Ill Blood

Just finished watching this mini documentary on Ill Blood. It is pretty cool. There are a few little things that bothered me about it (Ewan Exall's opening remarks mostly), but still, an awesome watch.

ill blood: the album that still bleeds. from Johnny Five on Vimeo.

Still a hard jam

Just misunderstood.



Also, I got these today, and you didn't.





More interviews coming soon!

Interview with Nathan Meichel (xTRUEx Records)

Super cool new interview with one of the coolest figures in Canadian hardcore, Nathan Meichel. Some of you may know him as xTRUEx Nate, the owner and operator of DIY label xTRUEx Records (CLICK HERE!). Super awesome dude, buy his records, and read this interview!



Basics first. Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Nathan. I am the supreme ruler and overlord over all that is xTRUEx (record label, distro, show promotion) as well as a dad. I was also in a buttload of bands from the late 90's into the mid-2000's, but nobody outside of Alberta cares about any of them or which ones they were anyway.

How did xTRUEx come about?

I had just moved from Calgary to Edmonton, and I didn't really "know" enough people to start a band yet. I still wanted to be a part of the scene in some way, shape, or form, and I noticed that the only other dude running a distro in town basically just had Facedown bands and a few other random Christian things, so I decided I'd try my hand at it. Eventually the distro sort of evolved and took on a mind of its own, and I started to think "Geez... I should make my own records so that other people can have them in THEIR distros!" Those were the famous last words. January 2006 we put out our first record, and have been sporadically releasing things ever since.


Any upcoming releases the people of the internet should know about?

There's a bunch of stuff just over the horizon, including a Cope/St. Gilles collaborative 10" (maybe 12"... depends on how long the tracks end up being), a sort of "discography" for Kali (whom I still maintain are Red Deer's only good band), a Cope/Brain Fever split some time in the future, a theoretical Cope/Goose split that may or may not ever see the light of day, as well as a tentative split between Unrestrained and Unrestrained (PDX and VT, respectively). Other things are sort of "in the works" as they say, and may or may not pan out so I'll bite my tongue on those ones for now.


Vegan and straight edge. How long have you been and have any of your viewpoints on the two changed over the years?

I've been vegan for around 14 years now, and I just had my ten year edgiversary this most recent December. From what I can tell, I don't think my viewpoints have really changed. At least not as they pertain to me, personally. Maybe at some point I may have adjusted how I treat other people in regards to these things, but the reasons I adopted both of them in the first place are still valid. At some point I think I realized that I didn't have to shove it down other peoples' throats, that I could just live my life by example and hope that other people caught on. I still have very vocal standpoints on many issues (veganism and straight edge not being the least of them) but they're presented more in a fashion of "these are the facts I have, this is how I interpret them, I think it would be really cool if you re-examined your values and made your own decisions now that you have this new information" rather than "IF YOU'RE NOT LIKE ME, THEN FUCK! YOU!" I do have a soft spot in my heart for over-the-top political commentary and near-zealous fervor, but I'd be lying to myself if I said that I wanted to confront everyone all the time. I'd rather take an intellectual standpoint and have a casual conversation than shove things down peoples' throats....Usually.




What is it like being a hardcore dad?

It's friggin' tiring. Hahahahaha. You always hear about how much energy kids have, but you never really know until you see it in front of you all day long. They're not just like that at the park or when they're out playing, it's ALL THE TIME. Between a full-time job during the day and taking care of my son during the evening so my wife can work or go to school (depending on the day) I'm surprised I accomplish ANYthing music-related. So if you're out there and reading this and I sent your mailorder stuff out a week late, please accept my apologies. I probably fell asleep writing your address label.

Favorite Propagandhi album?

It's funny, my wife and I were talking about this just the other day. There will always be a soft spot in my heart for How To Clean Everything, since it was when I first heard them... oh, and it also has Who Will Help Me Bake This Bread, which makes me simultaneously happier, sadder, angrier, more at peace, and more anxious than any other song in the world... but I acknowledge from a technical/lyrical/conceptual/musical standpoint that everything else they did after that was far superior. I dunno, man... it's like... they're one of the ONLY bands out there that consistently get better with age. Each record tops the last somehow. I don't understand it. I LOVE IT, but I don't understand it.


I know a few years ago Edmonton was considered to have a more violent scene (by some peoples standards) than the rest of Western Canada? Do you have any comment about violence in the hardcore scene?

I'm pretty sure I know exactly what incident (out of two possibles - both of which, coincidentally, did not occur *in* Edmonton) has caused people to think that, and I can honestly say that outside of those two instances, Edmonton is not a "violent scene" in any way, shape, or form. In the 7'ish years or so that I've lived here, I have not seen a single fight at an all-ages show. Not even so much as a scuffle.
With that being said...
That is exactly how I like it. Fighting is fucking stupid. Flat out. Period. While hardcore is obviously aggressive music, there is a colossal difference between channeling that aggression positively and letting it out negatively. I've put a lot of thought into what I would do if I ever actually did see a fight break out at one of my shows, and it can be broken down "play-by-play" if you will.

1) Obviously, break it up.
2) If the combatants are unwilling to settle their differences in a mature, non-violent manner, they will be made an example of.
3) I will actually get on the mic, and proclaim to everyone that "EVERYone should be able to feel safe in our scene. Under NO circumstances should anyone have to fear being attacked, and this behaviour is unacceptable. You have ONE chance to make up - and that is right now. In front of everyone. You don't have to like eachother, but you have to respect eachother and treat eachother with dignity. If anyone -- and I mean ANYONE, I don't care who you are, what band you're in, how long you've been around -- continues this fight, you will be unwelcome at any of my shows. I will not sell you any records. You will be refused entry to any event I'm involved in. I will never book any of your bands. Not only that, but I will encourage other promoters to do the same. As far as I am concerned, this is zero tolerance. I want nothing to do with small-minded petty bickering. You have a choice to make, so make it wisely and make it now."

Now, I know it sounds rather silly and grandiose, and I don't claim to be the end-all, be-all of hardcore, but I think it is a great example of letting people know that their actions have consequences, which is one of the most important lessons anyone can learn.

What's good in 2010 hardcore?

Sooooooooo many good things. Obviously, all the bands I'm working with are great, so I'll try and weed out my nepotistic tendencies by just saying check out ALL the bands I'm putting stuff out for.

But man... MAUS... they are set to destroy everything and everyone in 2010. If you haven't checked them out yet, go do it now. http://www.myspace.com/mausedmonton
Voices seem to be (excuse the pun) finding their own voice and starting to make some really interesting new stuff. http://www.myspace.com/voiceshc
Todos Caeran used to be called two or three different other things and morphed from being a more-or-less youth crew band into something of a more Revolution-Summer'y/DC emo'ish sort of band. It's neat watching kids grow up. http://www.myspace.com/radicallyadvanced
Jeff x Spicoli are just fucking fast. And then more fast. And even more fast. ...And then some surf for some reason? But then even more fast. http://www.myspace.com/jeffxspicoli
No Problem is some of the dudes from Wednesday Night Heroes and High Jinks doing an LA punk kinda Germs'esque deal and it fucking rules. http://www.myspace.com/noproblempunx
Getting a bit further outside of my backyard, there are SO many good new bands right now... honestly the best thing in 2010 hardcore is whatever's going on in your own scene, in your own town. Nurture it. Love it. Help it grow. ...And then send them out our way so we can finally have more bands touring through here. Hahaha.

Your ultimate burrito. Name it, what's in it?

I was reading your older blog interviews and hoping that you'd ask me this...
Anyone who knows me knows my love for burritos, but also my insatiable hunger for Mediterranean food. I've created a hybrid cuisine that I call "Mediterexican", where you combine foods from both cultures. The premier star of this concept is the burafel -- 50% burrito, 50% falafel, 200% delicious.
Basically, it's black beans with crushed up falafel patties, tomatoes, olives, and hummus (and tahini, if you happen to have some on-hand, which I never seem to at the right time). It can either exist in a pita or a tortilla, but my favourites are the curry-flavoured masala tortillas that add a little bit of extra zing, and yet another aspect to the flavour.
I know... right now you're reading out there either saying "He's a madman... A MADMAN!!" or "That sounds friggin' delicious! I'm gonna make me one of those!"
Hopefully more of the latter than the former.

Any last words?

What? Am I being executed or something?
But no, in all seriousness, thanks so much for the interview. Usually nobody cares what I have to say about anything. I wish I could do more of these. Hahaha.
Oh... and: Remember kids, use your voices, not your fists.

Interview with Jared Carman (Down To Nothing, Trapped Under Ice)

This is a new interview with Jared Carman, He is constantly on tour with DTN and TUI, luckily enough he's home for a bit and could answer a few questions regarding hardcore and burritos.



Let's start off with the basics, who are you, and what do you do?

I am Jared. I play bass in the bands Down To Nothing and Trapped Under Ice.

How did you get recruited to the TUI camp?

The first Trapped Under Ice shows in Richmond were with Down To Nothing. We used to bring them down because we liked that demo a lot. They never really had a bass player and when DTN sorta took a back seat it just happened.

Your touring schedule must be pretty rigorous split between two bands, when your holding it down at home, what is your favorite pass time?

Yeah I'm not home that much. This is actually the beginning to my entire summer off and I'm going to spend it lifting weights, walking in the woods, jumping off of shit, sleeping outside, going to the beach, skateboarding, and riding my bike. My favorite thing to do while I'm home is get in the James River and while there I will do what my friend Justice would refer to as "tanning my dick".

Anything new in the pipeline for either TUI or DTN?

Both bands got some stuff going on. DTN just had a new EP called "All My Sons" come out on Reaper Records. We're playing a handful of shows in DC, Raleigh, Philly, Atlanta, going out to California for Sound and Fury, a record release in Richmond, and then a month in Europe. We are all in other bands, go to school, or have real jobs, so when we get a chance to do something it's awesome. Trapped Under Ice just wanted to take the summer off cause we've been out this entire year and this part of the year is cluster fuck for touring bands. We've got some one off stuff here and there and were playing some fests and stuff. We're actually writing a lot for our next record on this time off. Then in late August we will demo some of the songs right before we start a full US with Bane, Cruel Hand, and Alpha & Omega. Then in the fall we do Europe and Japan. Thats a lot of shit.


Is there any comment you would like to make about violence in the hardcore scene. Whether it be beefs with bands, crews or otherwise. I know some people can just ignore it, but in certain cities, it must be more noticeable?

To be perfectly honest I don't see a problem. It not really something I even really see. I just did a tour with Four Year Strong and they are like a pop punk band. There were more fights for them than any other tour I've been on. They had to stop playing a lot. I mean if you are fucking your scene up by ruining venues and shutting shows down then you probably shouldn't be going in the first place. You probably won't be sticking around anyways. Sometimes things happen and that's that. The way I see it, just like in the everyday life, you should be minding your business and everything should be OK. I guess if you're in a band or gang and gotta fight then go outside and fight across the street if its that important. Seems pretty simple to me.

What's good in 2010 hardcore?

Reaper Records is what's good in 2010 hardcore. I heard the new Terror record last night. That shit is unbelievable. I want to listen to that everyday. Dead End Path, Fire and Ice, Bracewar, Naysayer, Cruel Hand, Title Fight, Hatebreed, Maximum Penalty, Backtrack, Foundation..this list goes on. Check all those bands out. Shit is alive as it has ever been.



Biggest inspiration in music? Is there one person/band you look up to more than anything else?

I play music because I love it and there are definitely people, bands, or songs that make me love it but there isn't any one person or band I look up to. I think thats something you do more when you are younger. There were people I thought were cool and wanted to be so bad but you get over that stuff. I'm more into just being myself and that's sorta what I admire in other people now. People that are just passionate about what they are doing. That feeling can come from anywhere too. You can be having a weird week or something and it can come from anywhere and can change everything just like that. Everything just turns around immediately. It could be a new band or song that kills me or it could be a dog smiling at me from a car driving by me on my bike. I'm serious.

What are your requirements for the most supreme burrito? Sauce, cheese, etc... What's it got to be?

I will fuck with any burrito (or food for that matter) as long as it doesn't have eggs in it. I don't do eggs. Carnitas. Cilantro in the rice is so wack. Please get that shit out of my face.

Any last words?

"Stop sucking dicks and start getting your dick sucked."

Days off

Days off are the best. Today I woke up at the crack of noon and had a nice, leisurely shower, followed by some Captain Crunch and an apple. Soon after I welcome Sir. John Cameron into my home to come peek through some records. We discussed Mayhem and Darkthrone picture discs along with Ice Cube double LPs. I also showed him some hc done right in 2010, Touche Amore's s/t 7" (check it out if you don't have it already).

This evening Brittany and I planted a small amount of veggies and herbs into her mom's garden.



Here are a few of the peppers I am growing. There are some habaneros, Sheppard's, and some cayenne chili peppers. Aswell as some banana peppers that are not pictured.



I am also growing some crucial herbs. Rosemary, sweet basil and cilantro.



Aside from these, there is also some parsnips, squash, yellow tomatoes and baby red tomatoes. Brittany is also planting some flowers.

Anyhow, keep checking, there will be some new posts/interviews up soon.

Good days usually end with something like this

Sometimes I forget how much I love this band. Saw them for the third time tonight, still great. Got to chat with Damien for a bit about records and we'll be doing an interview for the blog in the next few weeks. Get stoked.

Also, everyone say one million thanks (as I do everyday) to Brittany for being so patient with me for almost 16 months now. She's a trooper and not many people can put up with my bullshit/record spending habits/anger/currently high blood pressure. She is the best.

Interview with Vic DiCara (108, Inside Out)

Again, I have had an awesome opportunity to talk to another icon in punk rock. Vic DiCara. Between playing in Inside Out in the early 90's with Zach De La Rocha, to shredding with 108. One of the best reads so far.



Basics first. Who are you and what do you do? Bands? Career?

I am a ghost in the machine.
I haunt the world of things.
Trapped by ties that linger beyond the edge of death.

I have a name
I have a face
I have hands that grasp at shadows
All resurrected from moss and mud,
Animated by the dark wisp of the specter that I am.

My name is Vic. DiCara, Victor Damien. I have inhabited this dream for almost 40 years now.


Can you give a bit of a background about your time in hardcore/punk? Starting with Beyond and Inside Out, continued on through 108.

In high school being into BMX had me hang out with some skateboard people, so a few kids into thrash metal and hardcore started hanging out with us and visa versa. So I got into music. I picked up a guitar and joined a band called Toxic Phlegm. Kevin Egan from Beyond was also in this band. Once I learned how a band works I started a new one called Socially Incorrect. Vin Novara from 1.6 Band was in this one. Then I was drafted to Inner Strength - a band actually playing real-ish shows. Alan Cage from Beyond, Burn and Quicksand was in this one. Inner Strength merged with Beyond, and soon the bass player quit, so I played bass.

Then I moved to California. I met Chris and Alex from Chain of Strength and they connected me with Zack (zdlr) and we did Inside Out.

Then I moved to Goloka Vrindaban or sort of, and defected from Inside Out into Shelter with Ray Cappo from YOT. Soon I got booted from Shelter and started 108. I've been doing 108 since then, put with a pause for about 10 years. In that time I did an unnamed band with Chris and Frosty from Chain of Strength, and Shaun Ross from Excel. Then I tried to do a band called Charge but that went up in ugly flames. Finally I did Burn with Alan again. After that 108 finally re-materialized, thank god.



What are the most noticeable differences in hardcore/punk from the early 90's to today?

I'm no expert. To me they appear pretty much identical, especially to the ear. I think the biggest difference is how many generations of copies you are dealing with. I mean in 83-86 you had some really creative stuff. Then from 86-89 you have ok stuff but it was all more or less looking backwards at what already happened. Then you got a 2nd wave of copies between 90 - 92, but this generation seemed to be pretty forward and inventive, so you got some interesting new permutations in this round of copies. I think for example Quicksand, Into Another, maybe 108 & Inside Out if I want to be self-congratulatory, other interesting new ideas, even though we were all tied still to the 86 blueprint, we were still stretching it. Then you had sort of a breakdown 93-97 where things got all about ideas and movements and the music itself sort of suffered. I think that also had to do with the failure of hardcore to make the jump to hyperspace and become mainstream - in 93 there was an attempt to make that jump as a result of Kurt Cobain and his band. Anyway. After 98 I have no idea what the fuck went on, but what I can say is there must have been a LOT more photocopies of photocopies being made, cuz these days there ain't nothing even close to a Quicksand or Into Another.


Could you give a brief explanation of Krishna Consciousness and it's role in the hardcore scene?


The second part sort of the query confused me for a second, "role in the hardcore scene" - The hardcore scene is not of any particular importance in explaining what Krishna Consciousness is - but I am wondering now if you want me to explain how Krishna consciousness got involved in the hardcore scene, so I will try to do both.

a) The meaning of life is pleasure.

Existence itself is manifest only for this purpose.


b) We evolve our understanding of what "pleasure" is as we grow through the species and through our human journey. At first we think that sensual stimulation is the summit of pleasure, but soon as human beings we realize that the emotional experience behind these sensations is far superior. As we evolve further we realize that love is the most pleasurable of these emotional experiences. We then have to evolve our understanding of love... we realize that the more selfless it becomes the more pleasure it generates, ironically.

We simultaneously need to evolve our self-concept - realizing our identity first as the body - a tangle of senses; next as the mind, a pool of emotions; later on as a "heart" or a "soul" - a repository of love. Thus we realize our identity is higher than physical reality. We thereby come to understand things which transcend the obvious. We realize OCCULT LOVE - love on a metaphysical level - as the source of unfathomable pleasure.

Finally we evolve to understand the supreme occult relationship with the most lovable transcendent being: who we call "Krishna" (which means "all-attractive"). The absolute perfection of life occurs when we evolve to the stage in which our entire being is interwoven with the consciousness of the paramount pleasure of absolute love for this all-attractive being, Krishna. That is what it has come to be called "Krishna Consciousness"

As you can see, the role of the hardcore scene in the gigantic scope of this transcendental journey gets somewhat blurry or obscure. Hardcore kids have always been misfits even before they were called Hardcore Kids, when they were Punks, or Rockers, or Cool Cats before that. Misfits always know that the world is completely fake and that its real meaning is completely vacant and absent from life. So these misfits are always inclined to find answers to this emptiness. Some small percentage of them have always turned to occult and spiritual practice. In some sense this is "religion" but for most, religion feels like a part of the fake world, and they take instead to "spiritualism" or "occultism" or "transcendentalism"

So, this is what happened, really. It was around 85 or 86 in New York City, I think it was actually Tompkins Square park, but I may be wrong. I am friends with the man who organized it. They, the Hare Krishnas, started feeding people for free at the park. Punks would come by and make fun of the Krishnas (of course, punks would make fun of EVERYTHING) and eat the food. A few of them got "brainwashed" in other words, they started to sit around and listen to what the Krishna's were talking about. This is what started the first wave of Krishna Consciousness in hardcore around 1986.


After visiting your website, I see that you offer astrological readings and consultations. Could you give an explanation as to what this is all about?

The reason why the world exists is to help us individual beings evolve. We who inhabit this world are actually pretty unique among all the beings in existence. We are sort of strange, and I think this is actually a pretty cool thing, in the long term. We are strange because we have a mix of divine qualities which include the concept that we are the supreme divinity - to one subconscious extent or the other - in some few actually to a conscious extreme. This makes us unwilling to enjoy the purpose of life - which is the supreme experience of pleasure via transcendent love for the absolute lovable being.

So that's why this world exists.

It is a sort of spiritual gymnasium in which we can exercise our desires until we have sorted them all out and evolved ourselves willingly into a new level of understanding ourselves which allows us to know our identity with the supreme divinity without making us loathe to focus on giving love rather than receiving it.

The equipment in this gym is the law of karma. It is a machine which gradually helps the soul evolve. It do so using a very simple principle which pavlov discovered and explained pretty well. Things we do which are more selfish earn reactions which help us become inclined not to act that way in the future, while things we do which are more selfless earn reactions that encourage us to continue in that more selfless fashion.

This process takes place not very much in the small conscious mind of our limited experience in a single lifetime. It takes place in the huge transcendent mind of the soul, which is not a physical body, but which transmigrates from one body to the next in an endless cycle of evolution and devolution.

The universe is the machine which operates the function of Karma to evolve us to a more whole state of being. You can read the positions of things in that universe to know what karma's are going to bear fruit and when they are going to bear fruit. Thus by studying and interpreting the positions of the planets and stars relative to earth and to an individual you can learn about your own karmic process of evolution - and even down to rather minute details.


In all your years within the hardcore scene, is there one memory that will forever be ingrained in you? A unique experience unlike any other?

There are way more than one. I have been very blessed and lucky in that my life is FULL of uniquely memorable experiences. I sometimes feel like I live for a year in each passing of the Earths day. I am very grateful that Mother Nature has treated me so kindly, in her compassion. When you ask me that question about a dozen memories come to mind. I will pick one at random.

I liked when Inside Out would play at Spanky's cafe (the restaurant) in Riverside. Onetime a homeless guy came in to see the show. That was a very memorable event.


Is there any one band you are excited about in 2010 hardcore?

No.

But there are some that are better than others. Right now Rise and Fall and Lewd Acts are two that I remember at the moment.

I am not authority. This is just my opinion about modern hardcore bands. And to be honest my opinion on that subject might as well be called fairly unimportant.

Burritos? Are you a fan? If so, what fillings are crucial to your perfect burrito?

I'm not really into them. I don't like feeling heavy in my stomach and having tons of gas. I must be weird, right? Seriously I think they are over-rated but whatever. As far as Mexican goes I would prefer enchiladas. Actually I haven't had burritos in a long time, since moving to Japan. So we went to the Costco in Japan and bought beans and tortillas and made some. My wife makes em damn good cuz she fries them. So I can get into them now and them. But Southern California was just burrito overkill to the max... dude.

Any last words?

Samhain is excellent.