Rick. I play guitar and do some vocals here and there
Ok, perhaps the most important question in the interview. In your opinion what is hardcore (or punk)
and what has it done for you?
Its many things; its become so complex in my mind... it's also so simple though. Thats one of the things I love about it. I can get into a 2 hour conversation on "what hardcore is and means to me" or i can also sum it up with "hardcore to me is an enlightened mindset that couples around a certain, albeit broad, spectrum of music"
hardcore and punk have shaped every aspect of my life and mindset. every thing i do, every decision i make in life is influenced by what i've learned through hardcore. if i never listened to a hardcore band or went to a hardcore show again for as long as i lived, i would still be living a hardcore lifestyle. its just the way my brain works now. although if i couldn't be involved in hardcore music as well as the mindset and lifestyle i would go nuts.
There's no doubt that the scene has changed drastically over the years, what are some of the both good and bad things
coming to the scene that you've noticed? and how is it affecting the scene?
i get this question a lot and i usually avoid it because what's good and bad varies from person to person and i don't think its exactly right all the time to do the whole "back in my day" or "when I first got into hardcore..." thing. i hated when people shit on what the scene was about when i was younger because they were older so i am tentative to do that now. so much of hardcore is the mix of personal effect and communal gathering so it can be similar to 2 or 3 or 500 people but it can also be different for every single person involved. without completely avoiding the question though... the internet has changed things drastically. its easier for bands to tour and really make a go of things. on the other hand it's so much harder to stand out because there are 17 bands from every town in the US doing the same thing. people don't make handmade flyers anymore. people barely even pass out physical flyers anymore. there is one thing i will definitely say has changed and sucks. attention bands and promoters... if all your promotion is done through the internet, you are not trying hard enough!
Everyone has their opinion on downloading. What is your opinion on downloading and how do you think it's
affecting the music business?
Its affecting the music business because its harder for people to make money. if a band can make money, that is good because it perpetuates the band. on the other hand, free music and illegal downloading is awesome. lets be honest, i download 95% of my music illegally and expect that from others too. i rather someone steal our music on the internet than not listen to us at all because they can't find our cd or don't wanna risk $10 on something they might not like. labels need to make money because if they don't then bands can't record and release music, so its a rough spot. if people steal our shit from the net then come to a show and support us or buy a shirt, then its rad. people do need to remember though that stealing the new aerosmith record and remaining an uninvolved listener is much different than stealing a Terror record. you need to support the hardcore bands because its a hard life to be a touring hc band. everyone needs to be actively involved and supporting the bands in some way aside from putting a record on their ipod.
To move on from questions about the scene, another question i like to ask is..for all the kids starting
bands what advice can you give them on how to make it in the music business?
if i had advice on how to make it in the music business, i would follow it myself and try to make some money. this is what i've done that has amounted to no "music business success" whatsoever so i guess if you wanna make money and be famous do NOT follow this mold...
a) play music you like regardless of whether its cool or not
b) do tours outside of the spectrum of your own bands style whether your scene thinks you are cool or not
c) don't do things to satisfy whiney internet personalities even if they are the tastemakers
Is it important to This Is Hell to give out a positive message through your music? If so, what do you
think is important about keeping a positive message going?
honestly, not really. its important to give a realistic message and a realistic reflection of what's going on in our heads and hearts as opposed to portraying a positive message. life isn't always positive. it's not always negative. life is real and thats what we do this band for; to express things going on in life and using the music and lyrics as a vent and an outlet for expression.
i think it is important to be positive in many ways. i am big fan and advocate of constructive criticism but i am also a big fan of honesty. there's a time and a place to be honest to the point of being a prick but there's also a lot of times where if you don't have anything positive to offer, keep your fucking mouth shut.
Are there any political problems bothering This Is Hell at the moment?
i'm not the CNN watching type and i think the majority of people that are, do loads and loads of posturing and that in itself turns me off to politics on a grand scale. that might be kind of crass but to me the world shouldn't be as complex as people try to make it out. the fact that there are not equal rights for gay/lesbian/transgender couples is really strange and inhuman. the fact that there aren't equal rights across the board for HUMANS is weird to me. thats breaking it down to the most elementary terms possible but still, its not a complex topic at all. "hey, you're alive? you have the same rights as every other human alive" not a hard concept to understand. its human nature to try to establish a dominant position over those around you i guess. i've seen that since i've been able to form memories and understood that at an early age. i guess thats another aspect that drew me to hardcore... there are (or shouldn't be at least) castes in hardcore. we're all of a different mindset of the outside world and understand community on a different level than mainstream culture and its not a "trying to get to the top" thing like it is every single other place in the world. everything in politics is about amassing power over others. i'm more interested in controlling myself and taking care of myself than i am about what other people are doing. this is a tangent from the original question.
Growing up, listening to hardcore and punk bands and going to shows, what bands inspired you most? and made you
want to do this as a job?
i was always into music, even before hardcore so i'll break it into two different sections...
Def Leppard made me wanna be in a band, Metallica inspired me to really REALLY play guitar,
Sick of it All made me wanna be in a hardcore band, Minor Threat made me wanna write lyrics in a hardcore band, H20 made me wanna go out and make touring my life
I stole that mold of sectioning off bands like that from the dude recording our new record right now. he has 5 records framed over his console each with a "....made me wanna..." significance.
It's obvious that musicians are struggling everyday to keep things moving. What keeps you moving at such hard financial
times?
we keep tricking people into putting us on shows and putting out our records. without promoters and record people making things happen in that way, we'd be done as a full time band. it's so hard to do a hardcore band full time. thats why the majority of hardcore bands don't last more than a few years at most. going on tour 2 or 3 times a year and making no money whatsoever loses its appeal once you start getting older and see that it can't last forever. for some reason we've been able to make this last longer than other bands. if we would have called it quits after the first 2 or 3 years, we would have ended while we were still a "cool" or "hype" band but we kept going. most bands in hardcore of our generation stop at that point because after you're not revered on the B9 message board anymore, its real hard to stay "relevant." hardcore kids are super fickle in this day and age and anyone that denies that is a fucking liar. thing is, we were never concerned with being a cool band, we're concerned with making music we love and is reflective of us and going out and playing shows with bands we like, all over the spectrum, and playing for the kids that are really into what we're doing. was it cool when there were tons of kids going nuts at our shows? yeah totally, but heres where the real payoff is... when you are no longer a band kids are "supposed" to like and you see the ones that come to see you every time you play a certain area that flip out and feel what we are doing whether its 2, 3, 15 or 200. the genuineness of a few kids is much more rewarding then 300 kids playing mosh contest to our band as background music or trying to impress their friends with how many times they can grab the mic even though they don't know or care about our lyrics.
What do you think This Is Hell has to offer the scene?
honesty and intensity. we've never lost that intensity and we've never lost that honesty. in my eyes we are more vital now than we were when we first started. that spark should never be lost in hardcore. Sick of it All never lost it.
I prefer to keep my interviews short and sweet, so that's it. Now's the time for your final thoughts, albums plugs,
band plugs, etc. If anything at all and thanks for taking the time to do this interview!
We have a new album coming out in June on Rise Records that we're about to finish up in the new few days (mid fed, we'll be done by the time this is out). One of my other bands ICE AGE has a full length "Dead Kings" that is coming out this spring on Motel Art so check that out. Listen to Wu-Tang Clan, watch WWE and TNA wrestling, read Wolverine comics and get tattooed by Christian Peters at Devil Rose Tattoos in Blue Point, Long Island if you're in the area.
lemme know when this goes up!
Thanks a lot dude
Rick
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www.myspace.com/thisishell
www.twitter.com/thisishell
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