Rain On The Parade
By admin on Mar. 2, 2006.
This is the interview I did with Rain On The Parade in April of 1997. Originally in What Was Said Fanzine.
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.
Shark Attack
By admin on Nov. 1, 2005.
Originally in Parade Brigade #3. Interview done with Matt Smith by me (although John supplied all of the questions as far as I remember)
When the band started did you ever think of putting something out on Contention Records?
Contention Records went under like four years ago. I was always kind of bad with the mail order, so the idea of putting it out under that name never really came up. Matt Summers always did a better job with his label, plus he had money to put it out right away, so we decided to put it out on My War Records. Originally this was just a project band for me and Summers. I was still in Rain On The Parade but I wanted to do something a bit simpler, rawer, and harder like Negative Approach, Antidote, Last Rights. We wrote songs and decided to record them as a super limited 7â€. We figured 200 records would be plenty! Ha! We got Fat Rich in the band, and eventually Zach from Intention, and we started practicing a bunch. When Rain On The Parade decided to call it quits after five years, Matt and I decided to take Shark Attack a little more seriously. We never saw things taking off as quickly as things did.
Others may have asked you this, but you have chosen to cover an Antidote song that may cause some controversy. Does stuff like that matter to you?
Honestly, we don’t really care what people think about that. We wanted to cover an Antidote song. Being that we have a drummer whose not even a US citizen (Rich is from Ireland and living here on a green card) we thought it’d be funny to play that song and send it out to him and English Robbie (another immigrant who often roadies for us). We don’t really hate immigrants or anything. Plus the mosh on that song, intense!
Who doesn’t have a copy of Sex Drive in your band?
Me and Zach don’t have that record. I have the Sex Drive bootleg, but not the original one. Rich and Summers both have that record. Oh well, Summers still doesn’t have a Fix Jan’s Room 7â€. I have it and that’s a much better record musically anyway.
Why do you think hardcore kids are so bad with mail order? I seem to hear at least once a week about some sort of mail order nightmare.
I think most hardcore kids are just disorganized or something. When you’re running a label out of your house, I’d guess it’s not a full time thing, so when mail starts to pour in, it takes a little while to get it all done.
How does it feel for Shark Attack to become a “hype†band and take off so quickly as it has?
Well, I was really shocked at how many people were into us. I really didn’t think it’d go over this well. I’m psyched that kids are into it. As far as “hype†goes, that can really work against a band. The more people that like a band in a short amount of time, the more there will be resentment towards that band from other people. I hope we don’t fall into that trap, but I’m sure we will to some degree.
What do you think of the whole thrash/82′ hardcore revival? Do you guys think you belong to that whole movement?
While we do have a total early eighties influence (from the bands we listen to) I don’t really think we come off sounding like an early eighties band. That was originally what we were going for, but I think now we just sound like a straightforward hardcore band. I think there are a lot of good bands playing that early eighties style right now. The Gatecrashers, Fit For Abuse, Cops & Robbers, Last In Line, Insurance Risk, and Out Cold all play really good early eighties sounding hardcore. As far as “thrash†goes, I like some of the bands that I have heard. I think it’s a little weird though. All these bands are popping up and claiming to be thrash just because they wear hats with the visors pushed up, and bandannas. But when it comes down to it, they’re really playing grindcore. I haven’t really heard any bands that sound like old Suicidal Tendencies or DRI. Don’t get me wrong, I like What Happens Next and Life’s Halt a lot, but I don’t know if I really call it thrash. To me, it’s all hardcore.
And the final question… Negative Approach or Antidote?
Hmm, that’s a tough one. Those are two of my favorite 7â€s. I’m going to have to go with Negative Approach but just by a hair. The Antidote 7†is right up there… at times I may even like the Antidote 7†a little better. This week I’d say Negative Approach.
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Rain On The Parade
By admin on Oct. 12, 2005.
John and Justin did this interview in May of 1997 for a zine called We’re Not Gonna Take It, which they never finished. We ended up finally using it in 2000 for Parade Brigade #2.
This interview was conducted at the basketball court down the street from the New Providence Hall during Ensign’s set. Also present were myself and one of ROTP’s friends named Lee. I think I asked one question. John and Justin handled the rest. Ronny Little and Matt Smith give answers.
Who is in the band and what do they do?
Ronny-Right now it’s me, Ronny Little, I sing. Matt Smith plays bass; Chris Ross plays Drums, Justin Phillips and DII on guitars.
When did you start as a band and what was the purpose?
Ronny-Well, I started the band in the summer of 1994 because a lot of bands today aren’t playing the style of hardcore that I want to be hearing except for Mouthpiece and a few others. I just decided that it was time for me to take a whack at this hardcore thing because I’ve done bands but I never actually wrote the music that we were playing. This time I was actually writing the music and I learned how to play guitar, so I could be in a band where I liked the music.
Did any of your other bands ever release anything?
Ronny-I was in a bunch of shitty bands that started out good but they ended up playing really lame shit and that’s why I wanted to learn how to play guitar, so we could go through the process and not write lame songs. So then, I got my shit together, and Rain On The Parade is the first band I’m completely happy with.
We know Rain On The Parade is a Half Off song, but why did you pick that song to name your band after?
Ronny-I was listening to a lot of Half Off when I was starting to write all of the songs. Actually, our original name was Glue, but we decided that a lot of bands use that, like punk bands, but that was before Justin. It was Glue when it was just me and DII and these two guys who really didn’t care about the band. So as soon as they were out DII and I were looking for new members but nothing really came together until the summer of 95 and that’s when we changed our name to Rain On The Parade.
What do you think is the worst hardcore record of all time?
Ronny-I’ll let Matt go first since he’s been silent.
Matt-This list is too long.
Ronny-Probably one of the bands I was in during high school.
Matt-Any band that played before Stand Up played; the bands that didn’t even headline over Stand Up were the worst.
Ronny-Unisound was a really shitty club in Reading PA that all the worst bands would play, but it was cool because all the worst bands would get to play with good bands like Gorilla Biscuits, Token Entry, Judge, Turning Point. I’d have to say that the Unisound bands were the worst hardcore bands around. I really want to choose someone but I can’t. It’s weird because I always knock bands left and right but when somebody asks me I can’t remember the shitty band’s names.
How about the cheesiest bands?
Ronny-Matt think back, what are some really bad records you’ve brought?
Matt-Billingsgate.
Ronny-Billingsgate, yeah! And Even Score, they got it; they are even cheesier than Victory Records shit.
This leads to our next question-Are there any Victory bands that you like?
Matt-By The Grace Of God
Ronny-Yeah, By The Grace Of God; they’re the only band I’d say I like
Do you guys like Murphy’s Law?
Both-Yeah I love Murphy’s Law!
The reason why we asked that is because a lot of people that are straight edge today are so close minded, they say, well Murphy’s Law aren’t edge so we can’t listen to them.
Matt-That’s dumb. I’m straight edge
Ok here we go with the generic style-Do you guys skate?
Matt-Yeah, I skate
Ronny-I skated in high school but I was never really good.
What was the downfall of glam rock?
Matt-Grunge. When grunge became cool and mullets weren’t. People traded in their construction boots and Ratt t-shirts for Soundgarden shirts and Docs. That was the downfall of glam rock.
Ronny-I think the downfall of glam was just how conservative the 90′s got all of a sudden. The 80′s were very wild, the styles were ugly, the crazy patterns and florescent colors. The 90′s we are seeing a lot of bands not wearing costumes on stage. I mean, Twisted Sister-look at them. You know that they don’t walk down the street like that. You know that they don’t walk in for Thanksgiving dinner like that and go HI MOM! in their makeup and big hair and plus I think that glam was just bad. People in the 90′s just woke up.
What do you think of Ebonics?
Ronny-Ebonics? I thought we were talking about hardcore?
Matt-Speak English. Ebonics is a thing people learned like five years ago. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
Ronny-I know that, that is the way people talk in the ghetto and stuff but sometimes I hear it at a hardcore show.
Matt-I worked in Philly with mostly people from the ghetto and that is how they spoke and I refused to listen to them when they started speaking in Ebonics. I would always be saying “what?” Then they would speak white boy or something and they would explain it to me. They can speak English but they choose not to.
Ronny-I think it’s a racist thing to be honest, you know I don’t think racism is something that is reserved for white people. I’ve seen a lot of fucked up shit and I think that it’s just one more barrier that they are putting between us. I’m speaking a language that I was taught in school; they can be speaking it too. I understand that there is a lot of animosity, that’s fine, actually that’s not fine because I’m not glad it’s there. But they could make it a little easier, I’m not saying all people are like that though. When I hear it at a hardcore show I know that these kids lived in suburban homes and stuff like that. Ebonics just separates people, I don’t know why we can’t just speak the same language.
What band best represents hardcore?
Ronny-Minor Threat or SSD
Who would win in a no holds barred steel cage match, Barney or Grimace?
Ronny-Grimace has that retard strength. There is a reason why dinosaurs are extinct, they were weak. Grimace will pound his ass!
What is Grimace?
Ronny-Grimace is a facial expression, not a purple whatever the hell he is
Before you mentioned Minor Threat was the best representation of hardcore, what do you think of Embrace?
Ronny-I like Embrace
How about Fugazi?
Matt-They’re alright, I mean they never set out to be a hardcore band
What about the whole no dancing thing?
Matt-They aren’t really a danceable band. People see them as an alternative band. I mean, why would you want to dance to Fugazi anyway?
Ronny-I think they play good rock and have been consistent at it for years. Every album they have recorded has been either good or at least ok. Repeater is awesome!
What about Black Flag? What do you think of the rumors of a reunion?
Ronny-I love Black Flag! Is that reunion thing happening? I’ve been hearing about that for years. If they came around to Philly I’d definitely see them. I’d be the first one out, whipping out my credit card and getting tickets from Ticketron.
What do you think happened to Rerun?
Ronny-I think The Doobie Brothers beat his ass after he tried-
Matt-To bootleg tapes and when they saw the tape recorder fall out, they stopped the show. Then they went to Rob’s place and worked it out.
What’s up next for you guys?
Matt-We recorded nine songs and eight of them are on our 7” that is out on My War Records.
How about a full length?
Matt-It was supposed to be out as a full length but it got messed up. Most of the songs weren’t ready so we will try to do that next.
This question is kind of awkward, but if you could see any band do a cover of any band, who would it be and what song?
Ronny-I’m not really big on covers, you know what, I would like to see our band cover Rain On The Parade!
So Ronny, is that Government Issue song named after you?
Ronny-(totally clueless) Sarge?
Nevermind…
Ronny-When Government Issue was playing I was listening to Van Halen and AC/DC so I don’t know.
Most important question of the night-Favorite Van Halen singer?
Ronny-You don’t even have to ask that. Let me make this clear, there was only one Van Halen singer and that is David Lee Roth. They were Van Hagar when David left ok?
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Weapon X
By admin on Oct. 12, 2005.
Weapon X was a band who only played one show at the Manville Elks Lodge on August 9th 1997. Members of Weapon X have also been in Ensign, Vision, The Purpose, Black Turns Green, Kurbjaw, A Death In The Family, and some others. Here is the flyer from the show. I remember the week before Floorpunch, Vision, and 25 Ta Life played the same venue. In fact, Manville would be a consistent venue for a few years after this. Sometimes I really miss the place. It was easy to get to (go around the circle, go up six lights, make a left!), the people who ran it seemed to be really cool, and I always knew no matter what show I went to that some of my friends would be around. Anyhow, here are some things I remember from this show-
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Weapon X opened and sounded good. Of course, at the time anything that was not “metal” sounded good to us. Something about body bags and all that stuff you know? They busted out two covers at the end of their set, Insecurity by Turning Point and In My Way by Judge. They sold shirts (with the Calvin edge logo that I think is on the ep too if I remember correctly) and had 200 clear vinyl eps. I got a shirt and an ep. About a year later, in one of my first eBay sales, I sold both for a lot of money.
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In My Eyes and Fastbreak got crazy reactions if I remember correctly. Those early In My Eyes shows were pretty amazing. Fastbreak were still good at this point.
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I remember Justin buying, for both of us, the Time Flies and Count Me Out demos. At the time they were just two more youth crew bands to us, I never would have thought both would get as big as they did.
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This was also the first show with the new lineup (I think?) for Hands Tied. I remember being really excited but not many other people watched them! Despite all the cool shows in the summer of 1997, two big things were missing for most of the summer: Hands Tied and Floorpunch. We went outside to go to the car (for some reason we packed our lunches for this show!?!) and Justin and I overheard a couple “scenesters” openly talking shit about Hands Tied. This bummed me out hard. I wish 26-year-old Bill could go back and let 17-year-old Bill know that he had better be prepared for many bum outs in the next few years.
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Despite the lure of singing along to the words hope is good, don’t do drugs, we skipped Shutdown to go get something to drink down the street at Quick Check. On the way down the street, we saw some workers cleaning up a nasty car accident. This older woman was standing on the curb, so we asked her what happened. We started talking and she, surprisingly, started asking us about “the concert at the lodge.” We made small talk for a few minutes and she seemed to really get where we were coming from. I remember feeling really good about that.
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I do not remember anything special about Ensign’s set. I probably saw them about twenty times that year, so most of it is a bit blurry.
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We did not bother watching Good Riddance. Well, Courtney may have; I know I stayed outside and tracked down Nate for Weapon X interview below.
For a long time this was the only Weapon X interview ever done, but apparently someone in Europe did one a few years later too. Present for this was Nate, myself, Justin, Pete Smith, and Justin’s sister Courtney. This is an amusing interview for me; the comments certain interviewers make in here would seemed ridiculous shortly after. Courtney’s brief cameo near the end of the interview would become a Manahawkin catch phrase for a while after. Sorry Courtney; we were assholes back then, especially me.
Bill-Who is in Weapon X?
Weapon X is Nate Edge on vocals, Chris Youth on bass, Positive Paulie on drums, and Shaun Edge on guitar
Bill-Are you gonna play more shows?
I want to
Bill-I haven’t gone off like that since Redemption 87, and that was the first band of the day!
Awesome
Pete-In My Way did it for me
Bill-Turning Point and Judge covers
It was good people were singing along because I couldn’t remember part of it…
Pete-My day isn’t complete without listening to the Judge 7”
I always mix up verses
Bill-Who from Strength 691 is in Weapon X?
Just me
We bullshit for a couple minutes…eventually the conversation gets into this dick measuring crap about hockey. I was not too into this back then and I really cannot stand it now.
Justin-Ronny Little was saying how the Flyers were going to win it all but they went down.
Pete-The Flyers and Rangers can both go down. Now the Devils on the other hand…
Justin-Yeah
Bill-Here we go again…
I’m all about New Jersey but I’m just not a Devils fan…not really a big sports fan
Bill-With the Turning Point cover a lot of people seemed to not know it or even the Judge cover. What do you think of that?
Doesn’t really bother me… I did Judge because, well…Judge is Judge! The thing with Turning Point is I love Turning Point ever since I first heard them. They’re so awesome; I always wanted to cover them. The closest I came was Strength 691 was going to cover Guidance but we never got around to it.
Bill-Has Ensign been supportive?
Tim pretends to hate it
Justin-That’s so you stay in Ensign!
Bill-You’re like Porcell…in so many bands
I told Tim some of the stuff is four to five years old. I had stuff written for a long time. I really wanted to do vocals for old school straight edge hardcore. I had people but I would get a guitarist and by the time I got bass the guitarist would’ve sold out.
Justin-You have a striking resemblance to Jimmy Gestapo…just a little
It’s the glasses; I have pictures of us hanging out
Justin-Awesome guy
Bill-Jimmy rules
Take them off and you get Civ
Bill-Yeah, wow
Justin-RJ…(Laughs)
Bill-Our friend RJ looks so much like Porcell
Awesome
The conversation turns towards band reunions. Judge and Wide Awake come up; Justin makes some embarrassing comments about loving Wide Awake.
Justin-What do you think about old bands getting back together?
Let’s put it this way…one minute you’re in your face straight edge, supporting the scene, and when the scene went bad they broke up and now their back for the money. I don’t want to name names…
Bill-That’s our job!
That’s what Ressurection on the demo is about
Justin-Never seen the demo
Real small press
Bill-Are all two hundred seven inches clear?
Yeah
Bill-Are you going to do a 2nd press?
I want it to be like a Schism release…like New York Crew…if someone else wanted to repress it I’d be into it but I’m not going to
Bill-Is Weapon X going to be playing any of the Ensign/Good Riddance tour dates?
No because they’ll all be here and I’ll be on tour
Bill-Be funny if you played to the pop-punk kids…
That’d be awesome; the guys in Redemption 87, when they were out here for that weekend, said Weapon X should fly out, the kids would love it.
Bill-They’re playing their last show tonight
Justin-That’s funny because when Redemption 87 came out here Eric said New Jersey was the best place he’d ever played
Pete-Zoli said the same thing when Ignite came here, he said in California the kids have no energy
Well New Jersey is the best
Pete-When my brother came home from California with Hogan’s Heroes two years ago he said they loved them, especially at Gilman St.
Bill-Did you see Justin’s construction gloves?
Yes they’re awesome. I was going to get a pair but didn’t have time
Bill-You need chains and construction gloves for the whole Judge thing
I think I’m going to go for the whole Underdog thing and get football jerseys
Justin (suddenly peaking up)-Play Frontside Grind!!!
I wanted to do Back To Back
Bill-Play Say It!
Can’t…
Bill-During Ensign’s set Tim was like “you want to hear Say It?” and everyone was like YEAH and then he’d say “nope”
Bill-What happened during Shutdown’s set? We weren’t here…
Stupid shit
Justin-There was some kid raving tonight
Bill-Our whole high school is ravers
Courtney-I’m in the middle school, I’m not a raver
Pete-You could exchange their skate shirts for an Earth Crisis shirt because they already have the pants and shoes, you wouldn’t know the difference
Bill-I can’t tell sometimes
I remember when I started skating everyone was into hardcore
Justin-Token Entry
Bill-Ok, let’s finish up
Thanks for the interview; we had a great time tonight, awesome show
Justin-What do you think is the worst hardcore record ever?
Hmm…gotta think on this one
Bill-New Strife?
Pete-I’d have to go with Billingsgate
Bill-Ray and Porcell…that record just sucks
Yeah that would get my vote definitely. Ok I have to go help load
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Parade Brigade #2 Intro Bust
By admin on Aug. 11, 2005.
These are our personal pages from Parade Brigade #2. Again, mine is very brief.
#2
All I have to say is it’s good to be back! It has been a really long time between issues, shit happens, things just get in the way. In the future we will hopefully be doing this more often. Things have been hectic and priorities change. I can no longer spend 24/7 on hardcore even though I somehow get sucked into doing it sometimes. Hardcore is in my blood, this is the kind of thing which will keep me involved in the scene. I love doing a zine and hopefully I will be doing a lot more with this in the future. This fanzine is dedicated to the memory of Sean Patrick McCabe.
Bill XXX
Playlist-
Radiohead-OK Computer
Atlas Shrugged-LP
American Nightmare-7”
Fit For Abuse-7”
The Killing Flame-Another Breathe LP
The Abused-7”
Quicksand-Slip LP
The Verve-Urban Hymns
Suicidal Tendencies-LP
Negative Approach-All
Negative FX-LP
No For An Answer-All
Supertouch-WNYU
411-WFMU
Rorschach-Protestant
True Blue-Demo
Integrity-In Contrast of Sin
Bikini Kill-The Singles
Kristin Hersh-Strange Angels
Le Tigre-First CD
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We finished this up before the start of the next millennium, but I don’t think we’re gonna be able to get out another one until the summer of 3030. Seriously, this thing has sat on the backburner for quite a while now. Obviously, time is an issue. No one has enough of it, especially when you are an expert on procrastination like me. You may recognize that this issue is a lot shorter than the first one. Believe it or not, it’s not because we’re lazy. Bill thought it would be a good idea to cut out the filler and strengthen the content. I think it’s a change for the better and I hope you agree. Our good friend Justin made some contributions to this issue, which has made things a lot more interesting. He’s a character, to say the least, and an all around good guy. Enjoy.
Black Sabbath-All
Cro Mags-Hard Times In An Age Of Quarrel
Straight Ahead-All
Sunny Day Real Estate-LP2
The Nerve Agents-Days Of The White Owl
KRS One-A Retrospective
Rorschach-Protestant
Krakdown-WNYU
The Who-All
Burn-EP
Mos Def-Black On Both Sides
Eyehategod-Dopesick
De La Soul-De La Soul Is Dead
U2-All That You Can Leave Behind
The Basis for this essay was a reply I made to a discussion on the Rev board about whether or not hardcore is real. It was an interesting topic and a fascinating discussion. I would say the majority of people who replied to this discussion said that hardcore isn’t real. Here’s my take on the subject-
Is hardcore real? I think that’s a silly question. EVERYTHING IS REAL. To me, whatever you experience is real. When I was in tenth grade, hardcore was the most important thing in my life. I was always a good student, but even that seemed fruitless. Sure, I might get into a nice college and get a decent job, but that seemed so remote and austere. What seemed more real was the picture of Side By Side on the inside of my The Way It Is tape that I listened to almost everyday on the bus ride to school. Thinking about the show all week was more important than wondering where I ranked on the high school popularity scale. Of course, everyone believes that their subculture is in the right and everyone else is crazy. I guess the majority of people I went to high school with thought the football game or the kegger was more important than going to Fieldsboro to see Floorpunch and Ignite. I obviously didn’t. Yes hardcore is an escape, but that doesn’t necessarily make it trivial.
I will agree that hardcore is very much outside the rules and regulations of society. Every kid reading this zine must admit that the way you conduct yourselves in conventional society and the scene are very different. There is no established government in the hardcore scene to which everyone is held accountable. We just make up things as we go along, but that’s the way it was in 1982, and that’s the way it is now. Sure, there are certain conventions and values that have emerged over time, but even these are not strictly obeyed. It’s hard not to notice the basic dichotomy that exists in hardcore. For every song about loyalty and friendship, there is one about backstabbing. If someone were to sit down and try to assemble a coherent picture of hardcore, they would end up tearing their hair out.
Still, no one can deny the impact of hardcore on his/her life. It’s impossible to keep one’s life in the outside world and one’s life in the hardcore world apart. Look at how many kids have become vegetarians because they found out about it through hardcore. I might have never become a vegetarian if I never heard No More or met the people I did. How about straight edge? Sure, it’s a “hardcore thing,” but eventually someone asks you why you don’t drink and what do you say? Your religion forbids you to do so? I certainly don’t mosh everywhere (well, almost everywhere) but I’m not ashamed to let people know what I’m about. And when you get down to it, one’s definition of reality is completely subjective. This is more a metaphysical argument than anything. Sure, walking down the street having someone attack you, and leaving them in a pool of blood might not be the life you lead, but does that make it any more or less real? Ask Harley or Bloodclot whether or not it’s real. I don’t think anyone can devote their lives to hardcore. Everyone grows out of it little by little. As sad as it is to say, I have. It’s hardly my sole identity nowadays, although it’s influence will always be felt. If you say it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, you’re kidding yourself. If it was part of your life, it’s undoubtedly real.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Welcome to my intro, how’s it going? I guess you’re wondering what this kid Ferret’s deal is right (probably not, but I do look good in a thong, was that your thought, wrong again? FUCK YOU!)? Here’s my background: I’m white, suburban, and have a constant smile on my face because my mom makes the best lemonade=the perfect mix for a prospective serial killer. However, my neighbors will never tell you how nice of a guy I was. I’m sort of jaded with the hardcore scene and love my Filipino girlfriend. When I talk about therapy don’t take me seriously because I’ve had plenty of talks about that with my therapist. I always wanted to do a zine, but never had the time. This will be my contribution, I guess, yes perhaps. Did I mention I have an obsession with green tea? Anyways, back to the zine, don’t laugh at the Rain On The Parade interview. It was my first interview and I was anxious. If you think that it is bad, you should check out my Fastbreak interview sessions. I think the reason why they suck so bad now is because I scared the hardcore out of them. If you read this, then I give you cred. If not, I give you the most respect (I don’t blame you!). I need a nap now-end communication.
Playlist-
Led Zeppelin
Converge
Eddie Brandon
Swing Kids
Buddy Holly
Jimmy Eat World
Deadguy
Rain On The Parade
Transmeggetti
Demon Speed
Ipekac
Don Ito
The Cars
Cave In
Rorschach
Coalesce
Turning Point
Get Up Kids
Brutal Truth
Dillinger Escape Plan
Ink & Dagger
Rush
Canephora
Crucible
Token Entry
Bad Brains
Cro-Mags
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