Interview w/ Anthony Czerwinski

*This is an interview with our friend Anthony formerly of an EXTREMELY awesome band called Invade out of Long Island, he's a talker so it's a long one. Hope you enjoy psychos*

SJ: what are your thoughts on the current state of hardcore?

It's hard to say with absolution what the state of hardcore is right now. I say this because it means something different to everyone, and everyone has entirely different expectations of it. When I first found hardcore when I was 14, it filled a void, and continues to fill a void to this day. However, I notice that the difference between then and now is that back then I was listening to bands that were around at the time and today I find myself almost entirely uninterested with anything that's out now (with a few notable exceptions). Hardcore is absolutely changing, but change can be a good thing. However, without rattling off a bunch of names of bands that I think are tainting the potential of what it could be, I'll just say that I'm dissatisfied with the state of hardcore, but that's a severe understatement of how I really feel. Also, I can only speak for what I've seen, meaning, I can't possibly judge other scenes if I haven't experienced them firsthand. take great comfort in knowing that there are kids out there that will make it fresh again, however. These sort of things are somewhat cyclical if you think about it.

SJ: you were in a little band called Invade a few years ago. Invade was quite awesome. Tell us a little about that band and it's parting ways with you and ultimate demise if you can.

Thanks for the kind words about that. Invade originally started in August of 2005 when myself and Bryan Barash (Guitarist) had been exchanging e-mails through a local hardcore forum on Long Island. We both wanted to start a hardcore band, even though our tastes were somewhat different in what we wanted to start. I actually didn't know him at all, only knew of him because I was friends with his little brother Tym (singer of Divider, who are completely awesome and Invade played a lot with when we were around) so I was pretty down with getting together and seeing what he had to offer as a guitarist. It wasn't long after Bryan had gotten in touch with me that our drummer, and friend of mine Mike Cohen, said he'd been jamming on drums for awhile and wanted to do a band with us. All we needed now was a bassist. We'd gone through a couple of different people if I remember, but no one really substantial until Bryan had gotten in touch with Kevin Kalb. Now, a lot of people might not know this or even realize it, but Kevin was a HUGE musical part of that band. Dude completely kills bass and he actually wrote a good portion of Invade's music and drove us into that darker sound you find on the EP. Before that, we'd only been playing in E standard but after awhile we decided that we weren't going to get that intensity unless we dropped at least a full step. So at the core of Invade was myself, Bryan, Mike, and Kevin. We practiced our asses off during Fall/Winter of '05. We really didn't do much else besides play music. We practiced for hours at an average of 3 times a week. We also didn't want to play a show until we had music. In fact, we put off recording a demo and playing shows for so long that we had about 9 songs by the time we were ready to play so we decided to record 8 of them and a cover (the cover remained unmastered, so we never released it) and put it out as a self-released, free EP. I can't tell you how many of those fucking things we printed up and sent out, but it was awesome. There's something special about being in complete control of what happens to your music. So thus there were many shoplifting incidents from Office Max and Staples to meet our quota of free EPs. Hats off to Bryan and Mike though, they were workhorses when it came to producing the EPs. We started playing shows in February of 2006 in a string of basement shows. Honestly, those basement were some of the best shows we ever played and I know the guys will agree with me on that. At the same time, Bryan was sending out free EPs all over the world and not even asking for the cost of postage to do so. Granted, we did set up a PayPal donation and some people were cool enough to lend us a few bucks here and there and that actually ended up paying for the cost of postage. I never really check any big hardcore forums or anything, I only heard about what was going on through Bryan because he was constantly sending our music out and spreading the word. Sometime before summer of 2006 we were being checked out by a couple of small labels and they wanted to put out some records for us. I guess I'm kind of sheltered, but this completely blew me away. My goal with that band wasn't to spread any further than my home, and I guess in a sense this kind of freaked me out in a way. I didn't know how small labels, or labels in general worked and I got scared of the idea. I was naive, but I kept trying to convince the guys that we could do this on our own and that we didn't need any label's support to get our music out. What I failed to realize at the time was that it was actually becoming too expensive to do what we were doing, and that Mike and Bryan were both being overworked in terms of printing the EPs and shirts, sending them out, etc. I was apprehensive, but we decided to give the small label thing a shot. I also vividly remember being contacted by Dan from Die Young to do a split with them. My first reaction was "Holy fuck, a band from Texas cares enough about what we do to want to put a split out with us?" to this day it still gives me goosebumps to know what music can do in terms of literally connecting you to other people. So we decided to do two splits - one with our friends from Long Island: In Times of War, and the second one with Die Young. I unfortunately didn't get to be on either of these splits, here's how it all went down: A lot of people think that I left the band, but I was actually kicked out. I put those guys through a lot for the amount of effort they were putting into the band at the time. At the time I was severely depressed and had been struggling with an anxiety disorder since I was 18. From the outside, it definitely looked like I was being a prick by being late to practice, not showing up to practice, giving my band mixed signals, and saying some of the most overly-apologetic and awkwardly pieced together speeches during songs when we played. But there were definitely some deep problems there, and I knew that at that time, I was not functional enough to be fronting a band. After saying that I was going to leave the band multiple times, the rest of my band made the decision I couldn't make - they continued the band without me. Don't get the wrong impression by that though, they're all seriously some of the best guys ever and were really looking out for me in the end, and we're still very close friends today. I love those guys to death, I just got cold feet, I was an extremely sheltered kid and I wasn't ready for what that band was offering me. So around the time I left, they added Jon Ricco on guitar. An incredible guitarist, but when it came down to it was the complete antithesis of what Invade was all about but we didn't find out until it was too late. I still take great comfort in the fact in that piece of shit actually didn't write ANY of the songs we recorded for the two splits, our friend Greg Santoro (who was our first second guitarist) had actually written those songs with us beforehand. So Invade's final line-up was Mike on vocals, Kevin on bass, Bryan on guitar, Jon on guitar, and Kenny Zabielski on drums. I can't speak too much about how Invade actually ended, because I wasn't there to experience it, but from what I've heard it just sort of fell apart at the seams, lost momentum, and Mike admitted to me at a Diner shortly before they broke up that it just wasn't the same as it was, and he didn't like the direction it was going in. I still think those two splits they put out were great stuff though, and that they should have kept the band going in one form or another, but this is the way it goes. Invade officially ended in May of 2007.

SJ: You're from Long Island, NY. I'm sure you've come into contact with the types of people that may call themselves "guidos" and love hair gel. What are your thoughts on such a lifestyle and it's popularization as of late?

I assume you're referring to the clubbing types who frequent the bar scene. I'm not sure if you guys have that sort of thing bad down in South Carolina, but this sort of thing has been an epidemic on Long Island for YEARS, far before "Jersey Shore" even came out. In this respect, believe it or not, Long Island and New Jersey are afflicted with the same situation. I guess you could call it "The Situation". Alright, bad joke. But honestly, as absurd as the popularization is, and even though I have the guilty pleasure of watching the show almost religiously, I obviously don't take any of it seriously but realize that MTV's Jersey Shore is not that far off when it comes to individuals who frequent the bar and club scene. It's almost creepily dead-on. The only thing that irks me is the emphasis on this pseudo-Italian culture. I mean, it's actually quite racist and insulting. But hey, who am I kidding? I was raised by the Italian side of my family and I'd like to think we're not like that at all. I don't even have a thick NY accent, to be honest. In conclusion, a small town in Sicily is most certainly weeping.

SJ: Interesting. And no, SC's population is probably made up of about .09% guido. Taking their place are the rich redneck types and douchey frat boys with popped collars. Have you ever popped your collar?

That's unfortunate. We don't have much of a Frat Boy college scene over here, mainly because we have maybe 2 or 3 universities around here. And I only pop my collar when I'm trying to be Bela Lugosi from Dracula. That was the original popped-collar (or cape), I don't know if anyone realizes that!

SJ: It is good cape weather lately

It really is. I might have to indulge my inner-LARP nerd because of it

SJ: Lets get serious here. If you HAD to assassinate any or all members of one band who would it be?

It would have to be an assassination of a band that would make some sort of drastic impact, a band that a lot of kids would seriously be bummed about. I was going to say Madball, but I'm pretty confident that Freddy alone could choke me out with one arm tied behind his back. Let's focus on just one person then, shall we? I pick Wes Eisold. I'm all about individuals experimenting with new music, but WHAT HAPPENED to this dude?

SJ: Yeah he got a little too nancy boy for me. But do you think murdering him would mean anything to the hardcore kids of today?

Absolutely. I mean, have you seen how much some of AN's merch goes for these days? It's absurd. Dude's POETRY goes for just as much if not more. I enjoy my fair share of AN, The Sun Isn't Getting Any Brighter EP made High School interesting, but I guess I just never understood the hype overall. They're not exactly a band that stuck out for me in the long run.

SJ: How is Long Island hardcore doing these days? Any bands you think are rippin' it up? Who sucks?

It's a mix of good and shitty, I suppose like any scene. Unfortunately there's not a whole lot of diversity. There are a few shining gems in the rough though. I would kill to see some more bands with some raw urgency around here instead of the typical cut-and-paste hardcore formula. As far as LIHC bands go, Divider is putting out a full-length soon and I feel that they might be one of the best bands on Long Island right now, they were sort of a brother band (literally, too) to Invade and I'm glad to see that they're still around. I'm not sure how well Backtrack is received outside of NY, but they're also another budding band coming out of Long Island. They're actually on a European tour right now. I'm honestly not into this whole new trend of bands trying to sweat NYHC, but Backtrack pulls it off incredibly well even though I'm not necessarily into what they're doing. I'm happy for them regardless though, they're some of the nicest guys to come out of the Long Island Hardcore scene, and they absolutely deserve what they work hard for.

SJ: Do any of those crazy guidos ever make their way into any shows? Do they mosh hard?

Only when Hatebreed and Biohazard play Long Island. But I suppose that stands to reason. Christ, how do people take Biohazard seriously these days? Lots of respect to Hatebreed though, even though they do bring the serious juicehead mosh. But that was inevitable. Play more Satisfaction. And yes, they mosh hard. With tribals

SJ: When are you gonna start a new band?

I've spent a long time waiting on other people to start a band with me. Years, even. No such luck. So lately, I just go to work, come home, and am learning guitar day-by-day. I'm actually starting a solo-project called Maiden Name which will have songs in the very near future (already have a song written, writing a second one as we speak). Not sure if it's going to have anything to do with hardcore though, as I have absolutely no idea how to play drums, but if I could get a couple of friends to help me lay down some tracks for a demo, it will be a group effort and I will be spreading that around. I have to say though, I'm really psyched to be doing something on my own because I have complete control over everything and I don't have to compromise. So, in some shape or form, look forward to a new project in the future.

SJ: What are some bands that you think are doing something cool or new these days? They dont necessarily have to be hardcore...

Honestly, there has been so much good music coming out lately mostly outside of hardcore. But to start with hardcore - they just broke up a few months ago, but I have to say that Seven Generations is a band that hit me pretty hard and although they weren't necessarily doing anything new, it's that uncompromising leftist hardcore that I can really connect with and was somewhat refreshing in a scene that I feel is too middle-grounded and afraid to talk about real, visceral issues. Touche Amore is another band that I've been impressed with recently. Refreshing both lyrically and musically. Outside of hardcore, I would have to say that I've been listening to a lot of Fall of Efrafa, an epic crust band from the UK. Over the years they'd been writing a trilogy of records based on the political themes of Richard Adams' "Watership Down". They managed to make this one of the bleakest, darkest, but also most uplifting music I've heard in a really long time. They finished their trilogy of albums this past summer and only broke up this past December. Bummed on that, but I'm glad I got to see them. Baroness is another band that's been consistently putting out good music. Blue Record, their latest release just dropped last year. Nothing else is coming to mind at the moment, but there is plenty out there and it's absolutely worth everyone's time to check out different genres.

SJ:Lets say the entire hardcore scene was ONE dude. He embodied everything about todays hardcore: the music, the merch, everything. What advice would you give him?

If you're going to listen to Earth Crisis, you should lose the dunks

SJ: that's all I got. leave any food/movie recommendations here and have a lovely day

I am the worst vegetarian ever. I subsist entirely on organic pizza (trust me, pizza is never good for you, even organic) and hot sauce. Kevin knows good food though, perhaps you should interview him. Movies? Salo: The 120 Days of Sodom. You'll never look at feces or Italy the same again. Take care

*You can still find Invade immortalized on their myspace page. I recommend finding the link and downloading the 2006 EP. I think it's an extremely overlooked and underrated bunch of songs, check it out! www.myspace.com/invade*

SOME RECORD REVIEWS...

LEGION/FINGERS CROSSED SIGN OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS SPLIT 7"
Here's a little split from our pals in Fingers Crossed and Legion. We'll call them dixies finest. Shit starts out with Legion from Alabama and the song Weed It Out. A good start, barked angry vocals and a short n sweet tune. Guitars sound good, as does the whole recording. Next song is a slower tune that starts out with a pretty HARD metal influenced intro, this is probably the song where all the kiddies will act really awkward because it's not up to their mosh speed standards. This song begins with the lyrics "I've got the bible belt around my throat", so christians...check this one out! At least he didnt put fuck in the same sentence right? Next tune is called SHED and sadly it's not about the toolshed from Evil Dead 2. Instead it's a fast blazer of a song with the hard part at the end, pretty standard but pretty hot n heavy. Last song on the Legion side is also the best song on the Legion side, called Ravenous. Any song where the frontman compares himself to some sort of wild beast is always fine with me. According to the lyrics this particular beast only feasts on the SKIN of his prey, which is just mean. Overall the Legion side is fast, quick and to the point. If you like shit like Infest but also like a little metal influence, you cant go wrong.

Now for the 2 Fingers Crossed tunes. Upon first inspection the recording does differ from the Legion side, common with 7 inches...and that's ok because it'll take you at least 7 seconds (ha) to turn the vinyl around. These dudes enjoy the GAIN knob on their amps and that is ok by me. First song is as hard as you'd imagine. There's some guest vocals here by Joe from Advent, they dont add too much but it works. The lyrics are pretty straightforward and as you may guess they're not very HAPPY, some may even call them "mad". Mosh part at the end, you'll probably like that. The next song is pretty sweet and hard. It's about cops and hatin on them, you just cant have enough songs with that subject. He says "you motherfuckers" pretty clearly near the end so if you don't like cursing you'd better run back into mommys room and hide under the covers little Ricky HxC. That's it, pick this record up if you like HARDcore. http://deadendrecs.bigcartel.com/product/legion-fingers-crossed-signs-of-the-southern-cross-split-7

THE BURDEN - CATHOLIC GUILT
This is actually a pretty interesting band/record. The music is just heavy slightly metallic hardcore, but it's not really generic by any means. The vocals I can't really compare to many other hardcore bands, which is a cool thing. The lyrics are defnitely new to me. Some of the most hopeless, pissed off at a certain person type of lyrics I've come across in a while. They tackle some subjects that I'm PRETTY sure no other hc band has touched. Some might call them "disturbing". A little snippet: "knife to the groin he felt the cut. cut. blood was pouring from her cunt. cunt. ariel was 12 the first time her daddy fucked her. all the kids at school called her a cutter". If that's your thing (I kinda hope not) then this is for you! I would feel supremely weird singing along to these lyrics at a show though. If you are looking to check out something a little different then you should probably give this a try.

CHEECH - PEOPLE AGAINST GOODNESS AND NORMALCY
First reaction to this is that it sounds like it was recorded in 1987 or something, and I almost get the feeling that this was the intention. I've heard of this band before but never checked em out. They play heavy NY style hardcore with some songs that are a little bit more on the 80's metal side (Metallica/Anthrax, not Motley Crue). This record has a good bit of songs(although I think some towards the end are from another recording)a little too many for me, but maybe it's not for you. Like I said you've got some songs that are nyhc/80's metal-ish, but then you've also got others that are almost Oi-like punk style anthems but with a TOUCH of the stuff I mentioned previously. I'm pretty sure I'm hearing horns on one song (maybe even a sax?) which is weird, but ok cool they're trying something outside of the normal formula. This record has a lot of big singalong choruses and what not, and I can't really see a lot of younger kids in hardcore getting into it, but I could be wrong. If this sounds like your thing go check it out.
Both the Cheech and Burden records are available from NGS records, you can find em at www.ngsrecords.com

BLACKLISTED - NO ONE DESERVES TO BE HERE MORE THAN ME
First off I'll start by saying that I'm not a Blacklisted fan. You might even say that I dislike them. Why am I reviewing it you ask? Why not? This is a new record of theirs and it starts out with a little intro of pots and pans banging together which is pointless, in fact you'll periodacally find little time wasting interludes of noise that feature trumpets and shit like that played badly on purpose. I'd like to think it's one of the band members old trumpets from middle school. I'm not sure what the deal is with the singing (if you can call it that) on this record. I really can't decide if it's horribly off key and bad on purpose or if it's just a bad effort at really singing. And lets get something straight, I don't give a shit if they're trying to distance themselves from hardcore songs completely, the idea of transitioning into some rock band is cool with me. Only problem is this transition was less than seamless for Blacklisted. I'm sure they like the fact that they've left a lot of kids scratching their head. That doesnt really matter though, they are so huge in hardcore that kids will suck down whatever this band throws at them just because simply..they're Blacklisted. They also enjoy their effects pedals a great deal on this record, I just wish they were used a little more tastefully. The lyrics are preeetty much standard Blacklisted, they can all be summed up with 3 words: "I'm so lonely". I'm not going to say this SUCKS, let's just say it's really not my thing. I find it to be a difficult task to make it through this entire record. I'm done, peace.

SLAM is here

I've got a new band and I'm promoting it here without any shame. Suck it.

www.myspace.com/lettherebeslam

download the whole ep here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mzinbzchnrn

or here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UYQJR72B

Interview w/ Kenny Pounds of POUND FOR POUND

*Kenny here plays in a band called Pound For Pound from Springfield, IL. He's been doing it for years and is what would commonly be referred to as an "old dude" within the hc scene. Here's a quickie with Kenny...*

SJ: Yo Kenny, what are your thoughts on the current state of hardcore?

Despite what people say there are alot of newer bands that are killin it out there.I think there are alot of young kids who care and are trying to make a difference. either setting up shows,labels, bands etc, they are trying to keep it alive, the same instance there are alot of generic bands that just sound like shitty clones. along with kids who are in it for the wrong reasons. Hardcore is still going. just not as strong in some areas of the world.

SJ: What's new with Pound For Pound these days?

Well after alot of touring last year we had some members leave for differnet reasons so we have some new guys and will also have a new e.p. come out this summer. alot of tours in the works as well.

SJ: PFP has been going for quite a while now, and you've pretty much done just about everything a hardcore band can do. What keeps you going?

Ya we have been around what seems like forever but we love making music and touring. Seeing all our friends that are all over the world and besides that i could never live a normal life, All people care about now a days is making money. thats all good if you are enjoying life but money does you no good if you are working for the man every minute of the day.fuck that!

SJ: So you have a kid, is he down with dad's crazy devil music?

Ya he digs it! trying to get him to learn the guitar so he can do something when he gets older. he already wants to tour with us.

SJ: How has hardcore and shows changed since you first got into it?

Ive seen alot of people come and go. turns outs at shows seem to be weaker in some places where they used to be stronger but thats just the way things go. Alot of kids seem to be out for themselves now instead of looking out for each other. too many suburban kids trying to be tough guys haha

SJ: Are there any particular bands/records/shows that got you hooked?

Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Underdog are just a few that got me into this

SJ: What was Kenny Pounds like in high school? Were the chicks feelin you?

ha ha. i hated school. wasent there a whole lot.i was always in trouble. a little jerk. the chicks have always been feelin me

SJ: What's the WEIRDEST show you've ever played?

There have been alot but I would say one that stands out is the tour we did with Where It Ends and For the Proud. we played in a building with a meth lab abouve us in Clayton New Mexico.

SJ: Little Caesars, Dominos, Papa Johns or Pizza Hut? And why?

none becuase Cos's and Benny Blanco's are the best and those others are straight shit!

SJ: A lot of kids may see the name Pound For Pound and hear the music and think "these guys are ruff n tough". So lets get real, how many asses have you kicked overall?

Im generally a nice guy but if any one disrespects us then its on. We go out to have a good time on the road not look for trouble. sometimes trouble finds us. Its been a minute since weve had and problems with knuckleheads. i wouldnt know how many over the years. since my son was born i try to stay out of trouble.

SJ: That's about it. Short and sweet. Place all "Eat my shits" and "suck it"s here. Thanks dude.

Thank you Paul, Shawn Crook,everyone who supports us. keep a look out for our new e.p. this summer on the path less traveled records in the U.S. and Superhero Records in Europe. hit up www.myspace.com/poundforpound217 for tour dates. thanx

*Check em out! www.myspace.com/poundforpound217*