Bart Van Mulders - THE BELGIAN STRAIGHT EDGE

Cappo on the Youth Of Today 1989 European tour, Photo: Bart Van Mulders

Bart is a familiar name to many as a dude from Belgium who has been around a long time. Here he recaps some early HC memories, and seeing YOT and Project X come to Belgium. Flame Still Burns...

-DCXX

In early September 1986 I was a 17 year old getting into hardcore in Belgium. On September 21, I saw my first show with Toxic Reasons headlining. After this I was buying records, reading zines, learning about the punk HC lifestyle. I was highly motivated in taking a stand against all that is wrong in this society/world. Getting interested in something obscure but positive: straight edge, after reading an interview with a Dutch band called Lärm. I wrote the bands they mentioned on a note and gave it, along with a blank tape to the dude at school who invited me to come to that first show I went to. He had a friend who had records of all the bands Lärm mentioned in the interview I had read: Crippled Youth, Straight Ahead, Violent Children, Unity, Uniform Choice and Youth Of Today. He would make sure I got the tape back with requested bands on it.

When me and my sister got the tape we were blown away! This music was incredible! Different than the bands we've already seen, obscure, but super positive. It was like an extension to the values and goals of the Punk HC lifestyle and the whole idea was that if you really want to change something, you will need to change yourself first . That made a lot of sense to us. Somehow I felt this was so pure, so genuine that since that moment, I decided to become straight edge. Being straight edge at that time wasn't like a natural thing to do. Not one of my friends at school ever heard of it, or even understood what it all meant. It was like I was a nerd in a weird kind of way, an outcast.


Sammy gets a cake on his 16th birthday in Aalst Belgium

It was 1987 already and I was able to get/order some of the records from that mix tape I've talked about. I still remember the moment when I got the Crippled Youth 7" a friend sold me. I was walking downtown and ran into a friend. You have to know first that in my close area there were people who were into this whole straight edge thing for several years. I had at least five friends who all owned Unity, Crippled Youth and YOT seven inches and shirts, and had a ton of info and contacts around the globe. Long story short: this dude I am talking about is willing to sell me his Crippled Youth 7". Why? He has gotten into rap music. Beastie Boys had their monster hit '(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right...' Anyway, he was telling me he was getting into rap and selling his records for that reason. I got the Crippled Youth 7" and I was like the happiest man on this planet! AWESOME!

This was also the time we read in a punk magazine MRR about this new label who put out a seven inch by a band called 'War Zone' and a sampler called 'NYC HC Together.' The friend who made the mix tape told us if we ordered it we had to wait like only two weeks to get it. The sampler was great he told us, because it had a new Bold song on it (they switched their name form CY to Bold) and also had some other cool bands on it. Also the YOT song was great he told us. When we got it in the mail it was like something magic (it took like 3 weeks to get it.) I guess it must have been one of the first orders we got from the United States of America. Home of the many great SE bands we listened to. Totally unreal!


Gorilla Biscuits at Alkmaar, Holland, 11/11/1989, Photo: Francoise Lepers

It was a great thing back in those days that Belgium had this really caring, strong and friendly scene. We went to shows as much as we could. My sister must have been one of the first SE girls around. We learned a lot about new bands and all those new records on that label 'Revelation Records' were pure gold! I would daydream about those crowd shots from overseas shows that I saw in fanzines, bands like YOT, UC, Wide Awake, Bold, Up Front...and I'd listen to live sets on cassette tapes that friends taped of Straight Ahead, Bold, YOT, UC. It made me think how great it must be living in NYC or CA with the ability to see all those bands playing live.

Over here we saw bands from the States, the UK, Germany, Holland and other parts of Europe. I once wrote them all down on a list marking how many times I had seen those bands playing live, wishing I never lost that paper. It would be great to look at it now.

But there weren't straight edge bands playing over here back in those days. The scene was cross over and metal influenced. Heck, some people I've talked to could not understand having fun without alcohol. Seeing Lärm playing live or bands that contained members who were like me, drug free, was like one of the greatest things back in those days. It must have been late 1988 since the rumours started being spread around: YOT would come to Europe. Oh boy...if this were true this would be the highlight of our HC existence. Seeing them finally! I was speechless.

We got their second record and were totally blown away by it. This was going to be huge, seeing them live. We marked our calender and started counting down to the date they would play in the city we lived in. How incredible was that? We would see them live at the venue where we saw so many punk/HC bands already. It had a huge stage and even a rug on the floor. We would walk to the venue from our home, yes, that is right, walking distance. YOT would play at a 10 minutes walking distance from our home!

You would think we would have been the first to get to the venue. Not true. We were late that day. I guess we were late because we had waited on all of our friends to show up at our parents house and then walk together to the venue. I will never forget when we took the turn and walked down the narrow street where the club was. A ton of kids were hanging out in the street as usual. I thought it felt different though. There would be a lot of like-minded people, people like us, people who shared the same positive thoughts, lifestyle...people who cared, kids like us. I was fired up! A ton of people showed up, this was going to be a great show, no doubt about that.

My sister and I had this idea of interviewing the band because we wanted to do a fanzine. So together with some friends we did the interview. Ray was like a really friendly, open minded cool dude. He was like really interested in us too, he asked a lot of stuff about us too. He even said he loved us. How cool was that?


Youth Of Today in Europe 1989

Then something mind blowing came to our ears. The other band they toured with got kicked off the tour and Project X would be playing instead. Can you believe this? I mean come on, after not seeing a single straight edge band from the States, this night we would see two? And one of the bands would be the legendary Project X? Jaw dropping! Speechless. Too good to be true!

Man, PX started playing and all hell broke loose! People were already singing along: 'I'm as straight as the line...' It was unreal! After that YOT got on the stage and man, this was better that I ever could have imagined. The crowd was totally into it. There was a fight with some kid who was more like the drunk HC kind of dude, but looking back, I thought that this was a minor incident. The whole show ruled, the Belgian and Euro HC kids ruled, YOT and Project X ruled. I swear, I will never forget this. This was the best time of my life!

After the show a kid from my class came up to me. He was like more into speed metal and some HC too. He had seen some major bands playing, but he told me that this show was one of the best he had ever been to. Like I said, the SE kids ruled the night. This was indeed a time we'll remember.

PS : A personal highlight for me was that the picture of Ray I took would during the interview would appear on their final 7", but that is a whole other story.


Bart and his twin sister

Tony Erba - Cleveland Hardcore

Tony Erba, Face Value reunion

The man, the myth, the legend, Cleveland's own... Tony Erba. Maybe you know him from Face Value, maybe you know him from his most recent band Cheap Tragedies, maybe you know him for the handful of bands in between. Either way, Erba has definitely made a name for himself in this hardcore scene and he makes for one hell of an interview. This is part one of many more to come. -Tim DCXX

Origins of the SE scene in Cleveland: who, what, where, when, and how did you or did you not fit in?

I was a suburban punker from the cultural backwoods of the Southwest suburb of Parma, OH. I loved hard rock, heavy metal (thrash metal was just coming into its own), punk, especially the bands on 'Punk And Disorderly' like Asta-Kask, but I was drawn to the wilder, faster, less fashion-conscious hardcore. I was in 9th grade at Valley Forge and came across an issue of 'Ripper' fanzine out of S.F. in drafting class. I was like 'Holy FUCK! There's a goddamm band called Millions Of Dead Cops! This shit I GOTTA see!' Then I found out about Minor Threat, Seven Seconds, Final Conflict, SNFU, U.C., Second Wind etc.

I was always a pussy who hated drinking and was scared of the drugged-out, gnarly, insane downtown O.G. punx in Clevo - those dudes from the Plague were fuckin' HEAVY--and the cats from the Floyd Band, Hyper As Hell, Knifedance, Guns, and Violent Suburban Marriage were older and just crazy 'Suburbia' punk-types whose bands kicked ass but lived lifestyles that I couldn't hang with. They were living downtown in the Back House and going to the Plasma Alliance twice a week, HEAVY, man.

Then I became aware of a small SXE scene in Clevo, based out of the East Side, centered around Mentor and Cleveland Heights kids, who made an area of town called Coventry their stomping grounds. This was a stretch of road that was Clevo's East Village. Confront was new, as were Outface, False Hope, and out in Kent you had Hyper As Hell, D.I.M (Pat RIP) and Sockeye. Here on the West Side, our GODS were DOMESTIC CRISIS, what a great band! They were the new breed and they kept it hard and fast and youthful and energetic.


The Clevo crew on their way to see Project X

I had my band, LEK, ('85-'88, featured Jim Konya on drums, that a-hole, my longest and oldest pal, he's played in a million crazy metal bands like Nunslaughter and even did two stints in Nine Shocks Terror, and Chris Pellow, who went on to play in Ringworm (first demo and LP) and then the Darvocets for 13 years, and I just recently replaced him in the Darvocets! Clevo's fuckin incestous) that was heavily influenced by two bands in particular: Cryptic Slaughter and Dayglo Abortions. Also Minor Threat, Napalm Death, Misfits and Flag. We were playing backyard ragers, basement rippers and the occasional legit gig. Domestic Crisis was our big brother band, even though no one took us seriously and the skater bettys that hung out with us, or at least our guitarist. I was disgusting even back then. They hated me and thought I was a maniac. Which I was. I didn't party, just guzzled Dairymens Fruit Punch by the gallon, shredded the quarterpipe on my GJS Freestyler (Goddamm I miss that bike--ripped off in front of my eyes by a Puerto Rican outside of Burger King across from Parma Schwinn) and used to go insane at band practice, carving my chest open like Darby, getting us kicked out of first Chris Pellow's mom's house then his Grandma's.

Our biggest show was opening for WARZONE, Confront and Domestic Crisis at September's in Bedford Hts in August '87. There was a room in the back that was the owner's taxidermy trophy room. Warzone apparently trashed it, we got the blame, and that was it for ever getting booked THERE again. Also at that show, some skin was picking on Jay Kuebler, the most posi, sweet kid you'd ever wanna meet, drummer from Confront that weighed 90 lbs soaking wet. Steve Murad AKA 'Mean Steve' put his motorcycle helmet on and headbutted the skin and destroyed him.

Anyhow after LEK broke up I moved to Coventry to be with my Straight Edge peoples. I soon came to see that a LOT of those kids were awesome but mostly from well-to-do families and although they were cool to me, especially Steve Murad and all of Confront and Charlie and Frank from Outface and especially Scum, Spike and David Araca from False Hope, they all kinda looked at me as a working-class hillbilly from Parma. Fuck, my Mom was on welfare and my Dad carried a gun in his boot at all times...so I guess I'm a redneck from Parma. Wheee. They would always break my balls about my geeky glasses (fuck, Dick Lucas from the Subhumans wore them, and he was punk as fuck), wearing flared jeans (hey man, they fit you waaay better than those stupid-ass Bugle Boys they all wore then - real men who work on cars and play Rickenbackers wear flares - Fuck off) and wearing X's drawn with like the wrong color marker or whatever, and still digging on Sabbath, Black Oak Arkansas, Hawkwind, Heep etc. Like I was going to just forget about those influences? It was kind of a subtle 'social classism' thing going on. I definitely wasn't cool then, and guess what? I still don't sit at the Cool Kids table now.


Face Value 1990 promo photo

Jeff Banks on Dave Mello of Uniform Choice

Last week I received an email from Jeff Banks of Southern California's Visual Discrimination / Chorus Of Disapproval. Jeff has been religiously following Double Cross and was eager to contribute. This is Jeff's first contribution, but expect plenty more in the near future. -Tim DCXX

In the later 80s Visual Discrimination days I worked part-time for Big Frank Harrison and Pacific Concerts as a doorman, security, bouncer and go-fer. When it was larger shows like Y&T or Guns 'n Roses in Pasadena, I was moving and loading equipment and taking towels to the laundry for the bands. But when it was Sunset Strip and Hollywood-type shows, it was a 3-man crew consisting of Frank, me and Dave Mello.

This was a few years after Screaming for Change. I don't think he ever really knew what a UC fanatic I was, and when I told him he was always very humble. He had long forgotten that we had played shows together years before. My first conversation with him was cathartic in the sense that I have always felt that the UC demo was a far better listening experience than any of their other material.

"I'll take Maynez with that maple top Les Paul using a Boss Heavy Metal Pedal over that white Jackson through a non-modified Marshall any day," was the first thing I think I said to him. Then it was on to "Who on God's green earth in Hardcore plays a Gibson Thunderbird?" When he laughed and said he owned 4, it was immediately clear that Mello would cough up the old identification card.

It was outside the Roxy after a Foster and Lloyd show where the Mello gave me 2 expired licenses for the collection. He was a little reserved, but it is amazing the things people will give to you when you maintain awkward eye contact for 15 to 20 seconds. Twenty minutes later Big Frank, Mello and I are in the drive-thru at Jack-in-the-Box. "The next band that needs to be started is the three of us, and we need to rip off these guys." I was blaring "Wreckage in Flesh" by Dr. Know in my mom's Jetta.

More with Jordan Cooper of Revelation Records

Gorilla Biscuits at the Safari Club in DC, Photo: Tim Owen

Here's the latest installment of our Revelation Q&A with head honcho Jordan Cooper.

-Gordo DCXX

A lot of numbers have been thrown around over the years regarding which Rev releases have sold the most. Of the early releases (1-25), can you say what the biggest "sellers" were and how many "units" have sold for those particular records? I've always heard it was Start Today that has been the biggest.

Definitely GB Start Today has sold the most over the years. There was a time when Inside Out had overtaken it, but in the years after Rage split up, Start Today took the lead again. I'd have to look at the numbers for all the other early records but most of them were pretty popular. The first few records we did were usually pressings of 500-2000 at first and then we'd order more when those ran out. After the first six releases, our initial pressings were usually between 10 and 15 thousand from what I remember and most records had more than one pressing.

There were a couple of records that only had one pressing - Slipknot and Supertouch - but each of those were still pretty big first pressings compared to the first six records we put out. As far as total units, I'd have to do some research to look all those up, but without going through everything in detail, I'd say that Start Today is probably over 100,000 copies by now.

If you could pick for one defunct HC band to get back together, record a great album, and release it on Rev, who would you want it to be?

Too many to pick one, but, the first one that comes to mind is Violent Children. They were what hardcore was about to me probably because they were the first band I got to see a lot and got to know personally.

What did you think of the GB reunion and the band's reformed status? What are some good memories you recall with the band both back then and today?

It's been great. When they did that CB's benefit, everyone called me to tell me that it was the best show they'd been to in years. The tour out here has been incredible. They played a show out here that was as big as any show I'd ever been to of theirs. It's cool, they get together and play when they have time and feel like it. The band definitely ended too soon so it's good to see them having a good time playing. It gives kids a chance to see them who never did back in the day, but it also gets all the old timers to come out of the woodwork who otherwise rarely go to shows (like me).

Some of the best times I've ever had were on tour with bands and one of those was the first GB tour in Europe. It was a great time. The band had a great sense of humor and even though there was always the chance that they'd get denied entry to any given country since no one had working papers (this was in the days when there were checkpoints between countries), they'd always just make jokes about it and hope for the best.


Statue at Spanky's in Riverside, Cali, Photo: Boiling Point

Rev took a lof of criticism for the bands it signed and released into the early and mid-nineties. Who were some of your favorite bands on the label during this time period, and what releases stand out a decade later?

The early to mid 90's was probably the time I was most personally active in picking the bands because Ray had left the label to do Shelter, focus on his religion and start EVR. Porcell helped out for a few months in '91, but ended up moving back to NY pretty quickly. He was the one who talked to Into Another so that was a big deal for us obviously. I really love pretty much every band we put out during that time. Farside, Iceburn, Statue, Underdog, Sense Field, Shades Apart, Engine Kid, Whirlpool. I spent time with at least a couple of people in all of those bands even if it was just working on their artwork so they all mean something to me. I still put on all of those records somewhat regularly so to me they stand out. Sales wise, most of early 90's releases aren't at the top of the charts these days, but that's the way things work. Not every great record gets appreciated when it's released or remembered later even if it does.

Revelation will be releasing the Mouthpiece discography by the end of the year hopefully. What was your awareness of the band over the years, and what are your feelings on putting this record out on Revelation?

I heard a lot of stuff about all the New Age and Conversion bands because Dennis (Conversion Records) lived in the warehouse and Mike (New Age) worked here and spent a lot of time here as well. To me it looked like Mouthpiece and a lot of the other bands that those guys put out were the hardcore scene of that time at that point. Meanwhilem we were putting out bands like Iceburn, Farside and other bands that came from hardcore but were trying different things musically, so it was cool to have a connection with the younger scene even if it wasn't so direct. Tim has been friends with a lot of people I know over the years but it's been great getting to talk to him and work on their discography. They've put a lot of time and effort into it and the songs sound great and the artwork frames it all really well. I really appreciate the way they've handled everything...they want people to have a great record, but more importantly they want it to be something that documents their music the way they see it themselves.


Mouthpiece at Middlesex County College, Edison NJ

Marco - The Icemen Part III

Carl fronts The Icemen in DC while big Adam helps a photographer get the right angle, Photo: Ken Salerno


What are some memorable Icemen shows that stick out as your best as you recall them? Any particular places you liked playing? Who were people you recall always coming out and supporting you?

I wanted to reach as many people as possible so the bigger the better. The two Super Bowls at the Ritz on 11th St. in '89 and at the old Studio 54 in '92 were decent sized crowds but the circumstances at those gigs what with countless bands being rushed on and off stage, sharing equipment, no sound check, etc. are not conducive to a good performance, and by our nature I think we were a little more susceptible to that than most, so those were actually terrible performances by us.

Some others decent sized shows that I recall were at City Gardens in NJ and The Marquee in NYC. One show in particular was at L'amour in Brooklyn with Type O Negative. I was striving to incorporate a wider variety of listeners into our audience, and that was great example. The show was packed with all sorts, hardcore, metalheads, even goth, you name it. I think we had been on a mini road trip and had played somewhere else the night before, I had a crazy fever like 101 or something and under those stage lights man I was just delirious but we rocked that night. That's one of my most memorable shows, we had a video of it too but Mack lost it somehow.

Of course I must mention CBGB's, that was home for us and was always fun. It was also a place where we could count on supporters coming out. There were many but I certainly remember the DMS guys like Minus, Al and Sob, and I also recall a few bands at the time giving us some serious support.

Who was Gary Lee, where did he come from, and how did things work out for him to do vocals on those '93 tracks? Why didn't anything materialize from this? His voice is definitely much different from Carl - was he what you were looking for, and how do you feel about his voice?

Good question, in a way he's part mystery to us as well. As with so many others we met on the lower east side, he was of course in a band, "Yin vs Yang" and he knew well who The Icemen were. Spoke a few times over drinks, and we decided to bring him into our studio to record some test vocals over our current tracks. What little people have heard on our myspace page were simple dry first runs, no rehearsing, just come in cold and give it a shot. Never went beyond with it as he was an unpredictable wildman and another factor was that as time went on we were free to move in new musical directions and not worry about wether it would be Icemen or not.

We were so fed up with "scenes" and disgusted with how what had taken years to create was now being degraded, violated, degraded, dragged through the mud. The idea of playing music once again without the shackles of what was expected of us to musically conform by so many listeners who had become narrow minded was emancipating. Gary's voice was a step in the right direction in that he actually was attempting to go for some melody, albeit with a cookie monster voice, but melodies in verse and chorus were evident.

We lost touch and heard a while back that he had actually passed away, if true then very sad to hear. My brother Gabby has been performing again with Harley who apparently mentioned he could find out more info so we shall see, not optimistic on that though, Gary was hard street.


Mackie does his thing like only Mackie can do, Photo: Ken Salerno

You did all of the Icemen artwork, making incredible t-shirts and flyers. What was your inspiration for this look and vibe? What had your education/training been in art/design? What Icemen artwork are you most proud of?

I had an overall vision for the band which in addition to music and lyrics included visual elements as well. Sad that we never achieved exploring video and ironic as I've had a career in film since 2001. I always enjoyed dark vibe and wanted us to have consistent theme, you would know when you saw The Icemen visuals. Was fortunate that my father is an amazing artist and I was blessed to have art materials all around me to play with from birth.

Mentioned that I met Mack at high school of arts, I was actually an art major. At the time one had to choose between art and music, difficult but that was the choice I made. By the time I was 17 I was already getting some professional jobs as as a free lance illustrator. Also had a spec with Marvel for Epic magazine developing my own swords and sorcery strip but I never completely followed through and that didn't pan out. I've always been a big fan of that fantasy genre.

What Icemen art am I most proud of? I like that our "Ghost" mascot is recognized, I also am fond of my "Bat Fade." They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then I would say more than a few bands out there are evidence. A few bands took our Ghost and used it on their demos and flyers but man, that Bat Fade keeps turning up more and more. At the end of the day I am honored that apparently the art is memorable.

Would an Icemen reunion ever happen?

Wow, that's a tough one. Noah and I speak on a regular basis, he's like a brother, Mack not as often, nothing but good though and we did have a long talk in May. There's been bumps in the long winding road but at the end of the day, Noah, Mack and I go way back and I think that ancient bond will always be there. We have a few surprises not yet ready to disclose but at the moment reunion is not in the cue.

For The Icemen there would be many obstacles, not the least of which is our independent lives and careers don't leave much room for that. Just as big, finding a desirable singer to compliment the original three of us? If history is any indication, easier said than done. The bright side is that communication and networking in this cyber world is leaps and bounds what we had at our disposal back in those early dark ages so crazy as it is, it just might work. I savor discoveries in life and so too, enjoy a little mystery in the future.


Noah jams hard at City Gardens, Photo: Ken Salerno

Favorite Early Revelation Poster Results

New York City Hardcore - "The Way It Is" - 112
Judge - "Bringin' It Down" - 74
BOLD - "Speak Out" - 57
Gorilla Biscuits - "Start Today" - 35

Andrew Kline - Strife

Andrew takes on the crowd at Middlesex County College, Edison NJ

This is part of an ongoing piece where we asked various people from bands over the years what they recall as the most memorable show they ever played (or attended, if they were never in a band), and why. What is posted here is only a sliver of what is to come, so be sure to check back. -DCXX

The most memorable show I ever played...that is a tough one. Strife did so many shows over the years and they all stood out on their own for some reason or another.

Off the top of my head, 2 different shows come to mind...the first show was a huge show that we played at Middlesex College in 1992 or 1993. It was huge, and had a great lineup that included sick bands like Mouthpiece, Outspoken, 4 Walls Falling, Ressurection, Flagman, and more! I was in 11th or 12th grade at the time (16 or 17), and this was our first time we ever played on the East Coast. Every band that played was great, we knew that we had something to prove at the show. The "It's For Life" and "Only The Strong" Comps had just came out, and the 1000 or so people that were there had high expectations for this new Straight Edge band from California.

Needless to say, from the first note we played the crowd went crazy! Highlights from that show include an asian stage diving girl with a football helmet, and our friend Scott Viscome (who we did not yet know) getting completely knocked out during "Am I The Only One." I remember stopping in the middle of that song, so he could get some help... He woke back up in a minute or so and started yelling at us to keep playing the song! I'm sure it is on video somewhere (Cue the YouTube video Tim...)


Rick and Chad at Middlesex County College, Edison NJ

We met someone friends on the trip that have proven to last a lifetime, and that is the real reason I will never forget that show. On a side note... The night before that show was the first time that Rick Rodney ever shaved his head completely bald!

The second show that comes to mind was a show that we did with Sepultura in Checkeslovakia in 1997. This show was the epitome of a rock show...it was at a huge soccer stadium (Kiss played there the next night), and over 20,000 people were there. Sepultura was at their peak, and they received a gold record earlier that day for their album "Roots." The whole tour was great...there was amazing catering at every show, we got to travel in a huge bus, and we got to see Sepulutra every night. We opened the show, and I just remember a sea of people going crazy the entire set! It was such a fun show, and just so crazy to see that many people moving in unison to our music. We made so many long lasting friendships on that trip as well.

Those are just two out of many unforgettable shows that we have played.


Chad bringing a little bit of Southern California to Edison New Jersey