MADBALL - EMPIRE

An interview with Freddy Cricien
by Jason Walsh
photos by Helena BXL



The guys from NYC are back with a new collection of hardcore anthems sure to set off circle pits worldwide. “Empire” is the latest offering from Madball, one of the five-boroughs tightest and heaviest outfits, who continue to set the bar high for all contenders for the underground throne. More than two decades later, the undisputed kings of the NYHC scene have brought out new material, which is fresh, relevant, and sonically aggressive.

MADBALL formed in 1988, as a side project for Freddy “Madball” Cricien by his brother, Roger Miret of AGNOSTIC FRONT, along with fellow band member Vinnie Stigma. This gave Cricien a chance to find his own voice and with the journey underway, Miret and Stigma stepped aside so MADBALL could develop on its own. There have been numerous lineup changes, several studio releases, and countless tours across the globe for the second generation of the Lower East Side Crew. The constant for MADBALL is that they have stayed true to their hardcore roots and never showed signs of compromise nor slowing down.

I had a chance to talk with Cricien, as they began their tour of Canada, about the getting “Empire” together and where the road will take them for the rest of the year.

JW: So you guys just got back from Europe and you’re already up in Canada?

FREDDY CRICIEN: Yup (laughs). That’s right, that’s right.

JW: That’s a pretty quick turnaround.

FREDDY CRICIEN: Well, yeah, y’know, we had that scheduled for a while so it was just part of our schedule. We had the Europe tour set up, the Canada tour set up, and right behind it another Europe tour set up. Kind of all part of the game plan.

JW: So how was Europe? Did you guys have fun over there?

FREDDY CRICIEN: Yeah, yeah, it was cool. Definitely a very good time. It’s always good shows…it’s a good scene there in general. It went good, it went good.

JW: Very cool. So, let’s talk about the new record.

FREDDY CRICIEN: Yeah, for sure.

JW: I got a copy of it like a week or two ago. Man, it’s awesome. It’s just flat out awesome. It’s a great record. So tell me, where did this record come from for you guys?

FREDDY CRICIEN: Where did it come from? It came out of nowhere (laughs). I don’t know, I guess we work well under pressure. We knew we had to do an album or y’know, it was that time to do another album and we just needed to fit it in between our tour scheduling and our personal lives and all that. We kind of said “we got to make it happen” and we were under the gun from the jump, y’know, to make it happen and there were moments there where we were a little concerned actually that we might not be giving ourselves enough time to put out something good. In the end, I think it ended up being one of the best records we’ve put out in a long time. Like I said, it didn’t come out of nowhere but under pressure we came out with something that I feel good about, that we all feel good about.

JW: It’s kind of amazing sometimes, when you get in that situation where you have a little bit of pressure or any kind of outside forces kind of messing with you, it all seems to kind of gel together a little easier.

FREDDY CRICIEN: Sometimes man, yeah, sometimes. There was a lack of inspiration on my part for a quick moment but the minute I wrote a song about it then everything else started coming out. Actually one of the first songs I wrote on the record was about trying to find the inspiration to write and after that there was obviously other things going on in our lives that gave us some fuel to come out with, y’know, what we did.

JW: Where did you guys record this one at?

FREDDY CRICIEN: This one was done with Erik Rutan in the St. Petersburg area in Florida.

JW: Tell me about going down there and doing that in Florida. Was it a good session?

FREDDY CRICIEN: Yeah, it was cool. He’s got a cool studio set up, he’s a cool dude. Originally we were going to go with Zeuss (producer Chris Harris) and then Zeuss’s schedule was crazy, lining up with our schedule, and so we were looking for an alternative and Eric came highly recommended to us by some close friends. I got on the phone with him, he’s a MADBALL fan, and all I needed to hear was that he understood what we were, what our music was about, and where we were coming from. And then that was it, y’know, we clicked. We had a few phone conversations and then once we walked in the studio it was like a cool vibe, real comfortable place. Everything else just fell into place. Soundwise, you heard it yourself, so I’m happy with it.

JW: Very cool. The title, man, tell me a little about the title. Are there a couple meanings behind that, because I know obviously you guys are from New York, the Empire State, but it’s about more than that isn’t it?

FREDDY CRICIEN: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean that’s one way to contribute to the place that inspired this band, but that’s just one part of it. It’s also what we’ve built and what we’re continuing to build with our band, with our brand, with different things we’re doing, different endeavors that we’re doing. It’s also family related, you know what I mean. It’s all those things. It’s an empowerment theme. It’s all those things in one.

JW: And the other thing I noticed about it, listening to it, fresh off the heels of “Infiltrate the System,” this almost feels like the sequel. I mean definitely a followup, but like a sequel to that record.

FREDDY CRICIEN: It could be in some ways a sequel. It is kind of, y’know (laughs). And then, in other ways, it just kind of does its own thing. But definitely, with some of the vibe there, it could be perceived as a sequel to “Infiltrate,” you know what I mean. And even the title, y’know, we’ve infiltrated the system and now we’re building our empire, you know, that kind of vibe. But it’s got its own unique stuff to it as well.

JW: For sure. So what are some of the highlights on that record for you? What are some of the songs that stand out that you can’t wait, if you haven’t already, can’t wait to get out there and start throwing them out at people?

FREDDY CRICIEN: Man, there’s a few of them. There’s a few of them there I can’t wait to play live to be honest with you. It would hard to pick just one or two. Definitely the one that’s out, “R.A.H.C.,” the one that we’ve been playing live, that’s fun to do live because that’s like a short, in-your-face, you know, it has a lot to say. It’s kind of a throw-back style in a way. I don’t know, that’s a fun one to do live. I can’t wait to start doing “All or Nothing” live. That’s one I’m looking forward to. Really, just all of them (laughs) because we’ve been doing our set for a long time now so anytime we have new material, it’s always fun to bring it out and especially with this record, as you know, we feel really good about it and the vibe overall from people listening to it is a good vibe, people are really hailing it so. I think the whole record, front to back, is good.

JW: I agree. It’s a complete record from top to bottom. It’s a great record.

FREDDY CRICIEN: Thank you. I really appreciate that.

JW: Now you did a song (“Shatterproof”) with your brother Roger (Miret of AGNOSTIC FRONT). Tell me about how that came about. Did he actually come down there or did you guys use the magic of Pro Tools?

FREDDY CRICIEN: Unfortunately, with our schedules he couldn’t be there. He had to record it wherever he was at and send the track over, but he was vibing on it, you know what I mean. The second I heard the song, I knew he had to be on it. I basically just sent him everything, you know, the lyrics, everything. All he had to do was put his voice on there and it was a theme that he totally was all about. It was about me, him, us…he loved it. I sent it to him and he was all about it, recorded it, and sent it right back and I’m just glad we got him on there. I mean it’s been like years overdue. We’ve never had a guest vocalist on our record ever, and if it was going to be anyone it makes sense it would be Roger, you know.

JW: Of course, and it’s got to feel good collaborating with your brother who pretty much inspired you to get where you are today.

FREDDY CRICIEN: Yeah. He got me started. He’s the dude that put me on. He’s the dude that put me on with hardcore. I do what I do now because of him, and you know, a few other people. So absolutely…like I said, it’s overdue. He definitely needed to get on a MADBALL record. You know, he was a huge part of why MADBALL exists.

JW: So the record comes out in October and I see it’s on GOOD FIGHT RECORDS. Is this the first time with these guys?

FREDDY CRICIEN: Well, you know, GOOD FIGHT is actually formerly FERRET RECORDS.

JW: Oh, I see. A name change?

FREDDY CRICIEN: It’s not really the first time with these guys. It’s all the same crew, they had some legal issues, had to change their name, but yeah it’s all the same guys and they’re like total supporters of what we do so, I didn’t want to go anywhere else. They’re doing a good job with it, and it’s NUCLEAR BLAST in Europe.

JW: You also have a 7-inch that you put out on the side to go along with this. What made you decide to do that?

FREDDY CRICIEN: You know, it seems like 7-inches are starting to make a comeback, a lot of people are digging on that these days, it’s kind of what people are doing. It really is where we got our start, you know what I’m saying. To us, that’s like the first thing we ever put out as a band was a 7-inch. It’s cool to be able to do that again for ourselves but also for the dudes, for the people, for the guys and girls out there that like vinyl and just are into that. But there are definitely people nowadays that are really into that and it was fun to do, we kind of did the art a little different, and it was cool.. Just something cool to do.

JW: So you guys are up in Canada, just back from Europe. You have this new record coming out. It’s going to be a busy rest of the year for you guys for sure.

FREDDY CRICIEN: Yeah man. You know, we stay busy regardless. We’re fortunate in that way, that we can stay busy, with or without a record, but yeah, obviously with this new record we’re going to be out and about, but you know, we’re going at it at our own pace, pace that we feel comfortable doing, but we’ll get around to everyone, you know, that’s what I always say. We don’t do big extensive two-month tours without any breaks, but we break it up throughout the year, but we end up reaching, you know, we get around to at least the people that care about us (laughs). You know, the markets that support us. We try to hit everywhere, man, we try to hit new places. We’ll see what comes.

JW: You’ve got to cover as much ground as you can.

FREDDY CRICIEN: Yeah, we cover as much ground as we can, but we do it at our pace, man, and we’re excited to do it. Especially with this new album.

“Empire” was released October 10 on Good Fight Records and is in stores now. Following their Canadian run, they return to Europe for some dates, but watch for them in the States at a venue near you.

http://www.goodfightmusic.com/artists/madball.php

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