Never In Life

"You remember that character in Mortal Kombat that when it said “FINISH HIM” they grabbed the person by the neck and ripped their spine out of their body? Well, that really isn’t comparable to our music but if we could do that in real life I have a feeling that spineless, headless corpses would be all over the place."

Name: Never In Life

Location: Peidmond Triad, North Carolina

Active since: February 2008

Special Move:You remember that character in Mortal Kombat that when it said “FINISH HIM” they grabbed the person by the neck and ripped their spine out of their body? Well, that really isn’t comparable to our music but if we could do that in real life I have a feeling that spineless, headless corpses would be all over the place. We just try to write music that we like and we try to write lyrics that have a purpose and a meaning that is relevant to the way we live life, the way we treat ourselves and others, and the way we treat this world.

What did you record so far?
We have recorded two small demos. A 3 song titled Waiting for Input. With Joe musten from Advent/The Almost doing guest vocals on the track “On the Boats.” Also Paul Genet from Deathblow/Aria/Azazel, did guest vocals on the track “The Drains.” We then recorded a 4 song demo in the middle of 2009 that we aren’t really content with. We put a couple songs on our myspace but we didn’t really push to have a lot of people hear these songs like we did the others.

What's the history behind Never In Life? How did you all get together?
Lots of history believe it or not. Lots of member changes. I’ll spare you the long version and just say that Aaron and another kid Justin, (who now plays in a band called Designer, (www.myspace.com/designer336), got to talking one day and decided that we wanted to start a band. We both had been in bands prior that we weren’t happy with. We scoured the metropolis of the Archdale/Trinity area and found a ragtag group of musicians to back what we considered was going to either be the thorn in the side of what was now considered the NC Music Scene or we were going to flip everyone on their heads and people were going to go ape for what we were trying to do. Seems like we hit the music scene not like the Mack truck we thought we were but more like a handful of grape jelly being thrown up against a brick wall. Decipher that how you see fit. So Justin decided to leave, the first drummer decided to leave, the first bassist decided that he wanted to play disc golf more than anything else in the world ever…I’m not joking about that either. Then the 2nd drummer realized that what we were playing was a little too much for him and he took the 2nd bass player with him. Now we have what we jokingly call “Never In Life v3.0.” We feel pretty happy about where the band sits now. We are talking about trying to get together the skrill to do a full length, and just trying to book as many shows as possible.



What is the main drive behind the band?
It may seem silly but there was a time in the late 90’s where every band you heard had a message. They stood for something. They cared, and were compassionate towards one another. We as a band realize that kids are missing out on an opportunity to experience that. To be able to rally behind a cause with every fiber of your being and stand up saying this is what we believe and we will not be moved. I know it seems cheesy and cliché but brotherhood, loyalty to one another, compassion, and respect still hold sway in all of our lives and we would like to see that relayed through our music.

Who would you say are some of your musical influences?
This could go on forever…haha. I’ll say, Buried Alive, Until the End, Hope Conspiracy, Indecision, Converge, Earth Crisis, Boy Sets Fire and many, many others.

In you guys’ opinion, what are some of the biggest problems or obstacles when starting a hardcore band today?
I would say the biggest problems are finding dependable, like-minded musicians that have the same commitment and drive that you do. At least that seemed to be our problem. No offense to the past members of Never In Life. They all did a great job and served their purpose while they were in the band. But they eventually realized that this wasn’t what they wanted to do. We have always had a couple big rules in this band. 1. If you don’t like it, speak up. You shouldn’ t have to play music you don’t like. 2. If you aren’t having fun then quit. We aren’t in this for money, or fame. We are doing this because it is fun.

How did you get into hardcore music?
That is a story for each one of us to tell because we are all different ages and got into hardcore at different times. I would say a lot of us got into hardcore through other styles of music though. We are forever telling stories about either listening to NOFX, or for others it was sevendust, or pantera, or even Korn haha.

What’s your favorite hardcore fashion?
Vans. We love em. Most comfortable shoe ever made. If you don’t own a pair of classics then you are missing out. Suicide Machines knew what was up when they wrote that song.

What’s the worst hardcore fashion you’ve ever witnessed at the show?
Recently I saw a girl wearing shorts so short that they disappeared into her vagina with ugg boots. I don’t think I need to elaborate on that.

What are some good hardcore bands from North Carolina?
You are asking for hardcore bands which there are few and far between as far as I’m concerned. Now the music scene in general here is wonderful. A wide array of styles are represented just in the area that we are from. We are fans of Advent, Torchrunner, Braveyoung, xhonorx, The Reaping, Designer, Between the Buried and Me, Resistor, Young and in the Way, Ill Will, and many others.



So what can we expect to see from Never In Life in the future?
I wouldn’t expect anything to be honest. Nothing is guaranteed. We would like to see a full length recorded soon. We would like to see a small tour up the coast. Other than that, we are doing what we love to do right now. We don’t want for anything. Seems depressing when I re-read that but it’s honest. Haha.

Any additional comments or shout-outs?
Thank you for your patience with us. We aren’t the best communicators sometimes and things tend to get a little muddy when it comes to stuff like this. For that I apologize. Other than that,… Go start a band. Start a zine, book shows, start a label, put a touring band up at your house for the night. There are so many things that you could do that seem so small and miniscule to you and mean to the world to others. Be respectful of every venue you walk into. Decent venues are few and far between and it is heartbreaking to hear about one of them shutting down. Be respectful to one another when you are at a show. The absolute last place to go fisticuffs is at a show. A show is a place where you should feel the most comfortable, where everyone is safe and accepted. We hate to see kids these days try to throw weight around and act tough when in reality they have to get up and go to school the next morning for a pop quiz in algebra. Just because everyone is accepted doesn’t mean that everyone is tolerated. Kids need to respect their scene and at the same time protect it. It is ours just as much as it is yours. It is up to us to take care of it.
Thank you,
NIL.

Check out Never In Life at Myspace.

Broken Fist - Ashes

Bolt

"One thing I´d like to see though is kids being less styleoriented, you know.. spend more money on records and less on nike sneakers. But when comparing now and then, the early days definately had their moments, ´cause everything was so new and raw and everything had to be done ourselves. That was cool."

Your latest record, Behind Obstacles Lies Truth, has been around for some time and I gotta say it’s really powerful stuff. I still love your debut album, but the new record is simply the best you’ve ever done. What are your feelings about it? What has been the response so far?
L: Thanks! We really feel that this album is by far the best record we've done so far. The response to it has been really good. A lot of people who knew our older stuff but also new people, both seem to like the record.

T: Yes, thanks! This one is a record that we´re happy with ourselves. I guess it turned out the way we wanted it to, or maybe even better? The response has been good and we´re thankful for that.

What do you think makes this album different from the other previous work that you have done?
L: I think the record is so much more whole than all of our older stuff. There are a lot more harmony and progress in the songs. And the structures of the songs are more thought out than before.

T: I guess we tried to learn from the mistakes we´d made with our previous releases. Also, we´ve all probably matured musically since our first releases and hear things a bit differently now (otherwise, we´re still the same “kids” as a decade ago. Never grow up, young ´til we die, haha!).

How was it recording the new album? How do you guys work through the process?
L: All our songs come around by jamming at practice. I think we had few of the songs floating around already a little after the Self-Made 7” came out. More seriously we started molding the material for this album in the beginning of 2008. The songs that made it to this record were picked out of 12 that we had done. The whole recording process took from the demo stages to the finished record a lot of hours. First we did the drum recordings in a real recording studio during one day. After the drums all the other instruments and the vocals were recorded at our rehearsal room in different sessions whenever we had the time for it. Our good friend Antti Malinen from Down My Throat recorded the album with us and was a great help.

T: It´s usually always a lot of work. Personally, for me, recording the vocals was at times fun and natural, then during other times it felt like shit. Try to get in the right mood and try to feel what you´re singing in your lyrics when you have a closet size room full of unneeded guys telling you what you need to do, when you know exactly what you need to do yourself and the only person you need in there is the one doing the recording. Then someone decides to bring a 3-year old daughter along to play while you´re screaming you´re lungs out(it was all done in the same room, we didn´t have a recording booth). That´s when it stops being fun and that´s when I lost my nerve. After that things started going smoothly and we got through the process without killing each other.

Your music is often described as heavily NYHC influenced. Is that a fair statement? What are some of the bands that have the biggest impact on your song writing?
T: That´s a fair statement. We take that as a compliment. I mean, we ain´t trying to be nobody else but ourselves, but it´s about the style of music. It´s hard to name certain bands, ´cause there´s so many hardcore and other bands that have influenced us. But we do have alot of respect for the roots, for the originators of this whole thing. A lot of bands today come and go and styles and trends change but “The Age Of Quarrel” and The Cro-Mags never grow old so to speak. It´s still the most relevant hardcore record to date. It worked for me more than twenty years ago, and it will still work after more than twenty years have passed from now. It´s timeless.

L: I guess it's fair to say we're influeced by NYHC. When we started out as a band that was where the main influences came from musically. As for writing songs I think it's more of a combination of all the music we listen to that influence our writing.

What tracks on this album alone have the most meaning to you lyrically?
T: Number 1 for me, without a doubt is definately “Truly Blessed”. It has maybe the most personal lyrics I´ve ever written. It´s about my son and how he came close of dying at birth. That experience changed a lot of things in my life and having a son changed the perspective I used to have on life in general. He´s three years old now and a really cool person. Anyone who has children of their own, can relate to that song. Another one is “Tapia” ´cause it´s a true life story of a boxer Johnny Tapia. He´s experienced more drama in his lifetime than anyone else pretty much. It´s all facts, no fiction. If you´re into survival stories of everyday drama, then check out his book, it´s entitled “Mi vida loca” The crazy life of Johnny Tapia. Then, “Forever Dedicated” means a lot too. It´s our way of thanking the originators of this music that changed our lives and also all the new faces who keep that fire burning.

L: To me I guess it could be two songs. Either the opening track “Always Outnumbered” or the last track “Forever Dedicated”. Because they both reflect very straight forward on everyday life and the music that we love. Which are the core elements of the existence of this band.

As far as I know this is your first album to be released on a vinyl. What does it mean to you? Are you vinyl collectors yourself and if yes what are some of the most important records in your collection?
L: It means a lot to us that we were able to release this record on vinyl. None of us are very fanatic collectors but all of us share the common opinion that vinyl is the best format for a true classic record. Because it gives so much more value to the artwork on the covers and insides not alone because of it's size. It just looks and sounds a lot better than a cd. All of my records are important to me, too hard to pick one.

T: That´s true, vinyl is better in every way. The sound, the graphics, the timelessness. I grew up listening to hardcore from vinyls and cassette tapes, cd´s came later on. So, it means a lot to me that we were able to release this record in vinyl too. I used to be a vinyl collector as a kid but nowadays when I´m an older kid I just buy vinyl every now and then. Some of the gems in my collection could be: Project X 7”(Not the bootleg!), Integrity: In contrast of sin 7”(piss yellow vinyl), A Generation Of Hope –Comp. 7”, Turning Point 7”, Rebuilding –Comp. 7”, Murders (Among Us)–Comp. 7”, Madball: Ball Of Destruction 7”, Cro-Mags: Age Of Quarrel 10” ...to name a few. And of course, not forgetting the Fury of V: Convicted and Condemned 7”, ´cause it´s da shit yo!

Speaking about it, how do you see the future of music distribution, especially when it comes to hardcore? It seems like less and less people are interested in buying cds, the vinyl freaks are still here but the majority of kids are only about downloading music for free. What are your thoughts about it?
L: I think it's a shame that kids don't see that they're belittling the efforts of making records by their actions. I mean it's cool that you can check out a lot of new stuff via internet but people forget too easily that there's much more to Hardcore music than how it sounds.

T: It´s cool that now vinyl sales are up and cd sales down. It seems that atleast some kids have understood the value of vinyl. Downloading hardcore sucks, ´cause hardcore bands really need the support. There´s no big labels backing up hardcore bands. Most bands have to pay releases out of their own pockets. If you want to check out bands, then it´s ok to download if you go and buy the record later on. But you´ve got myspace for that purpose anyway. A hardcore record is about the whole package.

I read a quote from your MySpace profile saying “they are the last band left of their ”era”, the era that has molded Helsinki hardcore into what it is today”. Can you expand on that further?
L: We're the only band from the Helsinki Hardcore scene that started out in the late 90's that's still around and active.

T: The diehards... never conform!

Another quote I found interesting is “the record reflects everything that has taken place in the lives of the individuals, and the maturing scene of their hometown of Helsinki, Finland.” How do you think the scene changed since you first started and how does it affect your music?
L: It's gotten bigger and in someways better. There are a lot more bands and people. And the people are keeping it alive and active for the scene.

T: It´s not just that there´s more people involved. It seems that alot of kids are in this music for the right reasons and not just because it´s cool or the trendy thing of the moment. Kids seem to know the roots and actually seem to listen to the same bands I grew up listening! To me, that´s rewarding to see. One thing I´d like to see though is kids being less styleoriented, you know.. spend more money on records and less on nike sneakers. But when comparing now and then, the early days definately had their moments, ´cause everything was so new and raw and everything had to be done ourselves. That was cool. Then again, there was moments too when we were ready to fold and felt like “is there anyone out there who understand what we´re trying to do and say”. Now it feels like “hell yes these kids know what´s up!”. We just keep trying to do our own thing.

You have been around as a band for about 10 years now; do you still find yourself being influenced by people and bands coming up in the scene?
L: Most definately. As I said before there are more people now. And the new generation that's already doing things on their own, are doing things for the right reasons. Some of the new bands coming up are really inspiring to us too. We wrote the lyrics to the song Forever Dedicated partly for the new generation.

T: If I wouldn´t be influenced by new bands and people, I wouldn´t probably be doing this anymore. It´s really cool sometimes to notice getting the same feelings from something new or old as I did when I was a kid.

If you had everybody in hardcore listening to you, what would you want to tell them?
T: You gotta know where you came from before you go anywhere. Keep doing you´re thing, be honest and be for real.
L: Be real and don't forget your roots!

For somebody just getting into the Finnish hardcore, what 5 classic albums would you tell them to go get?
L: Wow this is a tuff one. Five isn't enough... These are a few of my favourites. Lama: ...Ja mikään ei muuttunut (this is more punk than Hardcore but it's a true classic) Down My Throat: Real heroes die Security Threat: The order On a solid rock: Steal it back St.Hood: For the dead (brand new but bound to be a classic)

T: Yeah, sure it´s hard, but to me all these represent some sort of turning points in Finnish Hardcore.
Pelle Miljoona & N.U.S. s/t (This is Finnish pioneer punk from the year ´77)
Down my throat: Real heroes die
Cold Inside: The Things I Failed To Tell You
St.Hood: Sanctified
Security Threat: The order

You are guys with regular jobs and families so it must be hard sometimes to commit to the band and at the same time live a normal life. Was there ever a time when you thought, “Damn, this sucks, it just takes my time and gives nothing back”? What kept you going on?
L: I've never thought that the band would only take otherwise I wouldn't have kept doing this for so long. The shows and all the good people I've met through this is just amazing.

T: To be honest, there has been times when I´ve felt that way. During those moments all it really takes is one single person coming up to you when you least expect it, and say something like “this one song of yours really helped me out when I was going through some tough times” or that someone can relate to something we´ve done. That´s it, that makes everything worth it. Or then, during those times I´ve just been writing lyrics and making songs for my own personal therapy. It helps.

Any plans for the European tour in the near future?
L: We hope we get the chance play some shows in europe but we don't have anything lined up.

T: Yeah, like you said, we´ve got families to be with and regular jobs to go to. Sometimes that makes things a bit difficult. Sometimes we have to send like 50 SMS messages back and forth just to get 1 practise organized. So, we´d love to tour Europe but if we don´t get a chance to do a big tour, we´ll just try to organize long weekend tours to be able to play all over Europe.

Thanks for the interview. Anything else you would like to add?
L: If you haven't checked us out, go visit our myspace(www.myspace.com/boltstyle). Thanks a lot for the interview! Stay true!

T: Thanks for the interest in us and thanks for the interesting questions. See y´all when we get there. Hardcore lives 0-9!

Check out BOLT at Myspace

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua trains for the Belt UFC 104

Consequences

Band’s name: Consequences

Location: New London, CT. USA
Active since: September 08'

How do you define your overall style?
Beatdown hardcore with a slightly darker sound.

What’s your goal with this band?
We aim to play as many shows as we can, have a much fun as possible and make music kids can dance and fight their asses off to.

What do you have recorded so far?
We're recorded a four track demo that can be heard out on our myspace. We have plans to head into the studio with Eric Arena over at Stadium Sound in Agawam, MA within the next couple months to crank out a solid official release EP. Depending on our funding situation we might do a few more tracks and just do a nine or ten track full length. Check our page for updates and shit about that.

What has the response been like to your music in Connecticut?
I'd say we get an awesome response. You can usually tell by how hard the kids are dancing. Not to say that we haven't played any dud shows but its usually a great response.


How is the scene over there? What is the most popular style of hardcore over there?
The scene in ct was dead for a while but all of us out here are working really hard to bring it back and its becoming a really close knit type of scene, where some shows are almost more like a party than a show, everyones your friends and its just a good time. the most popular style of hardcore? thats tough dude, because everyone's different, the best way to put it would be to say that everyone here fucking loves hardcore, whether it be tough guy, beatdown, straight hxc, or even other stuff like deathcore or grind, its all about the mentality and having fun. if the kids see you having fun playing your music they're more likely to have fun.

So your demo is out and everyone can check it out. What would you say to all the lazy bastards over there who have not done it yet? Why is it worth a listen?
We would just want people to listen to it and take it with a grain of salt, it is a demo after all. its our earlier stuff so its a little less refined and we've matured a lot with our writing now so its going to be pretty different from what you hear at a show or on recordings to come. its worth a listen if you're into really heavy stuff, wanna bang your fucking head or support the unsigned scene.


What's your pick for best hardcore release of 2009 so far?
We might call it a toss up between Relentless by For The Fallen Dreams, Deceiver by xThe Miles Betweenx and Constellations by August Burns Red but who knows what the rest of the year has to offer. i can tell you right now that we're fucking stoked on the new Evergreen Terrace album, Almost Home, and a few of us are straight hating on the new garbage Emmure shit out in august. some of us think musically it's not all that bad. felony could be an awesome album with different production and tones used on guitar.

Is there anything within hardcore scene that sickens you?
Kids who come to a scene from somewhere else and just hatemosh. it's one thing to dance and hatemosh when you're local but when you show up outta nowhere and disrespect a scene it's just uncalled for.

Who are some of the bands from Connecticut people should give a listen?
Spit Your Game, End All Suffering, Black Water Blessing, Jackie Steele, Walk Away, Letters From Kenny, Bella Lagosse

Whats playing on your stereo the most at the moment?
Will: Sleepwalkers by Dead Swans and The Peoples Fallacy by Betrayal.
Ryan: Depths by Oceano, The Peoples Fallacy by Betrayal, The Ills of Modern Man by Despised Icon
Dylan: Relentless by For The Fallen Dreams and Heavy Lies The Crown by Full Blown Chaos. Kevin: Portals by Arsonists Get All The Girls, and Deceiver by xThe Miles Betweenx.
Steve: Jazmynes Lullaby by 7 Angels 7 Plagues, and Decimate The Weak by Winds Of Plague


Since the emo pleague seems to be defeated and is slowly dying out, what do you think are the future dangers hardcore scene will have to face?
Bands like bring me the horizon, new bury your dead, and emmure just trying to make a quick a buck and alienating fans of real hardcore.

Thanx for taking your time. Any last shouts out before we end this ?
We'll just tell all you people to check out our demo, and again check out Spit Your Game, Jackie Steele, And All Was Silent and our boys in AOS (Archaic of Styles). Also thank all y'all at Old School Hate for givin a couple schmucks from ct the chance to talk about how it is. peace!

Consequences at Myspace

Death To False Straight Edge tee by Dave Quiggle

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Limited Halloween tee from Seventh Dagger

This is 2009 limited edition HALLOWEEN box. Each box is hand screen printed and numbered to a limited count of 50. Each box comes with one HALLOWEEN SEVENTH DAGGER shirt and contains one surprise CD and 7 inch record. It's first come first serve. Click here to order.

My First Failure - s/t

This is my first experience with this band so I’m not gonna compare this album to their previous work. To me it’s like a band that comes out of nowhere and the only thing I knew about the album before I pushed play is that it had a cool album cover. Well, the music itself is interesting and kind of different from your average hardcore band.

The most enjoyable thing about this album is how they fuse hardcore beats with some rock tunes. I know it’s just being me closed minded, but there are many bands that overuse rock tunes in their music and it can dampen the overall energy of the album. Thankfully, My First Failure successfully use these elements to enhance their music. The compositions are quite busy, combining solid musicianship and creative songwriting frequently embellished with complementary melodies and heavier breakdowns. The foundation of their style is crossover between hardcore and metal, but many other genres are also represented. Of course, there’s nothing perfect and throughout the album there are numerous times when they get too carried away with it which results in songs losing all the punch. I like to hear something I can remember the song by and with tracks like Until Today this does not work well to say the least. Sometimes the band just don’t quite gets it right but these moments are luckily few and far between. My First Failure is way more cooler when they decide to go heavy and that’s when things start to get exciting. The best song on the album is About Hearts with a powerful breakdown in the middle. There is a solid chemistry between the musicians on this track and the band tears it up with some chugging riffs and nice melodies. The mosh part in this one is just the best moment on the whole CD and they should stick more with this type of sound in the future. I mean, I like their willingness to experiment but they need to work on finding a better balance between clean melodies and heaviness.

The overall feeling of the album is rather dark and sometimes even nostalgic, but somehow it’s not that pessimistic as I expected it to. The lyrics are very personal and I think most kids can connect with them. Most of the songs deal with hardcore as a way of life, music, scene, friends and just doing something constructive with your life. Alexa is doing a great job with a solid and powerful vocal delivery. Her style of singing reminds me much of All For Nothing’s Cindy which is not a minus in my book at all. Actually, if I said this album is All For Nothing playing Poison The Well songs minus weak ass clean singing I wouldn’t be that far from the truth. Anyway, the band shows a lot of potential and even if they need to work a little bit more on improving their compositions it’s a compelling and interesting record with a great sound and songs to back it up.


Author: Dloogi

Label: Demons Run Amok
Year: 2009

My First Failure at Myspace

Animal Instinct

"I also think that this is what makes HC so different and unique compared to any other scene I know ... there was never a blueprint for the core. No set of rules to belong to. HC is what YOU make of it!"

First of all, what is it about the NYC hardcore scene that had such an impact on you and the music you play?
I don´t really know... I think it might be the raw energy and heaviness that somehow comes across stronger in the typical NYC sound than in the sound of most other scenes. Plus, they wrote some really good songs that stood the test of time. Some of the bands also played their instruments damn well and came up with recordings that even to this day sound very good. ( Cro-Mags, Leeway, Killing Time) but by the way, each one of us also listens to a ton of other stuff... :-)

What is your favorite NYHC band?
oh man, impossible to answer! Of course, everyone in the band likes the cro-mags, killing time, breakdown, ect... For me personally I might be the Cro-Mags. But I think youth of today had the biggest influence on my life!

Your debut 7” is out now and I gotta say that from what I’ve heard it’s some really powerful stuff. To the people who don't know you, how would you describe the style and sound of your songs?
Thank you! We really wanted to capture that raw feeling of bands like breakdown and killing time! We didn´t start AI to come up with a new sound. We just wanted to play
hard and simple hardcore the way we like it and the way only few bands play nowadays. We wanted to show everyone that there´s nothing wrong with being a traditional hardcore band. If you do it well and with heart, people will appreciate it.

You've called your band Animal Instinct. What does that mean to you? How do you think it’s reflected in the music you create?
It reflects the raw feeling that I mentioned before! We just thought it fits really well to the way we see the band and the music we want to play. There´s no deep meaning behind that name. I think it´s just a good name for a hardcore band. That´s it.

When you're writing new songs, where do you get your inspiration from?
We get our inspirations from other hardcore bands! I’ve been listening to hardcore for many years now. And it still gets me pumped. I listen to a song and might think that I want to write songs just as good as that one. So I sit down and try it. I really can´t see myself playing any other kind of music right now.

What would you say is the main message you try to send through your music?
We are not really a "massage band". We all have our own ways to go through life. But if there is one common thing we try to say, than it would be "be yourself, don´t fake anything" that´s basically it. We didn´t start AI to change the world or make big promises we can´t keep. Focus on your own life and live it as good as you can.

How and when did you guys decided to form a band? Which bands influenced you when you first got together?
Roman, Raphael and myself already played in solid ground together and know each other for many, many years. So when we decided to break up with solid ground (we didn´t have enough time to keep touring, and our other guitar player, David, is now a dad) it was clear that we still wanted to do a band together. So we started AI and asked André to sing. He´s also been going to shows since the early nineties and we already knew that he is an awesome singer. To complete the line up, we asked our friend TC from VALE TUDO to play bass. Basically the initial idea to start AI was in summer ´08. Roman and I were listening to breakdowns "sick people" at my place and we thought that it is about time to start a new band with that same feeling and the same kind of sound like breakdown ca. ´87. I think we did a good job:-)!

What aspect of hardcore makes the scene attractive for you and is the reason you are still involved in it?
I always try to focus on the good side of hardcore. That means, I just try to stay away from all that kindergarden crap on the internet, the message boards, and all that. I don´t really care about the latest trends and which band is the latest hype. I try to ignore all the rumors and just hang out with my friends and listen to that bands I like.

What are your thoughts on hardcore scene nowadays - do you think it’s moving in the right direction? Are there any things that you’d like to change about it?
To be honest. I really don´t care much about it. I know what HC means to me. but I see so many different "sounds" and "lifestyles" that are considered HC that I really lost sight and interest to care about what you might consider HC or what some guy in Germany or in the states might considers HC. I also think that this is what makes HC so different and unique compared to any other scene I know ... there was never a blueprint for the core. No set of rules to belong to. HC is what YOU make of it!

What about the scene in Switzerland? What are some good bands from there that we should know?
The scene over here has always been pretty small but decent. I really like that it is all mixed up and never just metal kids, punk kids, or core kids! You see pretty much the same kind of people at every show. So that´s cool. For example, the last SOLID GROUND show was together with our friends in CATARACT. some bands you might want to check out are : VALE TUDO, FALL APART, DEADVERSE, LIFERIDE, PLAY TO DESTROY, BEGGERS AND GENTRY, SEED OF PAIN, CATARACT, LIFE AS WAR, ECT... they all sound totally different but you should definitely check them out!

How would you describe the hardcore community over there? What style of hardcore is most popular?
I think I just answered this one! There is no typical sound that everyone plays... and that´s good!

Do you remember the first hardcore song you ever heard? If so what was it?
Hmmm ... I’m not quite sure. It might have been the Cro-Mags "alpha omega" record when it just came out. Around ´92 or so. I remember roman and I were still into metal. To this day, it is one of my favorite records!

Nowadays kids seem to want bands to expand the boundaries of the genre more and more and sometimes it feels like nobody can appreciate the good, simple and straight in your face hardcore song. How do you feel about it? What's more important in hardcore to you: musical skills or feel?
It´s all about the feeling man! 100% ! But I totally don´t mind bands that like to experiment a little more than we do:-)! I mean, it´s not that I just listen to BREAKDOWN every day, all day! We all listened to all kind of music and styles. If you start a band, you should just play whatever you like. If it is HC, cool! But if it has a different approach to it, cool too!

What's next for the band? Are there any tours in works or plans for a full length?
Well, we just released our debut ep called "stick like glue". It is out now on TAKE IT BACK records. It´s a new label a good friend of mine and myself are running. Now we just play some shows and see how it goes. I don´t think that we have the time to tour. Since we all have full time jobs, other bands, and stuff. But we´ll see... we already wrote some new songs the we plan to record sometime next winter / spring 2010. But I think it´s going to be another 7" ep.

Than for the interview. Anything you would like to add?
Thank you for your support! Check out some of the other stuff I’m involved in: http://www.myspace.com/takeitbackrec and http://www.myspace.com/liferidehc. LIFERIDE is a brand new band and we will release our debut 12" this winter on our own label, TAKE IT BACK RECORDS. We will have some songs up on our MySpace site soon! It´s Roman (Animal Instinct, Solid Ground) on drums, and Emile (State Of Mind) on vocals ... and ohh yeah. While talking about STATE OF MIND. You should check them out. They are sooooo good!

Check out Animal Instinct at Myspace.