Interview with Dave from Ex-Breathers

A couple years ago my buds Steve and Mike started talking about this band Ex-Breathers from Tallahassee, saying they were awesome and I needed to check them out. For whatever reason I never did (Oh right, cuz I’m an idiot!), but fast forward a couple years later and I saw that Ryan Hex was working with them. Given that the Hex imprint has delivered an unbroken succession of ear-imploding sonic goodness over the years, I decided it was time to actually wake the fuck up and give this band a listen.

I’m certainly glad I did, because they deliver and then some. Their new LP “Past Tense” mixes the best elements of head-splitting noise rock with the more refined, pulsating grooves of DC post-hardcore. I’m not sure if that sounds intriguing or not, so just trust me when I say it rules.

Anyway, as always, I decided to reach out and had the following exchange with David. Hit the link at the bottom to give these dudes a listen, and do not miss them if they roll through your town.

I'm always interested in hearing about people's origins in music so talk a little bit about your childhood, your background and your introduction to punk, hardcore, DIY, whatever you wanna call it.

I grew up pretty normally in a small town in north Florida, so I got really into whatever independent music I could find online since there wasn't much else to do.  Some friends of mine found out I played guitar and knew a little about hardcore so they got me to play in a band with them.  Thankfully they somehow knew how to get on shows and we'd play a lot at this collectively owned coffee shop in Pensacola called End Of The Line Cafe.  That place was incredible and introduced me to more radical politics and punk ideals and music.  They also let me book shows there, which was so nice of them to let a dumb high schooler do.  The people who ran it really instilled a lot of great knowledge and DIY ethos in me, just through example.  I owe so much to them.

That sounds awesome. So who were some of the best bands you got to play with and/or book? Favorite memories from that spot?

The shows I booked back then (this was, like, over 10 years ago) were just some bad metal-core shows for my high school band to play, haha.  Just with other local high school bands.  Some of the bands that stick out that kinda opened my eyes a little were Light The Fuse And Run and Transistor, Transistor.  Two old screamo bands, but I remember them playing on the floor and getting everyone to be as close to them as possible.  I know a lot of bands do that, but it was my first time being a part of that and it really pressed through to high-school-me that we were all on the same level and there shouldn't be any hierarchy in punk.  I watched Bear Vs Shark through a window cause we got there too late to get in and that blew my mind just seeing them play.

Hey, never trust a kid who didn’t grow up listening to bad metal-core, haha. So I know for me, starting to book shows is what really made me start to feel connected to the broader hardcore and punk community, even more so than playing in bands. I wonder what your experience has been there....what would you say has hooked you in more?

Definitely booking shows has strengthened my connection to a more national community.  Especially through the DIY venue that Jack and I used to be involved with called The Farside.  We met so many rad, like-minded people through that, a lot of which we still play shows with now.

Who were some of those early bands you played in and what lessons would you say you took away from those projects?

I've played in a million bands in the last ten years that were never really heard outside of Florida.  Each one was pretty different (in my opinion) and I definitely learned a lot from everyone that I've played with.  I feel like they all kinda helped informed the songwriter I am now in different aspects.

Talk a little bit about the formation of Ex-Breathers....how did you come together as people and what were some of your common reference points or influences as you started to talk about doing the band?

Jack had an old band called Bleeder, and towards the end of that band I joined to play second guitar.  We were both also in a band called Dickkicker in which I wrote all the songs.  Bleeder ended, but Jack still had a bunch of songs, so the two of us continued with Adam drumming.  Originally it was all Jack's songs.  Then Dickkicker broke up, so I started writing for Ex-Breathers too.  We didn't really have any influences in mind, just wanted to play some heavier music.  We all have pretty similar tastes in music, so it kinda just ended up sounding like our favorite bands.  But hopefully that's always evolving.

So listening to your discography it seems like the first few releases were definitely high on the frenetic energy, things almost falling apart chaos, whereas "Past Tense" maintains some of that urgency and tension, but definitely also settles down a little more at times, locking into some Fugazi-esque grooves. Talk a little bit about the writing process for this new stuff, and the expansion of your sound.

I don't think there was really a conscious expansion of our sound; it's just us constantly wanting to do something a little different.  The writing process has always been the same: either Jack or I writes a song and brings it to everyone to see if we like it, and then we do our own thing to it.  So I guess it's always influenced by whatever we're listening to a lot of at the time. 

You mentioned earlier being drawn in by the progressive politics of punk as a young kid when you were first getting into things, what are some of the lyrical themes on the new record?

I can only speak for the songs I wrote, but those are usually just me trying to suss out my thoughts on different pressing topics.  On the last few records, those topics tended to be my own mental and physical health, but for this one there was definitely an attempt to stop singing about myself, haha.  Topics range from police violence against minorities, militarized responses to protesters, physical and mental violence against the LGBTQ community, as well as, OK, one song about my mental health.  And one song about people who make boring art for profit.

I know Hex worked with you guys on the 4 way split, how did it come about to work with him again and Exploding in Sound for the new LP?

Ryan's been so rad to us since we met a couple of years ago at The Fest.  EIS wanted to put the record out as a split release, and Hex still wanted to work with us.  That's really about it.  We're so lucky to work with two labels we really respect.

You guys just got back from a run that was fairly extensive to say the least....how were things, both in terms of the shows themselves, as well as with respect to the quality of the people you met along the way and the experiences you guys had?

This last tour was incredible!  Traveling to beautiful places we've never been before (we've never played out west before) in the same van as our friends Gnarwhal definitely made it one of our best trips.  The shows weren't as big as what some bands play, but it meant the world to us that a handful of people in most towns that we've never been to before wanted to see us.  Or at least they tolerated us while waiting for their friends' bands to play, haha.  We also definitely got to meet some rad new people that were doing cool things in their communities, which is always inspiring.

Talk about the dynamics of throwing two bands in one van. Did you know the folks from Gnarwhal going into it or were you just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best? That's so rad that it worked out. I'm sure sharing gear and expenses were obviously awesome, but was there any nervousness (in either band) that there could have been personality clashes?

We've known Gnarwhal for a few years now.  Both of us have booked shows for each other (and our other bands) in our respective cities, so we knew it'd work out great.  Kinda surprising it took this long to tour together, haha.  

From looking at photos it seems like sometimes you guys play with two drummers, sometimes just one. As a drummer myself, I have enough problems staying on track with the other musicians, let alone tossing a second drummer into the mix, haha! How does playing with a second drummer affect things, both live and in terms of writing?

We've actually only played with two drummers once a couple of years ago, and we're about to do it again as another one-off.  Ronnie, the second drummer, actually drummed for us for a little bit while Adam was in school and touring with another band, and he actually recorded drums for the four-way split we did with Gnarwhal, Woozy, and Ovlov.  Also, both of them grew up playing shows together, so they both have a good understanding of how each other plays.  It's actually really fun for everyone and pretty nuts that we know two people who can play those parts.

To close out, what's next for you guys? With a new record I assume more touring (Midwest pretty please)....are there any specific plans yet or you just taking things as they come?

We're writing some stuff now; don't really have any concrete plans.  I'm sure we'll tour the East Coast/Midwest again at some point.  We really want to tour outside of the country, if we can figure out how to do that.

Jam the Jams: http://ex-breathers.bandcamp.com/
Purchase: http://www.hexrecords.bigcartel.com OR http://www.explodinginsound.bigcartel.com

Interview with Jordan Lee Byrd from Minority Threat

I met Jordan Lee Byrd last Spring when my band did a little weekend run to coincide with the release of our new 7". He and his roommates hosted a show for us at their house in Columbus, Ohio that wound up being probably the best night of the jaunt. 

Maybe six months later he posted a link to a new band called Minority Threat. I didn't click the link to listen but having seen a flurry of bands lately with names that struck me as really generic or just downright cliche, I think I commented something sort of snarky like "Really, in 2015 someone is actually ripping off the name of the greatest hardcore punk band ever?" He replied with something along the lines of "Yeah man, it's a band of all black dudes, it's my new band actually". 

Oh. Right. I'm a fucking idiot. Anyway, I proceeded to actually clink the link this time and was floored by some of the most powerful hardcore punk I'd heard in quite a while. Musically, the pace shifts from thrashing attacks to heavy, mid-paced rhythms, while lyrically Jordan assaults police brutality, false beauty standards, economic injustice, and macho boneheads. 

The songs were released a couple months ago on cassette by Head2Wall Records and I would highly recommend you track down a copy. Naturally, I wanted to get to know Jordan a little bit better and learn more about the band. Read on. 

So one of my favorite things about doing interviews is learning more about people's backgrounds, stuff I might not probably know otherwise, so talk a little but about your family, childhood, etc., specifically as it relates to art, music, etc. What kind of stuff was on the radio, on the tv, etc. when you were coming up?

Let's see... So I grew up on the west side of Columbus. I've actually been there for 23 years of my 25 year life. We were very poor, usually living with relatives or in low-income housing. I was always surrounded by family, and luckily they (almost) all loved music. I grew up on a lot of black music. Soul, R & B, jazz, blues, hip hop, etc. My grandfather used to sing Al Green to me up until the time he passed in 2001.

Soul and Hip Hop were always the most inspiring to me. They both had so much raw passion and beauty. That's what made it easy for me to fall in love with punk/hardcore as soon as I heard it. I was in the 6th grade, living in Stewartstown, PA with my grandparents at the time. It was an embarrassingly small town about 30 minutes from Baltimore, MD. 

This kid Steve that was two grades above me used to take me to his house and show me punk records. That's when I started to branch out into all genres of music and find my real passion for music.

Columbus is obviously a huge college town with OSU being there....what would you say are the pros and cons of living in a college town?

I'm born and raised on the Westside of Columbus. I still live on this side of Columbus, even though most shows and events happen in central Columbus/campus area. It's great living here because there’s always something to do, if you want to do it. Either a show, a dance party, poetry reading, whatever, you know? It just sucks having to deal with the jockey, trust fund frat-children that come in waves every year.

Alright, so were there particular artists that spoke to as a young person, be it from the sounds in your home coming up as a kid, or bands you were introduced to in the punk scene?

A couple artists really spoke to me growing up. Nas was always a big inspiration for me. His raw lyrics, attitude, and flow always intrigued me. He was one of the first artists I really looked up to. Bad Brains was my first real love, when it comes to punk music. I think they really inspired me for the same reasons that Nas did.

The older I got, the more I branched out and got inspired my different genres outside of Hip Hop and Punk. Bjork is one of my favorite artists of all time, and she still inspires me now with her seemingly endless creativity.

At what point did you start fronting bands? You've been fairly open on social media about your struggles with anxiety and depression; was coming out front as a lyricist and vocalist particularly difficult given those things or has your art been more of a way to channel some of those struggles and face those demons so to speak?

I started fronting my first band almost ten years ago now. A couple of friends and I wanted to start a hardcore band, so we did.  My first band was called All My Strength, we were just your standard mid-2000's heavy hardcore band. I had never done vocals before that. It felt very unnatural at first, but I adapted pretty quickly, especially when I figured out that I could use this as a sort of therapy, so to speak. As anxious and depressed as I may be at most times, playing music is one of the only times my head feels clear and calm. It's a very beautiful thing. 

In terms of Minority Threat specifically, you mentioned in a recent piece that the death of Michael Brown was sort of the impetus that got the 4 of you together. What was it about that case that was the straw that broke the camel's back?

The death of Michael Brown really put things into perspective for me and a couple other band-mates. I knew that racism and police brutality were a very real thing, but for some reason this case struck the chord that opened the dialogue to really start Minority Threat. We talked about the band before those events, but that case, and the couple after that one really made it feel like we have to speak about these situations and issues.

You guys obviously released "Culture Control" a couple months back via Head2Wall Records. How did you hook up with him, and are there any plans  for a vinyl release at point?

Head2Wall was started by a couple friends of mine that are in some awesome Columbus bands (go listen to Headacher). They really enjoy helping solid local bands with getting their music to a broader audience. They reached out to us after we released that horrible rough demo and wanted to release the tape. It just felt natural to go with a homegrown label that wanted to help us push out a record that we believe in wholeheartedly.

The tape release was a couple weeks ago.....how was the show and how are people reacting to the new material?

The tape release show was a blast! We actually had to switch the show from Cafe Bourbon St, the smaller side of the venue, to The Summit because of possible capacity issues. It was kind of surreal seeing so many people come out for a local show like that. People seemed to react really well to the record, if the release show is any indication. Kids were getting kind of wild during our set, haha.

Damn, that's so sick! Alright so in closing, what do you guys have coming up next?  Any plans to hit the road? New material?

We are really excited about the future of our music right now.

We have a lot planned, we're just trying to find the time to really get it done. We're shooting to at least release something by the beginning of Spring. We have a couple plans to hit the road, it's just finding the time to do so. Everyone works and has other obligations that come before this band. We're going to try to go out as much as we can, doing short weekends and whatnot.

Hopefully we can play with you sometime! Thanks for asking about this stuff, man. I really appreciate any interest in what we do because it's extremely important to us. We don't have many platforms to express our opinions outside of our friends group, but we're hoping that we can use this one to make some sort of difference.

Jams: https://minoritythreat.bandcamp.com/album/culture-control
Support: http://www.head2wallrecords.bigcartel.com/