Drew Stone - Antidote / xxx ALL AGES xxx part II

Drew Stone on stage in 2010 with Antidote, Photo: Tod Seelie

Drew Stone brings us more on Antidote and Boston Hardcore, big thanks to Drew. -Gordo DCXX

Tell us about life after Antidote...

the band broke up in 1992 I started up my film production company Stone Films NYC started up with me producing. Paris Mayhew who played guitar in the Cro-Mags directed a bunch of music videos and we went on a pretty nice run there for a while. Onyx "Slam", Type O Negative "Black #1", Run DMC "Ohh Watcha Gonna Do", King's X "Dogman", Biohazard "Punishment", "Shades Of Grey" & "Tales From the Hardside" are a few of the videos that we did in that era.

After Paris moved on I started directing myself and did Agnostic Front "Gotta Gotta Go", Merauder "Master Killer", Shelter "In The Van Again", Madball "Pride" and "Down By Law". For a while there I was the king of hardcore videos! At the time I also started Stone Management "We Manage The Unmanageable" and worked with Merauder, Subzero & Fury of Five. They all got the Drew Stone "Package Deal" which was that I'd get you signed to a record label, direct a music video and get you a tour of Europe.

Eventually I got burnt out on dealing with bands and that's when the extreme sports thing took off for me. I directed the film "12:00" which turn keyed the sport of street-bike freestyle and then I did the six "Urban Street-Bike Warriors" films which took me around the world a few times. I put together the "Urban Street-Bike Warriors Black Sheep Squadron Tour" which was groundbreaking at the time and did some great shows. For three consecutive years we went down to Guantanamo Bay Cuba where we did a show for the troops stationed down there which will always be one of my proudest moments.

I also directed the "I Live To Ride" episode of MTV's "True Life" which exposed the sport to millions. In the past year I've been working on "xxx All Ages xxx" The Boston Hardcore Film which has been a great experience.



Where did the inspiration for the film come from?

My passion is being a documentary filmmaker with my biggest influence being the director Werner Herzog. I always wanted to make a film about the early Boston Hardcore scene which was so influential and I'm very grateful that's it's finally happening. To this day that scene has very much influenced me and many other people and I've always felt that I had the ability to do the story justice. I was interviewed for the book "American Hardcore" and enjoyed the film that Paul Rachman and Steve Blush did but really felt that it was an overview and that the early Boston scene really had a strong story to tell.

I reconnected with old friends Duane Lucia (Executive Producer) who had the Gallery East venue back in the day that was instrumental in developing the early Boston Hardcore scene, and Katie "The Kleening Lady" Goldman (producer) who was a mainstay of that early scene and we decided to make a film.

For more information on "xxx All Ages xxx" The Boston Hardcore Film please join the Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/allagesthefilm?ref=ts


Drew Stone with Antidote at the Trash Bar, Photo courtesy of: Drew Stone

HC is being documented more and more with books and movies...how do you view most pieces of work, and where will your film fit in?

First and foremost I'm a music lover so I can pretty much appreciate any effort that anybody has made as far as making a film or writing a book. "xxx All Ages xxx" The Boston Hardcore Film is not about the guys in the bands. It's a 90 minute documentary focusing on the lasting impact of the cultural and social scene from 1981 to 1984. The sheer amount of hours and attention to detail on the project will hopefully show in the end result. It's been like an archeological dig tracking down photos and footage that have never been seen.

Reconnecting with people after all these years has been very interesting and some times bizarre as well. Many of the people that we interviewed I was involved with when we were teenagers and now I'm reconnecting with them in their mid to late 40s, so I missed the whole middle part of their lives. It's a pretty cool thing and it has its moments. Sometimes in life you CAN go back!!!



Tell us about the reformation of Antidote, what's been going on, and what is to come?

In December of 2008 we were asked to play the "A7 Reunion show" at the Knitting Factory here in NYC. It was 16 years since we played and we weren't really sure if anyone was even going to give a shit. Regardless to say when we got out on stage to play it was packed to the rafters with a whole new generation of kids that love the music and know all the lyrics and went fucking crazy. What started as a few "reunion" shows has become more of a long term thing since the shows have been so much fun.

We signed to the great label Bridge Nine Records who are re-releasing the old stuff as well some great merchandise. We are working on some new music under the working title "Every Dog Has His Day" and our set at the upcoming "Gallery East Reunion Show" is being recorded for a future release "Antidote Thou Shalt Kill!! Live In 2010". Hopefully we will make it over to Europe and some other far off lands in the spring as well.


Directing the "Gotta Go" video with Agnostic Front

What's the story behind the "Gallery East Reunion Show"?

After Antidote had such a great experience with the "A7" reunion show I figured that doing something like that in Boston with bands from that early scene would be a great opportunity to create an event in order to shoot some footage for the "xxx All Ages xxx" film. I spoke to some old friends like Jonathan Anastas (DYS) & John Six (FU's) and they rallied for the occasion. The bill is DYS, Jerry's Kids, FU's, Gang Green, & Antidote. We are also bridging the past and the present by having The Revilers, Soul Control and Refuse Resist on the bill as well.

The bill is actually exactly the same as a show we all played in 1982 at the Gallery East, the only difference being I'm now singing for Antidote instead of the C.O's. At $15.00 the tickets are affordable and we are going to be screening clips and excerpts from the film in between bands. A bus was chartered by Dave Stein out of New York City and he's coming up with a whole contingent. People are traveling from all around the world for this event and it's really going to be something special.

For more information on "The Dave Stein Boston Or Bust Roadtrip" please check out:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=113956725318881&ref=ts

Any last words?

Thank you very much for the support. I've been blessed and I'm very grateful to have had such a great run and it ain't over yet!! "Fun" is a great reason to be playing music again! "Are you ready to bust it Antidote style?????" We sure as hell are!