Interview w/ Myself

*Well, true believers I've had a lot of trouble getting interviews these days and just generally trying to think of shit to post here. Do bands just not want to do interviews anymore? Nah, I think bands just don't want to get back to me. That's one of the problems with the internet. So, I've decided to interview the one person that would be guaranteed to get back to me in a timely manner: myself*

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

Well, Paul...I'm glad you asked that. To put it simply I think the state of hardcore right now kinda sucks. I always try to think to myself that maybe i'm just getting uh...slightly jaded...but no, I think the lack of creativity is definitely there. From what I can remember shit started really going downhill in about 07 or so. I think this is due in part to the watering down factor. For example, a band comes along and rips off Integrity or something, and then another band comes along and rips off THAT band, and so on and so on. When you rip off a rip off things start to get a lot less creative and the whole thing just sounds watered down. Then you get the hardcore kids of the latter era 2000's. They're annoying sometimes, but really it's not their fault, they were just brought into it with shitty hardcore. Oooh well.

SJ: What do you think of all these super hyped up bands these days?

I literally have no clue where the hype level comes from. I'm pretty sure most of these bands have some sort of dick sucking agreement between them to hype each other up. What really sucks is that most of these overhyped bands are terrible. There are a lot of bands out there that get everything handed to them right from the beginning, just from knowing the right people. They get good tours, even tours booked for them. They get label deals just from the labels knowing that they're a hyped flavor of the month. There's a lot of bands out there that bust their asses and work very hard writing songs and touring, and some that can't even tour...because no one gives them the time of day and no one wants to help them. A lot of these bands rule, but they're just overlooked sadly. I was in one of those bands, we would get a tiny taste and then we'd just get shit on. We were the opposite of hyped yet were still ripped off (oh yeah, ripped off) by other bands I won't mention. I attribute a lot of that to being from wherever you're from. Obviously if you're from Boston or New York a lot of people are going to pay more attention to that for whatever reason.

SJ: So Me, why is this blogspot/webzine so seldom updated with new stuff?

Like I mentioned earlier bands just don't want to get back to me for the most part, it's sooo hard to do an interview. I would do more reviews but I just dislike so much stuff that it would be a lot of 2 word reviews: "THIS SUCKS".

SJ: What's changed about hardcore since you (I) first started going to shows?

Well there's plenty of shit in that category but lets talk about something really stupid: moshing. Why is moshing and singing along so gay now? Wow it looks weird. And what's with the singing along shit, what happened to the classic finger point or just fuckin going wacko? Now there's that weird thing where kids put out both of their arms in front of them and put their hands out invert their hands toward each other. Fuckin weirdos.

SJ: Sooo why do you still go to hardcore shows if you hate it so much?

Paul you fuckin asshole, it's a love/hate relationship. I still have a lot of buddies and pals at shows so that helps. And there are plenty of bands out there still going that I enjoy. I mostly go hoping that I'll see a new band I like that I get into, but usually I'm just in the corner pukin' my guts out.

SJ: Whats the weirdest thing you've ever seen?

Several years ago I was driving my Chevrolet Lumina through the un-thriving redneck town of South Congaree, SC. I come to a 4 way stop. As I begin to turn left I notice something across from me at another side of the stop. It is an elderly man driving a big lawnmower/tractor device. I can't fully recall. Connected to this vehicle was a huge wooden flat trailer. On this trailer was a chair. In this chair sat an enormous morbidly obese women. Apparently he was pulling his obese wife through town. And that is the weirdest thing I've ever seen.

SJ: Death row last meal?

Well it seems like everytime I ask this question someone picks one specific meal. If I'm on deathrow I'm going fuckin all out. I'll have one awesome slice of new york style cheese pizza, I might have some baked mac n cheese, I guess I'll have an ice cold coca cola as well, and a huge burrito filled with some sort of habanero salsa, black beans, grilled marinated tofu, cilantro lime rice and a little cheese. I might die of a heart attack before I get the chair.

SJ: Any last words, me?

In the immortal words of Rick Ta Life: "Hardcore rules, and hardcore rules, get in the van, travel around"