Interview with Jim Connolly from Soul Control, Fucking Invincible, etc.

 I’ve been following Jim Connolly’s bands for quite a while now, going back to like 06’ or 07’ when I first heard about Soul Control, a band I instantly loved. Starting out on Rivalry and then eventually signing to Bridge 9, they’re a band that has evolved quite a bit stylistically over the years, and while I’ll admit I prefer their first few releases to the last couple, they continue to write really interesting, challenging stuff.

The first time I guess I properly “met” Jim was this past summer when I booked his new band Fucking Invincible, who were touring with Loma Prieta. FI is a completely different beast from SC, and I was totally floored by their vicious attack of thrashy, grindy madness which periodically explodes into the sickest breakdown you’ve ever heard, pummels you with said mosh attack for a quick second, and then gets the hell out before you even realized what happened, leaving you windmill and spinkick-less.

At any rate, this past week my whole family was sick, so one night after having tended to hacking coughs, 102 + fevers, and general misery all day, when everyone finally went to sleep I sat down at the computer and said to myself, “I wonder if Jim would be down to answer some questions.” Answer he did, unleashing some of the most comical stories and interesting tidbits I’ve been able to capture thus far on the blog.

I’d say this is probably my favorite chat thus far, and I didn’t really have to do much, Jim just took the reins and went for it. That said, read on.  

First things first, talk a little bit about your childhood, adolescence, and your path into punk and hardcore.

I was born in 1978 in Worcester, MA. I was interested in music right from the get go. Both my mom and my grandmother had record players and a bunch of vinyl and I also had a little travel record player made for kids that could play 45's. So I'd listen to my mom and grandmother's random stuff. The two I loved the most were The Beatles "I am the Walrus/Hello-Goodbye" and The Big Bopper "Chantilly Lace/Purple People Eaters", both of which I still have to this day.

Then in 1984 I asked for my first tapes of my own which were Van Halen's “1984” and Culture Club, whichever one had ”Karma Chameleon” haha. As I got older I got heavy into guitar based stuff like AC/DC, Guns n Roses, etc.

As the early 90's hit and rock was getting really bad I found hip-hop for a couple of years until I hit high school in 1992 and started getting back into guitar stuff when I would landscape with my cousin. That finally leads to hardcore and punk.

I got on the wrong bus for a field trip and had to sit with a bunch of kids I didn't know. We ended up becoming friends and they were always talking about these shows they'd go to. So eventually in 94’ to get me to go with them they bought me a ticket to see Sam Black Church and Black Train Jack. They threw me in the pit, made me get up and stage dive and I was hooked. A couple weeks later we went to see Madball, which was obviously the dopest shit ever haha.

So being on the East Coast I imagine it was relatively easy to get submerged into things pretty quickly. What were some of the highlights of your early experiences going to shows....bands, venues, etc.? Also, Madball in the 90's (-:

Dude, Madball played somewhere in New England seemingly every weekend. It was the best.

I can only imagine. I mean, I saw them a half dozen times here in Michigan between 95 and 98, so I know out East must've been ridiculous. Orange 9mm too, band was always playing here, loved it.

Yeah, New England isn't that large of an area so within a couple hours you could see pretty much any touring band. Plus we had some great locals in MA in the 90's. Converge, Dive, Overcast, Bane was just starting up, Blood for Blood, 454 Big Block, so many bands. My favorite venues were in Providence, Babyhead and then The Met Cafe.

My favorite band instantly was Agnostic Front. So when they got back together in 1996 I went to a bunch of the shows on the first reunion run. The shows were insane.

I was at the 2nd Bane show. With them being from my town and Worcester having a thriving scene then, they literally played every weekend. They ended up being a huge part of my life.

Oh and about venues, CBGB's sucked. Just throwing that out there haha. I saw really good shows there but the actual place was a dump. I'm in the minority on that probably but whatever.

Man, that is so nuts. I'm glad you mentioned that because I'm actually in the middle of an interview with Bedard right now and one of the things I want to ask him about is their legacy. For me I've always considered them to be the quintessential hardcore band of our generation. What if anything, would you say their legacy is or what impact have they had on you specifically?

Bane IS the quintessential band of our generation.

Actually I was at the show where Dalbec realized he need Bedard to sing in Bane. It was a reunion for his old NYHC worship band called Backbone. Bedard got kicked in the face by a stage diver and was bleeding from his eye.

But right from the beginning they just took shit over. Each show just got wilder and wilder. Their first tour was opening for Saves the Day and by the time they got back it seemed like they were the biggest band. There's an amazing video that was on xMulletx of Bane playing “Superhero” in Worcester, you have to see it if you haven't. Biggest sing along ever and they hadn't even written “Can We Start Again” yet.

Yeah the first time they played here was "Michigan Fest" in 96 or 97 and they just blew the doors off completely. From there it seemed like every 3 to 6 months I was seeing them in either Detroit or Chicago, and like you said, they got more amazing every time it seemed.

Bedard was a great front man. Normally when a band would talk between songs you'd get bored and just wish they'd play another song but when he would speak, everyone would listen. Man, I'm going to have to break out all my old Bane VHS tapes now.

Real quick about those dudes. I don't see them as much anymore but I love those guys. Bedard taught me how to play poker and introduced me to the lost Burn demos, 2 things I am most grateful for. My first tour ever was with them and they treated us like gold. I rolled down to DC and did backups on “Give Blood” and have been all over the place with those guys. They were THE band of my most formative years and I'll always love that band. Ok, that's it on that haha.

When did you make the transition from living in Boston to moving to Providence? And at what point did you transition from observer (i.e. going to shows and whatnot) to participant (playing in bands, booking, etc.)?

My first band started in 96. Just with some friends from high school. We didn't play any shows. I bought guitar gear with landscaping money and joined a band without knowing how to play at all. So the first songs I learned were their songs, which were really bad haha.

I still can't read music but I have a good ear. I played along to the “Victim in Pain” album until I could play the whole thing and that's really all you need to be able to play hardcore in the beginning. My first real band pretty much only played in Worcester and had a ton of different members between 97 - 98 but it was fun.

We did a lot of AF, SOIA and Life of Agony covers haha.

Oh man Life of Agony. Never understood them back in the day, REALLY don't understand why kids are liking them again 9and the bands who are biting them).

Well, it’s because “River Runs Red” is one of the best records ever dude. Seriously, I love that record, always did. No one ripping them off is as good but I understand why they try.

The dudes that got me into hardcore mainly loved the NY stuff that's why all of my early days were spent latched onto those bands. Once I started going to shows that weren't that style we kind of stopped hanging out and I met new kids into newer stuff. 99/00' I met my best friend Seth and his friends and that's where my life took the major turn that led me to my current life.

I started hanging out in a different side of Worcester with those dudes and playing poker and stuff. Then I joined What Feeds the Fire in 2001 and moved to Providence a year later.

Oh damn, I didn't know you played in WFTF! I found a 7" of yours on EBay six months ago for like a dollar. I guess I better go listen to it, haha! So talk about that project, Sean from Verse was in it correct? How did that get started, and what were the highlights of that band?

I joined after they had recorded so don't listen hoping to hear my sweet, sweet riffs haha. I met the bassist Mark and his friend Matt at Posi Numbers. We hung out a bunch, we had all seen each other at shows but didn't know each other personally, being from different cities. So after Posi Numbers I started hanging out in Providence a lot. I was in an edge band at the time and we needed a drummer for a short 4 day tour and Sean played with us. He sang in WFTF and Verse but he's actually a real solid drummer as well.

We all got tight quick and our bands played together a few times before my band broke up. WFTF lost both guitarists around the same time and Sean asked me to join.

We practiced for a few months and then played a "comeback" show with Hatebreed, Bane and Poison the Well in Providence. WFTF was THE Providence band at the time and it was obviously a huge crowd because of the other bands. We got a wild response with a million stagedives. As soon as we got off stage Jamey Jasta asked us if we wanted to go on tour with them, PTW and Bane in a couple months and we obviously said yes. So that ended up being my first real tour.

It was the “Perseverance” record release tour. Full US, a little over a month long. There were 500-1000 kids a night. Bane got great reactions. None of us knew PTW but they got INSANE reactions and became really good friends of ours. Hatebreed sets were warzones in every city. Hell of a first tour.

It was crazy. Hatebreed had just signed to a major for that record. I did backups on that record actually, and because it was on a major we all had join the screen actors guild music division and got paid like $400 haha.

Holy shit. Alright, so give us some scoop, what's the Hatebreed studio experience look like?

Hatebreed in the studio was great. As much as we the listeners love those breakdowns, yo THEY loved those breakdowns even more. They would play the songs back and just laugh at how heavy it was. Sean spent an entire day just doing pickslides. They were at a studio that was on a ranch and part of the deal there is the people that live there take care of you, so at the end of the day we had a big family style, sit- down 5 course meal.

Oh my god. Okay, interview's a wrap haha.

Also on that tour they had a 2nd trailer that just had a bowflex in it. No joke. Jamey had just gone edge and was on a big health kick.

God damn.  So what happened to the band after that tour?

We did some more tours after that, quit our jobs and stuff. We signed to Deathwish and wrote a record but we broke up before we recorded it.

Damn. So is there a link to the lost WFTF floating around somewhere? Like the lost demos?

Nope! There's some live stuff but that's it. I've seen the live from CBGB’s set we did floating around on Soulseek.

How did you eventually hook up with the dudes that became the original Soul Control line up?

Well at that Posi Numbers I mentioned earlier, the Matt was Mattdude, the original singer of Soul Control and the original drummer was in WFTF with me. So I had known them both for 5-6 years when we started SC. To be honest I had been totally dropped out of hardcore for two years or so right before we started SC.

SC exists because of Bedard and Pat Flynn actually.

How did they get the ball rolling?

I had been going to mostly stoner rock and indie shows for a while, not really playing in bands and just working in Providence. I got up one morning and Bedard was asleep on my couch, him and my roommate Rich had been playing cards at the casino all night. Bane was playing later that night in Worcester and he asked me if I was gonna come up. He convinced me to go and I'm glad he did. I had forgotten how much I loved shows and ended up stagediving all night.

So after the set I'm sitting there sweating like a doofus and this kid comes up to me and says "Hey, you don't know me but my name is Pat and I just wanted to say WFTF was my favorite band and I just wanted to say thank you."

So we talked a bit and he mentioned he was in a band called Have Heart. I told him I'd check them out and he definitely didn't believe me, haha. But I found a song on MySpace and emailed him saying that I liked it.

So, we'll pause there and come back to that. At the same time those old friends of mine had been jamming in my basement for a while, "getting the old band back together." Matt was playing bass, Eric was playing guitar as was Anthony. My roommate Rich was on drums. They were writing the WORST songs haha.

So Rich went on tour for a while, he was in Reggie and the Full Effect at the time, and it was a pretty long tour.

So Matt asked me to help them write songs while he was gone. So I grabbed my guitar, Eric moved to bass and Anthony moved to drums. I wrote the song "Dive" which was on the demo and we knew instantly that we were a new band. Rich came home and found out he wasn't in the band and was real bummed.

Damn, the classic swoop-in!

We finished the demo songs pretty quick and played a song during a Verse set a month later. That show was with Have Heart. Pat loved the demo and Matt was already their roadie anyway so he asked us if we wanted to tour the next summer and we said yeah. The summer was 6 months away so we didn't think it was too real. Then we found out the power of Have Heart real quick. We did a Cali weekend with them, which was our 10th show, then did that summer tour with them.

Damn, so nuts how stuff just happens.

Yea, I got lucky a couple times huh? In our first year we did tours with Have Heart, Verse, and Go it Alone. Plus Europe with Blacklisted and Shipwreck. Wild first year.

So looking at the progression of SC, the early stuff with Matt and Anthony had the Burn/108 vibe with lyrics that sort of leaned in an Eastern philosophical/spiritual sort of direction, whereas the new stuff with Rory is a little more fuzzed out, and is quite different lyrically, vibe-wise, etc. It seems like Cycles and the 4 song 7" series sort of was the bridge between the o.g. line up and the current lineup. Describe the evolution of the band....obviously getting a new singer and new drummer changes stuff, but you and Eric have been consistent throughout....

Dude, Matt quit the band so many times haha. He literally quit on the 2nd day of that first tour we did and Pat convinced him to stick with it because Kyle had put a lot of money into the record, etc.

So we were always dealing with that and were prepared for one of the quittings to be real.

Funny story about that actually. It was in Syracuse and we're outside screaming at Matt, trying not to kill him because he’s holding up the whole show. Rory was at the show and asked his friend why the fuck SC wasn't playing and he said something like "I think their singer is crying in the van or something" and Rory's response was "Fuck that, tell them to get in here and I'll sing." We didn't even know him at the time but he told us that later after he was in the band. I think that's the coolest story.

Damn man, that's wild. Or wyld since it involves Rory, haha.

Yes, if it's in Rochester it must be Wyld, haha.

But, regardless of who was singing, “Cycles” was going to be “Cycles”. That record was written when Matt was still in the band. He had words to the songs and we even played “Flux” with Matt on the Euro tour.

We did the 4 singles just to get something out with Rory on them as quick as possible. We didn't want to slow down at all. We did 1 local show then flew to Texas to start a 2 week tour. We figured the quickest way to see if he'd work out was to get in the van.

“Cycles”, for us, was a natural progression. Demo was Burn. “Involution” was Quicksand. “Cycles” was post-hardcoreish. It was us trying to add in some Hum and Failure to go along with the Quicksand.

The demos sound a lot different than the finished product sounds. Jay Maas sped a lot of stuff up and with 2 weeks in the studio we kind of over-produced it because we had nothing else to do but tweak it.

Word. So enter Rory, obviously a great vocalist, a mad man in terms of stage presence, but aside from some touring to support "Cycles", there's been a couple more records but not much to speak of tour-wise besides the annual fest run. Is life just getting in the way or do you feel like you've done what you can do on the road with SC?

Actually after Cycles came out we played 150 shows. We toured a lot on that record. Like 3 full US tours and 2 Euro trips.

We got totally burnt out. We told B9 we weren't going to tour much and they totally understood.

Oh damn, I didn't realize you guys did that much on “Cycles”!

We all would work shitty jobs for a few weeks between tours and were broke. Luckily my wife was working and I had 2 other roommates so I could survive on the little I'd bring home from tour. But, I didn't want to keep living that way. I started to hate touring. We all did, we just had to sit down and tell each other we what we were all thinking.

So what's the status of SC now? New 7" every year or so, the Fest and a few east coast dates a year? Any chance us Midwesterners may ever get to mosh to "Like Spiders" again?

Well, we didn't release a record in 2013 which is only the 2nd time that's happened. We've been talking more and more about writing/recording again, we just have to make it happen. We might have Rory come down and then lock ourselves in the space for a weekend and write and record something all at once. Do everything ourselves.

We'll always play Fest as long as they'll let us. We're playing one of the Marathon reunion shows in February and I think we might do a weekend here and there this year. We only played 4 shows this past year, we'd like to top that in 2014. MI was really good to us when we played that Frat house. I think we played Refuge once as well. Maybe I'll just bring all my bands out there for the unveiling of the Robocop statue, haha.

You mentioned the influences on the first few records...Burn, Quicksand, Hum, Failure. What would you say were the main influences on "Get Out Now" and "Bore Core" and what do you see creeping into the mix on future SC ventures?

“Get Out Now” I don't really remember. We had been writing sporadically for a while and had a bunch of stuff but it all sounded different and not cohesive. Then B9 called us in for a meeting to see where we were at as a band. We told them we didn't have another LP in us but that if we whittled down all the stuff we had, we could record a 7" right away. They were down with that so we picked 5 songs and went and recorded them. It was a very disjointed process.

I think it was for "Get Out Now" you guys put out a pretty bizarre "press statement" haha. I assumed it was sort of you guys poking fun at how overly "professional" stuff is becoming these days within punk and hardcore. Am I on the right track or were you guys just trying to get people to scratch their heads?

The press release was written by Eric's brother Adam.

He's a writer and he tends to write in a rhythmic way where the words don't matter as much. It makes more sense when he explains it. But, Adam rules and I've known him even longer than I've known Eric so when the idea was brought up I was all for it.

“Bore Core” is our best record I think, but every band says that about their latest release. We were in a really good place, there was zero pressure and we just wrote whatever the hell we wanted. Eric actually wrote the best songs on that record and that got me really stoked. He always wrote his own parts and I've always considered bass the lead instrument in our band but for “Bore Core” he was straight ripping entire songs. It was a really good time writing and recording that one.

I remember Seth from B9 asking me "if I was sure we wanted to put BORE in the title" haha.

How those guys don't hate us by now I'll never understand. We must be really charming.

But yeah, we'll write again eventually. Like every SC release, it'll sound like whatever we want it to sound like. I'd like to do a really heavy record. Heavy and noisy, something Rory could just go bananas over.

Yeah I was wondering about the relationship with B9. I feel like they generally seek out and then promote the shit out of bands that are very "hype", I mean they're a business obviously so they have to sell records. At the same time, I feel like you guys have been very consciously cutting against the grain in that respect. Is there ever weariness on their part? It seems from the outside like they've given you guys free reign.

Well, we still got invited to the Christmas party so that's gotta be a good sign right? We got signed by Karl when he was still there, he was really into getting us to record “Cycles”. We never planned on doing an LP but he convinced us. But then right before it was set to come out he got a job at Epitaph and we've kind of always felt that B9 was just stuck with Karl's baby after that. They promoted “Cycles” hard though and we did our part and did a lot of touring. They were cool with the EP's but I'd assume at this point they don't really need a band like us around anymore. But who knows, I think our contract says we technically owe them 1-2 more LP’S haha.

And dude, if my vote counts, heavy and noisy!!!! That last Achilles record still makes me lose my shit. I email Hex every couple months hounding him about when that "new 7" they have" is coming out, haha.

Achilles is so good. They need to release that EP. Rory did his part and slowed down SC, Chris needs to pause Polar Bear Club for a damn minute and record that shit. They played 1 of the songs on a weekend they did 2 years ago. I bet the record would be sick.

Shifting gears a little bit, talk about the formation of Fucking Invincible, who obviously tread some very different sonic territory from SC and WFTF.

FI came together pretty easily. SC and Sweet Jesus both hardly ever play shows and I wanted to start something new, specifically to play shows.

I had been talking to Brian about doing a band that sounded like Hatchetface, an old Worcester area band. Brian is a fellow old guy and one of the few people outside of Worcester that even knew who that band was. Around the same time Alexis decided he wanted to scream in a band again and the vibe he wanted musically was similar to what we wanted to do so we grabbed Ryan because he's my go-to drummer and we wrote a couple songs the first practice. George, who's also in Sweet Jesus with me and is also old, joined by the 2nd practice I think.

SC was supposed to be on a RI compilation but couldn't get together to write so I mentioned I had a new band that had some songs and Brian from Atomic Action said sure. We went in and did the 2 comp songs and he really liked them. He said if we had any more stuff he'd put out a 7" for us. With all of our other bands being basically inactive we just went at it full-on and it's been our main band for the past year.

Man, well what a hell of a first year! That seems to be a running theme for you, haha. So what's next for FI, will we see an LP or is the short, "get in, get out", format of a 7" better suited to your style?

FI has been writing for a while now for an LP and a split that we hope will go though. If it doesn't we'll just tack the songs onto the LP. The goal was 20 songs; after dumping some duds we're at a solid 13 right now. Alexis is finally getting his shoulder surgery so we won't be able to tour much until Fall but once he's ready to go we're going to try and tour a bunch. Ryan has more vacation time this year so we'll try to hit all the major spots.

Yeah talk to me a little bit about Alexis's stage presence. When you guys played here over the summer I assumed he had just jacked himself up, thus the arm taped to the ribs, but then I've seen photos from other shows and it seems to be a running thing.

As for the arm-taping thing, Alexis has to do that or his arm falls out of the socket. He's up to 5 dislocations in the past year I think? The tendons are so stretched that the force of jumping and landing is enough to pop his arm out.

It fell out during an FI set and he ended up finishing the set laying on the floor screaming in pain. Then it happened during one of the Daughter's reunion shows and that one was the worst one by far. The top of his arm was all the way down above his elbow. It was brutal.

He kept putting off the surgery because of FI and Daughters stuff but he finally goes under the knife in Feb.

Glad to hear an FI LP is in the works. Do you guys plan to "shop it around" so to speak or will you stick with Atomic Action for it?

It will still be on Atomic Action. Brian rules and we like the way he does things.

Stylistically FI is way heavier/faster than any of your previous musical endeavors. As a musician how does it compare to write and play in FI as compared to your other projects?

FI is fun because everyone writes. Even Ryan, who cannot play guitar, has written 2-3 songs on drums and mouthing guitar noises at us. Because everyone has a hand in things, we don't have one specific sound, which is cool. We don't like to over think things, which is a nice break from my other bands. Plus it's fun to play fast again.

Would you say there are any new wrinkles to your sound that will be on the LP or you guys keeping it mostly short, fast, and like a sonic pile driver?

Sonic pile driver, I like that. Yea, I guess it sounds like that.

So what’s up with Sweet Jesus?. I know it's you, George, Flynn, who else? How did that come together and what was the spark that got that one going? I haven't followed that one as closely. I think there is a demo.....fill me in on what else you guys have recorded and what's coming up there.

Sweet Jesus technically started a long time ago. I think it was during Have Heart's last tour. Pat called all of us up that he wanted in this theoretical band that was in his head. It was probably about a year later when we finally jammed. We wrote a song at that practice and then didn't practice again for 10 months.

That's kind been how it's worked ever since. Very long breaks, write a song, don't talk for 4 months, repeat. We have 9 songs written, we just need to go record at some point. We've only been in the same room at the same time once this year and that was over the summer. Someday it will be Sweet Jesus' time.

So one of the hardest things for any scene seems to be able to keep up a reliable, consistent d.i.y. venue to have shows and foster a sense of community. It seems like in Providence you have such a spot in AS220, as it seems like every cool tour routing I see has a date there. Describe that spot and the role it plays in the independent scene in Providence.

As220 is the best venue in the world. Sometimes it's tough to find an open date because it's first come, first serve but it's always worth it. It's the perfect-sized room and it has great sound. There's a really good bar but it's in a separate room so the shows can always be all ages. They also have great food, whether you're vegan or not. So, it's basically the perfect spot. Whenever I book a show I try to get As220 first because I know the bands will appreciate everything the venue has to offer.

Aside from serving as a venue for shows, what else runs out of the space?

It's an art gallery and a community space. They also run a small theatre next door. As220 can be whatever you need it to be and they'll never judge you for it. Great people, great spot.

I always ask older heads this question so bear with me; but as a dude who has been involved now for pushing 20 years, what would you say have been the biggest changes in hardcore and punk over the last two decades?

Shit, you just made me realize that it actually has been 20 years. My first show was on my birthday in 94, so that's 3 months away.

Stewing in collective oldness with my interviewees, that's my job, haha.

I dunno, I think everything is pretty much the same, I'm just older.

When you look at the state of things heading into 2014, what things bum you out about our community, and what things still get you excited to write music, book shows, and jump in the van?

I just like playing music with my friends. That's what keeps me going. I don't have any reason to stop.

The same stuff bums me out…over the top hard moshers, racism/sexism/all the isms, bands that don't tune their fucking guitars, drummers that break down their drums on stage...see, plenty to be angry about.

SC: http://soulcontrolhc.blogspot.com/

FI: http://atomicactionrecords.bandcamp.com/album/downtown-is-dead

SJ: http://toxicbreedsfunhouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/sweet-jesus-demo.html

Interview with Sean Hermann from Skeletal Lightning

I can’t remember exactly when Skeletal Lightning caught my attention, but I remember thinking it was pretty cool. It seemed to have a strong d.i.y. focus, and was putting out an interesting mix of bands from across the sonic spectrum, as well as a mix in terms of bands that I knew already had a little bit of buzz and bands that seemed relatively new and unknown.

While I also vaguely remember that Sean threw a festival last year under the label’s moniker, it was only the other day when I saw the year two announcement chalk full of bands that I am either friends with or who are on labels run by people that I’m friends with that I decided to investigate a little deeper into both the fest and the label, as well as the guy behind the curtain.

I’m super glad I did because I quickly discovered that Sean is incredibly friendly, articulate, and most of all, has a very sincere passion for all things d.i.y.

I’d encourage you to check out his label, and if you’re within a days’ drive, consider heading out to his fest in April.   

I always like to start by asking about people's backgrounds, so talk a little bit about how you got into independent music, what your first records and show experiences were.

I got into underground/independent music in middle school and started attending shows pretty frequently then. A friend of mine ran shows out of a place in the country called The Shed, which was an actual shed that they built a stage and PA in. It could hold around 100 folks, and it was a nice introduction into sort of extreme music, things that most folks wouldn't listen to (hardcore/punk).

After that, in high school, my eventual roommate, co-worker, and best friend starting hosting shows in his basement at a place called Error House in Champaign, IL. Both of these places were safe and sober venues, and music was first, so I felt right at home and found out about so many different bands each weekend. It was there that I was exposed to a band from Michigan called The Reptilian, which was one of my first ventures into the world of d.i.y. music. Four years later, and I wound up releasing a tape for the band, and things seemed to have come full circle since then and I'm now good friends with the guys.

My first record was given to me on my old band's first tour. We played at a college town in Iowa over the summer, and absolutely no one came to the show aside from the two touring bands and the guy running the venue. Despite that, we both played our hearts out and had a very special experience making the best out of what could have been a shitty situation. One of the members of the other touring band, Potential Caskets, ran his own d.i.y. label and after the show, we traded merch and I wound up with two 7"s, which I actually just uncovered and listened to for the first time last month. Since then, I wound up getting a turntable about a year and a half ago and have accumulated a pretty decent sized collection, probably now over 100 records.

Skeletal Lightning has a strong sense of regional pride in that you seem to focus on releasing Midwest bands fairly exclusively, almost like the Dischord of the Midwest, haha. While I always thought Dischord was fairly amazing for being able to continually unearth superb bands from just one city, I always wondered how much more awesome it could have been if they'd branched out more. How do you manage that tension? What do you see as the value of having that regional focus, and would you ever consider working with non-Midwest artists?

In terms of regional pride, Skeletal Lightning Fest definitely aims to celebrate the Midwestern d.i.y. scene. I think we have a really special group of people here and I just wanted to bring all of those people together for a weekend to have some fun. Turns out a lot of people were stoked on the idea and it just keeps growing by the day.

As far as the label goes, while I do take great pride in the Midwestern music scene, my releases aren't exclusively from Midwestern bands. The first two bands I worked with (Tawny Peaks and Aviator) are both from the East Coast. From there, I've tended to gravitate more toward Midwestern based bands, mainly because I'm more familiar with them, and most of the bands I've worked with I've either booked or seen play. Being in the region myself, I think I just naturally have a better appreciation for those bands.

The two recent non-Midwestern bands I'm working with, Elesh Norn (Denton, TX) and Life In Vacuum (Canada) are both close to a lot of folks in the Midwest and have a special bond with the region that some bands from the coasts might not have, be it touring with Midwestern bands, or just having the same mutual friends.

So to answer your question, I wouldn't necessarily say there's a tension, but I try and seek out bands that I think would be a good fit with the label and that I'm stoked on regardless of their whereabouts. Art is art, no matter the location. If it's something I'm interested in and think others might be, too, I'll seek it out further.

Up to this point you've released a healthy mix of cassettes and vinyl. For you, how do you determine what format you want to go with for a particular project and do you have a preference, both as someone who releases music and who buys it.

The format of a release is always a difficult choice for me, especially with the cost of vinyl, and the unknowns of the music world (will people like it? will people buy it?). It's always a guessing game, but I just try and go with my heart, while still being realistic with my budget. I'm still a student and don't have a full-time job, so my funds are usually low. Regardless of the format, if I dig the music and the people in the band, I'll release it. If not, even if it may be good or people would really be into buying it, if I don't like it, I'm not going to release something I'm not behind 100% because I don't think that would be fair to the band or the fans, and especially the label as its own entity.

I started out with cassettes because I really love the format and it also helped that they were cheap and easy to produce. I print, cut, and hand-number all of the art of my tape releases, and I think that helps add a special touch to those releases, despite being pro-dubbed for the added sound quality.

Vinyl was something that I always wanted to release, just because of the aesthetics of a release and the special listening experience that goes along with it. Once I had enough money saved up, or had some help along the way, I delved into vinyl and I hope to keep up the pace from here on out.

Overall, tapes tend to be comparatively simpler to release, so if there's a smaller band that can only tour maybe one or two weeks out of the year, I might lean towards a tape release. But if there's a band that has big touring plans and have noticeably put the time and effort into their release, and along with that, have a good potential for a neat layout or design, I'll likely lean towards vinyl, given that my unfortunately slim budget allows for it. Not that I don't put the same effort into tape releases as I do vinyl, there's just bigger components involved overall in the process with production, art, design, and cost.

As a music consumer, nothing beats a great vinyl release. I live for the listening experience. Be it screened jackets, a well put-together layout or design, or just really awesome art in general; I just love emerging myself in it while listening. Not to mention the music aspect, which given the perfect mastering or recording job, I feel as though I can actually feel the music around me. It's a crazy, but very rewarding experience.

When you look at your catalog of releases up to this point, is there any one that jumps out as you as especially significant either in that it means a lot to you personally or in that it may have allowed the label to "take the next step" so to speak.

I think that all of my releases push me forward in a sense and also challenge me as a label, in regards to breaking the mold of what's usually expected from a label. I greatly appreciate the d.i.y. approach, but I also highly value good sound quality. I try and blend the two, as I mentioned earlier with tape releases, by doing as much as I can myself, but splurging on one area of the release to make it something people can appreciate, but still listen to and enjoy. While a vinyl release on its own isn't necessarily d.i.y., there are components that you can do to make it so, such as screening the b-side of a record or screening the jackets, something of which I've definitely been utilizing more with my current and upcoming releases. It also helps that most of the bands I've worked with have taken the extra effort to work with someone who really understands and captures their sound, which I feel is really make or break for a recording.

But overall, I think the opportunity to release the "Old Maid / Coffee With Tom" 7" by Tiny Moving Parts has really gotten me on the map as far as independent/d.i.y. labels go. They've been a band I've supported since I first heard them nearly two years ago, and I've been a big fan ever since. I actually offered to release their latest full length because I could just tell that they were on to big things with a huge US tour and a great release in the works, but Kind Of Like picked it up, and I think that really helped them get where they are today. I don't think I would've been able to give them that extra boost that Lisa did, and so I'm glad it worked out well for them, and in turn helped me out with this release as well. Since I wasn't able to release that album, they ended up asking me to release these two songs as a 7" and I was thrilled at the opportunity. It's funny because one of the songs on the release was actually featured on my very first digital compilation I did for the blog, and then I would up officially releasing it in physical form. I think it also opened the label up to a much wider audience as well, as they're getting incredibly big now and it gave me a chance to showcase my work as well.

Let’s shift gears a bit and talk about the fest. I feel like it’s every punk and hardcore kids fantasy to be like "Yeah man, let’s throw a fest, it'll be awesome", but you actually did it. Based on your experience with year one this past spring, what would you say was the smoothest part about organizing the whole event, and what was the thing that was most challenging or perhaps caught you off guard?

One reason I really wanted to initially move forward with the fest and the label is because I fortunately carry a great organizational skill set. I started planning for the fest in August, nearly 9 months before it happened. That allowed me enough time to really think about what I wanted to do as far as bands, venue, timing, etc. Because I was able to plan so far in advance, everything was laid out for myself, and I just had to wait for that weekend to come, because everything else was already taken care of. Many of the bands also mentioned how smoothly things ran and complimented me on the organization of everything, but I really have to give credit to the bands for being flexible and staying on schedule. Fortunately, my friends and fiancée really stepped it up and took care of all of the volunteer work, so I was able to take five minutes here and there to actually watch the bands at times. I think the biggest challenge was trying to figure out how many people would show and what they expected from the fest, since this was actually the first show in general I had ever booked. I'm still amazed that everything went off without a hitch.

I must say I really appreciate the fact that on the website you specifically say you won't work with booking agents. Why is it so important to have that direct relationship with bands, and if and when the fest continues to grow over time, will that be something you foresee yourself becoming more flexible with should opportunities to attract bigger artists present themselves?

It's important for me to maintain direct contact with the bands because the whole reason I wanted to start the fest was to celebrate all the rad bands we have in the scene. If you have an agent or a manager making all of the decisions, it makes it feel as if the band or artist is just along for the ride. I did end up working with a few agents last year, and it was definitely an added stress, both financially and in terms of mutual understanding. This fest isn't a money maker. I ended up losing $200 overall (which I am thrilled about, and would gladly "pay" $200 to make it happen again), but a lot of the context of my interactions with these agents were based of things like expected profit, merch rates, and other things I've never even heard of or knew existed. Skeletal Lightning fest isn’t about money or fame. I’m actually uncomfortable with all of the attention I've been receiving this year. It's not about me; it's all about the bands and the scene that brought us all together in the first place. By keeping it agent free, the funds go straight to the bands and we go into the fest together as a team, and as friends.

When I started planning for the fest, I brainstormed a ton of bigger bands that I thought would be great to have play (Braid especially), but in the end, I know the weekend would be better as a community centered fest, focusing on all of the smaller bands and staying away from huge names that might distract from these great smaller bands.

I don't foresee the fest ever becoming a huge thing. First, I am a broke college graduate and am operating on a small budget. Second, what makes Skeletal Lightning Fest special is its intimacy. Most bands skipped the stage and played on the floor right in the middle of the crowd. That made it special. There's no green room, either, so you often saw many band members right there in the crowd, too. Everyone supported each other. Everyone was there for each other. That's what makes it special, and that's the way I'd like to keep it as long as I can. If I have an opportunity to book a bigger band, I'll move forward with it, but only if they still have an appreciation of d.i.y. music and can understand what I'm trying to do with the fest. While it would be cool to have huge names playing the fest, it would change the dynamic of the fest and that's not something I want to change.

What would you say was the highlight of the fest last year? I know the full lineup hasn't been divulged just yet, but what would you say you're most excited for this year?

The highlight was the whole thing. Everything ran flawlessly and each band seriously played a killer set.

I'm excited to showcase some new bands that I wasn't able to snag last year. The fest will also be a little more varied as far as genres go, as well. I'm interested to see how people react to that aspect.

Obligatory record label/show booker dude questions.....What's your dream band to release a record for?

My dream bands I'd want to release a record for have happened multiple times. I'm excited about every release, but I was especially excited to work with The Reptilian, NORTHLESS, and Tiny Moving Parts, as they've all been a big influence in my musical tastes over the past few years and it blows my mind that I've been able to work with them in this fashion. I will say that every single band I've worked with has been such a treat to work with, and it's great to see people get stoked over their music.

Your dream band to get to play the fest?

As far as the fest goes, I'd still like to see Braid break down and play a d.i.y. show again. An American Football reunion would be the ultimate score all around. I'm sure people would fly to see that, Haha. However, as a Polyvinyl employee, I am sad to say that's likely never going to happen.

Where do you envision both the label and the fest a year from now?

I never really have an outlined plan of where I'd like things to be. I just tend to go with the flow. I hope I can keep doing things my way, and make sure I'm still doing what I love for as long as I can. As long as that's happening, and I'm at least helping bands spread their art in a physical form, while helping them not quite lose as much money as they would otherwise (or better), I feel as though I've done my part.

All things Skeletal Lightning: http://www.skeletallightning.net/
Official fest Website: http://fest.skeletallightning.net/
Jam Sesh: http://skeletallightning.bandcamp.com/

Interview with Patrick Chumley from Axis

I first discovered Axis via the general gold mine known as Stuck in the Past, and have been following them like a hawk ever since. Combining the best elements of 90’s legends such as Harvest, Buried Alive, and Turmoil, Axis utilizes a damn-near perfect combination of heaviness and intelligence within their song-writing. In fact, I would go so far as to say they are my favorite current hardcore band.  

This past January I had the privilege of booking them and aside from being super nice guys, their live performance left my jaw (and the jaws of most people around me) on the floor. Their drummer in particular was an absolute monster. Watching him demolish his kit pretty much made me never want to pick up a drum stick again, haha.

Anyway, I’ve been chatting with their guitar player Patrick Chumley on and off ever since and decided it was time to pick his brain. Read this shit, and then proceed to get your hands on all their material. If you’re anything like me, they will re-define what the car-mosh on the drive in to work looks like.  

So I know most of you guys have been in a lot of different bands that have played a lot of different styles in the past...how did you come together as the juggernaut (yes you should be thinking Crown of Thornz here) known as Axis?

I will attempt to give you a very brief history. Jesse and I were playing in Meantime when we had the idea to start Axis. Meantime was sort of losing steam and fizzling out and we wanted to do a faster "Turmoil style" band to stay busy. We wrote a demo with me playing guitar, Jesse on drums, Jesse's brother Shane on bass and our friend Josh (Bodies in the Gears of the Apparatus) from Tampa did vocals. We played for a few months around Florida with this line up. Shane quit to be a dad, Jesse moved to bass for a bit then quit too for school, then our good friend Mikey (Meantime/Years from Now) filled the spot.

Our current drummer, Tommy (who we knew from No Harm Done) was playing in Boxing Day at the time. We asked him if he wanted to be in a heavy band, so he joined and this was the "Rites of Passage" line up. We played too many Florida shows, did a few tours, recorded the Weight of the World split then Josh left the band shortly after.

When we got tired of being a four piece, our friend Dylan (Harbinger/Shovelhead) moved up from South Florida and he joined to play second guitar. Mike (Same Mistake/Years from Now) joined to do vocals; we played fewer Florida shows, and toured some more. He quit for personal reasons, and Mikey quit to focus on his job about the same time.

Jesse came back to play bass this time, our friend Rafael (Shovelhead/Prayer Chain) joined to do vocals, we recorded the SDF split, did a month long tour this past summer and we’re now solidified with our current line-up.

In the couple years you have been a band you've gone through I believe three vocalists now. What's been happening with the front man slot and how did you guys wind up with your current throat shredder?

Our first vocalist, Josh was with us for a while. We had a good run. Eventually he and the rest of us had different ideas of what we wanted to be as a band and were going in different directions. We parted ways and moved on.

Mike joined and he was a good fit for us. He was with us for about a year, did a couple tours. He was going through some personal stuff and left the band to handle those things. He is still a close friend to us and plays guitar in a faster Kid Dynamite style band with Tommy called "We're Not Dead".

Rafael joined after Mike left. He has an absolutely ridiculous voice and is an awesome dude. He came in, recorded with us and basically went beyond whatever expectations we could have had.

It's hard to replace a frontman especially when you've gained a little steam. People associate them as the face of your band; it's difficult to establish an identity when you've got turnover in that department. I feel like I'm in Shai Hulud sometimes. I really feel like this is our most solid line-up yet.

This year you've spent more than your fair share of time on the road with an East Coast/Midwest run in January and a bunch of dates out West and back this summer. What were some of the highlights; best places to play, favorite local/regional bands you hooked up with along the way?

This past winter was fun; it was our last tour with Mike. We hit a couple of Midwestern spots we hadn't played before. I am pretty positive everyone but Dylan got really sick and stayed sick. We played a house show on top of a frozen mountain in Roanoke with Losin' It and the brakes in the van went out (that was fun). Royal Oak and Long Island were probably the best shows. Jukai is sweet.

This past summer was awesome. It was the longest tour we have done as a band so far. We didn't get to go as far west as we originally had planned but we were still out for a month. The first half was with Will to Die from Tennessee, definitely check them out (you are moshing). Sammy is a terrific dancer. Our van broke down the first day and we had to ride 9 deep in an SUV from Tallahassee to Pensacola. We got shot at in Wilmington, did a shitload of cliff diving, got a lot of free food, got yelled at by a street performer with a colostomy bag, got the van saran wrapped and pretty much had a rave in Indianapolis. We played a barn with Antpile and that was awesome. Foreign Tongues and Raindance in Nashville was awesome. Discourse was cool. Kansas City, Fort Worth and Savannah were all awesome shows.

You guys just released a split 7" entitled "Least Violent Time in World History" with Self Defense Family. While SDF is known for being eclectic/generally not giving a shit about what anyone thinks, I was particularly surprised (and stoked) to hear you guys would be sharing the wax with them. How did your partnership with SDF/Harm Reduction come about?

A couple of us are really into them and we thought it would be cool to do something different with this release. Our drummer, Tommy reached out to Patrick on sort of a whim and they were down. Patrick and Jami (Code Orange Kids) were starting Harm Reduction and they thought this would be a good fit for it. It'll help to get our music in front of people that are unfamiliar or normally wouldn't have listened to it. That in itself is awesome, SDF is awesome and the art is crazy. I'm very happy with how everything turned out.

So you guys have a demo, a 7", two split 7"'s and a song on the AHC comp. Am I safe to assume the next release will be an LP or are you guys sticking to releasing new material in smaller chunks?

We aren't doing another small release for a while, that's kind of how things just ended up happening the past couple of years and we are looking to change that.

We've taken the past couple of months off to write songs for a LP, I'd say we are about halfway done and we are all very excited about it. The songs are coming out awesome and I feel like they're the best stuff we have written as a band yet.

Super excited to hear you guys are working on an LP. Now that you're halfway in, would you say that there are any new influences that are creeping their way into the material, either musically or lyrically? Is there anything different that you want to accomplish with this release that perhaps you haven't with your output thus far?

As for lyrically, I cannot speak for Rafael. I've seen the stuff he's been working on and I've total faith in his ability to write songs that are accessible and honest.

Musically, we've gotten comfortable writing with two guitar players now, being more eclectic, trying different ideas and I feel like we are better at songwriting in general. It's almost like we are becoming a way better version of ourselves.

Our older material was sort of our best attempts at emulating 90s hardcore; we have progressed away from doing just that. While our main influences remain the same (Turmoil, Drowingman, Kiss it Goodbye) and I'd say we definitely still sound "90s", our newer material has a wider range of influences than before. We are taking nods from heavy experimental stuff like Knut, Breach and some Hydra Head bands. And slightly more unconventional influences for a metal core band nowadays; noise rock bands like The Jesus Lizard and Shellac. Swarm of the Lotus is a huge influence peeking its head out in the new stuff. Dylan and I are kind of obsessed with them. I remember seeing that band play in Orlando like 8 years ago and thinking to myself if I ever had a band half as heavy as this I'd be in heaven.

With the new record, I want it to be (even if this sounds a bit quixotic) as complete and perfect (to us) as it can be. If we can come as close to that, I'll be a happy camper. We are trying to be a more serious band than we were in the past (be more productive, more critical, tour extensively) and hopefully this record will be a good catalyst for us to get to that point.

Your first label experience was a little sour working with Nothing in Mail (LOL), then On Point did the next two releases, you hooked up with Triple B on the comp and then Harm Reduction just released the new split. Is HR likely to be "home" now for the foreseeable future or do you anticipate hopping around a bit more?

They've shown interest in working with us on whatever we decide to do next. I think we are going to explore our options with the upcoming LP and see what kind of response we get but it is great to have them behind us with whatever we decide to do. It's been awesome working with HR and I could totally see working with them again.

It seems like probably more than any other region, the South has seen a resurgence of 90's influenced bands over the last few years. I'm thinking of you guys of course but also Aversion with you down in Florida, Discourse up in South Carolina, Deathbed and Foundation in Atlanta, etc. I'm kinda hoping you guys become the new "wave" so to speak, haha. To what extent do you feel a certain affinity with those bands, or is it just sort of random that you guys have all been popping up around the same time?

I'd say it's a little of both. Some bands have just been pleasant surprises and others we have kind of developed alongside as a band. Foundation is definitely the oldest of those bands you mentioned, they played a lot of shows with Meantime and I'm sure they had something to do with us deciding to do a band like Axis when we did. They've always, consistently killed it and drawn from awesome influences.

Deathbed is another great southern band in that vein. It feels like they just popped into my radar one day a few years ago, then our encounters were a bit prolific. Really great dudes, I am glad they are doing stuff again. I think we are doing some shows with them in February. Look out for that.

As for other ones from the south doing similar stuff, there is Aversion as you mentioned. That band is a great band, as is their other band Homestretch. Some of our absolute favorites to play with, Peter Allen is a Heat fan though.

Blistered from Tampa is another band doing the 90's thing. Pretty heavy stuff. Check them out, they're gonna blow up. We are doing a week or so with them and Weight of the World at the end of the year.

And I feel like Antpile from Georgia deserves mention also. While not exactly metal core, they are definitely 90's influenced. Check them out if you are into screamo stuff like Joshua fit for Battle and Neil Perry. Ben/Connie is an enigma.

What would you say are the best and worst thing about hardcore right now?

The internet.

On one side, you've got an entire wealth of information concerning the history of hardcore at your fingertips. And it seems like almost every current band has a presence online for you to check out. It is an invaluable tool especially if you are new to hardcore.

When I was first getting into hardcore, I remember scouring HxCmp3 for new bands and watching videos on MIS-one. I went on the Daytona and CFLhardcore message boards for shows and met many friends through them. I had a shitty live journal where I'd chronicle the shows I attended. It was awesome. I've got fond memories of my interactions with the internet and hardcore back then, I'd equate the feeling to seeing your first titty in a scrambled porno on channel 99. It was a really important part of getting me into hardcore and it exposed me to a lot of aspects that would otherwise been less accessible at the time. I mean friends only a couple of years my elder had to utilize liner notes and mail order distros to discover bands, I had it easy. I am certain without it Axis wouldn't be where we are today, however humble of a place it may be.

There's also a dark side, it can be a never ending barrage of internet tough guys, drama, apathy, copycat bands and "hivemind" mentalities. There’s just a lot of bullshit. But I will make one point. A thing that bothers me is, I feel like the internet can sometimes discourage people from being pro-active in their local scenes. What you see online doesn't necessarily reflect how you should act or be a standard you should hold your scene to. Is your scene in "Small town, Florida" going to hold a candle to Boston's? Probably not. That doesn't necessarily mean it sucks ass and you shouldn't make the effort to contribute to it. Start bands, write zines or blogs, go to and book shows, be productive. Be the change you want to see, it can be really special. I'm not even trying to sound cheesy. If people hadn't have done these things in Daytona when I was growing up, I wouldn't be doing this interview. Use the internet as a tool to accomplish those things, not a deterrent or a platform to complain about what you've got when you see videos of some hype band playing Sound and Fury.

For you both as an individual and as a musician, what's been the most satisfying thing about doing Axis so far?

I'd say challenging myself to write a "better" and more creative song each time we write one. A few years ago, I really had no idea I'd end up being this excited to make music. It's a huge bonus that I get to do it with my best friends and travel the country playing it.

Bedroom Mosh, Car Mosh, Real Mosh When They Come to Your Town: http://axisfl.bandcamp.com/
Video Evidence Suggesting Your Band Should Break Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoXDcL_P_a8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DeoXDcL_P_a8&app=desktop