OLDE YORK

OLDE YORK
by Jason Walsh

From the city that spawned some of the greatest hardcore bands of all time comes yet another group of urban dwellers, bringing back the true roots of the underground in a time when memories start to fade of where it all began and what it was all about. Olde York is a four-piece unit from Brooklyn which has gone through a considerable amount of lineup changes since the band’s inception, but have finally released their first full-length, “Empire State,” on Countdown Records.

“’Empire State’ is an album we’ve been trying to work on for some years now,” said band founder and guitarist Blake Farber. “After all the demos, 7-inches, and tours we finally nailed down a full-length which we are very proud to present. I’m also very satisfied with how much support our label is giving us. It’s great to see this album in almost every continent around the world and hopefully in every kids ipods or mypods around the world.”

The band started with a chance meeting in the unlikeliest of settings where many like-minded people, such as Farber and future frontman Ted Wohlsen, would gather in the borough.

“Olde York came by Ted and I meeting at Punk Metal Karaoke,“ Farber said.

“They had a live band playing behind you, it was pretty cool,“ Wohlsen said. “They would do Bad Brains, Black Flag, Anti-Nowhere League, et cetera, as well as a bunch of metal stuff. Anyway, I had this party one time at my place with all those guys, and Blake came to it.”

“We jammed out, and I was fooling around on the drums,” Farber said. “Since we shared the same style of music, he said ‘come by again and we should jam and start a band.’”

“At the party, Blake had been playing drums,” Wohlsen said. “So, I thought he was a drummer. Shows how wasted I was to think he could play drums. Anyway, so he comes over like the next day or something and is like, ‘actually, I play guitar, not drums,’ so I was like ‘OK, cool.’ I was playing bass, like really distorted and fuzzed out, and him on guitar, and we came up with some songs.”

Wohlsen spent eight years previously in his first band endeavor as the singer for Big Mistake before hooking up with Farber. They went through a couple singers in Olde York and were looking for someone to fill the vacant seat behind the drum kit.

“We don't have a permanent drummer and are trying different people out,” Wohlsen said. “Until Blake goes, ‘oh, hey, I forgot, my brother plays drums.’ So, that is how Dev (Farber) got into the band. This is when the name came about. We were hanging out, I think we went to a friends party or something, and were drinking 40s. I said "‘hey Olde English, that's a pretty cool, name,’ and Blake was like ‘but we aren't English...how about Olde York?’ and it stuck.“

With their second singer leaving, Wohlsen stepped back up to the mike, like in the old days with Big Mistake. “Rather then find a new singer, I decided to go back to singing since that is what I did in my old band and I was much better at that then at the bass.”

This change of Wohlsen to vocals and brothers Dev and Blake on drums and guitar, engraved the core center of the band into concrete, and they continued to roll from there. Demos, 7-inches, and a lot of road time, the band was coming into their solid formation and a full-length was just the next step.

“It actually felt like it took a long time to get it together,” Wohlsen said. “We go in to record the album, and we get our friend 6 Pack Jon, who plays bass in Caught In A Trap and guitar in About To Break. We get him in to co-produce the record with us, cause he is amazing with guitar sounds and we wanted to have someone in that wasn't directly involved with the music, you know to have that objective ear, cause Blake and I tend to get into it over stuff, and Dev and our bassist at the time Kyle, kinda just keep quiet about things more, so having that outside person helped a lot.”

This brotherly tension is common in bands, but add actual siblings to the mix and the disputes are sure to escalate. “The family affair aspect definitely makes it tough sometimes,” brother Dev Farber said. “We definitely end up fighting half the time, but at least it makes it easier to be direct and I think that's more important than always getting along.”

However, the bond between brothers, whether by blood or “found family,” has always been a significant part of hardcore culture. The strength of this family is what holds the circle together.

“Having a brother in the band is classic HC style,” Blake said. “It’s a family thing, so what’s more family than your own blood? But it’s great having him in here. When we play, we don't have to even talk to each other, since we’ve been together for so many years. You just know what each facial
reaction represents. But in the most loving way, we still argue sometimes.”

In the triangle that is Olde York, Blake, Dev, and Ted also have three distinct professional careers that compliment the forward progression and growth of the band. In other words, they have some good jobs and important skills that has helped them along the way: Ted is a recording engineer with his own aptly named studio, “Empire State Recording Company,” Blake is a videographer who has worked with the likes of Alicia Keys and David Samborn, and Dev is as graphic artist who surprisingly used his talents on the CD.

“Graphic Art for me is a good way to get the rent paid and keep the creativity going,” Dev said. “That's how I see it for now. When the new album needed some layout work done, I was right there to help, since it happens to be my day job too.”

Wohlsen has had a pretty amazing career in the city, working with numerous NYC hip hop acts as well as punk, metal, and hardcore crews. “I went to school for Music and Sound Recording, and after I graduated, I got a job at The Hit Factory, NYC, as a runner. From there I moved up to assistant, and then started engineering sessions, mostly hip hop, like KRS-One, Wu Tang Clan, Wyclef Jean, Run DMC. Most the big names in hip hop and R&B, I worked with. I got kinda burned out on it so I started my own studio, where I was living at the time in Park Slope, Brooklyn. As it turned out, about a year or so later, The Hit Factory closed its doors due to the rough economy. So, then I moved to where I am now and opened Cook Street Sound, where I was doing more hip hop stuff, then when I made the commitment to go all punk, hardcore, and metal, cause that is what I really wanted to be doing, I changed the name to Empire State Recording Company, to differentiate it from Cook Street Sound. This was right around the time when we were getting ready to record the album, and I liked having the album name and the studio being similar. It kinda provided that circularity for me, you know? So recently I've been doing stuff for Reagan Youth, Skam Dust, and a bunch of local hardcore and metal bands like About To Break, The Mug$, Vermefug, and Grizzly Smith.”

And, the directorial skills of working as a filmmaker and music video producer by Blake was an even greater benefit to the band, in more than one way. “Filmmaking always interested me since I come from two parents who are both photographers,” Blake said. “They’re both very visual mediums, so I love tying them into one. Being a director/filmmaker in the band not just helped me produce a fun hardcore music video, but from the directorial side of things it helps manage the band. It really helps coming back from a film director point of view, since managing a band is very similar to directing a film.”

The dynamic shared by the three musically is only complimented by what they’re everday job skills can bring to the table.

“The fact that all of us have different careers that help out the band is amazing, Blake said. “Besides saving us tons of money on hiring those people. We have creative control to come up with a great project. The reason being that it comes from the heart and not some guy whose in it to make a buck. Next member we need to get: a screen printer, FREE SHIRTS!”

The use of the studio in making “Empire State” a reality helped tremendously as well. “Well, it certainly made it much cheaper to make the record, plus it's really like a labor of love, and I think we are all really proud of it.”