LOVESEAT

Schism... the epitome, the all-encompassing, the complete collection and package. From the fanzines, to the t-shirts, to the records, it was all done with a unique style, attitude and quality that's often imitated, but rarely matched.

There's no question, Schism's influence weighs heavily on all that is Double Cross. Creatively and design-wise Schism packed a punch and left an impression. A mixture of strong, bold fonts, with relatively well done hand drawn artwork and sick photography made for a killer combination. Sure, Alex and Porcell borrowed from the zines and labels of the early 80s that set the ball in motion and did a hell of a job in capturing the energy and style of ferocious hardcore music in print. Schism really seemed to know how to capitalize on it though. Whether it is Schism issue number 6, the navy Judge longsleeve, the Wide Awake seven inch, or anything in between, everything has left a lasting visual impression on us. As far as we are concerned, this shit is priceless.

While we could probably devote the rest of this site to every little Skiz artifact, and surely intend to do just that over the course of time, we figured we'd formally kick things off here with a little info on where it all began. And as many may already know, it wasn't even in New York City, or on the east coast. The story goes that Alex Brown was a hardcore kid trapped in Iowa, playing in the band Children Of The Corn. He started a fanzine called Love Seat, and as he increasingly grew more attracted to the growing straight edge scene across the country, his zine reflected it. He ended up moving to NYC to go to school, and Love Seat issue 5 showed that without question he was now a part of the NYC Hardcore scene. A tough piece of literature to dig up, the final issue of Love Seat has the Schism attitude and look, even if it didn't use the name.

After meeting Youth Of Today and becoming fast friends with the band upon arriving in NYC, Alex decided a new name for the zine was necessary, especially in light of the ball busting he took for his title selection. Having heard Raybeez say, "There's schism in dem beads, bo!" in regards to Hare Krishna neckbeads, the name "Schism" got tossed around by Cappo and Jordan for a new record label. They went with Revelation, and Alex was quick enough to snatch Schism as the name for what was formerly known as Love Seat. From there we got Schism issue number 6, then a guy named Porcell, the PX seven inch...and as they say, the rest is history. But don't think that means we aren't going to document the living shit out of it. Consider this a trailer for what is to come very soon. -DCXX

225 N. 8th St., Apt. 4L

Schism... the epitome, the all encompassing, complete collection and package. From the fanzines, to the t shirts, to the records, it was all done with a unique style, attitude and quality that's often imitated, but rarely matched.

There's no question, Schism's influence weighs heavy on all that is Double Cross. Creatively and design wise Schism packed a punch and left an impression. A mixture of strong, bold fonts, with relatively well done hand drawn artwork and sick photography made for a killer combination.

America's Hardcore - Danny Slam

Big ups to our boy Tony Rettman for doing this interview with Danny Slam, singer for California pioneers America's Hardcore. We hope to have Tony aboard with us more in the future, and this piece kicks off his contributions with a bang. Be sure to check back for the second half of this interview real soon.

Thanks Tony, and start slamming. -DCXX

How did you get into/find out about Punk/Hardcore?

When I was 16 I hooked up with this crazy 19 year old punk chick at my work. She turned me on to all kinds of cool shit like the Dead Boys, the Cramps, the New York Dolls, etc. She was a punk in the real original way. Being "cool" was about being totally outside of normal society - in the clothes you wore, the attitude you took, the drugs you abused, how and where you fucked. This was 1981 and I was already into new DEVO, which at the time was really different and attractive. She took me to a live Cramps show at the Roxy in Hollywood and she took me to see the original Decline of Western Civilization - the absolute defining moment of my young life! Man, when I saw these completely crazy and original kids going nuts for this fast, energetic and aggressive music, it turned me on in a huge way.

What was your first show? Please describe the experience in the fullest detail possible.

My personal (not AHC) first show that really counts (not the Cramps earlier) in my mind is Black Flag, DOA, Stains, and Minute Men at the Santa Monica Civic in June 1981. First of all, in preparation for this show, I had gone to a thrift store and bought some fucked-up old army jacket with bright brass buttons. It cracks me up to think how badly I was being a poser. But what did I know? I took the bus from the Valley to the show. The venue holds a lot of people, at least 2000. I remember vividly the following things: an Adam Ant impersonator between bands getting booed and spit on; the magnetic draw and simultaneous fear from being within arms reach of my first live slam pits; almost getting beat up near one of the outer slam pits (never knew why); people getting crazy after the show and swinging around the flag pole on the rope; my ears ringing the next day.

LA had a bad reputation for being a pretty violent HC scene. Was it as bad as it was made up to be? Please share with us some of the things you witnessed.

Yes, the LA punk/HC scene of the early 80s, which I dove headfirst into, was very violent. At most shows there were fights, usually 10 dudes kicking the crap out of one poor guy. There were a handful of dudes that you did not want to piss off and who were known to love to fight including John from Circle One, Mike from Suicidal, Oliver from the LADS, Sean Emdy from FFF, Mugger and others. A lot of fights just spontaneously erupted from clashes in the pit. At most big shows John from Circle One would lead packs of kids and rush the doors against the bouncers. There were several big riots at shows, where tons of cops showed up and closed down shows at SIR studios in Hollywood, Mendolis Ballroom in Huntington Park, and a big show in Wilmington.

And there was a gang mentality. Indeed many kids grew up familiar with ganglife in LA and took to creating copycat punk gangs. Partly, the gangs were justified, as being a punk at home was a bit treacherous. I went to a huge high school of 2000 kids, and there were about 10-15 punks. Not a day went by when I wasn't fucked with by somebody. But also, the gangs were just another way of being anti-social and having safety in numbers to do stupid shit like spray paint walls, break shit, steal shit, fight with other punks at shows, etc. I was most familiar with the FFF gang, which was made up of all the punks (and my friends) where I lived (North Hollywood). FFF copied the style of mexican gangbangers (cholos), with khaki pants and buttoned up pendelton shirts, and knicknames like Oso, Flaco, Shorty and Woody.

How much time was there between you started going to shows and starting AHC, and can you give us the full scoop on how AHC came to be?

Less than a year. My best friend Scott Kosar (original bass player) and I started fucking around doing covers of stuff like "Wasted" by Black Flag pretty much right away. I guess it was the spring of 1982 that we formally formed Section 8 with guitarist Raffi Agopian (later of Tourist) and different drummers. We had a difficult time finding a drummer who would stick around. We even practiced with a 16-year-old Bobby Shayer (Bad Religion) who we "fired" after his dad grounded him on the day of a big show we were supposed to play. By the fall Raffi left and I met Drew Berstein (guitar) who knew Pat Muzingo the drummer from the Atoms and Decry, and the original AHC lineup was set. We played our last show as Section 8 in January 1983.

I was hugely influenced by SOA from DC. Early on we covered their Public Defender and I think this shaped our style to be very much in that mold of aggressive HC. We were also influenced by Minor Threat, plus local bands like Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, Descendents, TSOL, Wasted Youth and the DKs of course. During the same time we started the band I was already starting to buy seven inch records from HC bands from all over the states at a great Hollywood record store called Vinyl Fetish. I would buy anything that had 8 or more songs on a 7 inch, that pretty much guarenteed that it'd be fast!

I had early great stuff like the Necros, Negative Approach and of course, "This is Boston Not LA", which all was highly influencial to us. The degree I was into all of this music was nothing short of hardcore itself. I went to every show possible - at that time in LA that could mean multiple gigs per week. I slammed pretty much for every song and every band. So the idea of making that kind of music and playing gigs with our favorite bands was a big dream, and for me the driving force behind having a band.

Our good friend Darin Price, who originally formed the band FFF (pre-dates the gang) and later Disability, and after that Tourist, sort of showed us the ropes and acted as a manager, giving us advice and ideas at all of our practices. Darren was great, he was totally enthusiastic and pushed us to keep going for it. We practiced seriously only for a few weeks by the time we played our first party/show in April 1982.

Why the name change from Section 8 to AHC?

Once Drew joined the band we started getting a lot more serious. Drew would often say we have to be "dedicated." He, too, was very hardcore about what he was into, and he was the driving force behind making AHC stickers and t-shirts. After a while we thought our band name was too generic and didn't really have any personal connection to any of us. It was my little brother, Jason, who suggested we use America's Hardcore when we talked about finding a new name. The name comes from the labels I would put on these cassette tape recordings of all that great music I was buying. I had AHC volume 1 and so on, and I would give these tapes to my friends. In fact, we had already written the song AHC about the incredible HC bands from all across America. The name was perfect for us.

How did you and your friends in and around the band find out about the bands coming from the midwest, D.C. and Boston at the time? What fanzines other than Flipside and MRR were you checking out? Did 'zines like Touch + Go and/or Forced Exposure make it out to the west coast easily or did you have to mail order them?

In addition to what I said above, Flipside and MRR were the main zines around, plus We Got Power later on. Also, through AHC correspondance I started getting copies of Touch & Go and Forced Exposure. We also did mail interviews with some small zines like Urban Waste, Positive Charge (Phoenix), and Stage Dive (San Jose, CA). Seems like there were others.

What was AHC's 1st show? Any memories from the show?

With the original AHC lineup, but as Section 8, our first real gig was at a huge two day punkfest at the T-bird Rollerdrome in Pico River. We played the second day in the middle of about 20 bands.


How did the people in AHC become aware of Straight Edge? Did you or anyone in your band consider yourself S.E.?

We first heard about S.E. through the Minor Threat song, naturally. Drew got serious about being S.E. for awhile, but it was never my thing. I liked to drink then, and I still do. But we definitely picked up on the positive attitude vibe that Minor Threat was singing about. That was always a big theme with us, that and not being a rock star - meaning get up there and rage through our set without fucking around between songs like rock stars do.

[TO BE CONTINUED]

Djinji Brown: Interview Part 1

[Above: Absolution @ CBGB - Photo by Boiling Point] If you haven't heard, Absolution is reuniting to play in Miami on May 30. Pretty shocking news considering Djinji Brown has not really re-surfaced in anything hardcore related since the band's demise in 1989. But in light of this reunion talk, we had to catch up with him. Ed (McKirdy) and I called Djinji up and talked with him yesterday for nearly three hours. I don't think we can really call it an interview, because having already talked to Djinji, I knew the conversation just flows naturally. At some point I think we will include some audio of certain parts of our chat, because you really need to hear the absolute REALNESS in this guy's voice. I'm actually afraid that reading it in print won't do it justice. Everything he talked about was cool, thus it is tough to edit out anything. And just to give you an idea, the below is about 1/10 of the entire conversation. So this is the first of MANY parts we will be posting up here. Very big thanks and praise to Mr. Brown himself. -Gordo DCXX It started in the Bronx. So the question is, how did we get to the Lower East Side if it started in the Bronx? One of my oldest friends in the world, Sergio Vega, from Collapse and Quicksand fame, he took me downtown, you know? 1986 I believe it was. Sergio was one of my childhood heroes, cuz he was this great graffiti writer, someone I looked up to and wanted to be like. I first met him when I was 12 or 13 in 1982, in junior high school. I kinda knew who he was, you know, like "man who is that dude, that cat is cool." So we started hanging out and became friends, and he was going downtown in like '85 and '86, to Danceateria and places like that. He had already been going down, I mean in like 1985 he was already punked out. He was like the only Punk that I knew of in the Bronx rockin' a mohawk, and on top of that was a Puerto Rican punk doing it. I mean he was one of the first to bring that shit back up there. So he was going to Danceteria, a crazy club with like four floors you know? A dance floor, hip hop, dance music, and a new wave floor with some punk. From there it just got harder and harder. So I started following him downtown, and while he was more into the punk side of it, I started gravitating towards the hardcore part of it. The skinhead vibe, even though I wasn't a skinhead, I just liked the energy of it. I appreciated the punk, and the political stuff, but I liked the harder side of it, even though I was a softer guy. You know…yeah, straight up, you know what, fuck it…I liked the harder side, the machismo shit, the manhood, the maleness, straight up. We were all young boys at the time, and with hardcore kids and the skinheads at the time, there was this vibe of "we're soldiers." I needed that, definitely growing up in the Bronx. To avoid getting beat up, shot, stabbed, yeah, I needed that. I felt like with hardcore I had someone watching me. So I made the transition, and I went down with Sergio. And from there we were always like two peas in a pod, even though he would break off with a different crew of more punk type dudes, and then I would go off with more of the hardcore and skinhead types, that was who I gravitated towards. Around that time, like late '86 or early '87, somehow I met Harley. I don't even really remember how. But I met him and we started hanging out, and of course I was just mesmerized, because obviously I knew about the Cro-Mags. My first favorite band of course was the Bad Brains, and on that whole level it was just like "Wow!" But now I felt that I had a place in the hardcore world. Even though it didn't fit where I came from on a physical level and ethnically, if you feel what I am saying, but that didn't really scare me. Because even before I moved back to the Bronx in 1980, I lived in Massachusetts and was raised there. And I was around Caucasians. So even though now coming downtown it was a new dynamic, the kids were rough and tough, and I was like "yeah you know this is just like some up town shit." Just a different vibe, but still you can't be a sucker. You gotta find your vibe, find your niche, find your crew, get in where you fit in. It was an open door, but at the same time it wasn't an open door because at that time I think the scene was so close knit. In 1986 New York Hardcore was maybe 8 years old or less. Punk was older. But AF, Cro-Mags, Bad Brains, those were the cats that really put it down like, "that's punk, but this is some hardcore shit." I don't know who coined the term, but I'm sure a lot of people would agree that the Brains were on a whole different level. They came in as punks, as rasta punks, but their shit was so different that we just had to learn. With the Cro-Mags and AF…it was hardcore. You knew you were entering… a war. It was a war. It was a rite of passage. It was a question of who could hang and who couldn't. Motherfuckers would get beat the fuck up at CBGB, whether it was off some bullshit, or just even from the pit. The first time I even went to CB's I went by myself. I wanted to take Sergio with me to see Murphy's Law, and he's like, "Nah, thanks, I'm chillin'." I mean, like, "why would you wanna do that?" A Murphy's Law show was just crazy. I was a baby-faced 16 year old, I probably looked 14. But I ventured into that shit, balls to the wall, and by the time I started hanging with Harley and them cats, I felt like, "Ok, yeah." And from hanging with them I started going to the temple, and I got introduced to Hare Krishna, vegetarianism, and tattoos and the whole nine yards. And then I met John Bloodclot, and I was like "WOW." I was a kid. They had lived lives I hadn't lived. Reading John's book, it just blew my mind and brought back a lot of recollections of what that world was like, even though I was a little later and not completely in it like them. It's really crazy. All this stuff, it's like a file I have kept close to my heart and have just recently reopened to look at all these memories. So, it's like a floodgate right now with all these times. I had a concept that I thought about that I want to share with you guys. The reason why Gavin and I took hell and high fury to the stage, and Alan and Greg, too, on an animation level, is this, what I am about to say. These are my ABC's of hardcore. This is just mine, Djinji Brown's, and it isn't in an order, but it is Absolution, Bad Brains, and Cro-Mags. I want you to draw a triangle. At the top of the triangle is my A, Absolution, because that was my vessel. If you look at the triangle, it is like an arrow, or a spaceship even. At the top was Absolution. At the bottom left is Bad Brains, because I heard them first. And reading from left to right, the right bottom corner is Cro-Mags. So, those two were my basis, and those two specific bands had an unmatched musicality at that time. I mean, nobody could fuck with them cats! On a musical level they were like "WHAT!" And on an energy level, and a spiritual basis, those two bands were my propeller. I fed off of that. With Harley and John, I felt like I was one of their younger brothers per se. I didn't get to really meet and know the Bad Brains, but I was taken under the wing of their engineer and producer Jerry Williams. He taught me so much. So I had that direct connection to the Brains from Jerry. What a feeling, I felt so…safe. Back then, I didn't really know it. Maybe I did. But I couldn't verbalize it. Now I can. It is so heavy. And that's why I went out there, and I took some of John's moves, and some of HR's moves, because I wanted to show those cats that I wanted to continue in what they were doing. And I put my own shit to it. Now, inside of that triangle, you can put every hardcore band, rock band, jazz band, punk band, and they all influenced me too. But for me, that's what was driving me. I wanted to show them and thank them for letting me be the little brother and accepting me. And those cats didn't just accept anybody, you know? That makes me think about late May or June 1987. I remember this whole fuckin' day because I was graduating high school that day. And the Cro-Mags were opening for Anthrax at the Beacon Theater, it was so fuckin' ill! Like on some hip-hop shit, it was as if some dude from your hood was playing at The Garden. You know? What! NYHC cats, and the Cro-Mag Krishna army man! They had devotees up in the spot! They had prasadam and all this vegetarian food! We were all smoked out on the greenest of the green! What! And I was the only young brother in that whole camp! And it didn't even matter man with all them cats, I felt like a prince. I called my mother that night and told her I wasn't coming home, I was gonna hang with Harley all night. She said, "Oh you aren't coming home?" Oh hell no. I'm staying out tonight. I'm with the Cro-Mags! You know? I remember I had a cast on my hand because I had broken some knuckles knocking out this nazi skin a couple weeks before. But the show was crazy, the show was nuts. The Beacon Theater with the Cro-Mags in it in 1987…excuse my language…NIGGA WHAT!? WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE BLOODCLOT MAN! That shit never went down again. So anyways, I go home the next morning, fucked up, high, whatever. My Mom threw the book at me, literally. I got in the door, put my book bag down, and she threw that shit at my head. I ducked. My mother at the time was 37, I'm 38 now, so I understand now. She was furious, "What the fuck!" But I was pissed too, you know, saying, "I ain't done drugs! I ain't been locked up! I ain't sold drugs! I graduated high school!" She didn't care you know, telling me them crazy ass white boys downtown was gonna get me beat the fuck up. She flipped out. You gotta understand where I'm coming from. My mother and Sergio's mother ventured out into CB's a couple times with white head wraps on, and African spiritual beads and their whole thing. And they came down to the village, with incense and everything. Before Erykha Badu was lighting incense on stage, my mother and Sergio's mother were bringing incense to CBGB to watch their sons. So overall my Mom was usually like, "Ok, be careful." But she wasn't feeling it that night. She didn't see it, saying to me, "Why are you doing this?! You have holes in your clothes! Tattoos! Piercings!" My grandfather was like, "What are you doing? Piercing your ear like a faggot!?" And that's not to mention the brothers in the hood. I was coming back with tattoos before it was hip to have tattoos. Shit was not cool, unless you were in the army or in jail, and I wasn't in either. So when I came off hard, and carried myself hard, it was because I had something to prove to myself, personal reasons I won't get into. I was trying to prove something. What I wanted most was for people to say, "HR, John Joseph, Djinji Brown." I wanted that at 17. And I only mean that to those guys and their bands as a sincere compliment. When you are young you pick your heroes, and you run after them. I was just lucky enough to have them at my fingertips. We all did, but maybe we didn't know it then? [TO BE CONTINUED]

Vic DiCara round 2 with 108

Last week Vic answered some questions on Inside Out. In the intro to that piece we mentioned that Vic had described DCXX as "a bit assholish."

We want to clarify this statement.

In talking more to Vic we realized some things were lost in email communication and Vic was actually referring to his own answers as "a bit assholish," and not DCXX. So, we stand corrected, and apologize to Vic. Ahh, the joys of email.

Further, Vic wanted to respond to what some of our readers had said in the comments section of his interview and on the Livewire message board. This is what he had to say:

"HELLO HARDCORE PEOPLE:

1. Stop taking yourself so seriously.
2. Stop taking your "heroes" (but OH NO they're not "heroes") so seriously.
3. Relax. Floorpunch on gold, you'll get it in your next life. It's ok. Nothing else matters in the end.
4. I said that I was annoyed by youth crew straight edge since very early on. Does that really bother you so much?
5. I apologized for coming across a bit assholish in my answers.

GO PRACTICE A MOSH.

xoxoxo,
Vic

And now, we bring you some more questions and answers with Vic regarding 108.

Ok you guys just got back from South America - how was it? Any stand out stories or experiences? What are the biggest differences between the hardcore scene there and what you have experienced as of late in America?

The first half was great. Ecuador, Columbia, Chile, Argentina. Especially Chile. Brazil was somewhat lame until the very last show in Sao Paolo at the Animal Liberation fest.

The stand out story was staying in the home of a Christian hardcore band in Vittoria, Brazil and having the father say a prayer for us - a LOOOOONG ass prayer - on our way out - all the while with his arm around the great Atheist / Agnostic / Christian-hater Alan Peter Cage.

Big differences... not many... especially considering it's so far away. Hardcore is disappointingly uniform from scene to scene for the last 20 years or so. One thing was that girls were in the pit en masse doing their thing and there was no big debate about it, and no big issues surrounding it. It was completely normal and natural.

South America also saw the inclusion of Alan Cage on drums in 108. How did this come about, and what was it like playing with him again? Did it take him any practice at all to nail the songs? Where would you put him on the list of drummers you have played with over the years? Any drawbacks to playing with him?

It came about because Alan and I have been musically connected for about 20 years now. It was amazing. He played everything really well, very heavy and mid-tempo - not rushed or fast. Alan gets the energy from hitting the drums really hard and badass, he doesn't need to make energy from speeding things up.

We practiced for a day in Ecuador.

I put Alan not only at the top of the list of drummers I've played with - but also at the top of the list of Drummers... period.

There were no drawbacks except that it was an awful lot of songs for him to learn in a short period of time. Alan is a great player and a really cool guy. The band got along great with him in it.

You sold some of your guitars on Ebay recently - some of these had seen many stages over the years and withstood a lot of damge (or, maybe they didn't). Was it tough to let them go? What are you currently owning/playing, and how long is a guitar typically lasting you these days (considering some of your on stage antics)?

It wasn't hard to let them go at all. I'm not really into "things" that much. I don't collect stuff, and I don't care that much about equipment. I guess that's part of the reason I got into spirituality, I'm not particularly into material things. It was fun to let them go. I'm glad that the guy who got them was really into them and happy to have them.

I have an endorsement from B.C. Rich. Right now I have a black Mockingbird special and a spalted (or something) maple Bich Exotic Classic. They are both excellent guitars. I can keep a guitar working indefinitely provided I don't crack the neck, which has only happened 2 or 3 times in my life. As long as the neck doesn't break I just work with whatever else goes wrong. I don't fix it, I just make it a part of the sound. Like if the frets get jagged indentations it stats to make cool sounds, buzzes, what have you. I do need to fix jacks though. That shit sucks when it breaks. These two guitars I have now have proved to be really strong so far.

Although it isn't new at this point, how do you feel about the new record now that it has been out for a bit, has been received, and you have played the new material quite a bit? How much new material has been written, and where will you try to push 108 in the future creatively?

I like the new record a lot and enjoy playing the songs. For the next record I would like to go a few steps further and create something I actually want to LISTEN to a few times a week. We've written about two albums worth of new songs so far. I am not sure if we will actually use more than one or two of the songs or ideas. As soon as I settle down a bit and get my studio together (I just moved), I want to start writing some things that are a LOT different than New Beat..., and more like Curse of Instinct, drawn out in a new direction.

The band really seems to have been moving at full charge. Record, touring, etc. What are you doing outside of the band? You guys aren't 18 anymore. How do you manage to do this as much as you do and still balance it out? What happens in your life if 108 breaks up tomorrow?

It's full charge considering I'm 38. It's not full charge for an 18 year old. Outside the band I do my thing and tinker my way through life. If 108 breaks up tomorrow I'll regret it and get it back together in a few years to really piss you motherfuckers off. ;)

Since "returning," what 108 show stands out the most to you in terms of importance? The type of show that solidifies why you are still doing this?

I have a weak memory for that type of thing. I would say the shows in Chile. The show at the Knitting Factory in New York. I don't really know. 108 reorganized my life in a huge way. It's more than just shows. It actually realigned my entire life in a huge, huge way.

Similarly, you guys have played all over the country in the past year or so. What do you think of the modern hardcore scene in America and the average hardcore kid? How is this different from 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago? Do you still connect with a 17 year old whippersnapper who is mad at the world and jamming on power chords?

It's kinda tiring to be around "hardcore" kids - - - they are always checking you out. Estimating you. Evaluating you. Measuring you. Seeing if you are "true." Seeing if you are "cool." Seeing if you are still cool to think of as someone who is thought of by others as cool, etc. etc. etc. There just seems to be SO MANY rules that are potentially broken that it's just tiring. I don't really smoke pot myself, but I think a few dozen bong hits would do the collective hardcore scene a bit of good. Relax. Shit is not important. People are people. Music is music. Let it be.

Age doesn't matter. You are either 14 or you are 84...that has nothing to do with it. I could connect with you or not connect with you regardless. What's more important is if you have a broad mind or a narrow one.

Which current bands are your favorite? A lot of people who came up in the hardcore scene you came up in will say that there aren't any good bands today, they aren't the same, etc. etc. How do you feel? Are young hardcore bands today just as powerful as they were in 1987? Is it tough to be objective considering you aren't the same person?

I like Rise and Fall. I like Converge live. I like Blacklisted live. There are still good bands, but there isn't a lot of newness. Newness seemed to go out of style with the breakup of Quicksand. I like Ceremony live. I like shit that is at least slightly different. Musically, play something different. Yeah, it's powerful. And probably for a 17 year old from Boston, Have Heart or something is really powerful. They are just as sincere and better musically than the bands they are based on were. But the thing is for me, I've heard it over and over again for 20 years. So it's great for a kid hearing it for the first time, but for me... I'm more interested in a band doing something DIFFFERENT, saying something DIFFERENT.

PS - I love you.

Still Strong

Going into the weekend, let's make one thing clear. Regardless of others' opinions, whether it's 1988 or 2008, Double Cross fully backs BOLD. See you Monday. -DCXX

Round 2 Q&A with Jordan Cooper

As part of a continuing piece, we went back again to Jordan Cooper with more questions and baited breath, in our eternal quest for all information that is Revelation Records. -DCXX

NYC The Way It Is LP Poster: was this in fact the first 24"x36" poster produced by Revelation and made available for sale? When exactly did this come out? Was it a big project, and what gave the idea to do it? Obviously Rev was growing and this made sense, and it definitely created a pattern for future releases...which all of us can thank you for, as this artwork has been adorned on our walls over the years.

I think the posters were something that our distributor told us to do. It was probably just standard operating procedure to make posters when you put a record out. We did various flyer/photocopy posters for the first few 7"s but when we were working on The Way It Is, Dave Bett was doing the layout, we had regular LP jackets being done and printed posters seemed to be the thing to do. 24x36 was probably also a fairly standard poster size for the time, but somewhat on the bigger side so that's what we went with. Thanks, I really liked that poster and wish I still had one! The GB and Bold posters were cool as well. I don't remember if we did a Break Down The Walls one in the same style, but I don't think so.

Gorilla Biscuits "Hold Your Ground"/Cover Art Revelation t-shirt: Obviously, other Rev bands before this and at the same time made their own t-shirts and Rev may have even sold them. This was the first shirt with the Rev star logo though. Was this simply a case of Wally and Co. throwing it on, or was this more of a Revelation-involved thing? Simply an incredible design for a great era of the band, do you have any memories of this shirt or its creation?

I have a lot of memories of getting shirts done, but not specifically what the first band we made them for was. It probably was GB though. Sick Of It All were probably already doing their own shirts or something because I don't think we ever did shirts for them. Same with Warzone, they were doing the iron cross shirts before we put their record out. So it would make sense that GB were the first shirts we did for bands and then Side By Side, No For An Answer and Bold. GB always had great art because everyone in the band seemed to always hang out together or live together and stuff just got done. The shirt with the vines and plants and gorilla surrounding the GB logo was done by Alex in what seemed like just a few minutes. We were talking about a new design and he just walked away and came back a little while later and said "how about this" or something like that. I think that was one of the best shirts we ever made. Regarding the Hold Your Ground shirt, that was probably the first GB shirt we made now that I think about it.

Gorilla Biscuits "Hold Your Ground" hooded sweatshirts, Youth of Today "Youth Crew" hooded sweatshirts and Judge "Bringin' It Down" hooded sweatshirts: Were these European exclusives? I've never seen them advertised for sale through Revelation and they seem to be some what prevalent through out Europe. What's the story?

I don't know. I think the guys in the bands had some dealings with a shirt company or two because of the tours they did so maybe they let some people over there make some shirts for them. They could also be bootlegs. We made hooded sweatshirts over the years too, but it sounds like you're asking about designs that we didn't make or something.

Revelation Sticker Set: The elusive sticker pack, packaged as a 7", often sent away for by young fans, seldom received. Whose idea was this? How many were made? What was the idea for it? Which bands were included in the pack? If I break into the vault, how many of these sets might I find?

It was either my idea or Ray's...hard to say. There were probably less than 1000 made of the original ones, but we made several different versions over the years depending on what we had. I can't remember every band that had a sticker, but GB, Supertouch, Bold and probably all the other early bands were on there. There are absolutely none in the vault unfortunately but we do have one sheet of all the original stickers that wasn't cut. I think Anthony and Nate took some pictures of it for their book so hopefully it will show up in there.

Youth Of Today Youth Crew '89 t-shirt: Printed for the 1989 European Tour (supposedly), this seemingly rare shirt replaces the original back design with a gigantic REV logo. Interestingly enough, the band was under contract at the time with Caroline, and wouldn't have a Revelation release (the final seven inch) come out for almost another year. Do you remember how this shirt thus came to be? Do you remember having YOT officially back on Rev? Any other recollections about this oddity?

Ray and Porcell were pretty closely involved with Rev and so probably just wanted to use the logo for that shirt. I don't remember, but we had reissued Break Down The Walls on Rev and Porcell put out "Can't Close My Eyes" on Schism through either Caroline or Venus (can't remember which). Judge was on Rev. I think they just looked at it as their label. Ray may have even still been part of Rev at that point as well, though that was around the time he started to get pretty serious about Krishna and may have been thinking about what would end up being Shelter.

The Rev Record that should have been: What was a band, from the Rev 1-20 era, who was supposed to do a record on Rev, but for some reason or another, it didn't happen? I'm sure there had to have been a few - who can you remember and does anyone stick out as someone you wish you would have gotten on the label?

There were too many. Straight Ahead seems like something that would have made sense since Ray we were friends with Tommy and Craig. Underdog was a band I loved from the True Blue days but for probably the same reasons YOT went to Caroline, so did they. Luckily I got to be better friends with Richie (through Into Another) and later Russ so we got to release the Demos. There were probably a lot of other bands I would have wanted to work with, but obviously my hands were pretty full anyway so it's probably good that we didn't take on any more projects or mailorder would have taken even longer.