing hardcore again. There wasn’t a whole lot about hardcore that was “hardcore” from like 1991 to 1995, if you know what I mean. Sure, there were some bands, but a good band like Mouthpiece was far and few between during those lean years. I like the way things are turning out and I think things are heading in a good direction.

13.What do you think of hardcore getting attention in the mainstream press like MTV, CNN, etc?

Hardcore is just too underground for your average Rage Against The Machine jock to find. “Normal” kids read magazines, not fanzines. They buy stuff on CD not records. They go to concerts, not shows. They don’t get it and they never will. I don’t think the occasional feature on MTV or CNN is going to change that anytime soon. These kids just don’t get it. Rage Against The Machine has a lot of good things to say, but the only words these kids hear is fuck you I won’t do what you tell me. Hardcore kids are evolved. Many of them care. Many of them act. Many of them are open to new ideas and new ways of thinking. A lot of “normal” kids just spin their wheels all their lives. They don’t fit our mold. I don’t think there is anything to worry about. If this scene survived Victory Records it can survive anything.

14.Will there be another issue of Unsportsmanlike Conduct?

There will be another column of Unsportsmanlike Conduct that will be included in the final issue of Hardware this summer. I’m not sure whether that column will leave the pages of that zine though. I’ve been telling a lot of people that I’ll help them with contributions for their zines but I may just end up doing one of my own. I went to a couple of shows this weekend and didn’t come home with any zines. Anytime that happens I get bummed because I love zines. There just aren’t enough out there right now. Unsportsmanlike Conduct sounds like a good working title. Or maybe I’ll just start doing Fuck You Fanzine again.

15.On Sunday you seemed very baffled by positive and negative atoms. What are you going to school for?

I go to Kutztown University where I am a telecommunications major. I also have a minor in speech. Yeah, I kind of blew that joke as far as my terminology went. I think I meant “ions” but I’m not sure. I heard that joke in my Biology class where I am currently riding in the valley of C & D land. I’ve never been too good with either science or math. One thing a lot of people throw in my face is the whole don’t mix an acid with a fucking base/because it will blow up right in your face part of Body Bag. I’ve had people tell me that they would neutralize each other. Recently, when I was in the studio laying down some vocal tracks I asked Pete the engineer about that one. Before he brought his studio, he was an engineer for NASA. He’s had intense schooling and the guy is just brilliant. So I asked him about that one. He told me there are several cases where mixing an acid and a base would cause an explosion, so I was relived. I thought I had pulled a real boner there for awhile.

16.What do you listen to when you’re not listening to hardcore?

Outside of hardcore my favorite music is probably the kind of stuff I grew up on. ACDC’s Back In Black, all the Van Halen records with David Lee Roth singing, and early Cheap Trick stuff. All of that stuff was kind of hard for its time. When I was in 6th grade I used to come home from school when my parents weren’t home from work yet and pull out the tennis racket and jump around my room pretending I was in ACDC. I always played the rhythm. I never wanted to be the lead guy tied down with all of the finger work. I just wanted to play the chords and jump around. I still listen to that stuff when the mood hits me. I found The Beatles a few years ago. I also dig Weezer and Social Distortion as well.

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