Interview with Gjared Robinson (Out of Body, Counterblast)

The first “real” show I ever went to was Quicksand (and Seaweed) at Saint Andrew’s hall in Detroit. I think it was 1993. At the time grunge was exploding, and in my mind, that was the point of reference into which they fit.  It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I discovered hardcore punk and the roots of the people in bands like Quicksand. Anyway, I later fell in love with Shift, Orange 9mm, Stillsuit, and a bunch of bands who came from a similar musical background.

While there are of course thousands upon thousands of bands that have aped the youth crew sounds that came from the late 80’s NYHC scene, it’s always been weird to me that there have been far fewer who have drawn from the well of early-mid 90’s post-hardcore.

Thankfully, Out of Body from Texas have picked up that mantle and they more than do it justice. Their EP “Evaporate” which dropped last year has been in steady rotation from the moment I got my hands on it. It has all the hallmarks of the genre, and is delivered with an instant catchiness that has had me humming ever since I discovered them.

Anyway, I finally had a chance to catch up with singer/guitarist/songwriter Gjared Robinson; here’s what went down.

One of my favorite things about doing these interviews is to get a little bit more of a comprehensive picture of people beyond just their music, so talk a little bit about your family, your childhood, and your upbringing as a whole.

I'm the youngest of 3 brothers, an older sister and a younger sister after me. Houston, Texas born, soon raised, with half of life growing up around a hood called the 5th Ward where I went to church and a middle class area where I went to high school. I got a chance to see the stark contrast between haves and have nots as that was where my father grew up, my grandmother’s house still stands near Tuffly Park where I first learned to swim. Those that know hip-hop will associate Rap-A-Lot Records and Geto Boys with that part of the city. I had a happy childhood though, my family was drama free for the most part; never saw my parents argue ever. 

I've been following you on IG for a minute now, and I'm pretty regularly caught off guard by some of your selections; your musical palette seems to be all over the map. At what point in your life did you start getting into music, and who were some of the first artists you really started paying attention to?

For 2016 I've been doing a riff-a-day series where I post a different artists guitar riff with no repeating artists at #balaramriffs and it's been a wild ride full of genre crossing. I'm a rock music head so I like a lot of material. The whole deal has made me a better musician by learning songs on the fly, changing tunings and switching up technique. The year is almost over so to readers, go to the hashtag and take a look at what I've done.

My first concert was the Michael Jackson BAD tour and I was obsessed with him. After that it was Prince.  Soul, funk and R&B was a constant in my house so I'm a product of black music which I would later discover that rock n’ roll was invented by black people too. I played trumpet in school band but that wasn't cutting it. 

At what point did you start playing guitar? Did you have any sort of formal training, or are you primarily self-taught?

My dad used to play guitar so he gave me his old box guitar he had from the 1960's and I started learning blues licks like Albert King, jazz chords thanks to Wes Montgomery and a bunch of Mel Bay guitar instructional books. I soon got into Nirvana because that was hot at the time. I remember when Kurt Cobain died and it shook me up. But soon after I was introduced to Jimi Hendrix by a martial arts teacher I had at the time, everything stopped and everything changed.

At that moment I decided I wanted to do whatever the hell he was doing. I wanted my guitar to scream and the acoustic one I was playing couldn't do that. For my 13th birthday I got a Peavey Vantage electric guitar with an amp and never looked back. I took some formal lessons from some long haired hippie but then quit him thinking I was better off doing my own thing. I probably should have stayed disciplined. However, I got really into Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert and John Petrucci so the practicing scales to a metronome as fast as I could became a habit of mine.

Ultimately I got into hardcore punk like Bad Brains, Cro Mags and Youth of Today and I in some ways wasn't playing so technical but the tricks I learned prior made me play hardcore much better. So when I write a hardcore song there's usually a whole lot going on beyond basic chords. 

Let’s talk Out of Body…. I’ve been jamming that tape non-stop ever since I got it in the Spring. You’ve done some hardcore bands in the past, what made you want to do a more rock/post-hc type project and how did the band come together? 

Post-hardcore is just rock music played by guys that got their start in hardcore. For me I caught a lot of those bands because they were played on the radio, 120 Minutes and Headbanger’s Ball at that time. I liked that it was heavy but sounded different from anything that had ever happened before in rock music. Naturally since I was born in the 80's and grew up becoming a teenager in the 90's that decade made a huge impression on me. It's like when you meet a musician who came up in a certain era their music sounds like the time that impacted them the most; it would be like a hair metal guy today still playing party licks. When I sit down with a guitar it just has the crunch, grit and chunk that was definitive of that movement. 

Out Of Body is a concept I started writing for back in the late 90's as it's my own singer songwriter manifestation. I have cassette tapes of songs I would record then tuck away hoping to one day bring them to life. Basically I found all these old tapes, started going through them and realizing there was some good material there as it captured me as a budding musician. Flash forward through the early to mid-2000's and I'm doing a bunch of youth crew hardcore bands like XSeekerX, Vitality, Layin' It Down and a melodic outfit called Neighborhood Villain but I'm still writing this other music that I've been keeping to myself that started back around the time when we all thought the world was going to end as the clocks ushered in a new year. 

I tried to actively do this band in 2010 while I lived in the DFW area but that fell flat. I moved to Austin in 2012 and tried again and it wasn't happening for some reason as far as meeting people. So I took it upon myself to make it happen and in true Dave Grohl Foo Fighter fashion I recorded a demo in 2013 with my friend Reed DeAngelis who was the original drummer of Iron Age. He had a mobile studio that he brought to my house. I played all the instruments myself, he laid down drums and then I went back and did vocals. I sat on those songs a bit, put them online and nobody cared.

In 2014 he and I got together with the idea of doing a full length. We met back up at my place, got our buddy Raul Vela IV to do drums, I recorded all the instruments again plus vocals on a few songs but it was unfinished as I struggled to find members to form the band. The completed songs from that session were released online in Fall of 2015 as the “Evaporate” EP and it was then that I found some people interested in making the band a reality so we pressed those songs to tape, started playing shows on it and in 2016 played more. I completed vocals plus guitar leads on the remaining songs and we went on a summer tour. Pretty much this band is 17 years in the making and I've waited a long time to get this realized so it's humbling when people appreciate it. 

What is the writing process like these days? I know there is new material in the works, how would you say it’s similar to “Evaporate” and what new wrinkles have you tried to add to the mix? 

The “Evaporate” EP was actually supposed to be a debut LP but the songs were in various stages of being finished. So as my previously mentioned timeline of events outlined, the new material is the result of a long journey of recording that's finally going to be unleashed onto the world. If you like the EP then you will dig the LP since it's coming from the same place and circumstance.

As always I stay one step ahead, sometimes two and the writing process for the next effort has begun with the live band lineup I now have even though the debut record isn't even out or picked up by a label yet. I figure it's good to always progress and move forward. Sometimes people just have to catch up to you.

Everyone is bringing things to the table, Chris is a phenomenal drummer, Landon is a super gear nerd that can write mean riffs and Christine brings a feminine creative energy to the dynamic as she has an eye for design which comes across visually and musically. We're making time to write in the coming months. All I can say so far is it's tighter and angrier while still holding on to melody. 

This summer you did a few weeks out to the East Coast and back. What were the highs and lows of the run, both in terms of the shows themselves as well as the overall experience of being out on the road?

The East Coast treated us well, I mean we got to play with Token Entry which is like a hardcore kids dream. We met a lot of great people along the way. We all went to Niagara Falls for the first time. The tour was really awesome even though we were driving a faulty van. We hadn't even left Texas yet and got a flat tire, bought a new one. We had busted a window, the radiator leaked, we bought more tires and I'm honestly surprised we made it home, but it was all worth it. 

Any plans on trying to get “Evaporate” out on wax, or for now is the focus going to be more on new material?

If someone wants to put out the “Evaporate” EP on vinyl, I'm down.

The full LP just got mastered out of Boston at New Alliance East and we're now attempting to shop it around to labels. Interested labels reading this contact us because we are awesome and will add value to your operations. Also we're sexy, cute, but most of all attractive.

I know aside from Out of Body you have a Krishna-oriented band called Counter-Blast going. Talk a little bit about that project and what you are up to with that.

Counter-Blast will be putting out our full LP online in 2017 only because I live in Austin, our bassist Tim is in Detroit, Fred our drummer is in Connecticut, the rhythm guitarist is in Florida and our lead guitarist is in San Diego. With everyone so spread out across the USA it's a challenge to remain active. We try to play as many shows as we can just like earlier in the year we did dates with 108 and even played California with Mindset, Fury, Safe and Sound among others.

If a label is daring enough to deal with us we will rock the house down with our groove sound. Counter-Blast was originally a way for me to pay homage to Absolution/Burn and it was before the real Burn reunited. However, my own style creeps in so it has original flavor apart from other influences like Swiz, Supertouch and Inside Out.

The recording was another case of me recording all the vocals, guitars plus bass myself minus drums; Diego did his guitar tracks too. We recorded in Queens NY in 2014 with Andy Guida, the original drummer of Supertouch who also has ties to Altercation and another band already mentioned. As with other things in my life it's a seasoned effort that is long-awaited but will soon see the light. I even have another record ready to go too plus the other guys have been writing as well so when it's all combined it will be a banger. We're still the only new active Krishna-core band in the States so that's something in itself.

More broadly, how did you get into Krishna consciousness and how would you say it impacts your life on a day-to-day level?

I got into Krishna Consciousness by divine mistake. I was attending university and there was a monk passing out literature. At the time I was atheist and wanted nothing to do with faith-based thinking. But to humor this guy that was insistent on me taking a book, I accepted it, but not before giving him the middle finger and cussing him out. I threw the book in a box full of other books I had no intention of reading.

Many months later a friend of mine was a doing a project for a Religious Studies class and he was going to the Dallas temple Radha Kalachandji to check it out and he invited me. I refused and called him crazy. He knew I had been vegetarian a bit and was heading vegan so he told me how the temple has a restaurant that served BBQ tofu. My ears perked up, I wanted some good food.

When I went to the temple and saw the deities (God in image form) my heart melted and I began to cry. It was such a moving, powerful and internal experience. I had never felt anything like that in my life. I ate food which was absolutely delicious, met devotees and never turned back; I just kept going to the temple.

Funny thing is I ended up meeting the monk who I had verbally mistreated that was distributing books at my college campus. I apologized and he said "I knew you would come", incredible. I ended up digging through that box of discarded random books that I swore I wouldn't read searching for the book the monk gave me before. The book was called Beyond Birth and Death; after reading it things become more clear to me as thoughts I had had before which could never be spoken in my Christian church upbringing were actually explained. Krishna consciousness impacts my daily life through meditation and it totally helps me write trippy far out music. 

It’s always awesome to see a fellow hardcore kid teaching…. what subject/grade level do you teach and how long have you been at it? How would you say your experiences in music impact the way you interact with students or vice versa?

Interestingly enough I've taught long enough to have moshed side-by-side with a student who's all grown up now. I teach English Language Arts to 7th and 8th graders. I've been in education for about 10 years and I'm that artsy fun teacher that plays guitar in class, does yoga with my students and puts on Fugazi "Waiting Room" while they do brainstorm writing sessions.

Yes, I teach through music and it's the most beneficial thing ever. My goal is to give students a unique learning experience they've never had before. 

“Trigger Happy” addresses the topic of gun violence in the U.S. particularly the notion of guns as a sort of security blanket. Being from Texas I’m guessing that is a particularly common viewpoint, I’m curious if you wrote those lyrics in response to a particular situation/series of situations or if it was a more general reflection on that issue. 

I've had a gun pulled on me, I've even disarmed someone holding a gun but those experiences weren't the backdrop for the song. The lyrics are a general reflection about fear taking over people's lives but it's also a statement on police brutality towards people of color as black men especially are gunned down by police in higher numbers according to their national population than others.

I believe that is a result of fear by law enforcement who have subscribed to stereotypes which causes the dehumanization of black men; this has gone on since slavery to the present. “Trigger Happy” is a way of talking about this fear and recognizing that it's not what will help us, love can only do that. 

I feel like I’ve seen you bugging out in at least a couple of videos for the recent Burn reunion shows. What is it about that band that resonates with you so deeply?

BURN is magic. BURN is power. BURN is fire. Outside of Bad Brains they're my favorite hardcore band. I tend to identify and really connect with bands that have people in it that look like me, especially in a white male majority genre like hardcore. I see myself in Chaka Malik and it's inspiring. 

What’s coming up next for you, personally or in terms of either musical project?

Out Of Body world takeover! We are in full activate mode, we want to play as many shows as possible. I want some kid in a small town to know who we are and for everyone everywhere to share this musical experience with us. 

Jams: https://outofbodyatx.bandcamp.com/

"Going Wrong" Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUTIx4a6vgw

Quicksand Cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wwp5yIf46g

Interview with Adam Gonsalves (Holy Hands, Sweet Jesus, Fiddlehead, etc.)

I was not around/paying attention to the first iteration of Atomic Action Records, but since its re-birth a few years ago, AA has become one of my favorite labels, and I've even had the chance to book bands like Fucking Invincible and Raindance a couple times. Anyway, when the "Absolutes" comp 7" came out a couple years ago on AA, I was really stoked to check out some new bands from the East Coast. While most of the bands on the label are heavier/more aggressive, the song that really stuck out to me on that comp was from Holy Hands, a band I'd never heard of before, but whose Elliott/Quicksand vibes are right up my alley.

I wasn't able to track down much else about them until last week when their new 7" "Sweet Love" was posted, which I promptly listened to and once again was overjoyed with. I had to know more, so after doing a little research I saw that their vocalist/guitarist Adam also plays bass in Sweet Jesus, who put out what was probably my favorite LP of last year. 

That sealed the deal, I had to talk to this guy. So emails were sent, Adam was really enthusiastic about chatting, and here we are. 

Hey Adam! So I usually interview people I know or have at least met before through booking their band or whatever, but that’s obviously not the case here, so give a little intro of sorts...aside from bands and such, what do you for work, where do you live, etc.

Aside from my bands I am first and foremost a dad and a husband. I have a daughter that makes life very interesting. I am also an elementary public school teacher, who occasionally works a shift or 2 at our local taqueria called No Problemo. I am from New Bedford, Massachusetts. It's a smaller city about one hour from Boston, and 30 minutes from both Providence, and Newport, RI. I grew up here and it proved to be a great central location  for going to hardcore/punk shows. I have also lived in Queens, NYC and Seattle, WA; both of which were really positive experiences.

Probably my favorite thing about interview folks in bands is hearing their "origin stories" so to speak. Talk a little bit about how you got into punk and hardcore...random kid at school, cool older sibling, what drew you in? 

I discovered skateboarding in 1989, which inevitably changed my life forever. I am still traversing through life on paths which stem from that moment. This was simultaneously my introduction to punk and hardcore, as it often was the soundtrack to skate videos. The sound and fury of hardcore really made an impression on me. Coupled with the ethos of bands like Minor Threat, Fugazi and Gorilla Biscuits, I knew that hardcore was where I belonged. 

Our local hardcore scene in New Bedford was really awesome as well. My first local show was in 1992, to see a band called Intent to Injure. Over the last decade I have played bass in that band, for several reunion shows. Even my current bands: Holy Hands, and Sweet Jesus have members who I met back in the early 90's at these local shows. 

Hell yeah, I'm also a family man and public school teacher, always cool to find kindred spirits! One of the recurring questions that I continue to wrestle with in juggling family, work, and a passion for music is how to achieve balance. I only play in one band and find it difficult to manage everything at times...how have you found a way to keep all your pursuits in some semblance of harmony?

As you know, balancing family, bands, and work is no easy ride. To be successful in the balance struggle it all comes down to trust, understanding and maintaining my PMA! Trust and understanding are crucial. Both my family and bands agree that family always comes first. Having this understanding, my wife knows that even if I have practice tonight, I would cancel if she needs me at home. On the same token, all band members know that this is always a possibility and that I will work with extra diligence next practice to catch up.

I am also very fortunate to play music with such incredible musicians. I have three active bands (Holy Hands, Sweet Jesus, and Fiddlehead). Holy Hands is the only band that has a regular weekly practice schedule. Both Sweet Jesus and Fiddlehead can have gaps as lengthy as months in between practices. For example, after our 9 day EU/U.K. tour, Sweet Jesus played a show per month for 5 months with no practices at all. It may not be ideal, but we make it work. In the end, because of our infrequent practice schedule I am able to have 3 bands, stay married and maintain a career. See, there is evidence that the Positive Mental Attitude is also a critical element in the struggle for balance! 

I always get jealous of people who came up on the East Coast...not that Detroit hasn't always had a lot of cool stuff going on, but damn. Anyway, did you have a sense when you were a kid that you were a part of something special or did it just seem normal to always have these incredible bands playing all the time?

When I was a kid I certainly felt like I was part of something special. Without question, the most incredible band I have ever seen was called Chilmark and they were actually from Cape Cod. Their shows were insane with people just losing it in the crowd.  Ben, the singer could guide/uplift/control the crowd in an amazing way. I found a way to get to every show of theirs that I could…from some tiny hall on Cape Cod, to a show in someone's bedroom in New Bedford, or a real club show in Boston. I was fully committed to being a part of the Chilmark experience.

That feeling of being part of something special has stuck with me through my 25 years of participation in the New Bedford hardcore scene. In the late 90's until around 2001 we had an all ages venue at an AA club called Reflections. We (the kids) built the stage in the room, we had benefit shows to buy air conditioners for summer shows, we had national and local bands playing in our city.

Even in the present day that feeling remains. So many people I grew up with in the scene, now own local skate shops, restaurants and coffee shops, it's great to be here. Also, Brian Simmons who runs Atomic Action Records resurrected his label again and he is a major contributor to our local music scene, and a great friend. Both HH and SJ are on Atomic Action and since they are such a cool grassroots label (and also organic farmers) I feel very special and satisfied to be a part of that as well. 

I'm curious about your musical journey...you mentioned getting into stuff from a pretty young age, at what point did you pick up an instrument and start playing in bands?

My musical journey began with guitar around 1989 when I was 12…my friend Marc and I started playing music together but could never find a drummer! We once played a basement show with no drummer, just Marc screaming, me on guitar and our friend Brian playing bass. It was weird, but still a cool memory! We finally materialized into a full band and I played my first show in 1993. Chilmark was headlining and all of my favorite local bands at the time were also on the bill (including Ryan from Holy Hands' old band and Atomic Action records alumni called Third Age). It was a great show, and a benefit for our high school photo club! Shortly after that we stopped playing and I went through a 3-year lull of playing music.

I was still a very active show goer, and had become really close friends with Ben Coleman who used to sing for Chilmark. We decided to start a band, (called Before I Break) and after tiresome searching for a bass player, I decided to buy a bass. I bought a 1983 Fender American Precision Bass (that I still use today). That moment ultimately brought me to where I am today. Ironically, the guitarist for Before I Break was George who plays in Sweet Jesus now...we also had a band in 2000, called Voices Forming Weapons which a young Pat Flynn used to really dig...it was because of this that we started Sweet Jesus a good 14 years later! 

So you've played in all kinds of projects over the years, which one(s) would you say you are most proud of, and more importantly what lessons would you say you've learned (this could be in terms of writing, performing, recording, or just the dynamics of being in a band) that inform your work today with HH and SJ?

 I have played in so many bands, and honestly every one of them meant something to me. Most of them never left New England and we mainly put out our music ourselves. (Side note: Atomic Action actually put out the Before I Break CD in 1999.. the band had changed singers at the time). I try not to look back too much; truth be told, I have never been more satisfied musically than I am right now.

Holy Hands allows me to sing and play guitar, and challenges me to write lyrics as well as music (we are recording our best songs yet for an LP at God City with Kurt Ballou in February). Sweet Jesus gives me my hardcore fix, and I absolutely love to play bass in that band (we are currently working on a new 7" for Atomic Action). Fiddlehead allows me to approach bass in a different way; playing with my fingers instead of a pick (we have a 7" out on Lockin out, and are writing an LP right now that should be out on Run for Cover at some point).  

I would say the most important lesson I have learned is simply to never give up on your dreams. Even when I was really young watching Van Halen videos on MTV in the 80's, I dreamed of being a musician. In my mind, I have reached my goal and am still realizing my dream of being a musician. Every show I still get to play is bonus. Every song I take part in writing, another mile-marker. Every 7" or LP I can continue to create is another solid chapter in my life.  I am truly happy to be exactly where I am today. 

This is a question I'm starting to think about with regard to my sons...you mentioned you have a daughter; have you/are you planning to introduce her to hardcore and punk? On the one hand I feel like there has been at least a little bit more consciousness being raised about gender-related issues lately, but on the other hand hardcore is still primarily a sausage fest, we've recently had some pretty prominent people in our scene exposed as creeps, etc. I guess it's no different from the rest of the world where you have a lot of beautiful things existing alongside a lot of fucked up things, but is it something you want your daughter to be involved in the way you've been involved?  

I have already begun the introduction to my daughter of hardcore/punk music. Whether or not she decides to get into it is totally her decision. It is our goal to raise an empowered person who will be able to tackle whatever obstacles come her way. If she chooses to be a part of the hardcore scene, I would certainly try to guide her towards the positive end of it, in hopes that she would have that sonic assistance to make good decisions as I did.

I feel that as members of the biggest scene (the world) we know there are pros and cons to all things or good and evil in all people. Everyone, regardless of gender has to stay vigilant and learn to help one another. As both a parent and a teacher, I can see that modeling appropriate behavior is the best way to teach kids to stay on a good path. As a dad of a daughter, I hope she sees me treating her mom (and all people) with total respect and will expect that level of respect from others. If I become a father to a son, I would hope he would learn also how to respect others in the same way.

I always love to talk to fellow teachers who work in the classroom. Aside from the obvious and silly question of how do your kids react when you tell them you play in bands, I'm always curious to hear how people weave their punk experiences into their classroom, or how perhaps growing up going to shows got people thinking about going into teaching.  

As far as punk in the classroom, I tell my students that I play in bands but usually don't tell them which bands until the end of the year. Most elementary school students I have taught haven't been exposed to punk or hardcore yet.

So the SJ LP was recorded a couple years ago with J Robbins. Given the sound and apparent influences of SJ I imagine everybody was pretty stoked to work with him. What was that experience like and were there any cool stories or tidbits of wisdom he shared with you guys?

When Sweet Jesus recorded with J Robbins it was really the icing on the cake to celebrate our collective love for D.C. hardcore. Sweet Jesus formed because we all loved Swiz…so when Shawn Brown from Swiz came to do some vocals on "The Same Man" that was the cherry on top of the cake. The entire experience was fantastic; we were there in Baltimore for 3 days. We tracked 8 of the 10 songs on Day 1, and on Day 2 finished the last 2 songs and moved to vocals. Day 3 was mostly mixing.

J Robbins was a real class act guy. I love Jawbox and the later Government Issue records that he played on so it was really an honor to work with him. We went out to eat with him at night and he would tell us so many cool stories about the early 80's DC hardcore scene…his wife even baked us vegan brownies at one point, they were awesome! (George, Jim and I are vegans). Totally amazing experience, and we all absolutely love the sound we got at Magpie Cage. Actually, maybe the coolest moment was when we had just tracked the 8 first songs and the band was just winding down and one of us noticed that J had posted on Facebook that he was recording Sweet Jesus and described it as " A Rebirth of Hardcore Pride"! He was impressed that we tracked everything live together.

Lyrically, the songs on the 7" seem very down to Earth and honest (I don't think I've ever heard a punk song about the way nature can serve to calm us)...where do you draw your lyrical inspiration from, and what sort of things are you addressing on the new record? 

I am happy to hear that my lyrics are down to earth and honest. That's certainly my goal when writing. My inspiration for writing comes from every aspect of my life, love, the search for peace, truth and justice...sometimes the nucleus of a song stems from reflecting upon conversations with friends, a film I might have watched, daily activities with my daughter, life experiences (for example "The Evergreen State" is about when I lived in Seattle, WA and travelled frequently to the Olympic Peninsula, one of my favorite places on Earth), even things that have happened at school ("Be a Friend to your Friends"). For our next record, there is a song about Chilmark (the band I referenced to earlier), a song about autumn in Massachusetts, I address President-elect Trump, and continue with themes of peace, love and justice. 

You mentioned being super excited for the new HH stuff...how would you compare it to the stuff on "Sweet Love"; any new wrinkles or dimensions to the sound or more of a refinement of what you guys have already established? 

I am very excited to make this LP. I feel it's the next level from "Sweet Love" mainly because it features our new guitarist Ryan, who wasn't in the band yet when we wrote and recorded the 7". I played all the guitar tracks on “Sweet Love” as we were a three piece at the time. My prediction is that if you like “Sweet Love” you will love the LP, since our sound has expanded and slightly evolved as well.

In your roughly three decades in the punk and hardcore scene, I'm sure you've seen a lot change and evolve. What would you say have been the biggest changes, and for you, what things have remained constant?

I have seen a lot of change and evolution in the hardcore scene. I have also witnessed the cyclical nature of hardcore in the way that styles (both sonically and fashion) come and go and return again. I got into hardcore when cassettes were big. I saw the CD emerge and be usurped by MP3s, then vinyl came back and even cassettes, it's really wild! Aside from that, I would have to say the biggest changes have to do with the current ability to trade and find records online, and social media in the way you can network and communicate so easily. 

The constant is that I still can follow the musical journeys of people that started it all, or that I discovered at the beginning of my journey. Ian MacKaye is one of the few people that I have consistently felt I could look up to. I am so happy to know he is still out there making music and continuing with Dischord. I admire his unwavering consistency in his approach to life and music. 

Walter Schreifels as well. I have followed him since Gorilla Biscuits, I saw Quicksand come up, and now both bands have returned again. I loved Rival Schools too. I truly admire his incredible songwriting and the fact that he never turned his back on his roots in hardcore. Ever heard his cover of "The Storm" by Judge? It's incredible. 

Lastly, I know I have felt music has always spoken to me, and I actually feel like it's gotten more important to me over time rather than the other way around. For you, as a guy with a career, a family, etc. what continues to draw you in and keep you excited? 

Music has always spoken to me as well. I listen to music every day, every chance I get. I almost always have a song or a riff in my head no matter where I am. Right now is an incredible time to be involved with hardcore. So many long gone bands have returned. I missed out on initially seeing a lot of the 80's bands that I grew up listening to and just assumed that was it. I had missed the boat.

Bands like Negative Approach, Gorilla Biscuits, Soul Side, Judge, etc. have all come back and I finally got to see them which was fantastic. That keeps me excited as a fan and the fact that I just cannot stop writing and playing music also keeps me involved. Having the pressures of family, life, and career it's always great to have new music and shows to look forward to.

I love the songwriting process....coming up with the skeleton of a song and watching it take full shape when everyone else in the band adds their individual sound to it. There are so many songs that I love. Songs that really put specific feelings into words and sound, and I will always have a need for that in my life. 

Holy Hands “Sweet Love”: https://atomicactionrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sweet-love

Sweet Jesus “You Destroy Yourself”: https://atomicactionrecords.bandcamp.com/album/you-destroy-yourself

Fiddlehead 7”: https://fiddleheadma.bandcamp.com/releases

Live photos by Reid Haithcock (http://www.reidhaithcock.com/) and Todd Pollack