Over the past few weeks I have had the honor a privilege to be able to talk to Greg Bennick over the all-powerful facebook. He is one of the most interesting human beings I have ever come in contact with, and despite only knowing him through his words on a keyboard, and a record in my collection, he is one of the most inspiring and touching figures I have in my life.
Here is an interview I did with him recently
Are you able to talk in detail about the current existence/non-existence of Trial?
GREG: Trial is on an indefinite break due to the the sad and sudden death last fall of our bassist Brian Redman. We had been talking extensively about playing more shows but the idea of playing without Brian is still something that we can't come to terms with at this time. I can barely even think about him without my brain just shutting down and my heart feeling likes its going to explode. It was like, and it is like, losing a brother. Its just too sad. I love Trial and always will, but now is a time of looking forward to new projects, and new inspirations.
Did you political and dietary views grow from being involved with Trial and hardcore, or were they something that you were involved in previously?
GREG: Both happened as a result of being involved in hardcore and punk music. I first started listening to hardcore music around 1984. My friend Chris had climbed up onto his parents rooftop in Connecticut where we lived and had put an antenna up there so he could get radio signals from New York City of all the punk and rap stations there. He started recording what he was picking up onto cassettes and bringing those tapes over to my place. This was my introduction to punk rock. I was amazed by what I heard. I had been listening to heavy metal (Ratt, Motley Crue, etc – the best music basically ever) and while I thought they were intense, I had no idea what was being played out in the world by people in the punk community. It really inspired me and turned my brain inside out in a really good and creative way. In high school I had gotten interested in Native American rights after taking a class taught by a Native teacher who offered his own personal experiences as part of the class curriculum. But it wasn’t until the early 1990’s when I toured with Inside Out in 1993 and the Western Shoshone Defense Project that I became deeply interested in social justice issues when I learned about the Shoshone’s land rights struggles (check www.wsdp.org for more information). Trial formed in 1995 and I started speaking about ideas and getting involved then, and that’s continued until today.
What projects are you currently working on? I know that Philosopher Kings was recently released, and I also heard you were doing trips to Haiti. What is going on with these projects?
GREG: The trip to Haiti came out of nowhere, much like the earthquake itself. I'd been to Haiti a year and a half ago while filming The Philosopher Kings. The film is about wisdom seen through the eyes of custodians at pretigious American universities. One of the custodians is from Princeton University and he was born and raised in Haiti. His name is Josue Lajeunesse. His dream is to make sure his village has access to clean water. We flew to Haiti and filmed him there and captured his passion for that dream on film. We’d planned on going back in January to film more for our new project, which specifically focuses on that dream, but of course the earthquake pre-empted that. I needed to do something for Haiti. I sailed to Haiti on a sailboat with nine other people along with ten thousand pounds of medical supplies and food. We were one of the first independent boats to reach the southern coast of Haiti. It was an all-volunteer crew. You can read more about my perspectives on this trip on my blog at http://gregbennick.com/blog/ and especially be sure to check out the ship’s blog at http://www.libertyschooner.com. After that trip, I wanted to do something more. When the Liberty Schooner decided to return to Haiti with more supplies, I helped to arrange for thirty thousand pounds of rice to be onboard. About eighty people worldwide helped donate money to this cause. Soon I will be starting an initiative called One Hundred For Haiti (http://www.onehundredforhaiti.com), and the mission of the group will be to find “The One Hundred”: one hundred people, business, corporations, and associations worldwide who are willing to donate $1000 each to Haiti relief efforts. I already have two organizations willing to each be one of The One Hundred. Sage V Foods who are a food distributor from Arkansas, and dept. Z which is a high end hair salon from Spokane WA. Haiti was decimated by the earthquake, and rebuilding the country is something everyone can help with whether we contribute money, time, creativity, or even if we put out efforts elsewhere. The key is to get involved and to stay involved.
How long have you been vegan and straight edge and have your ideas and/or beliefs changed over the years?
GREG: I quit drinking and drugs on September 30th, 1988. I became vegetarian that same day too. I was 17 and after a night at a party where people trashed an outside space which had been beautiful hours before but ended up destroyed and covered in garbage, I realized that drinking for me was not only destructive internally but externally as well. I cleaned that park up by myself at 6 AM the next morning and never looked back. I didn’t go vegan until 1991, but since then, no my beliefs have remained the same. No exceptions and no compromise. I am true til 95. People in the hardcore community like saying “true til death” but that sounds like a long time to me. I have always said that I am true til age 95. I figure if I make it that long, that I deserve to have a huge party and get seriously loaded. Yes, in the song “This is Not a Trend” I said “its for life that I embrace the edge”, but that’s only because it would have sounded weird to sing “Its until age 95 that I embrace the edge and then I am going to drink more than you ever have”.
Are there any current bands in hardcore/punk that have been striking your attention as of late?
GREG: I like To Kill. They are from Rome and they are dedicated to sharing a message about political and social awareness. They asked me to do spoken word on their record last year and this was a benefit for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Sea Shepherd has been getting a lot of criticism lately because of their fame on the Whale Wars show. But I really have to ask: who else is policing those who break the law in the oceans? No one. I love Sea Shepherd and think they are worthy of everyone’s support and attention. To Kill are an awesome band with a powerful approach to their music. And they are really nice people. Listening to them you would think they are mean and huge, but they are not huge, or mean. I also really like Anchor from Stockholm. They, in my humble opinion, are Europe’s #1 party band. I have also been listening to a lot of Behemoth’s new full length “Evangelion”, but this is arguably not very punk.
Are there any new projects in production with you right now? Whether it be musically, a new film, or anything else?
GREG: We just finished recording, mixing, and mastering the six song Between Earth and Sky EP for Refuse Records from Berlin/Warsaw. I can’t wait for it to be out. We have been thinking about, planning, and hoping to do this record for ten years. We will be starting to work on an LP soon too. Expect that LP be to be out sometime in the year 2043. The EP however will be out this summer. I am also just starting production on a film called “La Source” about a village in Haiti who desperately need a permanent water system and the dream of one man (Josue Lajeunesse who I mentioned earlier when I was talking about Haiti) to make that water system a reality. You can check out more about the film at http://www.lasourcemovie.com. I am also working on a few book projects, one with Brian Peterson who wrote Burning Fight, and another that I am just getting started on inspired by the Trial “Are These Our Lives?” record and the ideas in it. I am hoping too to do a lot of speaking this year and in 2011. People who have interest in putting together a show should get in touch anytime.
Any last words?
GREG: Yes! Thank you for the interview. Its always good to meet new people, so anyone who has questions about any of the things I talked about here or who just wants to say hi should get in touch on Facebook and we’ll connect. My facebook is http://www.facebook.com/gregbennick and I will love to hear from you anytime.
