Surroundings - Self-Titled (Review)

So here is my contribution to Lost In Sabbath. Another old jaded dude.It doesn't happen often nowaways that a band really catches a glimpse of my eyes and ears. I finally figured out that my taste in music stagnated somewhere in time and only few bands that formed and released their shit after 2003 interest me much but every now and then you cross something.

I stumbled across the name SURROUNDINGS in a thread about the beef between their singer and Mr give-me-my-burger-usa-rules (Let Down. Mother of Mercy, soon on a European Tour again). Apparentely they played a show together and the singer of SURROUNDINGS was watching Let Down in the front row with a beer in his hand (nothing better than having a beer in hand and enjoying the show of a mediocre band) and got his keg of beer kicked out of his hands and getting called a whiny faggot afterwards. So this incident founded my sympathy and I have started my researches. The result was well this something, a split record called "World Darkness" between Pellinore and SURROUNDINGS. [Yes, the word actually is WORLD and not this fancy fashionshit like VVorld.]

I have to admit that Pellinore are great as well but SURROUNDINGS really did it for me. Besides this split they have released so far a nice 7" called "Monuments in Ruins". This year Surroundings have now unleashed their first long-player (I guess you can call it that way) which is simply-put "self-titled". So why did I claim that I rarely listen to any new shit. Well, the new shit I mainly listen to sounds like old shit, like the good old days. I will now quote the influences that SURROUNDINGS stated on their myspace and as you will see, besides the name-dropping, they cover a nice range of influences, at least in my book: Eyehategod, Neurosis, Unsane, Discharge, Nirvana, Earth and Discordance Axis.

And if this isn't self-explanairy enough, I will give you a short description: SURROUNDINGS are playing their own interpretation of hardcore: lightning fast, heavy and slow, down-tuned riffage, distortion and ear-piercing feedback and heartfelt screams/yells. Calling them powerviolence won't do them justice, neither are they a Mind Eraser rip-off. They remind me of Drop Dead and Siege a fair amount of times and they have this southern sludge introspective nihilistic element. The lyrics are harsh and tell us that this world and what man made out of it is just a huge pile of shit, the songs are short and grinding. When you expect it the least SURROUNDINGS will turn around the song structure and let the song fall apart in a gritty way. Then you have deal with an unpredictable feedback-infested muddy slowpaced swamp and the notes keep dragging and dragging. While most (let's call them evil, depressived, dark) bands stick to a well-ridden dark and depressed formula: Let's just play real slooooow and let nothing else happen and bore the shit out of everyone, SURROUNDINGS present a different approach with the sheer rage, compressed negativity and the brick to your face.
The guy has a voice that I envy and I jealously wish was my own. He has a great feeling when it comes down to place the words and how to fit them in. Most vocalists don't understand that their voice is an immanent element of a band, another instrument to be taken care of, another piece to keep it all together and they give the sound their own gritty character. SURROUNDINGS know how to do it and how to do it right.
I haven't been excited about a band coming from the hardcore spectrum lately and that's why you should be too.

Tracklist:
1. World of Failure
2. Virgilkapelle
3. Harvesting Dirt
4. No Seed
5. Man Has Failed
6. Dead Mass
7. Five Suns
8. Trouble In the Dunes
9. The Jar Is Empty
10. Walls and Wires
11. Gluttony of God

Hear it: http://www.myspace.com/surroundings
Buy it: http://www.freecakefreecake.com/bakery/product_info.php?products_id=86

Judas - s/t 7"

Judas is a band from California, thrashing out some of the heaviest Hardcore imaginable. You already know what to expect just looking at the dark, disturbing artwork, which looks really awesome and contributes a quite big part to the overall violent and dark atmosphere. The lyrics get spitten out in short phrases, not unlike bands like Dropdead, but way sicker. "I am here/From the depths of hell/City streets I dwell/Control this world I shall/Judas lives" (Ascension). That's one song. So as you might guess, the songs are rather short, burning out in an explosive mixture between Powerviolence and Sludgecore, taking no prisoners.  

At first I wanted to order this record directly from the label (16 Oh), unfortunately I never received my 7", nor any replies to my e-mails. So I bought months later from a mailorder in Germany, being glad I wasn't a cry baby not buying the record again haha. Because this shit rules. I wonder why there isn't much more rave about this band.

Judas on myspace.com

Acrid - Bombs Of Death Split 7"

Just in case that you brush you teeth with a steel brush, and stick large nails up your nose because you "somehow like" the feeling, this is for you.
Acrid should be known; their musical output is the meanest and ugliest way to play Hardcore, in a way they are to Hardcore what early Mayhem were to Metal: a punch in the face. The production's super raw, you barely hear any riffs or anything remarkable, most of time you just feel like getting hit by a train. The songs on this split 7" are not any different; before you realize what's happening to you, it's over. Your daily dose of "poisonfree powerviolence". IMO more interesting, due to the fact that those two are the only songs they've ever recorded: Bombs Of Death. BOD are basically Spazz, Assück and Struggle members, kicking out super heavy, mean Thrashmetal-Hardcore-Crossover, musically not unlike current bands like SSS or Municipal Waste, but without the "fun" content. Everything's about heaviness, darkness and brutality. It's really a bummer that those two songs (clocking in at 3:10 minutes) are everything this band ever recorded. I'd love to have at least a full EP of that.


Info about this split on the No Idea records site

Mind Trap Demo (Review)

When we played in Linz (Austria) at mid-November 09, we played with this really young Austrian band from Vienna called Mind Trap. The first thing I saw were their shirt designs, and they used a font very similar to that of Mind Eraser, so I was hoping for something similar awesome. And what can I say, I wasn't disappointed! Imagine four really young kids (well, at least in comparison to old farts like us) blasting out some seriously ripping, hard and brutal as fuck Hardcore not unlike your favourite 90ies Powerviolence band or, if you're born after let's say 1990, not unlike bands like Trash Talk. They played so out of control, so wild and with such an fucked up attitude, imagine a glue sniffin' version of Infest and you'll get the picture. Their demo was already sold out, but they handed out sheets of paper with the download adress on it, so I downloaded it as soon as we were home again, and fuck man, the demo blew me of my chair, no shit. The songs are really powerful, well played and the production really kicks ass, I wonder if anybody will put this out on a 7", because the quality of the recording and the sound are so awesome. And what I think is so refreshing about Mind Trap, they don't seem to be like those suck ass trendy kids who are into Ceremony and Trash Talk but know shit about the roots of this kind of Hardcore, just the opposite. They've definetly done their homework and know how to deliver some raw, fast and brutal shit. You'll find the download link to their demo on their myspace page, so check that ouououot!

Mind Trap on myspace.com

Mind Trap's blog

Toxic Revolution/Magnicide split 12" (Review)

The first vinyl appearance of Toxic Revolution, and just how I expected it to be: awesome. Their side of the split 12" (released on TVG Records) is named "Short - Fast - Loud", and that sums it up pretty good, even though it may sound cliché to some people. But clichés are clichés because they work, and like I said, these eight songs ARE short, fast, and loud. This is really great stuff, written under the influence of Powerviolence, Grindcore and Hardcore bands like In Disgust, Spazz, Infest, early Napalm Death and so on, you name it. What's so great about these songs is that Toxic Revolution manages to bring in loads of own ideas and an own style (music wise), so that the result sounds really unique. You can hear their passion and love for extreme music throughout every chord and drumbeat. Of course this stuff is played good, the production's perfect (not too basement, not too clean) and the artwork shows a bunch of zombies. You just can't go wrong with zombies. Oh and there a quite lot of samples in between the songs, but they really match the atmosphere of the music, so that's cool as well.
On the flip side you'll get Magnicide's songs, nine in total. Although the music from these Singapore grindheads is located in the same genre like Toxic Revolution, it's different, not as varying, a little less inspiring. But if you dig music like that you're probably not searching for diversity anyway. For damn sure this is brutal and fast as well, fans of the genre won't be disappointed for a second. So if you like your Hardcore fast and raw, and worship MOSH 8, get this record.

Interview with Magrudergrind

Done over a year ago, too. The band's still very active, and they have released a few records in the meantime. Worth your time!

I picked up Magrudergrind's latest LP „Rehashed“ at the record store and was literally blown to pieces by the merciless Grindcore that came out of my speakers. I did the Interview via email with Avi, the vocalist, in September 07. Short and fast, how it's supposed to be.

Magrudergrind is up for some years now, if you could just tell me which were the most important steps in the history of the band for introduction, that'll be cool.

Avi: I would have to say the most important steps for us was touring in Europe and being able to put out a record on such a great DIY label as Six Weeks Records.

You've toured the US and Europe, next year you'll even tour Japan, South East Asia and Australia, is it the first time in those countries for you? In comparison: Touring Europe or touring the USA?

Avi: Yes, it will be my first time and our first time as a band in Japan, SE Asia and Australia. As far as comparing Europe to the US for touring, in Europe promoters and people involved in DIY ethical punk/hc/grind whatever take it much more seriously. In the US it is rare to even get a meal, yet in Europe its almost a mandatory requirement for a band, small things like that make it a lot easier on the road, when your touring for months at a time.

Are the lyrics from "The final pollution" about a real incident? Is physical violence against nazi scum an appropriate way to deal with those shitheads, even if it doesn't make oneself better than the nazis itself?

Avi: Yes, the lyrics from that song are about a true incident which happened at a show at my old house, when I lived in a group punk house. I don't see physical violence as a means of solving problems, usually, but being the third generation descendent of 4 Holocaust survivors (all 4 of my grandparents), I DO NOT take neo-Nazism jokingly, and as it says in my lyrics, "seeing the insignia" (the swastika) tattooed on the back of this guy's neck could have led to his death, had we beaten him any worse. With intellectual people, you could have a discussion, maybe change one's point of view, but with ignorant persons, uneducated enough to have a tattoo of hate in this day in age just needs to be dealt with in a more serious manner, by any means.

What importance has vegetarianism/veganism for you as persons and as a band?

Avi: For my self, I was vegetarian for 6-7 years, but I had given it up this past summer, my personal choice. The other guys in the band are vegans.

A lot of your lyrics are about two faced people, the scene and stuff like that, I'd like to know if the scene in your hometown Washington DC is that fucked up? Or is it more like the hardcore/punk/grind whatever scene(s) is in general in such a bad state in your eyes?

Avi: The scene in DC is decent. The lyrics referring to two faced people have to do with "friends" who turned their backs. I love hc/punk/grind scene but there is SO MUCH bullshit which exists, it's a great outlet. Before it was a place where no one judged you and you could be yourself, today personal opinions about others overwhelm everything, whether it be someones politically correctness or simply dietary choices, people judge you on stupid choices like that, instead of respecting your opinions and beliefs (besides prejudices and hate) which you have.

Quite many people that are somehow related to the punk and hardcore scene have like really fucked up problems with their lifes, personal problems or suffer from psychic illness, and that's not a new phenomenon at all. Can you imagine what the reason for that is? What is it that attracts those kids or persons to hardcore/punk?

Avi: I see many fucked up people, either from drug abuse or personal issues turn to this type of music as an outlet. I see nerdy ass people who turn to punk because it's the only community that will accept them. As for myself, I see these people with no other interests in life, people need to look to more ways of expression and hobbies to help progress their life in a positive direction, not just dwell around being angry at society and the main stream. Don't try to put down the world because you're angry or depressed, fix your own life and try to become a better person by looking at the positive aspects of this world.

How do you think it's possible that bands like Converge for example are able to sell thousands of records and that death/grind bands attract hordes of black haired tight pants eyeliner scumbags (yeah I know, most of the time those bands don't look any better...)? What's the reason that the mainstream media shows such a big interest in a genre which intention was at one time to react against the mainstream?

Avi: It's all about the marketing tactics. Big labels and businesses see these bands as an outlet of revenue and profit. You could take the shittiest metal band in the world, market them correctly and give them hype in many media outlets and they will be an instant hit. Look at all the shitty music people actually listen to on the radio as a perfect example, people will listen to what's put in their face.

You'll release a split with Yacopsae next year, how came that you team up with them?

Avi: We're great friends with these guys, have done a couple tours with them and decided a split would be a good idea.

Please finish the following sentences:

Terrorizer's World Downfall is...
...one of the greatest and influential grindcore albums in the history of grindcore along with Scum.

Playing without bass guitar rules because...
...it's easier touring with three people and less equipment.

The worst band I ever saw live was...
...many bands.

Work sucks because...
...it's something you don't enjoy doing.

DIY for me is...
...people working together.

Infest rules more than any other band because...
...they we're one of the originators of fastcore/powerviolence.

I don't know how...
...come I'm still answering these questions because I have to wake up for class in 6 hours.

I wish I could...
...have spent more time at the beach in Europe last summer.

Ok last question, it's for a survey I'm doing, where is the best place to read fanzines? If you wish to add anything, take the chance. Thanks for giving me the chance for this interview, I really appreciate it!

AVI: I guess on the toilet when your taking a shit or in the van on long rides. MRR and Short, Fast and Loud. Thanks for the interview, check out our tour dates at

Magrudergrind on myspace.com

Back to interview list

Toxic Revolution

Done 2008 as well. The band just released a new split 12", but due to the fact that all of its members play in countless other bands as well not really active anymore. Anyway one of the best bands from this area.

It’s about 10 pm, Toxic Revolution just finished their set at the last show that’s ever going to happen at the Luna Bar in Münster, a former brothel turned into some kind of a club which is about to close its doors forever. Toxic Revolution played a short but brutal set, very tight and veeeeery fast, even though the bass sound seemed to make some problems in the beginning. Anyway the band ripped through about 20 songs in about 20 minutes and then left the stage for Alpinist, who are also from Muenster and should be interesting for fans of His Hero Is Gone or From Ashes Rise and bands alike. Since the interview was planed a long time before I was quite happy I finally got the opportunity to talk to at least two guys of this three piece...

„Who has influenced us?!“ That’s all Jan from Toxic Revolution has to say besides “Don’t even know them” if you ask him if the band Sigur Ros were an influence for them, because they also invented an own kind of secret language. But if you listen to Toxic Revolution it’s pretty obvious that they were influenced by 90’s Powerviolence and Grindcore bands, not artsy pop outfits. Although Toxic Rev have in fact no real lyrics in some parts of their songs. “I have to say, what I scream or shout, has at least a certain kind of meaning. I scream words that make sense. Christian is just screaming what’s on his mind somehow.” But if you have some phantasy left in your head you can come up with your own interpretation of the “lyrics”. “I listened to it at home when we were done with it (the recordings) and thought like ‘wait, what could that mean?’ And so I came up with I think one or two verses afterwards. They also fit to the song titles, I had to come up with them too, because Christian was too lazy.” So you may ask who is in that band, that plays blistering, raging Powerviolence and has no lyrics for the most part. Jan says “I am the drums”, then we have “…Christoph and I play bass and try to sing” and last but not least but not taking part at the interview "Christian Chaco plays the guitar and also tries to sing, that’s our Brüllwürfel“ (that’s impossible to translate...). So back to the lyrical content, Christoph explains “Well I have thought about at least some parts”, whereas Jan has a slightly different opinion what the lyrics are about: “We do it like German Punk bands, just about boozing, beating the shit out of nazis...” - “that’s not true at all”, Christoph interrupts, “I also have lyrics about the media, about how they pollute our minds.” Later he also states that “...maybe I’m too much into Hardcore and Punkrock, so I think that, what I scream, even if nobody understands anything, has to have a certain meaning.” But this band has to say way more, not only about the media. At one point during the interview, Ollie, a friend just hanging out there with us and reading stuff about mice with incredible big penises, asks the band what they think about the fact that the Giant Hogweed is the poisonous plant of the year 2008. “I would take it home with me” Christoph answers without hesitating, Jan needs a little bit more detailed information before he wants to give a statement about that topic “I have to ask if you can smoke it”. Well, you can’t, that’s at least what Ollie says about it, but you’ll have a bad rash breaking out from touching it. “My mother has that in her garden to scare little children” Jan recalls. Good to know. So what releases can you get from that band that shows such an interest in toxic plants? There is of course the demo, which is awesome, and then there’s the split CD with Androphagous “On F.D.A. Rekotz by Ricö. He’s from Berlin and it’s basically a noise label, only Grindcore stuff. And I think Christian, who’s not here now, who’s not into doing this right now, they knew each other, because in this scene it seems like you know each other anyway, and he also likes the music.” By the way, Androphagous is another band Christian plays in, but there are quite a few more: “He plays in Keitzer, then he’s playing in Bruno Henry Gonzales, but that’s more some kind of an Amos rip-off. Do you know Amos? He’s awesome. But that’s more like a two men show with keyboards and changing clothes during the set and stuff. At one show they put cream in ballons and then threw them onto the crowd, who didn’t think that was funny, understandbale if you ask me, and another time somebody with a chainsaw ran through the crowd. Musically he’s very diverse, I think he also has a surfband” Christoph explains. “Los Makacos and Sandokhan”, Jan adds. “Yeah, Los Makakos is the surf band, and Sandokhan is basically the same as Toxic Revolution and Androphagous, just plain blasting.” “But shorter” Jan knows, “Yeah, and I think they’re only two guys”. So what holds the future in store for Toxic Rev? “Quite a few things”, explains Jan, “next thing that’s planed is a split LP, if we’d hit the studio sometime.” “Nonono” Christoph interrupts, “you have to explain that different. Jan is soon going on tour with Alpinist for two weeks. We have seven new songs now, we’re going to write two or three more when he’s back again - that works pretty fast in that Powerviolence genre – and we’re going to record them where we’ve also recorded the split CD.” That’s going to happen at “...Werner Wiese Studios in Werne, where also Krautbomber, NeinNeinNein, Sidetracked, Sniffing Glue and The Italian Stallion recorded their stuff. And those seven + ? songs are going to be released on a split LP with Magnicide from Malaysia, on TVG Records, that’s some old guy who also released stuff by Bloody Phoenix or Yacoepsae.” “And we’ll carry on that tradition” expresses Jan maybe a little bit proud. So can we hope for some kind of tour or something? Unfortunatly this will not happen in the nearer future with Toxic Rev. “It’s hard to do, I’m working in shifts, also at the weekend, and Christian is doing quite a lot with Keitzer now, because they have just released a new record on Yellowdog, and they recently were on tour in the USA and have many shows booked in the near future. We’d love to do more then what we’re able to. I mean, we would have the opportunities, but it’s so hard to work it all out, even though we’re only three guys in the band.” Well, Jan makes it plain to me that he’s not the problem “I could do it anytime. I’m the only one in the band who’s not guilty.” Not surprisingly, somebody this dedicated can tell a few words about the foundation of the band: “That was while having a few beers in the USA. We were drunk in the USA and just said ‘come on, let’s just make some noise’, and that was that.” Of course, that’s not the whole story, at that point Toxic Rev only were Jan and Christian. Christoph describes how he joined forces with them: “The story is, that you guys posted two songs cut from a rehearsal on myspace, where there were only you two guys in the band, and I simply asked ‘yo, do you need a bass player?’ And they were like ‘yeah, cool’, and I was in.” So what’s left unsaid, after media terror, beers, Grindcore and neophytic tall herbs? “Work is overemphasized” (Jan). Support those guys.

Toxic Revolution on myspace.com
TVG Records
FDA Records

Back to interview list

Interview with Weekend Nachos

Yeah, quite old interview again. But at least this band still exists, they recently released a second full length called "Unforgivable". I haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, but I'll definetly check it out asap. And you should as well.

I discovered Weekend Nachos in an interview they did with SF&L Fanzine about, dunno, maybe even two years ago. A while after that I found their „Torture“ 7“ in a small record store, and that was (and is) some pretty heavy and brutal piece of vinyl. And then again, months later, WN released a LP, so I ordered that one, too, and it was even better than the 7“, really heavy music, with lots of different influences ranging from bands like No Comment to bands like Iron Monkey to bands like Godflesh, so you know that this IS heavy and awesome. In addition to that, John is a very cool dude, so get into Weekend Nachos!

I'm not sure about the "who's doing what" thing in Weekend Nachos, on the insert of the Torture EP it seems like Weekend Nachos is a four piece band (Andy, Inverted, John C., Ronaldo), on the new LP it looks like there are only two permanent members in the band, Aaron and you, and Andy „just“ did all the recording and mastering. So if you could put that in its correct light, who's in the band for how long, who is Weekend Nachos?

Weekend Nachos right now is me (John) on vocals, Aaron on guitar, and Varg on bass. the original lineup was Andy on guitar, Ron on bass, and Adam on drums. Over time, Andy quit and Aaron replaced him on guitar... this was quite a while ago. About a year ago, Ron and Adam got kicked out for reasons that aren't important, and we got fill-ins for a while. Varg eventually became the permanent bass player and to this day, we still don't have a real drummer... probably never will! Aaron and I recorded all of the music for the LP, at the time we were really the only people in the band.

Since you wrote a song about Steven Blush and American Hardcore, did you even watch the movie? What do you think about it?

I watched it recently actually. It was alright, not enough of the more obscure bands were covered. I was hoping to see awesome coverage of Urban Waste, Verbal Abuse, Necros, Whipping Boy, Fang, Deep Wound, and pretty much all of the lesser known bands that made up the time period. I felt like the bands covered we're great bands and the movie wasn't bad... but let's face it, any mall punk can get into Bad Religion, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, etc. speaking of mall punk, there DEFINTIELY was not enough Dead Kennedy's talked about in the movie, which I found very strange considering it's pretty much the entire book. One strong point about the movie was that they had a decently long NYHC section in it. The bullshit "old man" attitude reflected in the book was not as apparent in the movie, which I liked. Keith Morris and H.R. interviews were great!

Yeah I also was hoping to get some more rare live shots from Siege and Deep Wound or The Fix, and I found it pretty irritating that there wasn't anything about the Misfits as well, I mean it's like one fifth of the book. What do you think about all those bands from those days playing shows again, like the Adolescents or the Circle Jerks, or even touring like the Bad Brains (not to mention the "Cro-Mags" Europe tour last summer)? Here in Germany and Europe we're like witnessing reunion tours like every 3 weeks (nah, nearly...) and somehow I just don't get the point... are 20 bucks of entrance really necessary? I don't know.

I agree it's pretty dumb, especially since the money's really not going to anyone except the band... It's like, you play shows the first time around and you don't make a dime... then you break up for 15-20 years and make a SHITLOAD of money on ONE reunion tour. Lame! I love all of those bands you mentioned especially the Cro Mags but yeah 99% of the time I don't even give a fuck about seeing a bunch of old dudes playing songs they wrote when they were 17. Just kinda kills the vibe.

Many of your songs seem to have a quite strong influence from sludge core bands like Eyehategod for example, and there is even a song called „Sludge“, would you say you're influenced by bands of that kind?

I'd say they is an influence, for sure. That's one of the things I wanted to originally emphasize when I began writing songs for our demo, just adding a good amount of dirty, heavy sludge parts to the mix. A lot of bands are influenced by metal and end up sounding pretty hard but people forget about bands like Eyehategod and Grief... nothing rules more than a brutal sludge part at the end of a really fast song!!! Crowbar has definitely been influencing some of the newer songs I've been coming up with that haven't been released yet... I'm going for a Nirvana "Bleach" era meets Crowbar meets Bastard meets Tragedy meets Hatebreed kinda thing for our next LP.

Quite a lot of lyrics of your songs deal with violence, violence you wish to practice towards people that surround you, would you say that violence is something like the last option that is left in certain situations?

It's the last and most unrealistic option in my mind. If you asked me if I truly wanted to be violent, and truly wanted to hurt people, the answer would be yes. I've got a real desire to end people's lives and make them feel pain, always have, just something that I've felt inside since I was a little kid... this is the point where I should say that writing songs and playing them live is a healthy way for me to release that negative energy. My inner feelings do match up with my lyrics... but my actions, and intentions, do not. Music is the only way to survive. And even music barely helps, but at least it's something.

In an interview you did with Short, Fast & Loud zine you discussed about how the style of hardcore you play became a little bit more popular lately; also your song „Trapped in a scene“ deals with that topic. Since the interview and the writing process of the record was done a while before, I'd like to know how you think about this now. Would you still say that powerviolence (if we name it like this) gained more popularity over the last months/years? And if so, would you still say it sucks or would you say it's cool that kids discover that sub genre of hardcore?

Begin rant. The powerviolence trend is fortunately on the downswing now, and I'm less annoyed by it these days because it's just not happening as often as it was around the time of that interview. My feelings have not changed... powerviolence is one of those terms that will never stop annoying me. People are desperate to fit in, to find something new to cling on to, this will not change. It's up to us to weed out the people who feel the need to classify us as well as themselves into sub-genres that are simply a "word of the week" for whatever's cool at the time. That's all powerviolence is and it's all it will ever be. A lot of people hear me say this and they say "well, you're playing that style...what are you, "above it" or something? hypocrite." And you know what, those people don't know what they're talking about. I started our band in 2004 when this music barely existed anymore... sure, there's always gonna be bands doing everything at some point, but I'll be damned if I'm going to admit to "hopping on a trend" when in reality, we beat the trend by about almost a year. I'm not saying we "brought it back" but we definitely pre-dated the powerviolence resurgence, and never claimed to ever want to be a part of it in the first place! End rant.

Last question about a certain lyrics, about what band is the song „Mocked“? When I read the lyrics Bones Brigade came to my mind, but then I thought it can not be about that dudes, because they actually do skate a lot, so about which band is that song?

Have you ever been to a show and seen kids skateboarding out front... and they're fucking TERRIBLE? Like, seriously, can't land a single trick, just riding around, actually most of the time they aren't even skating, they're just HOLDING their skateboards... there's a reason for that, and it is because SKATEBOADING HAS BECOME NOTHING MORE THAN A BULLSHIT FASHION STATEMENT TO HELP SELL RECORDS AND MAKE BANDS LOOK LIKE "COOL DUDES". I will stand by this statement til the end of time. Cool, you're into skateboarding... then if this is your whole life, drop the mic, drop the guitar, get off the drums, and go fucking skate. You write lyrics about how you hate yourself when you're not skateboarding... then break up and skate all day and stop writing songs that I can't relate to. I guess I just do not fucking buy it. The reason these kids can't skate is because the only time they ever DO is at a show where they know people can see it. Don't even get me started on people who just bring their boards to a show as an accessory... cool, where's your flannel and your bandana? Don't you need those accessories too? Fuck ANYONE who defines themself based only on fashion.

What is more important to you when it comes down to music: the music, the lyrics or the (baaaad word) lifestyle of the people in the band and how they refelct that with their music?

All that matters to me is if you're sincere about what you're doing. Seriously, freedom of speech is an interesting thing... you can have lyrics about bogus shit that I disagree with and be a total fucking asshole but if you're doing your own thing and releasing pure energy from inside of you, I can at least respect it in that sense, regardless of your message or your image or anything else. It's not about what music you play, what lyrics you have, and what lifestyle you live. If it's who you are, sure I might not LIKE it or even SUPPORT it (i.e. a racist band or something) but if it's truly coming from inside you, that's what all forms of art in general are about... releasing yourself and attacking the world with who you really are, and not being afraid to piss people off and show them how you feel about shit. Add hatred to the mix as well as being really fucked up and confused and never wanting to be a part of society and you get what I consider "Hardcore".

Do Weekend Nachos tour a lot? What was the best and the most fucked up thing that happened to you while touring? Do you have certain rules while in you're in the van, like nobody's supposed to wake somebody up who's sleeping or something or is a Weekend Nachos tour a complete mess?

Hahaha, we don't tour very much at all! We actually did a real tour for the first time over the summer... it was really awesome. There aren't really any fucked up stories that come to mind... we played a house show in Santa Cruz and during another band's set, someone jumped off of a trampoline from outside INTO the living room where the band was playing, THROUGH the window (which was half-closed), THROUGH the glass, and punched Chris in the face upon his entry into the living room, knocking him out. I looked over and saw Chris falling over, completely passing the fuck out from the punch. It was amazing. There aren't really any rules in the van... but I seem to be the only person who gets REALLY mad if someone farts in the van. It's disgusting, I say hold it in until we stop, show some courtesy.

That window guy, he didn't hurt himself? What an amazing action hahaha.

I hope he did! A lot of people got hurt at that show actually, our friends from California have this thing where they crush beer cans on each others heads. Myself and a bunch of others were definitely bringing the "hate mosh" at that show too, it was pretty good. Matt Rolland, our roadie at the time, went into another room and brought their COUCH into the room where the show was and threw it on top of the crowd. I was wearing an American flag headband and an Oakland Raiders jersey (which wasn't even mine, fuck sports) and rolled up sweatpants... weird crazy night.

Are there any more cool bands one should check out from your hometown? Do you know any actual bands from Germany?

There are a bunch of great bands from the U.S., where do I begin? I don't want to name a bunch of bands and leave anyone out, so I guess I'll just namedrop our good friends SICK FIX from Baltimore, Maryland, and IN DISGUST from San Jose, California, both of those bands are fucking great and should be checked out and supported immediately. As for overseas, I know of a lot of bands from Europe... I always forget what countries they are specifically from. Were Mainstrike and Eyeball from Germany? I like a lot of the Crucial Response Straight Edge bands, and I like Cold War a lot, they're from Germany I'm almost positive. not sure about bands from Germany but I love Selfish, D.S. 13, Wolfbrigade, E.T.A., you know, a lot of European bands but not necessarily Germany.

Yeah Eyeball were from Germany, Mainstrike from the Netherlands. Cold War are from Berlin, Germany, 100 points for you!

Haha, awesome, yeah Mainstrike were a great great band, I wish I had gotten to see them when they toured the states.

What are you into besides Weekend Nachos? Are you still attending school or college or working?

Na, to be honest Hardcore is all I give a fuck about. I have a dumb job that I go to so I can survive and eat and all that... but school can suck it, and so can work, but I got no choice there. I like to watch movies and listen to records and occasionally just sit around and laugh about retarded stuff with friends of mine, but writing songs, releasing records, playing shows, going to shows, etc. is the only thing I know how to do.

So this year isn't that long anymore, what's your favourite movie, record and show from 2007?

Fuck, favorite movie, I have no idea! I haven't really seen any that I liked all that much, but 300 came out in 2007, right? That movie was fucking incredible... definitely the best movie of 2007 if I had to name one. Might be the hardest movie ever made, actually. Records and shows... shit, my brain hurts from thinking about this, uhmm I recently saw an instrumental band from Japan play with High On Fire in Chicago, they were called MONO and they completely blew me away, it was not only the best set I've seen in 2007 but one of the best I've ever seen... words couldn't describe it. Check em out if you've got an open mind, they were fucking LOUD and intense, too! Best record would probably go to either the Sick Fix 7" or the Coke Bust 7", both on Third Party Records.

So, last question, it's for a survey I'm doing, what's the best place to read a printzine? If you want to give any shout outs or something, do so! Thanks a dozen this worked out!

Honestly, the best zine around is by a friend of mine named Matt Rolland, he does a zine called MINDLESS MUTANT and he really works hard at it and makes it look damn good. Hands down, best zine around. It really bothers me when people talk about how great MRR is and how it's such a wonerful thing... sure, it's the best distributed underground music zine in the world but so what?!!?? That doesn't mean shit. Of course there are good things someone can get out of a zine like MRR but you have to realize that it DOESN'T represent what's really going on out there AT ALL. It's just a representation of what the current state of the scene wants to see and thinks is cool, and who is anyone to decide that? You all need to find out what's going on in your town and check it out. Don't resort to a bunch of people telling you what to think and how to feel, which is essentially what Hardcore turns into when you have something like MRR dominating the way we view zines. And it's not MRR's fault either... it's ours. Seek out what kids in your scene are really doing, and do it for yourself as well.


Weekend Nachos on myspace.com

Back to interview list