Interview with Stick to Your Guns

Who are you and what do you play in the band?

My name is George Schmitz (Schmitty) and I play the drums in Stick To Your Guns

I plan to stick to this as my first important question so,
what, in your opinion, is hardcore? how has it changed your life?
what has it done for you?

Somebody asked this to us on our formspring today. It's such a difficult question to really pinpoint and I'm sure answers vary from person to person. Hardcore to me is a lot of different things. It's a place where I feel at home. It symbolizes unity. Hardcore has always been a place of ideals to me too. Whether it be being straight edge, christian, atheist, vegetarian, meat eater-Hardcore provides an outlet for us to express these feelings. It's such a positive influence in my life and has provided me with so much. Through Hardcore, I've been given the opportunity to see the world, meet amazing people, and do what I love the most. Without Hardcore in my life, I don't know what I'd be doing. I can easily say that hardcore saved my life.

How important is "sticking to your guns" and having heart to Stick to
Your Guns? and What kind of part does straight-edge play in the band?


Ideals is what built this band. This band was founded on positive intentions and to this day still runs on it. Having strong convictions is lyrically what all of our songs are about.


For 4 of us straight edge plays a very big part of our life. I know that for me personally I couldn't live without it. At the same time, we don't want to be in people's faces about it. It's important to us, but at the same time, to each his own.

Is there anything in or slowly coming to the hardcore scene that you
think is taking away from the meaning of it, that the scene could really do
without? If so what? and elaborate on it please.

Something I tend to keep seeing is older kids putting down younger kids. Hardcore is a place for everybody and nobody should be excluded. It doesn't matter if you were around for the cro-mags era or the guns up! reunion shows. Be a positive influence to kids getting into the scene. We should be educating rather than neglecting. Show kids the bands that you love and maybe they will even lead you to something new to your ears. We love all of our fans regardless of what they are into.

Ok moving on from the scene. What bands really inspired you to play music
and for what reasons?

I know for me, Green Day, Blink 182, and NOFX are reasons that I wanted to play music. They're still my favorite bands to this day. Later on I got into a lot of metal core bands like Evergreen Terrace and bands of that sort. Those types of bands led me to hardcore. But bands today that inspire me are Terror, Trapped Under Ice, Propagandhi, Ignite, The Bronx, and a whole laundry list of other bands. So many bands that we've toured with have inspired me to be a better musician or influenced me in so many different ways. They're so many awesome bands out there today that are killing it out there.

For kids who are in bands and want to make it somewhere in the scene, what
advice do you want to give them? (recording wise, touring, playing live,
and writing)

Tour your ass off. You will get shit on when you start, but hardwork will pay off. You'll play shitty shows, your van will break down, and you will be broke, but just stick it through. Practice as much as you can, and always keep writing. That's all you can do.

Are there any political issues bothering STYG at the moment? If so what?

Health care reform has been something bothering me for a while, but I'm so out of the loop with everything these days. Touring and recording has really cut me off from important political issues that are affecting my life haha. It's something that I need to get back into.

STYG really puts on an amazing live show. How important is it to you, to
keep that alive? and keep that energy up.

It's the most important thing you can do as a band. Sometimes you'll be tired, or just not in the mood but you just have to bite your lip and give it all you got. Play every show like you'll never be able to play again. You have to give it all you got, I mean it's your job right?

Was it hard at all to come from Orange County, which is a very privileged place,
to become accepted by kids or bands in the hardcore scene? and what
made you seperate yourself from that sort of "privileged state of mind"? If
you know what i mean.

I actually am not from Orange County so I can't truthfully answer this question, but I know that although Orange County has the facade that everybody is very privileged, I can assure you there is still plenty of hardships and struggles to endure. I know that Jesse has had to sacrifice a lot and give his life to this band to keep it a float. I think that is a stereotype that Jesse strides to break. Jesse's father does a lot of humanitarian work and I think that exposed to him to a lot of the issues facing today which is why Stick to your guns is a band with a message.

Well thanks a lot for your time that was put into this interview. Is
there any final words you'd like to throw out there? Band plugs, album plugs, etc.

Check out the new Winds of Plague, the new Stray From The Path, the new Emmure, go see Terror/Emmure on mosh lives, go see stray/wop on the never say die. Go to shows! Support your local scene! Give back to your community and educate yourself. Keep an eye out for our new record.


Hope Division May/June 2010.


Thanks for being a part of my first interview with this band!

MYSPACE
MERCH