Walter was cool enough to follow up on the last piece we did with him on the CIV LP a few months back. If you missed it:
Walter Schreifels on CIV
Having read some of the comments, Walter wanted to shed some light, and we decided to give him the floor. ...WALLY! - Gordo DCXX
I just re-ead this interview and the comments too and I'm happy to discover "Set Your Goals" and CIV still resonate on Double Cross.
To answer some of the comments, I'll try not to sound "douchey" - but in regards to the practice version of "Can't Wait..." I only meant that we were having fun, my version was only joking around. Civ deserves the credit for realizing the potential of the song and the whole idea of the band for that matter. Along with Lou's great cameo vocal, Civ was able to preserve the fun but stopped short of leaving it there, which is why I love it.
I'm almost positive the first CIV show was at St. Andrew's in Detroit with SOIA, I was bummed to have missed it, they were always a great live band in my opinion.
I may have been thinking Morrissey meets Rollins at the time but in retrospect, Civ is as much Frank Sinatra as either of those guys.
The voice at the end of "Trust..." is Charlie recorded through the pick up of his SG. I don't remember who or what it's supposed to be but it was hilarious and a little scary so we left it in. I hear it as an old man being beaten and loving it.
I think Luke wrote "Dead Serious" by Side By Side
I also recommend checking out the second CIV album "13 Day Getaway" which was criminally over looked by their record company at the time of release. It's not as much a HC record as "Set Your Goals," but to the open minded it's a bold evolution with great song writing (by the band, not mine) that really works. I listened to it recently and it's aging very gracefully. Civ and I collaborated on "Little Men," he wrote the lyrics to my music, it still gets me misty.
Thanks Double Cross! -Walter
Monday, July 26, 2010
Walter follows up on CIV
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9 comments:
cool! great record!!! walter's a pro.
Sorry Walter, but I tried to give 13 Day Getaway a try. But I get a little misty when I hear it to, but probably for a different reason...
Charlie is the man, that dude was such a ripper on a skateboard back in the day, TEAM CRACK!
DC and Walter- Luke didn't write the SBS tune 'Dead Serious'- he co-wrote 'Side by Side' the night Jules, Billy, he and I kinda formed SBS (late Jan, 1987, if memory serves). I wanted Luke in the band, but, I *think*, he had just hooked up with you for GB. I think Jules had gotten Sammy on board, but he couldn't come to Brooklyn that night. - Eric
13 Day Getaway is one of the biggest piles of shite ever to even remotely be related to hardcore. I saw CIV a few times during the SYG era and they were really great. That album has aged very well and I still give it a couple of spins a year.
Complete career suicide. Period.
This is what happens when good
HardCore bands get convinced they
are something 'greater' by record exec scum. Atlantic? Lava? Maybe the best lesson to be derived from bands like Civ is to keep HardCore as DIY as possible. GB were a monumental band... Civ falls into the mix as an afterthought. HardCore isn't about good song-writing, great musicianship, or the evolution of a bands sound!
"HardCore isn't about good song-writing, great musicianship, or the evolution of a bands sound!"
Got that right. If it was about those things, most hardcore bands wouldn't suck so bad.
Luckily GB and CIV did care about those things, and that's part of what made them stand apart from the sea of mediocrity that comprises the vast majority of the hardcore scene.
"...the sea of mediocrity that comprises the vast majority of the hardcore scene."
Do you mean 'scene' as in the people who love HC? Those who attend shows, write 'zines, build up networks around the world, support a lifestyle that reflects a
different understanding of self/society, or take the time to
change things that are fucked up in our world? Maybe you just mean the thousands of independent HC/Punk bands around the world who play in small clubs to tiny crowds on their own dime?
"If it was about those things, most hardcore bands wouldn't suck so bad."
Really? Most suck? I have seen bands play in dozens of cities around the world over the last 25 years that put Civ to shame: Tokyo, Singapore, London, Mexico City, Paris, Moscow. Not because these bands rock harder or have a tighter sound, nor because they wear the right 'creepers' or have cool expensive slacks, but rather they bring the attitude, the spirit, the quickness that bands like GB had, but then lost when Civ emerged. I would take a Bun Dem Out, Danforth, or Brightside any day over some watered-down 'evolved' NYHC afterthought.
Ben, put Danforth's 'Paris Rising' on full volume and then tell me about most HC bands sucking! Try something new.
Cheers
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