Chris Dodge interview!

 

I suppose that every reader of this blog knows my devotion for powerviolence (if you didn’t know it, right now you do).  Like every fan of this music, I’m really into everything Chris Dodge made in his whole career: from his beginnings with Stikky to his releases with Slap a Ham Records, from Spazz to every band he played. He started in the middle eighties and he’s still into hardcore, even if his open minded musical tastes brought him to discover new musical dimensions. He probably played more shows, with many more bands than any other “old”  dude did, and if you’re really into extreme music, you’ve listened to some of his projects even without knowing he played with them. Here are the questions I asked to him (he was supposing to answer some months ago, but anyway, have fun!)

You’ve got a new project, TO THE POINT, and you’re back to sing in this one. Can you tell me more about this new band? Are you still in Lack of Interest? I heard a rumor that you’re not anymore in LOI, but maybe I’m wrong.

TO THE POINT is basically LACK OF INTEREST, but with me on vocals instead of bass. I’m not playing with LOI anymore. But LOI isn’t very active these days. I’m having a good time doing Caveman vocals with TO THE POINT… I have not been a frontman for a band in a very long time, so it’s interesting. Most kids probably think I’m just an angry dad yelling at them, or a pissed-off lumberjack.

 

 

 I didn’t understand if you’re going to take part of this INFEST reunion or not. If it’s not, what do you think about it?

Yes, I’m playing bass with them. Joe and Matt asked me about it last summer. I feel like I hit the lottery. Great songs, all of the shows are awesome so far. I’m honored to play with these guys.

 

 

Do you have any news about Despise You? Is there any chance to see you guys playing in Europe?

I’m not playing with DESPISE YOU any more. We’re still friends, but I had to quit because they’re setting up a lot of tours this year, and I just can’t commit to touring… I have a full-time job, and I have a family who depends on my income. Yes, they’re going to be in Europe this summer. Please go support them. They’re some of my favorite people on the planet.

You’re in the hardcore scene since almost 25 years, but you still have a deep interest into that. What are the new bands that you prefer?

 

I played my first live show in 1985, and it blows my mind when I realize I’m still playing this music 28 years later. Honestly, I still listen to old hardcore more than new hardcore, but there are still a lot of great newer bands I like. In Los Angeles, there’s a constant flow of newer bands who are awesome… ACxDC, Hordes, Life Of Refusal, Final Draft, Malpractice Insurance, Scrapmetal, Barking Backwards, CharlieXSheen, Sordo, Fissure. LA is my favorite place to play. The kids are very supportive, and more enthusiastic than anywhere else in the country. Outside of LA, the list is endless…. Magrudergrind, Sick Fix, Shitstorm, Kill The Client, Backslider, Sidetracked, Maruta, Pick Your Side. I feel like this type of music went into hibernation from about 2000-2006, but these days there are more great bands than ever. I’m constantly inspired.

 

Will Slap A Ham Records reborn from the ashes? What is your favourite Slap a ham release?

I’ve thought about releasing vinyl again. I think it would be fun. I just don’t have the money for it now. Vinyl is so expensive these days! I have a lot of favorite Slap A Ham releases, but if I had to pick just one, it has always been the NO COMMENT “Downsided” 7”. I’ve always considered that a legendary release… like an extension of the DRI 22-song EP.

 

You’ve played in a lot of hc bands, but you like also other music genres. What are you favourite non-hc bands?

I’m really a music “nerd”. I’m always trying to find something different, or at least something I’ve never heard. A lot of times, I find myself exploring music from the past that I wasn’t familiar with until now, like obscure 70s progressive rock or Krautrock. I have an endless list of favorite bands, and reading it would be boring, but my current favorites in heavy rotation are Gentle Giant, Earth Wind & Fire, Ambrosia, Jethro Tull, Gerry Rafferty, The Stylistics, Zapp, Yes, Chicago, ELO, Joe Walsh, Gary Numan, Toots & The Maytals….

 

I see you like the opposite thing of an “hardcore god”: what do you love about your regular life beside the scene?

 

I just love spending time with my wife & my son. I love the peace of mind of just hanging out with them, relaxing, enjoying simple everyday things. My wife & I spend many evenings sitting on the patio behind our home, looking at the mountains, having a drink, talking about our day. Those are my favorite times.

 

 

 

You love painting: what are your favourite artists?

 

I’m not really into street art or anything “extreme”. Most of my artistic tastes are fairly normal. Lucian Freud is probably my favorite artist. His portraits are incredible, and slightly warped. I really love the Western artwork of Frederick Remington and Maynard Dixon. There’s a newer artist I really love named John Brosio. You need to see his stuff at johnbrosio.com

 

Infest today, from L to R: Matt Domino, Bob Deep, Joe Denunzio and Chris Dodge

 

I saw in a lot of picture an old man from LA that everyone calls GRANDPA, but I don’t know who is him! I see that probably every year there is a birthday show at Gilman 924 if I don’t get wrong.

 

Grandpa is the grandfather of Bob from Deep Six Records / Lack Of Interest / To The Point / Infest. Grandpa has been going to punk, hardcore, metal shows in California since the mid-80s. He’s a legend in Los Angeles. He’s a true one-of-a-kind person. A senior citizen who loves hardcore.

A few years ago, Eric Wood came up with the idea of setting up a Grandpa birthday show. The last two were in LA, and this next one will be up in Berkeley at 924 Gilman.

 

 

You’re selling some rare items of you personal collection. Are you still buying records? What is the situation with record stores in California? Here is not good, but when I was in the US I’ve been to some huge record stores that were like dream places to me.

 

I still buy vinyl, but I usually buy it cheap at flea markets. I buy a lot of 70s LPs… classic rock, soft rock, prog rock, R&B, jazz fusion. There are some incredible record stores in California, mainly Amoeba Music. There are a lot of smaller stores, but I know they have a difficult time staying open. Yes, I’ve been selling my collection for many years, but it’s because I have to pay alimony every month to my ex-wife. The financial strain is too much, so I’ve had to sell most of the best parts of my record collection to pay for it. It really sucks, but I don’t have a choice unfortunately. I’ve tried to take a “zen” approach to my record collection… it’s only material items, that I don’t need to own. I can keep digital copies and sell the original, so at least I can still listen to them. That makes the impact of selling them not so bad.

 

After years of extreme noise, he also found the woman of his life

 

You played in a shitload of projects and bands, and some of them are not hardcore bands, but you’re still considered “the guy from Spazz”. Do you mind it? Are you going to play again with them?

 

I don’t mind it. People need a point of reference, and Spazz is one of the most popular bands I’ve been involved in, so I don’t mind being called “the guy from Spazz”. I don’t think we’ll ever do a reunion. It’s possible, but very unlikely. Logistically, it would be very difficult. We all live thousands of miles apart, and we really aren’t that motivated to do it. Maybe it would be fun, but I don’t particularly want to do it. That’s probably because I’m having a good time with my current projects, To The Point and Infest.

 

 

Obama has been re-elected, It is a good thing or you don’t give a fuck about it?

 

With our elections, you always have to pick the candidate who is the least-bad, so I’m glad it’s Obama. I don’t agree with all of Obama’s decisions, but if Mitt Romney was president, we would have a lot more bad choices to contend with.

 

 

Do you know/like some italian bands?

 

I’m not familiar with too many newer bands, but I would love to hear them. I’m glad Cripple Bastards are still grinding after all these years. In the ‘80s, many of my favorite hardcore records came out of Italy: Declino, Impact, Eu’s Arse, Raw Power, Wretched, CCM…. All are legendary!

 

 

The interview ends here: do you want to add something?

 

I took a very long time to respond, so I’m sorry for making you wait! Thank you for taking the time to ask about my current projects. I’m very honored to answer your interview questions. Also, please let your readers know I’m posting FREE downloads of my music… all material that is rare and out of print: chrisdodgesounds.blogspot.com

Will Butler Interview!

Hey guys!

It’s almost a year that I don’t post anything in this blog. I’m not posting anything frequently because I’ve decided to review more stuff in italian for The New Noise, but I’m still into the same noisy stuff as when I’ve decided to start this blog. I would love to focus on interviewing bands, instead of reviewing their stuff, because sometimes I’m busy doing other things, and it takes less time to post interviews than to do a review, take pictures and post all the stuff here.

One of the people that I’ve decided to interview is Will Butler, from the US label To Live A Lie Records. Three years ago, when I’ve been to Boston, I was pretty sure that Grindcore was mainly a european genre. But some months after my comeback in Italy, I’ve started to listen to a lot of new american bands like Sex Prisoner, Backslider, Sea Of Shit, Beartrap, Get Destroyed and so on. Here are the questions that I’ve asked to him.

You are running this label since 2005, and you’re seeing it becoming bigger every year. can you make a short history of the label?
I started out by doing a distro called Stronghold Distro in 2002-2003. Ordered some records from Ebullition and made a website and sold stuff online mostly. I got asked by two of my friends to help put out a split with Godstomper and Magrudergrind and thought that was a great idea, could trade records and could build up my distro more and more. They ended up not being able to help on the record but I put out anyway. Had great luck with that record and the next set of records and kept at it until today where I’m near TLAL100!

You helped a lot of good bands to release their material and to have a good distribution. What are the new bands that you would love to produce?

I pretty much love anyone who I’ve been working with so far, I know you’re asking who else I’d like to put out but I’m right on the cusp of being big enough to have smaller bands I haven’t heard eagerly approach me and bigger bands say yes to a potential project. I’d like to work with my friends in Torche at some point but I’m not sure if we fit into each other’s categories well enough. I think it would be fun to work with someone totally oddball who I love and respect, like Dead Prez (the vegan hip hop group).

USA is a really big country, and the hardcore scene is not the same in every state. What are the states, and also the cities, with the best scenes in the whole country? In what of them you’re selling more records?

Obvious places, Boston, NYC, DC, and LA have killer hardcore/punk scenes. There are some amazing small scenes across the country. My town, Raleigh, NC, has some killer new bands sprouting up. Austin has some awesome stuff going on between Mindless and Chest Pain. The USA is a crazy scattered place but I think that is awesome and makes touring interesting. Big respect to the places that work hard where there isn’t much going on, like Boise and elsewhere!

What is your main job? I suppose you’re working with the computers. Is TLAL a real second job, that makes money to help you to survive? What are the releases that you sold most?

I work for the big state university in my town, doing IT. Awesome job, I love it. TLAL is a hobby that becomes almost like a second job. TLAL makes enough money to support itself I suppose, but definitely isn’t putting any or much food on my table. I’ve sold a ton of everything it seems like. When I first started I sold a lot of EPs from a mainly unknown straightedge powerviolence band from outside of LA called Rhino Charge. Lately the Sex Prisoner EP has been selling steadily and the Capitalist Casualties/NoComply split. Oh I forgot, both ACxDC EPs are flying! For good reason too, such a talented band of nice positive people.

With Chris Moore from Magrudergrind/Coke Bust/Disciples of Christ

I have to admit that I have known that Raleigh exists thanks to TLAL, I have never heard that name before 😀 What do you think about your hometown? has something changed since you’ve started with your label?

Raleigh is just another place. It is the south so you get some of nice southern manners but because of the school and the Research Triangle Park area you get some crazy drivers and imbeciles. I grew up two hours from here in Winston-Salem which is home of big tobacco and there is less going on than in Raleigh. Raleigh’s scene is infantile due to the lack of spaces to have DIY shows. We have talented bands but people don’t end up sticking around and booking shows enough because there is nowhere to play. All it takes is a good punk house to host shows at. I know in some places in Europe, house shows either aren’t popular or just aren’t something people do, but here we have them pop up sometimes and we put on crazy shows in small living rooms and basements.

I see that every american label use to release almost only US bands, I suppose because it’s easier to distribute them. Is it difficult to distribute european bands if they have never toured all around US?

I love overseas bands! There is one huge roadblock that is turning me back to supporting US bands… the prices of international shipping skyrocketed in the last month. It cost me $40 to send a huge flat rate box to Mexico before the hike, $70 after it…. and that is to a country that is connected to our same continent! I’m scare of shipping The Kill’s LP to Australia when it is out! I believe it is better when a band has toured the US but I’m not sure. I’m not good at trying to judge if something I should do will sell, I just do it. The band Rhino Charge I mentioned earlier never toured out of California, or if they did they didn’t tour very far outside of it, but I sold a thousand of their one-sided 7″. I think the Internet has made borders less of a boundary for music. Good music is good music and I can own an obscure band from Lithuania’s record and love it just the same as my friend’s band that tours everywhere that is from down the street.

What are your favourite records of all time? And what you love beside grindcore and powerviolence?

Rough question. Most listened to album of all time has been Minor Threat’s discography CD, which isn’t a record in that sense but that would just make me pick Out Of Step or the s/t LP which I have never owned on vinyl surprisingly. Nothing better than timeless sloppy punk with a positive message. Other favorites probably fall into the guilty pleasure listening category I bet but I can’t think off the top of my head anything to embarrass myself by. I like to listen to tons of different stuff, ranging from backpacker hip hop to stuff like Lightnin Hopkins and Howlin Wolf. I’m stoked on the new My Bloody Valentine album and I love stuff like Sigur Ros. I also love old youth crew style hardcore. Lots of good music in the world, no reason to limit yourself.

What do you think of the re-election of Obama? It is a good thing to see him in the whitehouse again or the only reason to vote him was to avoid every possibility of having Romney as president?

Lesser of two evils has always been what happens when you vote for a president. Not sure what would happen to our country under Romney, maybe nothing… who knows, but I’d be too scared to see. I’m not very happy with Obama but it could be way worse. It is sad when you miss Bill Clinton’s presidency. Could be worse!

You have released your first photografic book named Fastcore Photos. How many time you have spent collecting all the material for the book? How your passion for photography has started?

It took countless hours putting the book together, making it perfect with no errors. I had some help but I did the layout work in InDesign myself. I have taken pictures since film but really gotten into taking photos of bands in the last four years when I bought a DSLR. I love it. Also now my camera does video so I have a good representation of what I’ve seen and I can show people like you what has been going on here in my little part of the world with just a few clicks (or through the book in print). I have tried to learn techniques and have been trying to better myself so that it is closer to an artistic output took.

Do you like or listen to some bands from Italy?

I put out a record for LxExAxRxNx from Palermo (who has since broken up) and I dig Un Quarto Morto. Rabid Dogs is killer. I know I’m forgetting so many bands. I never was big into Cripple Bastards unfortunately. Let me know more Italian fast hardcore/powerviolence/grindcore bands and I’ll check em out!

I recommended him Repulsione,  xKatexMoshx, Terror Firmer, Insomnia Isterica, HanxSolo, Minkions, You Suck! and my ex-band, Compost

This is a free space to say anything you would like to say, thanks for your answers!

Thanks so much for taking the time to interview me! Lets keep DIY global even if the postal rates here and everywhere goes up! USA and Italy need to stay in sync with each other’s new bands and I wish we had better soccer (football) teams for you to have a rivalry against but your teams would cream us hands down. Thanks again, check out tolivealie.com and fastcorephotos.com!

Eternal Morbo of the Dead

Even if in this blog I prefer to write about noisy stuff, I can’t hide my love and deep interest for what death metal used to be: stench, gore, corpses and so on. But the most happy thing to know is that it’s still like in the old times: you can find a lot of new bands with those gloomy guitars, deep growls and mid/slow tempos that work almost together in a DIY web like me and other people do with grindcore. Morbo is surely one good exemple.

This band was born two years ago as a cooperation between three old roman deathmongers and two younger guys from Palermo. They all have other main projects: the singer Mirko used to be in VII Arcano (now he lives in Norway), the guitarist Andrea AKA Corpse plays in Corpsefucking Art, Bomberos and previously in Enthralment (they later became CFA), Andrea used to play in Catacomb (of course not the french ones) and in the first line up of Novembre. The sicilian ones, David and Giorgio, play together in Haemophagus, Undead Creep and also in a new death/doom project ala dISEMBOWELMENT named Assumption.

This demotape, “Eternal City of The Damned” is their first recording ever. Only 3 tracks are on it, but it has been printed very well as a pro-tape by Dark Descent Records, an american label mainly focused on old death metal releases.

The first song, “Horrorday Awakening” starts with a very good riff, even if it’s very similar to Black Flag’s “Rise Above” one. But after this one the italian act let us know what kind of influence they have: Autopsy, Abscess and every european band influenced by them. The first name that come to my mind is Darkthrone (Soulside Journey and demos era). That sick and obscure guitar sound was surely what Andrea and Antonio were looking for. I didn’t like Mirko’s vocals when he was in VII Arcano,

but I think that his proof on this tape fucking rips. Every instrument was recorded in professional studios, but they tried the hardest thing for every old school metal die hard fan: to reproduce (almost) the same sound that came from 4 track analog recorded that used to be the only mean that every band in the early ninties had to record their tracks. Morbo reached the point, and this is another reason why you should listen to them. It’s a very hard goal to reach, considering that it was recorded in three different recording studios: the vocal parts were recorded in Norway, all guitars in Rome and bass and drum parts in Palermo.

This tape is sold out, but Dark Descent is going to repress it on 7” this year, and if I don’t get wrong they are also working on their first full length LP.

Mangiabanane and Dead Lesbian Peepshow demos!

I have said almost anything about my musical projects:  My main project are Compost, a goregrind band influenced by RGTE, Napalm Death, Agathocles, LDOH, Warsore, early GUT and CBT, Fear of God, Impetigo, Dead Infection, Squash Bowels and so on. We have “lyrics” about vegetables and other organic shit, and we called our genre “vegetable goregrind”. But I will said more about us later.

I’m here to show you my noisecore project: Mangiabanane! We’re two sick guys that loves noisecore, and we try to be noisy as Deche Charge, 7mon, Stench of Corpse, CSMD and Gorgonized Dorks do. We began our “carreer” in 2008, but we stopped to play together in 2010…then at the end of 2011 we played our second live show at Go!Fest (a fastcore/powerviolence festival organized by me and Pompeo from xKatexMoshx) and then almost one month ago we decided to come back to destroy music again! here’s our new demo, recorded just one week ago!

 

download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?8n2bktcyoagk32i

 

 

and here’s also Dead Lesbian Peepshow’s demo: this is a one man band run by my noisemate in Mangiabanane (also Compost founder member) Pagnotta aka Lorensio Fecal. Pure gore noise ala LDOH, Urine Festival, Tumour…

 

download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?okqaue5mieg18xh

VERY IMPORTANT:  We’re not fascists, racists or sexists,  and we don’t want to deal with these people. We just love noise, gore and shit like everyone does.  And we also love pussy, alcohol, b movies and Schwarzenegger/Stallone ones, short, fast and loud music. But we hate everyone at the same way.

Weekend Nachos interview!

I have to admit: musical tastes are strange.  Sometimes you are a massive fan of a musical genre and you don’t love a band as everyone does. I did the same with Weekend Nachos. As a lot of my friends know,  Powerviolence had messed my mind up since the first time I’ve listened to it. I used to love almost at the first listening bands all the masters of this genre (Spazz above all!!). But WN sounded strange to me,  I recognized they have talent but I wasn’t into them. Then their last full lenght “Worthless” came out. I’ve started to listen to it once, than twice, and two weeks later I’ve realized it was the best album of 2011, and then I began to love the other 2 LPs. The first days of the last october thay were here for 2 dates, in Milano and in Bologna, and I had the opportunity to see them live in both of them.  Two of the best shows of the last year, there’s nothing more to add. Here’s John Hoffman, the man behind that shouts behind the microphone, that has something interesting to say.

First of all, let me say that those two shows that you’ve played in Milan and in Bologna were fucking INTENSE! How have been the rest of the tour?

The rest of that tour was amazing, dude. I was so thrilled to play in Italy…those were 2 of the best shows of the whole tour.  The cities were beautiful and the people were so nice.  The pizza I ate was pretty good, too.

can you make a short or long biography of the band?

Well, Weekend Nachos was originally formed in Dekalb, IL, home of Charles Bronson and barbed wire. Andy and I were living together and very bored, so we decided to start a heavy band. Andy actually got me into heavy metal music around that time, too. He showed me Carcass and Life of Agony.  I was also listening to Eyehategod and Obituary at that time too.  We eventually all got together, took our clothes off, covered eachother in honey and then wrote the Torture E.P.  Nobody liked us at that time, but now a lot of people like us. So we have come a long way!

One of their first pics, called “looking hard, in the graveyard”, taken from their myspace page

You come from Chicago, one of the most “musical” cities in the US, and with some very good hardcore and powerviolence bands. What can you say about  your hometown? Do you like living there or it’s only beautiful at our european eyes? And what about Illinois?

Chicago is okay, we have a lot of good food here. And yes, there were some cool bands that came from here, most notably Articles of Faith, Los Crudos and Smashing Pumpkins!!!  I would say Chicago is a pretty ugly city, though. I don’t find anything beautiful about it. Illinois is a pretty boring state, too!!! But it is my home. I enjoy living here, except the winters are way too cold. Someday I would like to live somewhere with a warmer climate.

You play, with WN’s bass player Drew, in another band named Cyborg, that is not known by everyone. I liked it a lot, and i’m waiting to buy your new 7″ with The Afternoon Gentlemen (probably the best english grindcore band since Napalm Death’s golden era), but I always asked to myself why having a side project that sounds not so different than WN..

Well, we think that Cyborg has a more light-hearted approach to the grindcore/powerviolence style, but yes I agree, the two bands are somewhat similar.  However, Weekend Nachos has a lot more influences than just grindcore or powerviolence, where as Cyborg is a lot more of a Spazz copycat band. We just wanted to start a fun band that was taken a little less serious than Weekend Nachos was. And I agree with you completely about The Afternoon Gentlemen!!! I think they are THE BEST current grindcore band!

Live in Milano, Cox18

You have a lot of merch stuff, and some of your t-shirts figure Freddie Krueger on the front, why do you like him so much?

Freddy Krueger is the greatest movie character of all time. He’s a great killer, he’s very funny, and he dresses well.  I think that he’s simultaneously very enjoyable but also very dangerous at the same time.  That’s what makes him one of the greatest there is!  I like him for all of these reasons.

Worthless is your third LP, but it’s also the second record that Relapse release on CD. Even if this last one is a very big label, you’ve decided to don’t firm any deal and remain a DIY band without no booking agencies but with other tours booked by yourself. Why have you taken this decision?

We’ve always believed that the DIY aspect of hardcore is one of our favorite things about it.  It’s what makes it different than just “music” to us.  I believe that we should have control over everything that goes on with this band, because really, we aren’t doing this for any business or financial purposes.  We do like to make money in order to keep the band functioning, in order to go to Europe and travel other places and make merchandise to sell to the people who want shirts and records, but business is not where our minds are at. We do this band the way we want to do it and we feel it’s best to remain independent from any sort of contract or financial agreement with another business or company.  If someone else wants to operate that way, that’s great!!! We just personally prefer to book our our shows and release records with our friends.

Powerviolence is close aproximately to his 25 years anniversary (if we sort Infest as a pv band). But during the ’00s you and other bands like xBraniax, Sea of Shit, Iron Lung, Sex Prisoner, and other bands have demonstrated that this musical genres has still new things to say. Do you agree with me?

I agree that the genre is still alive and well, but I think people take powerviolence a little too seriously at times. The style itself was originally a joke between a few friends…really, powerviolence is just punk-influenced grindcore.  I don’t like to think of music in terms of sub-genres, to me I just think “hardcore” is appropriate enough. And even “hardcore” is a label…so what the fuck!!! Haha.

Another shot from the Milano gig

I’m not the first grindcore fan that has been shocked by a lot of new US bands. Two years ago I was quite sure that grind is still a european scene, but right now i’m totally into Bullshit Propaganda, To Live a Lie and Give Praise bands. What are the new bands that you like the most? Do you listen also to italian bands?

I think there are a lot of great bands worldwide, and some of them are grindcore bands. To be honest, I don’t know a lot about Italian bands!!! I have a Product 7″, they were a straight edge youth crew band from Milan, I think. I also like Rhapsody of Fire!!!!  (It’s true, he really likes Rhapsody of Fire, he told me in Bologna that he’s into “silly power metal” as he said….Zenn)

What is your main inspiration for WN’s lyrics?

My main inspiration for all of my lyrics are my own frustrations with everyday life and society. I don’t really like a lot of human beings and I am disgusted by selfishness, racism and big business.  A lot of times, that is what society is made up of and I write songs about that because i disagree with that way of living. I just like to express myself in that way and that’s where WN lyrics come from.

Live in Bologna, Atlantide

You’ve toured Europe twice, and you’ve played in a lot of squats than in venues. What do you prefer, basement shows, venues or squats?

We will play anywhere that people want to see us, it doesn’t really matter to us. Sometimes, in Europe, it’s nicer to play in a bar or a venue, because often times it’s much cleaner and more comfortable.  But the squats in Europe are also very well organized, despite being very filthy a lot of the time, haha. But i think it’s cool that a lot of squats in Europe still have a very good sound system and drinks for the bands!!! So in Europe, we like to play everywhere.

the interview stops here. Say what the fuck you want in this little space!

Thanks so much, Daniele. I appreciate you hearing what I have to say and it was wonderful meeting you in Northern Italy!!! I can’t wait to come back some day.

John Hoffman with Pete the Ripper (Wizard of Noise/Sore Throat, Nausea and Headache blog) and Me after having sweated hard after WN show in Milano

Charlie Infection interview!

Here’s the first interview for this blog: one year and a half I used to live in Boston for two months, and i had the pleasure to meet Charlie Infection.  Ok,  he’s not well known as Jan AGX or Mick Harris, but he played in a lot of old bands since the ’80s, he released very good records and now, at the age of 54 years,  he’s still having fun playing the same stuff as he did when he was a young hardcore/metal kid.  I saw him playing with Bone Ritual and Psycho, both at a venue called O’ Briens, in Allston, MA. I’ve missed Psycho euro tour but I hope to see them again one day…

First of all, how are you? what are your main projects right now? I woul like to know more about the new Psycho line up and how went the european tour…

I AM DOING WELL !! ALWAYS SO FREAKING BUSY that i never have time to piss!!
right now my main projects are PSYCHO, BONE RITUAL, GONKULATOR , JESUS CHRUST and my new side project MEAT CURTAIN !!!
ok the PSYCHO line up was : Johnny X- Guitars and Vocals…Ed Lynch on Bass and Vocals and me ..Charlie Infection on Drums and Vocals…up until May of 2011.
thats when Ed decieded he didn’t want to do the European tour and quit the band. We were lucky enough to find our old bassist Mike (1991-1994) and talked him
into coming back in the band . We had just enough time to get a whole new set of tunes practised and ready for the tour !! Would be our first time to Europe !!
The Euro tour went pretty fucking well !! We had Luuk from Doomstar Bookings help us with the bookings !! We ended up playing 13 shows (France,Netherlands, Belguim,
U.K., Germany, Swutzerland and Czech Republic -OEF !!!) Was great to see alot of people that knew us !! We did the whole tour with The Afternoon Gentlemen from England .
We had some really great fun!!

A lot of people don’t know that you have a black metal band named Bone Ritual: the next year it will be the 5° anniversary since they were born! And what about Gonkulator? are they still alive?

Bone Ritual is a slow 2 man project ..with me on drums and Strep Cunt on bass and vocals.We have a demo out and it was picked up and released by Bestial Burst Records in Finland .
we plan on a split LP/CD soon .. we have 6 killers tunes for that.We have played about 7 shows so far now and its always a visual spectical !! our shows always ends with me throwing around
my drum kits !! I fucken love destroying my drums !! hahahah Love it!!
And GONKULATOR has been in hibernation since recording our last “Second war in Heaven” Cd back in 2000..and have not played live since 1996! We have actually just did a recording session a few weeks
ago and have 15 tunes that are worthy to release !!! So I can finally get a few projects completed now !!! We just have to do guitar over dubs and get the vokills done !!!
expect to see this stuff out in 2012 !!Expect to see sick cover art by GOAT MASTER OF WEAPONS !!! sick stuff indeed

Bone Ritual @ O’Briens, pic by me

Along your whole carriere, you have recorded a lot of records and shared a lot of splits with great bands. What is the LP or the split that you’ve recorded that you like most? And what are the forgotten and underrated bands of the ’80s/’90s that deserve more support?

the split 7 inch with AGATHOCLES is fucken awesome !!our recording was done of pure excellence on that one !!a true explosion in your face !!
Also the Gonk/Undinism is awesome too !! actually the Gonk stuff on that is only o.k…. but the Undinism side is fucking great !!!They are from Australia..
Also the best production releases are PSYCHO-“Riches and Fame” 10 inch and “Mass Consumption” ep and the Psycho AG is awesome as well !! True classicks !!
Underrated or over looked bands ….well I always loved ASSUCK and ULCER and of course PSYCHO !!

You have played in a lot of bands since the beginning of the ’80s. I was born in 1989, and my generation is obviously very different from yours. I have known a lot of “old” people that were into metal and punk since those years that complain about a lack of “attitude” in the young dudes. What do you think about the new generations? and about yours? Personally i’ve met some good guys and some others that weren’t active in the “golden years”, that were not at the shows but they think that we are shit because we’re growing up with internet…

That’s a hard question !!! I still enjoy the music and attitude and love playing in a live band !!! It’s just my nature sometimes other people grow up and find different interests….
I just refuse to grow up !! hahahaI work 2 jobs have a wife and 2 young kids and still get out and play a few shows every month !!I dont make it to every show but do make an effort to see my friend’s bands and any kind
of rare appearance by bands like ANGLECORPSE or IMPIETY….I think the younger kidsmostly have good attitudes for the killer music !!
I see lots of of younger kids at shows and know alot of them too ! probally like 90 percent are cool and totally dedicated to the music and local scenes too! You may see some older dudes from the old days…. but that’s usually
and a huge show..like that early Boston HardCore reunion show earlier this year that had DYS and JERRY’S KIDS,SLAPSHOT F.U.’S etc… Lots of the old timers were there … I didnt go..lots of people asked for me….but was too tredny
of a show for me !!no thanks !! Heard Jerry’s Kids really ripped shit up!!

Charlie with GG Allin

Not everybody know that you were the drummer for GG Allin with Bulge and Psycho…what are your best memories with him? What do you think about GG that it was not written in books, articles and reviews about him? I just don’t like that a lot of people listens to his records only because of his attitude, for me their songs were really better than tons of punk ones…

We had alot of great times hanging out with G.G. ! all were crazy and out of controll…but you can’t beat drunken fun!! hahahah right ??!!
When we were hanging with G.G. back in 1985-1986 or so..G.G. was kinda normal !but in extreme way !! He was always cool with us…but sometimes he would fuck with other people!!We played one gig with him..and
earlier that day we were all drinking and smokingin the van and G.G. offered my a “piece of candy” I said ok ..but noticed the candy had the words EX-LAX printed on it … “Ahhhh no thanks G.G.” !! (that stuff will make you shit like crazy!!!)
He said ok … and ate it all himself ! we got to play only 2 songs before the cops broke it up!We had to leave all our equipment an stage and bailed out the back door …. we jumped in the van and raced away ..over someones bushes and lawn and even
drove up a one way road the wrong way to escape the pigs !!We partied for a few hours and another bar and came back of our equipment !! I remember thanking the door guy for saving our equipment for us !! I have alot more killer stories about G.G. too
there would never be enough room here Zenn!! but please check out the album we did with him….”Freaks,Fags Drunks and Junkies” His best album by far !! and G.G. even said it was his favorite album too!

I own some great 7″s that you have produced with Fudgeworthy Records and before with Ax/ction Records: How much was hard to have a label in those years without internet and nowadays social network? What can you recommend for who likes to start a DIY label in these years with new difficulties (file sharing, less shows, the invasion of -core trends)?

we started out back in 1984 or 1985.. we started to put ads in MaximumRocknRoll Magazine and Flipside too ! Mostly was by word of mouth and by spreading around little ads ! I used to call alot of people too !!YES on the telephone !!
I used to write alot of letters too ..and send by the mail !! hahahah communication was the key then!! But writing letters took a while to hear back from people…now with the internet it make all that a lot faster !! Its almost easier too !
before you would have to really search out a rare 7 inch .. now you can hear alot of that on line ! I still like to hols an album in my hands and I really appreciate the artwork etc !!

Live @ Obscene Extreme Fest

What do you think about the grindcore status? what are the bands that you would like to see growing up and doing long tours all over the world? and what are your favourite past and present italian bands?

Grind is very strong at this point! I have seen most of my favorite bands back in the early days…like Napalm Death, Carcass,Assuck,Massacre….and new bands like HOGLUST and 6 Brew Bantha and MESRINE !!
I know a few Itallian bands…RAW POWER,INDIGESTI,WRETCHEDand HAEMOPHAGUS too!!

Psycho new line-up

You are one of the main personalities of the city of Boston what do you think about the Boston’s and the Massachusset’s underground? what bands do you prefere?

I am just a dude in the scene!!! Some good local bands are WITCH TOMB, UNTOMBER, BLESSED OFFAL,HAXEN,RAMPANT DECAY, WITCH KING, RAWRADARWAR, NACHEZAHRER,MORNE,KALEDIN,MATRYVORE AND HIRUDINEA…

What are your favourite bands af all time? Can you make a top 10 (or 20 if it’s not enough) of those records that have influenced you the most?

SHIT ..I CAN TRY….
DISCHARGE-“hear nothing..” LP
TERRORIZER-“Worldownfall” LP
NASUM-first demo…now a split 7 inch with Agathocles
PLASMATICS-“New Hope for the Wretched” LP
DISCHARGE-“Why” 12 inch
DEATH-“Leprosy” LP
SODOM- first 12 inch
SLAYER-“Reigh in Blood” LP
S.O.D.-“Speak English or Die” LP
Brujeria-“Matando Gueros” LP
RAMONES-any !!! and all!!
BLACK SABBATH-“Sabotage” LP
DEAD KENNEDY’S-“fresh Fruit..” LP
MENTORS-“Up the Dose” LP
BEHERIT-“Oath of Black Blood” LP
BRUTAL TRUTH-“first LP
SACRED REICH-“Surf Nicaragua” 12 inch

In the last months the whole world was admired for what have appened in New York with the Occupy Wall Street movement. What fo you think about the US economical and political situation? I know that also in Boston there is a movement like in New York City…

I have ignored the whole “occupy” thing…
I have no clue what it is all about !!!!
I try to listen to music when I can and not the news !!

Charlie with his daughters.

This is the most particular question of this interview: During my childhood i used to listen to my father’s records and Rolling Stones, Beatles, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding and a lot of ’60s/’70s blues/rock stuff was my musical background before metal and grindcore appeared in my life (I’m still a HUGE fan of black and white blues). You have 2 daughters and a lot of records in your house, do they listen to music? Do you thing that this 2 things could combine in the future?

I dont get to listen to “My” music that much as my record player is in the family area !!so if my kids are watching TV then I need to use
the head phones….or I am just outta luck for now..They actually like my music .. well some of it..
but they like shit like Katie Perry and Lady Goo Goo.. But they
have come to a few of our gigs..and seem to like it ok!!
I also just gave one daughter an electric guitar for her birthday !!she is 9 years old !!
she just started lessons … I just hope she sticks with it…hahaha
my older daughter is playing the trumpet now !!

Psycho live @ O’ Briens.  Original line up.

I would like to thank you foryour answers: this is your last space for saying what the fuck do you like to say, from kind words to insults and various injuries..

I dont like to slag people so…. I just want to say thanks for taking the time to read this long winded interview….
and maybe you learned something about me and my integrity and dedication to the underground music scene !!
Fuck trends ….listen to what you like !!
I just want to keep playing in bands and putting out records… Ilike to keep things
underground and I do a mail order service INFECTION DISTRO … hope to have a web site someday…
for now if someone wants my latest list of stuff (black/death/grind etc… cd,tapes,vinyl and shirts) email me at mr.infection@gmail.com for my lists !!!
thanks Zenn !~!! hope to see you again someday Brother !!
later then Charlie INfection !!!!

Me and Charlie out of O’ Briens

WON News

 

Hi everyone!

I’ve never said anything about my DIY label: Wizard of Noise Records!

I Run this small and noisy label with Pete The Ripper, from Sore Throat Nausea  & Headache blog. We can’t produce a whole record, so we do only coproductions. But we’re every day into trades, so if you want you can write to me or to him and you’ll have some shit that’s into our distro (we have two distros, because we live in different cities, so ask everyone for our stuff)

 

We’re proud to annunce that this great piece of wax has been released some days ago after months of delaying:

DECHE CHARGE: Golden gods of noisecore, one of the first movers of this genre with AC, Stench of Corpse, 7 Minutes of Nausea, Buka and so on

DISLEKSICK: Canadian noisegrinders,formed few years ago but with a huuuge discography!

we got both limited orange and regular black copies, hit us if you’re interested!

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wizard-Of-Noise/183754311711820?sk=wall

WON mail: wizardofnoise@hotmail.it

ZENN (me) : zennametal@hotmail.it

PETE THE RIPPER: mister_moon_light@hotmail.com

Bloodred Necromancers

A few years ago, when I made my first steps among the Italian DIY scene, I was very happy to see that the things in Palermo were doing pretty good: there was a very nice hardcore scene with good bands such as Burst Up, LxExAxRxNx and FUG, that I liked more some weak ones that plays a lot in my city. The metal scene was had some good ones, like the mad thrashcorers Shock Troopers and the macabre deathgrinders Haemophagus. This band was formed in 2004, but they had to await 2008 before everyone outside sicily could know their existence, when they released their first 7”, with the legendary mincecore heroes Agathocles. David, their drummer, was the first person inside the DIY Italian scene that I used to know, two months after the birth of my band, Compost. I liked their style since the first listening: an uncompromising mix of early ‘90s death metal and grind/gore bands with some moments completely dedicated to worship doom and ‘70s rock, and in this LP anything is changed. The intro, “La Garrota”, and the first song, the titletrack, are an exemple of how this band can sound, with their first slow palm muted riffs and the fast part at the beginning of the song. Autopsy (and, of course, Abscess) are the main influence of this combo: the vocal parts clearly have Chris Reifert as probably the unique reference, and the guitar solos remark a lot the Dave Corrales way to play (probably because the guitarist/singer Giorgio has the same influences that he used for the Floridian death legend). We can listen their evil spirit into the doomiest ones, like “Dead Eater”, “Witches’ Doom” and the mighty “Mark of Madness” (they need to put this song again in their setlists for their gigs in the future). In their fast and grinding parts, Repulsion are the main reference (most of all in “Remember to Dismember”, a great song but very close to an act of plagiarism (probably in this one their love for Scott Carlsson cannot be remain hidden). Every instrument sound very good in this record, very “clear” and not dirty as a lot of old school records. It’s like hearing a less-produced and cleaner version of Machetazo and the great razorback bands like Blood Freak, Frightmare and Vacant Coffin (I’m still asking why they aren’t in its roster yet!). The lyrics are some of the best ones that I’ve ever found in an Italian act, and it’s rare to find a well language propriety and structured sentences like Haemophagus ones.

This 12” originally came out two years ago, in 2009,  as a CD, for the roman extreme metal label Despise The Sun, and this is a reissue coproduced by the same DTS, Blasphemous Art Production, Death Crush Records and the mighty Piedmont grind preachers Zas! Autoproduzioni and Jennifer Grind Records, that helped and supported the band since the beginning. Since the cd came out, their name have started to became bigger, and they make it true only because their perseverance and devotion for the DIY ethic. Maybe this is not a news, but I’d like to see more metal bands converted to this style, instead of success made with “pay to play” shit.

Cripple answers for white bastards

After some other months without reviewing anything (I’m an hard worker, so I need long holydays :D) I’ve decided to come back on this blog to tell you something about one of the most particular releases of this 2011. Above all if you’re into grind records, you should know that 6″ aren’t so common (I have to admit that this is the only one in my collection), and this is the first one for both bands of this release.

Originally Cripple Bastards had planned to share this piece of wax with the mighty Netjajev SS,  an incredibly schizofrenic hardcore project made by Magnus Lundberg (the man that is behind Ulcerrhoea and Syphilitic Vaginas), but right now, very sadly, this band should be dead, and so CB decided to call the spanish grinders Looking For An Answer to fix the B side. The two tracks that are on the CB side are outtakes from the “Desperately Insensitive” LP sessions, and are both covers. The first one, “Crimes”, by Impulse Manslaughter. They were an old american band from Chicago, and in 1987 they had released their debut LP “He Who Laughs Last…Laughs Alone”, showing how thrash metal, crust and hardcore could combine in a singular mixture. We can easily classify them as thrashcore even if this songs lasts almost 3 minutes. If you now CB you should have listened also to other long songs (“Partner Della Convenienza”, from Desperately Insensitive, lasts 4 minutes), so for them it wasn’t hard to play very well this old thrash classic. The second song is “Hazardous Waste”, by the hardcore legend Negative FX. I don’t think that they need any presentation, and their cover reminds me their style in the 90’s, were their grind was closer to classic hc more than other bands in those years. As it was on “Frammenti di Vita” CD, both coversongs sounds like the original versions, and this factor shows how CB are a highly versatile band.

On the other side there are LFAA. they are not as old as Cripple Bastards are, but some of their members were in Denak, one of the best grindcore bands ever, a name that every extreme music fan should know very well. Their side is also made by cover songs, and the first one is  “Prison Without Walls” by Napalm Death, played mostly like the original version, but with the classical lfaa deep growl that sounds a little bit different than the Nik Bullen’s voice on “Scum”.The second one is “Alianza Educativa Para Una Raza De Esclavos” by Ruido De Rabia, from the 1991 demotape “Pequeñas Reliquias De Un Infanticida”. They were a legendary hardcore band from Spain and one of the first movers of the spanish extreme noise. I am a big fan of a lot of old bands from this country: probably our hc scene was better, but during the whole nineties its scene was the best of the western europe. This song lasts more than 3 minutes, with a nice thrashing riff, made great by this downtuned and better recorded lfaa version. Both songs come from an old recording session, made in 2005, I don’t know what the hell they were supposed to do with these tracks, but, after all they are on this release so the problem does not exist anymore!

this 6″ is a really nice record, with an awesome artwork, another goal by Rescued From Life Records. Most of the copies are in regular black wax, but fortunally I’ve bought one limited white copy.  Of course, if you don’t know these bands you have to look for other stuff, like their full length and other split eps.

East Europe Thrashing Madness!

I’m sorry about this review, it was supposed to be posted one month ago, but you see it only right now because in this period of my life i’m trying to graduate as fast as i can…I will try to do the best I can for the future reviews.

One month ago spring came also in my hometown, and I decided to celebrate it with a small thrashcore fest organized by Pompeo from Taste The Floor and XKatexMoshX, a new (and first!) powerviolence band…The headliner was Crippled Fox, and their concert was a really good occasion to do some mosh all over the venue…we were only ten people to do every circlepit and stage dive, but it was very fun because we were all friends, no moron neither fuckers that night!

CRIPPLED FOX

I have to admit that I have never heard about this band before their italian fall during this spring. Hailing from Budapest, they sound to me like a hungarian mix of early Suicidal Tendencies, WxHxNx? and Madball, with an ironic vibe on the lyrics, mainly focused on the normal thrash themes (party, thrash, mosh, circle pit), but featuring also some serious message (“TV”, “Don’t Spit on The Floor”). This is not their first records, they have made other split with some other local bands (personally I haven’t heard neither those bands, and this is a good moment for knowning more about the hungarian scene). Their sound is really energic and well played, with powerfull fast riffs and NYHC oriented vocals, all the instruments necessary for a total stagediving holocaust in your bedroom while listening to this release.  It’s almost impossible, if you love hc in all it’s different tastes, to remain sitted on the  chair like listening to a normal record. They were the headliner also at this year edition of FASTFEST, our premium thrash/hc fest organized by the fastest man on italy, Pulce from Death Before Work/You Suck), and I can imagine how was their gig during the festival. If you love thrash you must follow this  band!

GxFxTx

Changing side-time, the party still raging on. GxFxTx (GOOD FUCKING TIME) come from Vilnius, Lithuania, and we can classify ’em like a thrash punk band, with guitar riffs that reminds me Minor Threat, in a sometimes more melodic but thrashing vibe, and all the classic american hc bands from the ’80s. I love MT so i’m always happy when some band remind me that sound, and I like it more when it’s time to mosh like a full alone in my home like a complete moron (being a moron it’s the main reason why I love extreme music). On that side of the 7″ the lyrics are less ironic and more focused on life/feelings/scene problems, but fun it’s as guaranteed as in the CxFx part. This 7″ is available in different colours, I’ve got this nice purple one but I can’t remember what are the others…