SEX/VID - VOYEUR EP. This is a totally non-essential live record, although I'm sure it will be going for obscene amounts of money on ebay anyways. If you're a fan, and you've acquried this by some less than ridiculous means before the 500 (?) pressed were gone, then it's probably worth your 4 or 5 bucks. That being said i was still very surprised and excited to get a couple copies of this in the mail. (thanks suzie though you''ll never read this)
It sounds pretty good, Not the greatest recording but I have heard worse live records and the lo fi approach probably works better for this band and their aesthetic anyways. There are two previously unreleased songs offered up (I'm pretty sure?) here that I'm assuming will show up on the new LP. Opening with "cleansing", a rager, followed by "nests" and "excoricism" from the "nests" ep, and closing with "no room", a song that stands out a lot more than the first one. It has more of a stop and start kinda feel and that heaviness that the last record brought. Great shit, I'm excited for a real record.
I hope they can keep living up to the hype and proving wrong all the naysayers with good and interesting songs. Most bands this exciting tend to not come this far before stagnating into bullshit.
Again this is labelled as being released on DOM AMERICA although I'm pretty sure Troy (CLARENCE THOMAS RECORDS) didn't do it and i heard it was a label from New York. Another strange phenomena to release all their records under and obscure label leaving little credit to those who do the job. I guess there will only be money to fill the glory hole.
photo googled



CONDOMINIUM - PUPILS EP. This record fucking smokes. You may have thought the first one is great and you're right, but even having heard these songs several times before, I was still totally impressed and unprepared for the way this record tore me a new one. I have a hard time trying to compare this band. They have themes in common with other bands aesthetically but I don't really see them sounding like anyone. They kinda bring together a lot of elements and successfully do something pretty original, which is hard to say for others.
The a-side, "pupils" is a plodding midtempo jam that will have your toe tapping until you decide to through your tv through the wall. "On/off" is a jumpy number that keeps the pace up and the last song, "displacement" is another rager that cuts into a seperate wall of noise track when he asks for silence, with terrible moaning from Matt. real creepy. The song kicks back in and continues to pummel then its all over nice and quick. These guys continue to kick it up a notch. Highly recommended. Yet again, self released, with a real simple printed sleve and a cool weird layout.

Condominium phot by Jason Penner

DICK IN A MOUSETRAP

RE(tarded)VIEWS.

Again, let me stress that i do not consider myself qualified to review music, let alone shit like this, yet i'll talk out of my ass here on things i know very little about.








BILLY BAO - DIALECTICS OF SHIT LP. So... I actually downloaded this a few months ago after taking a quick listen to the "Accumulation" ep at Double Decker, and deciding against giving a shit. For some reason I was still interested a few weeks or months later to hear more, and gave this lp stuff a couple listens through the old soulseek...
and again, I didn't seem to get it.
Although i recognized a pretty heavy-handed BRAINBOMBS influence in some of it, I pretty much just wrote it off as some hipster noise with no musical merit... but again i found myself drawn to listen over and over on lonely nights in front of this shitbox. Possibly due to the fact that i have a shit computer and can keep very few downloaded albums on it at a time, but the attraction probably had more to do with something else because I keep growing to like it more and more.
This band is kinda a mystery to me still and I guess that's nice. Apparently BILLY BAO is from Nigeria with a couple dudes from Spain? I guess that makes things a little more interesting. You should probably go learn more about that somewhere else...
So if you don't know what this sounds like here's a quick description. It kinda goes back and forth between total dirges of noise and feedback interspersed with digital blips and silly intentional editing disasters, real primitive noise and repetitive jams layered with feedback and vocals/lyrics that bounce between sketchy and obnoxious ravings ala BRAINBOMBS and hopeless anti-establishment ranting.
I don't know much else to compare this to, but this is not for the weak. This is the kind of antisocial music that no one should really like except for the real creeps, like finding kinship with a fellow child molester checking out little kids at the roller rink, but somehow this music is popular with MRR types and punk scenesters??
Anyways, for some reason I've fallen in line with them and find myself throwing this lp on pretty frequently, with the opinion that its a lot cooler than the previous 7". I've heard there's also a 10" and some other older shit out there that I've never seen a copy of or heard so there's something else to seek out.


DRUNKDRIVER - s/t LP and live (minneapolis, 11/8/08)... so PARTS UNKNOWN has been releasing some weirdo shit as usual, but lately straying a little more into arty noise, almost verging on hipster bullshit, yet i must say i am into it still. Those vibes are a lot more prominent with the BILLY BAO shit then Brooklyn NY's DRUNKDRIVER, who are more of a hardcore band that plays noisy as shit and is recorded distorted enough to almost come off as a noise project. The drums are so blown out on the recording that seeing them live almost sounded like a completely different band, which i guess is a cool thing.
The record is pretty hard, I'm pretty into it. They're a trio with a real aggressive drummer who beats the shit outta those things and a guitar playing going through a couple different stacks and pedals to get a really layered noisy effect. The vocals are snotty and screamy and live the dude was trying real hard to provoke people, slamming into them and hanging from the ceiling. slamming somebody's mic into the ground repeatedly. I guess that is par for the course with this kind of ugly music but the dude was kinda rubbing me the wrong way (he kinda reminded me of this douche I used to know which is a totally unreasonable excuse to dislike a random dude). He would breathe hard into the mic with it shoved down his throat and that sounded pretty cool especially when he was swinging from the pipes, and there's a couple parts where he does that on the record. I was a little worried that this wasn't the kind of thing that would translate well live, let alone at a punk show, but they played hard and it was pretty cool. Pretty tame audience kept in check.
Jumping back to the record, the songs that are more riffy than rhythm oriented seem to work better and hold my attention a little closer, but if any of this sounds cool you should check this record out cus they're one of the cooler bands doing shit like this that I'm aware of. Not for the purist.

On a side note, I think their guitar player was hitting on me. Possibly the drummer as well...
Apparently these two bands are going to be doing a split 7".

photos and images stolen from the internet. boo fucking hoo.

WHY CAN'T I SOAK THE WORLD IN BLEACH?

Spillin the beans on DRY-ROT...
again this is another old interview that was meant to be in FM#3. Nothing has been updated or modified. Since then Pat has moved to Seattle i believe and last i heard the band was jamming with the drummer from SACCHARINE TRUST and working on a series of singles and an lp on PARTS UNKNOWN RECORDS and Jordan has been doing another band called MR. HIGHWAY that you can check out on the 'space.

DRY ROT is an amazing band that plays totally awesome, deranged weirdo but forward thinking hardcore. If you want to have a better idea of what they sound like check out reviews for each of their records where i stumble to try to find the words. Unsettling is one of the best words to use to describe these guys, although they're great people, maybe that lends to the strangeness of their music/lyrics and some of the vibes they give off. There's a certain amount of uncertainty that goes along with believing anything you hear about this band. I'm still not sure whether a lot of things are true or they're fucking with people by letting them believe (like one night Jordan was talking totally deadpan about how he wants his dad to join the band on second guitar.) They bring a level of danger to punk that seems less gimmicky then a lot of “sketchy” bands, and that level of antagonism coming from a bunch of pretty clean-cut, good christian boys is shocking in a way that is pure genius. I had the amazing opportunity to play and hang out with them a whole bunch this summer and witnessed some crazy shows, the highlight being in Allentown where Jordan doused Drew in bleach while they played, resulting in chaos at the show and some nasty chemical burns. A big part of the appeal of these guys is that a lot of rumors float around and since they avoid messageboards and bullshit (as well as interview maybe), they generally leave people to come to their own conclusions. I'm not sure how much of the mystery i wanted to unravel but I couldn't resist doing an interview.

So who's in the band and what does everyone do? What do you guys get up to outside of the band?

My name is drew, I sing in the band. Outside of the band I go to school and study sociology. I might never graduate. I enjoy playing table tennis and dungeons and dragons. I think those are my only hobbies, and I am not very good at either.

You guys seem to draw from a pretty wide range of influences musically. What are some of the bands/styles that have most directly influenced your songwriting? Do you find that you're a little too out there for the punks or have people been open about some of the weirdo tangents you've gone on?

As far as musical influences for myself go, I really enjoy anything that makes you feel upset. That is such a powerful emotion, and to be able to conjure that inside of people is really special I think. And I mean upset in a way that goes beyond a simple gross-out song or offensive lyrics. I mean the music itself, regardless of the words that are being said, to make someone feel something uncomfortable through pure sound is amazing to me. That is what input I have on the musical side of things. Lyrically, I try not to be influenced by other music when writing lyrics, it is more sincere when i just think of things and patterns and phrases on my own, but I'm sure there are a million people who I am just ripping off, deep in my subconscious. As far as us being to out there or whatever, I think we are for some people, and that is good, I want our music to be a weeding out process, and the people that are left are people that really understand what punk is.

So half the band used to be in a more straightforward youth crew band called HIT THE DECK. What happened to them and what sparked the progression into playing so much uglier and more brutal hardcore?

So you guys are christians. Do you consider the band to be a christian entity itself or to have any kind of religious motivation? What's it like being involved in a scene that often opposes your stance or even hates your guts over a certain title?

Yes, everyone in the band is a christian. Ne do not have a religious agenda in the band, but I think the fact that everyone in the band is a christian allows us to work together as a single entity. The fact that we all have the same vision and mindset really helps as a group of people working together. I am not concerned about being hated or opposed by anyone else involved in punk. It has happened and I know it will continue to happen, and I think that is good and funny.

Do you feel like the opposition to religion in punk is warranted, and being at the shit end of that stick, do you find that people expect you to justify your beliefs? For me it's always been more the implications that go along with certain religions that I find offensive and not anyones personal affiliation with whatever sect. I've heard about a couple pretty funny instances, but do a lot of people write you off or give you shit about it?

I think opposition in punk is warranted, because most people (inside and outside of punk) have had very little contact with actual christians, and really the only reference point they have are the people bombing abortion clinics and the 700 club type folks who are weird and lecherous. Those people do not represent christianity in its true form, but they represent christianity in America, as far as the public is concerned. So from that perspective, then it is certainly warranted for people to hate us and to be wary of us. That being said, I can say with full confidence that I am not anything like Jerry Falwell or his army of tax collectors, I am just a person with a belief system. Most people realize that, which speaks highly of them. I have friends that I have made as a result of this band who have very strong feelings contrary to christianity, but that doesn't effect our friendship at all, it isn't even an issue. It is just something that I believe in, and people respect that as I respect their opinion that there is no god or whatever they believe in. We have gotten surprisingly very little flack for being christian, at least that I know of. I am sure that there are a lot of bad things that are said about us, but I don't hear any of it. I always like when I hear people boycotting us or something. I especially like when we are complimented on our music by someone who doesn't know we are christians, and then they read the record insert and hate us. That is a good feeling.

You're a violent live band musically and sometimes physically, as well as awkward and even creepy in some cases, resulting in a total bummer for some people I've come across who feel strangely alienated. Is that the reaction intentional? Do you enjoy bumming people out and leaving them confused or putting a little fear in them?

When we play live, things just happen. It is all energy, and mostly very negative energy. I just try to get rid of as much energy as I can, and whatever happens happens. Jordan got fairly violent with me on tour, which was deserved I suppose. I would always knock his guitar out of tune, and I think he got fed up. I want the audience feel something, I don't care if it is disgust or love or hate or whatever. I don't want anyone to feel indifferent towards us, I want to force them into a feeling. It is so stupid when I see bands play and there are people looking at their cell phones standing there looking bored. It is so ridiculous. This is punk music, it is supposed to be violent and confrontational and frightening. When you are at a punk show, watching a band play, you should never know what is going to happen, and it should be a scary experience for you. That is why we are here playing this horrible sounding music and not some long haired coffee shop with an acoustic guitar.

You guys self-released your first record on your own label COLD VOMIT RECORDS. Was that a good experience and are you planning on doing any more releases for yourselves or other bands?

Releasing the first record ourselves was a pretty good experience. It was surprisingly easy, but I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore. Getting the record distributed was the hardest part, but it was a pleasant enough thing. From my perspective, the label was merely a vehicle to get our record out, and I really don't have interest in releasing other band's music, at least not right now. There isn't a band that I would like to invest money into that isn't already releasing records, so I don't see a point in the label at this point. But I think everyone else feels differently about it.

What made you decide to do a record with PAINKILLER? (they tend to recently put out a lot of the more credible bands on the fringe of the modernized powerviolence movement) Do you guys think you fit in pretty well with other bands on that label?

Chris Corry and I had been in contact with each other over email for several months, and DRY-ROT had started writing new songs and had plans for another 7". It just kind of came up in conversation that we didn't really have the money to release another record ourselves, and so I just asked Chris if PAINKILLER would be interested, since I love their label and they all seemed to be fans of what we were doing. We sent them demo versions of some of the songs, and they agreed to put out this latest 7". I have really enjoyed doing a record for them, they are all very nice and helpful people who like good things and I am very happy that they felt good enough about us to release a record for us. It is very flattering.

So you guys were recently doing a very ambitious tour that got cut short for some reason. What happened there? How was it up until that point and were you happy with the response you got?

Tour got cut short be cause I basically couldn't handle it anymore. I don't like touring, especially with DRY-ROT. It is too physically and mentally draining to play that many days in a row. In order for us to perform as DRY-ROT, I, and the rest of the band, have to get into a mindset that is not necessarily the healthiest, and to do that for 2 months straight or whatever is too much. I didn't like that it basically depended on me to make the decision, but oh well, thats what happened. Plus, your (mike under pressure) dirty pictures on your guitar and waterbottle were making me question my sexuality, and I was getting too confused for my own good...

What's in the plans for the future of DRY ROT? Records? Tours?

Future DRY-ROT plans....we are beginning to write an LP right now. It will be the best material we have yet recorded. As for touring, I don't want to think about that again for a long time.

yo
i've had most of these photos on my computer for so long that i've forgotten where a lot of them had come from, but the DRY-ROT rit is all JASON PENNER i believe along with probably a couple of the other good ones over the course of the blog.
check his blog out in my links or his flickr for lots of great band photos.
http://flickr.com/photos/jizzon/
peace
sorry for the no credit budddy

MID AM IS BORED

Again this is another old interview that was meant for FUNERAL MUSIC #3. Again nothing is really updated. Pretty recently we put out these dudes' first 7". Check out some tunes and get in touch to make your purchase.
Meet your new favorite band dipshits.

MIDDLE AMERICA hail from the shit-eatin streets of Allentown, PA. After a couple visits I'm convinced this place is a lot cooler than some of the hardcore meccas they get passed by for, but they do have punk there, and it rips. If you want an idea of what these dudes sound like they play a deranged version of early american hardcore that sets them apart from the revivalists, or maybe puts them ahead of the pack of the next generation of bands that will dig a little deeper. They sound like DIE KREUZEN or THE FIX in the same way SEX/VID might or like VOID the way DRY ROT does, if you need some current comparison lubrication. They do they own thing but they can hang. Trust me and check it out. I dig them enough that me and my bud are putting out their first vinyl. (this development came post interview, so this isn't as much a shameless self promotion as you might like to think) This shit was done a long fucking time ago but it's still news to you..

Who the fuck are you guys/ who does what? Why should we give a shit?

Josh - MIDDLE AMERICA consists of Tom who drums, Cody who plays bass, Jon who plays guitar, and myself singing. I don't feel as if anyone should really give a shit about us to tell you the truth.

Tom - We're some shitty punk band from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Jon Abbot plays guitar and that’s all you really need to know cause he’s the attractive one in the band.

How long have you guys been playing together? How long have you been playing music?

Tom - Music?

Josh - We have been playing together for about little over a year now, but Cody, Tom and myself have been playing in multiple bands together over the last 4 years, we just recently started to playing with Jon not too long ago.

What bands are you ripping off and what new bands are you down with?

Josh - The bands we attempt to rip off, usually consists of Texas bands and Midwest bands. We really like the BIG BOYS a lot especially those weird funk songs they do, but on the other hand we love the raw fast sound of THE FIX and DIE KREUZEN, but usually us ripping off a band never sounds close to what we want it to sound like anyway. Some new bands that I have been listening to lately has been a lot of DRY-ROT, SICK-Es, PINK REASON, HOMOSTUPIDS, SWEET ROT, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...

Tom - I would like to think that we don’t directly rip off any one band too much but I think our general approach is kind of rooted in the early 80’s Texas and Midwestern hardcore/punk scenes. I’ve always found those to be the most musically interesting and diverse scenes in american punk history; no two bands sounded alike and bands like the BIG BOYS and BOBBY SOXX or DIE KREUZEN and TAR BABIES were so great cause they just did whatever the fuck they felt like but were still so raw, so I guess we try to keep that in mind when we write songs. As far as newer bands I think there is a lot of great stuff around right now but of course a lot of it is just complete shit. I don’t really get anything out of the whole generic 80’s rehash stuff that seems to be so prevalent today, although I guess a lot of people might say we fall into that, but as far as current hardcore bands I feel that we sort of identify with or whatever I’d say SEX/VID, DRY ROT, SHOOT IT UP, CHRONIC SEIZURE, OUT WITH A BANG, etc.

What's the scene like there in Allentown? Do people care about your band? Is there shit going on? Double Decker was pretty awesome...

Josh - Double Decker is a great place, I really don't know what I would do with out it, but I probably would have a lot more money in pocket if it didn't exist. I can't turn down some of the ridiculous records he gets in. But yea Allentown... not at all like that Billy Joel song, which on a side note isn't even written about Allentown, but the town over called Bethlehem, but anyway the scene kind of sucks right now, not a lot of kids involved just a lot of kids talking about doing something and don't do anything. There is two great venues here now Jan's Room and Muscle Beach, so lately there has been a lot of good shows going on though. No one here really likes our band though, we rarely ever get asked to play shows, and usually everybody looks really bored when we play.

Tom - The scene in Allentown is kind of weird. It’s notoriously clicky and there are a lot of people into different things that don’t really communicate but there are a couple great new venues so that’s sort of changing. Some people like us, mainly just because of Jon Abbot’s good looks, but there’s not really much of hardcore scene around here, and we fit in a lot better with the noisier crowd than with pop punk or emo. There’s a few really great bands doing different things like TILE, PISSED JEANS, GHADDAR and BREAD MACHINE that are really exciting though and am glad they call Allentown home. Double Decker is great, probably the best thing about this city. Many claim its the best record store on the east coast.

Do you always throw your instruments around and play so violently or did we just luck out and witness your sickest show?

Tom - We usually play pretty sloppy and like to have fun, so I guess a lot of shows end up with broken instruments or various members of the band on the floor or whatever. Some people might call this violent…

Josh - Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, usually its always our bassist Cody who gets pissed at his equipment failing or him not being able to play the songs properly, or us just being completely bored by everybody's blank faces during our sets.

What's next for you guys?

Josh - We are in the process of attempting to put out a 7”, and hopefully a tour in the near future.

Tom - We recorded about a month ago for two singles. One should be coming out by late fall early winter and the other one maybe like spring. Winter east coast tour possibly in the works after our guitar player gets back from Rome, then who knows, “even the thought of trying to think further makes us shiver in fear.”

HOME INVASION RECORDS

these dudes should have some new shit coming soon so keep your shits peeled. they also do a couple other bands that may be worth checking out. FRESH MEAT and GHADDAR and probably more.

FEELS LIKE THERES NOTHING LEFT BUT PAIN

PAINKILLER JAMS
I got a bunch of new stuff in from PAINKILLER RECORDS a few days ago in an order i did with my good buddy PGP. One of the most consistent labels around if you're into fringe hardcore or powerviolence type stuff, but i guess they do a pretty good variety of next level shit. (DRY-ROT/WALLS). I was pretty eagerly awaiting this package, having a pretty good idea what was in store for me.

Let's start off with the surprise, OBLITERATION EP, which I'm pretty sure is the new Jon Westbrook band (KNIFE FIGHT) that I heard was comin up. That voice is pretty recognizable although in this case it's a little overly drenched in reverb at times. When the intro kicked in i was a little confused by the weird drum sound, which Paul argued to be some of the best drum production he's heard on a hardcore record. I guess this is a bunch of the regular mass crew doing a more scandinavian hardcore influenced band but it has some hard moshy bits as well. Pretty cool record. I can't say it does for me what KNIFE FIGHT did at that time and place but this is worth checking out. I guess it's a logical progression in style from the "Crisis" LP. Oh yeah this is not a PK release it's on NITA LABEL/DISAPPEARED RECORDS.

Also new and distributed by PAINKILLER is the second EP from MENTALLY CHALLENGED, which in case you were unaware, is a solo (kinda) project Chris Cory from MENTAL and MIND ERASER (these dudes may be a little obsessed with the brain imagery) and a bunch of other recent Boston hardcore bands. He uses some electronic noise and tons of layers of noisy guitar tracks and feedback to create a somewhat ambient kinda feel over hardcore riffs that are usually less out there than you might expect from the concept. I guess he works with a different drummer on each recording and i believe this one is graced by DFJ (of every band ever). The strange thing about this band is that a lot of the esthetics and harmonic layering and even riffs themselves fall more in line with black metal than hardcore at times, and I'd be curious to know how intentional that is since I've never heard the comparison except in conversation with the aforementioned PGP, who ordered these shits for me. This 7" has only 2 songs and a MISFITS (?) cover ("bloodfeast") There is no label info anywhere in the packaging and i can't remember who put this out so boo hoo. Grab it from PAINKILLER. Also new from MC is a pro printed cassette, "Regressor Pt.1" which takes a more straightforward hardcore approach then the singles. Not much longer though, just four tracks that repeat on both sides. The vocals sound a little different on this one but maybe I'm hallucinating that. Another hit.

But can any of these hold up against the MEN'S INTEREST tape? I heard rumors that Sean from COLD SWEAT (find a better band within the last ten years) was doing a more CS sounding band with dudes from Mass. I don't know if this means REPERCUSSIONS are dead, but if it does who cares, cus this is a monster. Although this isn't exactly in line with what COLD SWEAT was doing, in spirit it blazes the same trail, although at the time in hardcore it will not stand out against contemporaries in the same way. I was stoked enough when a heard about this that i couldn't resist when a bud posted a yousendit file of the whole tape online, so i had cheated and heard this early. The intro is noise over a sample (?) of some British dude going off on a disgruntled nihilistic rant and it sets the tone very well for some ugly and ferocious tunes. They do a great job at making interesting music that still hits you hard in the guts when the tempos change and they stomp out another hard riff. SHIT. Highly recommended to anyone with their head outside of their ass.

Another record I have been looking forward to hearing for a while is the follow-up to the BREATHING FIRE demo/7", which is an LP entitled "Years of Lead" which i believe was recorded quite a while ago already. At a time (post X FILES X) where a lot of band started copping the bullshit powerviolence modernized type sound, this is one band that emerged out of that (others being MIND ERASER/SOUL SWALLOWER) who's demo stakes more of a legitimate claim to the pv label. When i first heard that it was hard as hell and i was very excited when i finally had that tape in my hands. Fastforward a few years and here we are with this LP. Their sound has evolved (as alot of those bands' have) but into a more doomy sort of powerviolence. One song ("capo mora") even touches on a MELVINS kinda thing. The vocals has kinda regressed and are a lot less harsh but somehow still uglier, which I am feeling alot although I think this record is gonna be a grower cus I haven't usually found myself really that stoked to throw it on yet. I wish it good luck in the future. Check it out if this crude description does anything for you.

...more reviews/interviews to come...

suicides an option

This is a real old interview. Keep in mind that I'm not re-editing or updating anything. Since this review a bunch of shit has changed, including band members, and they have released a smokin lp also on the same label. Cop it.

SOCIALCIDE is Zach from WASTED TIME's other band that he sings in. Pretty cool dude. They put out a demo “sick of the pressure” which was recently released as a 7” on EVEN WORSE outta Holland, who also collaborated with KANGAROO RECORDS to release their new 7” “burn in hell, Bundy”. They play fast hardcore that I would most closely compare to DYS and early Boston hardcore, with a little bit of a NYHC feel and snotty pissed vocals that help to set them apart.

Who's in the band now and what do they play? Who got axed and what for? SOCIALCIDE is currently: me (Zach Pearce) - vocals, Adam Katherman - guitar, Matt Parsons - bass, Matt Hammond - drums, Simone Koussa - guitar. Me and Adam are the only original members. We started out with this kid Chris on guitar and Kyle on drums (me Adam and Kyle were in a band together when we were in highschool). Kyle got kicked out after our first show for being stuck up his girlfriends ass and flaking out of practice constantly. We got this longhaired metalhead fatboy named Taylor to fill his spot, and Adam moved from bass to 2nd guitar and i got my friend (at that time) Jordan to play bass. Chris quit cause he felt like he didn't have enough input or some shit, and lost interest. Then Jordan quit cause he's basically a pussy who wants to sit on his ass and do drugs all day then play music. Parsons is a good friend of mine and I couldn't think of another bass player around the southeastern Virginia area so i asked him if he'd want to play with us and he was down. We then kicked out the fat fuck Taylor for being another useless flake, and got Matt Hammond from Richmondtown. Thought we'd add another guitar since Chris quit too, so i asked my bud from highschool Simone. Here we are.

Where are you guys based out of? Is there much of a scene outside of Richmond? We all live in different places. I'm in Moyock, North Carolina. Adam is in Norfolk, VA. Simone, Chesapeake VA. Parsons is in DC and Matt is in Richmond. We practice in Richmond which is the central location for the band at this point. As far as scenes in Virginia, Richmond is a good spot. maybe even one of the best places on the east coast. Virginia Beach used to be kinda cool, but everyone moved to Richmond and the people that are left don't really do shit for the ‘scene’ and most of the bands have died out around here. The jock shit is flowing, but that's a different scene in itself, that we aren’t apart of.

I kinda got the impression from talking to you that you're the guy behind SOCIALCIDE. Do you write all the music or are the other dudes involved? Yeah. I write all of the music and 80% of the lyrics (adam the other 20%), and I take care of almost everything else. It's me and Adams band though. We started it, and if me or him loses interest then it's over. I’ve always opened the idea to past members to contribute, but they would write 1 song or 2, and it would get shot down then they would cry about it and quit. Which is fine by me. If you want something done you have to take care of it yourself most of the time.

Is SOCIALCIDE a straightedge band? You seem to be the only guy I've encountered outta Richmond who wasn't totally shitfaced. Do you even consider yourself straightedge? We are not a straightedge band. Nothing wrong with straightedge bands, except that 99% of the new ones are watered-down garbage. I personally am straightedge (and so is everyone else in SOCIALCIDE, but it wasn't always that way with past members), and could care less what anyone else wants to do with their life, as long as they don't involve me in any way if it's something extreme.

What bands would you say influence your songwriting? Do newer bands ever inspire you or just the classics? Old New York and Boston hardcore bands, definitely. Early and late 80's. bands like KRAKDOWN, YOUTH OF TODAY (cant close my eyes), LOCKJAW, LIFE'S BLOOD, DRI, DYS, etc.. I like alot of new hardcore punk but i would say the older stuff is more of an inspiration for the band.

Is it weird that both your records have been released by European labels? Do you think that helps the band or have you noticed it hurting you on this end of the world? Not necessarily weird. It surprised the hell out of me when Noel hit us up to be on EVEN WORSE. We were definitely down for working with him from the start even though he/his label is based out of the Netherlands. It has its on and offs. like, exposure on the other side of the world is awesome, but the US distribution lacks and people have to pay more over here for our 7" if they're not buying it straight from us, which kinda sucks.

In the song about Ted Bundy theres a lyric about “killing a bunch of whores who fucking deserved it.” Do you guys hate women? It seemed to me that the scene, at least in Richmond, was pretty apolitical or maybe even anti-political. Is this a reaction to anything goin on in punk or just the way you dudes are? We don't hate women, just most teenage girls. We aren't a Richmond band, but I'd say RVA has it's fair share of uptight assholes. Lots of pretentious artschool PBR drinkin’ trackbike homos that need to get a fucking life. But that probably doesn’t even relate to what you had experienced in Richmond. I don’t know, I don’t live there. I'm not at every Richmond show. I don’t care about politics or if anyone hates my band(s) and won't check out our records. I play music for me.

So you used to be in TARPIT? What's the deal with that? I was friends with Mike Lawson, the singer. Dave from IRON BOOTS quit (he played drums), so Jason, the bass player, moved to drums and they needed a bass player. Mike asked me if I'd be down and i said yeah (this was early '05). I played with them up until September of that year then quit cause it wasn't really my thing. I think I did like 3 one-week tours with them and quite a few Virginia beach shows. Never played on any of the recordings.

What do you guys got in the works? We're going to be on 3 upcoming compilation 7"'s. No bullshit volume 3, and 2 others on COWABUNGA and STRESS DOMAIN records. We plan on recording around 13 songs this winter for an lp. We actually started recording it over the summer with Taylor on drums but it didn't come out right and now he's out of the band, so it'll be the end of the year by the time we'll make it back in the studio. As far as shows, we might be doing some sort of week or two tour with NIGHTSTICK JUSTICE this december (eastcoast---we're playing THIS IS FOR YOU FEST in florida so it'll revolve around that), or in the spring possibly. Who knows.

Anything else you wanna say in there to wrap it up? Shout outs?
Nope.

COOL

CHECK OUT THE "UNAPPROACHABLE" LP IDIOTS

WTF

So I couldn't figure out how to get back into my previous stupid blog thing, having spent a year or so without giving it any thought, but it's time to do something with some of the shit i've been sitting on since the last issue of FUNERAL MUSIC. (goin on a couple years inactive) I did some bullshit interviews with some great bands that I'd love to show the light of day, but unfortunately I don't have the time for a zine right now, fucking with so many bands, a label, a record store and two other jobs. There is a ton of reviews and rants and bullshit that I've had sitting on my computer for years that are now totally outdated and useless. There is only room for the useless here.