Los Crustáceos #70

What's up everyone after playing with the all mighty Hummingbird Of Death. It was a show that was awesome and will remember for years too come. Anyways this week I interview a band all the way from Chile Crustáceo. sick powerviolence band. they recently did a split with the homie No Comply. well here is the interview enjoy.

State your name and what band do you play for???

Nicolás: My name is Nicolás and I sing in Los Crustáceos.

Felipe: My name is felipe and i play guitar in los crustaceos.

Jonathan: My name is Jonathan and i am a long distance drummer for Los Crustáceos. Also i am the drummer and vocalist of a grindcore band called Arrogante from Stockholm.

How are you guys??

Nicolás: All in all, living day to day in the peripheries of the south of the world, as long as you don't miss out on eating and paying the rent with basic necessities, everything is ok.

Felipe: im fine thanks

Jonathan: Its all good

How did you get into punk?

Nicolás: I had very precarious and basic knowledge when I was 9 or 10 years old, the precedent in my childhood in 1997, I would tune in a lot to a radio called "Radio Concierto" and I would lock myself up to study, and from time to time some punk rock sounded without know what it was like as a musical style (Sex Pistols, Ramones, The Clash, Some of the beastie boys, Fugazi and L7), it was great when those bands appeared and I started recording them on cassette when they sounded, as a result of that I began to listen to other more popular styles of music such as grunge and britpop, unfortunately my parents forbade me to listen to that music because I was very young. As a teenager I took music more seriously because of pleasure and the desire to learn more when punk appeared as such and understanding it, later going to concerts and exchanging music on cassette. My mother who played the guitar some of the folklore, influenced me to want to learn to play instruments and put together bands. I grew up in San Antonio (V Region, Valparaíso), where there was and is a lot of punk scene, being a somewhat small city where the scope and access to listen to more bands it was more limited than in the main cities in the central part of the country, but people were always willing to share their music if something new happened, to find more music you had to be traveling to gigs in other cities, many times I ran away from home and didn't attend my school classes hahaha, making cars and trucks stop, I went to see bands in Santiago and Valparaiso, there were fairs with punk records for sale where I could increase awareness even more, at least that happened to me.

Felipe: i started listening to punk music like 22 years ago, it just hooked me up more than other kinds of music that people used to listen to or was popular at the time, it has more content than heavy metal and was easier on learning how to play it.

Jonathan: I got into punk through friends and at hardcore shows when i was a kid. Shows in Valparaíso often had that awesome mix of different underground music ”sub-genders”.

how did Los Crustasceos start as a band?

Nicolás: The idea of making this band had occurred in 2007, but it was only put together in 2008.

Felipe: it started in 2008 i think but i started playing in 2009, i learned the songs and inmediately started touring, we played a lot in many cities across our country chile, sometimes we even hitch ride to arrive to the gigs that were in cities very far were we lived, we were very young and have no money but it was very fun times.
How is the scene in Chile I know theres bands like Richard Harrison,Tiempo Crucial and Vacumm.
There are a lot of punk, hardcore punk bands now , me personally dont know every band because they are formed by younger people and im not very active in the scene right now, about more hardcore and power violence stuff, there aren't too many bands right now, you should check out lio, asperger, dispara, callate those bands were active 3 or 4 years ago but not very sure if they're active now. Tiempo Crucial Vacuum Richard Harrison were great bands and friends that we used to share many shows back in the day, it was fun times.

How the scene in Chile I know theres bands like Richard Harrison,Tiempo Crucial and Vacumm.

Nicolás: The scene in Chile is wide, since from north to south you find the hardcore punk scene and they are constantly rotating projects and bands due to the new generations that are appearing and understanding the new musical interests to make punk that they are exposing. The hardcore punk scene is more concentrated in the big cities of each region, it should be said that further south of the country the hardcore punk scene tends to shrink. The 3 bands you mention are very good, unfortunately they stopped playing about 10 years ago but some people from those bands continued with other bands of which they are active.

What was the original line for ?

Nicolás: The line of origin of the band would be with Julio, Pato patín (La Crisis Mundial, Viejo En Bici) and a friend Seba.
Later on in the third gig Felipe (xHoy es el díax) entered on the guitar, and Ricardo (Kubark, Horrido) joined in a couple more gigs.

How did you guys get the name  of the band and what are your guys influences?

Felipe: crustaceos means CRAB or shellfish , i think the name is because the origin of the band in san antonio beach.
i listen all kinds of punk, metal, hardcore and rock, when i started playing in los crustaceos i didn't even listened to power violence so it wasn´t my direct influence, with the time i started listening more grindcore, power violence and thrashcore an my head exploded hahahah

How did you guys get the split with No Comply??

Nicolás: It was a very cool day, one day I sent Justin (No Comply) the "Domingo de tarros EP 2018" and the Split w Dumo (El Álbum de Los Crustáceos EP) by Los Crustáceos via DM via instagram from my work account of art and illustrations (@ntong6), and well I decided to consult the possibility of doing a split thinking that there are dreams that can be fulfilled and dreaming is free hehehe, for which Justin
was also motivated and accepted the possibility of doing the split and it was quite exciting for me and for the group since being able to participate in a split with No Comply that has influenced and inspired you to create your band's creations I don't think it has happened often in the world, and well that's why we have been writing to each other until today of today, the process of carrying out this project remotely has been reciprocal and effective of which we have felt very comfortable with this, the physical material will be ready soon, Greetings and hugs to Justin and No Comply, and also to Craig from Thrash Tapes who's I'm working on getting the edition on tape.

What was the best show you guys played?

Nicolás: It is a complicated answer since there have been several, but I can mention 2 at very different times, the first time we played in Lima, Peru (2011), it was very exciting since there were many people, we played with classical bands and what was playing Currently, in addition to the show, the straight edge hardcore scene and the more drunk punk scene could get back together after a long time in Lima, therefore it has a more significant tint. The second was in Quilpué (2015), that time I had such a good time screaming and I feel that the gig was very similar to the gigs of the years 2001/2002 that I witnessed since my origins, everything was out of control, flying chairs, a drunk sound man, power outages, etc. we also empowered ourselves to connect the amplifiers in our own way and amplify, the battery with pure attitude, a rubbed but huge circle pit and everything was great.

Any future projects or releases?

Nicolás: Soon the split album will be released with No Comply (Florida, USA) through the Thrashtapes label, and then 2 more splits will come, one with "Miserable" (Colombia), and another with "Speech Odd" (Thailand).

Jonathan: A coulple of splits with Los Crustáceos and the release of Arrogantes first ep.

Any shout-out you want to give?

Nicolás: I would like to greet Justin and the No Comply family, Craig (Thrashtapes), my friend and brother Felipe Wilson, Calaka Luza, my girlfriend Alelí Toledo who I love her, my mother and my brothers, Niko Caossfera, Gabriel Bastard, Seba Conchetumayhem, Alejandro Donaire, Felipe Melo, Daniel Fissura, Diego Cariz, Niño Bulgaro, Choro Pepa, Lucho Lila, Dr. Nervio Vago, Vale Bateri, Balerrriot,  Gabriel Conejo, Dani Daniela, Luis Misa Histérica, Deno Veneno, Diego Detrimento, Julio Lechuga, Jokul, Janito, Daniel Castrado, Toñito Balantis, André Lucas Victor, Chica Naty, Pablito Ediciones Feral, Seba Kalku, Leonardo Diaz, Josías Inhala, Mati Kuru Narki, Tiofrey Crudo, Alex Fernandes, Mari Crisalida, Ignacio Nato, Matias Fernandez Rosales, Elef Vehederios, Paulo Uña de Gato, Hellen, Mauricio Kachilla, Jose 222, Pocholo, Kucharin Tenedor, Juan Pablo Kachorro, Cony Tanuki, Jonathan Scumfuc, Sebastian Jaña, Jorge Jesus, Luis Tapia Jara, Nicolás Lobos, Aldo Gojira, Pato Patin, Andrés Ficha, Fabian Maldecir, Matias Andrés, Claudio Taxidriver, Ricardo Valderrama, Julito Vera, Vicho (Molek), Oliver Rivas, Seba Segura, Goni, Lore Lora, Piero Antofa, Michelle Lefranc, Suzame Cuchijazz, Fernando Tomás Crobat28, Danilo Chambers, Espontania Valentina, Paulo Borquez, Vicho Bicha, Giovanni Dibujo, Mauricio Bolita y la familia Tiempos Duros, Jose Luis Barril, Nicolás Requena, Karen Los Laberintos, Barticcioto, Felipe Duende (Tomando Nombres podcast) to our friends from Peru (especially M Bastard, Daniel Zegarra, David Nuñez, Juan Pavimento, Angel, Frank, Franz, Delson, Alejandro Lamas, and friends of Emi), Corriendo El Riesgo and la Familia AzUl LDA, friends from the world, and to all our friends who emigrated to find better opportunities and quality of life on a personal level in other countries, to the families and friends of the friends killed in the "Doom case" (16-A).

Jonathan: Shout out to la V costa Grind. to Roboto, Laucha, Nico, and Ricardo that got me hyped on Los Crustaceos way back, and to No Comply that have been going through some rough shit, all the best of wishes to you guys.

Thanks for your time

Nicolás: thank you for supporting our work

Jonathan: Hello Marco, I hope you are well, I am sending you the answers to the interview, a hug, I am up to date.

Los Crustaceos

Bolo #69

What's up my people sorry it took me this long to put this one up. I been a fan of this band ever since I found out about them. Yes I'm talking about Bolo they are a sick band from the Bay area. here is the interview enjoy.

 State your name and what band do you play for???

Bon- drums

Bryan- vocals

Toby - strings

we play in Bolo

How you guys doing???

After our show in LA some of us got covid which sucks.

How did you guys get into punk?

Bon- for the girls... just kidding. I used to skate a lot and it became a soundtrack in the early 2000s. I liked a lot of ska when I was kid.

Bryan - I used to skate as a kid and i stumbled street punk and skate punk. I liked rancid a lot as a kid and defiance in the late 90's.

Toby - My cousin introduced me to punk when we were 11 and I picked up my first record which was punk o rama 4. It was our little clique thing.

How did Bolo get started???

We met at Zesta Grande before Yacopsae started playing at the gilman. Toby was alone because he had no friends. He just moved from Guam and he heard us speaking Tagalog and he approached us. What a loser lol. Then he asked if we knew Flash Elorde the powerviolence band from the Phillippines which just so happened to be Bon's last band. Bryan and Bon has been friends for a while already through the scene. We smoked hella weed that day. We joked about doing a band.Then the rest was history.

How did you guys get the name Bolo and what are your guys influences???

After the our ancestor's knife they used in combat to decolonized.Not to be confused with the other BOLO bands out there like the grind band from St. Petersburg and the jazz band in San Francisco. Were BOLO "fastcore".

Bon- Charles Bronson through and through

Bryan- Spazz, lates 90's stuff 625 records and Havok records.

Toby - Spazz mostly...some riffy stuff like Dead Kennedy's.

What is the best show you guys played?

Anytime we play The Colony in Sacramento! 916 for LIFE!

How did you guys get the tour with Mescaline Maniacs and Dopemess???

Jake from Dopemess and Jaime the organizer invited us to play.

Any future projects or releases coming out soon??

We're still waiting for damng physical EP to arrive lol. We are taking a break from shows the next few months to write our second EP. We're 2 songs in.

Any shout-out you want to give??

Shout out to the awesome international scene that's purchased our merch. The money truly all goes to mutual aid in the Philippines. Thank you to the amazing scene in Sacramento, it's our little corner and we truly enjoy playing for them. Thanks to Gabe for hosting Zesta Grande or else we would've never met. Thanks Aklasan records for putting out the EP and Blind Spot studio for recording our EP. Finally biggest thanks to our family and friends, they support us unconditionally.

Thanks for your time

Augrah #68

Hey whats up im doing a couple more interviews and im pretty much done with the year. been busy with family and work and the band that i can't find time for but here it is the homie's from vermont Augrah we did a vs with them and thought they were really cool people. also did a 4 way split with them that we just sold out with the homie's Hateoffering, Chainxwolf , Augrah and Culpa. that split is sold out you can hear the tracks we did on our discography. They are doing a split with the homie's LxBxR go support... Here is the interview Enjoy!!

State your name and what band do you play for? 

Christopher Burnie- I play drums and I make horribly pleasant sounds for my band Augrah.    Dominique - I strategize scream and shred for Augrah. 

How you guys doing?? 

We’re doing good. Have some shows coming up, we’ve been working on our all new material. Surviving! 

How did you guys get into punk? 

Chris- I had friends show me at the age 13/14, brought me to my first punk show and I posed off them. 

Dominique- I skipped over punk and just am digging in later in life. Whenever I came across some heavy music in youth lockups I would grip to it. Coming back to Rutland, Vermont brought me a lot of inspiration in music. 

How did you guys start as a band?? 

We hit the road, Chris quit babytaker and groomed me  to be the musician we needed. Then I took off like he feared haha! Babytaker was initially booked to play Summer Grind Fest in 2017 and when that fell apart we started driving and formed a band within 3 months across America. Our band is our thing, our time, our passion and way to express the anguish, folly, and beauty of life. 

What are some of your influences?

Chris - Haggus, Chainsaw Squid, Smoking Weed (not a band the action) Wu Tang

Dominique- Sete Star Sept, Hashgrinder, Sordo, Twitch,  Slipknot, Classical 

How did you guys get the name Augrah?

We watched Jim Hensling's "The Dark Crystal" and were instanty moved, fearful, and so glad we were not alone. The movie features a witch, Aughra. We chose different spelling, but have some private fan art that features both names. Please never watch this movie alone. 

What was the best show you guys played?

Our first and last show in Victorville, CA 2016, 2021, 

Summer Grind Fest in LA and surrounding areas 2017

V.O.S. Fest at the schoolhouse in Coplay, PA 2018

So the question is how did Janet asked you bout the vs Set with Culpa? 

At first it wasn’t a V.S. set and then when we got there she’s like I think I’m going to have you guys do a VS set with Culpa. And we’re like..”Do they know that??” We didn’t know what to expect. It was fucking crazy to experience that with you guys who we never met yet. We were pretty sure you guys hated us. And we’re like.. “cool.”

Personally it’s our favorite VS set we have done so far.

Any future releases coming out soon?? 

We have a label putting out our discography, & we’re putting out a full length with real depth. We have some side projects going Chris is doing some mathpunk ;Dom some screamorap.

Any shout-out you want to give

We want to thank anyone who has ever stood by us and you Tone for doing all you have since we met. Life is a dark heavy place but doing this music keeps us alive. 

Fuck racists/homophobia/objectivity/pedofiles. Fuck the left wing, fuck the right wing, noxwingxmincexpunks. 

Shoutout to Toxie. 

Smoke weed everyday. 

Thanks for your time

Augrah

Choke & xHostagex #67

What's up everyone while I just finish another school year at work. I got this awesome interview I got from someone that is in these killer bands. here is the interview enjoy 

 State your name and what band do you play for??

A: Hello my name is Gregg Paiva aka: Greggdeadface. I play in XHostageX  / Your Enemy / Choke & AK//47. I also co-run Enemy Of The Goat Records, and have been booking diy underground punk shows & fests in Oakland, Ca since 2011.

How are you doing???

A: Doing fuking epic homie. Truly blessed and stoked to be alive and grinding. I can not thank you enough for your support and this amazing opportunity.

How did you get into Punk???

A: Well like most of us back in the day, skateboarding.  I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and there wasn't much for diy underground culture,music & art. Especially when you are like ten years old. So I would see these people in Thrasher Magazine wearing these band shirts and such and would look them up. There also used to be interviews with bands as well. With those interviews, the bands would drop info on their up and coming homies bands or bands that were an influence on their music and ethics.

Also my Cousin Henry is ten years older than I and was a local skater,musician and artist and was always turning me onto underground music and local diy punk culture. He was the first to show me Motorhead!!!

So you were In xHostagex, Your Enemy, how did you get into those bands????

A: I'm still active and playing with XHostageX & Your Enemy. Both bands were started years ago out of the ashes of the first grindcore band I was in when I moved to California called Thousandswilldie. XHostageX is myself & the og guitarist of Thousandwilldie Yong-Son Leal. We have a musical connection unlike that of anyone I have ever played with before or will again. Plus he is one of the most solid,dependable,supportive, beautiful humans in this world. Your Enemy has always been myself as the one consistent member. Once Thousandswilldie was done I was bandless and wanted to get back to playing a very traditional style of grindcore in the vein of bands like: Excruciating Terror,Disrupt,Bloody Phoenix. Your Enemy has had more line ups then people change socks hahaha. Currently looking for yet another new line up.

After that you started Choke. Which is one of the sickest grindviolence bands from Cal.

How did you get Choke started???

A: Oh thank you so much for the kind words and support homie, much appreciated. Choke was started a few years ago out of my frustration,aggravation,disappointment and just overall disgust for what I was seeing in the underground diy grindcore/power violence/hardcore scene's. I grew up in a time and place where bands & artists actually stood for something, I'm from a generation where it was progressive and provoking to use your voice and art as a platform to stand up against injustice of any kind. I saw and continue to see that the culture I've known,loved and respected a good part of my life was being infected by ignorant,racist,fascit,homophobic,transphobic,woman hating fuckboy boneheads. Choke is my voice and my expression of all the hatred I have for the disgusting side of humanity. 

How did you get the name Choke and what are the influences???

A: I wanted the name of the band to represent how I felt when I was thinking about all of these worldly issues and how it made me feel mentaly and physically.

Musically the band is rooted in 90's harcorepunk & power violence. The main bands that have influenced my writing have been: Apartment 213,Integrity,Sheer Terror & Ringworm.

Lyrically my main and only influences are Bob Otis from Dropdead and Mike Judge from Judge NYHC

What's the line up???

Choke are the homies Fedge on guitar (Fedge also plays bass for a sludgeviolence band in Oakland called Merked) and Devan on bass ( Devan also plays bass for bay area hardcore/pv band Obsolete Man) & myself on drums and vokills.

You are also in Ak 47?? another sick band that Culpa had an honor to play with in Oxnard before you joined..

Any shows you guys played that were really good shows???

A: I just joined AK//47 about a year ago. The home Garna moved to Oakland in 2016 got a lineup together and did some crazy ass three month tour of the states. That line up faded out and now after a year of grinding hard as fuck we are ready to be a live active band again. We just added our new bass player Mike to the mix, & now the band is complete and fully rooted in Oakland. We just played our first show in March up in Sacramento. It was truly a magical moment for all of us. Looking forward to seeing what is in store.

Any projects in the works or releases you have going on?

A: Just grinding with all the bands I am currently in. Your Enemy and XHostageX both have Lp's coming out on RSR Records. Choke will also have a new LP and Discography out on RSR Records. AK//47 is working on our demo tape,out soon on Enemy Of The Goat Records. EOTG is a new diy record label that Fedge and I have started. We joined our old individual labels XEnemyX & Goat Power Records and now have this new project moving forward. We will mostly be releasing our own band's material as well as helping out homies with getting their music/art out.

Also I have gotten active again with booking diy shows again in Oakland. We have this awesome new venue called Stay Gold Deli. Best Bbq & Vegan Bbq in town. truly supportive of touring bands and the local punk scene. This year is also my first 510 Fest ( April 8th & 9th 2022) Two days. Twenty bands each day. Complete grinding madness!!!

I saw that you have the xGrifox and Dopemess split coming out. How did that split happen???

A: They are both homies. We asked. They said yes. Both of those splits will also be on EOTG Records. We also released a split with Impulse Noise (Washington) earlier this year and still have a few more splits to write for and record. I'm very slow when it comes to writing lyrics. It's my first time ever being a vokillist and lyricist for a band. Not my strength,but I try haha. 

Any shout out you want to give???

A:Yes,first and foremost if it wasn't for the love,support,respect and appreciation that my wife Tamara Paiva gives me each and every day I do not know where I would have been these past few years. They are truly my soulmate,ride or die,lover & best friend. Big love and hugs to all my bandmates: Garna,Yong-Son,Fedge,Mike,Devan if it was for these epic humans,musicians & artists I would be nothing, Their hard work and dedication is truly inspirational & motivational. And nothing but love,respect,stage dives and high fives to all these homies: To anyone who has ever supported myself or any of my bands over the years I am truly indebted to you, thank you from the top to the bottom of my heart & soul / Jake & Joey Dopemess / Biggs XGrifoX / Eli & Kathy Bloodyscythe Records / Sandro & RSR Records / Jason, Calab  & all the staff at Stay Gold Deli / Kent Cates & The First Church of the Buzzard / All the West Oakland Punks!!! /  Impulse Noise & all the Leprotic Limbs Records / Juan El Crusty Cristo & the entire Sacramento Punk/Grind scene / Bolo / S.U.R.G.E / Will & Merked / Obsolete Man / SissyFit / Choking Game / Domestic Immunity / Rise & Strike / Malandro / Fastcase / Rukus / Greyhound / Tom & James Haggus / Mescaline Maniacs / Matt Rawdawg & Rawdawg Studios / Dino & Blindspot Studios /  Rawtopsy & Mullet Death Records and most of all the beautiful town of Oakland, Ca (our music & message would not be the same without your inspiration)

Love yourself & Support the Homies!!!

Nuff Said!!!

Choke

xHostagex

AK//47

Influncer #66

What's up  everyone  hope everyone is good me I'm trying to get over a weird cold. this week I interview the Dynamic Duo Drum and bass from San Diego. here is the interview with Influncer Enjoy.

State your name what band do you play in? 

Tommy - Drums/Vocals
Julian - Electronics/Bass/Vocals
Our band is Influencer.

How you doing?? 

Tommy - Tired, how about yourself?
Julian - Decent. Thanks for asking us to do this interview!

How did you get into punk?? 

Tommy - Tony Hawk's pro skater came out when I was in 6th grade and it all went downhill from there.
Julian - My tio has a punk band that started in the 90's. They're called Discriminados. I was introduced to a lot of music growing up.

How did Influencer start? 

Tommy - Started as a quarantine project. I got bored of sitting around and doing psychedelic drugs recreationally. So I decided to go to a studio and just start recording. Then Julian joined shortly after and helped with recordings. The main goal was to make a Hardcore/Powerviolence project that didn't take itself too seriously. And now it is what it is.

How did you get the name influencer??? 

Tommy - Influencers are not good, they make people feel bad about their lives and people look up to them so it’s pure irony

What influences do you guys have??? 

Julian - I'm really into the energy that people have when they perform live and you can feel that they enjoy what they're doing. I love seeing and hearing people express their passion.
Tommy - Christian Death... Rudimentary Peni... I don't know. (Tommy is screen printing right now, he wasn't sure how to answer)

What's the best show you guys played??? 

Tommy - We haven't played many shows. The Pig City/Thra show was fun. We're excited for March 30th with HKFY, FAMILY VACATION, DISEASE, and MADRUGADO.

Julian - I played a show in Mexicali with an old band called Swine//Overthrow. During our set someone broke a hole in the wall of the bar. It was a mural of John Lennon's face. After we played, the singer of Calafia Puta punched through the ceiling and tore the lights out during their set.

Any future projects in the work or releases you guys have??? 

Tommy - We have a split with MADRUGADO coming up and a split with LACKING. After that we are going to be on a compilation for KNOCHENTAPES.

Julian - I am currently working on a drone/noise tape for a project called "sleep as a form of escape"

Any shout-out you want to give?

Thank you to everyone who supports us in any way. Thank you to anyone that buys our cassettes/shirts and listens to our music. We make everything ourselves and we put a lot of passion into both the physical and digital releases. We are thankful for all the love we have received.
This is a short list in no particular order. If you're not on this list, we still love you.

STOLEN, MADRUGADO, FLESH VOMIT, ANDY@EXTRA GRAPHIC, SERGIO(PESSIMISTA), ROPEMAN, SIDNEY HESTER, WOODY HARRELSON, OG CRAFT MEALS TEAM (CHEF MARCUS, DOM, JOE, JEREMY, SYDNEY, JAN), ANGELA, CURLY SUE, OLIVIA and RAIN, TOMMYS MOM, AMELIA (product 3 mugshot), JORDAN(outlet), @GLENDANZIGOFTHEMISFITS, LARA (Bivouac), LOTION, JIZZY, DISSLATE, CONCILIO CADAVERICO, SPACE BAR(TYLER, BOB, ANDY, JIMBO), HIPPIE MIGUEL, AMIR, CIUDAD MUERTE, UNCLE CHARLIE, DARK FRIENDS, HEAT(r.i.p.), PLANET FLESH, HECTOR, LIZ, JOSEPH, TIO LOUIE, DANNY(r.i.p), DERICK(r.i.p.), HANDS(r.i.p.)
We'll have more on our next releases. 
Thank you Tone for working with us and CRUSH DEATH. 

Influncer

Amputee, Callous, Chainsaw to the Face & Durian #65

What's Up everyone how you your good... this week I interview the dude that was in really known bands like Chainsaw To The Face, Callous, Amputee &  Durian... well here it's is enjoy the interview!

 State your name and what band do you play?

I'm John. Currently, I play bass in Durian, but I've also done guitar in some of the other projects we're talking about. I'll give the line-ups when we get there.

How are you doing?

I've avoided covid up until this point, so I guess I can't complain.

how did you get into punk??

I have an uncle that's only a few years older than me. He was my first exposure to like epitaph records stuff when I was in like 6th grade. He had his door covered in band stickers and I would make mental notes of the band names to try and find music by those bands.

How did Amputee start as band? What was the line up?

Around 2009 CTTF was on a hiatus of sorts. Billy and Ben had started working on some more straightforward grindcore material with our friend Brian on vocals. I was recording their demo for them and offered to play bass on it, and I just sort of stayed part of the line-up through til when we finished that up and went back to doing CTTF.

How did you get the name Amputee?

It's kinda silly, but It was really just a play on how we played out of way too many amplifiers for a grindcore band. We got over that quickly cause it's a pain to lug it around and didn't sound any better. Naming bands is the worst haha.

So after you started Chainsaw to the Face and Callous?

A bit out of order. CTTF was the first. We started in 2004 and played pretty regularly through 2009, and then from like late 2013 -June 2015 when we played what would go on to be our last show. Callous and Amputee both started in 2009 when we stopped doing CTTF for that period.

How did you start Callous and Chainsaw to the Face?

CTTF was started right when I was finishing high school. We were doing a more straightforward punk band but wanted to do something more in the grindcore/powerviolence realm. We had a member change up where I switched to guitar, got another friend Jake on bass, Dave on vocals, and our original drummer Ed. by 05 Ed was replaced by Ben, by 06 Jake was out and we didn't have a bass player for a few years until Bill joined on his 18th birthday so we could take him across state lines haha.

Callous started with Pat from Backslider and myself wanting to do something together again. We had known each other since like 03, and played in a hardcore band called "I Hate This" together a few years earlier.

What were the influences for those 2 Bands?

CTTF was all about playing fast. For the most part, we didn't even dabble in the slow parts of powerviolence. Our influences at the start were mainly Capitalist Casualties, Infest, lack of interest. Doesn't sound too out of the ordinary now, but back then in south Jersey, it was mostly metalcore, so we were not received well at home.

Callous the idea was to incorporate the slow sounds of Grief and the psych sounds of Gasp, along with like Crossed Out style hardcore. If you listen to the Demo I think that's pretty obvious. We kind of shifted that focus over the different eras of the band, but I feel like that was pretty ingrained in the DNA of the project. We generally kept it slow 85%, fast 15%.

What was the line up for Callous?

It shifted around a bit early on, but the sort of "definitive" Callous line-up was Pat from Backslider on Drums, Brian from Amputee on Bass, and myself on Guitar and Vocals.

How did you get the split with Backslider?

Ha, funny story about that one. We had a splits worth of material lined up for a split with Shed Dwellaz that didn't come through. Backslider was going to do a 7", but the longest song had a sample under it that the pressing plant flagged, so their 7" was going to be like 2 minutes long or something without that song. So Pat called me up and asked if we wanted to put that together as a split, and the rest is history.

After those bands, you started Durian?

Yes. So in June 2015, Bill moved away to Canada. Ben and I still wanted to keep playing fast music together, so we talked with Brian from Amputee and his cousin John to start a new grindcore band. We wanted to do something a little less stop/start than CTTF, something a bit closer to pop song structures. We probably failed miserably at that objective, but I think Amputee, CTTF, and Durian all have a distinct flavor despite being mostly the same dudes, playing more or less the same style of music.

By the way, it's a sick band what's the line up?

Thanks! The line-up for Durian was Ben on drums, John (M) on guitar, Brian on vocals, and myself on bass. Brian has had 3 kids since starting the band and really just didn't have time to be in the band anymore, so on the LP we just released, I do most of the vocals with some help from John (M). Ben played drums for the LP. He recorded his parts and then moved away to Arizona the next day, literally haha. We have a new drummer now, Zak, who you may know from the band Ground, and a new singer, Jim.

How did you get the split with Meth Leopard and God's America which are sick bands?

Well, Andres from GA and I have been buds for ages. When the "this comp kills fascists vol 1" came out, I was looking around online to see what people thought, most people fucking HATED the CTTF material because I think a lot of random metal dudes got that because it was on relapse. Andres was actually like, defending our tracks to these dudes, so I wrote to him just kinda to say thanks for digging what we do, I found out he was the mastermind behind the fantastic 1 man project Cogs and Sprockets, and we've been friends ever since.

Ryan and I met via Instagram. I was a fan of the ML demo, and when the Durian demo got released, he wrote to us right away asking to do a split and we jumped at the chance. We did the east coast part of their US tour with them and had a blast.

Any future projects or releases coming out soon?

The Durian LP is hot off the presses so snag one of those, or at least go listen on Bandcamp. We have a split that will be off to the plant soon with the band Sacthu from Spain, who just dropped a split 7" with Syntax about 2 days ago. Our material comes from the same session as the God's America split, so it will have Brian doing vocals and Ben on drums. We're also working on a split tape with Kadarivas from Japan that will be the first recording we are doing with our new line-up, so I'm really excited about that. We'll probably stick to doing splits and 7"s for a while, rather than doing another LP.

Any shout-out you want to give?

As always, everything I do goes out to Bill. Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting him understands what joy he brought to the life of those around him. Tomorrow is the anniversary of his passing and it's good for me to take these strolls down memory lane and recall all we accomplished together in the few short years we got to be brothers.

Thanks for taking an interest in my bands, and reaching out to me. It means a lot!

Amputee
Callous

Chainsaw to the Face

Durian

Backslider, No Comply, Callous and Black Gaff #64

 What's up everyone. How is everyone doing?? Everything somewhat going back to normal somewhat and still werid..My band has the 4 way split out (Carousel Of Death Split) if anyone wants to pick up one. This week interview one of the sickest drummers around and was in some cool bands I dig so. Was in a cool Sludgeviolence bands around here is the interview enjoy....   

 State your name and what bands are you in or were? 

Hey, this is Patrick. Previously, I played in I HATE THIS, BACKSLIDER, and CALLOUS. Currently, I play in EYE FLYS, and BLACK GAFF. 

How are you doing? 

Doing ok! Got alot of life stuff happening currently but getting through it. The Covid situation has been making everything a shitshow lately obviously also. 

How did you get into punk? 

I think I had a pretty normal trajectory into "punk".  I was kind right in the pocket of age for grunge to hit. I would look at records, articles or just see bands wearing t-shirts of other bands and look them up. That's how I heard FLIPPER, although I definitely wasn't ready for it at the time. Ha.  I had hand me down SEX PISTOLS, RAMONES and BLONDIE records from my Uncle and my Mom, so I had a little bit of an idea. 

When I was fifteen, a friend moved back to town I had not seen in a long time and he came back with a mohawk.  He gave me a copy of Punk O Rama II, ha. After that, I bugged anyone that seemed to know what was up, and grabbed anything I could get my hands on. 

How did you get into Drumming? 

When I was in about 5th grade I was super into Metallica and Guns N Roses and stuff. I thought Lars was awesome. Then when Nirvana hit, I was blown away by watching Dave Grohl beat the shit out of a four piece kit. Ha. Lars was the shit, but that definitely seemed like some unattainable rock star shit at the time. Seeing Dave totally cave-man a small kit, hair flying, sticks over head was like an "hey, I can do that!" epiphany even before I got into punk. Then, when I did come around to it, it was just kind of reinforced. I took drum lessons for a bit as a kid. Once I got a hold of a drum kit when I was about 12 it's all I wanted to do. 

Justin of No comply told me you were in the band for a minute... How did that happen??? 

Yea. I've known Justin for a bit. He's the OG. He was kind enough to put one of my old bands on his PRODUCT OF SIX CENTS II comp CD he did a while back (even though I quit the band before that, ha!) and ever since we stayed in touch and would talk a bunch about music and skateboarding. We also had a BACKSLIDER / NO COMPLY split 7" that was never fully released (long story, only a few test presses exist) At some point, we were talking and I mentioned I'd be down to track some drums for NO COMPLY. Justin said he was down. While I was tracking a CALLOUS 7", I did a quick freestyle and sort of spontaneous drum tracking of some ideas I had at the time in between recording sessions. I sent them to Justin and, long story short, they got lost in space and time and nothing ever came of it. Last year though, Justin and Will of To Live a Lie hit me up and said the tracks had been found. I believe he did a little more tracking and mixing, and the tracks will be used for an upcoming split 5" with THEY LIVE and a split 7" with SIDETRACKED.  So I'm super stoked on that. 

How did Callous get started? 

I was still doing I HATE THIS and BACKSLIDER at the same time back then. Maybe some other short lived projects too. Once I HATE THIS stopped playing, I started CALLOUS with my friends John and Brian, who played in CHAINSAW TO THE FACE and DOOMSDAY MACHINE SCHEMATIC.  At the time, all our bands were "fast."   So, we started CALLOUS as a way to change it up and play mostly slow, heavy, and get weird with guitar pedals.

What were some of the influences? 

We all liked GASP alot. That was for sure a driving influence. CAVITY, and some AMPHETAMINE REPTILE stuff also for sure. 

How did you get the name Callous?? 

I honestly don't remember, ha. I think it was just in a list of band names and we eventually just agreed on it.

How did you get into Backslider? 

I started BACKSLIDER with Logan in late 2008 when he first moved to Philadelphia. My current band at that time, I HATE THIS, had done a split 7" with his band RAW SEWAGE. We talked about starting a band prior to him moving out here. He later ended up playing bass in I HATE THIS also. 

Backslider is sick. when I heard you guys, I was  tripping out that it almost sounded like Lack of interest?

Ha. Thanks, I appreciate that! Yeah, we were for sure heavily influenced by LACK OF INTEREST, NO COMMENT, and SLAP A HAM stuff. Especially early on. It was funny later as we did more releases to get LACK OF INTEREST and SLEEP comparisons in the same review. 

After that what bands did you start?? 

After I parted ways with BACKSLIDER in 2017, I more or less just took a much needed break for a while.  I had a bunch of stuff I was demoing myself just before that, and I sort of sat on it for almost two years before I used it to eventually put together what would become my current band, EYE FLYS. 

I checked out Black Gaff. That shit is sick.

Thanks so much! I appreciate it! Yeah, that's a new project I have going on with a few of my stagehand union brothers. Sort of a sludge project with songs about skateboarding, stagehand work, and unionism. For fans of CORRUPTED and AGENTS OF SATAN.

Any future projects or releases?? 

EYE FLYS just had an EP titled "Exigent Circumstance" come out on CLOSED CASKET ACTIVITIES.  Also, the BLACK GAFF 

"Dead Hang" EP was released just before that. Both bands are currently working on new material.  The NO COMPLY split 5" with THEY LIVE will be out very soon on 625 THRASH / TO LIVE A LIE, and the NO COMPLY / SIDETRACKED split 7" shortly after that also on TLAL. 

May have a few other things in the works, but nothing to bring up just yet. 

Any shout-out you want to give?? 

To you! For doing this interview. Thank you 

Thanks for your time

Callous

Backslider

No Comply

Black Gaff

                                                                                                

Livid #63

What's up everyone, the discography for Culpa should be out soon it going to be called Strawberryfield Violence 2017-2021and the Carousel of Death 4 way split (featuring Culpa, Augrah, Chainxwolf and Hateoffering) pretty excited about that tapes. This week I interview Jacob from the all mighty Livid sick band live and had the honor to play with them. If you haven't check them out check them out. Here is the interview enjoy.

State your name what bands do you play for 

Jacob Michaud

I play in Livid, Die and Tomorrow Will be Worse

Tour has been fucking insane. A couple sleepers but hey it happens. We've been seeing alot of ride or dies for us this tour, and homies we haven't seen since covid, which has been very fucking rad. I'm doing pretty damn good.

I grew up listening to primarily grunge, nu-metal, and thrash thanks to my parents. All of which, I still love today. But the thrash shit is probably what got me more into the "I want to play fast shit" attitude. Bands like Sepultura eventually led me to bands like Dead Kennedy's. And then down the line I discovered this whole "underground" extreme music scene that has been my jam ever since.

Livid started out on a whim, I booked a house show for my first two bands at the time, and Jake (my band mate) rolled out. We hung a bit and talked about how we both loved powerviolence and grindy hardcore and how noone around us was about it. It originally was going to be me on guitar and doing vocals, and

Other Jake on bass. But we could find any drummers so I said fuck it; I'll do it. And the rest is history haha.

Jacob Michaud (myself) on drums/vocals

Jacob Smith on guitar/vocals

I do most of them, if it matters haha.

It started as us wanting a full band, but then with it being so difficult finding members. It's especially hard to find ones that could tour and are straightedge. We've considered trying a three piece, but who knows. We'll see. 

We wanted something very straightforward. Straight to the point. Something that described our music and sound right up front. I think Livid sums it up well.

Man this tour has been bananas. I would say the best show so far was Denton. A ton of hardcore peeps rolled out from Dallas, all the bands fucking destroyed, and the pit was insane. The whole Halloween weekend though was bad ass. We're extremely excited to see how the rest of the tour goes.

Livid has some stuff in the works, and so does our punk band Die. Just keep your eyes peeled, and ears to the ground.

Shout outs:

Scalp, World Peace, Mutilatred, Spy, Pains, Imperial Slaughter, Bad Ideals Demention, The Tooth, Meth., Caustic, and Snuffed. Lots more homies but there's some off the top of my head, everyone else you know who you are!

Thank you homie!!

https://lividwi.bandcamp.com/

Bridge Dweller #62

Hey what's up everyone, Happy New Years. I hope everyone is well.

This week I interview, the mighty Bridge Dweller from LBC. It was an honor to play with them last year in Santa Maria and hopefully we can play a show this year with them for sure. If you haven't check out Bridge Dweller and their side project called Gutter//Hype which is a sick powerviolence band. Enjoy here is the interview.

 State your name and what band do you play for?? 

Parker, guitarist and vocalist, from Bridge Dweller. 

How you been?

I've been good man. Just got back from Sacramento Speedfest. Wild ass shit up there. Nice to be home and not driving. Loved it tho. You're ever at Cafe Colonial go eat at the vegan Chinese food spot next door. Fucking shit was amazing. 

How did you get into punk? 

Shit I got into punk pretty naturally. As a little kid my dad told me I loved Sabbath and shit. By the time I was like 13-14 I was getting into a lot of older shit and Anarcho. Subhumans, Crass and Dead Kennedy's are probably the bands that really pushed me deeper into punk. From there over the next 10 years I just went apeshit. I dug deeper until I got into soulseek and just got into everything. I don't think soulseek gets enough credit for what it did for extreme forms of music. Everything was easily accessible and at your fingertips. By the time I was in my 20s I had progressed to Grind, Crust, PV, and all types of other shit. I was digging around and shit but when I heard the Magrudergrind/Shitstorm split, I was fucking sold. That shit really opened me up to a new world. I probably just fucking aged myself there too. I'm a fucking old man. Fuck you lol.

How did Bridge Dweller start as a band? 

Bridge Dweller started thru Facebook. We were all on some "Looking for band members page." Our old lead singer made a post looking to play grind so me and the drummer Gerrit hit him up and started fucking around. Wish we had a cooler story. Thanks Mark Zuckerberg, you piece of shit.

What is the line up? 

We've been thru a bunch of lineup changes. The lineup right now consists of me on guitar and vocals, and Gerrit on drums and vocals. Probably gonna stay that way for the foreseeable future. Started as a 3 piece and we used to be a 4 piece at one point in time with a lead singer, and a bassist. Our old bassist Marco is in a hardcore band now, Godhead. Go check them out.

Has it been a 2 piece?

We've only been a two piece for like 4 months. I never wanted to do vocals but shit happens. I'm still figuring it out. Between me and Gerrit I think were kind of covering the fact I'm terrible at playing guitar and doing vocals at the same time lol.

How did you get the name?

Despite what people seem to think the name does not come from a troll. Gerrit came up with the term Bridge Dweller. It's a reference to the Houseless that live under the bridges here in southern California.

 

I know at the moment you fellas are tour? 

Yea just got done with a mini tour up north. This month we've played in Riverside, Santa Maria, LA, Fresno and Sacramento. The best show performance wise I think we've played might have been in Hesperia at the Grind House with Hong Kong Fuck You, Mutinous, Thieves, Moldering Vibration and Hollow in Solace. Everything was clicking that one. Favorite show by far is definitely Sactown Speedfest. Everyone was so fucking rad up there. From the promoter to the bands. Kicked it with so many people. Shoutout to Narc and Dopemess especially, cool ass people.

 

Any future Projects or releases? 

We're working on recording our first real release hopefully by the end of November. We have a demo out but not something we're super proud of or feel it represents what we sound like now. After that we're going back to writing and hopefully recording a bunch of shit for splits. Weve been slacking on that aspect as we've been just been playing shows almost non stop it seems. We're busy people in our regular lives and shit. But we're gonna get it done soon. Be on the lookout.

Working on another possible band as well with members of Buenos Nachos. Super fucking stoked to get the ball rolling on that.

Any shoutout you want to give? 

Fuck, I could make the shoutout longer than the whole interview. We've met a fucking shit load of awesome and amazing people thru this shit. Way too many to list. I'll try to keep it short. Go fuck with these bands, Hong Kong Fuck You and Dopemess, love you Jake! Hollow in Solace, Thieves, Lagrimas, Stinker, Buenos Nachos, Prove It!, Moldering Vibration, Culpa, Narc, Sniping Pigs, Bulma, Artificial Happiness, the young homies from LB Blowin Mud and way too many more I'm probably forgetting. My memory is dogshit.

Thanks for your time

Thank you so much man. Hope to see all of you soon. Come catch us at one of our shows!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NP3YH3eC1I
https://bridgedwellergrind.bandcamp.com/