Jimmy G

TALKING SHOP WITH JIMMY GESTAPO
Murphy’s Law Frontman Tells Tales of the Present and Future
interview by Jason Walsh
4.5.08

JW: First and foremost, let me take you back a couple years. Drinking beers in the parking lot of the Pit Surf Shop in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
JIMMY: Oh, yeah, North Carolina…I love that place.
JW: We miss you down there, man. We need to get you back down there again.
JIMMY: I don’t think they have shows there anymore. I love it there. I know the last time we played there I purposely got the band trapped on Ocracoke Island.
JW: And that’s a good place to be trapped.
JIMMY: Yeah, the place where they got Blackbeard.
JW: Yeah, and once the ferry stops you can’t get the hell off there.
JIMMY: And you know what sucks. Nobody told me it was a dry island. We went to this pirate bar and I was like “let me get a bottle of rum” and the lady was like “oh, you didn’t know?” and I was like “oh, no, no.” All they had was beer and wine.
JW: Ah, you got to prepare before you go down there.
JIMMY: I was drinking Zinfandel all night. It was pretty rough.
JW: So, why is this event (Black ‘n Blue Bowl) important? Why is it important to have these bands out here? We have three generations of New York hardcore in the house.
JIMMY: It shows the strength of our scene that we never thought would be this big. Kids are here from all over the world. Europe, Germany, Italy, Japan….
ENTER DIRTY DOM
DOM: The media tells people what hardcore is and we’re the people that show what it really is.
JIMMY: That’s Dirty Dom, my brother. But, y’know, this event and the turnout just shows that this music is still very valid and still a very strong scene, and getting bigger. It’s amazing. I never thought twenty years into Murphy’s Law that we’d be at a show this big.
JW: It has held up over the course of time and we’re in like a third and fourth generation of kids starting up bands.
JIMMY: Easily. Now, there’s hardcore friends of mine who have their kids here.
JW: And those kids will be in bands soon.
JIMMY: Let’s hope so. It’ll perpetuate the maniacs.
JW: So what brings you out here? It’s got to be a good time for you. You come to see friends and make new friends.
JIMMY: My best friend and partner with the tattoo shop, New York Hardcore Tattoos, Vinnie Stigma is playing in Agnostic Front tonight. I mean the majority of all my best friends are here, and my closest friends. Why wouldn’t I? I mean I have to be here and I can drink for free and have a good time and be loved. I haven’t hugged so many people in a long time.
JW: It’s a reunion of sorts.
JIMMY: Yup.
JW: And a place to meet new friends too.
JIMMY: No doubt.
JW: So what are you doing? What’s the future holding for you?
JIMMY: I just did the Grand Theft Auto. I was the DJ on that and I’m working on a new record for Murphy’s Law and going on a summer tour. We’re doing some shows with Rancid and playing I think in June in North Carolina for the injured troops in the Army and Marines.
JW: Very cool. You coming to Virginia?
JIMMY: Yeah, Virginia Beach, we’re playing with Rancid.
JW: This isn’t the Warped Tour.
JIMMY: No, no, no. I won’t do the Warped Tour. (leans into tape recorder) I WON’T DO THE WARPED TOUR!!!
JW: You heard it here first.
JIMMY: Every time they put a New York hardcore band on there we get thrown off.
DOM: They won’t put New York hardcore bands on there after we got thrown off. They do not like hardcore music.