Through Thick and Thin

Through Thick and Thin...
by Jason K. Walsh
photos by Samma Jamma

"You were there through it all, now it's my turn...
you're not in this all alone,
just look around, and you'll see...
the answers right before your eyes,
I'm here for you, and you for me."
- "Good Lookin' Out" by Sick of it All

Unity is defined as a state of being one. As nearly a thousand souls descended on a small club in northwest Brooklyn, there was one singular goal: to help some friends in need.

"We can count on each other when things get rough," said Lou Koller of Sick of it All. "But we've known that for years. This was an opportunity to help give them a fighting chance."

Sick of it All was one of eleven bands that played the benefit show at Studio B this past September. Initially, the event was scheduled to help a dear friend in the New York hardcore community, Thomaso Skorupski, known affectionately to his friends as "Dr. Tom."

"I have been friends with Dr. Tom for many, many years," said Koller. "He's been in the hardcore scene for a long time. Whenever anyone had a problem, he was there for them. Didn't matter when, what time, day or night, or if you had insurance or not. He'd check you out, tell you what he thought, and not charge you. Several times he helped me and the other members of Sick of it All."

Skorupski grew up in Jersey City, moving to Florham Park, New Jersey in his teens. He discovered hardcore when he was fourteen and quickly became friends with those involved in the thriving underground scene. He played drums in a band called Chronic Fear in the early 80s, but followed his lifelong ambition to become a doctor, graduating from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1999.

Now licensed, he began giving back to the community that had given so much to him throughout his lifetime. One of the perils of being a professional musician in an underground band, even with a label backing, is the lack of health insurance. When his friends in the NYHC scene became ill, needed consultation, or advice, they came to "Dr. Tom."

"He's always been helpful as a friend and as someone to talk to," said Craig Setari of Sick of it All. "He's always been there whether personal, medical, or emotional. He's a great person to talk to. He's a man with heart."

Though busy with his new career in the medical field, Skorupski always made time for his friends, their families, even roadies on the tours, when the need arose. As a physician, he was able to provide them with the primary care that they did not have before.

"I would be able to help them out," he said. "You know, where they would otherwise be sitting in an emergency room paying astronomical amounts of money and they don't have insurance. I just try to fill the gap so that they're healthy enough to get out there and play the shows. It works out well and that's just kind of always the way it was."

His professional experience had shown him the ugly side of the entertainment industry, a far cry from the pride and appreciation he felt from those within the New York "family."

"I used to work at the Waldorf Astoria," he said. "I was a doctor there treating celebrities. That was kind of crazy. These high-powered people and just really ungrateful for everything you did for them, and then treating your friends, who are totally grateful, makes you feel good."

Another of the bands on the benefit's bill was Maximum Penalty. Frontman Jimmy Williams met "Dr. Tom" through mutual acquaintance Rob Defrosia of Lethal Aggression. Williams said he was a man who always showed "unconditional love."

"He's helped a lot of people with medication and free exams without asking for any money," Williams said.

Skorupski and Williams friendship became tighter when they came together in 2005 forming Ironbound NYC, which also featured members of Sick of it All and Killing Time. The project saw Williams picking up the drum sticks and Skorupski fronting the band, a tribute to the glory days of the NYHC Sunday matinees. "With a Brick," their debut record was released on Thorp Records the following year.

"I knew his condition was worsening," Williams said. "I decided it was time to give back. We needed to help a friend who was in desperate need and who's helped so many others."

Skorupski has a form of muscular dystrophy called combined hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy. He has been suffering from this affliction since his teens.

"It requires a lot of corrective surgeries," Skorupski said. "It's a disease that affects from my knees down. It causes me to have high arches and I've had multiple surgeries all throughout my life since I was fifteen-years old. I've had like seven surgeries because of it. I can walk and you would never really notice it unless I took my shoes off."

Without treatment, Skorupski said the consequences could be dire.

"You wouldn't be able to walk or work," he said. "I work ninety hours a week as an emergency physician and as an addiction psychiatrist, so I work a lot. I'm on my feet a lot."

This past year, Skorupski has had two corrective reconstructive surgeries. The procedure is called a triple arthrodesis, or triple bone fusion, where surgeons fuse the bones together to get rid of the high arch and make it straight. Because of this condition and the surgeries, he was out of work for some time, and now the man who helped so many without medical coverage was in the same predicament.

"That's what the benefit was about," he said. "They kind of put it together, everyone came through, and you know it was a really great show."

Williams originally planned on organizing the event, but approached the folks at Black 'n Blue Productions, the New York based outfit run by "Cousin Joe" Cammarata and Freddy Cricien of Madball.

"Cousin Joe had called me and offered to help," said Williams. "So we made a couple calls to a bunch of bands and put it together."

BnB Productions was down for organizing the event and contributing to the cause. Renown for throwing big bashes in the city, like the annual Black 'n Blue Bowl, formerly dubbed the Superbowl of Hardcore, a benefit like this to help their own was set in motion without a thought.

"There is nothing more important in this world than helping others," said heidiminx, Black 'n Blue's director of marketing and public relations. "The hardcore community has always watched out for its own, and Tom had been so wonderful to so many of us over the years."

Co-founder of Black 'n Blue, Freddy Cricien, grew up in the NYHC hardcore scene through his older brother, Roger Miret of Agnostic Front. Now successfully fronting his own band, Madball, for more than a decade and proud contributor to the scene with BnB, he was honored to give back to someone who has given so much unselfishly in the past.

"In the time I've known him, he's been a great help to me and my friends," Cricien said. "I also know he's been very helpful to other individuals and bands in the past and present. He's offered his advice and services in the medical area, which is cool for a bunch of people, who more often than not, don't have insurance. Aside from that, he's a polite, respectful guy, which always goes a long way. Why wouldn't we help? That's the type of company and individuals we are."

"want to give in, want to give up
despair washes over you...
where do you go, what will you do?
your mind is racing,
in a million directions all at once...
where will you turn?"

With the benefit set, the bands booked, the venue ready, everyone just waited for the approaching day. However, fate took a turn, and another friend was in great need, so Dr. Tom took it upon himself to once again help a brother.

"When they told me about the benefit, I knew Walter and I knew he had liver cancer."

Walter "Monsta" Ryan is a NYC native, who grew up in the East Bay area of San Francisco. He has played drums in more bands than most can count and his resume spans across the hardcore, metal and hiphop worlds. Like Dr. Tom, he is a proud member of New York's DMS crew, a collective amongst the musicians, family, and friends within the NYHC scene.

Machine Head. Merauder. Murderer's Row. Madball. Powerhouse. Possessed. Subzero. The Lordz of Brooklyn. Danny Diablo and the Shotblockers. Bonecrusher. Harley's War. Just a few of the outfits Walter has pounded for, but now, in trying times, his friends, more so his family, came to help.

"I just decided I wanted to split the benefit with him," Skorupski said. "I went back to work and I'll be O.K. His situation was a little different so I decided to split 50-50 down the line."

Dr. Tom once again proved himself to be a man of integrity, prescribing the best remedy he could for one of his own in trouble.

"I know Walter from DMS and he's part of the crew," he said. "I knew he was struggling and I just called him up and asked him if that would help him out. I just felt like it was a little selfish of me to take it all for me when I can split it with him, so that's what I did."

Cricien was also proud to add their longtime DMS brother to the benefit.

"The idea came about when Dr. Tom offered to give part of the proceeds to Walter, which was a very honorable thing to do," Cricien said. "Originally, we were going to do a separate benefit for Walter. We had found out about his situation shortly after Dr. Tom, but when the suggestion was made, it made more sense to combine it and try to make it one big show."

Cricien has known Ryan for a long time and felt privileged to have the opportunity to lend a hand.

"Walter and I go way back," he said. "He's played in numerous bands, including Madball for a stint. We met while on tour in Europe. He was with Machine Head at the time. We hit it off and soon after he moved to NYC. He's been a friend ever since. It's unfortunate that he's going through these rough, rough times, but we hope and know he'll pull out of it."

Ryan first met "Dr. Tom" in 2003, through Jimmy Williams of Maximum Penalty. When Williams learned of Ryan's medical condition, he realized an introduction was in order.

"I told Jimmy I had gotten Hepatitis C and I started to get cirrhosis in my liver," Ryan said. "Jimmy had gone through the same thing. He's like 'yo, talk to my buddy, he might have a little insight for you.' We sort of talked over the phone and just became cool. He was extremely helpful and that's the reason why I went and got checked."

Under Dr. Tom's advisement, Ryan went to see physicians about his condition, but an even more fatal blow was discovered within his own family.

"I started getting tested," he said. "They did all kind of biopsies on me, the whole nine, everything. I found out right after that that my father was real sick and he just started pretty much dying."

Ryan's father, a veteran of the Vietnam War, had also been diagnosed with liver cancer. When he discovered the severity of his father's condition, he put aside his own concerns for himself and focused on family.

"I kind of veered away from my health issues and kind of stuck around with my father and tried to help my mother with that," he said. "I think anybody would do that in that situation. It's easier to focus on other people than yourself with that type of stuff."

During this period, Ryan was playing with Subzero, a New York hardcore band with Lou DiBella, a fiercely determined frontman who battle leukemia twice and won the fight. DiBella wrote a song, "Liohearted," which is an anthem about strength through adversity and an ode to his personal struggle against cancer. They had a video shoot scheduled for the song at the now abandoned CBGB's in Manhattan's Lower East Side, a mecca for the undeground music scene in New York. That day became an important chapter in Ryan's life.

"A week before the place would totally close down, I pull up to the front of the club and right before I get out to get my drums and start unloading I get a phone call. It's from my sister. She said, 'dad just passed away.' I was like, 'O.K. I'll talk to you later' and I just hung up. I kind of like numbed myself out a little bit and then I went in there and I shot the video and we played the show and halfway through the set, Lou passed the mic to me and I told everyone what happened. The whole place went nuts and erupted and I could have sworn that my father entered my body for the rest of the set and I just went nuts playing. Every time I see that video I think about my father because he died of liver cancer that morning when I was doing a video shoot about cancer survivors and little did I know that I had it at the time."

Ryan is in the beginning stages of liver cancer and luckily was diagnosed in its early state. He began chemotherapy this past May and injects himself with interferon shots four times a month, as well as taking six ribavirin pills daily. This cycle of treatment will continue for a full year as doctors will continue to monitor the toxins in his body. Like many that begin such a program with chemotherapy, the treatment is more times tougher on the patient than the disease.

"There's some days when I'm just shot and can't move and can't get up and literally bed ridden," he said. "Then there's days when I'm just feeling really tired and run down and my whole body is sore and aching. Then there are days when I feel like me, except for a little bit tired. The last couple of days, I've been feeling almost like my normal self again."

The toughest challenge Ryan faces is the inertness. For a man who has spent so much of his life on the road, touring, playing, and constantly striving forward and on to the next challenge, the treatment has brought him to a standstill, along with new adversities.

"I can't play drums. I can't tour. I can't leave New York. I can't work. Kind of a bummer because I got bills like anyone else and I got bills from back in the day when I first started getting seen by the doctors."

Between the injections, medication, blood tests, and office visits, the monthly bill runs between $7000-$9000. When Ryan first started his treatment, he was covered by Medicaid, but unknowingly his policy expired. He reapplied but the turnaround on coverage is far from immediate.

"Between that time it takes a little while to get that card in your hand," he said. "So every time I had to go to the doctors, I had to pay, pay, pay big time and it's mad loot."

Enter the benefit. Unable to cover the extreme costs of his current treatment, and with a stack of lingering bills, not only from his own medical expenses, but his father's as well, Ryan was financially destitute.

"That's where the guys stepped up," he said. "I'm still waiting on my card now. I just told the doctors what's going on and with what these guys gave me, I just threw money at them."

"It's hard to open up, just try and you'll see,
True friends will always be there...
there's no doubt,
good lookin' out...
when life's not fair,
True friends will always be there."

September 27, 2008. For a mere $20, somewhere between 700-800 hardcore fans entered the doors at Studio B in Brooklyn to see Sick of it All, Murphy's Law, Maximum Penalty, Subzero, Billyclub Sandwich, Jasta, Lethal Aggression, Backtrack, Turn it Up, Krust, and a special Cro-Mags jam featuring John Joseph, Mackie, AJ, and Craig Ahead.

"The benefit went well," said Cricien. "I would say yes, it was a success. I mean we would always like to do more, but the turn out was good. Money was raised and I think we (BnB) and all the bands did our part. I'm sure Dr. Tom and Walter both appreciated it."

Dr. Tom agreed that the turnout was great and was very appreciative of all the support the city showed that day.

"I think it went off well, everybody came out for it, and it was great," he said. "I mean I love those guys like brothers. We take care of each other and it just shows the New York hardcore scene is full and alive and this is just one aspect of the good thing that comes out of hardcore. We really do stand for taking care of each other and have each other's backs."

Contributions for Ryan can still be made through Black 'n Blue productions at their website: www.blacknblueproductions.net. Cricien said that even though the show is over, the cause is still ongoing, and encourages people to continue the support.

"This is just another positive example that hardcore is alive and well," he said. "It also has a heart and that's the one thing I will say about the hardcore community, especially the New York faction. We take care of our own."

Lou from Sick of it All also had some words to pass along to Ryan and Dr. Tom.

"We have a chance to help some of our friends while they're here," he said. "Cause a lot of these, unfortunately, are done for the families after the person has passed on. I hope they both get well and hope they can beat their problems and we're all here for them."

Ryan's progress continues to move in a positive direction as well. Another benefit was held shortly after in upstate New York, featuring bands like Setback, Subzero, Abrasive Thoughts, and 4 In The Chamber, and others are being planned as well, in places like Detroit, California, and Connecticut, so he can concentrate on recovery and not have to worry about money.

"Right now as it goes, the doctors told me that my hepatitis and my cirrhosis are undetectable," Ryan said. "They said I have to keep doing this process until May of next year and they think it will completely wipe out the cancer and everything. So, I'm really excited, real happy, and I'm just doing whatever the doctors been telling me to do."

Once this fight was been won, Ryan says he will again be doing what he loves.

"I'm going to continue to play," he said. ”When I get better, I'm going to be right back in there."

And, he cannot begin to express his gratitude for everyone who took the call to arms for his cause.

"It meant a lot to me," he said. "I'll never be able to tell anybody in words how good it felt. When people come together like this for a specific reason to help you out, it just goes to show how much love and respect they have for you as a person. Those are my brothers at Black 'n Blue. I appreciate everything they've done for me. They're my family. Much love to my boys. Thanks a lot fellas. See you soon."