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.

Interview with Jordan Cooper (Revelation Records)

Here's the beginning of a new batch of interviews. This one in particular is with Jordan Cooper. He and Ray Cappo started Revelation records in the 80's. To anyone in the know with hardcore and punk, Revelation in the pinnacle.



Can you give us a bit of a back story about Revelation? How it came about? How you and Ray met? Etc...

Ray and I met in high school in English class, but it was years later that we talked about putting out a record. After high school, Ray moved to New Haven where I lived at the time and started Youth Of Today. At some point we just talked about putting out a record for Warzone, and within a few months we got that to happen. Once that came out Ray had an idea for another and it continued from there.


What is your position in the hardcore scene currently? Do you still attend shows regularly?

I only occasionally go to shows at this point, but most of my friends came from my involvement with hardcore in one way or another and of course running Revelation keeps me in touch with a lot of people.

Who's idea was it to start up the distro? Did you ever imagine it would get as huge as it has?

It wasn't really an idea, but something that came from the fact that a lot of people into hardcore also have bands and labels and zines and the people that worked here had stuff they they needed to distribute the way Revelation's stuff did so it just made sense to ship everything together. We tried getting some Dischord and other labels' stuff in the mid 90s but that didn't really go anywhere. A couple of years after that, a guy named Brian Probart who worked at SST before, came in to do some sales and suggested we do some other distribution I think. By then we'd also started doing distribution for Indecision probably too. That is when the distribution really became a big part of what people here spent time on.

Do you yourself have a personal collection of all the classic/rare releases(Chung King, Warzone Lion attacking the horse, etc...)?

Of course. I think I have one copy of every pressing of almost everything we've put out.




Is there a Rev release that you are particularly proud of? Is there a single release that you would consider your favorite?

Every one of them has a certain memory attached to it and I'm proud of a lot of them for different reasons.

Greg told me to ask you about video games, so, what have you been playing lately?

I've actually not been playing video games as consistently as I used to. I used to have a pretty specific list of games that I would play every Saturday and Sunday: Missile Command, Centipede, Super Breakout, Star Castle, Pac-Man, Millipede, Stargate, Crazy Climber, Tempest and a few others. MAME is one of the best things that ever happened in the world of computers so for the past 12 years or so that I've known about it, it's been fun getting to play all the games I remember from my jr. high years. Steve Hertz (former co-owner of Ambassador Records and brother of Frosty from Chain Of Strength) runs a group of arcade game collectors called SC3. Last weekend I went to their semi-annual party and got to play some gems that I haven't seen in a long time and some that I'd never played. It's great.

Are there any upcoming games you are excited about?

I don't devote any time to looking into new games so I don't really know what's out or coming out, but any classic emulation is sort of interesting. ...although MAME seems to cover everything I care about.

What's in the pipeline now for Revelation? Any upcoming releases we should know about?

By A Thread is finally releasing a new record this year. We have a compilation coming out soon where newer bands cover some of the older Rev bands songs. Tony Rettman's book about Detroit hardcore "Why Be Something That You're Not" will be out in July. Popeye from Farside and Jeff from Gameface have a band called You're Favorite Trainwreck and I've been talking to them about putting out a record. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anything.

Lastly, any final words?

Thanks!