TRC - Go Hard or Go Home

Look My Way

Look My Way was born in the summer of 2010 with the goal to create heavy, blood pumping hardcore with origins based in classic east coast hc bands such as Agnostic Front, Judge, Madball, MerauderR and newer bands such as Death Threat, 100 Demons, old Hatebreed. Each member of Look My Way comes from different kind of background and bands (Another Victory, Kill This Dream, Cheap Thrills etc.), but everyone shares the passion for grassroots hc, it was just a matter of time until they found each other to do this band..

For those unfamiliar with the band - what do you want people to know about the band and your music or message?

LMW is a hardcore band,no gimmicks,no bullshit,no silly pants,no metrosexual hairdos!we play the music we love and not what may be the next big thing!

How did you all meet and how long have you all been a band?

The actual lineup exists since september 2010! i knew tommy from local shows.tommy and low met rene in summer 2010 and started rehearsing.they were looking for a singer,i was kinda frustrated with my project at that time and gave it a chance. micha joined the band on 2nd guitat in september,we recorded the demo in november!yo

What's the toughest struggle for the band like yours? What's the biggest wall to get over?

We are still a very young band so still we got hard times,struggle and strife ahead of us haha. we got some good shows in the future and so on. ask me again in a year or something haha

For those who have not heard anything from you how would you describe band's playing sound?

Heavy metallic NYHC with lots of old school influences..sounds a bit odd but yeah,i would describe it that way.people brand us as "tough guy" hardcore,well..it could be worse haha

What have you released so far?

A demo on save my soul records.the tapes are sold out but we repressed a couple cds to sell at shows.you can download the demo!check the link on that webzine

Who are your strongest musical influences and why?

We all listen to different kind of stuff but mostly east coast hardcore bands are our biggest influence, madball, sick of it all, merauder, judge,agnostic front,some metal stuff, punkrock, oi!, we are pretty open minded. we are combining all these sounds with a modern approach

And where do you draw your inspiration from when it comes to the lyrics?

- most of my lyrics have a rather negative vibe cause i see my band as an outlet for my personal issues i have to deal with!real life issues!that`s what it`s all about.fuck the world before it fucks you!

Tell me about band's performance element – what should kids expect from your live show?

Kids loosing their shit,punching people in the face,throwing chairs and tables at people,retards moshing with sleeveless soul crew shirts,timberland stomp,ignorant mosh in general and so on..hook us up!

Tell us what you have coming up that we can check for. Plans, gigs and releases planned for the upcoming months?

A couple of weekends to play,playing some fests,death threat weekender,some more.we will record a lp in summer,maybe a split release with another band. we wanna stay busy

Any closing thoughts?

Thanks for the interview and supporting the band! we really appreciaite it! look out for save my soul records putting out the sweetest records in 2011!and remember: bands who pay to play suck and are NOT hardcore!DISEMPOWER!!

Stay Hungry interview

Stay Hungry started in the summer of 2008 as four veterans in the Swedish hardcore and straight edge scenes teamed up to show the kids what's up. Fast and in your face straight edge hardcore was on the agenda. Stay Hungry has just released new output, "Against the wall", which offers just everything the band is recognized for - powerful music and meaningful lyrics delivered with all the intensity hardcore got to offer!

Search Bloc hails from the city of Cleveland in the great state of Ohio and their sound is fast and pissed off hardcore, totally in vein of One Life Crew or Confront, laced with tight grooves and heavy hitting vocals. Read the interview to know why they're backed by Seventh Dagger and what should we expect to come out of this collaboration in the future.

Could you tell us something about “Against The Wall”? What were you aiming for with this album and are you satisfied with the end result?

I'd say that one aim we had was to make a more focused hardcore record, compared to the 12” on Reflections. That record kind of went in different directions, not knowing where to lay the focus. There's some metal parts in there. Those are gone with the wind on ”Against the wall”, which in my opinion is a true hardcore record from start to finish. We were aiming for a feeling of “positive aggression”, and I think we did a pretty solid job. I am very happy with the outcome.

Lyrically, is there any main focus with the new songs? What do you want people to take from the album?

As I said we were aiming for a positive aggressive feeling. There are a lot of fucked up things going on, so we didn't want to do a LP with overly positive lyrics, sugarcoating all the crap we see. But we also didn't want to be completely pessimistic and negative. I guess the title seems like that, but even that lyric ends with some hope. There are a few songs dealing with hardcore, a few dealing with straight edge topics, a few more political ones, one animal rights track etc, and then it ends with a true posi lyric, “Loose ends”. It's pretty varied. I guess I'd like for people to be angry, but also feel like there's something that can be done.

You new album is widely available on blogs and P2P networks. How do you feel about it as a band when most of the kids today rather download the album off the Internet that support the band and the label?

Is it really? We put up a four track promo ourselves and we will put up the whole album soon. So I guess that kind of answers your question. You know, I used to trade tapes back in the 90s. What's the difference, really? Except for that blogs are less time consuming. I am not in this to sell a certain amount of records. We have done 500 copies of “Against the wall”, and if that's all we'll do, I'm fine with it. I am proud of the record, it's something we've accomplished together, and it will allow us to tour. And having the album on blogs will let a lot of kids know about us. If kids come to the shows and sing along and stage dive, I don't give a fuck if they downloaded mp3s or bought the vinyl. We also have to realize that so far we've only done vinyl, and a lot of kids don't even own record players.

And how do you feel about how Internet is changing hardcore scene? I mean, it’s a great tool for getting information and keeping in touch, but on other hand, you don’t see that many paper fanzines around these days and shit talking is getting out of hand on message boards…

Like everything else it has its pros and cons. I have written about this in Law and Order zine #1. For a band like ours, it has made things a lot easier. I have just finished booking a tour. Without internet, that would've been immensely harder. And sure, there's all the crap on message boards, but fuck it. Let's just feel lucky that forums and stuff like that weren't around when we were fourteen and new in the scene. Because let's face it, we would've made asses of ourselves too from time to time before we learned better. I am obviously a fan of paper zines since I invest a lot of time and energy into Law and Order zine. I wish more kids would be into it, but things are the way they are. All we can do is push ourselves and do something that kids might be into.

Hardcore can have such a great influence on the lifestyle and mindset of its followers. What's the biggest life lesson that you learned from being a part of the scene?

Oh that's a tough one. I mean apart from the lessons I learned from “No thanks” by Uniform Choice, which kind of meant everything to me as a teenager, I dunno. Lessons from the hardcore scene can't be completely cut off from things you experience and go through in life in general. It's all a part of the package somehow. But being a part of hardcore and straight edge for so long definitely made me embrace the fact that I'll always be sort of an outcast. I will never live a normal life. I will always be into doing stuff that others can't understand. I've tried explaining how hardcore and DIY works to co-workers, and it just doesn't come through to them. They keep asking if we get a lot of girls and make money and play in front of large audiences. Like I could give a fuck.

And how do you feel about hardcore becoming more mainstream?

There are different sides to this. In the mid 90s hardcore was BIG in Sweden. Refused could play in every fucking small town and have large turnouts. And that was pretty fucking cool. Nowadays there's a lot less kids. I think hardcore and punk needs to keep a certain level of vigilance to keep out forces that stand opposed to the DIY ethics. But I would also like to see more people at gigs. I mean, it hurts like fuck to stage dive if there's no one there to catch you. I am not really afraid of hardcore becoming more mainstream. Trends come and go, we'll see who gets washed away when the tide retreats.

What part of Sweden you’re from? Tell us about the scene in your area and bands from that area.

Me and Andy live in Gothenburg on the west coast. We have some cool bands here, like Fredag den 13e, Repoman, the might Commitment Crew and several others. The scene is quite divided, though attempts are made to lessen these divisions. We organize shows in a pretty large crew called Gothenburg straight edge. The other three in the band live in Linköping, which is three hours away roughly. This has always been a central point for hardcore shows in Sweden, cause it's located in a good place and has had many influential bands, like Outlast, Nine and Section 8 (the latter came from a village outside the city, but still). There are still fests there a couple of times a year.

I know you cancelled your tour because of the new album. Are there any plans to hit the road now when the record is coming out?

Yeah, when we realized the record wouldn't be out when we were supposed to tour, due to various reasons beyond our control, we had to pull the plug. It sucked so much ass, but it was the right thing to do. We can't take time off from work etc if the LP isn't out. And it sucked cause we desperately wanted to tour with Skull Crusher. Their 12” is incredible. But we have booked a 16 date tour in April 2011. We will be going by ourselves this time around. We'll be playing Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. I have a feeling it's going to be fantastic. It's been pretty easy to book, there are a lot of caring and nice hardcore and straight edge people out there, for sure. It's been a quite humbling experience to book it. It still feels weird that people give a shit about our old asses.

Are there any future plans you would like to share with us before we finish?

Come out to the tour, check out the record. Have a look at www.swehc.com. Check out the bands on the “We support Swedish hardcore, do you?” sampler CD. Be on the look out for new LPs by Anchor, Undergång and Angers Curse in 2011. Check out Boston Strangler, they did one of the best hardcore songs of 2010, “The truth”. KOTF 2011!

Madball to tour Europe in March and April

Madball March and April European dates include:

18/03 Paard / Den Haag - NL
19/03 Alter Stadtbahnhof / Schweinfurt - D
20/03 Szene / Wien - A
21/03 Alibi / Breslau - PL
22/03 Proxima / Warschau - PL
23/03 SO 36 / Berlin - D
24/03 Grünspan / Hamburg - D
25/03 Iduna / Drachten - NL
28/03 Universal Dog / Lahr - D
29/03 KuFa / Lyss - CH
30/03 Universum / Stuttgart - D
31/03 Backstage / München - D
01/04 Club Vaudeville / Lindau - D
22/04 Cabaret Electric / Le Havre - F
25/04 Tavastia / Helsinki - FIN
26/04 Alcatraz / Mailand - I
27/04 Init Club / Rom – I

Other

Human Rights Watch
International Fund for Animal Welfare

Billy The Kid - Ed Gein

Irish Voodoo Records interview

Irish Voodoo Records is a DIY label out of Southern California with bands like Ruined Tongue, Results, Birth And Burial, Colors and many more. They're pretty busy right now, with new releases in the pipeline and distro full of hardcore goodness. Here's an interview with the guys behind the Irish Voodoo who drop some knowledge on what is it like to run a label, future plans and more.

How did Irish Voodoo Records come about? What encouraged you to set it up and how long was it gestating before taking flight?

I never wanted to start a label, at the time i was in a band called A Witch's Distance, after we recorded and released a demo, we were back in the studio again to record new songs to shop around, but as a band, we decided to self release it. I had no funds to start a label, no name for the label, no logo, just had nothing.

And the label name, where did that come from?

So around 2004, I was thinking, if we are going to self release it, I want it under a name, so since I'm Irish, I said IRISH VOODOO RECORDS. At the time, and even now, I think it sounds good. I was into lots of punk style music or underground, so I didn't want a name to sound like a hardcore label, or just be a hardcore label, cause I'm into metal,post hardcore,or some form of punk. So the first release was the A Witch's Distance CD, It didn't have a logo or release number, cause I wasn't sure yet about doing a label.

You have quite a few cool bands lined up for the label now, like Results, Decisions, All Your Might or Birth And Burial among others. What plays into your decision when choosing which bands to work with?

Results changed to Worlds Below, great songs, great band, pick up the new 7" lol nice plug, anyways when my band was playing shows, I would see other bands on the bill with us. I would say, they are cool, they should have a release out, but lots of the bands are young kids and don't have the money to make a demo, let alone self release a cd or vinyl. So I started setting up DIY shows, at any place that would let me, with bands i liked, that we played with to make a relationship with them and to get to know them better. That's when I decided to start this label and release music, in my opinion, should be heard.

Based on your experience of running a label, what advice would you give to someone interested in doing the same thing? How to go about finding new bands, promoting early releases etc.?

Well if your serious about doing a label, do it for fun. I love hardcore, If i wanted to make money, I wouldn't do hardcore/punk/metal label. I don't make money, my goal is to make my money back for future releases and merch. I still go to shows, so sometimes i see band, and keep tabs on them from the bands myspace,twitter, or facebook, that way i can see if they are serious and play lots of shows and tour. I still get demos in the mail, and I listen to all of them, a little fact, the bands Shadows and Ruined Tongue are two bands on the label that emailed me or sent in a demo to check them out. So bands, email me too, or send me music, it never goes to the trash, I listen and keep everything. As far for promoting, I don't do big adds in magazines, so the bands playing as much as they can and touring is the best way to promote a release. I wont lie, Myspace helped with sales in the beginning, I still use Myspace, but Facebook and twitter is better, or online fanzines.

Has running a label, which obviously gives a lot of satisfaction but also means dealing with some bullshit as well, changed a way you look at hardcore scene in any way?

Well I'm a little guy, DIY all the way, so I don't deal with as much bullshit as bigger labels, but I'm a positive kind of guy, so I can look pass the bullshit. I have been involved in hardcore since 84, I'm 38 now. I hate saying "back in the day", but it's hard sometimes. I just change with the times.

What’s the biggest mistake to avoid when running a label?

That's a good question, I am too nice sometimes, I hear it all from bands, for example, "we want to tour and make this full time" "We have big things coming up" I did that once, and spent lots of money on a band, and they break up week after the release, so its a learning process for sure. Don't just jump on every band, keep tabs on them, to make sure they will work hard for you, as you will work hard for them.

You must be getting a lot of submissions from the new hardcore bands. What in your opinion is the state of hardcore music nowadays?

I love it, I get lots of submissions from good bands, just sometimes I don't have the funds, or I would release a record for every band that sends me a demo. I'm a old school type of guy, and I'm hearing more and more old school style hardcore which I love.

What are your thoughts on hardcore nowadays, when did you first discover the genre and what exactly is it about this type of music which makes you happy?

My first show was in 84, My oldest brother took me to see Black Flag, I was scared for my life seeing a bunch of older bald sweaty guys killing each other, but the music was real, nothing I heard before. Then I got a tape of Minor Threat, that turned me on to straight edge. Till this day I'm still edge and proud of it. I like the fact that hardcore was about crowd participation, a brotherhood. I still feel the same about hardcore now that I did when i was younger, sure things change, but still love it. I know we have the internet now, but I like paper fanzines at shows, That's how I found out about bands, its cool, cause kids I see at shows are bringing it back, even doing cassettes again.

What’s next in the Irish Voodoo pipeline? Anything else you'd like us to ask? Or anything you'd like to plug/mention?

Lots going on for 2011, COLORS new 7" is out now, SHADOWS double 7' is in the works, RUINED TONGUE 7" dropping very soon, new bands, and our website got a make over. I think what your doing with with HardBoiled is great, we need more people like you. If your not in a band, start a zine, label, pass fliers at shows,book shows, anything to keep hardcore alive.

Cold Steel

Cold Steel from Strasbourg, France offers hardcore that is deeply rooted in the 90' sound of bands like Next Step Up or Bulldoze. I know a lot of you have a sentiment for these old times and pioneer bands that were tearing shit down back then. And if you remember that France was producing bands like Stormcore, Drowning or mighty Kickback, you know these guys have mosh in their blood and the outcome sound is never less than compelling.

For those unfamiliar with the band - what do you want people to know about the band and your music or message?

For us it’s easy: friendship, open minded lifestyle and passion are what it is all about.

Friendship is what keeps us stuck together since day one. It’s been almost 10 years so far that we’re all playing music in different bands together.

Open minded life style is because one of our most important struggles is to be open to new points of view, new perceptions and to diversity. We believe in changes, in alternative ways to act and live. Some of us are really into travelling for instance.

Passion because it is the most powerful engine. Passion is definitely what drives us. We don’t only mean passion for hardcore. We mean passion for music in general. We believe that it’s a chance for us that most of COLD STEEL’s members are not only into hardcore music, and all the other influences we have do influence the songs we write.

That’s about music; let’s talk a bit about the message. We’re absolutely not into politic nor into religions. Mostly the message which is to be understood in our songs is about the most valuable thing we have in this world, which is the present moment. We believe in human relations and exchanges rather than in material possessions. We believe in the power of now rather than in past memories or unknown future.

How did you all meet and how long have you all been a band?

As we mentioned earlier, we have been knowing each other for almost 10 years and we met in our local underground music scene in STRASBOURG (FRANCE) as we were all starting playing in bands. (we started with bands such as SOLSTIS, BATTLING SIKI, SPITFIGHT you should check them out on MYSPACE). Then we started COLD STEEL like one and a half year ago when some of our bands splitted up.

What's KEUS LIFE CREW about?

KEUS LIFE CREW (KLC) is our local crew. It’s the informal part of our local activism. We’ve got our musical association called ACTS NOT SPEECHES as well for organising shows, promoting bands and realising stuff. KLC would not really mean anything in English, but it’s a mix of English with some French slang. It’s roughly a way to tell that we don’t give a shit about judgements; we don’t pretend to be better than anyone; we don’t say we’re some kind of musical geniuses (haha). We’re just people, friends, a family who want to share great times, have fun playing shows and backing us up anytime.

For those who have not heard anything from you how would you describe band's playing sound?

Well, it’s sometime kinda hard to describe the music you’re playing but we would say that it’s a kind of mid 90’s mid-tempo hardcore. That means there are also quite a lot of metal parts played with a single guitar. Even if we got a lot of respect for all what’s going on today, and in Europe moreover, we don’t want to play something that you can find on any MYSPACE band page.

Your first demo has been released recently. How the response has been so far?

The response so far is positive. We only burned a few copies for free promotion and people seem to enjoy something that is not so common these days.

We would like to make clear that as well as our latest video clip (HARD COMMITMENT check it out), this demo is 100% DIY shit: we recorded, mixed, designed and released everything ourselves thanks to everyone’s effort in the band.

Who are your strongest musical influences and why?

Our strongest musical influences are like we said earlier:

- Mid 90’s metal hardcore crossover, think about bands like NEGLECT, ALL OUT WAR, NEXT STEP UP or CONFUSION because this is what we are listening the most to.

- We’re also big fans of trash metal from SLAYER to PC DEATHSQUAD for the evil metal touch!

- Hip Hop as well, cause it’s such a good way to get inspiration for powerful punch lines! We would mentioned artists from DUCK DOWN RECORDS, or PSYCHO REALM for example.

- But also some jazzy, blues and soul music for the intensity and intimacy we find in it. By the way we are currently working on a BILLIE HOLYDAY cover, stay tuned…

And where do you draw your inspiration from when it comes to the lyrics?

The inspiration when it comes to the lyrics mostly comes from our personal experience, lives, aspirations and determinations. We got a bunch of positive songs which are to be heard as a spiritual help when the tough moments show up. They deal with friendship, partying, street life, love, travelling…

But as well we got some really dark and negative songs which reflect the inner dark passenger we try to cornered most of the time, but who sometimes reaches the surface, poisons our lives and distorts our perceptions. We think this dark part exists in every single one, but we also assume there are ways to get rid of. Our own way is to release those dark and shadowed songs.

We write down quite a lot thanks to the two singers together, and we’ve got something like 5 or 6 songs already written and ready to be used!

Who should start a hardcore band: Dirty Harry or Donnie Darko?

Haha, definitely Dirty Harry!! Even if Donnie Darko is pretty smart, he’s way too negative and too lazy to play any good music. And how could his friend, a gigantic rabbit play drums??

Stormcore vs. Kickback?

First of all you’ll have to know that we love both of them, from a musical point of view. They both released some masterpieces (think of TO THE POINT and CORNERED), and they’re both French so…! We believe they did a lot in the French underground music scene and we can only be respectful for that.
Maybe we should ask every member which one of these bands they would prefer, but this is not really worth it.

Tell us what you have coming up that we can check for. Plans, gigs and releases planned for the upcoming months?

Yes of course! We’ll play a show in AUGSBURG (GERMANY) in March for some good friends we’ve got there. We would love to play anywhere so if promoters are interested, get in touch with us. We hope to start touring in 2011.

Early in 2011 we also plan to hit the studio in order to record a 7 tracks MCD with a selection of our finest tunes. We still got some shirts and are currently working on a new design.

Any closing thoughts?

Well, first of all thank you very much for the interview and the support! We hope it will help people to know more about us and to get in touch with us for anything. We’ll be more than happy to share cds, stages, beers, parties, BBQs or any constructive thoughts with cool people worldwide.

Last but not least: never forget we’re only tenant of our organic shell, we don’t belong to any flag, any country or any continent. We belong to the earth as a part of it. Whatever happens we survive, we move on, and we overcome.

For The Worse announced new album - For The Good, For The Bad, For The Worse

B9 veterans For The Worse announced that their new full length titled “For The Good, For The Bad, For The Worse” will be coming out on Arrest Records! This release will come in 10″ vinyl,CD and digital formats and will be available this winter!

Pound for Pound - Dystopia