A FEW MORE REVIEWS...

Dead End Path - Demo 2009
Alright, I saw these dudes @ the House of Hardcore not too long ago and I thought they were pretty decent. I had never heard of them before but apparently they have a slight hype thing going on. Seriously where does that come from? I dunno. This band features the CLASSIC overweight vocalist which is just so rare these days, awesome to see it come back in any way. First of all this recording is AWESOME for a demo, I'm glad some bands are putting some effort into their demos out there. This is heavy hardcore with a metal tinge, SLIGHTLY Integrity-ish. First track is a heavy little stomper. On the 2nd song the drummer decided he really wanted to try out his new hi-hats I guess. Another heavy one, duh. Next song starts with an incredibly simple riff that leads into the song. This one fades out...which is a little confusing. Last song on the demo starts out with the goddamn guest vocals. According to my tracklisting here it's Alex Russin, guitar player of Cold World among others. These vocals suck. The real singer comes in and the songs starts kickin in a little better. Ok so this is a pretty solid demo and it's really not that bad at all, I'd say check it out. Like I said these dudes are minorly hyped at the moment, so get into them now before they sign to *insert hc label here* and start touring and playing your town once every 2 months and you get tired of them.

Dominos NEW pizza
Is this some kinda joke? Dominos has a NEW pizza with new ingredients. No one really cares, sorry Dom's. It's a goddamn pizza chain, it's not Coca Cola. Drunk dudes and soccer moms order this shit when they cant think of anything else to eat. Overall this pizza is pretty generic, much like it's previous version. Go eat at a real pizzeria instead.

Blacklines/In Regret split
Ok, first of of all let me just say I have no physical copy of this nor do I have lyrics, so I'm dealin with what I got on this particular review. I usually can't really say how I truly feel about a record until I let it sit for a while after plenty of listens. But hey that's now how Slightly Jaded works, we're goin on first impressions! I literally know every single dude in both of these bands so if I shit talk it they might kick my ass or put their collective money in to hire someone to do so. First reaction to this...the cover art is pretty decent, especially for what i'm pretty sure is both bands first real release. I do however miss the days of splits with "VS." in them. So this should've been called BLACKLINES VS. IN REGRET. Lets see who wins! Charleston, SC's Blacklines starts out the split with track 1. It's called 'He Pushes Through', which sounds very christian hardcore to me, but I'm pretty sure it's not at all. The recording here is pretty standard with a tinny snare drum sound that takes me back to some memories of wacky 90's core. This song (and band overall really) are very Modern Life Is War-ish, so if you're into shit like that and The Carrier or whatever, you'd probably be into Blacklines. This is your slower, build-up-to-an-ending intro type of song. Maybe a little soft for my tastes? Well, track 2 'Black Gold' kicks in with a little more ferocity and speed and sort of reminds me of Bars or a band like that. The little build up to the mosh and ultimately the mosh itself ain't too bad, I'm sure the kiddies love it and will ya know...do their thing. The next and last song from Blacklines is called 'Impact' and no, it's not the Chain of Strength tune. Instead it's more along the lines of the previous song I just mentioned. Oh wow Brad from In Regret just came out of fuckin nowhere with some guest vocals on this song and scared the shit out of me. Lemme just say...sometimes guest vocals, although cool and all...they just don't fit. And not because of any other reason than the fact that the 2 vocalists voices are so different. You see Dennis from Blacklines here has more of a throaty gutteral tone to his voice, and Brad is more of a "I want to blow my voice out and pop one of my eyeballs" type of voice. Ya see? Totally different. Ok now In Regrets gonna jam. Luckily the recordings here seem pretty similar so that's always good for a split. This one starts out all beautiful and emo-ish. Guitarist Steve Zimovan must've been sitting in a flower garden with an acoustic when he thought that one up. This first In Regret song is similar to the first Blacklines song, ya know...slower intro type song. The next song is called 'Desert Skies'. It's the classic melodic hardcore we've come to know this past decade. It's got the mosh part in the middle so the kiddies pay attention, then it slows down a little so the spinkicking lunatic goons can get some time on the floor. Then I believe we have some more guest vocals, and you know how I feel about that...but I will say they seem to flow a little better here. You think this song is pulling off the epic melodic hardcore ending but then it instead goes right into the epic melodic hardcore singalong with some funky guitar work. Last song from In Regret is the hardest. Oh shit, now it's the angry mosh part thingy. Some more guest vocals here too. Maybe you're not ready for it yet, but your kids are gonna love it. Spinkickey part is at the end, featuring more funky guitar work. Yes, I realize I'm reviewing this like a douchebag. Anyways, that's about it. 2 pretty similar bands music-wise and a good effort. If you like melodic style hardcore then by all means go pick this record up. That's it. Oh yeah and one more thing, a message to In Regret: Please stop covering Charge The Mound or I will piss on you. check out downsiderecords.com and pick it up.

That's all I've got in me for right now. More shit comin soon.

The obscure defunct Southeast hardcore band upload thread PART ONE

*I figured I'd start uploading some demos and shit on here for people that may have never heard them. If any of these dont work or you are wanting lyrics for them just email me @ vanhalenizer2@aol.com - enjoy.*


IN FULL EFFECT - BOTH DEMOS (2000/2002)
This is one of my all time favorites from the Southeast. These dudes from Augusta, GA started back in 98 and played awesome heavy NY style hardcore in the vein of Madball or Killing Time. So fuckin awesome, if you dont download anything else in this thread...download this.
www.megaupload.com/?d=38EYVJFS


MAN AT ARMS - demo
Certain members of this band also went on to be in Where It Ends and to form the recently defunct Mainline. If you liked Mainline you will probably like this, it's a bit more punk and a bit more quirky...check it out. I believe this is from around 2004.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M3O64B9E


THE RISK - split w/ Walking Tall
This is my old band that I played guitar in called the Risk. We were playing the fast hardcore that we loved when there was literally no hardcore to be found in Columbia, SC. We talked a lot of shit and had lots of good times. This is our side of a split 7 inch that never got pressed (sketchy fellas dont put out records). I like this one. This is from about 2002 I believe.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3Y6C21CX


BRAINFREEZE - time to maim demo
The infamous BRAINFREEZE demo. These Augusta, GA psychopaths put out this badly recorded demo back in about 05. The lyrics on this one are quite violent and offensive. This little shitty demo led to a lot of fun shows for Brainfreeze. Members went on to work at Starbucks and smoke the ganja.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=X08AY5JA


WALKING TALL split w/ the Risk
The other portion of the Risk/Walking Tall split. Walking Tall was from Greenville, SC. Members went on to Where It Ends, Hope Prevails...and more recently SLAM.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R0PFRMQW

PAID IN BLOOD - DEMO
Atlanta, Georgia heavy hardcore circa 2003-ish I believe. Awesome band all around, you may be familiar with the first song off this demo as it's been covered and recorded by fellow Atlant-ites Foundation. This is Atlanta hardcore at it's best.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=I3OFNV6Y


That's it for now. I've got plenty more shit to toss up on here though so look out for that. Like I said, if you need lyrics to any of these or anything like that email me: vanhalenizer2@aol.com You can also hit me up with obscure southeast hardcore requests, there's a good chance I've got it. Peace.

Interview w/ Daniel Albaugh formerly of Die Young, now of Band of Mercy

*Daniel, or the Reverend White Devil as some may know him...is a cool fellow and a good pal. Here he shares some insight on some wacky topics in one of my favorite interviews for Slightly Jaded thus far, enjoy it*

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

No comment. It's best that way.


SJ: So Die Young is now obsolete, and as many may already know you usually toured 364 days a year and were used to regularly playing the whole USA, Europe, Mars, etc etc. Tell me how life has been without Die Young?


Well, for starters I have more money haha. I am still traveling a bunch for my job with PETA, and I am still doing things I care about doing for change in the world, and I am still doing music--but the music has taken a sideline to my job with PETA. What I miss the most about DY is just getting on stage and losing my mind for 30 minutes, and saying whatever I wanted. I find myself less stressed out these days since I am working with a lot of positive people all the time for justice for animals, but I will always be angry and bitter about things to some extent. Playing live shows really helped me let that frustration out. I think I spend more time working out now instead to make up for not being able to play shows. Sometimes I am out on the road with PETA and kids recognize me at an event, and that makes me miss playing even more. I don't see Jeff and Kayhan much anymore since they live in Alabama and we aren't in a van together every other month. I miss those dudes often. But overall, life is actually good without DY, just a different kind of good than when we were on the road, in random parts of the world, living like pauper kings.


SJ: What ultimately led to the end of Die Young?

It was actually well planned out since the end of 2007. That was when we started talking about "exit stategy" anyway. We never planned to make a career out of a political hardcore band. Anyone who would do such a thing is not only crazy, but also really stupid. From the start, I wanted to take the DY ride as long and as far as I could, and after Graven Images came out I started to see the end of the line coming up for us. Graven Images was our defining collective statement as a band. And we toured like crazy on that album--more than we ever had before. We got to a point where we realized we had done most of what we wanted to do as a band, and to a point where things didn't feel too much like fun anymore. We knew that we couldn't keep doing the DIY circuit, playing houses all the time without exhausting that DIY scene of seeing us. We knew we'd have to look into "playing the game" of management and booking more if we wanted to expand our audience and get out to new ears and faces. And that really wasn't an option we ever took seriously. We were a get-in-the-van-and-GO kind of band. We didn't want anyone else to have their hand in guiding our mission. So we started talking about breaking up at the end of 2007, to try and end things before they got too pathetic haha. We decided to do one last EP and to do a few more tours--one in North America, and atleast a couple international to check those things off our list of things that we'd be unhappy for not doing if we had opted to not do them. We didn't end up going back to Asia because of money issues, which still bums me out some, but we toured Europe twice more, and South America, and the last North American tour we did was really eventful and successful in terms of leaving on a good note.

SJ: So you do a little work with PETA, tell me a little about that and what you do exactly.

Basically, I am a tour manager for the peta2 division of PETA. That's the youth outreach division, so it focuses on reaching kids of high school and college age about animal rights issues. I get in a van with several other young people who want to get out in the world and promote veganism and animal rights, and we talk to kids on concert tours that peta2 sponsors, or we work at universities, often with student groups, to affect some kind of local issue concerning veganism or animal rights. We gather a lot of petition signatures, answer questions people have, and give them free media to check out concerning animal rights.


SJ: Have you yet to convert any Juggalos or nu-metal fans to vegetarianism or veganism? And do you feel like you're now a prophet of a cruelty free and meat free lifestyle, or more of a dude hanging out doing his job?

I will always be some sort of a dude hanging out haha, but it is important to impact and inspire people too. Most people care about issues concerning animals being abused on some level, whether they eat meat or not. It's important to approach people on whatever level they're at, and make them understand that animal rights isn't just something "hippies" and "gays" care about (or whatever fucking stupid steretype some people have). Most people just need to realize that they do actually care about animals, too. I've had some interesting conversations in the last year and a half with hunters, medical students, and animal agriculture students, (juggalos too!), and more, and I won't say I regularly convert these people to vegetarianism, but I think it is important to find the right dialogue to make these people--who are often in support of killing animals or animal testing--realize that they do care about animals in some way, and to make them make the connection about the injustices going on. To get anyone to take any step reduce animal suffering in their lives is important, because the animals in factory farms, breeding mills, fur farms, and laboratories,need whatever mercy they can get urgently. I don't think it would be possible for me to make those connections with people if my co-workers and I were coming at them from a holier than thou perspective.

SJ: You have a new band called Band of Mercy, what are your plans for this? Will relentless touring ever return to the list of priorities or are you tired of such things?

Relentless touring will not ensue. I think my work with PETA is far more important than any kind of DIY hardcore band I could do at this point, and I was lucky to have experienced a lifetime's worth of experiences in DY, and I am happy to leave that at that. But there will be some touring for Band of Mercy, hopefully in 2011. We won't be everywhere, but we will try to get around some for everyone's enjoyment. I think the songs we are writing are a lot of fun, and it would be great to share them in a live setting.


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?

I wouldn't give advice, just a list of orders. I'd tell him to quit buying stupid cliche merch with no creativity from bands who write cliche flavor of the week bullshit. I would be sure to tell him what bands too, haha. I'd tell him to stop wearing flat-brimmed hats and thinking he is hard, or pretending that he isn't white. I'd tell him to read more books, go vegan, and get involved with some sort of activism--human, environmental or animal related. I'd probably have to tell this douchebag he needs to stay away from cocaine and other hard drugs, unfortunately. It would be a lot of work on my end to reform this asshole.


SJ: Tell me of the oddest, wackiest show you have ever played.

I think one of the only times that we collectively looked at each other on stage and asked each other why the fuck we were playing this specific show was in May 2006 in Fairbanks, Alaska. Please have a look at a map to see exactly where Fairbanks is if you are reading this. It's in the middle of Alaska, and there is no hardcore scene there. Die Young played there. Don't ask why. Maybe we did it just to do it and say we did it. We were actually supposed to play two shows there, but the second got shut down by the cops before anyone played. Okay, so this first show was in a rustic looking bar. One band opened for us that played Avenged Sevenfold covers. Their families and girlfriends came to see them play, and needless to say, those people checked the fuck out of the bar when Die Young started playing haha. As if this wasn't bad enough--that we were playing to ten 30-40 year old people in the middle of nowhere, we had to play two sets because it was a bar and they wanted live music to keep the bar open. So we played the same set back to back with an hour intermission or something. There were some cougars there who kept yelling for us to take off our shirts. They were the only people that supported us for either set. That was probably the only 21+ show we ever played. Never again. We ended up staying at one of the cougar's apartments the next night haha.


SJ: Who do you think has the BEST veg eats in america?

New York City easily. There's too many good spots there to list. But I do have to say that The Veggie Grill in Los Angeles metro makes Southern California one of my favorite destinations for vegan fare. i could eat at The Veggie Grill every day.

SJ: Do you think that aliens...or should I say "other intelligent life"...exists out there in space, on earth, or in other dimensions all around us? Why or why not?

I think that aliens are already here--they are just viruses, airborne or otherwise. Those are some pesky intelligent lifeforms who adapt faster than we can eradicate them. The concept of aliens doesn't have to some weird green space guy with big eyes. It can be any form of life that we haven't encountered yet, or even the seemingly hard to understand forms of life already among us. If you think about viruses, they are pretty intelligent lifeforms, and they will likely wipe a lot of us out of existence in the next century because we can't see them, and we often don't suspect them. Plus, we increase our vulnerability to viruses by living in cities by the millions, and by having factory farms where we raise sick, tortured animals by the billions. Ever heard of avian flu or swine flu? Of course you have. Thank factory farms for that shit.

SJ: Recently a fuckin ton of oil was uh...accidentally spewed into the waters of the gulf coast. This is just one of the many reasons why humanity is a waste of space. What are your thoughts on the current state of humanity?

There's some good people in the world, but not nearly enough to make this a peaceful place to live among other consistently kind and rational people. There's a lot of people out there who mean well or have good intentions, but they just don't "get it," so they make me feel hopeless on some levels, for sure, because how far can we get with changing things if the people who care on some level are incapable of making simple changes in their lives? Then there's just some major assholes out there who don't give a fuck about anything but themselves, and a lot of them write policies that dictate our lives, or a lot of them just do whatever it takes to make the most money possible, no matter who or what it hurts...kinda like this BP situation. Let's just say I am "not too stoked" on people as a whole, and I don't foresee that changing...possibly ever. I am lucky though to have a good family, and be surrounded by a lot of dilligent and compassionate people where I work.


SJ: Will the aliens ever come down and help us, or are we doomed for all time?

The aliens, whatever form they come as, will most certainly be out to destroy us...probably just for fun...as they likely should.

SJ: Scenario: you murder and decapitate 50 men and mail all of their heads to 50 senators of 50 states. You end up on death row. It's your last day of life. What will be your final meal?

Mo Mong is a vietnamese/thai restaurant in Houston. They have the best tofu dish ever--Tofu Luc Lac. It's basically garlic tofu, but it's really indescribable how they make it. I will be having Tofu Luc Lac with brown rice, lemon pepper dipping sauce, and their tamarind soup with pineapples, okra, celery, and beansprouts. I'd be feeling pretty kick-ass and ready to die then.


SJ: That's all I've got, thanks for the words and feel free to include any recommended books or films here. Peace!

I'm going to call on the reader here to recommend these books to people they know who need to be more "in-the-know" about animal rights and veganism:

For the common person who likes a fun read: "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer
For the christian or religious fanatic: "Dominion" by Matthew Scully
For the nerd, philosophy student, or science-loving vulcan: "Animal Liberation" by Peter Singer
For the people who think animal rights activists are terrorists: "Free the Animals" by Ingrid Newkirk
For the jock: "Meat is for Pussies" by John Joseph
For the soccer mom and/or her daughter: "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

And of course, if you're not vegan yet, pick any or all of these books and get to reading. Thanks!

*You can download Daniels new bands demo here: http://rapidshare.com/files/342203238/Band_of_Mercy_DEMO_2009.zip They will be recording a 7 inch real soon so keep your ear to the ground. To hear his previous band Die Young go to myspace.com/dieyoungtxhc*

RONNIE JAMES DIO - REST IN PEACE

Yeah, so Dio is not hardcore...but nevertheless was a legendary rock and metal frontman whose influence no doubt carried over into all kinds of heavy music. A few days ago he died from cancer at the age of 67, a huge loss to music. If you aren't clued in, I suggest you check out Rainbow, Dio solo and Black Sabbath w/ Dio. Not to mention the first and final Heaven & Hell release 'The Devil You Know'...it's very heavy, and very awesome. Rest in peace Ronnie James Dio!

Interview w/ Stephen St. Germain of THE FIRST STEP

*Here's a great little interview I conducted with my good friend Stephen formerly of the band The First Step (among others). He had a lot of cool shit to say, so read on goons!*

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

I am pretty excited about many things going on now honestly. There are many new (er) bands that i think are really creating something fresh and not just musically but lyrically and how they approach their bands. You take a band like Mindset for example. They have killer music, thought provoking lyrics and on stage they are unafraid to speak openly to the crowd. Bands like Give from DC are clearly walking their own path and again, doing it without fear. To me that's real fresh.

SJ: So, The First Step has been done for a little bit now...hows life been without the band in it? What have ya been up to?

It has been adjustment that's for sure. TFS was such an integral part of my creative life, social life and just a great chance to see people that i love. So having it gone, so to speak, leaves a bit of a hole. But it's actually been a great lesson for me in terms of accepting that all things are imperment and that i need to appreciate what i have when it's here. I am not saying that i didn't appreciate the moment with TFS but like anyone involved in music knows that feeling of excitement that comes with playing, going to shows, creating etc. can also make it so that you are always thinking of "what's next" and sometimes you miss what's going on right now. So i have kind of reflected on that since TFS ended. But life has been good. I have had more space to kind of develop different aspects of my life and friendships. It's been sweet going on tour with my friends bands and being a supporter rather than a front man. That's a nice change for now. Myself and some friends have a new band called Peace that should be recording this summer. I am pretty excited about singing again and approaching a band differently than i have in the past. It's sweet to feel like i am growing and progressing as a person and being able to express that in a new band.

SJ: TFS did just about everything a hardcore band can do, what are you most proud of?

There are many things actually but really the thing i am most proud of is the small community we helped create, the way we were able to bring some people together and seeing those people doing great stuff with their lives. I am not saying that that is thanks to TFS, i think it's more that we happened to be blessed with some creative, forward thinking, caring people. But at our last show it really hit me how many of our friends were friends with each other through TFS road trips, tours etc. I could really care less if in 10 years all those people who got something out of band still have our records or t-shirts. They could burn all that stuff, i mean that. What i really care about is that they are doing good things with their lives. That would make me much happier to see. We always just wanted to make our mark and that really has nothing to do with merch or the the physical side of doing a band it has to do with improving your own life and hopefully improving the lives of other people.


SJ: What has changed within hardcore from when you first started going to shows up to the present day?

I think one thing that has changed and had a profound effect on the way the scene operates is how bands tour and how much they tour. I think that 5-6 years ago you had bands that toured for their living like H20 or Madball. Clearly bigger bands. Then you had bands like In My Eyes, Floorpunch and others that did a few tours a year, played weekends and were huge but were clearly different than touring bands. I don't know how or why the switch happened but now you have bands that are smaller level and just tour constantly and treat their band and operate their band as though they are "pro". There is nothing wrong with taking what you do seriously but from my perspective the more smaller bands tour the less time they actually seem to develop who they are, their own identity and just kind of become a "McBand" like just another carbon copy of other bands. And as a result of touring all the time kids just seem to burn out faster probably cause they are doing it 24-7. I mean all hardcore kids, like myself, seem to think about hardcore 24-7 but you still have the space and time to develop who you are as a person and get some perspective on life which you can thereby bring into hardcore. By sticking around you have the chance to grow and mature and truly give back with a tiny bit of wisdom which has the potential to make things better for future generations of kids into this music. It's not my place to say what people can and can't do, so don't misunderstand me. I am nobody's parent. But it's something that I see and i think has had a pretty profound effect on the scene. On the other hand there does seem to be a decent amount of people that have grown and matured while involved in the scene and now are giving back with much more insight than their predecessors.

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

One of the weirdest was our first show. It was near Raleigh, NC but out in the woods at this squatter punk house. It was January so everyone was crammed into this little living room with a wood stove. The wood stove was running and one of the kid's dog was lying by the stove. He didn't move all night. Even when we played i was jumping over him be he was not phased in the least by me or the loud noises or anything. As the night went on it got even weirder. Towards the end of the show one of the girls told me to come to her car so she could pay us. When we got there she opened the trunk which was full of booze that they had apparently stolen from a local liquor store. She told me to take as much as we wanted haha. Then she handed me condoms saying "you will need this, i mean you ARE in one of the bands." About this time the kids who lived at the house had started a bonfire in the backyard. I don't mean like a little fire I mean like a full on 6 foot tall inferno. Kids were dancing around it, others were on the roof with little torches breathing fire. Aaron made the comment that it was like society outside the city gates in the Dark Ages. It had a real Mad Max sort of vibe. Our whole crew was just loving the whole thing!

SJ: You seem to be a firm supporter of shorts over pants when playing live. As it seems shorts are on the decline with live bands, tell me about your choice.

I mean come on Paul, you played for TFS a few times and you know as well as i do it's harder to get live wearing pants. Unless you are wearing cargos which give you some freedom of movement or you are HR, then shorts, to me, just make more sense. When i am playing I like to have things as simple and direct as possible in every way.

SJ: What are your thoughts on bands not really breaking up anymore even after "last" shows?

I can see the reasons for a band getting back together and playing again. I can respect people's choice to do that with their music. I do think that too many bands go way to fast in terms of playing/recording etc and never find that balance between playing music and being a succesful human being (i don't mean successful in terms of work either). As a result they burn out quick, have no shelf life and just get over hardcore, music or whatever too fast. Often last shows can seem to lack a bit of thought. After it's done people then start to questions "why did we break up". Those are just my thoughts.

SJ: Where does Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure stand on your list of top movies? Do you feel it contains a strong message for Americas musical youth?

I mean in all seriousness i love both Bill and Ted's movies. Easily in my top 10 of all time. I don't know if the movie intentionally holds any messages for the youth but in a way those guys have some simple wisdom yet are looked at by 99.9% of the population as idiots. There is something to be said for that sort of delineation in our society.

SJ: Lets say for kicks that you end up on death row and it's your final day. What will you choose as your last meal?

Man, i would want my mom's vegan apple pie.

SJ: What are some bands you're into lately, hardcore or not?

I love all kinds of music from folk to indie and everything in between but in a way I am pretty tired of hearing about old bands. There is inspiring music and ideas everywhere you look, not just from the past, and really bands that exist now are, in a way, far more relevant cause they exist now and can be experienced now. That said some bands now that i have been way into in terms of hardcore/punk are Mindset, Praise, Give, Hostage Calm, Devotion Sydney Ducks. Some other great stuff: Cold Cave, The Cardigans, Mirah and always Morrissey. Those are the ones that come to mind at the moment.

SJ: Take me through a normal day with Stephen St. Germain

I wake up go running before work. Lately i have been doing this jump rope work out which is pretty intense. I try to get things like exercise and meditation done before work so i can do whatever in the afternoon. I teach at a middle school. This year my classroom is an behavior classroom meaning the kids are all pretty tough characters. It can be tough but it's rewarding. In the afternoons I will run again, hang out, surf when there are waves, read and do stuff like that.

SJ: Will TFS ever return?

I can't say i haven't thought about it. There are times that i will think about how awesome TFS was and how much i enjoyed my time there. I think there is a degree of luck when starting a band and stumbling on the right chemistry for the right moment in time. We were really lucky. I am very thankful for all the time we had together as friends and the music we made. But really i just wouldn't feel right about getting back together as a band. To me, it wouldn't feel like us. It wouldn't feel like TFS to be "back". We had our time but now it's time to support the other vital things going on the scene or in our own lives. I am pretty sure dudes will start new projects but as for TFS getting back together I just wouldn't really feel right about it. I totally appriciate and am in awe of all the love and support from people but it's time to move ahead. Not move on, just ahead.

SJ: That's all I've got. Lets end with this: What would you like to be your last words on this earth? (Up to 3 words only).

Peace on Earth