Warbrain Interview

This interview is with Lloyd from Melbourne's Warbrain, they have a new 7'' dropping really soon on Trial and Error records keep an eye on http://trialanderror.limitedpressing.com/ for that as well as leaving to tour with East Coast with AYS from Germany and The Hollow from Newcastle. Tour dates are here
Thu April 28 - Melbourne @ NEXT 18+ w/ COLOSSUS
Friday April 29th - Melbourne AA Wyndham Youth Centre Hoppers Crossing w/ CARPATHIAN
Sun May 01 - Canberra @ Morgans AA
Wed May 04 - Gold Coast @ Shed 5 AA w/ GHOST TOWN
Thu May 05 - Brisbane @ X+Y Destroy All Lines Club 18+
Fri May 06 - Sydney - @ The Sando 18+ w/ RELENTLESS
Sat May 07 - Newcastle - @ The Loft AA w/ TAKEN BY FORCE


Again if you like what you read you can pick up a copy of not just issue one but all three issues of It's Still Ok Not To Drink for only $11ppd at www.waitingonrevolutiondistro.bigcartel.com
Enjoy.

Hey, First off could you introduce yourself and what you do in the band?

Sure, my names Lloyd and I sing. 

Where does the name come from?

 The name was hard for us, as it is for any band. The actual name is actually the name of an old Alkaline Trio song, and everyone in the band loves those guys, but it had an extra meaning to us in so much as there is a feeling of confusion in many of us from our generation. Confusion and also doubt about the things we were all told growing up and took for granted, as well as day by day, and to quote the great mobb deep "there's a war goin on outside," as there is in our heads.  

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before?

I guess fast and heavy with bouncey parts would be a simple way to describe our sound. 

How did the band form?

The band started with Josh and I writing a bunch of riffs, trying to do something a bit different to what we had been doing, and perhaps closer to what we grew up on. Kain our bass player is one of our good friends, so he was always going to be a part of it, and I guess Tim and I have wanted to do something together for a long time so it all just fell into place from there.    

I’ve read that you’re a straight edge band, any truth to this? Or just a band full of straight edge dudes?

A bit of both actually. Everyone in the band is Straight Edge and as a band we definitely promote a Straight Edge lifestyle, but I don't feel the need to use those two words in the lyrics I sing per sé. I have to be careful of what I say here but I feel that Straight Edge has been played out by so many bands and not promoted enough as a legitimate option for kids coming up in the scene. So I guess we definitely do not want to be known for that, because I for one know we wouldn't be having this conversation right now if It wasn't for Straight Edge. To say that it changed my life is an understatement. 

You feature members of some pretty well known bands, is this a hindrance or a help for you? And how is the difference for you personally?

Well it hasn't been a hindrance so far and I can't really imagine it would be. I mean there's always going to be some haters, but they just hate because they can, right? That being said, we are definitely not trying to ride off the backs of any other bands we might be associated with. We always wanted to do this as something separate. For me personally, it's great to be in a band where everyone is in the same headspace and has the same idea of what direction we want the band to go in. 

You recently played with Ruiner, how’d that come about? Last time they toured you played in your old band Break out, what’s up with them? Can we expect you to have a new band the next time Ruiner come?

Haha, you've got some knowledge man! I'm not sure if you were at that show or not, but it was kind of a last minute thing. The guys in hopeless had like half an hour till they played so they asked us to get up and play a few songs. It was fun! Yeah Breakout, damn... I dunno dude. I guess the same thing happened which has happened to a lot of bands from Geelong way, dudes fell off and got real jobs or whatever... Our singer Woka and I still hang out a bit but I'm not sure what the other guys are up too these days. Hopefully I won't have to have a new band next time!!! 

What was it like playing your first show at a ‘punk’ nightclub?

Oh yeah I've heard a bunch of people were talking shit about that actually. It wasn't too bad really, it was pretty much a hardcore show, the rest of the line up were hardcore bands anyway. I would have maybe preferred to kick it off somewhere else, but we got offered that show last minute and the date ended up being earlier than our planned "first show".  

What’s future plans for the band next?

Well we're writing some new material at the moment, but I think the major goal we have is to get interstate. We have a lot of friends in bands on the east coast as well as Adelaide so we're itching to do some shows outside Melbourne.

What legacy would you hope to leave as a band and as a person?

As a band, I mean we're still only in the early stages, but I would say that we would want to be known for being unbiased when it comes to the shows we're offered and we will try to stay relevant to the next generation of hardcore and fans of hardcore. As a person I definitely would want to be known as a genuine dude and I'll do my best to uphold that. 

Any shout outs you want to send out or bands we should know about?

I want to give a shout out to our homies The Hollow from Newcastle, Phantoms and Legions from Sydney and Inside from Japan. Also if dudes are into fashion please check out my label Strangers at

wearestrangers.wordpress.com

Purification Interview

I thought I'd post two more of the interviews from our first issue of It's Still Ok Not To Drink for people to read.
This one was with Italian Vegan Straight Edge old men Purification, they have a new full length out later in the year and a South American tour so be sure to check that out.
If you like what you read you can pick up a copy at www.waitingonrevolutiondistro.bigcartel.com

Hey, first off could you introduce yourself and what you do in Purification?

 My name is Andrea (a.k.a. Monster), I am the guitar player and main song-writer. I am also the founding member that gave the name to the band.

Could you describe what Purification sounds like to someone who’s never heard you? And could you also describe your message?

 Well we started in 1996 when the “hybrid” of music called metal-core was just surfacing. I think that we were a good mix of metal and hxc elements, and throughout our lyrics we promote a cruelty and drug free lifestyle.

How did you come to decide on reforming the band again now?

 We felt the urge of having a militant vegan sxe band back on the map since this is what the hxc scene is missing nowadays; we saw too many bands now with meaningless lyrics and a lack of attitude.

This was the mean reason we decided to reform the band, plus we miss the touring life and the chance to travel the world and have some fun.

Since this is a straight edge zine, I have to ask how long have you been straight edge? And what motivated you to want to walk this path?

 I’ve been sxe for two decades (I’m almost 37 now), and vegan since the age of 17/18. My main motivation back in the day to become sxe was to emancipate myself from the “environment” I was witnessing everyday, being a student of a private high school for middle-high class kids I was surrounded by a bunch of drug addicts, party people and heavy drinkers, I was horrified by the moral degeneration that was going on around me.

  

And what helps keep your edge sharp after all these years?

 Well, I think that as I became older, it just made me more mature and critical about my beliefs, reinforcing my faith and discipline.

What were your major influences when you started the band?

 Definitely Vegan Reich, Raid and Earth Crisis. Those bands had a huge influence on our attitude and sound.

Have they changed over time, and if so what are they now?

 They are the same nowadays for sure.

Seeing as though the band started in 1996, can you tell us about the changes you’ve personally witnessed throughout your time as a band, both in the music scene and the people who come to see you play?

 There’s a huge difference since back in the 90s. Kids were more aware about veganism and sxe because they were the popular issues of that time. Whereas now, everything seems to be more oriented on the musical part of it and less on the lyrics and attitude.

Honestly, we stopped playing shows in 2004 so now that we’re back I have no idea of what I should expect, but I’m curious to find out. ;-)

You were a band that was never shy to talk about what you believe in, do you still hold the same views or have things changed over time?

 Our beliefs are the same since day one seeing as they were the foundations of the band, but of course now that we are in our late 30s we have a more critical approach to the whole vegan sxe movement. Let’s say that we’re not here anymore to “convert” people to the vegan-edge lifestyle. When we were younger we felt like we were on a mission but right now I know that we can just show people that a different and compassionate lifestyle is possible, but at the end you can’t force your opinion down the throats of people.

A few other older bands are starting up again now, for example Earth Crisis put out a killer new cd and Vegan Reich are meant to be rehearsing for a new album, what do you think of this?

 I’m happy about it because those bands are not only our influences but also good friends of our. Honestly I’m not a big fan of the last EC cd, though that it’s a pretty solid release ;-) and I can’t wait to see what Vegan Reich will come up with.

You’ve been a band for a long time now. What have your favourite bands to see or play with?

 Back in the days we played lot of times with our buddies in Reprisal. We shared some hilarious moments with them. ;-) They are for sure the band we enjoyed sharing the stage with most.

How’s the Italian scene in respect to veganism and vegetarianism?

 I think that politically there’s still a bunch of people that are working their asses off to promote it, as well as good organizations involved with animal and human liberation. But of course we’re talking about a very small niche, sad but true…

What kind of legacy if any would you like to leave as a band?

 From Russia to Brazil, from Japan to USA and Europe, there’s people from all over the world that still listen to our music, or wear our shirts or have our “iconography” tattooed on their bodies. That shows clearly that our legacy lives on and on.

 Any shout outs or bands we should check out?

 I would suggest you to listen to the “classics” from the 90s (EC, Vegan Reich, Abnegation, Day of Suffering, Raid, etc.) since any modern hxc since then is a big cesspool of crap in my opinion ;-)

And why after all this time are you still drawn to hardcore?

 Honestly I’m still asking myself about it. I mean I’m too old to be driving for hours in a rusty van and sleeping in the same crappy sleeping bag for years, playing shows for few bucks etc. But at the end, this is what I love the most and I won't trade it for anything else ;-)

Hxc has been a huge part of my life and I feel that it will continue to be!

Thx for the interview and for more info about us feel free to check:

http://www.myspace.com/pvrification

http://pvrification.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pvrification

Or get in touch via mail:

purification@email.it

-----------------------------------

Andrea Campanelli

PURIFICATION - guitar player

http://www.myspace.com/pvrification

http://pvrification.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pvrification

Email: purification@email.it

New Stock update soon.

On Monday I'll be adding four records to the distro:
Punch - Eyeless 7''
Die Young - Loss 7''
Disengage - Look Back 7''
Force Fed - Five Song EP 7''

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Remember to check out www.waitingonrevolutiondistro.bigcartel.com for these and other great releases.

Thanks for reading.

Persist Interview from Issue One of It's Still Ok Not To Drink and new stock.

If you like any of the interviews that we have posted then you can pick up a copy from our store at www.waitingonrevolutiondistro.bigcartel.com which feature reviews and articles as well.
This time around is an interview we did over email with Pete from now broken up Sydney band Persist.

Hey man, first off can you introduce yourself and what you do in the band?

Hey my name is Pete and I am the vocalist in Persist. 

Could you describe the sound of the band to someone whose never heard you?

slow, emotional, aggressive and political. With influences stretching out through hardcore and acoustic. Sounds like Bane, Have Heart, Verse.

Can you give us a bit of a history of the band.

Persist started a few years back when i was asked by a few dudes on the internet to sing. I was keen, so we started jamming. The first prac was probably the worst thing i had ever been to in my life lol. The drummer had told me he had been playing for a while but didn't even know what to do with the sticks haha. After the first song was written on guitar, Phil whom had no prior drumming experience wrote the drums for the song which didn't even involve using the bass drum. They showed me the first song they had written. At that point I asked the drummer why he didn’t use the bass drum and he replied “I was going to add that in later” haha. That is what started the long rough road of Persist. 12 bassists and 6 drummers later, and here we are.

You’ve recently put out an amazing new ep titled ‘The Untold Story’, the thing I like the most is that each of the songs is actually about something. So in your own words could you tell us a bit about each song and the meaning behind it.

Beautiful is about the pressures females face in our society. Beauty is not bought in a store and doesn’t come on the end of a blade (surgery).  

Voices is about pet stores and breeders mass producing animals that end up in pounds. People buy these companions but don’t take responsibility for them.

1788 is about the history of the native people of this country. From the first fleet that arrived in Australia till now. 

No Truth is about the injustices that people in this world go through every day.

The Love, The Joy The Hope is a childhood reflection. There were many hurdles growing up but it’s what made me who I am today.

The Rising Sun is about cowards who boost their egos by beating up on innocent people.

Our Perspective is about the hardcore scene and its community.

Your song 1788 relates to the treatment of Aboriginal Australians, with that in mind how do you feel about the Northern Territory intervention and the continuing ill treatment of Aboriginal Australians by our government?

I can’t start to tell you how disappointed I am in our government. As it stands I think what the government is doing is too little too late. An increase in health care throughout these isolated communities is definitely needed though.

What pisses me off the most is the ignorance of many Australian people. I have come across many narrow minded people who I have argued with. They try and tell me that Aboriginal people should just get over it.

It has come to a point now that they have become a product of their environment, an environment that we have placed them in dating back to 1788 when the first fleet landed. Many Aboriginals are stuck in an endless cycle that is hard to break. Growing up in an unfortunate environment where opportunities are few and far between is not uncommon.

Pretty soon your going to be leaving to go on tour with 50lions and Blkout, how did you manage that?

We heard that the tour was happening so we hit up Pete Abordi, and he put us on. What a champion!

You’ve been put on the bill for this years hardcore, that’s a big honour.

Its awesome I cant wait! Thanks Resist :)

What legacy would you want to leave as a band? And as a person?

 I just want to open the minds of our youth and leave a positive mark in this world.

Finally any shout outs or band to check out?

Endless heights – Sydney
Reality – Sydney
Had It – Sydney
Ill Brigade – Wollongong
Legions - Sydney
Thick skin – Brisbane
One Strength – Sydney
End of days – Sydney
Time will tell – Sydney
One vital word – Newcastle
10 paces – Sydney
Vera – Canberra
Own worst enemy – Sydney
Mark my words – Newcastle
Clean break – Sydney/Newcastle

xStrength through purityx – Queensland

Whole hearted  – Singleton/Central Coast/Newcastle

Taken by force – Newcastle

Word up – Byron Bay

Pressure – Portugal

Sorry if I have forgotten any others. 

We also now have copies of the Bloodclot Faggots self titled 7'' up, The Harsh Truth #2, Outright demo and copies of our special edition 100 For Haiti issue.

Thanks for reading

Run With The Hunted Interview

This will be the last taster interview we post from our upcoming split with Torched, this time featuring a band that put out one of the best releases of last year Run With The Hunted. We got in touch with Vocalist Drew through email. Their new self titled record is up to listen to in full on their bandcamp http://runwiththehunted.bandcamp.com/ and is available through Panic Records at Panic Records or through us at www.waitingonrevolutiondistro.bigcartel.com .Enjoy.

Yo, How are you? Could you introduce yourself and what you do in the band? And a brief history of the band.

Hey, my name is Drew and I am the vocalist for Run with the Hunted. We played our first show in June of 2007 in our hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. A few months later we released our first EP “Find Your Way Out” on local label Rebuild Records. We did a few west coast tours and then released our second EP “Destroy All Calendars” on Glory Kid Records in March of 2009. We toured the rest of the country and then released our debut LP on Panic Records this past November. Then we toured some more.

You recently put out a new Self Titled release on Panic Records, can you tell us about how you got hooked up with them?

Timm, who runs Panic, found us shortly after our first EP came out. We talked about eventually working together and a friendship formed. The timing wasn’t right for either of us when we put out “Destroy All Calendars” so we agreed to have Panic release our first full length. A year and a half later, it was written and recorded and now we’re on Panic. 

The Self Titled has a different sound to your previous release ‘Destroy All Calendars’ could you go through what influenced the sound and lyrics for it?

At some point during the writing process, I think we collectively realized that we didn’t want to put out a straightforward hardcore record. We wanted to push ourselves as far as possible as musicians and really test the boundaries of what we were capable of. I think it’s easy to get stuck in a musical box, for lack of a better word, where your idea of what you “should” sound like is dictated by your genre and your preconceptions about what that means. We didn’t want to fall victim to that mindset and limit ourselves. We listen to a lot of other styles of music as well, and in hindsight I’m sure some of those influences found their way into the songwriting. At the same time, we have always been and always will be a hardcore band. Our roots are in this community and that influence is probably the strongest one of all; I think that’s evident when you listen to our music or see us live. I guess overall, we wanted to make a record that we wouldn’t get bored with.

The lyrics for the album were influenced by my journey through life and my attempt to understand and make sense of what I see and experience. During the writing of the album, I went through a really difficult time where I nearly lost relationships that were important to me and I was forced to face my shortcomings as a person. A lot of the album is about that; about coming clean and being honest about your weaknesses and finding redemption in the process. 

Lyrically you choose to write in metaphors surrounding issues more then being straight out with things, why do you write in this style compared to being more straight forward?

That’s a hard question to answer. I’m not sure if the way that I write is necessarily a conscious thing you know? I can only really write when I’m upset or emotional; I just sit down and pour everything out as honestly and unfiltered as I can. I guess I view lyrics as a form of poetry and enjoy the challenge of writing in that style. I don’t think all the lyrics I write are like that though; there are some instances where I am purposely straightforward and stripped down. 

Also on the new release you have not only guest vocals by Chris Rouse from Seven Generations but also Greg Bennick from Trial, who wrote his own lyrics for the song “Synesthesia” how, did this come about?

Seven Generations and Trial were probably the two most important hardcore bands for me; their ideas changed my life and helped shape who I am today. I’d known the members of Seven Generations years before Run with the Hunted started. Before RWTH could tour full time, we played a lot of weekend shows in southern California with them and our relationships as individuals and as bands grew stronger. I knew I wanted Chris somewhere on our record but I wasn’t sure where to put him. I was recording vocals for “Double Zero” in the studio and realized that Chris would be perfect for this song so I called him up to see if he could get into a studio. The next day, Paul Miner was nice enough to track him and that was that. It was a last minute thing, but it turned out so perfectly it’s like it was meant to be. 

I also knew that I wanted Greg to be on this record, and I thought “Synesthesia” was the perfect song for him. I’d met him a few years back through Timm and we had an instant connection. I sent Greg a rough mix of the song and the lyrics and just asked him to write something based on how the song made him feel. He really tapped into the feeling of the song and did his own thing and it came out awesome. It was amazing to collaborate with him.

On your release ‘Destroy All Calendars’ it had written explanations underneath each song, where as on the self titled you choose against this, why was this?

The main reason was space limitations. There simply wasn’t room in the insert of our album to include that much text and it would have been really expensive to make it happen. We didn’t even have room to include the extensive thank you list we’d made unfortunately. But I also think the songs on the full length speak for themselves in a way that the ones on “Destroy All Calendars” may not have. The songs are also way more personal and come from a very raw place in my being, so writing about them any further than I already did would be difficult - maybe even impossible. Each song has something to say and I think sometimes less is more. I feel like going into depth about a songs explanation can sometimes take away from its impact as a piece of writing on its own. I’ve tossed around the idea of providing explanations/insight into some of the songs on our blog though. We’ll see what happens.

Also why did you choose to put Destroy All Calendars out as a one sided 12” with artwork on the spare side as opposed to a cd?

Ever since the band first started we had really wanted to release something on vinyl. Growing up in punk and hardcore, vinyl was a really important format to all of us; there was something really special about holding a physical piece of music in your hands and pouring over the lyrics and liner notes. Our first EP was on CD only, so we hoped our second one could be on record. Fortunately Glory Kid was into the idea as well; since it was only 4 songs, we figured we would just do a 7” but Andy from Glory Kid thought it would be much more interesting and unique to do a one sided 12”. Somewhere along the line the idea of screen-printing the B side of the record came up and we knew we’d found a great way to release the songs.

Coming from Arizona how do you think that has influenced your sound and overall views as a band? Is it as conservative as it is made out to be? Especially seeing as you have outspoken Senator John McCain as the chosen representative for the state.

Arizona is pretty conservative but I don’t think that’s something you necessarily witness on a day to day basis; people’s ideas and beliefs aren’t always a visible thing, especially in public. My circle of friends are on the opposite side of the political spectrum so I think in some ways, we’re insulated from mainstream attitudes and beliefs. Personally, I can say that living in a conservative place made me want to go the opposite direction politically and explore non-mainstream radical politics. 

It’s hard to say how being from Arizona shaped our sound... AZ isn’t really known for its hardcore bands; for years we’ve had a small but relatively strong scene but almost no punk/hardcore bands have really done much outside of that. It feels sort of isolated, like being on an island. I guess it made us want to create our own sound since we didn’t really have one locally to borrow from.  

What does the future see for Run with the Hunted?

We’ll be doing a lot of touring this year, hopefully making it out to Europe finally. We’ll keep writing new music between tours and growing as much as possible, both as individuals and as a band. Past that I can’t really say... Our music was always meant to be an outlet for us as individuals, something we felt inspired to create and something we hoped others could find solace in. I don’t know where that will take us, but not knowing is half the fun. 

I’m assuming this band are big Bukowski fans being named after a reader of his, are you dudes big readers? If so what have you read that’s good lately?

Yah Bukowski is great and a few of us are big readers. Right now I’m re-reading “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn, which is pretty incredible. Last tour I read a really inspiring book my mom gave me called “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson about a guy who started building schools for children in northern Pakistan. It was really good. I also read “Under the Banner of Heaven” by Jon Krakauer on that tour; it’s a historical narrative about the history of the Mormon Church and how Mormon fundamentalism came about. Also a great read. I tend to read political/historical books the most but they can be overwhelming so I have to eventually break away and read something light or fictional from time to time.

What legacy would you like to live as an individual and a band?

As an individual I want to do my best to leave this world a better place than I found it. I want to give more than I take and never stop questioning, learning, or growing as a person. I want to inspire people to do things they never thought they could and never accept things as they’re given to us at face value. I guess I want the same legacy for Run with the Hunted. I want people to find solace in our band and take away from our struggles whatever they may. Sometimes hearing a song or reading particular lyrics and just knowing that someone else out there felt the same way you do (especially at our worst moments) can be a life changing experience - I know it has been for me. I hope the band encourages people to question everything, especially themselves. I hope people can look back on RWTH and feel like the band meant something special to them, something as special as it has to the five of us.

Unveil Interview

Third interview up, this time featuring Chris from Unveil. If you get a second check this amazing band out keeping the 90s xvx sound alive at http://www.myspace.com/xunveilx if you like what you hear you can hit them up or suss our distro at www.waitingonrevolutiondistro.bigcartel.com. This interview is a teaser for our new split issue with Torched which will hopefully be out in the next couple of months.
Enjoy.

Hey, can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do in Unveil?

 Hi, my name is Christian, I’m 22 years old and I sing for UNVEIL.

What are the main influences on Unveil? Both musically and lyrically?

Musically, we’re obviously inspired by some 90’s hardcore bands with metallic influences. To mention some names: Unbroken, Trial, 108, Undertow, Earth Crisis and so on. On the other hand, we try to do something authentic. We want to sound like UNVEIL and not like Unbroken. I’d say we are pretty open for every kind of influence.

Lyrically I’m not inspired by a certain band or something. I just write down what I think and what I consider important.

How would you describe Unveil to someone that has never heard you before?

We’re a four-piece vegan straightedge hardcore band from Switzerland influenced by the aforementioned bands. We still give a fuck about veganism and politics.

Being from Switzerland, could you tell us a bit about how things are over there? What are some bands people should be checking out?

 Switzerland has a lot of talented bands, playing very different but good music. You should definitely check out DEADVERSE, BEGGARS & GENTRY, SEED OF PAIN and since we live next to the border to Austria, also check out our homies in EL CAMINO CAR CRASH  and WITHIN WALLS.

You have put out two releases on Germany’s Start A Fire records, how did you get to touch with them?

 We just recorded our first 7” and we were looking for a label to put it out. Somehow we got in touch with Danny SAF and it worked out great. The second 7” was a split release with SAF and Take It Back, another small but very dedicated label from Germany. Danny SAF and Kiki TIB are adorable persons and working with them was all through a positive experience.

Your last release you titled Hypnopaedia, what does that mean to you and can you tell us about the release?

I was inspired by the book “Brave New World” by A. Huxley. The book is about an utopic society where people are oppressed and brainwashed by the powerful. They use drugs, religion and other methods to keep the masses satisfied. People are forced into a cast system, to guarantee the most possible productivity for the state. You have to read it; it’s a very good book. It’s kinda comparable to Orwell’s 1984.

From birth, members of every class are indoctrinated by recorded voices repeating slogans while they sleep (called "hypnopaedia”) to believe that their own class is best for them. They are brainwashed by the system. Look at the society we live in – it’s more or less the same way of keeping people down and exploiting them while they think the live an ordinary life.

On your split with Deadverse, your song >Snowlion< talks about the conditions of workers and humans leaving in Tibet and China, could you tell us about it for those who don’t know what is happening?

Back in the 50ies, the Chinese “liberation army” occupied Tibet. Over a billion people (mostly Tibetans) died as a result of this war. It’s an example of how easy the powerful countries/parties/people can occupy, oppress or kill others without any consequence. China is still a very controversial state. Freedom of speech and religion are still not allowed. Human execution and extreme exploitation of workers is daily routine. When I wrote these lyrics I was very into this conflict and took part in some actions for Tibet. Furthermore, this song is about any kind of oppression and occupation, not only about Tibet / China.

With all you’re merch shirts being sweat shop and fair trade, why was this so important to the band?

 I am kinda outraged about the fact, that we’re nearly the only hardcore band doing this. If you talk about human and animal rights on stage and sell sweatshop shirts – wouldn’t that be total bullshit? That’s where we draw the line and pay 3$ more for a shirt. Fuck exploitation. We don’t make as much money as other bands do with merchandising but who cares. We don’t have a band to make money, we want to make good music and represent a message of peace and equality. Especially some bigger bands should really think about this option, cause they are making a lot of money with merchandising.

The song >The lie of supremacy<  deals a lot with the concept of national identity, what’s you’re view on the issue? Especially in contrast to the immigration laws of the European Union?

 It’s pretty easy to get my point of view if you read these lyrics I guess. National identity is a stupid concept which leads to patriotism and often to nationalism. Why do people identify themselves with such a stupid and arbitrary thing as the nation they were accidentally born in? I love living in Switzerland, it’s a beautiful country, but man, I’d never be proud of being born here – that’s just stupid. I think most patriots have a hole to fill cause they never do something by themselves that makes them proud. The European Union and Switzerland as well are fucked up and egoistic assholes. Fuck immigration laws and fuck national pride.

What does the future see for Unveil?

 We take it as it comes. Currently we’re writing new songs for an LP which will hopefully be out in fall 2011. Touring and playing shows is fun – so we hope to do that as much as possible in our near future.

What legacy you would want to leave as a band and as an individual?

 I don’t really think about legacies. I try to make this world a better place by my own actions and my own consumerism. We try to give something further as a band. We won’t change the world but we can save lives and help people.

Any shout outs or thank you’s? 

Thanks to you guys, you asked some good questions! J Go vegan, get some silly tattoos and check our pages:

www.facebook.com/xunveilx

www.myspace.com/xunveilx

www.xunveilx.bigcartel.com

The Effort Interview

Over the comes weeks we're going to be putting all of interviews online for everyone to read, if you want to get a physical copy we should hopefully have some soon at www.waitingonrevolutiondistro.bigcartel.com
Here we have an interview we did with Tony from The Effort in February 2010. Enjoy

You have an amazing new ep out titled “Demo Sessions,” a preview of your upcoming LP “Wartime Citizens,” which you are in the process of recording. Would you like to talk about the inspiration behind those songs? And when exactly should we be expecting this to be released? And what inspires you?

All the songs are so different, it’s hard to pinpoint a simple explanation behind “what inspires me”.  I’d have to say life in general does.  Things I hear on the news, what I experience myself, all of it inspires me to write.  Writing, as well as some other mediums is my form of self-expression and it keeps me sane.  I know this seems like such a broad statement, but again, all the songs are so different and descriptive that I would literally have to write a novel to explain them all properly haha.  The new LP “Wartime Citizens” has an expected release date of July 4, 2010, and we are really excited for everyone to hear it.

You released your first ep “Wear Your Heart” and full-length "Iconoclasm" on Words of War Records, then “From Our Mistakes” on Hellfish, and now “Demo Sessions” and the upcoming “Wartime Citizens” on Panic. How did you get on Panic records?

Well, after working with Words of War Records we decided that we only wanted to work with friends, and with people who we could predict how they would operate their label because we could trust them.  This lead us to work with a longtime friend Michael Martin, the owner of Hellfish Family.  While on one of our tours we met Timm who was singing in Wait In Vain.  We became friends and Timm later reached out to us and asked us to be on Panic.  We knew Timm was a great guy who did everything he could for his bands so we agreed to it!

In the past you've been lucky enough to work with Sean Murphy from Verse, Patrick Flynn from Have Heart and Sweet Pete from In My Eyes. To me that's amazing, how did you manage to get them to do guest vocals? and is there anyone we should look out for on the up coming release?

Well, they are all just humans so it was pretty easy haha.  We met them, they enjoyed our band and we asked if they would like to be on our record.  Luckily they were all very into the idea.  As for the new record, we decided to take a step back and produce something that is only “The Effort”. 

You guys are from Merrimack Valley, previously made known by the success of bands such as Shipwreck and Guns Up. Do you feel any pressure to live up to the name?

Not one bit.  We wouldn’t be a band if we felt like we had to live in another’s shadows or live up to names.

You recently toured Central America. What made you want to tour there? Any interesting stories from being on the road? 

Central America was pretty unique and awesome.  We were actually referred to go down there by a couple bands and then we were contacted by Central Booking about setting up a tour.  We have always had the mentality where we want to try new things, and that’s what this tour was for us.  We were able to visit hardcore scenes down there that are literally in their infant stages.  We got to go to a rainforest, see volcanoes, ride on buses for entire days and come back flat broke and left with what was in our backpacks.  It was an amazing and very humbling experience. 

What bands if any are you really keen on at the moment? Any we should check out?

There are always the bands in our top friends on myspace.  All the bands up there we 110% support and back what they have to say.  Besides that I’m really excited for this new Hostage Calm LP, I can’t wait to hear the whole thing.  Also, a couple other bands to check out that are doing awesome things would be Expire and Iron Rain.

How have you found being a band throughout the recent Global Financial Crisis?

I have found being a human being and living in economic oppression a horrible dehumanizing thing.  This band has helped me tour and hear first hand stories around the world how the economic systems put in place are hurting far too many lives.  That’s about it, no one wants to hear how it’s hard for us, or how we can barely afford to live our dreams.  That’s all bullshit, we should be the last people to talk about how financial crisis has affected us.

Apart from being in The Effort, what do you and the rest of the band do in the ‘real’ world?

James, Jordan and I are all attending college.  James is going to school for law, while Jordan and I are pursuing education degrees.  I’m also working at a tattoo shop, Jordan works at a coffee shop, Christian is a teacher, and Ryan is a youth organizer.  We do what we can to get by.

You're one of the few bands who still have a political voice, which I find amazing and inspiring. How do you find people usually respond to your political and social outspokenness?

I think it rubs some people the wrong way, but most of the time I try to explain my views in a way that I think shows how social issues affect every single one of us.  But I can’t expect anyone to agree with me, or anything I have to say.  I don’t do it for a response, I do it because I have to.  Like I said before, this shit keeps me sane, it’s my version of therapy.  The reason I love punk and  hardcore so much is because I can be myself.

What is the legacy, if any, that you hope to leave behind from your time with the band? What do you hope to achieve as an individual? 

We don’t ever think about that, and personally I don’t think too much about the future myself.  I just live, because if I make too many decisions based upon future outcomes I’m not living in the moment.  I would just be living in fictitious worlds of wants and what could bees.  All I want is to be happy, and to not be selfish while doing so, that’s what I hope to achieve personally. 

What are your hopes for the future of the band?

 We haven’t thought too much of that either haha, just taking it day by day.  After the new record comes out we are doing a full US tour, and then hitting up Europe in the winter.  The summer after that we plan on trying a few new places!

Any chance of seeing you in Australia someday?

Hopefully!  I’m trying to work something out eventually where we go to South East Asia and hit up Australia at the same time, we’ll see! 

Final thoughts/shout outs? 

thanks for the interview man, sorry it took so long to get it back to you.  Everyone should check out all the bands in our top friends and all our label mates on Hellfish Family and Panic Records!

If you like what you read you can buys their releases from us through our distro www.waitingonrevolutiondistro.bigcartel.com

Panic Records