185 Miles South
A hardcore punk podcast.
185 Miles South
254. March 2025 (Tommy Carroll / Straight Ahead)
We're back and talking hardcore: Grand Scheme, Identity Shock, With Hate, Nisemono, Boston Strangler, Acme, Sozz, and more. Tommy Carroll from Straight Ahead joins us for the interview.
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Straight Ahead photo: Bri Hurley
Intro Song: Suicide Eyes
Outro Song: Sozz
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SPEAKER_02:button 185 miles south A hardcore punk rock podcast. What's up, everyone? We are back and talking hardcore. Helping out live from the Liberty Bell. It's the king of the windmill. It is Kevin Hare. What's up, dude? What up? All right, I interviewed Tommy Carroll from Straight Ahead for this episode. It is at the end of the episode. I wanted to shout out Tribal Publishing, who just did a 100-page zine on Straight Ahead. It was an Insta sellout, so respect if you swooped one. You snooze, you lose. And then you should go check out tribal publishing regardless because he just put out the collective obsession book, which is like a collection of shirts, like old hardcore shirts. Some people really like that stuff. And then also cut and paste. I got that one. That is like a history of like American hardcore fanzines, which is like seriously an insane amount of documentation. I don't even know like how they did that project. So check it out. Tribal publishing, you know, what's up. Kev, a lot going on. Jail broke up. There's trouble in Zulu land and Hello, you! combust from new york city put out their lp belly of the beast came out on triple b pyrex also out of new york city the uh the other side of new york put out their lp body that came out on total punk there was that real bay shit compilation that came out probably like the day after we recorded a month ago that came out on creator destructor records that's got tsunami big boy out of pocket and all the bay bands so handle business if you haven't gotten that yet uh we got a shout out suicide eyes out of philadelphia they put out their demo 2025 on rebirth records rebirth Don't miss. What's up? Early Grave, the other side of Philadelphia. Again, they put out an EP called Sewer Baby Eaten by Rats on Sewer Baby Enterprises. So how about that? Very GBH-esque in that name. We got a band called Overload out of Syracuse. They put out their demo. 2025 came out on From Within Records. Land Lost and End of Days out of... Let's see. Land Lost is Tacoma. End of Days is Seattle. They put out a split. Came out of Brain Floss Records. The Sissy Boys out of Muskegon Records. Michigan and Field Note out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. They put out a split cassette on delayed gratification records. The Sissy Boys are one of those bands that I don't know how much longer they're going to fly under the radar. Everything they're doing is really good. Gangbusters out of Houston, Texas put out Demo 2025 on corruption records. Two Witnesses out of Louisville, Kentucky put out their self-titled EP on Streets of Hate records. Total Con out of the UK. Kev, you hit me to this one. Who Needs the Peace Corp 7-Inch came out on Static Shock records. That thing rips. Never Again out of New Jersey put out their 100% New Jersey hardcore EP on Tribe Dream Records. It is fucking sick. Old Ox out of Sweden, sick name, put out... Storfinasin, and it was self-released. Staffan, don't get at me. Strikeforce out of Pensacola, Florida, put out their demo 2025 Fortress Records. Bad Beat and D-Block, both out of Detroit, did a split, came out on tape and CD on like 17 different labels. Check that out. Cannonball out of Sheffield, UK, put out a two-song demo on Youngblood. Dude, Youngblood, putting out sick shit for, Jesus Christ, 25 years now? 30 years? What's going on? Hell yeah. The EKGs out of Pittsburgh put out a self-titled cassette, came out on Kill Enemy Records, and in-state All right. Lastly, we've got to shout out to Canada for bringing the heat. They put out the country together, put out five sick demos over the last month. First off, Caustic out of Kamloops, British Columbia. They put out their demo on slow death records, self-arrest from somewhere in Canada, put out their demo on total supply records, direct order, put out their demo on demolition records, society scum out of Winnipeg, put out their demo, self-released, shout out. and Activate out of Toronto put out their demo on Total Supply as well. And then lastly, I just want to shout out to Prank Records. They repressed the 1994 Totalitar LP, which is a, I mean, Jesus Christ, it's 30 years old now, but it's a modern classic, so you should check that out. Kev, what's going on, dude?
SPEAKER_01:Not much. Excited about hardcore right now. There are a million things coming out all the time, which we have discussed previously, but it still rings true now that we're almost a quarter of the year through. And it's just every week there's something new that's pretty sick coming out all the time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and we're recording this on Thursday, so a ton of shit's going to come out tomorrow that we're not going to be able to report on. So that is what is going on. Let's dive into it. the first thing i want to talk a little more in depth is grand scheme out of washington dc they put out their self-titled seven inch on 11 p.m records dude what do you think kevin
SPEAKER_01:this record is great um It's one of those records that it definitely harkens back to bands like Straight Ahead and that style, but it really also harkens back to the kind of early to 2010s bands that we talk about sometimes, like when the... most recent youth career revival i guess bands like you know stick together and disengage and all the boston bands etc when they were just doing these kind of throwback modern sounding bands at the same time and so um i really think that this record is great and kind of up there right up there with like any of those bands that just mentioned right it's just like it's really the production on it is great in a way where you don't notice it and that's what i think makes it so good where something sounds exactly how it should sound without you having to like think about or notice any of it. I think it's right in the pocket for that, where everything sounds super clear, but it doesn't sound polished. It just sounds clear and loud and just really good. I think all the songs are pretty memorable. Um, especially for a style that's a little bit faster without the big chance or even like, uh, mosh parts or anything. I think that it does a really good job of kind of every song standing out. It doesn't really overstay its welcome or anything. It's, I think it's seven songs for a seven inch in, I don't know, seven or eight minutes. And yeah, this is just, it's absolutely up there for one of my favorite records of the year. One of the things that we've talked about is just how much stuff there is coming out, which I think is a great problem to have. It's very good that there's all this stuff, but You know, with so much, it's kind of hard for things to stand out sometimes. And I think that this is one of the ones that stands out above that other stuff.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we're going to talk three things in a row that kind of are similar, and we should discuss that at the end for sure. I really echo your sentiment on this about the recording. I think that it's produced really well but not overproduced. It just sounds great for the style. It's seven songs in nine minutes, very solid recording, no guest spots. The singer sounds mean. The singer can skateboard. It's like, what else do you want? You know what I mean? It's just a sick-ass band. They put out their– 2023 ep back then and like this is a level up and that was very good too it's like it's just one of those records you know it went up and it's like oh shit grand scheme new record instacop you know i mean and then they put it up on spotify i listened to it and it's like it's everything i wanted dude sick shit you know like this is the stuff i want to win and this is the stuff i like seeing and it's like these bands do it well this is something to chase so
SPEAKER_01:yeah another thing on it too is that As you said, this isn't their first record. So this really does sound like a veteran band, but it sounds like a veteran band and, you know, the best way possible where it's like, they've been doing the style for a little while and now they can just kind of kill it and present kind of, I don't want to say this is the final form, but like, you know, they can really present like the, I don't want to say polish because that's almost a taboo word, right? But the final, like, refined form of this is we've been doing this for a while we know what we're doing and here it is
SPEAKER_02:there's a little thought put into like the songs you can tell like these aren't just like let's shit stuff out and practice and then go record it you know and it's wild because i do think that the first two songs on the ep are the best and like they're also the shortest so it's like they can do special stuff in like such a truncated amount of time okay let's go on to the next one identity shock out of atlanta put out their traces ep uh it's on seven inch it came out on dead Very similar in the way it's eight songs in seven and a half minutes. No guest spots. Singer sounds mean. Now, this record already shipped, which is sick. You know, they put it up to sell and they already had them in hand. So I already got it. And it comes with like a full size lyric sheet and like a big fold out like newsprint poster, which is always sick when you get a seven inch and like. There's stuff inside it. You know, it's always a buzzkill these days when, you know, shipping and shit, we're paying like$18 for a seven inch and you get it and there's no fucking insert. You know, it's like, God damn it, dude. You couldn't spend an extra quarter and give me an insert. You know what I mean? Like, so that's insane. But yeah, respect. Like the layout on this is cool. Here's the thing with like these bands, like it's okay to like just put out records that kick ass. You know what I mean? I think that we talked about that with like the Rat Cage Gaffer split from last year. Dan and me talked it. It kind of came out. and like there was you know each band did like three songs all six songs kicked ass and like nothing was like super memorable but it's like i am a fan of hardcore you know i mean like i like to listen to hardcore and like this shit is sick like one minute long fast song some mid-tempo stuff a mean sounding singer and like it is what it is. Like I like to put it on for eight minutes and have that be it, you know? So like nothing on this record stands out to me except that I just fucking like it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I agree. This record is more pummeling than the grand scheme record. It's real fast. Lots of scissor beats kind of over the whole thing. So like I said, it just kind of beats you over the head over and over. And I think in a good way, it kind of reminds me of like some of the youth attack bands where, you know, they kind of, go more in that fast direction with the scissor beat youth crew parts, like the full, that's almost the full band. But I really do like that part of it. I do think the, I don't want to be a production guy on this one, but like the production sounds a little soft, like it's not mastered all the way or something like that. Like it just kind of, it's a, it's kind of a shock going from the grand scheme record to this one, just because it's just sounds softer and, But other than that, I think that this record is another one that it kind of stands out above the other things just because it's a little– this is a little bit of a newer band, but still it's not their first record. So it just sounds like a band that is just kind of coming into their own.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it just sounds gnarly, right? It sits somewhere between like straight ahead and power violence with like never going all the way power violence. Yeah. Dude, I mean– this record like we have to talk the production though or like i will i can be the bad guy on it like this record because like this is like a perplexing record dude because like generally you listen to a record and it's like either it sounds good or it sounds like shit and this thing like it this this record straight up sounds whack in my truck like it sounds terrible And then, like, so I was like, what the fuck is wrong with this, dude? Because I was listening to it on Spotify or whatever. Then I listened to it on my headphones and I was like, all right, well, this sounds, like, a little better, you know? And then I put the record on my turntable and it sounds pretty sick at home. So, like, I don't know what paradox that is. But, like, yeah, when you're listening to, like, the digital files of this, like, it does sound a little weird. And it's funny that you say you think it might be, like, undermastered. It sounds to me like they might have, like, tried to compensate with the mastering and like master this to like 11 or something like, and that's why the guitars sound kind of weird. But like, again, I'm not an engineer. I should have consulted with someone, but yeah, this recording isn't great. And Hey, it is what it is. Like, I don't know if it's intentional or not, but it's gotta be noted, but I, this does not like kill the appeal of this record for me because what I like about this record is that it's pummeling and like, you know, listening to it on vinyl at my house and, It's super sick. It's like, it's what I wanted from this band that they delivered. Okay, let's go on and talk with hate out of Boston. They put out their seven inch from Boston with hate on tribe dream records, seven songs in 12 minutes. This is another band playing like traditional roots hardcore. And it's like, This stuff is back and I am here for it, dude. What do you think?
SPEAKER_01:Dude, this record is fucking awesome. I think that this is easily again, we're talking about how much stuff that's come out this year. This is absolutely the one that I've listened to the most that I've liked the most. It only came out a week ago, but it's absolutely number one for me. I've listened to it quite a bit. This band has been in the works for a while. There were some songs floating around last year. Their first show, I think, was last September, but it took a while for the demo to actually happen. And I was really excited and looking forward to it because the teasers that I heard were great. And this one absolutely even over delivers on what I was hoping for. The stuff that makes this really stand out is that, again, this sounds like a real defined... They really worked on it for a long time too, even though this is the first thing. And they did make sure to make it a 7-inch right away because I think that they knew that it was better than just a normal demo. But what it really does, it does a really good job of kind of combining a lot of different things in hardcore that are all really recognizable and make sense and just kind of putting their own specific spin on it. And a regional spin on it too. So like, it sounds a lot like the two biggest things I think of are reprigade with choke singing. And I think that that's a great combo. I mean, two great Boston bands and with hate is absolutely wearing Boston on their sleeve, which is something that I really, we talk about regionalism and stuff. And I think in hardcore, it's really a great thing and important. And I think that it's easy in the modern age to kind of go away a little bit because Because of how homogenized everything can be. But I do think that recently there's been a lot of bands from different areas. I mean, you have With Hate, you have Suicide Eyes from Philadelphia, you have Freeze Out from Texas, right? These bands sound like bands from their areas. And that's really cool. And I think that with hate is, is, you know, the peak example of that, where they just sound exactly like a band from Boston should. And it just great. All the songs are really catchy. The vocals are, um, really memorable. They sound unique today to most bands. Like I said, the singer sounds a lot like Choke. The lyrics are awesome. They're basically just pissed off, hating everybody in the scene, talking about 24-year-old New Jacks, which really cracked me up, talking about if Doug the singer becomes the jaded old head to just shoot him in the head, and just stuff like that. It's just really the total package. It's super memorable and it's, it's just perfect. It's a perfect hardcore seven inch.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. The lyrics are very insular, which like I, I actually appreciate, you know, Kev talking about regional sounds, we got to shout out false salvation. They sound like a band from Philly. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01:That's all that I want to do. All I want.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. The singer like sings with a snarl. Like I would say it's, he doesn't sound like Mike judge, but it's like that type of snarl, but like he just, he's listened to so much, choke bands that he slips into that choke-esque tunefulness, I think, without even trying to do it sometimes. And again, ending with a Dropkick Murphys song seems like an interesting choice, but it doesn't sound like that much of a departure, really. It fits in pretty well. But, like, hey, dude, if you're going to do a dropkick song, I want to hear, I went to see the stiff little fingers play. The kids from Belfast were tearing it up. One of the greatest songs ever. The thing that I appreciate about this band is, like, they're delivering on something that I've been begging for recently, which is, like, a true attempt to try to write choruses in Roots hardcore music. You know? And, like... I think that a lot of times bands of this style and in the raw punk style, they shy away from trying to write choruses because they're fucking scared. Because if you don't put yourself out there, you don't have the chance that someone's going to be like, oh, that band is corny. You know what I mean? Oh, that's corny. Or you write a sing-along part and no one sings along and then you feel like a foo. You know what I mean? So it's got to be commended. when bands go for it like this. And you know what? There's a band very close to them that's kind of setting the North Star, right? It's like that Haywire, Like a Train song, that is the North Star. Write a song that catchy. I think this band does some serious attempts and pulls it off in a lot of parts on this record. There are memorable songs on here, and this is something where you never know what's going to get looked back on as classics. You know, like This might be, you know, 10 years from now. So
SPEAKER_01:they told me about the Trout King Murphy's cover a while ago. And I was like, I looked at them. I'm like, what are you talking about? There's no way. And they just go, it's pretty much just a hardcore song. And I was like, I guess so. And then I hear here and I'm like, well, they're right there. It is pretty much just a hardcore song. So it works.
SPEAKER_02:So, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I understand that to the point of there is so much stuff all the time that it's easy for these demos to wash over you because there's so many and the quality of them is pretty high where it's hard to keep track of how much there is coming out all the time. But the thing that I counter that is it's not too much because it's going to translate the shows and that's where hardcore really is. Right. Like a lot of the bands that we're talking about haven't even played a show yet. So the actual scene, like the thing that's important, the thing, the living, breathing part of hardcore, it's only starting to feel the effects of hardcore. this return right like there's not as many of these shows of just all bands like this yet there's not as many people at all of these shows yet these bands are all bubbling and they're just starting like we're not at the point where hardcore is dominated by these bands where the biggest bands are these bands like we're in the germinating phase of that right so um just because there's three months of not being able to keep up with how the amount of demos that are out there doesn't mean that the scene is oversaturated because it hasn't affected any, like it hasn't changed everything as much as it's going to. Right. Like we're in the beginning of this new phase. So it's like at one point there were new heavy bands a few years ago. Right. And you go, Oh man, there's a lot of new heavy bands. That's cool. And then, um, Later on is when you start to be like, oh, yeah, there's only really heavy bands. And we're not anywhere close to that. So I just think that people are like, I don't really understand what the issue is or what people really wanted because people have been talking about this for so long. And then all of a sudden, we have three months, six months, a year of bands dying. kind of going back to center and it's all of a sudden a bad thing.
SPEAKER_02:I think that it's important that the bands are real bands. That would be my concern is that like, I hope that bands playing this style, it's not like a side project that like, you know, people are like, Oh, let's do one, like, you know, of like old school hardcore, you know? And like, they don't care about it. That would be the thing that could like body this shit before it gets started. But you're right. Like, This is hardcore made for the live setting, right? And if you're not in the room, you're missing out on a giant element of what hardcore is. And I know that a year or two ago, a bunch of nerds tried to cancel Mindforce for saying something similar, saying that was an ableist statement of you need to be in the room to understand what it's all about. But it's true. You know, so I think that it is important for like these bands to be active and play and that'll make some stand out. But, you know, there are some of like, not the bands that we talked tonight, but like, you know, I try to listen, at least spot check, listen to everything that comes through. And like, there are some demos, it's like, I, I don't know about this. Do I mean like, but then again, it's like, dude, if you go on the no echo playlist, like 90% of it is fucking terrible. And shout out to Carlos for like keeping that completest ass playlist. Like that's insane. But like almost everything on there is terrible. And like mid music of like this genre, like this straightforward hardcore is like better than most things, like in my opinion. So, and also like, you know, going back to like the, the live setting. So there's that band raised wrong. It's like a bunch of scene veterans, like a bunch of older dudes, like, you know, Pettibone sings for it. Ito's in it. They play the shake cafe. And like in San Diego right now, it's a lot of like metal is like what's popular. Right. So like, and the chase skews very young, like it's a lot of kids like under 21, you know what I mean? So like they haven't really seen the, like that many straight hardcore bands. I'm like, this band does it very well. And you should check out their 12-minute Johnny Indecision records, right? But, dude, after they played, like, a song, like, kids just went nuts. Like, yeah! You know? And, like, they didn't know what to do during it because there's no, like, okay, here comes the mosh part, here comes the mosh part, side-to-side people. Like, you know, like, there's no mosh calls. There's no, like, generic, like, mosh part, like, paint-by-numbers shit. But, like, people didn't know what hit them. Fast hardcore in your face. It is great live. That's what's up. I think there were some people that saw the light that night.
SPEAKER_01:One of the craziest videos that I've seen this year is that Start Today band playing in California. I think they were playing this big Screamo show. The whole show is just hundreds of kids stage diving and singing along and going crazy. If you look at them judging the book by its cover, it's You know, it's not necessarily hardcore kids, but they all had the spirit and the energy. And it's like, it's awesome. So like, that's what we need. And like, you know, complaining about that before we even really get to that boiling point, again, seems crazy. But this weekend, luckily, is Rebirth Fest 2, where I'm going to see at least Identity Shock and Grand Scheme. So I'm really excited, especially a lot of new hardcore bands are playing. But unfortunately, I am not too sure on how to report Rebirth. from the future on that one.
SPEAKER_02:That's right. If only we could go to Kevin in the future to report on this upcoming weekend's show. All
SPEAKER_01:right. This is Kevin from the future with a, uh, quick report on the weekend, which was awesome. First, I want to say, I think I said that both identity shock and, uh, uh grand scheme were playing and i was wrong grand scheme did not play but with hate did do a surprise set so two of the bands we talked about this weekend were on it um overall the vibes of the weekend were just unmatched it was awesome uh there was probably ended up being about 40 covers i think for the whole weekend i don't have the exact number uh in front of me but at least 40 maybe 45 covers all weekend almost every single non-legacy band did one and even death threat busted out uh the juggernaut intro and a chain of strength cover so um it was great uh some quick highlights scarab um was awesome identity shock um was way better live you know i like the record obviously as discussed but way better live uh going back to scarab they did a gimmick where um before every song people picked the song the next song out of a bag which was fun uh no idols delivered um i hadn't seen them yet they were great after the demo from last year they covered betray by minor threat um the breakdown set was unbelievable uh, maybe the best breakdown set I've ever seen. The vibes were just great through the whole thing. Um, with hate C4 and burning more did a quick, all block of, uh, two surprise sets in the C4 set in the middle. And that was the highlight of a Saturday, but, uh, yeah, false salvation. We covered, uh, integrity and right brigade. So I, I thought that both of those were pretty cool. And, um, Yeah, it was just a great weekend that frees out another one we've talked about before. I really liked it. Just one of those things where there's just so much stuff all weekend and it was just great. So it made me really excited about hardcore and what was going on right now. And lots of great bands and the vibes were great. And like I said, the cover gimmick. was just unbelievable just to see it got to the point where it was disappointing if a band didn't do them, didn't do one. We were, we made it through underdog or two underdog on Saturday with every band doing a cover. And then in the Sunday, Oh, another thing to the underdog and death red sets were both also awesome. Underdog was easily the best time that I've seen them. So, so yeah, it was sick. Hopefully Bob does another rebirth record showcase next year. Cause that was the vibe for that. That was the show this year and the vibe this year. And it was great.
SPEAKER_06:all
SPEAKER_02:right let's talk the last uh new thing i want to talk the nissimono uh lp that came out on toxic state this is a band out of new york city i believe it's a project band with two dudes doing it but goddamn i think they laid down like the best lp of the year so far or at least of this first quarter of 2025 what do you think about this kev
SPEAKER_01:this record is fucking awesome uh you know you know when something's good so good you just say no notes That's me on this one. No notes. It's just fucking awesome. It's fast. It's got memorable guitar parts. It hits right in the same spot of more recent bands like Rat Cage and Impalers, where it's just really raging, really good guitar. guitar leads that don't overshadow the song but they complement every single song that they're in the way the way that they do riffs on this record are really cool too because with a lot of db bands obviously like the discharge formula is kind of just pummeling you with the same riff over and over and nissa mono doesn't really do that like the riffs kind of evolve and like kind of ramble on in a good way. Like the songs are still really short and concise, but like they kind of evolve and they're not static, which I think is really cool on this. And really the most important thing is a lot of times the production of new punk bands really hinders them where especially the vocals are really distorted and kind of screechy and like type of thing. And the vocals here just sound fucking great. They sound awesome. pretty clear. There, there is some doubling on the vocals, but they're not really distorted. Um, so it's in the guitars and everything sound really big and energetic and the whole record just pummels you. It's 13 minutes long and it's the perfect length. It doesn't, I don't feel ripped off, uh, by having only 13 minutes, especially for an LP, but I also don't really know if I really want that much more on this. Like it's nine songs. It, when it finishes, you just go, well, that was fucking awesome. And, uh, you just repeat it over again. And like the, when this came out, I'm not joking. I think I listened to it like 10 times on Friday alone. I was just listening to it literally over and over. Like it ended. I'm like, I got to listen to it again. I got to listen to it again. So now already the songs are kind of just imprinted on my brain. And it's one of those things too, you know, like it's kind of like the identity shock where it's not like every, any song is, By itself stands out like I can't go back and tell you like, oh, this part is great. That part is great. But it's just the total package of it. It just hits you over the head over and over. And it's just perfect, like exactly what I want for this kind of, you know, faster, deep beat. It's kind of sounds a little bit Swedish kind of sounds like they talk about totalitarian prompted in the write up. And it definitely is reminiscent of how both of those bands just kind of pummel you. So yeah, this, this one came out of left field. old i guess they did a demo a few years ago and um but it either completely missed me or i forgot it so when i heard this song and i saw the artwork which the artwork is also great but when i saw it i'm like oh that looks cool and i listened to the song i'm like oh this seems good and then i kind of forgot that the lp was coming and then last week it just hit me out of nowhere and i'm like oh my god this record is easily one of my favorites so far this year and you know i like it so much i would assume that i'd be coming back to it by the end of the year too
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's a killer record. Nine songs, 13 minutes, nothing throwaway. Like Kev said, nothing super stands out on it, but it is kind of a sum of all parts. It reminds me of the Public Acid LP in that way from last year. Although, again, like Kev was talking about the production, this is very clean production, which for the sound is very interesting. You know, in fact, like maybe I'll start with my like negative and then I'll get into my positive because like I was going to speak this at the end, but because you brought it up, it's very clean. In fact, like I'm almost like begging for more tone on it, like a little bit more like NAR distortion on the guitar or maybe a little fuzzier bass or something. I don't know. Maybe they're playing a little too safe with the tones, but then again, maybe this is like a fuck you to like everything of like the raw punk style having to be like so extreme with like distorted buried vocals and like fucking hm2s and like bass you can't even hear it it just sounds like a fucking frog farting you know i mean like maybe it's like purposely not gnarly sounding i don't know it does allow like the riffs to speak for themselves and like you know the riffage on like that the first and third songs like that fast left hand stuff is like really my favorite thing to listen to these days they did call out totalitar on the write-up and kind of anything that is super left-handy. It reminds me of that last Totalitar LP, I believe from 07. But yeah, I absolutely love it. And like Kev said, this thing just flies by. When it came out, I listened to it three times in a row. So that's pretty wild for me because I generally don't make it through a whole LP. And I do think that in modern times, just being able to get through an LP without skipping something is an epic win. So yeah. Yeah, this is a great accomplishment. And again, Kev, you brought up not feeling ripped off that it's 13 minutes or whatever on an LP. Because LPs are getting more and more expensive. Dude, pay this artist who did this album cover all the proceeds. You know what I mean? I'm happy to support this dude. This album cover is an early favorite to win Album Art of the Year for sure. Final thoughts?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Like I said, the biggest thing with this record is just how it completely took me out of left field. Like my other favorite record this year so far that we talked about earlier was the Massacre record. And I was really excited for that. Like I knew it was going to be good. I knew I was going to listen to it a lot. This one, I knew nothing about. I had no clue that it was even going to be a thing. And now here we are. It's I don't see how I don't come back to this at the end of the year. I think you talked about the public acid record to like last year, the record that like I kept coming back to over and over as the palate cleanser was the invertebrates record. And that's, you know, 12 minutes. And it's really it's kind of the same thing where like. it's not like every song stands out, but the whole thing fucking is great. This I think is easily going to be the same thing where it's like exactly the same amount of time where like, I could just put it on if I have a quick drive or if I'm going for a walk and I don't know what to put on or, you know, I'm at the office and I don't know, like, I just have to like kind of zone out for a little while. Like this is going to be the perfect record for that, that I think I'm just going to come back to all year long.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I mean, I foresee myself probably putting this on a timeout until it comes in the mail and then probably jamming it for like an entire week and not taking it off the turntable so we'll see
SPEAKER_03:the fight lasts for hours each ram battering the other dozens of times
SPEAKER_02:so
SPEAKER_00:All
SPEAKER_02:right, we are going head to head with two modern classics. We are putting the Boston Strangler LP Primitive from 2011 up against the Boston Strangler LP Fire from 2014. Primitive came out on Fun With Smack. Fire came out on Boston Strangler Records. Dude, This is a good matchup, Kev. And so what happened here was we were talking about this band and Kev was like, you know what? I might like the second one more. And I was like, you know what, dude? I'm a fucking asshole. I don't even think I've ever listened to the second one. You know what I mean? And so I did. And it was like, God damn, this is a real matchup. How you feel about this, Kev?
SPEAKER_01:So when Boston Stranger, when Primitive came out, honestly, when the demo came out, I listened to it and I wasn't as into it as I thought I should have been. Like, I was loving bands like this at the time, like all the Boston bands or whatever, like, but this one didn't hit with me as much. And even when Primitive came out, it was a phenomenon. Like, it now... Records now are pretty easy to get. I think people do lower pressings of them than they used to, but also maybe not quite as many people are getting them. So it's easy to get. But at the time, it was impossible to get the first press of the Boston Strangler record because it just sold out everywhere immediately. And they were going for a decent amount of money. But... it didn't connect with me as much then. And I don't know why I saw them once or twice around primitive too. And like, it was cool, but I liked, you know, no tolerance, more Robin mom, more, et cetera. But then when fire hit, I listened to it and it just floored me. Like right away, I was just like, this record is unbelievable. Um, two of the songs, the truth. And, one of the other ones was on the demo. And then three of the songs were on a promo that they put out for this record. Um, And so like a lot of it was around before. But the thing that really makes this special and I will I should say I did go back after and then I listened to Primitive and I do think that it's fantastic and like it's awesome. And I was very stupid for not liking it as much as I should have when it came out. But the thing that really connected with me right away from Primitive. is that it really feels like a full record. It feels really theatric in a good way. It starts with a cool intro that kind of like with the strike in the match and then like, you know, the slower guitar part that kind of builds out. builds up. Um, like every song on here is memorable. Yes. Like the truth is a rerecord from the demo, but the rerecording here is I think the definitive version of the song. Um, and it's a modern hardcore classic song. Um, and then like everything like forward to hell, um, outcast, like it's all just super, um, Everything is catchy. I think it's faster than primitive. It's slower than primitive. It's catchier than primitive. And I just think that it's– I think too when you hear people talk about Boston Strangler now, I do think that people– talk mostly about primitive. And I don't want to say that it's, I think that that's wrong because I think that you have two classic LPs and it's really hard for a band, especially in the past 10 or 15 years to do two classic LPs. So, but I think that, uh, fire is kind of dismissed, especially because they didn't play too much after it came out. I think, and even really before it came out, I think they were kind of, you know, uh, petering out a little bit, but like, I think this is the real definitive, uh, statement from the band. And really the best thing on the record, I think, is the last song, which is Slow Burn. And I think that this is truly like one of the greatest hardcore songs of all time. I think that it's a real anthemic. It's almost structured similarly to a song like Plastic Bomb or something like that, where it's kind of the modern hardcore epic that kind of, you know, it's got a catchy... chorus and it's got good verses and it's got good leads and then as it goes on it just keeps building and building and building at the end to the big mosh part and like the whole song just explodes it's got a really really catchy i don't know if it's a lead or a solo but it's got a really catchy guitar part towards the end and it just all comes together and then it ends with um going into a piano that's kind of repeating the guitar part which could be really corny but in this case it really is like just kind of ends the album perfectly and yeah i i just think that the song is a classic song i think that the album is a classic album i saw them one time after this they opened or they direct support for infest in brooklyn like not too long after and they were just unbelievable and they ended with slow burn into the truth like directly right into it and it was 10 years ago and i still think about how just cool and perfect the transition was especially what if you kind of forget about the truth like you think that slow burn would be what they end with but they just faded right into the truth and it was just unbelievable so um yeah i think that it's very obvious i'm gonna pick fire here primitive i think is great but primitive is kind of the first record and i think that fire is the definitive uh this is the band's legacy record.
SPEAKER_02:I think that fire is a great follow-up. I think that they lean more slap shot, more singy. The recording is different. I don't know if like the guitars are more panned out to the side or whatever. It sounds less compressed. The guitars sound a little warmer. The singing is more melodic. That intro is like legit tuneful with like those chord progressions and the bass walks, you know? And I think that they set out like to do like, this is like a project, like in a way that like, this was a mapped out ass record, which you don't think of for like roots, hardcore bands. So like, they're going to take you on a journey with an LP, you know, from like the, you know, the light in the match on the intro, like you talked about to like the, the big long, like epic last song. And then like ending with a piano, you know, before when we're talking about with hate, you know, I was talking about like bands not taking risks because everyone is so scared of being called corny. And I think that here you have a band taking some relatively big risks, especially on a second LP of this style, which a lot of bands don't pull off. And they're really knocking it out of the park with this stuff. The other thing about this record is I think that it's pretty back heavy. I think that the four song run at the end of the record is great. And like ending that strong is different than the first record, because I think that primitive is very front heavy. In fact, like, so my experience with this band was like, you know, I was never like a super lover of the B nine board, you know, and like stuff would get hyped on there all the time. And like, you'd listen to it and it's like, What the fuck, dude? A lot of people on that board, they were the proto-Reddit people. You know what I mean? You could tell they were internet people that didn't go to shows. Not everyone, but like a lot of people that like hyped shit. So a lot of times I was like dismissive of stuff on there. And that might've happened with the demo, or I don't even know if I heard of the demo when it came out, but a primitive and real quick side note, I think primitive came out in 2012. So test press came out in 2011. So don't get at me anyway. When primitive came out, it was like super hyped on the B nine message board. And I was like, all right, let me check this out. So I downloaded off some like blog spot blog probably. And like, listen to it. And I was like, God, damn, like these people got one, right? Like this is like a fucking modern classic. You know what I mean? Now listening to it now, like, you know, whatever, 15 years later, I do think it is very front loaded because I think that the first three songs are like all time songs. And really, if you put those three songs and the song Boston Strangler on a seven inch, like it might be one of the, the great USHC seven inches, like, of all time, like a timeless, timeless record. Instead, you get a really, really good Roots Hardcore LP. I mean, it is classic, right? But I do think that Locked Inside drags a little bit, and I think the end of the record gets a little too mid-tempo and monotone. But those first three songs are so good, I don't even know how to describe them. You know what I mean? So on that alone, I got to go primitive. But this was a great matchup. And, I mean, maybe Fire is the better record overall, but, like, just nothing can fuck with 1, 2, 3, and 5 off Primitive.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think that it's interesting that you say that Fire is backloaded because, like, you know, Forward to Hell, I think, is a great song, Outkast. Broken Spirit. I just think that the whole thing is great all the way through. And I think there's just a testament to how great the record is. But I mean, like we said, both LPs are classics. So there's really not a wrong answer here. But I really think whenever we do the 2000s list, Fire, I think, is going to be my top five. And honestly, it could even be number one. I think it might have been my working number one last time I tried.
SPEAKER_02:Forward to Hell might be the best song on the record. So I don't know. I guess the beginning of the record doesn't compare to the other one. And so I was like, You know what? This one doesn't fall off like the other one to me. So I don't know. Both of them are great. And what an accomplishment to be a band of this style and to put out two great LPs. Something special.
SPEAKER_06:It's your turn!
SPEAKER_02:All right, we're doing It's Your Choice. Kev wanted to talk the Acme record to reduce the choir to one soloist. This LP came out on Edison Records in 1996. It compiles their 1993 demo as well as their 1994 7-inch. This is not on Spotify, so it won't be on the playlist. But you should check out the playlist, 185milesouth.com. Click that playlist link at the top of the screen or just find us on Spotify. I will link this in the sub stack that will come out tomorrow. So check it out there. Kev, what do you think about this record and why did you want to talk about it?
SPEAKER_01:So one of the things that we've been discussing is kind of metalcore and how it's a genre that, not that you want to understand, I don't think. I don't think that's that, but you know, it hasn't really been covered too much on the podcast and people have asked about it and it's just kind of a blind spot for you. Most of it doesn't connect. So when we were talking, I was like, all right, I have one for you that I think maybe you would like. At least you might find interesting than more of some of the more chaotic type of stuff that people think about or the more melodic stuff. So that's why I brought up this Acme record. Their band that existed, I think they existed from like 1991 to 1995. They did a demo cassette and then the demo seven inch, which I can't even tell if it's the same recording or not. There's extra stuff on the tape and then just three comp songs and that's it. They kind of just fell off the face of the earth. I was told that they kind of just stopped talking to people and that distros even had money for them and they were never able to get it back to them. Doing a little bit of research, it did seem like some went on to be in bands like Carole and Morcer. Morcer did a split with The Swarm. But yeah, I brought this one up because I thought that maybe it would be something that you'd be interested in. The reason that I like it is that I think that it's definitively an early metalcore record. I don't think you can listen to this and not think that, but at the same time, it's not quite as chaotic as some of the other things. It's not like it's just a guy jerking off the fretboard the whole time and going in super crazy timing or anything. It's got real heavy parts and chugging parts and real chaotic vocals, but not like... inhuman chaotic vocals it's just kind of like what everything was going on at the time kind of you can hear the early metalcore in there you can hear kind of the screamo stuff that was going on in there so that's so I really like this you can kind of it's hard this is one of those bands where I really can't say what their influence is because you hear them cited and you hear it be like oh yeah people talk about Acme and you can like hear them later in bands like Converge and stuff like that but like It's hard to say if they actually influenced those bands or if those bands were influenced by the same thing Acme wore, so I don't really know. But yeah, I just like how... This band just really pummels you, especially the highlight song is Attempt, which is the second song. And right away, as soon as it starts, it just right into a really heavy wall of guitars and vocals, just a real heavy scream right in the beginning, right into just a heavy... And then it transitions into another kind of more in the pocket heavy choking part, almost kind of like an unbroken type of heavy part, but like with more distortion and a little heavier. And then it just kind of keeps going from there. I mean, I do think the one kind of flaw of this band is that the songs kind of peter out a bit towards the end where the songs themselves are a little bit front loaded and top heavy. But otherwise, this is a record that I come back to a decent amount, especially with how Metalcore has kind of been a cited thing, especially like European metalcore bands. This is one that I feel like has gone under the radar a little bit compared to some of the other ones. And for me, I think it's better than almost all of them. And I do like too, there's Mystery where they put out seven songs. I mean, really? there are the comp songs, but it's really like a four song demo and then they disappeared and that's it. And then they have this kind of cited legacy record. I don't think they've ever reunited or anything. They just dropped this out and then that's it and fall off the face of the earth. And I think that that's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I, I think that this has a lot of good things going for it. Like I do not like metal core at all. And that's mostly just because like when I got into hardcore, I liked like the revival stuff and I had to sit through like, a million bands trying to sound like this. So I have a bias towards this type of music, and it's not Acme's fault. It's all the bands trying to sound like this. And when you trace back the roots of metalcore, first of all, I'm not an expert, so I might get everything wrong on this. But what I look to is either the beginning or the proto would be like this record... Or that second Rorschach LP, the Protestant one. Or the Unbroken stuff, I guess. But that's not as chaotic. This has that metal moshiness. It has the throat vocals. It has the metal picking. It has lots of single string playing. So that's all things that combine to make 90s metalcore. What I think this has going for it is the recordings are great. Especially for the era. It just sounds good to listen to, which you have to have for heavy metal. If the recording doesn't sound good in metal, get the fuck out of here. You know what I mean? That's half the point. The singer has an awesome voice, a legit great throaty voice. Maybe it's somewhere below throat, above gut. That's nice. The songs are all relatively short. They clock in around the two-minute mark, which is something that all the clones of this band never got. It's kind of in the way that everyone was influenced by Satisfaction as the Death of Desire, but everyone missed that one of the great things about it was the brevity. And no one figured that out except for Terror. And look, everyone loved Terror. You know what I mean? But even Hatebreed never did it again. Hatebreed turned into a three, four-minute band. you know, but like this band, like they, they talk a lot into these two minute songs. They can take you on a ride. I think that like, you know, while I don't love this, I'm not going to go back to it. It wasn't like that punishing for me. I guess I did enjoy parts of listening to it. So like in that way, like, you know, it's kind of like, I'm sentenced to death, but I get to choose my means. They used to have that in Utah, right? You get to like, oh, do you want to get in the gas chamber or do you want to just get shot in the head? There's that one scene in Monty Python, The Meaning of Life, where the guy gets to choose how he dies, so he gets chased off a cliff by a bunch of topless rollerbladers. I guess this record is me getting chased off a cliff by a bunch of topless roller skaters. I did enjoy listening to this because I do think it's important because you know like the demo being 1993 like this is like very early for the style and so like I care about the history of hardcore even the pieces that I don't like and like I do think that this is still dyed in the wool hardcore like this is These dudes are not trying to be famous. These dudes are not trying to like cross over. So yeah, much respect. Great pick. Glad we spent some time on this.
SPEAKER_00:I'm taking it back to the old school. Cause I'm an old fool. I'm taking it back to the old school. Cause I'm an old fool. Yo, what's up motherfuckers? Old school.
SPEAKER_02:All right, let's go old school. I wanted to talk just very, very briefly. The band out of Switzerland named Saws, they put out two seven inches, but we're going to talk the first one called Patrol Car. They came out of Farmer Records in 1979. And again, I don't really have anything to say about this. It just like it could have fit in perfectly on No Future Records in like 1982. And like, it's so notable that it's like a Swiss band doing that, like 81, 82, 83, no future sound. Like, you know, two years before that stuff really pops off and like, it's a Swiss band, not a UK band. So what do you think about this Kev?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. You know, um, This was cool. The first song is obviously the better of the two here. It's a big like anthemic, just power pop song, which I liked. But otherwise, the thing that really stood out to me was that the drums on the second song just sound crazy. They're like almost industrial drums. but for like a power pop band. So I, I, that is like, I find that to be really, it's really cool when we, when we listen to some of this stuff where of the really early bands, especially stuff that's not like classic or canonized to just hear choices that people made before there was really such a thing as like the right choice. And I think that that's like the most interesting thing that of when you kind of dive into stuff that is, below the surface is just kind of seeing the choices that bands make and kind of wondering why they made those choice and like kind of thinking about you know is it a good choice or bad choice or whatever so I think that that is just one of the real interesting things here is just you know when there's when there's no normal just what bands kind of want to do
SPEAKER_02:yeah I mean it's 1979 punk is only three years old Like that's insane. You know what I mean? Think about like how many people got into hardcore, like during COVID it's like those people have been into hardcore now longer than like punk existed when the saws seven inch came out. So pretty insane.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:All right, I'm joined by Tommy Carroll from Straight Ahead. What's up, dude? What's going on there, man? Yeah, what's going on? What is going on? All right, so you had a thrash band in the 80s with Craig Sitari called NYC Mayhem. Can you talk about how that came together and what music you were into at the time?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, so... I guess everything started into music as a young kid. My older sister, all my sisters were into music. One of them used to take me to concerts. The other one was into Zeppelin and Pet Company and all that. My father was a singer and always into music. well i was a few kids from the neighborhood and uh we wanted to start a band so uh i was around 14 so i had just gotten my working papers and uh so i was able to buy a drum set and One kid decided he'd play bass and the other one guitar. So me and I had the most money working at that time. I saved up all my money all summer and I bought like a Tama Swing Star, you know. And it started from there. I played with the other kids. They kind of drifted off. I met a kid, Lance, that was in my school, school Wagner Junior High School in Manhattan on 76th and 2nd Avenue. And he was like, I sing for a band. And it was Gordon Ansis and Tony Shrimkin. That was the original members of New BK1, BK New York City Mayhem. And I tried out for them. You know, I was terrible. But, you know, they needed a drummer. They were actually pretty good musicians for their age at the time. And we rehearsed a few times. And it took off from there. We played our first show at the show place in New York. New Jersey. That was our first gig. I think Danny Locher from Nuclear Assault drove us there. They had their big truck. So we all got in the back. And... What am I jumping the gun? No, no. That's what happened. So we played that show. And a little after that, we were going to CBGB's and we met Craig through Danny Locher. And... We replaced Tony with Craig, thought it'd be more of a fit. And, uh, it just, you know, this is so long ago. We're going on 40 years now, right? 40 years plus. Glad to be remembered, but, uh, trying to think back and all this stuff. Uh, so, uh, I might leave pieces out. I just simply don't remember. But we got Craig, and it just took off from there. Then we started playing all shows, and that's really how it started from there. We got one gig after the other and played Seabees a couple of times. These both bands were short-lived, if you think about it. Sure. So we're going in a different direction, you know, getting a little more hardcore. Once we went to CBG, I think the first one to CBG was in 1984, C-A-O-D. And that just, you know, the feel for it and everything else just became, you know, we started leaning more in that direction, you know. The availability between the crowd and the bands, it was just something, you know. that places like Lemoore's and stuff didn't have. I don't know. I fell in love with it as soon as I walked in there. A whole hardcore scene. That was it in terms of Mayhem. We became straight ahead once Gordon left. We got Rob Echeria to play guitar. He was in the band Colvin and Craig forehand. Then Armand was a friend of ours. I knew all these guys from, you know, from shows, from metal shows, Lou from Sigma at all. And Pete, like we, we, we seen him at all the shows. We always, you know, we were in the underground and Metallica when they came to the Moors and the Rosen ballroom. And, um, Slayer, seeing them at the Rio Theater when they first came to, you know, New York. And I would see these guys down in the village at the record stores and stuff. So I go back a long way with those guys and seeing the whole scene, how they developed. And they went the same way, going to see with us. They actually went to that AOD show with us. We just became, you know, a crowd. We seen them at the Slayer show and kind of jumping all over the place here.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. I have that as the second question because Tony Rettman did that great New York hardcore book that you're quoted in, and you talk about going to CBGBs and seeing AOD, and that kind of being your gateway to hardcore. Can you kind of talk about generally what were shows at CBGB like in 1985? What was the vibe? Oh, I mean, like
SPEAKER_05:I said, just the bands, the interaction, you didn't have that. In the metal scene, there was a little bit of distance, maybe because we were a little younger and stuff. But, you know, the stage diving, you know, just the whole atmosphere. There's a rich history in CBGB. It's not that there wasn't in, like, L'Amour's and stuff, but it was just something to it. I mean, you go back to, you know, the bands that played there, and you felt it, you know? Like, I don't know. I just was drawn to it the first time I went there, and I think everybody else was. Look what came of it, you know? But, yeah, it was, you know, the shows were great. Like I said, I came around in 1984, so I would say that's the second tier. The other guys were like from 81, 82, and 83. Then we, you know, Agnostic Front and all the original, you know, Cro-Mags and stuff. But they didn't really start developing until we started going. Like, you know, I was right before AF signed to Combat Corps and put out their second record. And the Cro-Mags were just like... getting it you know getting real tight and you know they came out with their demo and uh no it was it was it was great like you know and the connection with you know youth of today i played drums for them for a while and uh you know gorilla biscuits and uh all you know token entry and uh you know anthony with raw deal and uh all we it was such a like a good network of people and uh the shows were a lot of fun you know not only stevie jeebies but the right track in a few other places, but going back to see the atmosphere, yeah, it was electric, man. It was, you know, some shows, and when I first seen AF, that was unbelievable, you know, and Cro-Mags always, you know. It just felt like, you know, some of these things, especially the Cro-Mags, felt like a concert at, you know, a place that held like 400 people, you know, tops. But it was... It was something. It was moving, man. It hit me right in my soul. I took to that. I mean, I loved it. Every Sunday, I look forward to that. Being such a young kid, we're talking 14, 15, 16 years old. It was just, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, with you coming in on the early second wave, were people already talking about the good old days of New York hardcore, like A7, Once Upon a...
SPEAKER_05:Well, I'll tell you this, because when I look at it, like I used to say the same thing, a little standoffish with some of the, you know, people and stuff. Because I felt, you know, if you look at the, you know, with Todd and Roger and Vinny and Ray B's and all, it was theirs. Like they said, hardcore scene started with like 25, 30 people. But I never got that vibe from Todd, Vinny or Ray or whatever. You know, they were open. They knew where it was going and they were happy that people were coming in and stuff like that. You know, it was all about the music and stuff. But, yeah, there was, you know, like I would imagine like this is, you know, I think Harley was a little like that. This is ours, you know, not yours and stuff like that. Got a little, you know, not much, but a little like, you know, you're an outsider or a newbie or whatever. But I think that happens with any scene or whatever, you know. But when I look at it, I understand it because I only played– and went to CBGBs maybe from 84 to 88. And then I moved on my life, but I didn't play music anymore. And I would go to shows and I kept in touch with a lot of the guys because they became, I still do, became my friends for life. These are good people you meet, but it's like that with most people. They move on, they get older. You know, it's so, you know, that origin for, I think, any music, even the start of punk rock in England, you know, in the 70s, well, it came from the Ramones. But it's always that summer, you know, or that, you know, that particular time. It's usually like, you know, that one year that was just like magic, you know, sports or somebody has a magical year. And that really starts like a ripple. That just like, you know, that just keeps going, you know, and something. And I, you know, I think that's a lot with a lot of different genres of music and different scenes, you know. Yeah. a little bit different now with all the, you know, everything online and everything else. You had to do the footwork back then, you know, so a little more, I don't know, commitment or whatever, I don't know, from jumping off topic, but it was, you know, you had to be there, like even physically. I don't know how it is now because I'm so far removed, but, you know, I was just, you know, my particular time in that was special and, you know, I mean, I just went up to see Ray up in his farm. He doesn't live too far from me. You know, after all I hadn't seen him for years, you know, Ray Capo. You know, like, you see people and whatever, most of them are doing good. It was a great positive. When I look at it, there's been a lot of tragedy in the scene, a lot of lives lost, you know, drugs and stuff like that, but, you know, a lot of the guys from that particular whole little network, that whole, so straight edge or close to it, all those guys are doing very well, you know. It's good to see, you know, speaking to you know, like I said, lost a lot of people, but I keep in touch with some people and I'm glad they're, you know, thriving and striving and still doing well and into their mid fifties and later.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of Ray, uh, him and Parcell moved in New York city in 1986. Can you talk about that timeframe and like you getting into straight edge?
SPEAKER_05:Uh, yeah. Well, to, to be honest with you, I, I, with the straight edge thing, just, you know, I didn't, call it, but I was. When I was, you know, I grew up in a rough neighborhood, you know, the old experimenting with drinking and, you know, smoking marijuana. I had such a very young age, you know, like 11, 12 years old. Experimenting with acid and masculine and stuff like that. And I got out of that, you know, and the music helped me, you know. So when Mayhem played, nobody drank in that band. Nobody drank or smoked or anything. We just wanted to play music. No time for any of that stuff, you know? We figured, you know, it's just a distraction, you know? So... that was through and through. I just never labeled it. I just, you know, but when I seen other, when Ray and John came in and, you know, like saying coming a little late and then minor threat and seeing that, then, you know, the Boston straight edge kind of thing. And that's what I think is a little more towards, you know, Ray and John, a little more of that back then, you know, it's like a little more in your face kind of, but it, you know, it was right up, right up my alley and, Craig's and, you know, all the guys there. I would say most of the guys, even sick of all the labels, nobody really drank. Nobody... did drugs, nobody, you know, like if you could see, like that's what made it kind of, you know, so good. I mean, cause all that stuff went on in the eighties in the city, you know, and they go on, but it was, uh, you know, everybody was healthy, exercised, ate good. Most people, vegetarians are experimenting with an alternative, you know, so to say lifestyle. But, uh, yeah, we, we seen, uh, I seen Ray in a band. I forgot the band he was in before, Violent Children. All right. So I met him then. And then they played CBGBs one time. Yes, Youth of Today. All right. Seen him again. And straight ahead, he was already playing. I think we were corresponding. I had this 7-inch. And when they came down, I don't know exactly how it happened. But we were big fans of them and that whole strange scene. And when they asked me to join, and then they were like, you think you can get Craig? And I'm like, yeah, he'll definitely come. Because me and him are like two peas in a pod, you know? So I went to, I think, Matt's house from Crippled Youth. And I... they had a room with a drum set set up. I tried out. It took me, that's when they asked, uh, get Greg and then, uh, we rehearsed at giant studio. And I think we were only rehearsed two or three times. If that, that we played that got our first show. Was it CBGBs? It might've been the one that's on the tape. Uh, uh, And it just, you know, the energy level, I mean, you had, you know, like four all-stars, you know, hardcore all-stars. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, that's wild. I just got to stumble here. I thought I'd seen some coyotes. It's just deer. Oh, there's a shitload of them. I got about, it's about a dozen deer running through my backyard right now. Nice to live in the country. That's sick.
SPEAKER_02:Go ahead. So talking about straight ahead, a lot of... drummers become great front men. You know, like if you think about Rick Capo, Mike Judge did Death Before Dishonor, and you've today, Rady's did AF, Chavo was in Red Cross before Black Flag, and of course, Tommy Carroll in, you know, in your bad before straight ahead. Why do you think that is? Why do you think like that pipeline? I think
SPEAKER_05:drummers have that kind of, you know, drummers, what are drummers going to do? You don't see too many drummers playing a string instrument, maybe bass, but, you know, And they're in the back. A lot of guys are back there like, oh, I want to be up front. But it's an energy thing. That's, you know... And for Mayhem, I sang and played drums because the kid Lance, going back to him, he had like a sore throat from screaming. His mother was like, you're not playing in the band anymore and all that. And so I just didn't like what we're going to do for singing. I was like, I'll just do it. But, you know, when you have all that, man, it was just a ball of energy. You know, you see the drum playing on Mayhem. It was just insane. It was just, you know, most of that, it just goes on the drive and the spirit of just, you know, I mean, I didn't know how to play drums. I, I just, you know, played like I would sing, you know? So, you know, just screaming and screaming out there. So, uh, became such chaos and just all that, just, you know, you know, you want to get out of the, I guess you want to use all that energy that you have as a young kid and, uh, you just throw yourself in there, caution to the wind. It's like jumping in the pit, you know? But, uh, yeah, I would imagine, I can't speak for them, but, you know, I would think, you know, that something in there, like it translates, you know, from, you know, that especially in hardcore, you know, I don't know if I'm just making this up, but for me, I just, I wanted to be out there. And then there's, I don't know if there's ego involved, but you want to be upfront being, I sang and played drums always, you know, and, uh, I just wanted to sing and be out there and just scream and jump around. I didn't even think of that with the other guys playing drums. There's a lot. I guess there's something going on inside. It's only to give you my perspective of it.
SPEAKER_02:It continues to this day. I threw out those 80s examples because I knew you'd know them. Is the Straight Ahead demo and the In the Warzone tracks, is that all the same or No, no, no.
SPEAKER_05:They're very, they're different. I mean, you could tell by the vocals and everything else. Like it's one thing when you're young, people like, I didn't like the vocals on a 12 inch, but when you get older, your voice change. I mean, what was I one of the one record and you know, it's, you're still developing. And so, I mean, like, I mean, straight ahead was finished when I was only 17. Uh, I think we recorded the first one. I would say, uh, Maybe I was 15 when we did End of War Zone. So, you know, and we did that in a place. I forgot the name of the place. One Step Recordings. It became Platinum, the guy. I think they did a single, a couple of single albums, a couple of hip hop albums. The guy was good. He was on 86th Street in Manhattan on the west side. And we went in there. We didn't have much. I think we did it in three hours, you know. And then when we sent it out to Mike Rubenstein, I had to send him a cassette because it was like, we couldn't get it mixed and everything else. I'm like, this is as good as it's going to get. He needed a deadline to have it done and to send the reels. He was like saying, I didn't want to send the reels. I just wanted to master it and maybe copy it and then send him something on that. But it's, you know, even from the reels, like we, the recording, we caught up a little amp, the guitar sounds, Rob always says it sounds like dirt, but yeah, It sounded like it sounded on the way we recorded it. The guitar's a little muffled and everything else. But I sent him that cassette. So I'm trying to think when we actually recorded that. I don't know the date. The other one was recorded in 87. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But Tommy, there's just two recordings though, right? It's like you do a demo and those are also the songs that are on In The War Zone. And then you do the breakaway 12-inch.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Yeah. So we did that, you know, a little while later and we did, uh, most of the same songs. I think we only added, we didn't, the thing was when we did mayhem and we did a lot of trade, a lot of mayhem songs, Gordon wrote all the songs, you know, Greg wrote a couple, but Gordon was the songwriter, you know? And so we just rehashed and refurbished a lot of that material. We had to hit a stump where we weren't writing any songs. And I know we weren't any good at songwriting, but we got stumped a little bit. You know, we came, you know, there's a few songs. I mean, I think Gordon even wrote Spirit of Youth. There's... so we had a little trouble, like when we went in there, like what songs are we going to do? We just keep doing the same songs. I mean, even when we played, I think our sets were never broke 30 minutes. We just didn't have enough material. The songs are so short, but, uh, yeah, we, we did, uh, I write out right idea and break away. We added, we just wrote, wrote them on a whim. I actually just, you know, I wrote those two songs and, uh, we, that's the only two new ones that were on there. And, uh, You know, it actually came out pretty good. You know, I didn't really, I just more like hummed it to Craig and he just translated it on there. And then Rob wrote all the solos and the guitar parts.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:And so that was that. We, yeah, we just had a hard time. I don't know. Nobody, nobody really wrote songs, you know.
SPEAKER_02:Let's stick with the end of the Warzone era, though. 1986, that 7-inch comes out. What's Straight Ahead doing in 86? How are the shows? How packed? How gnarly? How's the vibe of Straight Ahead in 86 after that 7-inch comes out?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I mean, when we played with other bands, we had a little more people. We had a crowd and stuff, but Straight Ahead, like I said, was short-lived. The shows were good. I remember we did one of the Bigger shows where it was insane. It was actually a big riot outside CBGB. One of the earlier shows. Funny, Mike Rubenstein came down to the show. I was working in a doorman building doing summer relief. He came down and hung out, and he wound up going to the CBGB show. I don't know if it was our first one straight ahead, but if not, the second one. But that was a big crowd because it was sort of like a black and blue before black and blue or Super Bowl hardcore, they used to call it. It had a dozen bands, Warzone, everybody. So that place was pretty packed. That was crazy. Yeah, I mean, it was a lot of support. A lot of people knew us and supported. You know, the network with all the other bands, I mean, you know, going back to Sick of It All, Gorilla Biscuits, Token Entry, you know, every band, you know, all the other bands of them, probably leaving a lot of bands out, supported each other. You know, that's what's made it good. So if you just took, like, all the bands that played and put them in CBGBs, the place would be at least half filled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, but, yeah, people just like, you know, when you're that, you know, young and flexible, you just, it just, yeah, it got insane. Yeah. And it was just– it was like a complete workout, man. Even as a young kid, when you left that matinee on a Sunday, you were gassed. You just wanted to go home and go to bed. Me and Craig used to go to a place, Gandhi's, and have some Indian food, and then that was a wrap. Nice little music, a little sitar, and then relax. That was the end of the night. We used to cap it off with that a lot of times.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Oh, so sick. What do you remember about recording the breakaway 12-inch?
SPEAKER_05:We did it with Chuck Vow, first in piece. Chuck was a good friend of mine, and He was getting into working in the studio. As a matter of fact, he went to school for it. I know he had talent in that as well, being a really good bass player. And like I said, we were pretty close. We hung out a lot. And he offered, he goes, look, I got studio time for putting in all these hours. But the thing is, we've got to do it like two or three o'clock in the morning. So, uh, and we only had so much time that he had. So we had to, we had to do it. That's what gave us trouble with the vocals, you know, coming in at three, four in the morning and, uh, you know, and just how was I going to sing? And my influences changed, uh, uh, But it made it a little tough at that night, even for, you know, we're younger guys. But I don't know how many sessions we did, but we only could do so much time. I want to do, you know, the choosing of songs and everything else. We just had to make it, you know, we just put six songs together and that was it. But like I said, I, you know, he makes it and everything else. And when the product was done, which he did a real good job on, uh, I don't, we, we didn't know what to do with it. We just did it because he had time to do it. We had no intention of putting out as a record. So we had, uh, we never went in recording as it's going to be a record. We just did it for ourselves. And he was like, I don't know how this is going to come out. I'm just new to this and just doing this. So he was like, you know, you want to record it, you know, a chunk King, you know? So it was a opportunity to record at a, you know, pretty prestigious place. And that's really, that was just that, That's all there is to that, you know, and you want to go on from there. Then Dwayne from some records is like, oh, you know, this is good. You know, I played it for him. He was like, I'll, you know, I'll put some money together and I'll put it out. And that was when it came out, pressed about a thousand, twelve hundred copies and then a couple more times. But we broke up right around that time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, a couple things, Tommy. First of all, I've never heard anyone complain about your vocals, so that's hilarious. Like, what? Do you feel some sort of way about them? Not two years
SPEAKER_05:later. Well, I don't think the band was like, you know, just that, whatever, trying to do stuff. They liked the more clean, like, you know, vocals, leaning more towards, like, you know, not emo, but a little more, you know, just a standard straight-through voice. And I guess I was still finding my identity and my influences. You know, obviously, as a big HR fan, You know, so, you know, you try to emulate, you know, the people that, you know, you kind of idolize. But just, yeah, from there, you know. But I only seen that years later and like when I came on YouTube, right? I started getting into social media around. And, you know, I would look at them. I didn't even know it was on there. you know, my daughter put me on Facebook in like 2009. So I didn't even like, you know, I, I just had the regular flip phone. And then, uh, up until around maybe 2008, you know, late to the times I got. And, uh, Then I started seeing all this stuff on YouTube and everything else. People like, you're in a video, you know, they got the, you know, Pete Sink show and all this stuff. And, you know, all the recordings, the few that we had. And then you go to the comments section and stuff. I would say, you know, 90% of them were positive, you know, a few thumbs down and everything else. And but the comments, you know, the seven inch was better or timing was better on drums. You know, I see a lot of those, you know, and I probably was, you know, that's, I don't disagree with that.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, no. This is insane. Also, the dude getting the record being like, oh, this is good. That's the understatement of the decade. You know what I'm saying? I got to punish you here and jump in. Can we get your take on all the songs? What is your opinion on Not Afraid?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, it's a good song. I mean, it's... It's a good hardcore song. You know, when we... Let me say, I mean, if you go back to like rock and roll, the three, you know, power chords, you know, the three, you know, it's just, you know, simple, you know? It doesn't think of all that. It's... And I think we try to do that a little bit. We were a little more melodic with some songs, but some songs we just try to keep it simple and just straightforward and just power. There's something to be said about that. I wouldn't call it dumbing it down, but some of the songs are just, you know, straight and direct. And that's, that's like, you know, your typical straight and direct, you know, hardcore song with your bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. You know, those things, you know, sometimes simple is the best way to go. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, you're talking to state TV here. Like we're all fans, right? So, okay. Let's, let's get into breakaway. How you feel about this one?
SPEAKER_05:Oh, I love it. I wrote it.
SPEAKER_02:You wrote everything
SPEAKER_05:on this. Uh, no, no, no. Uh, I only, uh, uh, wrote, uh, right idea and break away, uh, all the other songs. That's probably the only two songs I ever wrote in the band. Like I said, I just, okay. But
SPEAKER_02:no, but this song, you wrote the music, you wrote everything.
SPEAKER_05:Yes. Yeah. For that song. So, uh, yeah, you know, that was, uh, more, that was just, uh, The last two songs written was straight ahead. So, yeah, I always thought, like, you know, we got, I guess, tired and wasn't going anywhere, I guess. But I always thought, I mean, look at the musicians I played with. You know, I was just fortunate to play with them. But, you know, you have some bad turns and stuff, and a lot of things can destroy a band and break up a band. But I thought Straight Ahead could have been a very, very good band. I mean, look at the musicianship. These guys are smart. They're good. They got drive. They still play to this day. You know, it's... But I thought the direction was going. It would have been interesting, you know. It was definitely, you know, me being the least talented and being humble and those guys being very talented. It definitely would have, you know, it was going somewhere, you know, in terms of that. And, you know, slowing songs down a little bit and changing the pace and different things. I mean, even Long Break Away, it's just, you know, it's great. I still listen to it every once in a while. You know, secretly I got my headphones on, you know. but uh yeah great song you know it's uh all that so i mean like i said straight and direct just you know it's that's it's it's good stuff you know
SPEAKER_02:yeah yeah the first the first time when you heard the solo on the end of that song did it bring you back to like your early metal days you're just like fuck yeah
SPEAKER_05:yeah i think that would have been like you know you you you you go from one direction to another, you're finding yourself, you're playing all different things. And, you know, it's the people like, oh, they, you know, change. Maybe we jumped in, changed songs. I wouldn't say jumped on a bandwagon, but, you know, we wanted to do something else. But, you know, after all that as kids, experimenting, doing things with music and stuff like that, what would be the final product? Say when we were like in our early 20s, you know, that definitely would have been, you know, I mean, I had like a little resentment for metal in certain ways. Like, you know, how it, you know, different, different things that went down and what I experienced kind of like shun me away from it. You know, it was a little, you know, I don't know, a little, um, hardcore was more intimate, you know, and, uh, it's, uh, a better place for, for me, it was a better place to develop musically, you know, so shipped everything down, you know, to that point. And then you could do stuff. It was a little more, I wouldn't say accepting, because maybe, I don't know, choosing words correctly is a little tough, but just for me, it seemed like that was like the incubator to start something to grow from. It was, that's, you know, we were in one way, we weren't getting shows at L'Amour, we weren't getting any metal shows, you know, we got places to show pals, we weren't getting, but in hardcore, the network, it seemed like you got shows, you got to play and perform in front of people, and just, yeah. exactly what we wanted to be. I have nothing against metal, but I don't know. It seemed like I wanted to do something a little different. Take it so seriously with all that kind of direction with anything on it. A band like Metallica stripped down their pure metal and stuff like that, but other bands and stuff and makeup and stuff, I don't know. It just wasn't screaming in a certain voice and stuff. I don't know. It just wasn't for me, I guess. I'm nothing against it, but like I said, I wanted a place and a chance to grow somewhere.
SPEAKER_02:But a song like Breakaway... But a song like Breakaway is so great because it is really stripped down, but then you let loose at the end. That solo is great.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we didn't have, you know, we like, we didn't have any, uh, solos in many of our songs and Rob always tries to squeeze some in, you know, uh, it's very talented guy. I mean, you know, and, uh, it, you know, how to, how to let him, you know, like when you want to bang the drums or scream as loud as you can, you allow it, you gotta let the guy live, man. That's, you know, he's a phenomenal guitar player. You got, you know, it's a guy, you gotta, you know, you've got to take what the other members contribute and you got to use it. Otherwise, Why are they in the band?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so good. Okay, We Stand. What do you think?
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I love those fast songs. Big D.I.R.I., Stark, Raven, Mad. Love that stuff. I don't know. Translated a lot. New York Hardcore wasn't really so much about that. They had fast parts. but you know, I love that fast shit. You know, uh, that was, I mean, when I've listened to my drumming on mayhem, now I love just balls out speed, you know, and, uh, those, you know, those, I mean, I mean, I played drums on end of war zone. I guess you know that, right. Uh, I played drums on it. I liked that fast stuff. It didn't always translate well at live shows. You can throw a few of them in there. On Parade, Who's to Blame, those fucking great songs.
SPEAKER_02:This version of We Stand is better. You add the gangs.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah. The other one's a little different. It's a little more... like I said, as you get a little older, you start adding things and stuff, little licks here, little add to it stuff. So always looking to improve even old songs, you know, but yeah,
SPEAKER_02:but in the history of hardcore, like when a lot of bands like rerecord their old stuff, like they totally fucking flub it, you know, and this is like a, a rare example of a band, like improving an old song. Yeah. The gap is not that big.
SPEAKER_05:That's true. It may not even be a year, you know, so it's not, you know, That's right. But I think if you looked at a lot of demos, even going back to metal or other bands, I mean, they re-recorded and re-recorded this demo, three-song demo, five-song demo. And they kind of did the same songs for, you know, what seemed like a long time when they were developing. But, you know, now as bands grew, they didn't do those songs anymore and you want to hear them. Yeah. But, you know, like I said, the window for me for music was, you know, like, like, like a short straight ahead song, you know, you know, very fast. It was short and fast, you know? Yeah. For sure. What's your take on right idea? Oh yeah. I like that song a lot. That's kind of like the direction, uh, you know, like I said, as you play, your musicianship gets better, your songwriting, you know, you, you know, you want to try different things, you know, not everything, you know, a lot of the shows you go to, it's just one going across and that's great. But, you know, sometimes the band wants to do a little bit more than that. And, uh, I thought Right Idea was a pretty interesting song. I thought it was what was to come from Straight Ahead. Probably always would have did fast stuff, but you branch out, you change your musical taste and your direction. That's one of my favorite Straight Ahead songs.
SPEAKER_02:If someone put a gun to my head and was like, you've got to lose one song after this 12-inch, it might be the one I lose, but also it's the song that I think makes the 12-inch so special because like it's just a punk song and it's kind of sick that like this you know straight edge hardcore band like getting wrapped up in that era is just gonna play like a mid-tempo punk song that sounds so gnarly and so like meaty you know
SPEAKER_05:yeah yeah you know even the solo is just it's different you know it's a little bit different like i said every you know everything you know different songs. Even older bands, when you listen to all these different songs and different things play, you can take a band like Kiss with I Was Made For Loving You. Everybody hated that song. I was a big Kiss fan as a kid. I used to make up and stuff. I grew up in the 70s. I didn't show my age yet. Now, when certain bands play the songs, it just mixes in with everything else they've done. You don't really see the distinction between the songs. It's just part of their repertoire or you know the songs they they play they don't there's not really much as a difference as i guess you first heard them you know and uh yeah
SPEAKER_02:all right the song straight ahead
SPEAKER_05:yeah that's our anthem you know i mean i got up even sick of it all over the years got up half dozen times or so to sing it you know it's uh It's a good song, you know, it stayed alive. I'm glad, uh, Singapore put it on the record and I'm glad they still do it every now and then, you know? And, uh, yeah, it's, you know, that's, it was think right. Right. First. And, uh, I think Greg wrote that song and, uh, yeah, I mean, I wrote the lyrics for everything, but, uh, Yeah, it's the anthem. The lyrics are great. They're inspiring. And, you know, it's probably our most, you know, distinguished song or whatever, lack of a better word. But yeah, it's, you know, it's... It's a good song.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, good, good. Again, we're understating stuff, right? This is one of the greatest songs in the history of music. So there's that. Okay, Spirit of Youth.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, I like that song too. Gordon wrote that song. And I remember when we played, we played at the show place a lot, you know, even as all as New York City Mayhem. So one of the last shows we played there, Dave from Mental Abuse was a friend of mine as well. He played drums on Victim in Pain. He was in Gnostic Front for a while. He started a band, Mental Abuse. They were a fun band. He took a liking to us. He booked us there a lot. We played there a lot. I remember one of the last shows we did... Gordon had wrote like a hardcore song, Spirit of Youth. And we did it. And Gordon, Greg played drums and I got out and sang, you know, go and play guitar. And there were three pieces, just no bass player. And that was, that's the, you know, that's when I got the taste of, you know, being a front man, you know. But yeah, great songs, you know, those, you know, it's a good anthem, good sing-along. the feelings in the title of the song. It's true. Spirit of Youth. Still trying to hold on to that.
SPEAKER_02:That's poetic in a way, right? You're out there. This is the first song you do. A song called Spirit of Youth and then it's the last straight-ahead song.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
UNKNOWN:It's...
SPEAKER_05:Yeah, you know, when you look back, you can, you know, define it as whatever you like to whatever it means to you. But, yeah, it's, you know, it is. I mean, that's that whole thing right there was, you know, just to be remembered and doing this interview. I'm 55 years old and just, you know, of this carrying on and people still have interest. And, you know, it's. I think a large part of it is because a lot of the guys still play in signal, very popular band. And they were like a little brother band. You know, I think Craig, they played their first show at right track game. We gave him a gig. And that was what I think straight ahead. And you said today played on the same bill with me and Craig playing in both bands. Right. It was like, we were never doing that again, but, but yeah, it's, you know, like I said, it's, to be remembered and such. So I agreed to it. I have, I think there's a little bug flying around, like, because when I, I did an interview a while back, he goes, yeah, you're the last guy I got. And I was like, the other guys all agreed and they interviewed. And I keep in touch with Greg the most, you know, Rob a little bit, not so much Armand, but, you know, Greg, big boxing fan. So we, you know, we talk a lot of boxing stuff, shoot Texas back and forth and stuff like that. But, uh, yeah, you know, it's, it's, you know, hardcore, you know, did a lot for me, you know, it was, it was like, you know, those high school years, you know, such important times in your life, you know, and you did it to do it like we did there and CBGBs and getting into music, how it actually developed and happened. And you just wound up there. and there's really no greater feeling. I was just a small part of it, but it was an important part of my life. To see it still goes and people have interest really makes me feel good. It really does.
SPEAKER_02:There was a Spirit of Youth remix that came out in 98. What was the story with that? Do you remember anything about that?
UNKNOWN:Uh...
SPEAKER_04:No, no.
SPEAKER_02:It's okay. It's also around the same time that you did that Hardcore for Hunger benefit show in 98?
SPEAKER_05:I don't remember any of that. Somebody did it without me and my knowledge. Okay. Maybe I got bad influence. No, no. Somewhere around that time, I remember we... Siegfried Hall was playing, and I forgot the club on the west side, the venue. But Straight Ahead got up and did several songs. And this is like, you know, 10 years removed. It was okay. It was a little rough, you know. It was like so far removed of it. And Greg was like, Siegfried Hall, where they rehearsed, he goes, Danny's coming down with the hard drive. We're going to record some songs. Do you want to sing on them? And I did, but he was like, Tom, it didn't come out that great. I'm like, all right. We did Free Spirit, which was a straight ahead song. And we never played a lot because we didn't stick together long enough. And we did, I never even heard the recording. So I couldn't tell you how the vocals went. So I don't know if it came out. I don't know how many songs we did, but we actually did PBM from New York City Mayhem on it. And now Rob, Armand, and Craig and me, we record these songs. I think there was, when we did a new song, I would say there may be six songs, but I couldn't even tell you what they were, what songs we did. I forgot. But I never heard it. Greg never gave me a copy of it. And it just, I don't know his spirit of youth on it. I mean, the vocals sound so different. I'm probably, I've got to be like 27 years old when I sing on it. So it's... It's a little different, you know? I don't know. Like I said, I don't know how it came out.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. It's just all those things happen right around. What is this on
SPEAKER_05:98? You're telling me about that. Was it Spirit of Youth? Is it from the two recordings from End of War Zone, or is it something totally different?
SPEAKER_02:Let me pull it up. It was listed as, I'm going to say his name wrong, like the Chuck Vallee remix. It was on an LP called The Brotherhood of the Antigod. It came out in 1998. Scarhead, Marauder, Come and Correct, District 9. Yeah, Chuck Vallee
SPEAKER_05:did it. It's from the 1987 recordings. Yeah, yeah. So he just remixed it. Danny Loca from... Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they wanted to put it out, but it just got scrapped because the vocals didn't come out good and whatever. And I was so far removed. I just did it to see everybody. At that point in time, I was so far removed from it. But I do enjoy those guys' company, and I do like to see them and make sure everybody's okay.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, why has there not been official repress of the Breakaway 12-inch? It seems like kind of criminal because it's a classic hardcore record. I have like six bootlegs of it, you know, but the people need it, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_05:I don't, like we, I don't think, we never copyrighted anything, you know, going on saying this. If somebody was to use it, I wouldn't probably see a dime of anything. I'm sure it's been used around, you know, people have sent me like, you know, bootleg records and stuff but I still to this day merchandise or whatever I don't know if anybody does if Craig or whatever Rob had called me a while back about it you know and just I'm like like I said I don't know like stuff people tell me things you know I see things on YouTube and I have no idea I'm like I just haven't been maybe if I was still in the music scene I would have been more and more involved but you would have to talk to Craig about that stuff yeah you know he's the only one that's still like I I said, when we did that songs in 98 and 97, whenever it was, I could record those songs. I gave him all my stuff, all my pictures, all the pictures Brie Hurley took that gave me from when she did that hardcore book. I gave him all the stuff and I never seen it again, you know? You go through things. There's ups and downs in life. I threw a lot of stuff out. I moved. I looked through a couple of fires. You lose a lot of stuff, which is unfortunate. Maybe at the time you don't care, but then time flies by and I wish I would have had that. There was also another one When you asked me about, I'm rambling on here, but you asked me about shows. So some of the best shows that Straighthead played was after their reunion shows. The one when we did the benefit for Roger Moret, that was so insane. And we were a little older. We didn't do it right idea. We did about six songs. They ripped the PA system down. They stopped the show. And that place was so packed. That was the atmosphere in there was so electric, you know. And I had a friend of mine videoed it. I never knew what happened to the video. That show, I mean, Pete's Take One, this one was absolutely insane. And, you know, it was a couple, it was another one we did. But, yes, you know, like I said, you get so far from moving so distant from it. I've been out of music, you know, for so long. I just, you know, I've been so out of touch with it, you know.
SPEAKER_02:What do you want the legacy of Straight Ahead to be? And also what do you want like your personal legacy in music to be?
SPEAKER_05:Just that it survived is, you know, like pretty awesome to me. And like I said, I think it's because of the people I played with, obviously, I think mostly, you know, because it carries on, like, you know, and it's always like, who was that band? And it was so, you know, you know, when you get into like, Even though we were second tier, second generation of the New York hardcore scene, it's still 40 plus years ago. And like, even if you're obviously a music lover and probably like other music other than hardcore. But when you look at that, and I'm losing my chain of thought here. like you want to get to the roots of something. You want to see what, what band made that band good, what band, who, you know, doing this song. And, you know, you want to get to the origin of things and stuff. And being, it's just a small little taste of straight ahead, a couple of videos of, you know, crazy shows and everything else is such people want more, but there is no more. That's the little taste that you have, you know, but it's, I don't really, you know, legacy. I'm just like, I'm just, you know, I'm a regular guy, right. you a kid and, uh, I was a regular kid. I'm a older man now, but I, I just to be, you know, the habit that it helps someone out, whatever music helped me in so many ways, you know, it helped me in my life and what it led to. And, you know, I got the same feeling one time at your boxing. Cause it was the same feelings to go in there and just throw a thousand punches around, you know, and just with the same attitude and the same, you know, like fears that I, you know, that I played music with and that led to so many things, just a healthier lifestyle. I have a healthier living. You know, I have my ups and downs as life went on. But, you know, that definitely shaped and made who I am, you know, I am today. And as far as legacy, I'm just glad people remember it, you know. And if it helps you out in any way, you know, it's like anything else. A good song can do a lot for you on a bad day. And so forth and so on, you know. I'm glad to be a part of it, and I'm glad to be remembered. You know, that's all I really, you know, you know, I'm glad to see you continuing.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks again to Tommy Carroll for taking the time. I hope you all enjoyed that. Kev, final thoughts.
SPEAKER_01:Great interview. Really informative. Really appreciated it. And yeah, hardcore is just, again, just say it over and over in a great spot right now. It's been a good year already and there's just a million things still to come. Also, just didn't talk too much about the combust record, but I do think that that is another one where a band put real effort into the LP and you can really tell and it's kind of their definitive work. So I just wanted to shout that out because I do really appreciate when you can tell that a lot of effort was put into a record. And I think that that combust record is really a good showcase of that.
SPEAKER_02:That's true. We didn't talk it in depth, but we did shout it out first because it is a very notable record and the best thing that they've done. And it sounds great. So shout out combust. Everyone get at me. 185 miles South at gmail.com. 185 miles South on all the socials. Kev, where can people find you?
SPEAKER_01:Not fatter flare on Instagram and hit up fall salvation. I think it's fall salvation HC on Instagram, but you'll, you can find it. Just check it out.
SPEAKER_02:Everyone. We love you all. We'll talk to you again next Monday on patron.
UNKNOWN:Stop playing in a van
SPEAKER_06:Thank you for watching.