Mastiff Interview

Mastiff hails from California and soon will be dropping new record via Knives Out records. To my knowledge the music is already recorded, but the ep is still in the process of putting it all together. This interview was done couple months ago so some info might be outdated, but it's a good start to get to know this band.

Can you introduce the band and tell us where you are from?
mastiff is from the east bay area (we touch the water)

When was the starting point for Mastiff?
the starting point for mastiff was the winter of 2012 in the heart of east oakland.

You got shitoad of releases posted on your bandcamp. Gimme us some overview, which stuff is the best and which kids should pass?
honestly the hardest part with mastiff is we feel that alot of kids cant really relate to some of the songs we write, we wouldnt really tell anyone to pass on anything we make just for the fact at one point of time we thought it was something important to write about..mastiff is more of a groove that some people hate or feel.

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Creepout Interview

From Tokyo, Japan, Creepout is a long standing band that's all about maniacal, ignorant, brutal hardcore. They've been going for years now and after a slew of hard-hitting releases I think they've reached a cult status in their country. Despite that it ain't easy to find more in depth info about the band, so I thought it would be a good idea to catch up with their singer Kunihide to talk about band's past and future.

You’re probably one of the key bands to ever emerge from Japan in 2000s and I think everyone into hardcore heard about Creepout at one point. However, it’s hard to find any background info about the band. Can you give me a bit of a history?
Formed in 2002 with some my boys who played for previous band i sung,just started as some old school hardcore band.Ofcourse as you imagine,we got huge influence from Cleveland hardcore so we wanted to have some essence of it on our music but couldn't do well then.We got a few important things/moments ever,one is to play/meet with Integrity in japan 2004,and did a split with Crowd Deterrent in 2007. and after split with CD,we got a chances to play in the U.S., A lot of things has changed and went great.We wouldn't spread our name to outside of japan mainly,that was natural.Butso many bands/guys know our name and gave me cool reaction,that's so great.

At the beginning, what type of music did you want to make?
Oh yes Cleveland hardcore like OLC/PB2000 and some B4B tastes.

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These Streets Interview

These Streets is a band from Cali that caught my attention when they dropped Life From The Gutter ep some time ago. That record was tight and I was hoping it wasn't gonna be their last word. Fast forward to 2015, the band is releasing Clockwise and it didn't let down. Hard-hitting, tough hardcore that combines all the good stuff I like in bands like Trapped Under Ice, Madball, Terror and so on. You get the picture. This is an inteview with band's vocalist, Cameron.

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New Blood: Revision

Give us some background on Revision. Who’s in the band and how did it get started?

Revision is 5 friends that wanted to play music together. Brandon is are front man. Luke is slapping the bass. Glen is the young blood on guitar. Kevin is the beat maker. I (Dennis) play second guitar. We live in a area where HC is scarce , so I guess trying to jump start a scene would be nice too. 3 of us are edge 2 are not but we all love the core.

The 2014 demo was your first release, how long was it in the making?

I believe it took about 5/6 months but I think we had the songs ready earlier then that. We were just waiting to record.

The tracks on the demo sound powerful. Do you have a process when it comes to writing new songs or does it just come to you?

Most of the time we'll jam shit out in the spot. If we like it we keep it. Then Brandon writes lyrics to whatever fucked up riffs we have written.

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New Blood: Society Sucker

Society Sucker are a new blood from Wilmington, North Carolina who dropped really tight self titled debut ep last year. Check it out if you're into heavier NYHC style, it sounds like they were really pissed off when recording it. I can never get tired of this type of hardcore.

Society Sucker is straight up hardcore and I dig that 100%. When you were starting out did you have a clear idea what type of music you want to play or did it just happen?
In the beginning we just knew we wanted to be heavy but we also wanted to keep more melodic and "groovy" elements prevalent in the music, but we hadn't necessarily figured out exactly how we wanted to go about it. Our demo was our first stab at it but by the time the demo tape was out we had halfway written our EP where, in my opinion, we really found our sound. So I guess you could say it just happened, but we definitely wear our influences on our sleeve.

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New Blood: Shadow Of Doubt

Some dudes in Texas teamed up for this new band and they're killing it all the way. It probably helps that some fo them had previously sharpened their craft in bands like Bitter End or Hardside, but they hold their own even if you put that 'all stars' bullshit aside. I've got admit, debut demo by Shadow Of Doubt was one of the highlights of recent months for me. I can attest it is dope, no only because it includes Telltale cover, but basically each track is tight. Far from generic hardcore but still sharp all the way. Here's an interview with Ely (vocals).

Can you give us some introduction to Shadow Of Doubt? How did the band come together, as a whole?
Well shadow of doubt is patrick from (hardside) on guitar, my man jake on bass, Lorenzo on drums and me on the mic.
I asked Patrick if he would be down to write some riffs and we kind of pieced songs together and kind of just asked the rest of the guys if they would be down to jam and play some gigs. And our bass player jake recorded all the music.

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The Real Deal Interview

The Real Deal is a new killer Clevo band with beefy but to the point brand of hardcore. Their tape was released by Straight & Alert Records from France and it was definitely one of the highlights of 2014 for me. Their style is more of 'punch you in the face with a brick' street tested NYC sound than typical Clevo heaviness, and they keep it aggressive and vibrant all the time. I advise everyone to give it a try if they haven't already. Awesome stuff. Anyway, here's an interview with Andy who handles vocals for the band.

Give us some background on The Real Deal - history, who is who in the band, how did you all get together?

Well there is the four of us Me (Andy) on vocals, Burger on guitar, Woods on bass, and Nick on drums. We have all played together in other bands early on and have all been kickin it for years, just thought the time was right to get together and jam and see where it goes. It all clicked well and we decided to get it goin. So far the response to everything we've been doing so far as been very welcoming as far as the Cleveland hardcore scene goes.

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Down For Life Interview

Down For Life hails from Los Angeles California and delivers a nice blend of traditional hardcore with oi! sound for fans of Patriot, Discipline, Bruisers, Agnostic Front and so on. You get the picture. The band knows their craft and I am really into their recent record called Comin' Out Swingin' so it's cool they said yes to the interview. Everyone should read it, but especially those of you who are currently unemployed, drunk or on the run from police.

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Kingpin Interview

Kingpin hails from Odessa, Ukraine and comes through with pretty slick hardcore that is heavy on groove and feel. Their new ep 'What Man Is A Man...' is really, really good, bringing vibe similar to that we all love on any Crown of Thornz or Fire & Ice record. I urge you to check it out for yourself as it is now available for a full stream via band's bandcamp (see below). The band talks a lot about their music, future plans and stuff that motivates them, but since it's hard to pretend that Ukraine is not in some serious shit right now, we also discussed the complicated situation in their country from the perspective on regular people. I hope this interview will shed some light on what this conflict is about.

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Life For A Life Interview

You might remember Life For A Life from an interview I did with these dudes back in 2012, but the band has been doing some cool stuff lately with music and shows so I thought I might catch up with them again and ask about some recent stuff. It took me about two months to post it, but here it is. Read the interview and then head to band's facebook and bandcamp to check music and keep yourself updated on the band.

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