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