Freedom

This interview was conducted via email on 18/10..

Photo by Meline Gharibyan @ United Blood 2015

OK, lets kick it off with the mandatory question, Who are you and what do you do in Freedom?

My name is Denis and I am the frontman in the band

How did you get into hardcore and how did the formation of Freedom come about?

I first heard of hardcore through a skaters friend in middle school. The song "straight edge" by Minor Threat. I thought it was so powerful and I read a lot about the movement and became straight edge. I didn't really know there were still hardcore bands playing until a couple years later, that's when I started going to shows. Freedom started with only me and our guitarist Nick. He then was in a youth crew band called Face Reality but we wanted to do a more early NYHC/AF influenced band. So we wrote a demo, got members and went from there.

Freedom are a straight edge band, correct? What does straight edge mean to you?

We always have and always will be a straight edge band. Can't speak for the other guys but to me straight edge means that I can enjoy my life and feel comfortable in any situation without an outside influence like alcohol or drugs. I've seen those substances ruin the lives of many of my family members. 

Freedom are very reminiscent of mid/late 80s NYHC. Who were your influences when starting Freedom?

When we started we wanted to draw influence mainly from bands like Agnostic Front and the Abused. As time has passed we have also begun incorporating some influence from later bands like Madball and the like. We stick pretty close to the script but we try to mix it up here and there. 

Freedom are from Detroit, whats it like growing up there? (The 2 things that come to mind for me when I think of Detroit is Eminem and Freaks & Geeks haha)

The time I've spent living in the city was not bad. Yes I've had shit stolen, heard gunshots and such, but it was never a really hostile environment as it's often perceived as. Speaking of Freaks and Geeks- the entire show takes place in the high school I went to. There's a place they go to called the Rusty Nail, which is about 15 minutes away from where I live now. 

You've got your debut LP dropping shortly, what can you tell me about it?

The LP is coming very soon on Triple B records. Our NYHC influence continues in the new material. We chose the name USA Hardcore because the current hardcore and punk scenes in the US are as strong as we've ever seen them and this is our contribution to the scene that we love.  

Plans to tour off the back of it?

We plan to do a one week tour at the very beginning of the year. We have more plans coming up a well that have yet to be finalized. We have so many friends in so many areas, we hope to be able to play the new songs in all the places we love. 

I was able to catch you guys play when I was over for United Blood earlier in the year and as expected it was wild! Where are your favourite places to play? Memorable gigs? 

United Blood has always been great for us. We love playing there in Richmond, and also in places like Boston, Florida, Atlanta, and all the shows we've played in California have been great.

You recently did a tour with Agnostic Front, how'd that go?

Agnostic Front is my favorite hardcore band, so it was a dream come true. Roger and Vinny have such a great dynamic-- it's very funny to watch them interact. Becoming friends with all those guys is the highest honor for me. I also got the pleasure of singing "Power" for them a couple times. Very surreal. 

Are you guys in any other bands?

Our guitar player Alec is in a band called True Love. Our drummer Jake is in a band called Citizen. Everyone except Alec, with the addition of our friend James, are in a band called Spiked Collar. We have a couple more bands in the works that have not yet seen the light of day. 

Have you had any negative experiences or comments thrown your way for being a skinhead?

There's always people who have pre-conceived notions on subcultures they do not understand, handing out judgment without the knowledge to back it up. There's also always insecure people who try to "call out" people involved in subcultures, mostly for not being into them long enough by their standards. I'm sure both types of those people have targeted me or my friends, but I don't pay attention to that type of shit. Opinions of people that do not know me are very low on my list of concerns. 

You've done quite a bit of artwork for some great bands (Fury / Title Fight / King Nine to name a few). Is this something you do as job/career or more as a hobby / for friends?

The artwork I do is a creative outlet for me. I have the privilege of having friends in great bands that find value in what I create and want to use it for their bands. Generally I only do artwork for my friends because my schedule leaves very little time for drawing as it is. If I could draw for a career I definitely would. 

What artists influence you? Got that Sean Taggart / Kevin Crowley vibe going on

I definitely draw a lot of inspiration from artists that did NYHC band shirts, records, flyers. I also draw a lot of influence from old military imagery. Wartime propaganda, patches, special forces imagery and those sorts of things. As of late I've tried to switch things up in my style and methods. Working with simplification mostly. It's challenging doing things differently but the end result is rewarding. 

Pick One:

United Blood, Cause For Alarm, Victim in Pain?

VICTIM IN PAIN

Ball of Destruction, Droppin Many Suckers, Set it Off

SET IT OFF

Lower East Side Crew, DFTS DFTS, Open Your Eyes

LOWER EAST SIDE CREW

Thats about all I can think of at the moment. If you've got anything you'd like to add, let me know. Otherwise, any final words / shout outs

One day I will go to Australia and I will say "stone the flamin' crows" at least once

Chun Guo

This interview was conducted via email on 05/06..

Yo lets kick it off with a bit of an introduction... Let the people know who you are and what you do?

Ay what up it’s ya boy Chun One and I draw for your favorite bands.

You've done artwork for some pretty big bands (Power Trip, RZL DZL, Soul Search etc) how did that all come about?

I did some flyers here and there when I started, mostly for the Redwood Art Space guys’ events (much props to Matt and the squad) to get my name out there and showcase my style of drawing and that’s how it got started.

What/Who inspires your style & what got you into graffiti / art? 

Manga/Anime, American comics, skateboarding, and those OG New York graffiti writers.

You are big on 90's Hip Hop yeah? Give us your Top 5 albums outta NYC..

Yes that’s the period I was growing up and learning English so rap was a good choice haha. My fave changes all the time but below are the ones I listened to the most recently:

1. DJ Doo Wop – 95 Live Part One and Two
2. Tony Touch – Power Cypha series

3. Notorious B.I.G. – Ready To Die

4. Beastie Boys – Ill Communication (S/O to the songs “Tough Guy” and “Heart Attack Man” on it for introducing me to hardcore punk too)

5. Raekwon – Cuban Lynx

*PS that Gangstarr piece you did for The Moment of Truth Fanzine is DOPE AF

Thank you sir!

I can't say I know too much about Bangkok, is there much going on in the way of hardcore?

Bangkok is cool, not many shows at the moment but the scene is still strong, we got bands playing old school youth crew style to heavy beatdown style so it was always fun to see my friends played their asses off and have a good time.

If you could do artwork for any act who would it be and why?

Seinfeld. No explanation needed.

Top 5 Seinfeld Episodes

- The Summer of George
- The Soup Nazi

- The Contest
- The Puffy Shirt

- The Bizzaro Jerry

To wrap it up, you got any shout outs/ thank you's / fuck you's?

S/O to people doing good things, thank you to all the people that gave me a chance to shine, no fuck you’s though. Like King Ad Rock said “I got no time in my life to get uptight yall”. Peace, love, and Blazer Low SB Black/White.

Ned Russin

This interview was conducted via email on 28/7..

Photo by Alvin Carrillo

Yo Ned, whats up?

Nothing too much. Going to see the Fury, Freedom, Intent tour two days in a row starting tomorrow and I just ate a sandwich.

Disengage just played TIH fest this weekend, yeah?

Yeah, we played Sunday of the fest. It was our first official time playing. We played a "pre-show" before at the FU Church with Underdog, but this was our first time playing the big stage. 

Highlights?

Unfortunately I had some previous obligations the same weekend so I didn't get to catch any bands really, but I got to see some people that I like and played a good set, so that's about all I can ask for.

I heard recently that you were in a band pre TF? The Gnarlies, was it?

The Gnarlies weren't before Title Fight. Title Fight started around 2002, and The Gnarlies were probably 2004-2005; Title Fight was somewhat of an established local act by that point already.  

Was any music ever recorded?

Yeah we did two demos and broke up shortly after. We were just a local band is all. 

Ok, so how did you discover hardcore and what was it like growing up in Wilkes Barre?

I discovered hardcore simply through checking out what my older brother was already into. He is seven years older than me and got into hardcore as a teen so I had a pretty good framework laid out for me by the time I got to be of age where I expressed my own interest in the genre. Wilkes-Barre is a pretty typical, boring suburban American town. There is nothing to do outside of normal mundane shit, but fortunately for us that kind of led our local music scene to be what it was. I caught the tail-end of a great era of hardcore in a city that played host to a lot of great shows and the greatest fest.

Assuming your brother Alex had a big influence on you?

Yeah of course. He was into some really ill shit, but it was cool because he never forced it on me. I really think the only things he ever recommended that I listened to were Youth of Today and Straight Ahead, everything else I just would steal form his enormous CD book or download and he would comment on it. I felt like I was finding my own way through it, but obviously I had a good head start and was always pointed in a good direction.

Were Magnus the biggest local band around at the time?

Magnus was broken up by the time I really started going to show, although I did get to see them once in 1997 but I was a little too young to remember all the details of that. I don't think I'd say that they were the biggest band of that era though. They definitely established themselves by having a 7" out and played out a little bit, but there were some other bands that I think were slightly bigger. I could be wrong on that though. To me they were important because they were the first band influenced by YOT from the area; a lot of the stuff from the area was more on the metal side of the things. 

A lot of great bands have come out of WB over the last few years. Why do you think that is?

I think there is just a good understanding of hardcore. We are not in an area where there is any motive besides self expression and fun, and I think when you put that above all else, bands are able to focus more on doing what they want to do. Wilkes-Barre was a good place because we had good role models who gave my generation a bunch of good records to listen to, and we tried to do the same for the next generation. 

Besides TF and Disengage you also play in Stick Together and 3D. Anything I've missed?

Yeah I play in a couple of other bands -- Big Contest, Noise Pet, and Independence.

Disengage released a 7" recently through Youngblood Records. Any plans to tour on the back of it?

Unfortunately we are tied up in a lot of other things as well as being split across the country now, but we will try and play more than we have in the last year or two. 

You wrote all the music for the first Disengage 7" yes? Are you still the main contributor?

Yeah I am the song writer for Disengage. Ben wrote a drum beat that turned into the song "Care," but everything else is my creation. I'm not the dictator or anything, either. I just happened to have a specific vision and ideas.

Disengage is obviously an edge band, how important is the straight edge to you?

Here's the thing with this sort of question -- I take it most seriously but it is extremely hard to answer this without some sort of self-awareness. Of course it's the most important thing in my life: it has not only influenced by day-to-day life, but it has influenced my mindset and overall person on a much deeper level.. but when you get into that you run the risk of sounding cliché or naïve. I understand that there is not one way to live, but to me this is the most sensical and the most rebellious, which are two things that I am interested into. As I get older, I find new ways to understand and adapt straight edge, but it has been a much welcomed constant in my life that will continue to be a part of me as I grow older.

Alright to wrap it up; Favourite hardcore shirt and pair of sneakers of all time

YOT "Break Down The Walls" 4 sided shirt, Jordan 1. 

And any final words..

Thanks for taking the time to ask me some questions. 

Ned

*Side Question for my own personal enjoyment

Also one other thing I'd like to ask, was how you guys got the opportunity to play Coachella last year? Being on the same bill as Outkast / Nas / Pharrell etc is wild. 

Any crazy stories you'd like to share / did you attend both weekends?

There's not really anything interesting about how we got on the fest, just typical protocol. Our booking agent was contacted and we agreed to play. Very flattering nonetheless. I don't really have any "crazy" stories from the fest. We played Friday so I flew back and didn't catch the second weekend, but I saw some good sets. I guess the craziest thing that happened was I was shoved by Busta Rhymes personal security guard.