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Are we hardcore enough?
Sammi and October's first interview with eachother. Main subject: Original Hardcore.
October: Let's start this shit.
Sam: What do you think the "emo" scene would be without hardcore acts such as minor threat or black flag?
October: There probably wouldn't be that sense of anger or revenge. I think Black Flag was one of the very first bands to ever talk about getting revenge through their songs, but they also did it in a very playful manner that still made them approachable guys. You need that kind of light heartedness in music and I think that's where a lot of bands today like My Chemical Romance and Bleeding Through draw some of their major influences.
Sam: So do you think that if henry rollins never joined black flag it would have catipulted into the underground stratosphere and made them so memorable?
October: I don't know. There's definitely a stand point where people think "oh my God, Henry Rollins, best lyricist ever." And I can't really imagine Black Flag having anybody else in his place I mean, even the Beastie Boys drew inspiration from Black Flag and they were I guess you could say a hip hop act. I don't think that anybody would've done better or could've matched him.
Sam: Good point. Do you think that without the bad brains we would have the beastie boys?
October: Well see, I think Bad Brains is one band that I don't listen to much of, but I think there would've been a Beastie Boys no matter what. They're three ADHD kids who can't sit still for more than three minutes and they always have to tear something up, so having a group like that definitely gave a sense of hope to other ADHD kids who thought they wouldn't be able to do anything without their meds.
Sam: Okay so was the violence necessary for the scene? i mean, considering today there isn't much at shows except for at metal/grindcore shows.
October: I don't think the violence was necessary, but you have to think about it like this, there's tons of kids showing up at this show, they're dealing with school, parents, pressure and they needed some where to take their anger out and I guess through hardcore shows the mosh pit was born. Brutality will always be part of this culture but now a days alternative kids are more accepted where as back then they weren't, so there weren't many outlets for them to just start punching something but once they got in a pit and there were like eight other angry sweaty bodies around them they just tore eachother apart. I don't think the bands wanted it to be that way so much as it was just...it's therapeutic I guess is what I would say.
Sam: Theraputic is a good word. i agree wholeheartedly. crushing your "opponent" certainly seems to be a good outlet
October: Haha, you got that right.
Sam: What about the scene politics? do you think that if minor threat never drew the line of "straight edge" do you think that we would have bands like rise against or other vegan/xxx bands?
October: If it wasn't Minor Threat who did it, somebody else woulda just come along and done it. I think they adopted that lifestyle because they saw British acts like the Sex Pistols, and Sid was all cracked up on drugs and they didn't want that to happen to them, they didn't want that to be their band and that's certainly not the example they wanted to set for their fans, who they cared for a lot.
Sam: That's true. and the fact that there were kids as young as 14 or 13 going to these shows
Sam: Do you think that Ian Mackaye was a good influence for the younger generation hardcore kids?
October: I do, I think he set an example for younger and older fans alike. I think that people saw Ian come up, and he was just this kid but he had such good views about things and he had a level head on his shoulders and people took notice to that.
Sam: Do you think that level head tranferred when he moved his name to his new band he started with rites of spring founder, guy picciotto, for fugazi?
October: I don't know. I don't listen to Fugazi.
Sam: Hahah nice
Sam: How do you think reflects the most hardcore spirit in today's music industry?
October: Rephrase that into October language please?
Sam: Sorry that wasn't clear
October: Haha it's okay, I have a very low comprehension rate anyways.
Sam: WHO do you think reflects a true or resiliant brand of the 1980s hardcore spirit in today's music?
October: Some people will pick the very obvious answer of "HATEBREED" without even knowing anything, just because they're defined as 'hardcore' in today's music but that's total bull. And I know people are going to hate me for saying this, but Fall Out Boy, or atleast two fourths of them. Their rhythm section, bassist, Pete Wentz, and drummer, Andy Hurley were really big into the Chicago hardcore scene before they started FOB and they're still really big into it, or atleast Andy is. Another would be Rise Against, Tim, the lead singer, and Pete used to be in a post hardcore band together and I think Rise Against have adopted the morals of straightedge and vegan but they've also taken the sound of bands like Black Flag, and the Circle Jerks and put their own interpretations into it.
Sam: What about the "do-it-yourself" spirit? do you think that kids these days don't really know what that is?
October: There are some kids, I guess maybe a handful in every tri-state area who really know what it is, and what it means. I've talked to kids on the internet who make their own hoodies and shirts because they don't want to pay ninety dollars for something that's not gonna last that long anyways. There's not a spirit of it today like there was back then, and I wasn't around back then but I know that most tshirts that were sold were hand painted or spray painted because touring bands don't have the money for screen printing and I think the kids who get more into the mind set of "it's all about the music and nothing but" are the ones that still do DIY, other than that it's a bunch of fashionistas and Williamsburg hipster wannabes.
Sam: Amen to that
Sam: Walk into any show and it's like fashion week in milan/new york
October: Haha, I know. I noticed that at Ozzfest in 2006.
Sam: You go to a show to get sweaty and gross and enjoy the music and i feel that these dudes know the meaning of it
Sam: Which is the whole point of these scenes
Sam: You band together to keep each other in check and safe and to have someone who understands you
October: Yeah, because it's kinda still the same in schools where it's this aesthetic of "oh my god, you where black, you're goth, I hate you, you freak me out" and that brings you down but when you go to shows and meet kids like you it's like all those problems and labels are lifted off your shoulders and for that half an hour or hour long set of your favorite band you aren't emo, goth, scene, hipster, whatever, you're just yourself, a person enjoying a show with other people who are enjoying the show.
Sam: Do you think it's childish when kids at shows pick on other kids there?
October: Yes I do. You don't know that kids situation, you could call them emo and tell them to go kill themselves and if they are seriously depressed they may just as well do that. I think kids at shows just need to accept that their are other fans in the world, and that their are other people who love the band and that they need to stop being such elitests because what happens when they get into a band that has older fans and they go to a show and get picked on by the elitests there, it's an ongoing cycle of torture.
Sam: Exactly. believe me i have been a subject of such mockery but the best way to deal with it is to ignore it
Sam: To just raise a middle finger to the person and keep dancing and singing
October: lol.
October: Kids these days shouldn't be like that, they should be more like "Oh, you're a newer fan? Well, if you need any help out in the crowd or there's anything you want to know about the band then feel free to ask."
Sam: Which is what you should do if you are an older member of the fan base
Sam: Kids these days who are getting into music are the exact same age as kids then and it doesn't change
Sam: You look out and help out others even if you feel like you have to it's just a nicer thing to do
October: Exactly, I'd be like "Hey asshole, how old were you when you started listening to them? Exactly, so fuck off"
Sam: *internet five*
October: *rightbackatya*
Sam: So in summary: hardcore, do you think it's dead?
October: In a sense. I think there's very few bands who carry on what they grew up with, one of those being Rise Against. So in turn, future bands, like the next generation, will carry on the sound that Rise Against has created for themselves and they'll tweak it to their style and so on and so on. It's kinda like how there was disco, and then eighties dance music and then there was Daft Punk and now we have Cobra Starship carrying on the sounds of all of that but adding their own style into it as well. It's the music industry, it's a very messed up place to be, especially right now with all the digital stuff going on, but it's really interesting once you get into it and understand it better.
Sam: It's like a collaboration. a melding.
Sam: Music is becoming the new america. the whole essence of the melting pot is transfering into the music -- fall out boy a predominantly pop-punk band working with the roots a hip hop/r&b mix
Well, and also because when rock and roll first started with Elvis Presley it started in the Memphis, Tennesee which was home of the blues, and rhythm and blues so rock and roll of the fifties was derived out of that.
October: Well, and also because when rock and roll first started with Elvis Presley it started in the Memphis, Tennesee which was home of the blues, and rhythm and blues so rock and roll of the fifties was derived out of that. So technically rock music is R&B, people are just too mixed up in the stigma of labels to understand anything or try to learn anything because they're afraid that they themselves will be labeled.
Sam: Kind of with the "emo" label huh?
October: Yeah, which I fully believe emo...real emo music started in the mid eighties with bands like The Cure, The Smiths, and The Cult...and then it filtered over here and died out and up sprang post emo bands like braid, the promise ring, midtown, jimmy eat world. And so on, and then out of those bands came the post post emo bands...I guess you could say...I'd call them more of just rock bands now like Say Anything and Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance.
Sam: Or even fall out boy
October: Or even fall out boy, because I feel like their sound is getting harder and harder to label.
Sam: Not so much with the music itself but the lyrics that pete put out are like.. insane, they have so many double meanings
October: They do, and each member has their own type of music that they grew up in love with. And then they mix all that together, and it's genius.
Sam: It really is
October: And they throw in Timbaland and it's gold.
Sam: It really brings back the whole melting pot thing with immigration in the early 20th century -- we are all ethnicities and there should be no discrimination because it all melds into something
Sam: Music is just like america - largest diversity group in the world and music is the same
October: True, and according to the bible we all come from the same ancestor...so fuck it, we're all related.
Sam: Case and point!
Sam: We win!
October: Do we?
October: Let's start this shit.
Sam: What do you think the "emo" scene would be without hardcore acts such as minor threat or black flag?
October: There probably wouldn't be that sense of anger or revenge. I think Black Flag was one of the very first bands to ever talk about getting revenge through their songs, but they also did it in a very playful manner that still made them approachable guys. You need that kind of light heartedness in music and I think that's where a lot of bands today like My Chemical Romance and Bleeding Through draw some of their major influences.
Sam: So do you think that if henry rollins never joined black flag it would have catipulted into the underground stratosphere and made them so memorable?
October: I don't know. There's definitely a stand point where people think "oh my God, Henry Rollins, best lyricist ever." And I can't really imagine Black Flag having anybody else in his place I mean, even the Beastie Boys drew inspiration from Black Flag and they were I guess you could say a hip hop act. I don't think that anybody would've done better or could've matched him.
Sam: Good point. Do you think that without the bad brains we would have the beastie boys?
October: Well see, I think Bad Brains is one band that I don't listen to much of, but I think there would've been a Beastie Boys no matter what. They're three ADHD kids who can't sit still for more than three minutes and they always have to tear something up, so having a group like that definitely gave a sense of hope to other ADHD kids who thought they wouldn't be able to do anything without their meds.
Sam: Okay so was the violence necessary for the scene? i mean, considering today there isn't much at shows except for at metal/grindcore shows.
October: I don't think the violence was necessary, but you have to think about it like this, there's tons of kids showing up at this show, they're dealing with school, parents, pressure and they needed some where to take their anger out and I guess through hardcore shows the mosh pit was born. Brutality will always be part of this culture but now a days alternative kids are more accepted where as back then they weren't, so there weren't many outlets for them to just start punching something but once they got in a pit and there were like eight other angry sweaty bodies around them they just tore eachother apart. I don't think the bands wanted it to be that way so much as it was just...it's therapeutic I guess is what I would say.
Sam: Theraputic is a good word. i agree wholeheartedly. crushing your "opponent" certainly seems to be a good outlet
October: Haha, you got that right.
Sam: What about the scene politics? do you think that if minor threat never drew the line of "straight edge" do you think that we would have bands like rise against or other vegan/xxx bands?
October: If it wasn't Minor Threat who did it, somebody else woulda just come along and done it. I think they adopted that lifestyle because they saw British acts like the Sex Pistols, and Sid was all cracked up on drugs and they didn't want that to happen to them, they didn't want that to be their band and that's certainly not the example they wanted to set for their fans, who they cared for a lot.
Sam: That's true. and the fact that there were kids as young as 14 or 13 going to these shows
Sam: Do you think that Ian Mackaye was a good influence for the younger generation hardcore kids?
October: I do, I think he set an example for younger and older fans alike. I think that people saw Ian come up, and he was just this kid but he had such good views about things and he had a level head on his shoulders and people took notice to that.
Sam: Do you think that level head tranferred when he moved his name to his new band he started with rites of spring founder, guy picciotto, for fugazi?
October: I don't know. I don't listen to Fugazi.
Sam: Hahah nice
Sam: How do you think reflects the most hardcore spirit in today's music industry?
October: Rephrase that into October language please?
Sam: Sorry that wasn't clear
October: Haha it's okay, I have a very low comprehension rate anyways.
Sam: WHO do you think reflects a true or resiliant brand of the 1980s hardcore spirit in today's music?
October: Some people will pick the very obvious answer of "HATEBREED" without even knowing anything, just because they're defined as 'hardcore' in today's music but that's total bull. And I know people are going to hate me for saying this, but Fall Out Boy, or atleast two fourths of them. Their rhythm section, bassist, Pete Wentz, and drummer, Andy Hurley were really big into the Chicago hardcore scene before they started FOB and they're still really big into it, or atleast Andy is. Another would be Rise Against, Tim, the lead singer, and Pete used to be in a post hardcore band together and I think Rise Against have adopted the morals of straightedge and vegan but they've also taken the sound of bands like Black Flag, and the Circle Jerks and put their own interpretations into it.
Sam: What about the "do-it-yourself" spirit? do you think that kids these days don't really know what that is?
October: There are some kids, I guess maybe a handful in every tri-state area who really know what it is, and what it means. I've talked to kids on the internet who make their own hoodies and shirts because they don't want to pay ninety dollars for something that's not gonna last that long anyways. There's not a spirit of it today like there was back then, and I wasn't around back then but I know that most tshirts that were sold were hand painted or spray painted because touring bands don't have the money for screen printing and I think the kids who get more into the mind set of "it's all about the music and nothing but" are the ones that still do DIY, other than that it's a bunch of fashionistas and Williamsburg hipster wannabes.
Sam: Amen to that
Sam: Walk into any show and it's like fashion week in milan/new york
October: Haha, I know. I noticed that at Ozzfest in 2006.
Sam: You go to a show to get sweaty and gross and enjoy the music and i feel that these dudes know the meaning of it
Sam: Which is the whole point of these scenes
Sam: You band together to keep each other in check and safe and to have someone who understands you
October: Yeah, because it's kinda still the same in schools where it's this aesthetic of "oh my god, you where black, you're goth, I hate you, you freak me out" and that brings you down but when you go to shows and meet kids like you it's like all those problems and labels are lifted off your shoulders and for that half an hour or hour long set of your favorite band you aren't emo, goth, scene, hipster, whatever, you're just yourself, a person enjoying a show with other people who are enjoying the show.
Sam: Do you think it's childish when kids at shows pick on other kids there?
October: Yes I do. You don't know that kids situation, you could call them emo and tell them to go kill themselves and if they are seriously depressed they may just as well do that. I think kids at shows just need to accept that their are other fans in the world, and that their are other people who love the band and that they need to stop being such elitests because what happens when they get into a band that has older fans and they go to a show and get picked on by the elitests there, it's an ongoing cycle of torture.
Sam: Exactly. believe me i have been a subject of such mockery but the best way to deal with it is to ignore it
Sam: To just raise a middle finger to the person and keep dancing and singing
October: lol.
October: Kids these days shouldn't be like that, they should be more like "Oh, you're a newer fan? Well, if you need any help out in the crowd or there's anything you want to know about the band then feel free to ask."
Sam: Which is what you should do if you are an older member of the fan base
Sam: Kids these days who are getting into music are the exact same age as kids then and it doesn't change
Sam: You look out and help out others even if you feel like you have to it's just a nicer thing to do
October: Exactly, I'd be like "Hey asshole, how old were you when you started listening to them? Exactly, so fuck off"
Sam: *internet five*
October: *rightbackatya*
Sam: So in summary: hardcore, do you think it's dead?
October: In a sense. I think there's very few bands who carry on what they grew up with, one of those being Rise Against. So in turn, future bands, like the next generation, will carry on the sound that Rise Against has created for themselves and they'll tweak it to their style and so on and so on. It's kinda like how there was disco, and then eighties dance music and then there was Daft Punk and now we have Cobra Starship carrying on the sounds of all of that but adding their own style into it as well. It's the music industry, it's a very messed up place to be, especially right now with all the digital stuff going on, but it's really interesting once you get into it and understand it better.
Sam: It's like a collaboration. a melding.
Sam: Music is becoming the new america. the whole essence of the melting pot is transfering into the music -- fall out boy a predominantly pop-punk band working with the roots a hip hop/r&b mix
Well, and also because when rock and roll first started with Elvis Presley it started in the Memphis, Tennesee which was home of the blues, and rhythm and blues so rock and roll of the fifties was derived out of that.
October: Well, and also because when rock and roll first started with Elvis Presley it started in the Memphis, Tennesee which was home of the blues, and rhythm and blues so rock and roll of the fifties was derived out of that. So technically rock music is R&B, people are just too mixed up in the stigma of labels to understand anything or try to learn anything because they're afraid that they themselves will be labeled.
Sam: Kind of with the "emo" label huh?
October: Yeah, which I fully believe emo...real emo music started in the mid eighties with bands like The Cure, The Smiths, and The Cult...and then it filtered over here and died out and up sprang post emo bands like braid, the promise ring, midtown, jimmy eat world. And so on, and then out of those bands came the post post emo bands...I guess you could say...I'd call them more of just rock bands now like Say Anything and Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance.
Sam: Or even fall out boy
October: Or even fall out boy, because I feel like their sound is getting harder and harder to label.
Sam: Not so much with the music itself but the lyrics that pete put out are like.. insane, they have so many double meanings
October: They do, and each member has their own type of music that they grew up in love with. And then they mix all that together, and it's genius.
Sam: It really is
October: And they throw in Timbaland and it's gold.
Sam: It really brings back the whole melting pot thing with immigration in the early 20th century -- we are all ethnicities and there should be no discrimination because it all melds into something
Sam: Music is just like america - largest diversity group in the world and music is the same
October: True, and according to the bible we all come from the same ancestor...so fuck it, we're all related.
Sam: Case and point!
Sam: We win!
October: Do we?
| Posted by thenewfacesoffailure on 02/02/2008 11:34 PM | Visits: 18 |