Drummers are a sad bunch: usually the most talented musician in the band, yet cursed with poor social skills and stuck behind their kit, few people even realize they exist (other than other drummers). I am a sucker for an underdog, so this post will draw a little attention to the unsung drummers that have shaped the way I play.
Most drum nerds only seem to care how fast you can play, but at my advanced age I'm over that. I like a blast beat, double bass or whatever as much as the next guy, but I'm more into drummers who play their set like it's an instrument, not a physical challenge. Nor do I really care for the Dave Weckls, Mike Portnoys or Steve Gadds of the world who can play their balls off, but are in the worst fucking bands known to man (cough Chick Corea Elektric Band cough).
There are few things more annoying than a drummer who overplays, so I appreciate guys who have some technical skill, but do not use it for evil (like making stupid drum solo videos on youtube or playing in riff salad death metal bands). Since I grew up listening to a lot of rap, I especially like drummers who are super tight, hard hitting, and use lots of quirky accents and syncopation to make the song interesting without overwhelming the rest of the band.
John Stanier - Helmet
The grandfather of the hard-hitting, stripped-down, ultra-syncopated school of metal/hardcore drumming is without a doubt John Stanier. His playing a perfect example of what I aspire to as a drummer: At first listen, you might think this song is almost absurdly simple, but try to play it and see if you still think so. It starts off with a left-lead, 16th note run UP the kit, then back down-- this is where Stanier's time in drum corp playing quints and quads becomes obvious.
Travis Barker - Blink 182
Other than perhaps Carter Beauford of DMB, no mainstream drummer of the past 20 years is better than Travis Barker. Blink-182 was just another half-assed, So Cal pop punk band until he joined, and it's obvious why. His stage presence, songwriting sense, and technique are all unparalleled, and he's clearly influenced a whole generation of kids. His marching-band background is obvious if you know what to listen for, and I love how he throws in weird little things like the breakdown at :37 in the song above-- super innovative and interesting without distracting from the song.
Oh, and you can thank him for popularizing the 1990s Inland Empire-bro style-- every time you see a skinny little wigneck in Dickies shorts, skate shoes with cholo-style high socks, and a flat-brim hat, think of your boy Travis.
John Longstreth - Origin
This is one of the few metal drummers who is at all interesting to me, mostly because he's basically playing 311 beats at tempos that are three or four times faster. It's really hard to do anything tasteful or nuanced when you're playing at 250 bpm, but Longstreth does it-- for example, just the slight variation in volume of snare hits during his blasts is enough to make what would otherwise be an incredibly dull, generic death metal song really unique and interesting. For those of you who like to jack off to insane speed, just go to about 3:20-- this is the guy who invented the gravity blast (yes, I know it's an old jazz technique).
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Chad Sexton - 311
Nobody will admit to liking 311, but I have always thought they were a brilliant rock band who have a great pop sense-- the perfect soundtrack for getting the mnstrm party started in summer. Aside from having great songs, you will simply not find a cleaner, tighter, more precise drummer than Chad Sexton. Another veteran of drum corp (see his DCI testimonial here), his playing is incredibly tasteful, but if you know what to listen for, he plays plenty of technical shit that's kind of mind blowing.
Ken Schalk - Candiria
In the late 90s, there were a number of hardcore/metal bands experimenting with jazz influences, but none of them did it better than Candiria. This was mostly due to Ken and his drumming, who brought all the good parts of 80s/90s fusion dorks like Weckl and Gadd into the context of a discordant metalcore band-- basically, it's everything Cynic and Atheist set out to do, only I think Candiria pulled it off a lot better.
He never played anything flashy, with not a single blast beat to be found in their catalog and only a couple bars of double bass, but his groove was absolutely unequalled to this day, and his fills are godly in their simplicity and tastefulness. I particularly appreciate that Ken did all this with a 4-piece kit and single bass drum, proving that the size of your kit has nothing to do with the size of your presence as a musician.
He was also a really, nice, humble dude-- I remember some kids coming up to him after a show in Portland, and he smiled and said, "No offense, man, but you only think I'm good because you've never listened to Jack Dejohnette." I see his point, but I don't think Ken gave himself enough credit, he is a brilliant musician in his own right!
Forest Stedt - Cephalotripsy/Condemned
This one will probably be the hardest for most people to appreciate, but in many ways he's the most innovative of these drummers. What makes his playing so interesting to me is how cold, mechanical, and completely different from typical "rock" drumming it is. He almost never plays fills, changes tempo in ways that make no immediate sense, and almost plays the drums like a lead instrument. I love how he hits his snare so infrequently, instead using his cymbals to add subtle texture while keeping time with non-stop double bass. I think of it as the Stanier style applied to slam metal: every single note counts, with his playing stripped down to the absolute minimum possible.
Charlie King - Bloodlet
I always liked Helmet as a kid, but it wasn't until Charlie started repping them in interviews that I really started to appreciate them (he also got me into Carter Beauford). Stanier's influence on Charlie is obvious, but Bloodlet took it to another level, with an even crackier snare tone, even weirder time signatures and odder accents. I remember him telling me that they were tired of people dancing too hard at their shows, so their new song was in 13/16 to make it too difficult to dance to it-- genius!!
Again, Charlie's playing isn't flashy, but if you listen closely you'll appreciate how innovative subtle it is, with a rock-solid foundation underneath everything. Also, he was like 17 when they wrote all the songs on their early 7"s, which is kind of mind blowing considering that I could barely play Black Flag songs at that age. Anybody know what he's up to these days??
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These guys might seem boring to younger readers who are used to every 16 year-old being able to play ass-ripping double bass, but to me they are all brilliant musicians. The common thread is that they're all classically-trained band geeks who play in metal/hardcore bands, always with flawless technique, restraint, and most importantly always trying to make the song better (rather than just trying to make drum nerds jizz).
Honorable Mention
Will Shepler, Madball: Amazingly solid, brought the groove to hardcore that is de rigeur today Ryan Murphy, Undertow/Everything Went Black/Ensign: Hard-hitting, super solid rock drummer in the vein of Chuck Biscuits and super nice guy Kyle Burns, Forever The Sickest Kids: Very cool loose, dancey style that's perfect for their band Nick Jett, Terror: Hardcore MACHINE!! Todd Preboski, Champion/Betrayed: One of my favorite people on the planet, and taught me a ton about drums-- he taught me the subtle brilliance of Living Colour, too!
What newer drummers am I missing out on? I'm sure there are tons, but I don't really listen to much new metal/hardcore, and most of the other music I listen to doesn't really place a premium on musicianship (I mean, is the drummer for Cash Cash even an actual human being, or just a Cubase track?). Please no blast beat virtuosos, that stopped being interesting to me over a decade ago.
A few weeks ago, I woke up and saw an email I never imagined I would receive: "MIKE CHEESE has sent you a message." "Mike Cheese is on Facebook?!" I asked myself, "WTF. And why in the world would he email me??" For those who don't know, Mike is the singer for the legendary West Coast hardcore band Gehenna. I interviewed him about 15 years ago for my old zine, and he wrote to thank me for it. Weird, right?? Yes, but also pretty thoughtful for the guy who would stab his mother in the face, according to the hardcore rumor mill.
If you haven't heard of Gehenna, I don't blame you. There are some bands who never sell a lot of records, play many shows, or make a lot of merch, yet somehow have a legacy much more lasting than you would think. Like Von, Havohej, Antidote, or Straight Ahead, Gehenna is one of those bands. I got their demo in 1995 or so and have listened to it consistently ever since. It's a masterpiece of pissed off, grimy, brutal hardcore that has stood the test of time in way that almost no other releases of the 90s did, but for some reason most people don't talk about that.
When you hear about Gehenna, it's usually some herbs on a messageboard trading third-hand stories about singer Mike Cheese and how "crazy" he is. "Dude I heard Mike Cheese stabbed some dude" - "No he ran him over with a bulldozer" - "Nah man, he was the guy who released the nerve gas on the subway in Japan back in the day" and so forth. My guess is that he made up half of them for a joke, and the other half are from movies or something. I am sure some of them are true, but I am old and I'm not that interested in stories about how tough or crazy people in hardcore bands are, so I wanted to talk to Mike about something different.
Thanks to Mike for answering my dumb questions in 1996, and for taking the time to answer a new set of dumb questions in 2010!
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A newish Gehenna studio track, "Seven Crowns" (newish meaning less than 10 years old)
I first interviewed you about 15 years ago for my high school hardcore zine. Please introduce yourself and tell me what you have been up to since then. Do you remember what you thought of my stupid questions, aside from "Who is this fucking 16 year-old gaywad and why am I wasting my time on this?", and why did you email me a few weeks ago? It has been quite a while, and some things have changed, but only a few. I’m Mike. I have been involved pretty heavily in a few different musical subcultures, playing in bands, releasing records, booking shows, and working in both the wholesale and retail sides of the music industry. I been given nick names like “Cheese”, “Mike Apocalypse”, “Big Lil City”, “The Disappointer”, “Michelada Mike”, and a bunch more for reasons that evade me. But they all stick and I like ‘em so I keep using them. When you sent me a copy of your ‘zine in 1995 there was an interview next to the letter. The zine had a photo of GEHENNA on the cover, and a full page with 6 different GEHENNA pictures, that were all taken by my friend Andrew from Phoenix, yet you were from Lakewood Ohio.
One of the finest 90s hardcore records, sadly it's fucking impossible to find. You can probably download it somewhere though.
I didn’t know what to think (later that day I was told that a thing called “the internet” existed and that was how you got those flix from Andrew). I was amazed. I thought things like “A kid from Ohio who likes my band has a computer?” and “Who would use a computer to do anything but math?” “This guy must have some sort of fucking alien technology if he can send pictures and do shit like that.” I was stunned. The ‘zine was full of cool stuff like graffiti flix, and interviews with some good bands. When I read the questions I thought “awesome. Lets get everyone together after band practice and do this interview.”
When we looked at it after it was done we thought it was a good interview and it should be printed with great response. The unfortunate truth was that it may have been a little too sarcastic. It was possibly the funniest thing in the world for me to see things like “420 + 40 = Fucked Up” And “I would like to thank pot and fire and the creator of pot on fire”. We were all straight edge but that was all stuff that we laughed about. Anyhow time passed and a friend of mine that I work with asked me about that interview and who did it. I told him it was a fellow named [Sergeant D]. He asked if you were Irish and I thought I should look it up on the internet and find out (I sort of understand computers a bit better now). Then lo and behold who do I see on facebook: [Sergeant D].
THE OLD INTERVIEW (FROM 1996)
I interviewed Mike Cheese from Gehenna. He wasn’t very nice, but since I went to the trouble of writing him I guess I might as well print this anyway... I don’t think it turned out very well, but interviews aren’t very interesting to begin with so whatever.
What’s up in San Diego? It seems like the stereotype is that they’re all screamo Gravity type bands... It’s really hard to say cause we all live in different parts of the West. One in San Diego, two in Orange County, and 2 in Reno, Nevada. As far as the “scene” in general everywhere in the US sucks shit pretty much. And Southern California is no different. Stupid ass people and crumby ass motherfucking chump bands everywhere you look. Fashion rules while any real threat takes a back seat. Hardcore is shit!
How would you say the band has changed since it started? The demo is pretty straightforward HC, while the split w/ Apt. 213 is more grindy. Gehenna is a band with a sort of “revolving door” line up. Members come and go, each adding or subtracting a bit of an influence or another. But it seems to always move to a more extreme form of music every time.
How many people in the band write? (I meant write graffiti...) None of us are illiterate. But when it comes to writing letters to friends or what not, you’d think so!
What records do you still have available? I couldn’t help ya there. Sorry.
I heard you got in a fight or something in San Francisco when you played with Spazz and Fall Silent. What’s up with that? I got Terrets Syndrom and sometimes shit just goes wrong and I’ll freak the fuck out and just start doing wild shit. I don’t remember exactly but you can ask the nerd who does Monkydickbite zine. He was at our show to pretend he was punk but went outside to fag off and suck some cock to get an interview or scene points for his gay ass zine. Or maybe ask the vegan Monster Crew fag, who thought he was tough and wound up layed on his sissy vegan ass. I don’t fuckin’ know though.
What bands / records / people are you into right now? We like a ton of stuff here’s the rundown: Bands: GG Allin, The Motherfucking Titty Suckers, Avalanche Master, Fall Silent, Unruh, Apeshit, DEA, Schellar, DRI, Chain of Strength, Enewetak, the Chiefs, Catharsis, Sleep, the Police, The whole Rap-A-Lot Records family, Gehenna (us of course!), Herb Alpert and the TJ Brass, and 3 Stoned Men! Records: 7”, 12”, and misdemeanors. Felony’s (sic) are to (sic) hard to shake. People: “The 3-D’s”: Dice, Dangerfield, and el Duce.
When you hear about people in bands like Nirvana, Pennywise, etc. dying from overdoses, what’s your reaction? I hope our band end’s up like that. I couldn’t give a flyin’ fuck. Suicide is the only answer anyway’s. Just do it. Kill everybody.
Anything you want to add / thank / talk shit about? I would like to thank: Everyone who is dead for not bothering me, the inventor of pot and the inventor of fire, the inventor of pot on fire, and all the bad words that make people mad. I would like to talk shit to: Everyone alive for bothering me. I want to add: 420 + 40oz = fucked up’ 420 + 69 = party! Shout outs: “Check me out.” “That’s what men’s do.” “Sometimes I just loose my mind when I play drums.” ‘Blow me.”
Most people are going to read this hoping for some OUTRAGEOUS MIKE CHEESE STORIES. That would be a boring and entry-level angle, but what's up with that? Why are people so fascinated with telling outrageous and probably half-true stories about you, especially Euros? I mean, I'm sure you ARE fucking crazy at times, but what's so interesting about that, you know?? If you are/were friends with Levi Watson you must not be a total dickhead and you're not in prison... There are a few reasons I end up in peoples stories.
A.) My nick names. It’s a lot easier to remember something like “then this guy named CHEESE walks in the room...” rather than “then this guy who i cant remember... wait was it Tom... no... Mark.....no...”. I’m sure you understand this cause your name is [SERGEANT D]. People like names and labels for things which leads us to...
B.) Communication. I talk to all kinds of people, because I’m interested in different things (travel, film, music, art, humor, food, sports, history, fashion etc.) So folks from different backgrounds will all say things “Dude, I heard him talking to a guy about Nike’s, and then talking to a girl about death metal, and then cooking with this old lady...” This confuses people so they get upset. Our society makes us stick to the group of people we are supposed to run with.
C.) Fear. Nothing is interesting or outrageous about me, most people are just really fucking lame. They never say anything funny or smart about anything because they’re afraid they might look bad. They never fight anybody or love anybody because they are afraid to get hurt. They just don’t fucking care about life because they are afraid. I’m not. I don’t care what people think about me. I’ve accepted the fact that I’ll die, so I’m gonna do and say what I want until then. So people like myself become a focal point of stories.
Levi is a great friend and a good guy. He’s married and has a couple of real smart kids and a cool house now.. He teaches high school and won the teacher of the year award in Reno a couple of years straight. He’s a great dude and I have tons of respect and love for him.
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My favorite Gehenna song, from the [fucking great] demo
From reading your blog, it's obvious that you are a genuine fan of music. What keeps people like us interested in music for so long, as opposed to a phase like it is for a lot of people? Not that there's anything wrong with it being a phase, I'm not pulling the gay "I'M OLD/DOWN 4 LIFE YOU POSERS!!" card-- I'm just looking for your thoughts on why you, me, and many other people we know have chosen to spend so much of our lives on this thing? I realized I went to and loved hardcore shows in 1989, 1999 and still do in 2009... I think it goes back to what I wrote in the last question...“most people are just really fucking lame.” They think of everything in life as a prop, or an additive. Music is background rather than something to be passionate about. The record store I worked at made this brutally obvious to me. There were the drones, that were coming in to buy the latest fad record from a “cool” band, and then there were the outsiders who were curious about life. Some of these outsiders were young kids who couldn’t relate to society because of it’s shallowness. Others were grown people who had spent there lives doing what they love and seeking out new inspiration. These were the people like you and I who didn’t give a fuck what people thought.
Being passionate about things has nothing to do with age. It is all based on how perceptive your senses are. I’ve seen 40 year olds rip on skateboards, and 16 year old kids praise the righteous name of THIN LIZZY. To me it seems the more passionate and perceptive a person is the more likely they are to be involved in the things that inspire them through out their lives. Weather it is cooking, or turning wrenches, or art, or music, or reading, it isn’t a phase if you love it.
Let's play What's In The Background: some girl in a 90s-style babydoll dress who appears to be trying not to fart, several dudes in giant Droors jeans, fat kid in punk vest, token semi-hot raver girl. Yep, it's a 90s hardcore show!
It's also clear that you have really eclectic tastes. I remember when I first interviewed you, I was real stoked that you were in what I thought of as a hardcore band but were also into GG Allin, Rap-A-Lot Records, and other stuff that was pretty unexpected (especially for back then when people had much narrower tastes). You also did a split with Apartment 213, which was surprising for people like me who thought of Gehenna as an Unbroken splinter band (see Javier's interview with Steven from Unbroken for details on why I thought this). What makes you appreciate such a wide variety of music? Why do some people have shitty taste and only get into 1 genre? Myself and all the guys in GEHENNA have always been into tons of different stuff. That is why we sound the way we do. We’ve never tried to have any one kind of sound. It’s more like we just incorporate all of our favorite music together and use it as a vehicle for our aggression. We never fit one type of genre because we don’t fit in any specific scene. We never have and never will. We just play the music we want to hear because we aren’t content making music for anyone but ourselves. I think we appreciate tons of different music because we are diverse and multidimensional people.
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A classic from the Rap-A-Lot vaults: Geto Boys "My Mind Playin Tricks On Me"
When a person only likes one type of music it is usually because that genre or scene is where that boring and mediocre person has found some sort of acceptance. They use it as a sort of weapon against living. Unfortunately when they have to deal with life, they lay down their weapon and surrender and become another robot. This is when they look back at their “life before life” as a passing phase. And again...”Most people are fucking lame.”
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Some live footage. I have no idea when this is from or who is in the band at this point other than Mike, but it's pretty good.
When I got the answers back from our first interview, I was real bummed that you were obviously not straightedge or in the Revelation/Victory, YOT/Snapcase hardcore kid mold, because that's how I pictured Gehenna based on the Unbroken connection. Why did people care so much about things like that back in the 90s? It seems like now nobody gives a fuck?? The funny thing is that we were all straight edge at the time, though you are right we were not the typical hardcore dudes. The UNBROKEN connection (which you mentioned twice now for some reason I don’t understand) was an obvious mistake on your part. Even though Steve played drums in GEHENNA briefly, there really was no direct link. We were, are and always will be a far better band, because we make music for ourselves not for people involved in a scene. I think when people need to feel accepted they do odd things. They wont say things that are deemed offensive for fear of rejection. I think it is the same now but in a different and much worse way. No one is worried about what you eat or weather or not you smoke or drink or do drugs. Now all anyone cares about is why you don’t have a twitter account, or why you don’t follow their twitter page, or why you haven’t posted a youtube video response to something no one will care about in 2 months.
I think the writing on this flyer is Mike's? Pretty tight.
I tried to ask you about graffiti back in that old interview but you didn't want to talk about it. You had some real nice 90s San Diego-style tags, what's up with that? Were you a writer or what? I still follow graffiti pretty closely, do you? I always avoid questions about legal issues. I’ve never painted with a Montana can and I never will. I still like Pilots. I never was an artist. I ruin property, and lives.
Do you listen to any newer bands? If so, who? Just curious if/how your tastes have evolved over the years. Yeah I like a ton of stuff. THE FARLEY OVERDOSE is fucking awesome! NIFELHEIM. GIVING TREE. BLIND TO FAITH. VIOLENT RULER. UN PACINO. DER BLUTHARSCH. OVERVERT. BIG KUNTRY KING. AUTOLUX. CRYSTAL ANTLERS. RASTHOF DACHAU. RUSTEE JUXX. REPROACH. MDDL FNGZ. GUILTY SIMPSON. Of course the one and only SEAN PRICE.
I don’t know about evolving taste, because I’ve always had great taste. It doesn’t get much more evolved than that. I know that sounds odd but it is true. Most of the stuff I like and most of the stuff I’ve been into for years are things that seem to challenge the listener, as well as the musician.
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Thanks to Mike for the thoughtful and interesting responses! If you aren't already into Gehenna, definitely do yourself a favor and buy whatever you can get your hands on (or download anything that's out of print).
Have you ever wondered what would happen if Mr. Clean fronted a Judge cover band? By now any oldz reading this already know that I'm talking about Southern California's kings of generic hardcore, STRIFE. To be fair, they started in 1990, which is perhaps the single worst year in the history of hardcore-- when your peers are Billingsgate, Mean Season, and post-Soulforce Revolution 7 Seconds, it's understandable for you to do some questionable things. In the case of Strife, not only did they put out some incredibly dull records, but singer Rick Rodney also appeared in a dreadful movie entitled GODMONEY.
But first, a bit about Strife...
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Rick Rodney today: MY GOD THIS ORANGE MUSTACHE
In addition to having what might be the very most generic name ever, Strife basically sounded like an even-less-interesting version of the Judge LP, with almost all of the songs featuring exceedingly drawn-out, melodramatic intros with Rick Rodney screaming about some unidentified, "deep" topic. Imagine a band who created several albums of "The Storm." Early 90s hardcore bands liked to do this kind of thing a lot: bad Metallica copy riffs with the singer talking about how their soul was on fire or something. Quick, fetch the soulfire extinguisher! [Credit to Andy Goat for that joke]
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A "good" Strife song
Anyhow, Strife were very popular back in the day, up there with Earth Crisis, Snapcase, and Integrity, although as far as I can tell they're mostly forgotten these days. It's probably just as well, as you can tell from the song above, but they do have a certain special place in my heart as perhaps the since least interesting band in hardcore (the aforementioned Mean Season are in the running too).
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This later Strife video combines a variety of tired, overused imagery so clumsily that it gives Jake Bannon a run for his money in the hack dept
Southern California was also home to Darren Doane, an up-and-coming music video director who you might know from his work with Christian ska legends Supertones, Christian pop punk legends MXPX and Christian metalcore legends As I Lay Dying. Unwilling to rest on his laurels as the king of videos moderately popular Christian rock bands, he teamed up with the singer of Strife to produce GODMONEY, an independent film about the dangers of drug use.
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Christian ska: Exhibit A in the trial against the white race
From the back of the box:
"Godmoney" is a story of urban survival and set in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Nathan leaves New York and tries to leave his past of crime, drug addiction and life on the streets behind. Once in California he tries to put his life together, but is befriended by Matthew, a small time dealer who recruits Nathan to work for him. Nathan's life is turned upside down when Matthew offers him twenty thousand dollars to kill a rival dealer. Nathan must decide if everyone, including himself, has a price.
One interesting twist is that Christian Bale was originally cast as the lead, but Doane ran out of money and swapped him out for Rick Rodney. That must have hurt, kind of like trading in your M5 for a Ford Fiesta. Bale's part is still in the film, but it's only the first 5 minutes or so.
Here's a few parts of the movie:
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Part 1
I wish Rick would have sported this look in Godmoney
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Part 2
Being a young mosher, I was super stoked for this film as soon as I heard that Rick Rodney was in it. I saw it in theater and thought it was fucking awesome-- so EDGY and POWERFUL! That feeling stayed with me until I bought it for $1 the other day at Walmart. While I loved the film when I was 17, suffice to say that Father Time has not been kind to Godmoney. Not even a little bit. This movie is positively wretched, as you already know if you watched more than 4 seconds of the clips above.
Groups of ppl you would like to spray with AIDS: XDoaneX kicking it with the singer of Buck Cherry.
To be clear, I'm not trying to hate on Rick Rodney. He was real nice the few times I ran into him, and you can't fault him for playing the role he was asked to. When it comes to Strife, I kid because I love. I place the blame for this turd on Darren Doane. What else would you expect from the guy who has made videos for the likes of Underoath, Nile, Norma Jean, and Uncle Kracker? The guy sounds like the punchline for a joke I would have made while waiting to see Unashamed.
The only thing interesting about this movie was the Jane's Addiction poster in the main character's bedroom.
I had a hard time sitting through the whole movie. I expected a lot and got zip. Any other movie in this genre would likely be better.
I usually can think of something good to say about a film, but I am at a loss for this one. What is even more disturbing is the director actually believes his actors were great in the film.
Darren Doane is the best is movie and music videos.
I agree with all of these, especially the last one. And remember, THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUTH!
What do u think of Godmoney? Which is a bigger lolfactory, Rick Rodney's acting or his mustache?? What would this movie have been like with Karl Beuchner or Justin Pearson in the lead role?
The 90s are back, baby-- thanks to ppl like Fight Fair's Alex Bigman, all the cool kids want to relive the bad old days of 90s hardcore. But skramz are for posers: If any of you kids want to start a REALLY authentic 90s-style band, you should put on XXL Snapcase basketball jerseys, JNCOs, and wear backpacks everywhere you go. And as for musical inspiration, forget about skramz-- only a few emo dorks listened to that shit back then. Put down your Fingerprint 7" and back issues of Heartattack; to truly understand 90s hardcore, look no further than the catalog of VICTORY RECORDS!
The fact of the matter is that no band, person or label defined 90s hardcore like Victory. I will leave it to other people who have had a few too many glasses of Haterade to critique their business practices or whatever and focus on what I know/care about: the music they put out and how they were received in the hxc scene at the time. All you dumb little kids who want to relive the 90s, take note: this is your handbook to being AUTHENTIC 90s HARDCORE!
Kurt Angle + Tony Victory = BFF
Victory: The original Stuff You Will Hate It seems like everything I do, say, or post on the internets is a lightning rod for hatred. If I like it, everybody not only hates it, but wants to tell me what a moron/fggt/imbecile I am because I am into it. I feel like Tony Brummel and I might be budz, because that's how it's always been for Victory. People have been hating on them basically since day one, for various reasons.
I snapped this photo of the Victory break room while undercover as a member of Billingsgate
I am not tight with the label by any means, but I have worked with them doing interviews, reviews and whatnot since about 1994. Back then you could call them up, ask to talk to Tony and they'd say "Yeah let me grab him-- TONY, PHONE!" These days I am guessing he's too busy swimming in his money bin to chat, but the point is that I've seen them grow from a tiny little startup to one of the very biggest indie labels in the world. Many things have changed, but one thing remains the same: everybody hates on Victory!
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In this video, some Germans sing "Firestorm" at a wedding karaoke party. Aside from the obvious, my favorite is how they pronounce it "wiolence against wiolence."
There may have been something earlier, but the first thing I remember people getting butthurt about was the Earth Crisis "Firestorm" 7". I will write more about this band another time, but if you haven't heard the lyrics to the title track on that record, they are about killing drug dealers in "a firestorm to purify." It's hard to imagine anybody these days getting upset about that line because it is so silly and over-the-top, but at the time the No Fun Club was furious and treated Victory like child molesting Nazis for releasing it.
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The infamous One Life Crew "riot" video from 1996. So many lulz in this video, hopefully BloodyGuts will come through with a lengthier post on it since she was there and I wasn't.
A couple of years later Victory made everybody angry again by putting out the One Life Crew 12", "Crime Ridden Society." Aside from being a brilliant old-school hardcore record in a time in which almost nobody was playing that style, it had a song about immigrants called "Pure Disgust" which contained lines like "don't come here, we don't want or need you," and so forth. Again, by today's standards it's almost laughably tame, especially when the lyrics are delivered by a fat Turk like Mean Steve, but the 90s were a very uptight, PC time in which we got angry about anything and everything. It all culminated with the legendary Cleveland fest "riot." I didn't live there until shortly after the riot, but you can watch the video above. It's not much to get excited about, but it happened, and naturally everybody blamed Victory for it all.
I don't remember if I have posted this before, but back in 1997 or so I actually went to OLC vocalist Mean Steve's tanning salon with my friend Bobby. We were just hanging out talking to him about our bro Jesse Parsh (or as Steve called him, "Faggot Jesse"), and every 30 seconds or so he would answer the phone with, "Thank you for calling Sunbelievable, this is Steve, may I help you?" Needless to say it was beyond ridic, and I hear he currently has a motorcycle shop or something at the mall, so stop by there if you want to experience your own piece of 90s hxc history!
Say what you want about flash-in-the-pan emo bros Hawthorne Heights, but at least we know they didn't get popular because of their looks!
Later, I guess Victory had some sort of falling out with Thursday or something. Then there was some contractual dispute or whatever with that fucking awful, gay emo band Hawthorne Heights I guess. I don't know or care about the details of that stuff, but I know the Absolute Punk/VLV types were pretty furious and ready to lynch Victory for whatever they supposedly did. I am not sure if there were any more recent scandals, kerfuffles, or controversial records, but people still hate the records Victory puts out. I love A Day To Remember and Emmure, but they seem nearly universally hated among the people I talk to. Of course the punchline is that both bands sell a lot of records, so my guess is that it is the same now as it was in the 90s: the people hating on Victory are just butthurt fgtz who like to complain while everybody gets the party started to the tune of "Victory Style Volume 2."
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I remember Charlie being mad that Victory made them pay for this video as part of their contract or whatever. As I recall it was produced for the princely sum of $900.
Must have pro gear/look These days all bands have dozens of "promo shoots," an absurdly polished MySpace layout, a booking agent, and manager before they play a single note of music, but it wasn't always like that. It was Victory who created the blueprint for being a "professional DIY" brand (band/label/whatever), like today's annoyingly-pro kids. It made a lot of ppl angry, but it was cool with me because it just meant that hxc bands got to record at decent studios, put out records that sounded good and you could actually fucking find them in record stores. I mean, if your band was any good, wouldn't a label want to put it out? DIY is cool and all, but if you have to resort to self-releasing 500 copies of your 7" in hand-screened paper bag covers, it probably just means your band sucks :P
Nothing really says "90s hardcore" like an Earth Crisis jersey by Cabal!
Victory's merch machine was second to none, pumping out windbreakers, basketball jerseys, and XXL t-shirts faster than shit through a goose. These days every band under the sun has 4 zillion SKUs of merch available via a Big Cartel store, but nobody did it like Victory back in the 90s. Well, there was Rick Ta Life's traveling flea market, but that's kind of like the Big Lots/Canal Street of hardcore.
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This Snapcase 7" still sounds pretty damn good to my ears. Love that 90s super-cranked snare!
The other thing about Victory is that they were the only hxc label who actually had their shit together in terms of promotion, publicity and marketing. If you had a zine, they would actually send you review copies of stuff with alarming frequency (although back then they were cheap and often sent the cassette version lol). They were also one of the few labels who actually paid for ads, which was pretty amazing at the time.
ADTR's "Downfall Of Us All" was the best song of 2009, hands down
They took promo photos, made music videos, had a street team, and all kinds of other things that are de rigeur for modern "hardcore" bands who have a press kit before they have songs. Of course that means they are indirectly responsible for countless musical crimes against humanity such as Never Shout Never, but you know what they say: if you want to make an omelette you've gotta break some eggs. If being blessed with "Destroy The Machines" means I have to suffer through a couple of Underoath videos 15 years later, that's a price I'm willing to pay.
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Victory continues to explore innovative ways of marketing their bands, as you can see in this commercial for the latest Emmure "package deal"
The bottom line Obviously the Victory catalog has plenty of lolwat moments like Catch 22 and Hifi And The Roadburners, but it's also full of legit classics like Bloodlet, Earth Crisis and Snapcase. There are tons more unsung gems like Martyr AD, Inner Strength, All Out War, and some really fucking great newer stuff like A Day To Remember and Emmure. We love to joke, but in all seriousness Victory has done more to shape hardcore than anybody since mid-80s Revelation.
Tony, if you're reading this, thanks for all the years of great records, and LOL @ the crybaby fggts who hate on your label. Now if only I could find that absurd video of Integrity playing Dekalb with Mean Steve playing air bass during their set.
Next: What do the youth of today think of Victory's 90s steez?? YeahYouKnowIt showed what a lolfactory 80s hardcore can be, but we have not yet explored the fertile ground of 90s hxc. If you have ever wondered what Kids These Days think of what I listened to in high school, you will be excited to hear that the next installment of Scene Girl Reviews will cover Victory Style Vol III. Stay tuned!
Earth Crisis' Karl Beuchner is a very strange man. Seriously.
Does anyone have a copy of Greedy Bastard's fake ExC interview? Where is Bill Florio these days?? Do you love Bloodlet as much as I do? What current Victory releases do you like? WTF is the deal with Hifi & The Roadburners? Do you have any video of the legendary EVEN SCORE???
Back in the old days before blogs, the Twitters, Youtubes, and all that, we had something called zines. I made few different ones, starting in about 1992 and going through 2003 or so. Most of them are fucking wretched, but I found a copy of the first issue of my best zine, HATING LIFE, from 1999 or so. I had just moved back to Seattle from Cleveland, and was very influenced by Lifesucksdie, Bruce from Phobia's zine Jellobungresia, and Fat Chicks In Party Hats. Sure, there are plenty of things about it that are awful, but all things considered I think it holds up pretty well for being a decade old.
I was living with a bunch of friends from high school (including Todd from Champion/Betrayed, who I miss a lot), and basically was just real into going to hardcore shows, writing graffiti, and hanging out with girls/my mosher bros. Accordingly, it's mostly pictures of graffiti, chicks I liked at the time, and dumb shit about metal and hardcore records, and generally along the same lines at Stuff You Will Hate-- as you will see, I've been doing this kind of annoying bullshit for a long time, for better or worse. I'll post some of the most notable pages, but you should download the full zine and read it in detail. The second page of all the interviews is in the ZIP, so what better way to piss away 20 minutes of your life that you'll never get back??
First of all, note that I titled this "INTRO BUST" many years before Double Crossed. Second, the gist of it is "if chicks aren't into your band, you suck." Sounds familiar, right?? I have been beating the "don't play boring music for beardos" drum for quite a while!
At the time, The Locust were getting real popular, and they still had proto-scene hair (before entering their more recent gasmask/light-bondage phase). People still mention this page to me from time to time, so I guess it was memorable?
Some very rare mid-90s Seattle graffiti pics- WERL, SOBER, PACE, etc. The girls are my former roommate/current BFF BloodyGuts (left) and some lame chick I was dating at the time (right). On the bottom right is KERN TA aka Metal Inquisition's Skullkrusher doing a Mother's Day piece ("Feliz Dia De Madrecita").
Interview with the geniuses in Deeds of Flesh, featuring some classic lines like "I like to piss in there mudslides and piss there lemondrops."
Clockwise from upper left: "STRIGHT EDGE" tattoo; Some bitch with busted-out teeth from the then-recent WTO rights in Seattle; misc graffiti; some ORFN/SECTER doodles courtesy of CERT; a screencap from Hamtaro; my favorite piece of graffiti ever, a BW production by BISIE, WERL, SECTER and AMAZE.
Some moderately amusing record reviews, the best one probably being Creation Is Crucifixion: "The songs are all about computers and stuff." Even then I was pissing people off by reviewing Pyrexia, Hate Eternal, and Candiria alongside Home Grown, The Enkindels, and other gay poppy shit.
Clockwise from upper left: Lame chick I dated showing her tits in front of a Skarhead poster (boobies shopped out, sorry); more rare, mid-90s Seattle graffiti from the likes of BISIE US, ADEK BTM TKO 3A, SAGER LFC NCS, ABHOR KUK, and SOBER AOD LFC; Slayer ticket; funny business card I found on the ground that says "Hey black, can a nigga dick it down from the back?"; a couple other girls I dated/crushed on.
Interview with Chris Elder from Despise You/Pessimiser- I lost his actual responses so I just made up what I thought he would have said. I think I did a pretty good job!
Interview with ARES from Downset and the legendary graffiti crew CBS. He was real, real cool and super friendly. The singer, Rey, was a very fucking strange dude but also nice. I feel like this band never really got the press they deserved.
More graffiti, including MERZ's first piece, a 625 throwup I did in 1997 or so, and a picture of Jessica Alba when she was still hot. Cringing at some of the design elements.
I don't know why I included this, but I was real into the Super Robot Wars games at the time, and included a bunch of screenshots from some of the Super Famicom titles. LOL @ the mega-90s graphic design!
Moderately amusing interview with Levi Watson from the awesome Fall Silent. I hear he is a high school teacher these days; he was always a real cool, super nice guy and I wish him the best with whatever he's up to! Solid dude for sure.
Like many other 20 year-olds, I was a guitar geek. This interview with the thoroughly average grindcore band Assuck is mostly about dumb shit like what kind of pickups Steve Heritage used, blast beats, and other stuff that only stupid kids care about. They were pretty much dicks to me. That guy Kyle from Grade or whatever was there too and was also kind of a dick. They clearly thought they were The Shit despite playing a venue that was essentially a punk rock flophouse in the ghetto with 100 kids in attendance, tops. Lame band.
Back cover- a screencap from Pocket Fighter for PS1. Great game! I don't know why I blurred out the address since I haven't lived there since 2000, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry?
What do you think?? Please feel free to make fun of it, god knows I'm asking for it after mocking the creative output of many current 20 year-olds. Hopefully it will bring back memories for any oldz reading, and give you newer kids some insight into the bizarre world of 90s hardcore. Either way, hope you like it or at least have a good laugh at my expense!
Can u believe that the fggt singer from this ghey pop band invented TEH SKRAMZ??? Hard 2 believe I know but look at Chris' gauges and u can see how he wishes that they were playing at Gilman in 1994 with Portraits of Past.
What is skramz?? Skramz is just another word for the shitty 90s screamo bands that I listened to when I was in high school. My bro Alex from the popular easycore/pop band Fight Fair coined this term a while ago to draw a line between "true screamo" and "false screamo" bands. He originally said it for a joke, but it caught on with the kids and is now used non-ironically.
As u can see, these mnstrm preppy chicks are big Saetia fans. Wish I went to HS at Miramonte High School in Orinda, California (home of Fight Fair, Seeing Means More and Set Your Goals) so I could impress these girls by telling them I had the Reversal of Man demo in 1995 :( Mb they would drive me around in their X5's and buy me dinner with daddy's black card in a desperate attempt to be down. At least I can be stoked that my high school was the birthplace of BTM and 3A, which is pretty sweet too.
Alex is nearly 10 years younger than me but that dude knows his shit when it comes to 90s screamo. He def earns his title of SKRAM BOSS, and I have to give him srs props on his knowledge. I have no idea how the fuck he knows about Jasmine and I Hate Myself but he does and it's pretty rad.
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It's probably hard to imagine when you look at it through the eyes of today's kids who can play sweep-picked arpeggios and ass-ripping double bass when they come out of the womb, but back in the early 90s the pre-Swing Kids band Struggle were considered amazingly tight and polished. PS WELCOME TO AMERICA YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE BEATEN
True screamo/skramz kids don't like to use the word "screamo" because that makes you think of shitty, inauthentic bands like The Used or Underoath who have nothing to do with hardcore and don't know the first thing about seeing Christopher Robin and Nineironspitfire in the basement of the Goat House in 1994. As retarded as the word "skramz" is, I can understand how the kids felt like they needed alternative term, because The Used are a truly wretched band and I wouldn't want to be lumped in with those Mormons-gone-wild either.
alexbigman posted this on October 22nd, 2007 @ 4:05:35 am jear your so much more punk and diy then me omg...i went to college and joined a frat, made friends(do you have any?) hooked up with hot preppy girls...got a degree in history all while putting out 2 vinyl releases, booking diy tours/shows, letting the touring bands crash at my pad, got signed, STILL go to punk/hardcore shows at gilman/che cafe, buy vinyl.... and yahh i'll be on trl in about a year and i'll have a fuck jear shirt on
I saw pretty much all of the first wave screamo bands play at Gilman, The Velvet Elvis, Redmond YMCA, and various shithole basements in Washington, Oregon and California when I was in high school. Later on, I moved to the midwest, went to all the More Than Music fests and hung out at Legion of Doom on the regular, so I was unfortunate enough to sample a wide variety of annoying 90s screamo scenes.
I found the following laughably out-of-date information about Legion of Doom, I seriously think this must have been written a decade ago. Scotty now promotes shit like dubstep parties and that reminds me I need to hang out with him ASAP. Also, where is my Inept demo, and what is Adam Lowe doing these days???:
"Mike Thorn is the best contact for hardcore, crust, grind, punky punk or how he can eat more cookies than anyone else alive today, Emmett White is good to talk to about emo, scremo, metal,or being a hippie- talk to Jon Strange about indie, pop, pop punk or his future political carreer (or even better how much he hates all animals. Scott Niemet will have moved out as of January 1st, as he is moving into fireexit."
It really is impossible to describe the culture to anyone who didn't go to shows before the internet existed, and as much as I genuinely hate what 90s hardcore was like and make fun of it, there was definitely something special about it. I know I sound old as fuck when I say this, but back then the barriers to entry were much higher, so anybody who went to shows, put out records, did a zine, or whatever was pretty dedicated.
Getting a copy of the Anasarca 7" meant you had to comb through the ads in Maximumrocknroll or its gay, No Fun Club cousin Heartattack (what a piece of shit), or on rare occasions Flipside, send well-concealed cash to some stranger thousands of miles way, wait a few weeks, and hope you actually got something. Now you can just download anything you want in seconds, find out any any show in any city and get directions to it on your phone. That's a far cry from the days in which we would hear through the grapevine that there was an Abnegation show somewhere in Pittsburgh on the 17th or whatever. We would just drive to the city with no idea where the venue was and hope for the best. Somehow or another it always turned out OK, but I have no idea how we did any of this without the internets!
Dr. Spock, left, Charles Bronson's Mark McCoy on the right. Also note John from Bronson's giant denim shorts, a dead giveaway that this photo is of circa-1995 vintage
We used the term "screamo" to refer to bands like Anasarca, Antioch Arrow, Constantine Sankhati, Swing Kids, etc. These bands were into wearing sweaters, tight black pants, and dyed-black bowl haircuts. We often called them "spock rockers" because they looked like Dr. Spock from Star Trek.
After The Locust got popular and dumb kids who didn't come up in the DIY hardcore scene got into screamo, shitty bands like Thursday and My Chemical Romance showed up and ruined it for everybody. I guess that is when ppl started using the term "skramz" as a way of saying "we also scream a lot in our songs, but we do not shop at Hot Topic like the ghey fggts in those bands u like." At least that is my version of how skramz was born! Mb Alex can correct me if I am wrong??
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Chiodos = SCREAMO, UR DOING IT WRONG. Not skramz!
More info: How 2 embody TEH SKRAMZ LIFE 1. How NOT to skramz dance (via Wikihow) I never heard anybody use the term "2 stepping" back in the day, much less "hardcore dancing," and neither has my brother in moshing Jose Galvan, so if you use these terms old ppl like us will know u are a little kid/poser. Here is a tutorial I found on "how to skramz/hardcore dance":
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Sick Of It All's video for "Step Down" very accurately captures how ppl danced at mid-90s hardcore shows and is the perfect visual aid for this tutorial
Enter the pit at a post-hardcore show by "two-stepping", which is essentially a skip. To do this, place your hands in your pockets, look directly at the ground, throw one leg in front of your other, essentially in a tripping motion.
Break out when the music goes from soft to loud. Flail in all directions wildly. During this point, it is essential to throw punches, karate chops, and kicks of all sorts.
Start "windmilling". This is probably the easiest part. Just start moving your arms in a windmilling motion with fists clenched.
"Pick up the change", which includes you grabbing at the ground like there are some gnarly weeds down there and throwing them over your shoulder while simulataneously ripping your elbows as high as possible. You can also "make the pizza", which essentially involves using one hand to make it seem as if you are spinning a large crust. "Mowing the Lawn" is also acceptable, although almost out of practice these days.
Combine steps 1-4 in different orders during the show.
DO NOT FOLLOW THIS TUTORIAL, NOBODY DANCED LIKE THIS AT SCREAMO SHOWS IN THE 90s!! You would have been kicked out by the scene police/No Fun Club as soon as you started windmilling-- ask anyone who attended Chokehold's set at the 1994 More Than Music Fest.
2. Further resources for embodying TEH SKRAMZ LYFE
Threepennie on the Youtubes Zillions of vintage 90s skramz videos- I hate this shit so I can't really handle watching it, but if you study them closely enough you can pretend you went to these shows like I did!
Viva La Vinyl The bratty little sister of BCO, VLV is a messageboard full of kids who are too young to have experienced 90s screamo firsthand but worship it by paying too much for shitty 7"s on eBay. I believe this is also where Alex from Fight Fair first came up with the term skramz, and there is a shoutout to VLV on the upcoming Fight Fair album!
Your Scene Sucks "Skramz Revivalist" This is where I stole the image at the top of the page, and it is a handy guide for acting like u luv TEH SKRAMZ LYFE
Where 2 buy/download skramz Peep the Last.fm "Tr00 Screamo" group, then download their recommendations on Screamo Is Dead or Screamo For Dummies. If u want to 2 impress ur skramz friends by being "more hardcore" than they are, buy some shit from Youth Attack and tell them u like Lärm (so does Mark McCoy, so he will prob think u "know a lot about hxc for ur age").
Some classic skramz 4 u To conclude, I will share some videos of screamo bands I saw/was friends with and/or h8d back in the day, along with my funny/irreverent comments on them. Hopefully it will make butthurt jerks from the No Fun Club angry that I know a lot about this stuff but don't really like it/take it srsly anymore.
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I fucking hate Chokehold. They were rich Canadian fggts who wrote dumb songs about smashing capitalism, then went back home to hang out in their parents' pool with John Pettibone from Undertow/Himsa (as told in Carrie Whitney's "Point Furthest From The Middle" zine circa 1994). Also, they stole the main riff in "Anchor" from Biohazard's "Business." LOL, how punk!
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Are An Albatross skramz?? I don't know. But I liked Ed Guida better when he wore sweater vests and listened to Shelter. I knew him as Eddie Refuge in the mid 90s because he did a zine called Refuge and played in the Scranton straightedge-pop-punk band Bedford with Chris Sleboda from Andrew Thomas Company lol. Somewhere along the line he must have discovered The Locust and turned into, well, THIS. Yuck.
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Orchid is another seminal skramz band that I had never listened to until 10 seconds ago when I looked them up on the Youtubes, but I used to talk to Will Dandy back in the day when he wrote for Punk Planet and was in a grindcore band called Laceration. He helped me interview Mike from Capitalist Casualties in 1994 and was generally a rad dude.
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Jeromes Dream honestly just sounds like static to me (and not in a good way like Anal Cunt or 7 Minutes of Nausea), but I guess they are also worshipped by skramz kids?? This shit was after my time so I don't listen to it but apparently this bro I know named Forbes put out their record; he was also in a sweet band called XThoughtstreamX that u should peep.
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My bro William Werner was the singer for this band Saetia which as I understand it are worshipped by kids who like teh skramz. I have honestly never heard them until 45 seconds ago when I found this on Youtube but he can definitely shriek with the best of them! He was also in a band called Hot Cross that I heard once and liked better than this.
90s screamo was all about 7"s that came in very authentic packaging, such as the Heroin 7". It came in a hand-screened sleeve made out of a paper bag. It can be expensive on eBay, but it's worth the price for this 7" because it is possible that notable San Diego rock personality Justin Pearson pulled the squeegee across your copy!!
The graphics on 1993 Antioch Arrow 7" cover were stenciled on with spray paint-- super authentic!! I know it is hard to replicate that kind of aesthetic on yr band's MySpace but do the best u can within the limits of digital media. mb try spray-painting directly onto the screen of your Macbook??
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This is the skramz equivalent of Old Skull. If this band released a 7" on Ebullition in 1993, my friends and I would have declared it the best thing ever recorded. Especially if it came in a hand-screened paper bag cover.
Here are some pictures of the infamous Pittsburgh fest in 1996. It is perhaps the definitive documentation of tru 90s skramz, so study this shit carefully!!! In attendance were a host of skramz luminaries such as SYWH & Metal Inquisition bro/Fate of Icarus bassist David Duncil and American Eagle art director/designer of the Hal Al Shedad 7" cover Philip Dwyer. Please note the ghey fggt in the upper left CRYING-- a very popular activity at 90s skramz shows!
I cannot think of a better example of TEH SKRAMZ LYFE than the absurd antics of Rent America at the Pittsburgh fest, and I am proud/ashamed to say I was there for every moment of it. Via BCO:
chrisstrunk2 posted this on June 23rd, 2005 @ 4:40:00 pm Rent America are responsible for the most absurd performance I saw of this era. They took awhile to set up, then they literally played a blast beat for like two seconds, and then they were all on the floor crying and rolling and crawling around. No more music was played. Also, the singer made a speech about refusing to use a microphone because it was elitist and placed him above the crowd before they played, so for the two seconds they played he was just yelling into the air. They were just lying on the floor crying for awhile, and then one of them started yelling "the worms...the worms..oh my god...the worms" and made this teary eyed speech about how because of the human race putting concrete and asphalt all over the earth when it rains the worms come out and can't find their way back to the earth and die in the sun on the concrete. At this point, people just started laughing and the rest of the set was spent by Rent America yelling at the crowd for not taking them seriously and about how it took so much guts to show that emotion in front of a crowd.
After that, Agnes Moraine's Autobiography played and took forever to set up. The guitarist tuned for 20 minutes, then they played half a song, and he threw his guitar across the room and fell on the floor crying. I walked out at that point.
tom posted this on June 24th, 2005 @ 8:29:24 am The only detail strunk forgot from the Pittsburgh fest is Puritan's drummer grabbing one of his drum mics and yelling "95% of you should have a knife stuck in your neck."
My bff/former roommate BloodyGuts took the photos above and remembers this fest as vividly as I do. She has a Constantine Sankathi tattoo and used to date/eff Makeoutclub founder Gibby, so you should follow her on Twitter and ask her annoying questions about 90s screamo.
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This Universal Order of Armageddon show is everything I hated about 90s hardcore: pretentious dickbags in tight pants screaming about their soul being on fire or whatever to a bunch of other pretentious dickbags who are all trying to win the Spock lookalike contest. Oh, and the music is noisy, tuneless garbage that sounds like a four year old having a tantrum while someone throws a drumset down their parents' stairs.
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While many ppl would accuse Circa Survive of being FALSE SKRAMZ, they are fully backed by SYWH and I will fight you if you talk shit on them. I got absolutely shitfaced with Anthony at 10:30 AM on a Tuesday no more than 15 minutes after I met him, and I have spent many hours praising Sepultura and Life of Agony with Brendan. They are hella mass tight bros of SYWH and legit as fuck. Also, it was pretty funny how after Anthony quit Saosin they got some shitbag/ass hole to replace him who basically just does an Anthony Green impersonation, only without being a rad dude with great stage presence-- FRONTMAN FAIL!
Does he know how much the dickface No Fun Clubbers at Ebullition would h8 him and his band?? I hope that one of those jerks sees this pic and gets super bummed that a bro from a pop band has one of their shirts. I hope they kick themselves for spending the 90s trying to bum everybody out instead of hanging out on the beach with awesome dudes like Alex.
Were u around for "the birth of screamo" like I was?? Do u h8 false screamo? What is ur favorite skramz band? Do u think Anthony Green is to blame for modern screamo? Should Fight Fair do a Warped Tour-exclusive skramz EP with covers of Spitboy, Manumission, Second Story Window and Downcast????????
I am old and I grew up listening to hardcore and metal. Here is what my friends at Something Awful said about this blog. I like it:
The meaning of "Stuff You Will Hate" changes depending on the installment, and often during the course of a single column. It can mean "stuff I love, but that you, the reader, will dislike." Sometimes it means "stuff you will hate, and I hate it as well." And sometimes, it means "stuff you like, and I might actually like it, too, but I'm going to pretend to hate it in a way that will infuriate you because it will be written as a parody of a typical idiot hating something great, and you'll quote the fake blurb to your friends and say 'what an ignorant dick' when in reality it's intentional and now we're laughing at you, you gullible fuck."
Drummers are a sad bunch: usually the most talented musician in the band, yet cursed with poor social skills and stuck behind their kit, few people even realize they exist (other than other drummers). I am a sucker for an underdog, so this post will draw a little attention to the unsung drummers that have shaped the way I play.
