Burning Streets - You're Alive Today

Hammerfist interview

Hammerfist is your band if you're into some real hard-hitting stuff. The band can merge fast old school beats with crushing breakdowns that are sure to make every hardcore kid happy. They seem to have gain a strong following in their local scene and now it's time for the kids outside of Cali to recognize their shit. And if you still have not checked out their latest offering, Dead Dreams, do yourself a favor and correct that mistake as soon as possible.

Hammerfist is your band if you're into some real hard-hitting stuff. The band can merge fast old school beats with crushing breakdowns that are sure to make every hardcore kid happy. They seem to have gain a strong following in their local scene and now it's time for the kids outside of Cali to recognize their shit. And if you still have not checked out their latest offering, Dead Dreams, do yourself a favor and correct that mistake as soon as possible.

Your new album Dead Dreams is out now. What do you think makes it significant and what can kids expect from it?

Im not sure how significant it will be, but i feel it is definitely a record a lot of people will be able to identify with both sonically and lyrically. Listeners can expect the fast parts to be fast and the breaks to be hard. Our style might lack in creativity slightly, but i feel we compensate well with raw power.

What were your expectations about that release?

Certain bands have released records that have withstood the test of time. Classics if you will. I have always wanted HF to leave a permanent mark on the hardcore scene's history and that was my personal goal with this recording. To make the best record possible for where we are as band right now, and i feel we did just that.

Dead Dreams – what does this title mean to you and how would you describe lyrical content and theme of the album?

There is no theme to this record, however the concept of the title is one that could be tangible to a lot of people. Quite a few people have aspirations of making money and gaining fame and success from being in a band. Rock star. Being in HF has been and still is fun for me. But it reaches a certain point with any band where you look at your dudes and say, "Alright, lets really do this." And then the work begins. Long drives, playing in front of the staff only, having to steal to eat or having to fight the staff to get paid your guarantee. Cold hard truth. The dream is dead. There is only the work and feeling of being alive every time i step on the stage and play as hard as i can. I would not trade this for anything. That is what dead dreams means to me. Lyrically, I go through topics ranging from critical self examination to dealing with emotions like depression and rage and a few songs about questioning faith as well.

There seem to be a lot of NYHC influences in your sound. What are some of the bands you draw your inspiration from?

Above This World, Built Upon Frustration, Knuckledust, Clenched Fist, Stampin Ground, Merauder, Earth Crisis, Life In A Burn Clinic, Helmet and Life Of Agony make me want to hurt people for sure.



From your perspective – what is your opinion about European hardcore scene? Has European bands influenced you in any way?

The Euro scene consistently puts out awesome bands. It blows my mind. I have not toured there yet, but our bassist Tom did with his old band Skare Tactic, and he said the experience was unreal. Same as all my other friends who have toured there. No Turning Back, Embraced By Hatred, Knuckledust and Stampin Ground are definitely some of my favorite Euro bands.

What has been the craziest pit you have caused?

We have had quite a few awesome shows and we have had quite a few bad shows. A good one that stands out for me is 2005 in San Jose at this venue called The Cave. Awesome lineup. Hoods, On A Warpath, Worlds Apart, and us with a few others. Massive crowd with everyone losing their minds. The way it should be.

If you knew someone just getting into hardcore, what advice would you give them about the whole thing? What bands, records, labels, zines they should check out?

Don't. Just kidding. Hardcore is one of things where you get what you give. The kids that show up to hang out and meet chicks or just be seen or show up, mosh and leave are typically the ones that do not last. There is nothing wrong with doing any of those things at all, but Im just saying there is no giving in that relationship. Everyone who is still in the scene past a certain age contributes in some way, shape or form. They are in a band, work for a band, do something for a zine, work at a venue or work for a company that prints band merch just to name a few. Get involved and you will stay involved.

You guys seem to stay away from politics in your lyrics, at least you don’t touch this topic directly. What’s your opinion about bands advertising their political beliefs?

Every band should be able to say exactly what they want all the time. If people do not like what they are hearing, they should just turn it off.

Tattoos are substantial part of hardcore and I see some of you got some ink under your skin. what do some of your tattoos represent to you?

Im scared of snakes. So I got some tattooed on my arm. I love Dantes Inferno. So i got the Forest of Suicide tattooed on my other arm.



What are the future plans for the band?

We are going to continue as we always have. Everyone has jobs and both my brothers are full time students. So we tour when we can and stay busy locally when not touring. We will be on tour in the States this June. Check the dates on Facebook or Myspace. And we are also working on our first Euro tour for this August. Those dates will be up as well.

Thanx for the interview, anything else you would like to add?

Thank you for the interview as well. Go pick up a copy of Dead Dreams or check it out on Itunes. We are on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.

Mountain Man on tour this winter!

This Winter, Mountain Man will be hitting the road in support of their debut album "Grief". There are select headlining dates as well as dates with All Teeth, and Kills and Thrills. Also, don't forget about the Mountain Man record release shows this weekend - Saturday's show will feature a reunited Reach The Sky! Expect more tour dates to surface soon, but here's the latest schedule:

2/19 Wocester, MA @ Club Oasis (Record Release) w/ Reach The Sky, Soul Control
2/20 Pawtucket, RI @ Machines With Magnets (Record Release) w/ Soul Control
3/3 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium w/ The Wonder Years, Man Overboard
3/28 Syracuse, NY @ Badlands w/ All Teeth, Kills and Thrills
3/29 Wakefield, MA @ UU Church w/ All Teeth, Kills and Thrills
3/30 New London, CT @ EL N Gee w/ All Teeth, Kills and Thrills
3/31 Brooklyn, NY @ Party Xpo w/ All Teeth, Kills and Thrills
4/1 Philadelphia, PA @ Broad St Ministry w/ All Teeth
4/2 Cincinatti, OH @ B Dog's w/ All Teeth
4/3 St Louis, MO @ Fubar w/ All Teeth
4/4 Kansas City, MO @ Scion Lab w/ All Teeth
4/5 Denver, CO @ Blast-O-Mat w/ All Teeth
4/6 Bluffdale, UT @ The Fearless Zone w/ All Teeth
4/9 Omaha, NE @ The Sandbox
4/11 Cleveland, OH @ The Church
4/12 Plains, PA @ Jumper Road
4/23 Wallingford, CT @ Fest w/ Reign Supreme, Crowns Of Kings

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.