Inclination

OK, let's kick it off with the mandatory question, who are you and what do you do in Inclination?

My name is Tyler Short and I do vocals in Inclination

How did you get into hardcore and what were your gateway bands?

I got into hardcore through skateboarding. The first skate video I ever bought had a Bad Religion song in it and there was a Minor Threat song in the first skate video I was ever so I exposed to those bands that way along with Embrace, Sex Pistols, Stiff Little Fingers, Black Flag and Motorhead. I was definitely more into punk but my friend started dragging  me to shows before we'd go skating and I had no idea that kinda music was being played in my town by kids my age. I can remember the 4 CD's that were in constant rotation in his car that Summer I got into hardcore. They were Bane : The Note, Mental : Get An Oxygen Tank, Misfits : Collection, Cold World : Ice Grillz. I was very into Hip Hop through skating too so I latched onto Cold World pretty hard at that age.

Inclination are from Louisville, yeah? What was it like growing up in the Mid West and how is the hardcore scene?

I came of age in Louisville while bands like Black Cross, Coliseum and Breather Resist were still very noteworthy and our hardcore scene lived sorta in that shadow. I remember some shows being well attended like Municipal Waste and Modern Life Is War always had a good reaction but a lot of hardcore shows weren't that way. I saw ceremony in 06 with like 20 people and Lion of Judah the next year with just about the same crowd.

We had a house for awhile that started during a pretty prosperous period anyway and having that diy venue really provided a place for hardcore to flourish but it died again as it always does. We are currently thriving thanks to knocked loose and the generation they smuggled over to hardcore.

Being from Louisville, how important is having a band like Knocked Loose from your area? and have you seen an increase in attendance locally over the last couple years?

Knocked loose really revived Louisville at a time when multiple generations were dropping out. Really saved us from going into another hardcore recession haha

How did the formation of Inclination come about and when was your first show?

Me and Caleb have been trying to do a band forever and once my old band Another Mistake broke up, i kinda had more of a drive to see that realized. Once Expire was ending he had sorta that same feeling and we’d talked about doing a Straight Edge band with Isaac and a few other kids from around the area. After a lot of lineup changes and uncertainty Isaac got sick of waiting and wrote the EP alone. He sent it to us, I wrote lyrics and by the time it was out the only thing we were missing was a drummer and we lucked out and figured that piece out shortly before our first show at the LDB Fest pre show.

Inclination seem to be one of only a few current bands still pushing the Straight Edge. What does straight edge mean to you and have you had any backlash for your aggressively straight edge lyrics?

 I have had some backlash over people misunderstanding a line out of context but honestly “an x of my own” is pro-sellout i think if you are straight edge for any reason other than the fact that you want to be then you shouldn’t be. Straight edge means a lot to me that’s all I’m saying. 

Nothing in my lyrics is militant. It’s sincere. The first verse in our first song has a line against militancy. I don’t think anyone understands that line “the most extreme are the first to make their escape” that’s me saying the loudest are the first to go.

Straight edge is just something I was before I knew what it was. I just never felt like I needed drugs or alcohol and the only times I tried it was purely to fit in in high school. Trying to fit in isn’t something I really wanted to do and straight edge was something I automatically fit in with without any effort

What bands have influenced the Inclination sound?

Now Isaac and Peter would be best to answer that question as I’m actually an idiot but me a simple no talent moron likens Inclination to Strife and One King Down but i am very aware of the Harvest breakdown in Culture of Corruption.

What bands influenced you personally when writing lyrics for Inclination?

Judge, Strife, One King Down and I stole some lyrics from Dillinger Four and Marvin Gaye

The 'Midwest Straight Edge' record was one of my favourite releases from last year. Any plans for a new record?

We just recorded demos for a new 7” we’ll be recording this fall and news for that will trickle out as it develops I’m sure.

You were recently announced as part of the FYA line up. Have you got any other shows in the pipeline?

We are playing edge day in Richmond with some of the best current straight edge bands going right now and we may play some shows down to FYA. We are also playing LDB Fest in our hometown in early February 

Anything else you want to add / bands to check out

I love Inclination, doing this band with the people involved makes me feel super lucky. I feel super lucky to have everything I do and I owe it to hardcore. I really care about straight edge and I try to represent it in a honest way. As far as bands to check out I’ll keep my suggestions XXX so War By Other Means, Magnitude, Year of the Knife, Vatican, That new True Love record rocks also definitely worth checking out

Tyler Short

XXX

Advanced Perspective

AP started in 2015, yeah?

Yeah, 2015. Should’ve been 2014, but things fell through as so often they do. 2015 was a lot of regrouping even though it didn’t really exist yet.

Was AP #1 the Give "Brand New Flag" VHS and how did that come together?

Yes - the Brand New Flag VHS was the first project that was fully completed under the AP umbrella. I had a lot of ideas prior but things just weren’t working out. Meeting John helped, he’s a very consistent guy. I brought up the idea to him after I filmed his band, GIVE, a few times on that California tour. And he followed through by emailing me when he got back home. Sort of jump started things. After that it just felt like an endless well we could pull ideas from.

You recently dropped the Diztort EP. How has the reaction been to that so far?

The Diztort record is doing great and topped any expectations I had for it (I do believe in everything we do but I never want to assume). It’s our first record and I’m really proud of the entire process and excited to hold the thing in my hands - at the time of this interview, the covers haven’t even arrived yet. I’m eager.

My favourite AP release may be the Substance "For the Sake Of.." CS, Crippled Youth cover into a live Bold cover is a big move. Do you have a certain release that means the most to you?

They all mean so much to me and I can think back to any one of them and feel like we’ve grown after it- i think that’s important. I can’t really pick so I’m going to just go with the first one that comes to mind as I’m typing this - I’m going to go with a photo collage zine I made in 2017. It was ADV number 7 or 8.. I can’t even remember. I’ll have to look after answering this. It’s called “All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun” But what I really liked about that release was asking people to mail/write in physically for it as opposed to just buying it through a web link. I asked for non-monetary forms of payment or $7 if they really wanted to. I think only one person actually sent money. 

But I received a lot of cool things from people.  Handmade things, trinkets, creative outputs of theirs, letters - personal things. I felt really connected with every person that went out of their way to send me something and I think there’s a special sentiment in the way I went about that. I worked on that project through a month of nights. I would just do one page every so often. Every zine was unique and especially for whichever person it was for. I asked them not to share it online etc. I think about 30-40 copies are actually in circulation. Not much to most but enough for me. 

I read somewhere that you don't consider AP a record label per se as you've been able to put out stuff across a variety of mediums. How would you describe AP to the uninformed?

This is a question I get asked a lot and I have a hard time trying to answer it every time. I feel like I always give the same one. So I’m going to tap into one of my good special friends, Daniel Darrah, who pretty much runs this hot air balloon with me, to answer this.  -

““Label” is too restrictive a term. AP is interested in ideas, projects— moments where people’s imagination takes over— and wants to invest in bringing those things to life. Just this morning Marco said to me, “I don’t care about making the money back, I just want it to exist.” And that’s the philosophy, really. That’s what we try to put into practice— here’s an idea, we like it, let’s ensure its creation and survival and dissemination. Sometimes it’s a record, other times it’s video, a zine. I’m not sure what you’d call an organization like that. But, truthfully, I don’t think we feel any real desire to resolve that problem.”

What are some current bands you're digging / would like to work with in the future?

I pretty much like every band on our roster. I think they reflect our taste perfectly. But I’m always attracted to new and interesting things.

It must rule to have Programme as a local venue, what have been some of your favourite shows there?

Programme definitely has a spotlight. It’s become a haven for young bands and people trying to book shows - cool location, and no having to deal with actual club dickheads. There’s an equally cool spot in the high desert that just popped up not too long ago. It’s run by my friend Julio and another person. I recently had GIVE play there on their last west coast strut and I was really happy with the turnout - felt like every person there was young and no cool guy flexing attitudes whatsoever. Just youth needing a release.  You can find them on Instagram and inquire there if whoever is reading this ever needs a California show - @c47diy. I highly advise playing there. Really special.

Shout Outs  / Final Words

Thank you for the interview. I really appreciate the interest.