John Eightclip of Allegiance

East Bay Communique
#13
Featuring interviews with:
John Eightclip of Allegiance
Bob and Riley of the
Sound and Fury Collective
& the second part in our series of
interviews with SWEET PETE of In My Eyes
Plus Reviews:
Said Radio, Aesop Rock, Red Handed,
Comadre, Trainwreck,
Get the Most, and Masterpiece
Classic Corner:
Cro-Mags - THE AGE OF QUARREL
So-Cal Spotlight - BRAINFREEZE
East Bay Communique
Writers:
Matt Bartels, Dustin Cox, Jordan Mills, Max Montez, Jon O’Gaffney, Melissa
Quattronne, Kyle Shapiro, Jason Sitek, Mark Sutton, Randy Staat, and Brandon Wark
Feel free to contact us at:
Photography and Photo-Editing:
eastbaycommunique@gmail.com or
Kimpossible
myspace.com/eastbaycommunique
Cover photo by Kimpossible
News
by Max Montez
More
Brief
Reunions! Upcoming
Both Floorpunch and Snapcase
have announced reunion/benefit
shows this fall. The first will be on
October 28 in Philadelphia. Floorpunch, Have Heart, Blacklisted, Cold
World, Bitter End, and Let Down.
The show will be held at The Starlight Ballroom and proceeds will go
to the family of legendary hardcore
photographer, Robby Redcheeks.
The other reunion/benefit will be
with Snapcase, other bands, include
108, Triple Threat, and a “special
guest” unannounced as of yet. The
show will be held in Williamsburg
Brooklyn on November 24. The proceeds from this show will be going
to help Callum Robbins, the son of
the producer, Tim Robbins (Against
Me!, First to Leave). Callum suffers
from a genetic motor neuron disease called Type 1 SMA, or Spinal
Muscular Atrophy. An initial pre-order
package will be available with tickets
as well as an anthology of the AntiMatter zine. This will be limited to
the first 55 orders and will begin
on September 28. The rest of the
tickets will go on sale on October 5.
Shows
September 28: Paint it Black,
Blacklisted,
Allegiance,
Die
Young, and Punch @ 924 Gilman
September 29: Red Handed,
Sabertooth Zombie, Dcoi!, and
Outrider @ Lucky’s Pizza in Dublin
September 30: Crucial Cause,
Rat Salad, La Grita, Corprography,
Say Bok Gwai @ 924 Gilman
October
1:
Saves
the
Day
(acoustic),
Single
File,
drmanhattan @ Bottom of the Hill
October 5: Modern Life is War,
Trap The, Trash Talk, Gunsmoke,
and Red Handed @ 924 Gilman
October 6: Download Festival with:
The Cure, AFI, Metric, and many
more @ Shoreline Ampitheater
October 12: Cancer Awareness
Benefit Day One with: Ceremony, Life
Long Tragedy, Comadre, Knucklepuck,
and Leap Attack @ 924 Gilman
October
12:
The
Dillinger
Escape Plan, A Life Once Lost,
Ghengis Tron, and Behold the
Arctopus @ Bottom of the Hill
October 24:
Sick of it All,
Madball, Viva Hate, and Down
to Nothing @ Bottom of the Hill
Classic Corner
Cro-Mags - The Age of Quarrel
Profile Records 1986
by Jason Sitek
What do you say about the most
epic record ever written? From
start to finish, Age of Quarrel is a
mountain of sound, blending genres
from all across the underground
scene. Try calling it a metal record,
and you will have hardcore kids
from all over getting on your case.
Cro-Mags were one of the best
examples of a hardcore band touring
with bigger, mainstream bands
but never forgetting the hardcore
scene that gave them their start.
AOQ starts out with what has come
to be considered the hardest intro in
hardcore. “We Gotta Know” is a
thundering three minutes and twentythree seconds of sheer double bass
mayhem. Nearly
every
track
following it packs
the same punch.
From the fierce
chorus of “Street
Justice” to the
pile-ons of “Hard Times.” AOQ then
closes with “Signs of the Times,” with
a message as foreboding as the “We
Gotta Know” is hard. John Joseph’s
vocals are prevalent throughout,
his vocal range very impressive.
In short, Age of Quarrel is the
ultimate record from the ultimate
band. Loud guitars, huge drum parts,
and enough moshing and singalongs
to boot. Cro-Mags followed AOQ with
some very respectable releases, but
nothing will ever touch the original.
So-Cal Spotlight
NOTE: While we normally try to stick with Bay Area bands for this section,
we thought it might be time to branch out a bit, possibly keep Locals Only
and put So-Cal spotlight in some sort of rotation... We’ll see if this works
Brainfreeze
by Randy Staat
Brainfreeze, coming at you from
West Covina is another new Southern
California band that is guaranteed
to turn heads, with their fun style of
hardcore and awesome live show.
Brainfreeze incorporates great trashy
riffs as well as some mosh parts, and
the occasional guitar solo. Their new
record, Summer Jams soon to be
out on Slambo Rat records is just as
described, fans of bands like Mental,
and Righteous Jams should definitely
Summer Jams
check this out. Their guitarist shreds,
their drummer is solid, as well as the
bassist, and the vocals have quite
a variety, and never remain mono
tone, which fits the band’s style very
well. Highlight tracks on this record
are “Lonely Emotion”, (which features
guest vocals from another sweet new
So – Cal band, Badmouth) and “Who
Am I”. This record is a great listen, and
the progress from their old demo to
these new songs is definitely heard.
Sound & Fury
by Max Montez
EBC: So, this is the second year of
the fest?
Riley: Yeah, this is year two.
EBC: What are you guys doing
outside of the fest?
Bob: I work at Revelation and I also do
a small label called Collapse.
Riley: I do 1917 and… Sound and Fury!
Bob: (laughs) Sound and Fury too!
EBC: What made you guys decide to
start doing this last year?
Riley: To be honest, to me it just had
to happen. There was no real fest out
here that showcased bands we liked.
There was a fest called Sink With Cali
going on that was a cool fest, but it
wasn’t necessarily something that
represented all of our tastes. So that
was a cool fest that was happening, but
we wanted to do something that was
more representative of our tastes.
Bob: Yeah, I mean, I was sitting in
math class one day and I was like,
“Man, we really should do this fest.”
‘Cus the summer before, me and Riley
had met up and we were actually at
Sink with Cali and we talked about how
if there was a fest with more of the
bands we liked it would be really cool,
we cared so much about the bands
that it would be cool to do something.
So, fast-forward five or six months, I
Interview with Riley and Bob of
the Sound and Fury Collective
called Riley and I called Todd and we
just decided to make it happen. It took
us about ten days after the initial idea
to have it all ready and announced.
EBC: How long have you been
planning this year’s fest?
Bob: In reality, after last year’s fest
ended we tried to hold off having
meetings about this year’s fest until
January. We’ve been having meetings
every two weeks about the fest since
January.
EBC: How far in advance did you
have to clear this with Alpine, and
how did you set all that up?
Bob: Last year after the fest they said
that they’d love to have us back and
we told them we’d love to be back;
and that was that. We just firmed
everything up a few months back. I’d
recommend to everyone that you get
your venue set as soon as possible for
a festival, at least four to six months
in advance.
EBC: Are you guys planning on doing
Sound and Fury annually?
Riley: There are no plans to stop
doing it right now, and I think kids
are really happy with how it’s gone
so far. That’s the main thing, we
want to do something that’s really,
not only something we want, but
something kids are really interested
in, and something positive in Southern
California. So we have no plans to stop
it. I think it’s met and almost exceeded
our expectations.
Bob: Today (The Pre-show) has gone
great, we couldn’t ask for something
better. To be honest, we’re going to
keep on doing this for as long as we
possibly can. Once a year sounds
about right and in between we book
shows as much as we possible to
keep things going and so do a lot of
other people. This is a collective effort
and that’s what we feel like. Everyone
who’s here, everybody who comes
to the show, moshes for a band,
watches a band, buys a shirt, does
anything to be a part of what we have
is a part of sound and fury; and as
long as that’s going, a fest like this will
always happen.
Riley: Definitely, there’s a great
group of hardcore kids out here in
Ventura that have really stepped
up and started their own thing. The
kids in Violation and Ability have
really created a good thing up here.
It’s nice to see that sprouting. But
I’d like to think that we help them
out and helped fertilize that growth.
Bob: This is something for everybody,
I wouldn’t say that we’re older but
as far as hardcore goes… Me and
Todd are 25, Riley’s 26, and so
photo by Kimpossible
I guess that makes us old and I
guess it’s cool that the young kids
are making things happen too.
EBC: Besides less time to plan last
year’s fest, how has the planning
for this one differed from 2006?
Bob: Well, we’re a lot less uncertain
of ourselves. We’re confident guys
to start with, but we knew going in
this year that we had a good formula
and if we stuck to it and picked
bands we love, it could only be great
and we could only just make minor
improvements on last year’s fest.
EBC: Is there anything you guys plan
on doing differently with the next
fest, or are you going to stick to the
same thing?
Bob: One of the things we did
differently this year was that we had
a couple of our friends, Steven Serna
and Derek Kitagawa, we had them
help us out a lot. They’re a little bit
younger, I think Derek’s in high school
and Steve is 20. They really helped us
out and I’m hoping that next year they
can take on even more responsibilities
and we’ll also have a few more people
involved. We call the things we do
Sound and Fury Collective because
that’s how we feel about it. It’s not
just one of us; it’s all three of us
and everybody who wants to help.
Allegiance
by Max Montez
Note: this interview was done on 91-07 so all references to “tonight”
or “this show” refer to that date
At Sound and Fury and tonight
you announced that Allegiance
is done writing music and only
has a few months left as a
band, when did you decide this?
It’s actually been a long-time-coming
because our band is… even though we
love eachother a lot and hanging out is
one of the most fun things we can do
and writing music is something that
comes ridiculously easy for us right
now, we’ve figured out that getting
together and that process has been,
since probably halfway through
writing Desperation, was just really
difficult. It wasn’t that we didn’t get
along and it wasn’t that we didn’t like
what we were doing. We all fucking
love the songs we got out of it. Every
song, lyrically, on this record, I fucking
love. But, we just figured out, with the
schedules that we were al trying to
do and trying to keep, with the two
dudes who have other bands, me
and the guitarist Duane are trying
to finish school, he works at a foodstore full-time. I’m interning at this
video-production company. It’s gotten
to the point where we don’t practice,
we can’t write songs because we
can’t get together. Isaac lives in
Sacramento, he’s the drummer, it’s
really hard for him to make the two
hour drive down and the two-hour
drive home on like a Thursday night at
midnight and he has to work the next
day at five in the morning. So there’s
Interview with John Stark,
vocalist of Allegiance
just no way for us to do that anymore.
We all had these goals, and I had
these goals in my mind. When the
band first started there was not one
goal in my mind other than, “I want
to play Gilman Street.” Then there
was not one goal other than, “I want
to play a fucking great show Gilman
Street.” Then things just kinda build
up to where you’re saying one of your
goals is “I want to do a US tour.” Then
that happens; then you’re like, “Man,
we just did a US tour… can we do
Europe?” Then we got to do Europe.
So you just get to these things and you
keep trying and trying. There’s other
stuff I really wanted to do, I really want
to go to Europe again, I really want
to play Australia, I really want to play
Japan. Those things are feasible, but
only if five dudes can get their shit
together enough to practice. But we
all just have so many other things on
our plates. Hardcore and playing in
this band has meant so much for so
long, but now there’s things that also
mean as much as playing in this band.
Trying to find a career where you can
live in a way that you’re happy. You
want to find something that you can
do, that you’re happy doing and you
want to be able to grow in that. Finding
a job is a difficult thing and it’s not like
I don’t appreciate being in a hardcore
band, ‘cus I love it. But, there are other
things that you have to also respect,
like paying bills, and other things that
people love. Like these other guys
love the bands that these guys love
to do and so we can’t practice as
photo by Kimpossible
much as we want and get can’t get
as much stuff done as I would love
to do. But that’s fine, I knew going
in that Ross was going to graduate
Cal and going to get a real job, like a
60-hour a week job, a very serious job
and he wasn’t going to be able to play
anymore. Duane and I were going to
go back to school and try and finish
up eight or nine years after we got
out of high school. So, there’s things
you just have to kind of get through.
I’d love to go full-time and I’d love to
do that kind of stuff, but financially
there’s no possibility of us ever doing
that, and we’re just so spread out that
there’s no way we can get together to
practice. To make a short question
really long, because there’s a lot to
say about it because you’re the first
person to ask me about it on record…
so I’m trying to make it clear: it’s not
that anyone in this band has broken
edge, it’s not that anyone in this band
hates eachother. It’s clearly that this
band won’t be able to function as a
unit anymore because we have other
things in our lives that make it a difficult
process. Allegiance is not done, this is
not our last show today. Our last show
will most likely be the Rivalry Showcase
in February, if that happens; and if not,
then it will be in the spring. So it’s
not like it’s happening right now, but
it’s just come to the point where the
things that I want to do with the band
or that our other guitarist wants to
do with the band aren’t happening
because there are other things on
people’s plates that inhibit that; and
that’s not a bad thing, that’s totally
growing up, that’s totally finding your
way and finding yourself; and I think I’ve
found myself. I’m 26-years-old. I think
I’ve gotten pretty close to what I’m
going to be like for the rest of my life.
But there’s also a couple people in the
band that haven’t found that yet. There
are lots of kids in the hardcore scene
that haven’t found that yet and are
trying to find it in the hardcore scene.
I found it in the hardcore scene and
I figured it out and I worked through
it. There’s people that find it a little
bit in the hardcore scene and find it
somewhere else in the world. So, we’ve
just gotten to the point where… I don’t
know where I went with that, but we’ve
gotten to the point where we can’t get
it together enough to do those things.
I try to book weekends and we end up
getting lots of fill-ins. This is the first
time we’ve played as a unit in about
a year maybe. So it feels really good,
this was probably one of our best
shows because it was all the dudes
that wrote Desperation and it was all
the dudes that knew those songs and
love those songs. This won’t happen
again, tonight was RJ’s last night.
So this kinda thing won’t happen, so
we’ve gotta learn and it’s always a
learning process. It’s gotten to the
point where we’ve realized we can’t
go any further, we’re not going to be
able to put another record together
because we can get practices
together, so let’s just try and do the
things we can do now and have fun
and make a plan for how we’re going
to put this part of our life behind us.
but I’m always scheming something.
Duane’s got something cooking and
we’ll see when that comes about.
Isaac will be in Killing the Dream
and RJ’s got Life Long Tragedy.
Are there any other projects
that members are going to
be
doing
after
Allegiance?
I always wanted to be in a band where
you planned out themes for records
and I could never do it. Someone said
about Overlooked… I can’t remember
if it was Isaac, I think he might’ve been
joking, but he said something like, “You
know with this record, like I’d really like
a ‘We’re really straight edge!” theme
and I was like, “what are you talking
about?” I mean… it sounds great, but
how you work out a theme, I don’t get
it. There’s bands that can do that and
it’s awesome. I get the theme and I
love it. But, when it comes down to it,
I can think of a theme and I can try to
implement it, but if the song doesn’t
come out that way, the song doesn’t
come out that way. When I do listen
to Desperation, there’s definitely
a theme to it and it was totally not
planned. When I talk to people, like
Kyle from Rivalry Records, about it,
he’s a good friend of mine, so when
I finally talked to him about it, he sent
me one of the nicest emails I’ve ever
gotten. He said that he had listened to
the record for a couple months and
sent me and Duane this email about
how he was super proud about how
this band had progressed and he sent
me a personal email about the lyrical
content about how it was everything
he wanted to say, but he couldn’t
say in the Damage Done, or it didn’t
come out right in the Damage Done
I don’t know. I’d love to play in
hardcore bands, I’ve always always
got music, I’m always doing something
stupid with music. Everyone and their
mother’s got garage band so I’m
always doing something dumb. I’ll get
Phil from Right On to play drums and
I’ll just scream over it or something. I’d
love to play in a band or do something
else, we’ll see what comes out. Duane
will most definitely do a band, most
likely with Connor from Lights Out.
Isaac will be in Killing the Dream.
Ross, I probably would like to do a
band with Ross, our other guitarist. I
love him a lot, he’s like a brother, I’ve
known him for eight years now, he’s
a really good friend of mine. We get
along on so many things and on the
things where we don’t get along we’ve
learned to understand eachother
about certain things. That’s great, I
love being in a band with Duane, he
writes great music, but he’s wanted
to be in a band with Connor for a
long time and I’m psyched to hear
that when it comes out. He writes
good music and Connor’s a great
vocalist and a great frontman so I’m
way psyched to see how that comes
out. So I don’t have anything cooking,
Was there a main theme of
Desperation or are there specific
things written for specific songs?
and it meant a lot and he basically
told me what theme he heard; and
it was about time’s changing and
finding what’s next or whatever. You
can build things up and you can make
things and do things for so long and
they take that big part of your life and
you love it, but then when that’s over…
what do you do? That could be about
Allegiance, the band, that could be
about something like going to school
or high school for a younger kid.
When high school was done I didn’t
know what the fuck I wanted to do,
so I went to school far away. I didn’t
know what I was doing, I just went far
away and out of my comfort zone and I
learned from that and brought it back.
It’s about being comfortable with what
you’re doing to a point, then realizing
that something new is going to have
to happen and you’re going to have to
figure out just how life is. From what
I’ve seen, that’s how life is: you get
ready for the next thing, and that’s
what we’re doing with that. That’s how
the record came out. So you basically
just build up and build up. Yeah, it’s
about Allegiance a little bit, yeah, it’s
maybe about school. Well… it’s a lot
about school, hopefully I’ll be finishing
college here someday soon. How do
you transfer your learning at college
into a career you can love and have
fun with and progress in, and make
money to be able to pay bills? I mean,
I’m not trying to be a millionaire here,
I just want to live comfortably, like any
other American, I just want to pay my
dues and pay my bills and have fun and
live a life and do that kind of thing. You
just get older and new things start to
come up, So I don’t know if it has to
do with… I love playing in this band and
it might be coming across like I don’t
want to be in this band anymore and
that’s’ not true. I love this band and
I’m probably the most happy you’ve
ever seen me ten minutes to about
ten, fifteen, or thirty minutes after we
play. That’s my high in life. I work, I go
to school, I do other shit, and nothing
compares to the ten minutes before,
all the time while we play, and about
thirty minutes after we play. I have a
blast, I love it, and I don’t want it to
seem like that’s not true. But there’s
also things in your life that just change,
so you have to cope with that. So if
Allegiance is coming to an end, or if
something else in your life is coming
to an end, you have to find your way
of coping with that, and moving on
and trying to figure out what’s next.
So what’s what he got out of it; and
as I look at that and listen to it, that’s
what I’m starting to get out of it too.
What’s
Allegiance
got
left?
I don’t know, we’re going to see. I
guess I’m the guy with the big plans.
We’re going to play what we have
booked. We’re going to play here,
September 28th at Gilman, and that’s
all we have booked really. I want to
go to the East Coast, I want to play
Southern California, I want to play the
Northwest… and I’d love to play the UK,
but I don’t think we’re going to have
enough time to go there. But I’d love to
play the UK or somewhere in Europe
but I don’t know how much time we
have. I definitely want to try and play
the East Coast one more time ‘cus
we had some great shows over there
this summer and some of my good
friends in other bands are over there.
Continued
on
the
back
page.
Reviews
dives,
Cruel Summer
San
Diego.
Palm
trees,
sunglasses,
surfboards. Let’s
try that again.
San Diego. Ron
Burgundy, Stage
moshing,
MASTERPIECE.
Masterpiece make their Words or
War Records debut with their Cruel
Summer 7”, an explosive four songs
of pure, unadulterated hardcore.
Masterpiece are looking to use this 7”
as a jump-off to bigger things
to come. Look for more from
Masterpiece in your future, Sitek
8
Tidal Waves and Teeth
Eric Ozenne Pride, Redemption 87, and The Nerve
is back and that Agents. Said Radio has a creepy rock
means
good and roll/punk feel to it, that is like
music is bound to nothing I have ever heard before. It’s
follow. Said Radio, an interesting release to say the least.
previously known Some standout tracks that display
as Ex Nihilo, this unique sound are “The Killer
features Ryan and Anthony from (Mara)” and “Cue the Crickets.” Tidal
Ceremony as well as Dante Sigona Waves and Teeth although short, met
and Gary Gutfeld from Redemption my expectations and is
87. Said Radio’s sound is far different worthy of a purchase if you
than Ozenne’s previous bands: Unit are an Eric Ozenne fan. Shapiro
8
Comadre/Trainwreck split
Two
awe- Teeth” really stands out, as there
some
bands, are no drums or bass, just vocals
Trainwreck from being shouted over well written guitar
Germany
and chords, my favorite song on their
Comadre from side of the split. “60 Grit” is another
the Bay Area song I really enjoy listening to, it’s fast
recently released but a lot more melodic than most of
a split CD/LP. First of all, the layout their material. As for Trainwreck’s
and artwork for this split is fantastic, side of the split, every song delivers
but besides the cool layout, both of with heavy, fast and brutal riffs
these bands are incredible. Comadre’s with a unique guitar tone. There
side starts out with the song “Camel are not many bands I can compare
Bucks”, fast-paced, catchy, and Trainwreck to, but their music is
intense. The rest of the songs on the epic, and to not listen to
split really show growth and change their side of the split as well
in the bands style. “Teeth Versus would be an inexcusable sin. Staat
9
Moment in Time
The new 7”,
Moment In Time,
from Vancouver
band, Get The
Most, is packed
with seven songs
of fast, positive
youth crew. If you have yet to hear this
band, think Insted mixed with In My
Eyes and Youth of Today. This record is
flawless. The songwriting has definitely
improved, making for a more catchy
sound than their previous record,
Common Goals. The songs “Strive
For More” “Breakout” and “Pass It
On” are some of their best songs
to date. The lyrics from beginning to
end are not outstanding, but Kyle’s
vocals are shouted loud and clear,
never monotone, making it apparent
that he truly believes in his words.
Everything about this record rules:
the music, the lyrics, the cover art,
and the insert layout. GTM is
representing the Northwest
well with this release. Staat
Wound Remain
This
is
an
example
of
a
conflict of interest.
EBC records put
out a split with Red
Handed and Heads
Up!, I’ve been friends with Red Handed
and lived in the same town as them for
quite some time... Now I’m reviewing
their LP... Whatever. This record is
in my top five of 2007. Without a
doubt. These dudes might be young,
but they’ve got their shit together. The
five brand new songs are their best
material to date and the redone songs
and re-released songs from the 7” (as
well as an unreleased song from that
recording) are some of
the best modern hardcore
punk
tracks
around. Montez
None Shall Pass
Aesop Rock
once again tests
the limits of hiphop with his latest
release,
None
Shall Pass. Aesop
Rock is without
a doubt my favorite hip-hop artist; he
is unlike any other rapper with his
unique style and demeanor as well as
his delivery and word play. With this
release Aesop made a point to focus
less on the braggadocios aspects of
hip-hop, which some fans feel is such
an important factor, and decided to
do develop more of an introspective
feel for None Shall Pass. Such songs
as “Coffee” featuring John Darnielle
of the Mountain Goats reflects the
ways in which Aes has matured not
only musically but also how diverse
he is capable of being. The majority of
the beats are produced by Blockhead
himself which serve as the icing on
the cake to Aesop’s well renowned
deep vocals. All in all, None Shall
Pass is a few steps ahead of the
average, everyday hip hop release, but
ultimately steps in a positive direction,
which should allow artist to branch out
and begin to collaborate with different
styles and genres. Open
your ears and embrace
the new sound of hip-hop. Mills
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10
10
Allegiance (Continued from page 8)
We’re going to play with Go it Alone,
their last show, when they figure
that out. They’ve quasi-announced
it, sort of announced it. They’ve said
that their band is coming to an
end, but they haven’t told us a date
or anything. We don’t know what’s
going on, but we’re supposed to be
playing it… hopefully (laughs). I think
we will playing, I love those dudes. But
what we have for sure is September
28, and after that we’ll see.
Sweet Pete
This is the second part in a series of questions with the legendary Sweet Pete,
we didn’t have much room in this issue, but much more will be in the next issue.
by Jason Sitek
’81 people were gettin’ beat up for
How have you seen hardcore having an earring while we were blah
change over the years? Where blah blah”, you know I’m not trying to
do you see it as this decade pull old school here. I really like kids
comes to an end. What have you that are just into it, that just don’t
liked and what have you disliked? want to be like every kid in society.
I just saw the people on my floor and
I’ve always liked the sincerity of it, I was like, “Man I don’t want to be
I’ve always liked the kids that are just like this.” I don’t want to be you’re
stoked and really want to be different. every day dude. I wanna be different,
When I was in high school… I had to I wanna have fun and just be a good
drop out of high school. First off, I kid, not that you can’t be a good kid
was totally involved with the scene. without being punk. It’s weird because
I just wanted to skateboard and go in high school I was a hardcore kid
to shows. I got so much shit in my and I would be the least popular kid
high school (I went to a high school in school. I would get into fights;
in Boston) for having a shaved head. people would slap me in the head
As foreign as it may sound now, even and stuff. Now, in some high schools
having a skateboard. Like… “Yo you’re the hardcore kids are the cool kids.
a skater fag!” I mean, I don’t use the It’s just kinda weird to me. I don’t
word “fag” but this is what they would hold any animosity I’m not like “Man,
call me. I had my ear pierced, my motherfuckers I paid my dues”, it’s
left ear pierced in like 1981. Kids just kind of weird to me because for
were just like “OH MY GOD YOU’RE me hardcore was always about being
A FUCKIN’ HOMO”, they’d throw me an outcast, and being like “we don’t
up against lockers just because I want to be like everyone else”, we don’t
had an earring and if you think about want to be the popular kids, you know?
that now, you think any one would get But, I just like kids who still think
shit for having an earring? And you that they can change the world by
know what, I’m not trying to pull old changing themselves. That’s how I’ve
school here because I’m sure punk always felt, that if I can change myself,
rockers in ’87 were like “Ah man in I’m making the world a better place.