Unfinished Business is a new hardcore band from Syracuse, New York. Their sound is heavy and with strong mid-tempo passages and slick faster parts. They definitely are skilled at what they do and if you're into metallic hardcore some of their songs will get caught in your head!
Name: My name is Tom, and I do vocals for Unfinished BusinessLocation: Syracuse, NY
Active since: I think the first show was February 2009
How do you define your overall style?
Just hardcore. Heavy and straight forward.
What’s your goal with this band?
Eventually I think we'd all love to tour full time. But also just to give back to the hardcore scene, especially in Syracuse.
What do you have recorded so far?
Well, before I was in the band, they recorded a four song demo. Soon after I joined (June 2009) we recorded a 2 song demo. Then this past December we recorded the 5 song EP.
How did you all come together to form the group?
Our old drummer and I have been friends for a long time, and I would go to practice with him every now and I just happened to be there the day Mike, the old vocalist got kicked out. I had never done anything besides bass until that point, but decided to give it a try anyways, and obviously it worked out! As for drummers, we had some trouble for a while, but Ben Shaw's been playing with us since February and it's been working great!
Your new EP is out. Tell us something about it and how does it stand compared to the previous recordings?
Well, honestly we've really been slackin' about getting it pressed, which is why we have it up for download now. We're planning on recording a few more songs and releasing something more official that will include the 5 from this EP. I definitely think that it's all around our best so far though, from production to music.
Lyrics were always a very important part of hardcore. What do you want listeners to experience while listening to your songs?
I really think it's counter productive when bands have lyrics that are just filled with analogy after analogy, and it becomes so hard to really understand what the song is about and to relate. Whenever I write, I want people to be able to read it and know exactly what I mean.
What’s good happening in Syracuse when it comes to hardcore? Any good new bands around?
Our friend TomDom is actually doing a show where anyone who's never been to one gets in for free and anybody who brings somebody get's in half price. I think we're all real excited and hoping it brings some new faces out regularly. We definitely have some cool bands coming out though. Born To Expire, Violent Side, No Remorse, Ghost Ship, and Oak & Bone, just to name a few.
How do you think the current state of the scene in your hometown compares to that of 90’ when Syrcause was a straight edge Mecca?
I think things have slowed down since then, definitely, but it's still alive and well. I'm not sure if any of the new bands will be as influential as bands like Earth Crisis, Another Victim, and The Promise, but We've still got a lot of good things happening. I especially think we're lucky to have one of the best HC labels around in our city, Reaper Records.
And how do you feel about the hardcore scene in general? What’s worth attention and what sucks?
I think there's a lot of alright bands that get lots of hype, and a lot of great ones that are rarely talked about. Also, I think as a lot of older people are "getting over" hardcore, the younger kids need to step up and start their own bands, start booking shows, etc. I think a lot of great bands are coming out now though, Especially from Texas, Cali, Virginia, Wilkes Barre, and Long Island.
How would you descibre Unfinished Business show?
This is tough, haha. It really depends on where we play I guess. We all play our best, and however the crowd reacts is up to them. I mean, we've played shows where people barely moved, and we've lso done a lot where the whole crowd has gone ham. Haha
What are some other bands that really impressed you live?
I think True Life played one of the tightest and heaviest sets I've seen when we played with them in june. There's also Terror, Trapped Under Ice, Bitter End, Cruel Hand, Mongoloids, and a lot more.
What are some of the movies every hardcore kid should see?
Personally, I'm a big fan of Will Smith, so I'd say anything with him! I'd say also Sin City, the new Karate Kid, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and The Warriors.
What's next on your agenda?
We'll be recording about 5 -6 new songs in November or December, and we're planning a tour in the beginning of January with our dawgs in True Life.
Last words…
Wanna shout out to Hardside, Born Low, True Life, Double Dealer, PK and Cabal Screen Printing, Toxic Breed, and TomDom. And, anybody who ain't checked out our EP yet, quit sleepin and hit the pit! haha.
Check the band at their Myspace.
