First Blood

FIRST BLOOD
by Jason Walsh

The mutation of hardcore punk into metalcore has been a continous cycle since bands like Hatebreed paved the way so many years ago. Nowadays there are literally hundreds of bands that sound like them, look like them, and it has become hard to distinguish between them. However, the upstarts in FIRST BLOOD from the Bay Area have found their own unique voice and sound, and proven that they stand as one of the best of the lot when it comes to the brutal assault that is the fusion of metal and hardcore styles.

Founding member Carl Schwartz, former bass player of TERROR, fronts the outfit with a seasoned group of musicians who came from bands like SWORN VENGEANCE, ALCATRAZ, EMBRACE THE END, and SET YOUR GOALS. Started as an outlet for fun and good times, and now through several shifts in the lineup, the band has finally gelled into a lean, mean, destructive machine that will have kids flying, fists pumping, circle pits exploding, and throats strained after maddening choruses. Having toured Europe, and the States several times now, on their first Trustkill Records release, “Killafornia,” the guys from San Francisco are trying to complete their sophomore album, when they aren’t on the road, which according to Carl, is most of the time.

I had a chance to talk with him about the band and the new record, their unique opportunity touring Europe with AGNOSTIC FRONT, as well as the uncertain state of the world and how it unfortunately provides a source for material.

JW: How did First Blood come about? What made you decide to form this band?

CARL: Well, I moved to California probably about ten years ago and I met a bunch of dudes that were into hardcore music and metal, stuff like that. We had been playing in different bands at the time and each of our bands, they kind of split off and dudes went their own ways. It was basically just a bunch of friends from a whole bunch of bands and people we knew in the Bay area and we just got together and wanted to start a heavy band kind of like what we’re doing. That’s pretty much the gist of it, y’know, being in the same place at the same time.

JW: So a group of you guys who had been doing other things but decided you wanted to do something a little bit different?

CARL: Yeah, we’ve kind of been in bands where we were putting in a lot of time and nothing was really happening. We were kind of getting stressed out about it so we just wanted to start another band that was just fun. You know, we had no plans on touring or even playing outside of California really at all, at the time. Just to do a fun band that wasn’t really that much stress.

JW: Making that decision, looking back on it now, you think you made the right choice there?

CARL: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I think putting it together and what’s happened over the past few years is definitely something we don’t regret. Totally worth it. We’ve been able to see a lot of things and go a bunch of places. Yeah, definitely worth it, y’know.

JW: So the direction the band is going, you guys are doing pretty good. You put out “Killafornia,” which was a great record, you got a new record coming out soon. The one thing I wanted to talk about was I saw you did a European tour with Agnostic Front. Man, what was that like?

CARL: Dude, that was awesome. I remember the day I got the email from the agency out there I knew that was booking tours. They had an opportunity and they were looking for a band and we had a record (“Killafornia”) coming out and the label was going to support the tour. When I got that call, it was like one of those things when you were a kid, and these New York hardcore legends, y’know these guys you look up to, and all of a sudden you get a chance to play with them and chill with them for a month and just basically play music with them every day. It was awesome. It was totally awesome.

JW: And that’s got to be one of the more incredible parts of the experience. Not only are you hitting the road with these guys that are old enough to be your parents in some cases, but to be able to travel to Europe and see all these places that probably most of you haven’t been to before.

CARL: Yeah, it’s a trip. You know these guys have been doing it forever. These guys have been a band for what, 25-30 years? One thing I’ll never forget about those guys, I mean, a lot of the bands we tour with are really good with us, but I mean they definitely stick out. All the dudes like Roger (Miret) and Vinnie (Stigma) and the Gallo brothers and Joey (James), all those dudes, y’know, you hear it a lot, like people being down to earth and stuff like that but they were always asking if we’re taken care of and everything’s alright, was there enough to eat at the club, and stuff like that. They always look out for you, man, it’s like the stuff we’ll never forget. Any chance we get to tour with them again, we pretty much jump on. It’s a good time and those dudes actually go out of their way and make sure everything is good with you, like every day. They take care of the band they bring out with them. That’s like a really bbig thing about them.

JW: Kind of reinstills that whole philosophy of the “hardcore family” and how they take care of their own.

CARL: Yeah, definitely. Definitely.

JW: And you guys just did a West Coast tour with those guys. How did that go? Was it fun seeing those guys again?

CARL: Yeah, yeah, it was awesome. It’s amazing to think how we hadn’t seen a lot of those guys since we did that first tour with them in 2006 in the summertime and here it is the wintertime in 2008. It made you realize like how fast the time went. It felt like we were in Europe again, basically, being with the same dudes, everybody knew each other again. It was just a trip and make you think how quick the time passed. Man, it was just like the first time. It was awesome to play with them again and to be able to do it in California, in some of the cities where we have a lot of friends. It was awesome. It was totally awesome.

JW: It was bringing them out to your neck of the woods to play a home game in your backyard.

CARL: Yeah, kind of I guess, you know, just like being in places you’re used to being around a lot, y’know, on the West Coast and all of a sudden you’re doing it with dudes that are not only from the East Coast but we were sharing a tour with them on the other side of the world. It makes you think no matter where you’re going, everything’s going to be good with those guys.

JW: What do have going on this year? I know you have a new record coming out. Are you going to be hitting the road?

CARL: Yeah, for sure, I mean right now, we’ve been kind of in and out sporadically, because we’re still trying to write this record, finish it up, and get it out pretty soon. We’re getting people hitting us up on different tours, so we’re doing shows here and there. You know once you’ve been on the road for a while, you get antsy when you’ve been sitting home for a while. It’s hard trying to balance it out and being able to sit down and write some music, get studio time, and take care of all that stuff. As soon as we get it done and recorded, we’re going to be out on the road again, trying to set up tours, and just get out and get back overseas again and do as much as we can. Sometimes you have to just get out of town and just do it and do what you love doing.

JW: Tell me about the new record. How do you like how it’s going so far?

CARL: It has its ups and downs. We started writing it actually right after we were touring with Agnostic Front the first time and that was like a couple years ago. From that time until now, we’ve seen a lot of ups and downs as far as wanting to challenge ourselves or wanting to just do stuff that’s fun. I feel we’ve put a lot of pressure on ourselves to try and just do what we normally do and maybe try to push it. It’s been a challenge but I think the songs we got together after all this time, we’re finally putting together material that we’re happy with and we’re going to be excited to play live. It gets to the point where you play the same songs over and over again, you got to bring something new to the table. You got to do something new that’s not only exciting for you but that kids will get into, say some more things and make an impression. You know, put an effort and you’re putting something into this music, might as well make a mark with it and say something meaningful and help kids turn their heads and maybe think about something new and change their mind a little bit and make them think about something they don’t normally think about every day. Things are going pretty good and we’re probably putting together stuff that’s gonna roll out pretty soon. We’re just waiting for all that stuff to come together. The label is still with us, Trustkill is still going to put it out, and they’ve been pushing us real good to get it done, get in the studio and buckle down. It’s good that after all this time we still got people pushing us and helping us along the way.

JW: With the way things are going right now, obviously there’s not a lack of content lyrically to write about. I mean there’s a lot going on in the world right now, things aren’t looking too bright, and I’m sure that’s really fed into what you’re doing as far as songwriting.

CARL: Oh yeah. Absolutely. You know when we started the band it was too have fun and go off and have energy, and you think about on a small dance floor, that’s really just a tiny fraction of what goes on in the world at all. Now, it’s all around you. You can’t avoid it. You keep thinking about the economy or you think about war, you think about inequality. You think about all that stuff. It’s kind of hard to shake it. At the same time, you got to find a balance between complaining about what’s wrong versus trying to come up with solutions, or highlighting what’s happening that you think is actually going in a positive direction. You know, because complaining about stuff that’s wrong gets you nowhere. That was the funk I got myself in, especially in the past year with all the stuff that goes through my head. When you’re in a hardcore band, it makes you just want to write music and be aggressive and complain about all the things that are going bad. But where do you get when you do that? Sure, it’s good to release it all but this time has helped me to sit back and think about, y’know, we acknowledge all the things that are going down and going wrong in our minds. What can we do or what do we see that is happening that gives you hope that things might be changing for the better. It’s a balance you’ve got to try and reach. I don’t want to give anyone the impression that everything’s all right, because it’s not, but you’ve got to find out what’s going good and roll with it. It’s tough. Everyone is feeling it somewhere, with the economy and jobs. You see it everywhere. Ghost town malls, people don’t come out to shop no more, small business owners, they’re struggling. People are just trying to make it and keep going by. Definitely not a shortage of anything to think about, so that’s where we’re going as far as writing.

Dirty Devil Apparel

DIRTY DEVIL APPAREL
by Jason Walsh

Sometimes just being in a band, or two bands isn’t enough. Sometimes artists search for other ways to channel their creative outlets; whether visual art, physical activity, writing, filmmaking, or tearing apart a V-8 engine.

In the case of Roger Miret, there are several outlets. The frontman of Agnostic Front for nearly three decades has his side project, The Disasters, as well as his car club, The Rumblers, which has helped feed his passion for classic cars and motorcycles. However, Miret hasn’t stopped there.

A few years ago, the seeds were planted for developing an apparel company that not only spoke to his hardcore history that began on the streets of the Lower East Side in New York City in the early 80s, but also to his passion for “old-school” vehicles. Dirty Devil Apparel was born. I had the chance to speak with Miret about his thriving new endeavor as a clothing line entrepreneur and also learned and exciting new development in the continuing legacy that is Agnostic Front.


JW: What got you inspired to do this?

MIRET: The sheer full inspiration behind Dirty Devil is my lifestyle. The actual line is a reflection of my whole career and everything with music, with cars, with bikes. I’ve been involved within the scene for many years, and in being involved within the scene, going out to shows, and checking out different apparels and stuff, I started thinking about what I would like to do apparel-wise and what I feel is missing. I have really cool new designs working with my partner, Todd Huber, on art and layout and stuff like that and then bringing it to the home of Lucky 13, everything fell into place.

JW: When did you first start doing this? When did this come to fruition?

MIRET: We’re two-and-a-half years into full operation. We’ve been going back and forth through ideas now for I think four years. The first year and six months it was just ideas and then we brought in this whole operation in 2007.

JW: As far as the designs and artwork, is it you and your partner Todd or do you have other people helping you out with that?

MIRET: Well Todd does some of the art. He does a lot of the layout and the concepts and ideas are solely mine, and I verify with Todd and he figures out which artist we’d like to work with for the actual concepts and ideas and then we pitch them at few different artists. We had Chris Martin working with us for a while and he also went on to work with Jesse James for a while, but now he’s not with Jesse James and he’s doing freelance again. We’ve had a couple different artists. We had Horace Palami from Spain working with us, Larry Garcia, and we had Craig Holloway do one piece. I have quite a few different artists and Todd has been doing some of the better selling pieces.

JW: And it’s not just t-shirts and sweatshirts? You’ve got a whole line of stuff outside of that?

MIRET: Yeah, it’s full out apparel. It’s t-shirts, and there is some hoodies, and then we have shorts, we have pants, belt buckles, wallets, belts. We have some baby stuff, we have women’s shirts. We have cardigans for girls and jackets for both boys and girls. It’s a full line. If you go to the website, you’ll be able to some of the stuff.

JW: Yeah, I was looking at the catalog and you even have “onesies” for little kids.

MIRET: Yeah. I have a little 22-month-old daughter right now and I’m expecting my first son, my little baby boy in about eight weeks, so I had to design some cool stuff for them to rock around when I go to shows (laughs).

JW: Yeah, you’re going to be needing a lot of those.

MIRET: Haha…yeah.

JW: So have you enjoyed doing this, you know being kind of outside of music, outside of your enthusiasm for cars and motorcycles. Has it kind of been a fun project?

MIRET: Yeah, it’s a fun project. Anything that involves that type of creativity or any kind of hands-on stuff, I love doing. You know, I love creating. I’ve been loving creating and inspiring people and stuff like that. That’s part of everything I love to do and I like to see a finished product and like you said, everything works hand in hand, you know, it works with my hardcore rock ‘n roll type of lifestyle and also with my Rumblers car club, which I founded twelve years ago. You know ever since I was a little boy, working in my dad’s garage, everything just comes hand in hand, you know. I’m a certified Harley Davidson technician too. I’ve worked alongside some of the great people like Indian Larry, Von Hines, English Don, you know the early Psycho Cycle and all that stuff crew. It’s all cool and everything’s coming together which is cool.

JW: What’s thee feedback you’ve been getting from people, not only from within the hardcore scene, but at car shows, bike shows, things of that nature?

MIRET: I’ve been getting positive feedback. The actual brand is doing well even in a declining, struggling market. We’re still hanging in there and above water which is great. The feedback is great, when I go to my own shows and I’m playing with Agnostic Front, I see people out there wearing Dirty Devil clothing of some sort. I also see it when I go to car shows and it feels good. I go to different stores, here a local store in Arizona called Go Cat Go, and they carry it. It’s pretty much in a lot of places and people are opening up to it, which is really cool. Hot Topic just took on an 800 piece trial order which is really cool and all I can do is hope for the best because it’s something I believe in and I feel good about.

JW: How does that make you feel knowing you can go to the mall and actually see some of your clothes in a store there?

MIRET: Well, um…I don’t know yet (laughs). I haven’t experienced that, you know. The way Hot Topic works is that they just put it in selected stores here and there. They’ve already done a run on the East Coast with Dirty Devil, but this is just a bigger run they’re doing now. But you know, I’ve had Agnostic Front shirts here and there, at different Hot Topics and stuff. You know the truth of the matter is that it feels good to see that and there’s a demand and people are searching and looking for it. The website has it. But it feels good. I feel like I’m accomplishing something.

JW: Very cool. I have one last, non-clothing related questions I wanted to ask you? I read you got a new drummer for Agnostic Front. Tell me about that.

MIRET: Well our new drummer is not anybody new to the scene. He’s a veteran and I don’t know if you’re familiar with band called Leeway.

JW: Oh yeah…

MIRET: Another great band from the 80s, having to do with the direct New York crossover hardcore type of stuff that was going on. So Pokey (Mo) is a veteran playing drums for us. I have yet to rehearse with him or even play with him because I don’t live in New York, and I will be on stage with him Wednesday (last April) and I expect nothing but the best from him. He’s a pro, a really great drummer, and the guys have been working with him, so I’m excited.

http://www.dirtydevilapparel.com/

HENRY ROLLINS

THE MANY WORLDS OF HENRY ROLLINS
by Jason K. Walsh

Henry Rollins is a multi-faceted entertainer who never seems to take a break or slow down. The former Black Flag and Rollins Band front man has come a long way from his early DC days in the underground hardcore scene. Musician, writer, film actor, radio DJ, talk-show host, and this summer will begin a new chapter in his resume of achievements, when he takes his first role on a television drama. Rollins joins the cast of “Sons of Anarchy” alongside Charlie Hunnam, Ron Perlman, and Katey Sagal. The FX series focuses on the trials and tribulations of an outlaw motorcycle gang trying to keep the peace in their small town of Harmony. The show is the brainchild of Kurt Sutter, the mastermind behind “The Shield,“ and will start shooting its second season this summer.

Prior to shooting, Rollins decided to do a quick East Coast stretch, performing his patented fast-talking, spoken-word stylings. Last year saw him traveling all over the country on his “Recountdown Tour.“ I had a chance to talk to Henry about the tour, his radio show, and the new series, but I’ll tell you, it’s top secret so he didn’t give anything away.

JW: So how are things going for you in this new year? What have you been up to?

ROLLINS: I spent the beginning of the year in Mali. I went to a music festival there called the Desert Festival. It’s held in Essakane. Since then, we have been getting two books of mine ready for release this year. The first one just came out and the other one will come out later in the year. I am getting ready to start work in a TV series called “Sons Of Anarchy,” that will take up a lot of the summer.

JW: How did you get involved with the TV show and had you seen it prior?

ROLLINS: Kurt Sutter, the writer asked me if I wanted a part and I said yes. I was very well aware of the show, as well as “The Shield,” his other show.

JW: Is this the first TV drama you've been involved with and why did you decide to do it?

ROLLINS: First TV drama and I reckon life is short so you should try and do stuff.

JW: I read you can’t say much about the storyline or character you’ll be playing. What can you say?

ROLLINS: He's an extremely bad person.

JW: Following the summer, any future plans for the remainder of the year?

ROLLINS: As soon as “Sons Of Anarchy” wraps in late September, I will be out in the world traveling into next year. I have some plans that I think are very interesting but don’t want to talk about any of it until it’s booked. I will be out and about until January I think. If all goes according to plan, I should end up in Africa in mid-January and go from there to England and start the next tour, which should go about 12 to 15 months.

JW: What made you decide to do this stretch of spoken word shows in May and June?

ROLLINS: I wanted to get some shows happening when I wasn’t working on the TV show and that was the time the production could cut me loose so we went for the dates.

JW: What is it about these spoken word engagements that keeps you interested? Is it the storytelling, the art, and/or just feeding off an audience and their reaction?

ROLLINS: All of that, certainly. I think it’s a great way to communicate and express. I just finished a 208 show tour but am glad for the shows I have this summer. I don’t have many so I am happy for the few I’ve got. This TV thing will take a good bit of time.

JW: Is there something special about returning to the East Coast for you? Do you get excited about coming back and do you find time to look up old friends while here?

ROLLINS: It’s always great to be on the East Coast for me. I won’t have any time to do anything but the shows and then back to the airport this time around though. I wish there was more time, but perhaps later in the year I can get out there and not have to hurry. I am usually busy enough in LA to be distracted from that fact that I’m in LA. I get a lot done here although I have never felt all that “at home” here. It’s not a big deal as like I said, I am all about the work and one of the reasons I can get a lot done here is that I feel more like I am on location than anything else.

JW: Following these dates, you head to Sweden for the Peace & Love festival and Belgium for Rock Werchter. What are those all about?

ROLLINS: They are festivals that I am doing. They were booked before I got the TV stuff happening. There are about six shows on that run. It will be a fairly sleepless week.

JW: I saw your doing some hits for KCRW internet public radio station. How did you get hooked up with this and what's it all about?

ROLLINS: I have a weekly show, 6-8 pm Saturday nights. The station I was at for many years, Indie 103 went down and KCRW called and asked if I wanted to work there and I said sure. It’s been great. It’s the station I started learning about radio many years ago so it’s great to be back there. I am live on the radio. It’s not an internet only station. It’s NPR for southern California. You can find my past shows archived on the site but it’s a very live thing.

JW: Do you enjoy DJ-ing, and is this just another way to extend yourself as an artist?

ROLLINS: I like playing records for people and turning them onto cool music.

JW: Lastly, following likely one of the most historic elections in our nations, how do you feel about the results and the future? Also, how do you feel about Americans coming out in record numbers to have their voices heard?

ROLLINS: I think America made an interesting decision. I am not happy about all the bailouts and the whole “too big to fail” thing. I don’t like the idea of upping the ante in Afghanistan. I think no good will come of more troop strength in that region. The Russians lost mightily there as did may others. As they say, it’s where empires go to die. I think it’s great that Americans are finding their voice. The more people voting the better. It’s their country so it’s about time more people got involved with their future.

www.21361.com

TSOL

LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF FREE DOWNLOADS

TSOL’s Jack Grisham talks about the new record designed to help those in need
True Sounds of Liberty emerged from Orange County in 1979 as part of the birth of the California punk scene. Along with bands like Black Flag, Social Distortion, and the Circle Jerks, TSOL was an influential group, essential in the development of the new, exciting music that was rising from the West Coast underground. Remembered for their early political messages in songs like, “World War III,” “Abolish Government,” and “Superficial Love,” they gained larger recognition after their appearance in Penelope Spheeris’s cult classic, “Suburbia.”

Jack Grisham was the band’s front man from inception, but after several shaky years left the band, which then transformed into a surf-goth-punk formula for the albums “Change Today” and “Revenge.” Influenced by the glam-metal debauchery of the lates 80s, “Hit and Run” was released and put the final nail in the coffin of an outfit that had isolated itself from its punk roots in favor of hairspray and spandex. The pain would be over soon as the band would cease to exist.
1991 saw a reunion of the original lineup with Grisham, and they released a live record on Triple X records, and then nearly a decade later, three more releases on Nitro Records: Anticop 7-inch, Dissappear LP, and Divided We Stand LP. This marked the return of the band’s classic Southern California punk sound, now a bit older and wiser. Grisham had also transformed his life of decadence and abuse, to become a personal recovery assistant, helping others with drug and alcohol dependency problems.

This year, the band, in conjunction with the Hurley clothing company, released a new album which can be downloaded for free through the Hurley website (www.hurley.com/tsol).

So why would a band release a free record? Grisham’s hopes are that fans will take a moment to check out the charities on the website and make a donation in exchange for receiving the free record. The organizations included on the site are Midnight Mission, the Orangewood Foundation, the O.C. Food Band, the Surfrider Foundation, and the SPCA.

I had the opportunity to talk with Grisham about the new release, and as the conversation varied from recording to the old days of punk to politics, the singular theme throughout is that all his efforts in life now are giving back for all that he has taken over the years.

JW: So what do you have going on this year?

JACK: We just did a record. So you know the record business is shit. It’s screwed up. It’s a mess. Especially for guys like us, because, yeah, we’ve been around for a while and our name is established, but we don’t sell like a lot of records and we don’t make a lot of money. We make enough records to just keep going and have fun in doing it. So basically the music business is just screwed up so it’s trying to find a way to use it to our advantage. What we did was we went out and we got a clothing company, Hurley, to sponsor us doing a record. They didn’t give us a lot of money. What they did was they paid for the record, they flew our guys out, because one of our guys lives in Nevada and the other one lives in Iowa. They flew them out and covered our bills for two weeks, so we got two weeks to make a record. So, we make a record and then we just give it away for free. We never see any money from them anyway. Normally it’s all tied up in record companies and just a mess. So what we did is make the record, give it away for free, and if you go the Hurley page (http://www.hurley.com/tsol/) there’s a list of my charities, people I try to support, and I put them on the download page with a video of me saying, “Hey kids, look you guys basically get a free record so if you can throw a dollar to our friends, do it.” It has a link to all our charities on there. So it’s kind of like, the clothing company is stoked because they put their name on something. We’re stoked because we get to make the record. The kids get a free record. Our charities get money, even if they throw them a buck or two, it’s great.

JW: And this is the one, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of the Free Download.”

JACK: (laughs) Yeah…haha..It’s a brand new record and it’s actually a great record. I’ve had people who have heard it and they are saying I can’t believe you’re giving this away. I’ve known Bob Hurley for years and I know Nike is the parent company, and people will say their human rights are shit for Nike and that kind of crap, but the guys at Hurley have been really good for the communities around here, a lot of high school programs and stuff. So, I didn’t have a problem teaming up with them and the way I look at it, especially the way things are now, if kids can get money and a place to sleep, get a fucking meal, get taken care of, it’s like I don’t give a shit where the money comes from.

JW: No, that totally sounds like an awesome endeavor. You know some kids will go there and go, “Ahh…I got a free record and I didn’t give anything,” but a lot of people will go there in the like mindset of the punk rock community and be like, “what’s a dollar?”

JACK: Exactly and some people are like, “Well, why would these guys who are supposedly anarchists or whatever hooking up with a corporation?” I could sit back and say “fuck you, we’re not going to do that” and then kids at the Orangewood Children’s Home and the Midnight Mission, then those people aren’t getting served. You see what I’m saying? So, it’s actually kind of hardcore socialism. You know what I mean. It’s like do this, do this, do this, we give this, and then everybody is scratching each other’s back.

JW: And we’re in a different age than when you guys started this back in the 80s. Coming into 2009, we have got to find ways to make Corporate America work for us in a way that we can help the causes that benefit us and the people that need to be helped out.

JACK: Exactly. You’re totally right. It’s really easy being idealistic when you got a warm place to sleep and food in your belly. But some of these things, like the Orangewood Children’s Home, it’s for kids. It’s basically an orphanage. I mean that’s what goes on there. It’s like those kids don’t give a shit, you know, they want a bowl of oatmeal and a glass of milk. I mean they wouldn’t care if Bush was paying for it. They wouldn’t give a shit. They want a warm place to sleep, man. You go down to Midnight Mission, five or ten dollars feeds twenty guys.

JW: Politics don’t come into the equation when you’re talking about breakfast.

JACK: Not at all. Not at all. And, the people that complain are people that “have.” Guaranteed.

JW: Exactly. People bitch about higher taxes and this and that, but the point is, we have to look out for our brothers and sisters, and that’s kind of what drew us to the punk subculture in the beginning.

JACK: Right, exactly, well, at least that’s what I believe and that’s what I was taught. So, that’s what we’re doing, and so far it’s already worked. Some of those people have already got a good amount of money so far, so it’s a success.

JW: So when did this post?

JACK: It’s already up. We actually did live video so people were able to watch us record the whole record. It was live-streaming video up while we were in the studio and you could watch us arguing and shit. I mean it was basically streaming video from start to finish. It was cool. I would be getting emails from kids in Brazil, Finland, Japan, Alaska, you know, all over the place. I was getting emails saying, “Hey, take it easy on the bass player, he’s getting ready to snap.”

JW: That’s awesome.

JACK: (laughs) It was pretty funny. “Jack, you’re an asshole.” Just all that kind of shit.

JW: It’s kind of like the film crews after they shoot the scenes for the movie and they go back and watch the rough cut, but your viewers of the rough cut are your fans.

JACK: The whole thing was rough cut. Even when we were doing vocals, which if you’re like a vocalist, that’s a bitch and a fucking nightmare, man. There’s like no music. When you’re doing the vocals, they’re not hearing any music, just hearing you go “yeah…woah..yeah,” just hearing it with nothing.

JW: (sarcastically) I’m sure you got a lot of positive comments about that then?

JACK: The kids were stoked about the record. I’d say out of ten songs, there’s probably six that are really good, which is good for a record of ten songs. You can’t expect every song on a record to be great.

JW: So you’re pretty happy with the output from the session?

JACK: Yeah, especially because from start to finish, I’m talking starting with zero songs, not even an idea for a song, we got together, wrote a record, recorded it, and released it. Witihin two weeks. Plus, we did it live so everyone could watch.

JW: And that’s the introspective that fans don’t get to see, the creative process from beginning to end. They see the final product after it’s been mixed and mastered.

JACK: Right, and it sounds all nice and everything. What they got over the air was completely raw, uncut, listening to it right then.

JW: So now that this is out there and available for the kids and the fans, what’s the future for you guys this year? Are you going to do some tours, some local tours? What’s the plan?

JACK: Well, we’re getting ready to do a little, quick tour but we just do it for fun. We do it because we like playing with each other. We’ve been playing together for, shit, thirty years so it’s fun to get together but we all have families so we only go a week or two at a time.

JW: It’s not like load up into the bus and go cross country?

JACK: Yeah, I won’t do it. Like my daughter gets bummed and I’m pretty involved in the community here, so they don’t like it either. There’s a lot of people that count on me here. I do a lot of work with alcoholics and addicts, so they like me to be here. When I’m gone on tour, I’m not helping people.

JW: Tell me a little about that. Your day job now seems to come with great responsibility.

JACK: It’s a lot more personal. I mean I take 3000 calls a month on my phone. It’s like…I fucked around a lot of people. You know what I mean. I was a real prick. A lot of people said, “Oh, he was nice. He was a gentleman” and yeah, when I wanted to be I could be very nice and very kind and very giving, as long as it suited my needs. As long as I felt like it, but the minute I was crossed I turned into a real bastard. I did a lot of stuff based on “self,” so I have a lot of paying back to do. It’s not enough for me to just stop fucking people around. It’s like I have to pay back for what I’ve done and so that’s really more important to me now than selling records and being on tour.

JW: Talk about that. What was it like back in the day when you guys were doing this and you were not as comfortable in your skin as you seemingly are now?

JACK: Well, I mean it was fun (laughs). When I got into punk rock, it wasn’t for any noble causes. I was just basically a troublemaking fuck is what it is, and the music was a background for me being a basically total selfish “do-what-I-want” bastard. The only thing we did that I get upset about is we didn’t do a lot of punk-against-punk kind of violence. We figured, “Hey, this is our family” and everything I did was towards people that were against us, if that makes any sense. There were a lot of bands in the scene that I have trouble with, man, because people respect some of these guys and back then they didn’t do anything as far as I was concerned to be respected. Like, they’re real divisive, not family.

JW: And that’s what the punk scene was supposed to be about. Being united.

JACK: That’s what we thought. When I got into punk rock, I used to stop people in the street and ask them what they were into, if I’d see someone with colored hair or something. If I saw someone with dyed hair I’d say, “Hey, who do you like? What bands do you like? What are you into?” I was stoked. Stoked to see them. Then little by little it got to the point where it got real divisive. I was like, “We’re East Coast. You’re West Coast. We’re this. You’re that.” It was a real drag. It really got to be bad news and a lot of these bands, like the Bad Brains, there’s one of them. Musically, I respect those guys, great stuff musically, but some of their views were fucked. They were basically more close-minded than a lot of the people that we were supposed to be going against. I mean all that stuff that happened with the Big Boys down in Texas, you know no one mentions that anymore. The gay bashing that they did on Biscuits, the singer from the Big Boys. It was a drag, man. For people inside our own family to be treating others in our family that way, I had a problem with a lot of that.

JW: And that just isn’t unity.

JACK: I like them, you know what I’m saying. I think their music is great. We played some great shows with them. But when people look back nowadays and they speak with reverence about some of these people, it’s like, “Hey, let’s get a real handle on this. This wasn’t as great as you think it was.” When people start talking about Henry (Rollins- SOA/Black Flag) and Ian (MacKaye-Minor Threat/Fugazi) and what a great guy Ian was, I mean Ian was shit to us. When TSOL went back to play on the East Coast, Henry and Ian got together like a couple of little chicks and they basically started all this, “Oh, the skinheads in DC are going to kill TSOL,” because we had long hair and we drank and we do whatever and they were bummed on us. I mean we went back to DC with that going on and no one talks about that. That’s not mentioned. Let’s just skip all that, skip all that petty bullshit that was happening and let’s forget it. I’m all for forgetting it, but let’s also remember that it happened. Let’s really realize that these people weren’t saints you’re talking about and I don’t mean to sound bitter but it’s like I just don’t like people portraying them like such great guys when that wasn’t the case.

JW: And from what you’re saying, that goes against the whole principle of what punk rock was all about. It was about the outcasts, finding a place that felt like home, and if you can’t go into somebody else’s home and feel welcome, then what are we doing?

JACK: Exactly, and there was a lot of that really going on and I have guys coming up to me and really admiring me for being an asshole. I’m like, “Kid, you’re mistaken.” They want to hear war stories. They want to hear about me fucking people around and that’s what they like. Interview has taken a wrong turn (laughs).

JW: No, no I think that’s important for people who read this. A lot of people that will be reading this are guys like me and you that are older and have been in this for a while or the young kids who are trying to get a sense of the history and heritage of where this started and what really happened. Aside from issues within the band, did a lot of this, the tension you’re talking about, have anything to do with why you left the band.

JACK: Well, a lot of it had to do with the fact that it wasn’t fun anymore.

JW: And that’s the most important thing I’d think?

JACK: Right, exactly. It got to the point where there were some real rock star trips going on where it was like, “Dude, you’re a fucking punk! Stop it, man!” The guys were getting real rock star-ish and against what we’re supposed to be doing. Does that make sense?

JW: It totally makes sense. In the early 80s, punk rock was what it was. It was punk rock, it was from the streets, everybody was doing their own thing. As time went on, labels were catching wind of it and started signing hardcore bands and took the fun out and a lot of the bands’ output suffered, because they started putting out shit.

JACK: But even back in the day, even when people were putting out shit, it didn’t matter. I mean when they were shitty bands, because the attitude of being a family and just having fun and jumping up on stage and like, “Hey, let’s make a band” and it was like “You, me him, and who are you dude? Can you play drums? Get up here.” Just making a band and screwing around and having fun, all that got lost. All that fun got lost. Then it turned into something where, “Hey, we’re making money off this” and even later on when punk rock supposedly broke or whatever with the Offspring and Green Day and all that, then it got to the point where it was a total joke. It was like, “are you fucking kidding me with the way you guys are acting?” I had a band one time, they called me. I was playing a show and they wanted to come see me play, right. So they called up and they wanted to come down, “but can you get us through the back because we don’t want to walk through the crowd,” and I’m like, “Fuck, don’t come down. Fuck You. No.” I was just shocked with that.

JW: They were afraid they might get dirty?

JACK: Yeah, or whatever it was? Just all that kind of stuff. I mean I don’t want to sound like this. My life is great, I mean I have an unbelievably great life. I have a lot of fun and I respect a lot of people. This is just little crap that happens that we talk about sometimes.

JW: And the thing I was getting at was not that what the bands were putting out wasn’t quality, but the mindset was “we’re getting paid for this now and it doesn’t matter, we’re going to put out what the labels want to hear.”

JACK: Right. Like I played with some bands that you would say, “Oh my god, I can’t believe you played with that band.” Musically, I didn’t like what they were doing. I didn’t like it. I didn’t respect it. However, the guys in the band were so unbelievably nice. Just great and kind and no kind of attitude. I mean a couple of these bands were Top 10 bands, but the guys in the band were just nice, man. I mean it was just fun and that’s what I miss. I miss that family kind of fun, this isn’t really a business, let’s have a good time.

JW: Just getting together and playing, regardless of what you’re playing, the style, the kind of music, just getting together with people of like minds and interest and playing music. That’s the experience.

JACK: And that’s really what it’s about, and not tripping, just having a good time.

JW: Yeah. Band practice rules.

JACK: (laughs) Yeah, and see I like doing that too. Like people trip on TSOL sometimes. We don’t soundcheck, we don’t show up for soundcheck, we don’t practice, sometimes we don’t even see each other until we end up on stage. We just do it for fun. It’s like let’s just go out and have a good time.

JW: And that’s what it’s all about. That’s what it was always supposed to be about.

JACK: Yeah.

JW: And maybe that’s the lesson to everybody else. Remember, at the end of the day, we’re all doing this for a good time.

JACK: Right, and now the cool thing about it is sometimes we get the opportunity where we can pay back for how we’ve treated people. Like we take guys on the road with us, that are hurting, like guys that are maybe fresh out of rehab. We’ll take them on tour with us to just basically kind of show the, “Hey, you can have a good time here. You know, it’s O.K. Come with us. We’ll show you fun.” And now, we get to give back to some of these charities by what we’re doing.

JW: That’s an important thing to you?

JACK: Yeah…yeah, that’s all of it. I mean there is nothing else more important than that. Our whole problem as a society is that we’re selfish fucks. I mean that’s the bottom line. There’s no way around it. Everything that’s wrong with the United States or in the world today is because people make decisions based on self. Look at our politics, look at the country, look at what we’re in. I hate to say it but Malcolm X said it when Kennedy got shot. He said, “You’re chickens have come home to roost. “ This is what you guys get. This is what your society’s bred. This is what you do. This is how you turn people out. This is what you make your people. You are getting exactly what you deserve. You can look at the way people look at America these days. I mean basically think about it. Just think about what these guys have done. They basically have said, “I’m going to do this regardless of who it hurts. I don’t care about you, you, you. I’m going to make these cars. I’m going to make this move. I’m going to attack these guys.” With no thought, it’s like “Hey, what’s good for us is good for us. Everyone else can just fuck off,” and that’s basically why we’re in the position we’re in now. It all comes down to selfishness. You look at the whole mortgage system. All of that. It’s all because of selfishness.

JW: And we’re in a rough spot. It’s all going to rely on self reliance from here on in.

JACK: But, we’re in a rough spot because of our own making. We put ourselves in this position. We have done this to ourselves. No one is out to get us. We have done this.

JW: I think that pushes towards the idea that we need to unite to fix this, to make this no longer an issue where we can point the finger saying, “It’s this guy. It’s that country. It’s those people.” Like I said, back to self reliance. We have to take care of this on our own because we can’t rely on anyone else to fix our problems.

JACK: Yes, to look at ourselves and realize what the problem is, is that we are the problem and all that change is going to start with us. Just thinking of other people, realizing that there’s more people in this world than just us. I mean a lot of people don’t realize how much the Guantanamo Bay thing has really hurt us in the eyes of the world. I have a lot of friends who live in other countries and one of my friends from Australia was so bummed that we were holding those guys like that because he even said, “We look to you guys. We look to America as someone with principles,” and to see that just devastated a lot of people. I felt really bad for this guy. When he said that, it was almost like someone that I screwed around saying, “How could you do this to me?” That’s what it felt like when he said that. I was so taken back that that was something that was so important to him.

JW: We’re people in this country and we’re not the ones pulling the strings. I mean, you did not put those people in Guantanamo Bay. I didn’t put those people there. Our government did this. Granted, we elected them, but with all that’s been going on we’ve seen the masses have not agreed with the policies that our government has been doing?

JACK: Right, but they haven’t been really willing to do much about it either.

JW: What do you think we could do to change it?

JACK: I don’t think you saw the kind of protesting you saw in the 60s.

JW: This is true.

JACK: I mean you didn’t see that. You know my father was in the military but my sister and my older brother were hardcore hippies. I mean I used to read stuff about what to do in a riot when I was a kid.

JW: So Dad was pulling into port and brother and sister were out there protesting him?

JACK: Yeah, I mean it was that kind of shit. You know my sister would bring home these yuppie handbooks. Stand in the middle of a crowd, throw bottles. I mean just like craziness (laughs). But I mean you didn’t see that large scale protest like that going on.

JW: In a lot of ways, a lot of Americans are like sheep. They follow and when the get angry, they complain, and they don’t do anything and keep walking.

JACK: Right, and that’s why for me it’s like, “What can I do here at home? What can I do close by? How can I make this easier on the people around me?” That’s really been my goal. That’s it. It’s like, “O.K., let’s start here. Let’s do this. Let’s do whatever I can do within reason. Plus, let’s do whatever I can do to help others.” And that’s kind of what the goal was with this record.

Madball Continues to Infiltrate the System

MADBALL CONTINUES TO INFILTRATE THE SYSTEM

interview by Jason Walsh

In the streets of New York’s Lower East Side, a young Cuban kid grew up around some of the most influential musicians in the city’s hardcore scene. At an early age, older brother Roger Miret took the younger Freddy Cricien on tour with his band Agnostic Front, and before he was even ten-years old, he was singing songs on stage during their set. Madball was a side project formed by Miret and AF guitarist Vinnie Stigma for Cricien in 1989, and from there the rest is NYHC history.

Now, twenty years later, an older and wiser Cricien has taken what he has learned on the road and in the streets and diversified the roles he plays within the scene, from producing to managing bands like Wisdom in Chains and Death Before Dishonor, to forming Black N Blue Productions with cohort “Cousin Joe” Cammarata. He has also recently started his own clothing line (FAMILIA) but at the end of the day, Madball remains the top priority.

The band released “Infiltrate the System,” their seventh studio full-length which was received with great response, and are working on new material for their followup, when they are not touring. I had a chance to talk to Cricien about being the busiest guy in the New York hardcore community and something of great importance to him. Family.

JW: So what do you have going on this year?

FREDDY: Oh man, many things. We’re in the process of starting to write the new album. We’re trying to get it out by this year so we’re trying to scramble. You know, we’re not just going to put out any old record. We’ve got a lot of stuff. Everybody’s been writing stuff for some time now so it’s a matter of compiling everything and getting it out. I guess that’s one of the priorities this year and aside from that, just a lot of touring as usual, y’know.

JW: Right. With this new record, you guys just started writing a little bit but haven’t hit the studio or anything like that?

FREDDY: No, I mean we’ve got a lot of material floating around but we’re not in the studio recording just yet.

JW: Any idea when you might get there or is it more or less, when you’re ready to go, you’ll hit the studio?

FREDDY: Yeah, it’s probably going to be when we’re ready to go, we’ll hit the studio. I mean once we’re ready to go, it should go pretty smoothly, hopefully. It’s just a matter of getting to the point where we’re ready. I mean it’s hard too, because we’re also touring a lot. We’re not touring all year round. I like to split up our tours a little more but we’re still pretty busy, y’know.

JW: Last year, at the Black N Blue Bowl, Rigg Ross announced he was leaving the band and you guys brought in Mackie Jayson (Cro-Mags). Now is Mackie still with you guys or did you guys get a new drummer?

FREDDY: We got a new drummer. Mackie helped us out. Rigg, y’know, we’re all still friends, but he had some personal stuff he wanted to handle. We went ahead and let him do that. Mackie was just our boy and he was there at the right time and just helped us out. We weren’t sure if he would be a permanent thing or not, y’know, on both sides. We just kind of went with it. Turns out it ended up not being a permanent thing just because he got really busy with the Cro-Mags stuff and it started conflicting with Madball schedule and that wasn’t really working for us. We decided to just find someone that could be a little bit more dedicated to just our thing.

JW: So who’s this new guy?

FREDDY: We got Ben (Dussault) from Throwdown. He was the Throwdown drummer for the last four or five years and his background is basically he’s a hardcore dude from Canada, you know what I mean, and he’s a solid drummer. He’s got chops and he also understands the history of our band, where we come from, and where we’re trying to go and all that. He’s just a really good fit, we tried him out, and it’s been working out so far.

JW: So he’s fallen into the Madball family pretty easily?

FREDDY: Yeah, yeah. I mean Throwdown was a little bit more of a crossover type situation, musically speaking, but out of all those guys, not trying to dis anyone, but he was like the hardcore dude out of that camp, you know what I mean? So, it kind of worked. He grew up listening to New York hardcore and it kind of fell right into place.

JW: Do you have any touring coming up with the band any time soon or are you gearing up for the Black N Blue Bowl in May?

FREDDY: Uhhh, both (laughs). I’m gearing up for the Black N Blue Bowl as we speak and I also have some scattered stuff with Madball. A one off in Belgium coming up and then we come back and we have a Canada run, then the Black N Blue Bowl, and then I have stuff after that. The way Madball tours these days, the tours are smaller, or shorter rather, but we still cover a lot of ground throughout the year, y’know.

JW: Does that make it a little bit easier to do it like that as opposed to doing long tours?

FREDDY: Yes, that’s definitely a conscious thing on my part. It makes life easier, it makes home life easier, and it makes it still exciting when we go out there and do it. I mean we could be on tour every day of the year if we wanted to, which I guess is a cool thing. Not every band is in that position and it’s a cool thing that we have that option. I’d rather not be on tour every day of the year. I’d rather do a few weeks out of every month or a month here, you know what I mean? That’s just the way I prefer it and the guys don’t have a problem with it so that’s how we do it.

JW: Does that help rejuvenate the band? You do these short stretches, you come home, you get a new burst of energy before you hit the road again. I mean, does that kind of help you guys?

FREDDY: Yeah, definitely man. You regroup and then when you come and do it, like I said before, it’s that much more exciting when you go back out there. You’re not burnt out and you haven’t been on the road for your third month.

JW: So, tell me about the BNB Bowl at the end of May this year. I saw the lineup. It looks like it’s going to be kick ass.

FREDDY: Yeah, it’s shaping up to be a pretty cool lineup, man. It’s hard. Every year it gets harder because bands are touring more and more and it’s hard to lockdown a good lineup during that time of year.

JW: It’s got to be hard to get so many good quality bands together all at the same time.

FREDDY: That’s exactly what I’m saying. Exactly what I’m saying. It’s not an easy task (laughs). Whether it be younger bands or older bands, everybody’s out there these days, you know what I mean, so it’s a hard task but I think we’re going to manage again this year. We have tons of bands: Earth Crisis, Bold, Crown of Thornz, Murphy’s Law…a bunch of bands. Tons. A couple younger bands. We’re going to officially announce it in the next few days and hopefully it’s going to be another great time. So far, knock on wood, every event has been great, turnout-wise and just show-wise, y’know, just everything. They’ve been peaceful, fun, and that’s what we’re in it for, y’know.

JW: Aside from the music and all that, you’re a busy man. You got this clothing line you’re doing. You’re managing and producing a couple bands like Wisdom in Chains and Death Before Dishonor.

FREDDY: I’m doing all kinds of shit, man (laughs).

JW: Tell me about all that stuff you’re involved with.

FREDDY: In this day and age, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket. As I’ve gotten older and more involved in this world, and on the business side and the creative side, I’ve come to realize, Madball will always be a priority for me, but I also have other things and other interests, on the business side of things and even creatively. You know I’ve got a hiphop project. I’ve always been a big fan of hiphop since I was a little kid. I’ve always been involved in that culture so I’m finally dropping my hiphop record. And yeah, I manage a few bands and the management thing just kind of came from me managing Madball and just kind of spiraled into helping out a few other bands. I got to produce an Agnostic Front record last year. I’m pretty excited about that actually and I can’t complain really at this point. I’m just trying to build on everything, but Madball has been the catalyst for it all, y’know.

JW: And that’s the thing. To do a band is one thing, but to be able to branch off and do these different things. Is it rewarding for you, not just talking about making money and all that, but to be able to spread it out like that.

FREDDY: It’s definitely not financial just yet (laughs). I mean I get by, don’t get me wrong. I pay my rent. I take care of my family and I pay my bills and all that but I’m not in the lap of luxury, you know what I’m saying. The reward is more so just the fact that I was never a one-dimensional type of individual anyways and to be able to do these other things, to be given the opportunity to do these other things, that’s where the reward is for me personally. Then, of course, financially things get better then that’s great as well, because we can all use that. First and foremost, the clothing line was something I’ve been twirling around for a while. People were saying, “Everybody’s got a clothing line. You might as well do one too.” That’s almost the reason why I didn’t want to do one. I had an idea to do one, you know my clothing line is called FAMILIA, and to kind of bring my Latin roots and that aspect into my clothing, you know, not just a hardcore clothing line or hiphop clothing line. More something touching my Latin roots and that was the way to express that side. Relatives of mine are on my shirts, you know what I mean? The first shirt I put out is a shirt of my uncle in the 60s in Cuba. It’s very family related.

JW: You’re family’s got to be pretty proud that you would include them in something you’re doing creatively. They’ve got to think that’s pretty cool.

FREDDY: Yeah, without a doubt. I mean I’ve always been about family. Before the music and after the fact, family will always be there for you. I’ve always been big on family. I talk about it in my lyrics with Madball and it’s an important thing. Whether it’s dysfunctional or not or whatever, family can be your blood relatives or people you’ve grown up with that are like your brothers and sisters. I’m very big on family and they’re psyched about it and so am I.

JW: Last question, what can the kids and fans and family expect from Madball in 2009.

FREDDY: What can they expect? Brutality…hahaha. That’s what they can expect. No, I mean we’re going to bring it how we always bring it. When I do Madball, I want it to be as authentic as possible and as hard as possible and still fresh because we’re a band that, y’know with 2009, marks twenty years that we exist as a band. That’s a good thing and it’s also can be a negative. People could be like, “Well, do they still got it? What are they going to bring to the table?” We like proving to everyone, that not only do we still have it, but we can bring something refreshing to the table in being in the game this long. We’re like fine wine. We’re all getting better as we get older. Hopefully, we can give them something better than the last. That’s what we go for…better than the last.